After pushing the door open, the two of them walked inside the courtyard.
"This..." As Qiuyue walked, she raised her eyebrow, and the astonished looks on her face were evident.
"Honey, did you grew all these plants and flowers in just one week after staying here?" Qiuyue asked, then quietly walked over to a bush of blue rose.
Once she has examined them thoroughly, she notices that they are definitely different from usual, as the color of every petal is full of life and almost glowing. Even the common daisy flower that you could find anywhere looks extra extraordinary here.
Many different kinds of spiritual plants densely growing together, releasing an earthly and herbals scent into the air, enveloped the garden with a mystical atmosphere.
But, no matter how much Qiuyue thought about it, growing such a lovely garden in just one week was just impossible.
"It's incredible! Did you transplant them here from somewhere?" Qiuyue exclaimed, turning back and looks at Dingxiang in a new light as she has discovered something new about him.
This place was beautiful.
It was as though this wasn't a courtyard of the Qiao residence but an isolated garden belonging to the Elwood Faerie from the legend.
Walking up and hugged her from behind, Dingxiang rested his chin on her shoulder and explained, "Don't be too surprised, just like those healing vines that can grow out instantly, I can more or less affect the growth of plants depend on what they are. So if you want a normal flower garden, I can make it grew overnight."
Since Dingxiang has never settled in a place for long, he had not noticed it before, but without taking the spiritual plants and herbs, he planted and nurture with nature Qi into account.
Even the ordinary flowers and grasses in this place would grow more lively and vigorous with him simply living here. For this, Dingxiang speculated that it's due to his Wood Origin Physique passively affecting the environment around him.
Time passed, and a few minutes later, the childish voice of a little girl resounded, calling out to Dingxiang.
"Master! Master! Xiao Jie, miss you!" Xiao Jie calls out cheerfully, running over clumsily with her two little legs, following a plumpy-looking rodent behind her back.
Seeing this, Dingxiang chuckled and picked her up into his arm. "Xiao Jie, said hello to big sister."
Xiao Jie put down the bread in her hand. The little girl's eyes suddenly brightened when she looked at Qiuyue and said happily with breadcrumbs on her lip. "Hello, bweautiful big sister."
'Sooo cute!' Qiuyue thought as she could felt that her heart has melted before reaching out and teasing Xiao Jie's cheek.
"Hello, Xiao Jie, big sister is Qiao Qiuyue, just call me big sister in the future, okay?"
"Okay, big sister." Xiao Jie replied and nodded eagerly.
"Xiao Jie, who is this little friend here?" Dingxiang asked, stroking the fur of the Plumpy Yellow Rodent, who is still munching on the healing grass from the back garden.
"Bunny!" Xiao Jie exclaimed with a serious look while pointing at the Plumpy Yellow Rodent with her tiny finger.
'Bunny? What Bunny? It's obviously a fat rodent, an obese one at that.' Then, with a strange look, Dingxiang gazing at the Plumpy Yellow Rodent and examined its status.
[Species: Plumpy Yellow Rodent.]
[Bloodlines: (Early-stage) Mortal Rank.]
[Cultivation: (Early-Stage) Rank 1.]
[Innate ability: Treasure-Seeking Nose.]
[Description: A low rank and uncommon breed of spiritual beasts known for their cowardice, but are in very high demand for its unique and valuable innate ability.]
'Hmm, Treasure-Seeking Nose, what an intriguing innate ability.' Dingxiang thought, pinching the fat cheek of the Plumpy Yellow Rodent.
Looking at its cute big brown eyes and plumpy body, Dingxiang was tempted to raise it as a pet. Hugging it would be enjoyable.
"Honey, this is a Plumpy Yellow Rodent, a very rare spiritual beast. If we could tame it, it would be very obedient and helpful. Almost every mercenaries group and noble family would raise one because their innate ability is exceptional once it comes to locating hidden treasure." (Qiuyue)
"Although weak, they are scarce and easy to tame. Once successfully caught, you only have to feed it with delicious food every day, and it would follow you." Qiuyue said while looking at the plumpy rodent with interest. "It's Xiao Jie's fortune to discover it. Let's tame it for her."
"Okay, Xiao Jie, do you want to keep it?"
"Ukm, Xiao Jie wants to keep bunny, but it ate all the pwetty plants..." Xiao Jie blinked, then looky at the Plumpy Yellow Rodent with uncertainty.
"It's fine, and Master could always plant them again; how about you give it a name?" (Dingxiang)
"Bunny, let's call it Bunny!" Xiao Jie nodded her head, looking very confident in her choice.
"Hmm, how about we call it Little Yellow or Big Yellow? It doesn't look like a bunny at all. What do you think?" Dingxiang is then trying to persuade Xiao Jie to change the name since adding the 'Little' into the name sound much better.
"No, it knows how to hop around; it's Bunny!" Xiao Jie shaking her head and said with seriousness, appearing confident with her choice.
"Pi! Pi!?" The Plumpy Yellow Rodent tilted its head, still munching on the healing grass in confusion.
"Well then, let's call it Bunny from now on," Dingxiang agreed with some regret as he helped Xiao Jie forming a contract with Bunny.
Although the Plumpy Yellow Rodent was an (Early-Stage) Rank 1 spiritual beast, its strength was subpar. Therefore, the process was pretty smooth as it didn't resist and only stayed still, enjoying the comfortable feeling of Dingxiang's nature Qi passing through its body.
"You two wait for a little bit; I will go to the backyard and make us some tasty fish and shrimp for lunch," Dingxiang said with a gentle smile before heading toward the backyard, leaving Qiuyue behind playing with Xiao Jie.
...
In the backyard
Dingxiang notices that Little White glimpsing at him briefly from the peach tree before closing her eye and went back to cultivating.
Smile, he walked over and stroking her silky lustrous white fur. It was as comfortable as always.
Then, without further delay, Dingxiang proceeds to take out the ingredients and began cooking.
Dingxiang scrapes off the scale and cleans the fish, and the knife moves swiftly in his hand as if dancing wildly on a stage. It was indeed an excellent skill for an amateur. He slices the Aurora Wine fish with precise movement, removing the bone while leaving it fully intact.
Chomp!*
Chomp!*
Chomp!*
Sometime later, the smell of delicious fish soup and grilled shrimp shrouded the backyard. Even Little White stopped cultivating and walked over with her stomach grumbling.
Sitting under the blossomed peach tree, they enjoyed the food. Xiao Jie, who kept chewing on the shrimp, smiled from ear to ear with the NOM NOM sound.
'How good would it be if we can be like this forever.' Dingxiang thought and smile.