After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 78

Gu Jiaoyang naturally accepted the invitation to the Brilliant Auction. He suspected that Xi Chuanbai was so eager for him to attend mainly because of the business surrounding his man, Mr. Dai. Although he was confident that with his current abilities and the Monitoring System’s help, Mr. Dai would be safe, he still decided against involving him openly, just to be on the safe side.

“What if I paint a picture?” Gu Jiaoyang walked away from the park, talking to the Monitoring System.

You could. But you’re not exactly famous yet, so it probably wouldn’t raise much money, would it? The Monitoring System had picked up a lot about the human world and knew exactly what a charity auction was.

“Who knows? We aren’t going there to show off, anyway. I mainly want to see what kind of shenanigans Xi Chuanbai is up to next.”

True enough.

“But what about you? You were in such close proximity to Xi Chuanbai this time didn’t you discover anything? Did you sense your so-called Virus Main System 001?” Gu Jiaoyang was still quite curious about the mechanism behind the ‘deprecated halos’ the Monitoring System mentioned. Xi Chuanbai’s visible, large-letter halo today was both ridiculous and intriguing. It was a case of: That’s weird but let me look again.

[No. If it were that easy to track, we wouldn’t have to waste so much time and effort.] Gu Jiaoyang conceded that the System had a point. He was the main villain, after all, so it was normal for him to be hard to catch.

“We’ll worry about that later. We still don’t have enough information. Let’s go home and find my man!”

Gu Jiaoyang walked towards where Dai Gucan usually parked. Today, it wasn’t Dai Gucan picking him up, but the family driver. Gu Jiaoyang didn’t mind; his Mr. Dai was a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool CEO, and although he was sweet, he definitely needed to focus on earning money to support their home.

Since classes finished early for the students, Gu Jiaoyang went home, tidied up, and decided to visit the mountain plot he’d leased. He planned to quietly set up a few small illusion arrays to prevent wild animals from wandering in and harming the spiritual crops he would plant, and also to keep the animals safe from the protective netting or any human tools.

This trip meant he’d miss dinner with Dai Gucan, so Gu Jiaoyang messaged him to tell him not to wait. Before leaving, he also brought Nuomi with him. He had thought the hedgehog would love the place, and sure enough, after hearing the plan, Nuomi was delighted, scrambling with his four little claws to climb into the car.

Wow, wow, wow! Being human is amazing! You own a mountain already!

Gu Jiaoyang chuckled. The driver couldn’t hear their telepathic exchange and concentrated on the road. Looking at the little hedgehog in the cat carrier, he said, “I know, right? And I’m planning to have you live there permanently. How would you like to guard the spiritual field for me?”

Guard the spiritual field? The little hedgehog was surrounded by mental question marks. In his mind, the term “spiritual field” could only mean one thing…

Nuomi was still young, and his emotions were quite overt. Gu Jiaoyang sensed his excitement and looked down to find the little creature pressed against the cage door, his black beady eyes wide open, practically begging for starry-eyed verification.

“It’s exactly what you think. I’m planning to set up a Spiritual Gathering Array to grow some food for us and then cultivate some spiritual medicinal herbs. There are also a few spiritual springs on the mountain that have developed a weak form of sentience. Once the medicinal herbs are planted, they’ll likely attract unwanted attention if they prove effective.”

“I still have university to attend, and I can’t leave my Mr. Dai, so I want you to be the King of the Mountain for now and look after things. Of course, you can’t touch the medicinal herbs, but you can drink the spring water freely. Once the Spiritual Gathering Array is working, the plants on the mountain will slowly mutate and those will all be yours.” Gu Jiaoyang poked Nuomi’s chubby cheek through the cat carrier, causing the little creature, who was momentarily stunned by the sheer good fortune, to topple over.

R-r-really!!?

Nuomi’s black eyes were fixed on Gu Jiaoyang, his adorable appearance making Gu Jiaoyang laugh out loud.

“Absolutely. I’m an adult; why would I lie to you? Be a good boy and work hard for me, and the rewards will be huge.”

Then, then, you promise! No taking it back! Nuomi agreed to Gu Jiaoyang’s promise, and all his quills flattened out in excitement. He spun around joyfully inside the cage.

Gu Jiaoyang had initially intended to carry the hedgehog without a cage, but Nuomi was sensible. He knew that while Gu Jiaoyang and Dai Gucan were not ordinary humans, the rest of the staff in the house were mere mortals, so he wisely requested the carrier himself.

After all, to ordinary humans, small animals like hedgehogs were often considered potentially dangerous, not just because of their spines but also because they could carry viruses.

“Little Nuomi is so lively. I’ve never seen such a spiritually energised little hedgehog,” the driver said, smiling as he looked through the rear-view mirror, having heard the sounds of Nuomi turning in the cage.

Gu Jiaoyang wholeheartedly agreed. He was indeed intelligent. He’d never seen a hedgehog with such developed spiritual awareness in his old world, either.

The drive to the mountain wasn’t long. Gu Jiaoyang chatted with Nuomi, checked his phone, and quickly dozed off before they arrived. The driver parked the car in the estate office. He wanted to accompany Gu Jiaoyang up the mountain, but since Gu Jiaoyang had work to do that couldn’t be seen, he asked the driver to wait at the estate. The driver, still a little worried, called Dai Gucan to check, and only after receiving confirmation did he relax and wait in the estate office.

Gu Jiaoyang hadn’t announced his visit this time. The temporary manager assigned to patrol the mountain was still out and hadn’t returned, and Gu Jiaoyang didn’t intend to call them. He had mapped out the area on his last visit and didn’t need a guide. Besides, even if this relatively small mountain actually harboured a fierce-eyed white-forehead tiger, he wouldn’t be afraid. He’d probably ‘interrogate it a bit’ and secretly stroke it after casting a few spells.

After a quick gear check, Gu Jiaoyang lifted Nuomi out of the cat carrier, put him on the ground, and slowly walked into the mountains with the little fellow tagging along, heading towards the sunset.

Nuomi was no ordinary hedgehog. His walking speed was considerable, his four short legs churning incredibly fast to keep right behind Gu Jiaoyang without falling behind at all.

The commotion of entering the mountains disturbed the birds perched in the trees. Gu Jiaoyang checked, and finding they were just common birds, lost interest. He took a few more glances, then continued walking inward, consulting his planned map and contemplating what to plant where.

Dai Gucan’s pharmaceutical company had many products. The most well-known were common, frequently used items like cold sachets and stomach medicine capsules.

There were other categories that Gu Jiaoyang, as a cultivator, didn’t recognise at all, including many chemical drugs that he didn’t understand and therefore had no intention of interfering with.

His goal was to improve traditional Chinese medicines, such as various pills and compounds. He provisionally decided to plant Fuling Poria, Danggui Angelica, and Gancao Licorice.

He would grow Fuling most extensively. Danggui requires high-altitude cold, and Gancao needs a dry, desert-like environment. Both environments were incompatible with this mountain, but Gu Jiaoyang planned to use the Spiritual Gathering Array to simulate small, dedicated areas to cultivate new, improved varieties, which Dai Gucan could then mass-produce elsewhere.

As he walked and pondered, Gu Jiaoyang suddenly heard a noise in the grass behind him.

Support