Mu Xueshi had been thrilled from the moment the Third Prince took him outside, and the wondrous sights around him soon made it impossible to contain his excitement. In his eyes, the Third Prince’s courtyard resembled a paradise on earth, containing everything imaginable. Add a little carbon dioxide for atmosphere, and it would be no different from the heavenly palace.
Whenever Mu Xueshi became happy, he forgot all restraint. He chattered incessantly beside the Third Prince like a noisy little skylark, saying things the Third Prince could not understand. Occasionally, when he noticed the Third Prince’s expression darkening, Mu Xueshi would abruptly remember his present circumstances. He would immediately watch his words and behavior, following obediently behind the Third Prince. The moment he discovered something else interesting, however, he would start exclaiming all over again.
Mu Xueshi snapped off a century-blooming Yanran Blossom from the Third Prince’s courtyard, played with the flowering branch between his teeth for a while, then threw it away. He also knocked the caps off several varieties of precious fungi, leaving only their bare stems behind. Whenever he encountered something amusing along the path, he plucked it, pinched and kneaded it for a while, then tossed it onto the ground. Occasionally, he even caught an insect and stuffed it into his sleeve, watching it crawl downward along his arm…
The Qiqi Vine, which the Third Prince had painstakingly cultivated, was an exceptionally unusual flowering vine found only within Qinyi Courtyard. A row of tiny blossoms grew along it, and fruit could form only when all forty-nine flowers bloomed and withered simultaneously. It was said that this fruit could extend a person’s lifespan, but it was extraordinarily difficult to cultivate. Only this year had forty-nine blossoms finally appeared at the same time.
Mu Xueshi happened to choose that exact vine because it had the most flowers. Gripping it in one hand, he stripped it clean in a single sweep from one end to the other, leaving one hand holding a bare vine and the other overflowing with scattered petals. Delighted, Mu Xueshi tossed the petals into the air, then began playing with the remaining vine like a whip.
After walking for a while, Mu Xueshi noticed several large trees standing side by side in the distance. The fruits growing on them had four ridges, and at a glance, Mu Xueshi thought they resembled inferior starfruit. Although he had rarely eaten starfruit before, seeing something familiar from his old world while stranded in this foreign land made him feel extraordinarily sentimental.
Mu Xueshi called out to the Third Prince, then walked beneath one of the trees and shook it violently, hoping to knock down several fruits. Not a single fruit fell, but a great deal of fluffy white blossom drifted down instead.
With his back toward the Third Prince, Mu Xueshi danced beneath the fluttering blossoms like an elf. The Third Prince had only just begun gazing at him with fascination when, in the very next instant, Mu Xueshi let out a loud yell and scrambled halfway up the tree like a monkey.
The Third Prince stopped walking, unable to understand what Mu Xueshi intended to do. The fruit borne by this tree was known as a Zaoying Pod. Once ground into powder, it could be made into soap-pod powder for washing clothes. Because the trunk absorbed dust and sand, these trees had been planted on the windward side of the courtyard to filter grit from the air. A mere touch was enough to feel the thin layer of sand coating the bark.
Mu Xueshi climbed in a strange and awkward posture. Because the sand made the trunk slippery, every time he climbed one meter, he slid half a meter back down. Although the tree was less than three meters tall, it took him an exceedingly long time to scale it.
The Third Prince stood beneath the tree and watched without the slightest intention of helping. With a single leap, he could have carried Mu Xueshi to the treetop in the blink of an eye. Yet he would rather stand aside and enjoy Mu Xueshi’s embarrassing struggle than save him even a little effort.
After finally reaching a thick branch, Mu Xueshi grabbed a large Zaoying Pod and tugged downward with all his strength. He pulled too hard and tumbled straight off the branch. Fortunately, the ground beneath the tree was covered in soft, sandy soil, so he felt no pain whatsoever. Mu Xueshi sprang nimbly to his feet and hurried excitedly toward the Third Prince, clutching the prize he had fought so hard to obtain.
The Third Prince asked nothing. He simply lifted his foot and continued toward Lingzi Lake. Mu Xueshi polished the Zaoying Pod with his sleeve and was just about to stuff it into his mouth when he reconsidered and held it out before the Third Prince instead.
“There’s only one, so you can have it!”
The Third Prince stopped and turned his gaze toward Mu Xueshi’s face. Mu Xueshi looked completely sincere, without the slightest hint that he was playing a prank. The Zaoying Pod in his hand had been polished until it gleamed. Anyone unaware of what it truly was might genuinely have mistaken it for a delicious fruit.