I Awakened to a Farming TALENT

## Chapter 45: Found Wild Honey

For several days in a row, heavy rain came and went.

Finally, the weather cleared up again. Jiang Tingyun's vegetable garden had tough it out through the downpour.

After so many days of rain, there were definitely going to be a lot of mushrooms on the mountain. Jiang Tingyun suited up fully again and got ready to head up the mountain.

She also wanted to look for wild grapes. She'd heard Uncle Liu mention that there were wild grapes in these mountains every year—sour and sweet, perfect for making wine.

She didn't know how to make wine, but Uncle Liu did. Then she'd have homemade wine to drink.

Jiang Tingyun headed up the mountain with a walking stick. The mountain path was muddy, and the plants had grown lush and thick from the rain. The tree leaves were denser than ever, almost blocking out the sky. The sound of cicadas filled the air.

Just as she'd thought, there were lots of mushrooms after the rain. She picked all kinds along the way, including some she hadn't seen before—old man's head mushrooms, red mushrooms, even hazel mushrooms.

"Aw, how come I never find any termite mushrooms?" Jiang Tingyun was getting greedy. Regular mushrooms no longer impressed her.

She walked and picked, circling around several times, but still couldn't find any wild grapes.

"Where exactly did Uncle Liu say they were?" Jiang Tingyun hoisted her basket higher. "Maybe they didn't grow this year?"

Suddenly, she noticed a vine growing by a bush, covered in small fruits that looked like cherry tomatoes.

What were these? Wild cherry tomatoes?

Jiang Tingyun crouched down, plucked one, and squeezed it. A strong sour smell rushed into her nose.

**[Wild tomato: Nightshade family, edible, extremely sour.]**

She picked one, wiped it on her clothes, and popped it in her mouth. Instant sour face.

Way too sour. But this stuff could be used for sour broth.

Sour broth fish, sour broth rice—eating those on a hot day was a spicy, satisfying blast.

Jiang Tingyun pulled out her trusty snake-sack and quickly picked half a bag. Lots of locals loved sour food. She could make some new dishes and sell them.

Carrying her basket and lugging her sack, she wandered around the mountain for a while longer. The sun was high in the sky, but still no wild grapes.

Jiang Tingyun gave up and decided to head down.

*Bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz*

What was that sound? Jiang Tingyun stopped. She saw dozens of bees circling around a rotting tree stump.

She perked up. So many bees swarming around—could it be... could there be a hive here? Risky, but there might also be honey!

She didn't dare get close. From a distance, she used her stick to push aside the weeds around the rotten stump. She looked closely. It was packed with bees, and inside, she could see some yellow honeycomb.

She could already smell the sweet aroma of honey! At this time of year, all kinds of wildflowers bloomed on the mountain. She'd found wild multi-flower honey!

Jiang Tingyun was both excited and scared. Wild honey was so tempting, but there were so many bees. Getting stung a few times would be dangerous.

She wavered back and forth between cutting out the honey and getting her face swollen like a pig's head. After a long struggle, she reluctantly gave up.

Forget it. She hadn't brought any tools this time. She'd come up with a plan.

By the time she got back to Qionghua Eatery, she was still deep in thought, her mind completely occupied with how to get her hands on that wild honey.

"Sect Master, what's wrong? You haven't said a word today." Jin Feifan was usually pretty good at reading people, so he couldn't help asking.

Jiang Tingyun snapped out of it.

"I was thinking... thinking about how to cut out the honey without getting stung."

Zhu Lili's eyes lit up. "Sect Master, did you find wild honey today?"

Jiang Tingyun nodded. "Yeah, but there are way too many bees. I don't dare go near it."

"Send Senior Brother!" Zhu Lili and Jin Feifan said in unison.

"Uh... no, that's not—this isn't about fighting bad guys. Cutting honey takes some skill. Getting stung is actually really dangerous." Jiang Tingyun facepalmed. Those two always thought of Pei Jingmo for anything dangerous.

Jin Feifan scratched his neck. "But Senior Brother has experience. Last year I saw him sneaking a chunk of honeycomb."

"..."

Jiang Tingyun immediately turned her head and looked at her eldest disciple with hopeful eyes.

A gleam flashed in Pei Jingmo's eyes. He loved honey more than anything!

He'd been following bee trails all over the mountain for days and hadn't found any. And now his Sect Master had stumbled upon it.

Without a moment's hesitation, he stood up, grabbed the heavy sword on the table, and said to Jiang Tingyun, "Let's go."

"Huh? Now?" Jiang Tingyun was caught off guard. She'd just gotten down the mountain. She quickly asked, "Do we need to bring any tools?"

"No need."

Pei Jingmo strode out the door. Jiang Tingyun quickly grabbed a basket and followed, not forgetting to turn back and give instructions.

"Xiao Zhu, post in the group that we're closed today!!"

...

"It's around here."

The rotten stump was in a very hidden spot. Jiang Tingyun had carefully noted the location, but when she got nearby, she couldn't find it again.

Pei Jingmo closed his eyes, his ears twitching slightly as he listened for the bees, tracking their flight paths.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said, "This way. Follow me."

That's amazing?

Jiang Tingyun carried her basket and tiptoed behind him.

They pushed through a patch of wild grass, and sure enough, there was the familiar rotten stump, covered in weeds. If she hadn't marked the spot earlier, she never would have found it.

"There. Inside that rotten stump. Don't take it all—leave some for the bees." Jiang Tingyun tugged at Pei Jingmo's sleeve and pointed.

Pei Jingmo nodded, held one arm out to block her behind him, and said, "Step back."

Then he slowly drew the heavy sword from his back.

This was the first time Jiang Tingyun had seen Pei Jingmo use a sword.

The sword wasn't shiny and sharp like ordinary swords. It was dark, deep as ink, with no edge on either side—as if it had never been sharpened. The whole thing looked incredibly heavy and solid.

She had no idea how Pei Jingmo was going to cut the honey away from all those bees.

But Jiang Tingyun obediently stepped back several paces and held her breath, not wanting to disturb him.

Pei Jingmo kicked the sword up, using the momentum to swing the heavy weapon—nearly his height—and brought it down in a reverse chop, pointing straight at the dense swarm of bees as he used the Intimidation technique.

Even though the blade didn't touch them, all the bees froze for an instant. The next second, as if sensing the danger coming, they scattered and fled.

A flash of cold light. Jiang Tingyun didn't even register what had happened. Inside the rotten stump, several large chunks of honeycomb had been neatly sliced off.

Pei Jingmo gave the heavy sword a clever flick with his wrist. *Whap, whap, whap*—the honeycomb pieces lined up neatly on the wide blade.

"Take it."

That's it? That's all?

"...That's insane!!" Jiang Tingyun stared in awe.

So this was a sword cultivator? So freaking cool!! Now *this* actually felt like immortal cultivation!

Jiang Tingyun deftly and gently placed the honeycomb into her basket.

But then she scratched her head in confusion. There was still something weird about this.

Was a sword cultivator's sword really meant for cutting honey?