On a usual journey of about ten minutes, this time it unexpectedly took more than twenty minutes.
When Xia Ming finally climbed up the dam of the reservoir and entered the activity room, he collapsed completely on the bed. Although Xia Ming had a slightly chubby figure, he was only twenty-nine.
"This shouldn't be. Such a short distance shouldn't usually make me so tired. Could it be because I lost too much blood in the morning?" Xia Ming gasped for breath and managed to open the insulated cup, which contained tea from last night.
He gulped down two large sips of cold tea, and finally felt some relief.
"Could it be a side effect of the stone tooth?" Xia Ming thought as he took out the stone tooth pendant from his clothes and examined it carefully.
"I don't believe it. You must have some unexpected use; I just haven't discovered it yet."
"Let's try biting it." Xia Ming bit his cheek, but the stone tooth didn't even leave a scratch.
"Burning it?" He even tried using a lighter, but it didn't work. Electric shock? Water immersion? Throwing a stone at it? Xia Ming tried everything he could think of, but there was still no response.
"Damn it, can it only be used to poke holes?" Saying this, Xia Ming poked the stone tooth on the wooden table.
Surprisingly, it actually went in.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Xia Ming felt a burst of energy and realized that he had found the right method.
As Xia Ming continued experimenting, the connection between him and the stone tooth seemed to become stronger. Some inexplicable feelings appeared in his mind, as if he had suddenly awakened and gained enlightenment.
After half an hour, Xia Ming looked at the stone tooth in his hand and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, I'm finally going to prosper."
Laughter echoed throughout the reservoir.
He finally understood the purpose of the stone tooth.
How should I put it? The function of this stone tooth is somewhat similar to Doraemon's Anywhere Door; it can establish a wormhole between two locations and fix it permanently. Of course, only Xia Ming can open or close it as he wishes. The only limitation is that living beings cannot pass through it.
Creating a wormhole requires energy, and the amount of energy determines the distance and size of the wormhole.
Xia Ming had a map in his mind. The map was surrounded by a mysterious lake, with only the central part visible. Xia Ming estimated that the visible diameter was about fifty kilometers.
However, this map seemed to be a topographic map, showing mountains, rivers, and roads, but nothing else.
Despite this, Xia Ming was extremely excited. "This is awesome!" He could open the wormhole wherever and whenever he wanted.
After a few more attempts, he found that the energy of the stone tooth was nearly half depleted.
"The energy seems to recover slowly. I just don't know how long it takes to fully recover."
With this artifact in hand, various ideas for getting rich quickly quickly flashed through Xia Ming's mind, but he rejected them one by one.
Mining or drilling for oil was out of the question; how could he know where to find them?
He didn't want to live a life where his income was checked every other day, like Zhang San.
Xia Ming walked out of the house and headed towards the excavator in the reservoir. He decided to continue with his original plan, but the process might be slightly different.
Before starting the excavator, Xia Ming made a forceful stab on the ground with the stone tooth. A one-meter-diameter black hole appeared before his eyes.
At a distant location near the dam close to the foot of the mountain, another black hole of
the same size appeared, and the energy of the stone tooth was almost depleted.
Nevertheless, Xia Ming nodded in satisfaction, put away the stone tooth, and sat in the driver's cabin of the excavator.
As he operated the excavator, Xia Ming no longer needed to transport soil back and forth. He could directly pour the soil into the black hole, saving him a lot of effort.
Soon, Xia Ming reached the true bedrock layer of the reservoir, estimated to be about seventeen to eighteen meters deep, and the pit had also expanded significantly, reaching about eighteen meters in diameter.
Once the reservoir was filled with water again, the depth would be at least close to thirty meters, which was quite deep.
Since he no longer had to worry about the water source now, could he dig the reservoir deeper overall?
Thinking this, Xia Ming took out his phone and called his cousin.
"Hey, cousin, I still need the excavator for a few more days. Yeah, that's right, just a little more...
After hanging up the phone, Xia Ming transferred some money to his cousin via WeChat as the rental fee for the excavator since he didn't want to use it for free.
In addition to being able to close the black hole created by the Stone Tooth, it could also move freely.
So Xia Ming kept digging in different areas at the center of the reservoir, continuously expanding the pit and excavating everything that could be dug out, aiming to increase the average depth of the reservoir as much as possible.
Luckily, it was winter, and there had just been snowfall. The roads were difficult to navigate, and no one would casually come to the reservoir in such weather, or they would be surprised.
Soon, it became dark without Xia Ming noticing, and at that moment, the excavator suddenly stopped with a clattering sound.
It turned out Xia Ming had been too excited and had run out of fuel.
"Alright, let's call it a day here."
After having dinner and descending from the mountain, Xia Ming took Wang Cai and went back up the mountain to spend the night. Actually, it was perfectly fine for Xia Ming to sleep at his house below, but he just wanted to sleep on the mountain.
Returning to the mobile cabin, Xia Ming turned on a small heater and also turned on his computer, starting his other job.
Xia Ming was an art major and had joined a game company in the metropolis as a game concept artist after graduating. His specialization was in environmental concept art.
At his previous game company, they mainly took on outsourcing work from major game developers. Although the salary was decent, they often worked long hours, even up to 996 (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week).
After working for a few years, Xia Ming couldn't bear it anymore. It wasn't the life he wanted.
So Xia Ming decisively quit his job and returned home to become a freelancer. He planned to continue taking on projects while also raising fish.
After years of hard work in the metropolis, Xia Ming had saved a considerable amount of money since he never intended to settle down there. He had accumulated around five to six hundred thousand yuan.
Contracting the reservoir, hiring electricians, and renting the bulldozer had cost him a significant amount, but Xia Ming wasn't worried because he wasn't just idling around. He spent his evenings working on his art.
Today, after finishing this final project, he didn't plan on taking on any more.
At midnight, Xia Ming rubbed his neck, put down his paintbrush, and finally finished the artwork.
After sending the files via his phone, he waited for the response on the other end, not worrying about them being asleep. In the game industry, it was quite normal to stay awake past midnight.
Soon, he received a message back confirming the artwork. Xia Ming then packaged the source files and sent them over, not worrying about them taking advantage of his work.
In fact, the person on the other end of the computer was his former boss. When Xia Ming announced his resignation to focus on fish farming at home, it caused quite a stir in the company. Everyone praised Xia Ming as a real man.
Upon learning that Xia Ming intended to continue freelancing from home, his boss outsourced some non-urgent projects to him. Xia Ming was grateful for the opportunity.
However, he didn't expect that after only taking on three projects, he would no longer accept new ones, which disappointed his boss. After all, Xia Ming had good skills and aesthetics, and his rates were reasonable.
Soon, the payment came through via WeChat, 4,000 yuan.
"Come visit me when you have time. I'll take care of your food and accommodation," Xia
Ming replied.
"Sure, I'll definitely come."
As there was no internet connection on the mountain, and he was using mobile data, Xia Ming turned off his computer after sending the files.
He used an electric kettle to heat water for washing his face and feet, then lay on his bed, studying the stone tooth.
Just as he took out the stone tooth, Wang Cai, who was sleeping nearby, suddenly barked towards the door.
Startled, Xia Ming wondered if someone was there. Who would have nothing to do and come to the mountain in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold, to steal something? But there was nothing valuable to steal. Steal the excavator? That would be too foolish.
Thinking this, Xia Ming quickly put on his clothes and grabbed a piece of wood as a makeshift weapon. Carefully lifting a corner of the curtain, he peered outside.
Moonlight illuminated the snowy ground, and he could vaguely see a figure about the same size as Wang Cai pacing back and forth on the nearby dam. It seemed like the person wanted to come closer but hesitated.
Realizing it wasn't a person, Xia Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Although this was a mountainous area, it wasn't deep wilderness. There were no large carnivorous animals around.
Sometimes, humans were scarier than animals.
Xia Ming opened the door, held onto Wang Cai, who wanted to rush outside, and shone a bright flashlight towards the figure.
Perhaps startled by the sudden strong light, the figure panicked and ran towards the reservoir.
"Hey, don't run! There's a big hole down there," Xia Ming could faintly hear the sound of someone falling.
From observing for a few seconds, Xia Ming had already figured out what animal it was.
The animal was a musk deer, a relatively common herbivorous animal and a second-class protected species in the country.
He used to see them often on the mountains when he was young, but due to human activities, they gradually disappeared. In recent years, sporadic sightings of musk deer had been reported due to better environmental protection.
Leaving the room, Xia Ming pointed the flashlight towards the depths of the reservoir and could vaguely see a limping figure disappearing at the end.
"Wang Wang!" Wang Cai barked in the distance.
"Alright, alright, I know you're capable. But let me tell you, next time you encounter it, don't go up and bite, you hear? It's a second-class protected species. What are you? At most, you're my second-class protected animal. If you bite it to death, you'll be sentenced. You don't want to end up in jail at such a young age," Xia Ming lectured Wang Cai sternly.
Wang Cai looked confused, giving Xia Ming a look of someone who didn't understand.
"I can tell from your expression that you probably understand, so now go back and sleep," Xia Ming said as he walked back into the room.
Wang Cai looked at the distant mountains and then at Xia Ming. Before Xia Ming entered the room, Wang Cai ran inside, almost tripping Xia Ming. Annoyed, Xia Ming gave Wang Cai a slap, but Wang Cai didn't react and just curled up in his bed, sleeping.
In the middle of the night, Xia Ming was dreaming. He dreamt that he rescued Xiao Qian and was caught by his grandmother. To punish him, his grandmother used her big tongue to lick his face incessantly, leaving his face covered in saliva.
Feeling disgusted, Xia Ming woke up from his dream. He reached out and touched his face, finding it wet, and saw Wang Wang by the window.
Xia Ming instantly understood. In the dream, I was licked by my grandmother, and in reality, I was licked by a dog. Wang Cai, come here, I'll teach you a lesson.
He quickly got up, poured some water from the thermos, and washed his face thoroughly.
Xia Ming rubbed Wang Cai's chubby face with his hands while Wang Cai continued to make whimpering sounds.
"You can keep barking. Even if you bark your throat out, no one will come for you."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard some movement outside.
"Hmm, could it be that someone really came to save a dog? Can't be." Xia Ming cautiously lifted a corner of the curtain, only to find it was the musk deer again. Judging by the size, it seemed to be the same one as before.
"Why did it come back again?"