After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 34

The flower field was situated right at the fork in the road ahead. On the west side, a plot of land had been fenced off; it was surrounded by wooden stakes of an unknown variety, arranged to form a shape resembling a teardrop. When Gu Jiaoyang walked up to it, only then did he realise that these were chrysanthemums of various breeds, which explained the colourful and uneven appearance.

“Spirit Chrysanthemums?”

Just as Gu Jiaoyang leaned down to examine a small, creamy-yellow chrysanthemum, he was abruptly hit by a wisp of floral scent laced with spiritual energy. The scent was like a soft, fragrant hand, hooking onto Gu Jiaoyang and tempting him to step into the flower field to explore further.

Having cultivated the Dao for so many years, Gu Jiaoyang naturally wasn’t going to be fooled by such petty tricks. The reason was simple: this scent only affected ordinary people, and even then, it selected its targets.

Furthermore, this floral scent was toxic.

Although the toxicity wasn’t heavy, for an ordinary person unable to detect it, it was enough to cause hallucinations for a considerable amount of time.

However, more than the question of whether the flowers were harmful, Gu Jiaoyang was concerned with how something like Spirit Chrysanthemums could exist in this world.

According to conventional logic, the innate conditions of this world were insufficient for plants to naturally evolve into spiritual vegetation. Moreover, Spirit Chrysanthemums weren’t just simple spiritual plants; they required the nourishment of souls. Once they matured into top-grade Spirit Chrysanthemums, they could temporarily house a soul, becoming an existence comparable to a Heaven-rank spiritual tool—essentially giving a cultivator an extra life.

This was a rare and precious treasure.

Cultivating them was difficult, and waiting for them to mature was even harder.

Yet, there were no protective barriers around them.

Gu Jiaoyang straightened up and observed for a long while. He confirmed that apart from ordinary people, there were no traces of cultivators passing through.

He didn’t dare claim this serendipitous find.

Gu Jiaoyang sighed. Although the items were good, they likely had an owner. If he knew who the owner was, he could have properly negotiated a trade or engaged in a magical duel. But currently, the owner’s whereabouts were unknown, so even if he was envious, he couldn’t make a move.

Besides, out in this desolate wilderness, for such a treasure to be left without a barrier, perhaps those who dared to act rashly had already been killed by a barrier he couldn’t see.

There was no shortage of deeply greedy individuals among cultivators, and there were plenty of methods specifically designed to exploit human nature to harvest lives and items. So, Gu Jiaoyang merely stood by the edge of the flower field for a moment before turning his selfie stick and heading towards the next location.

He wondered which powerful figure these Spirit Chrysanthemums belonged to.

Gu Jiaoyang lamented casually, then couldn’t help but think of the Observation System that had appeared once after his return from the Space-Time Administration Bureau and then vanished.

In other novels, systems were usually desperate to stick by their host’s side every day. His one was just great; it called itself an Observation System, yet the overseer was offline every single day. It had made him anxious for ages after he first found out about its existence, only for him to realise he had wasted his worry on such an unreliable thing.

What a messy world. Thankfully, his Mr Dai was still a normal person.

Gu Jiaoyang walked down the path holding his selfie stick. The forest area ahead had clearly undergone human intervention. Large flights of constructed stairs and small pavilions began to appear, along with stone statues that looked like landmarks.

This should be the rear section that wasn’t open to the public.

The map also indicated the areas open to tourists; this section behind was clearly restricted. It contained the tomb of the Great General that the nanny had mentioned. The one in the open area was a scale replica; the real tomb had always been in the rear section. Because the tomb itself wasn’t sealed at the top, archaeologists had gone in, measured it, and simply applied the data to build the replica, which was also a mark of respect for the legendary general.

“This ancient text is really complex.” Gu Jiaoyang walked up and realised that beneath the stone statues, which looked like amalgamations of wild beasts, were stone tablets. They were covered in long, dense passages of ancient text that induced a headache just by looking at them.

“Right, that’s it for the stream today. See you next time~” Gu Jiaoyang exited the livestream interface, ignoring the wailing in the comments. He put away his phone and selfie stick, took a detailed look at the writing on the stone tablet, and continued walking forward.

He didn’t know why, but ever since the chrysanthemum field, he had felt a persistent, faint sense of sadness. This feeling came on very strangely; it didn’t feel like the work of an illusion array, but rather like an emotion arising spontaneously from within himself.

That was odd.

Gu Jiaoyang also saw the ‘No Tourists’ sign on the guidepost ahead. Assuming this area wasn’t for public display, he obediently closed the livestream room.

Walking further in, there were more and more stone statues. The species carved into each statue were distinctly different, yet they all appeared to be mixtures of various creatures. They looked somewhat grotesque, but because the carving was so lifelike, they possessed a primitive beauty.

Gu Jiaoyang pressed his hand against his heart in discomfort. He didn’t know if he was overthinking it, but the further he walked, the more stifled his chest felt. Even though he was incredibly curious about what the legendary Great General’s tomb actually looked like, Gu Jiaoyang didn’t dare venture any deeper.

Unusual sensations represented danger and opportunity, but for cultivators like them, such feelings usually meant danger in the vast majority of cases.

“Forget it, I’ll come back when my level is higher.” Gu Jiaoyang poked the stone tablet in front of him with his selfie stick. There was some moss on it, and the tip of the stick left a small indentation. Pale green water flowed down, filling the deep grooves of the carved characters on the tablet.

Reining in his curiosity, Gu Jiaoyang turned to head back.

“Jiji!!!”

He had just taken a step when a shadow flew out from the bushes nearby, crashing straight towards his leg. Gu Jiaoyang almost didn’t dodge in time and was given a fright.

“What on earth? Blimey, the little white hedgehog?”

Sure enough, the creature that had suddenly darted out was that familiar little white hedgehog. With a familiar spiritual energy, it clamoured just like its owner, trying to climb up his leg. Gu Jiaoyang used his selfie stick to poke the little white hedgehog, whose sneak attack had failed and was now lying on its back, unable to flip over because it was a bit chubby.

“How did you follow me here?” Gu Jiaoyang was somewhat surprised to recognise the little hedgehog. The nanny had sent the hedgehog to Dragon Guard Slope, but he really hadn’t expected them to reunite.

“Jiji!! Jiji!” Boss, I finally found you!! QAQ!!!

“Jiji jiji!” I can’t flip over, Boss, help me quick QAQ! My quills are stuck in the dirt, I can’t get out!

“Is that how a hedgehog calls? Why do you sound like a yellow chick?” Gu Jiaoyang looked with amusement at this little white fatty, struggling to stretch its feet and paw at the surrounding grass, trying in vain to flip over for ages. It reminded him of a mochi ball stuck with four toothpicks.

“I’ll help you, but don’t dash out suddenly like that again.” Gu Jiaoyang nudged the little hedgehog with his selfie stick. Only then did he discover that because the little hedgehog had charged with such force, the little thing’s quills had stuck into the soil, which was why it couldn’t turn over.

“Silly thing, what are you squeaking about? I can’t understand you.”

Fortunately, the end of the selfie stick was flat, so the poke didn’t hurt. The little hedgehog was poked into a kidney bean shape with a dent in the middle before it finally flipped up from the ground. It immediately cocked its hind leg to scratch the quills on its back, kicking off all the black mud.

“Little Zhi? Are you online?”

A voice suddenly appearing in his mind caused Gu Jiaoyang’s hand holding the selfie stick to tremble. This rigid electronic voice seemed different from the previous one; it sounded much cheaper.

“Hello? Little Zhi? Are you there? I’m about to destroy the world!” Gu Jiaoyang poked the voice bar in his consciousness several times but found no reply. Checking the panel according to the prompts, he realised the mechanical voice just now came from a prize tool; Little Zhi hadn’t returned.

“Strange. Did it go back again?” Failing to find any trace of the Observation System being online, Gu Jiaoyang opened this new prize to test it out.

“Oh, so annoying, why is there so much mud? Who watered the ground?! It’s so wet, cleaning up is such a hassle!”

“Annoying, jiji jiji!”

“Damn it, ji! Making me lose face in front of the Boss!”

Just as Gu Jiaoyang switched on the Simultaneous Translator, the hedgehog’s squeaks were automatically translated and appeared in his mind.

“Impressive, my System. Finally, a tool that looks the part!” After praising his mysteriously vanished system, Gu Jiaoyang took the Simultaneous Translator and began to communicate with the little hedgehog.

“Hello there, little hedgehog.”

“Shut up! Can’t you see this Great Lord is busy! Jiji?! Boss! Boss, you can understand me speaking? My Nine-tailed Fox Grandma, ji, the Boss this Great Lord chose really has exceptional bone structure and natural talent!!! Boss, accept my bow. From today onwards, this little brother is following you, Boss!!!”

The little hedgehog, who hadn’t finished cleaning the mud off its body, froze when it heard the human boy’s voice in its mind. Its two black beady eyes looked up, sharing a silent stare with Gu Jiaoyang for a few seconds, before it suddenly jumped up, struck a pose resembling standing to attention, opened its mouth, and started squeaking.

“Boss? Are you talking about me? Why would a little hedgehog like you follow me? I’m just an ordinary cultivator.” Gu Jiaoyang was amused by the little hedgehog’s quirky behaviour, and he felt quite helpless about the hedgehog calling him ‘Boss’ every other sentence.

It was agreed that after the founding of the PRC, animals weren’t allowed to become spirits; this little hedgehog was breaking the law.

“Not so, not so. One look and I can tell Boss is no creature of the pond; one day you will surely soar to the heavens and become a mighty figure. This little brother only begs for Boss to offer some protection. I would be endlessly grateful and offer up tribute.” This little hedgehog was indeed a spirit. It was clearly eyeing his spiritual energy and wanted to mooch food and drink, but the words it spoke sounded somewhat reasonable.

“Hahaha, you’re really funny. I don’t want to become some big shot. I just want to be a happy slacker every day, a carefree, worldly cultivator.” Since he could communicate properly with it now, Gu Jiaoyang didn’t stand on ceremony. He reached out and touched the little hedgehog’s quills, helping it brush off the mud.

“Don’t be like that, Boss!!! Accept me! Don’t look down on my low cultivation; I have lots of spirit fruits in my cave! I can give half to Boss as tribute! Besides, I really have no other way. There’s a shameless old scoundrel chasing me relentlessly. If that guy gets my cultivation, he’ll definitely continue to do evil!”

Seeing that Gu Jiaoyang had no intention of accepting him, the little hedgehog got anxious. After all, due to the lack of spiritual energy in this world, there were too few things that had gained sentience. The little hedgehog, who hadn’t seen the evils of society, immediately exposed his true intentions. He pitifully sidled up, hugged the tip of Gu Jiaoyang’s shoe, and started crying and squeaking.

“A cultivator doing evil? Is there no Cultivation Administration Bureau in this world?” Gu Jiaoyang was actually quite interested in the information within the little hedgehog’s words. His rubbish system went offline whenever it pleased, and there were still things he hadn’t finished asking.

“What Bureau? No, no. Boss, you might not know, but cultivators are rare to begin with, and most only know a few low-level tricks. Those who do evil are even rarer—who doesn’t want to live longer? It’s just that the old scoundrel I met is truly detestable. Boss, take me away quickly, I’ll explain in detail later. So, Boss, jiji jiji sob, please accept me sob!”

The little hedgehog hugged Gu Jiaoyang’s shoe tip, squeaking away. Eventually, it climbed right up the shoe and bit onto Gu Jiaoyang’s trouser leg, refusing to let go, squeaking and shedding tears as if Gu Jiaoyang had done something terrible to it.

“Oi, you’re staging an accident here. I’ll call the police, you know. Hey, don’t cry. Alright, alright, let go. I’ll accept you, okay? But let me say the ugly part first: if my boyfriend doesn’t like you, you’ll have to come back here yourself. I can’t keep you then.”

Gu Jiaoyang couldn’t stand seeing people cry. If it was someone he disliked, fine, but if someone he didn’t dislike cried, he was helpless. Besides, the little hedgehog seemed to know quite a lot. Gu Jiaoyang sighed and decided to take the little thing in; it was only a matter of a few mouthfuls of spiritual energy anyway.

In his previous world, he had raised a few spiritual pets. But with his death, those cute little things had probably fallen cheaply into his junior brother’s hands.

“Alright, come down. I’ve promised you; I’m a puppy if I’m lying. Come down quickly, let’s go. I need to go home too. I have to get the driver to take you for a vaccine first. Don’t cry. Don’t think that just because you’re a hedgehog spirit you don’t need vaccines and deworming medicine. You won’t skip a single step of the procedure. Let’s go.”

“Jiji, I don’t want an injection, ji…” The little hedgehog aggrievedly curled itself into a ball, allowing Gu Jiaoyang to hold it in his hand with a layer of tissue paper. Because it was a spirit, its quills were exceptionally sharp; it really wasn’t a pet that could be cuddled in one’s arms.

“Every time I go out, I gain quite a haul. Tsk tsk, it’s fate.”

“Boss, you smell so good, ji!”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, ji!”

A certain hedgehog curled into a ball, turned its face away, and took a deep, fierce inhale.

Bliss! Absolutely brilliant!

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