The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm [Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG]-Chapter 259 – Fox Clan Festival Start
Two days later, the seeds sprouted.
“Mr. Bear, this border crop is amazing, and so is the trap crop.”
I walked along the tea field, the morning sun still cool against my face as the first light of dawn painted everything in a soft golden color. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees around me, carrying the scent of rich, damp earth to me. I never woke up this early back on Earth, but now that I was a farmer, I was intimately familiar with the daybreak hours.
Days before, we had planted the tea seeds, and now delicate green shoots had pushed through the dark soil in rows, their tiny leaves catching the sunlight like miniature emeralds. However, the [Silverleaf] and [Elephant Grass] were a different matter. They were now as high as my knee and seemed to glow faintly.
I circled the field, watering the plants and checking for any weeds or disease, though it was still early for that. This tea planting site was specifically chosen because this part of the farm was surrounded on the eastern side by the forest, and the temperature here should be cooler as the summer season progresses.
After I was done tending to the field, I put my watering can back into my inventory. Wiping my hands on a clean white cotton handkerchief, I decided to do a spot of Foraging since I still had some time before I met up with the others. I put some boots on Mr. Bear to protect his feet from the mud and stepped out of the farm’s boundary and into a world of towering trees and wild growth.
The moment I stepped beneath the canopy, the world transformed. The air here was cooler and full of the earthy scent of decomposing leaves and moss. Shafts of golden sunlight pierced through the branches above, creating a dappled pattern on the forest floor. My footsteps were muffled by years of fallen leaves that crunched softly beneath my boots.
I followed a narrow, winding animal path that wound deeper into the woods. Birds called to each other from the branches overhead, and I stopped to admire a particularly colorful patch of lichen on a branch of a maple tree. I hit the jackpot when I found a large patch of wild [Oyster Mushrooms] growing on a fallen log and the tree trunk above it. I used the System to automatically harvest it. When I examined the new item in my inventory, I found that these were not regular [Oyster Mushrooms], but a special wild variety.
[Woodsong Mushroom:
An Oyster Mushroom that has absorbed the energy of the forest and developed special properties. These broad, fan-shaped caps display a subtle golden shimmer and emit a faint, earthy, and sweet aroma like honey mixed with moss. The golden brown mushrooms form cascading, shelf-like clusters that seem to pulse with gentle inner light. When consumed, the Woodsong Mushroom releases a small amount of stored forest energy into the body, providing a minor increase to the player’s energy. Some herbalists believe that regular consumption of Woodsong Mushrooms can gradually attune one's spirit to the natural rhythms of the wilderness.]
“What a find!”
I quickly marked the spot on my map and went back to the farm to meet with my apprentices and showed them the spot. Some mushrooms grew back fast, and it was possible that we would be able to harvest them once or even twice a week.
“Mushroom stir fry tonight!”
***
We spent a week resting up and doing nothing much to recharge our mental batteries. After that short break, I asked Scholar Wu to resume the kids’ classes, and I spent my afternoons looking over the accounts, contracts, and other paperwork with Shuye.
I was supposed to start the quest, too, but I postponed it to after the Fox clan’s festival. Prince Baiyu asked me why I was nervous about it; however, I didn’t have a concrete answer for him.
Maybe I was just a little bit concerned that everything would change once I knew why I was here.
“Is it wrong for me to enjoy things as they are right now?” I asked Cutie as I picked her up from her house.
“Chu!”
“Yes, I thought you would say that. I’m glad you agree.”
It was after lunch, and it was time for me to meet my apprentices to plant the [Fairy Flower Seeds].
They were in the potato field. These last few days, we had marveled at the [Silverleaf] and [Elephant Grass’s] speed of growth, and they were currently checking their effect on the crops.
“I can’t believe the [Silverleaf] is waist high already,” said Mo.
“The bees don’t seem bothered,” said Lari.
The System’s text description said that the plants repelled and trapped “pests,” but I was a little worried that they might also affect pollinators and beneficial insects. If that happened, I was fully prepared to dig them up and discard them. Thankfully, when I moved a beehive close to the [Silverleaf] border, they seemed unaffected by it and the [Elephant Grass].
“That’s good. Okay, let us continue to observe them.” I glanced up at the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. “We should hurry to the sanctuary.”
We walked quickly to our chosen site south of the river, near where we were keeping the farm animals. Based on the System map, it needed to be placed near the pens, and it had to be a certain minimum size. We cleared an area the size of two basketball courts, except for the two tallest trees, since we all agreed that a garden with no trees was no proper garden.
Of course, this meant that parts of it would be shady, but lots of flowers preferred some shade anyway. We also spared one small but gorgeous flame tree. We simply couldn’t bear to cut it down when it was in full bloom, its branches so full of red-orange flowers that from afar it looked like it was on fire.
I made a walking path by placing plain white stone tiles on the ground. Under the two trees, I put two rustic wooden park benches for us to use when the garden was in bloom.
Preparations complete, we quickly tilled the soil and sowed the [Fairy Flower Seeds].
“I believe with all my heart that this will become a beautiful flower garden blessed by the fairies!” said Mo.
“Me, too,” said Kharli.
“I think so, too. All the flowers are fairy flowers. That has to mean something, right?” said Lari.
“Cutie will love it,” I said.
My pet was happily bouncing all over the place, and we petted her whenever she came close to one of us.
Once we finished planting seeds, we all got the System notification.
[Fragrant Flower Sanctuary: Quest Complete]
Reward: Farming Exp]
None of us leveled up, but it was a good chunk of exp nonetheless.
“It’s gonna rain! Let’s go!” I handed them raincoats and we half ran, half walked to the main house, but still the rain caught us halfway and we arrived there drenched and muddy.
“Look, Cutie turned into a mud slime!” Lari burst into laughter and caught my pet in his arms. “I’ll go wash her in the hot spring.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna go for a good soak, too,” I said. “Remember, you guys have classes in an hour.”
They groaned.
***
And so the days turned hotter and the plants grew taller as we enjoyed a cooler summer compared to last year. The day before the festival, I distributed everyone’s salary in advance so they could buy what they wanted from the stalls.
On the day itself, the [Bambi Dream Salon] was extra busy as we all used it to get new, fancy hairstyles. I opted for a simple and neat Braided Crown, a continuous braid around my head that kept my hair out of my face and anchored the two silver hairpins that held up a white birdcage veil. It was tradition for all festival attendees to wear a mask, but the ones my staff showed me seemed uncomfortable, so I had Yinuo’s artist husband paint a small piece of white silk net fabric with an abstract pattern suggesting a butterfly. A few of the maids followed my lead and made veil masks, too.
The summer robes we all put on were thinner and looser than normal. Mine was a soft green with an orange butterfly print, with Mr. Bear in a golden robe hanging from my waist like a precious ornament.
“My dear, you look amazingly lovely,” said Prince Baiyu, who was waiting for me in front of the flying carriage.
“Look who’s talking.”
We smiled at each other, and he pulled his tiger mask up so I could kiss his cheek.
Since all of us were going, the flying carriage and ox carts would make several trips. I was going first with Prince Baiyu and my apprentices. Kharli and Mo were wearing fox masks while Lari had chosen a red yeren mask. A yeren was a mythical wild creature that looked like a humanlike furry ape, said to live in these mountains, like a local yeti or Bigfoot.
“I’ll save my money and only buy food,” said Lari. “I heard the stalls only sell cheap trinkets.”
“More ribbons would be nice,” said Mo. She had been caught up in the maids’ ribbon-making spree. “If they sell good dye or thread, I’ll buy some.”
“I’m not like you two. I’ll buy whatever catches my fancy,” said Kharli.
“What?” Mo looked scandalized. “Are you really not planning to save for your dowry chest?”
Kharli snorted inelegantly. “What’s the use of being young if the only thing you do is save for when you’re old?”
Prince Baiyu and I exchanged amused looks but didn’t interrupt their playful debate over the merits of spending vs saving money. Like me, Prince Baiyu was wealthy and didn’t need to count his pennies. My apprentices had a good amount of money for their age, but they had the mindset of orphans with no family and regarded money as a fleeting resource that could disappear at any moment.
I planned to buy all the System items that I could. Although the event was a mundane one, I remembered the Mid-Autumn Festival Contest in Hongzhen, where I was able to get an [Earth Charm] by donating to the temple. This event would probably have something similar.
[Earth Charm:
A small wooden charm with the Earth symbol carved on it.
+1% Elemental Earth Damage]
It would be even better if I could get another trophy like the one I got before.
[Ninth Place Trophy (Mid-Autumn Farming Contest)
A wooden trophy in the shape of an acorn.
+0.1% Farming Exp]
“We’re here,” said Prince Baiyu.
I looked out the window and saw something that knocked the breath right out of my lungs.
Oh my goodness!
It was the Adventure Incarnate logo!
What was that doing here?!
.
!
Chapter 259 – Fox Clan Festival Start
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