Chapter 130: Plants with an Owner Cannot Be Picked

Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Plants with an Owner Cannot Be Picked

"Scarce is still better than nothing. But how could Spirit Veins and spirit stone mines be that easy for people to find?" Gu Nuan Nuan felt a stir of excitement, but reason told her that good things never came that easily.

"But you have me, Cao Cao! Did you forget, Master? Wherever there are plants, nothing can hide from me." Cao Cao swayed its main trunk, looking quite smug. "However, because I don’t have enough energy, my growth is too slow, and my abilities are limited. I can only survey an area of about two to three thousand meters at a time. I can’t go any farther than that."

"Two to three thousand meters is already great. As it happens, Grandpa and Mom are taking me up the mountain this Sunday. You can take a good look around then and see if there are any treasures up there," Gu Nuan Nuan said with a casual smile.

"Master, I actually know where some treasure is buried nearby," Cao Cao said smugly. Afraid Gu Nuan Nuan wouldn’t understand, it quickly added, "The same kind of treasure my previous master took out of the storage bag for your mother."

"You’re saying my grandfather had a storage bag?" Gu Nuan Nuan nearly choked. This was a huge shock.

"That’s right. The master before my last one used that storage bag to hold Spirit Stones for me, then casually tossed it into my Companion Space and never took it out. When my previous master discovered what it was for, he started using it to store things."

"So that’s how it was..." Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head with a sigh, trailing off.

"Master, Master, when are we going to go dig up all that treasure?" Cao Cao wiggled its main stalk.

"You mean the treasure is in more than one place? Is it inside someone’s house or outside?"

"There are three spots in total. Does a yard count as being outside someone’s house?"

"Of course not. Are all three spots in other people’s yards? Isn’t there a single one that’s ownerless?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked. She was curious, but also couldn’t contain her excitement. Her Plant Pet could easily detect the location of buried treasure! It reminded her of Feng Sheng from the *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, who could see buried treasure with the help of the Eight Great Kings. ’Compared to him, I’m way better off,’ she thought. ’His ability to see treasure was only borrowed temporarily. I’m different. As long as I don’t do something stupid and abandon my Plant Pet, I’ll have this power forever, right?’

’Oh my god, if this keeps up, does this mean that if I’m ever short on money, I can just go find a few ownerless treasure troves? Before long, I’d have more gold and silver than I could spend in one lifetime, or even several! Would I ever have to worry about money again?’

As Gu Nuan Nuan was marveling at the possibilities, Cao Cao’s annoyed voice piped up. "We can’t take the ones in other people’s yards?"

"Of course not. That belongs to them. We can only take things that are ownerless." Gu Nuan Nuan found this amusing. ’Wait, is my Plant Pet even greedier for treasure than I am?’ she thought suddenly. ’Shouldn’t it only be worried about its energy?’

"Oh."

Cao Cao nodded, seeming to only half-understand, then suddenly added, "Master, of the three places with buried treasure, two of the houses have people living in them. But one is empty, and the house is all dilapidated. Does that count as ownerless?"

"Empty and dilapidated? Is it in the southern part of the village?" Gu Nuan Nuan immediately had a hunch. ’There really is a house on the south side of Zhang Family Village that’s been abandoned for more than a decade,’ she recalled. ’It’s completely overgrown with weeds and has become a playground for birds and children. Land probably isn’t scarce in the countryside, especially in a remote mountain village like Grandpa and Grandma’s, which is why in my memories from my past life, that house just stayed abandoned—’

"That’s right! You’re so smart, Master, you guessed it right away."

’See how good my judgment is!’ Cao Cao’s tone swelled with pride. ’The master I chose might just be a mortal who can never achieve Cultivation in this life, but not only did she give me a promise none of my kin have ever received, she’s also so smart and capable.’

"Haha, you little flatterer. It’s getting late, I should go to sleep. You get some rest, too." Gu Nuan Nuan jokingly chided Cao Cao as her consciousness withdrew from its Companion Space. She mentally filed the information away for later.

’There’s no need to rush, anyway,’ she thought. ’Rushing won’t help. The treasure is buried there; it’s not going anywhere. Besides, in my past life, I never heard about anyone digging up any treasure there, did I? When the opportunity arises, I can ask Mom to buy the property. That way, when we come back to Zhang Family Village, we’ll have our own home base. It would kill two birds with one stone.’

「The next day」

Gu Nuan Nuan was shaken awake by her mother.

"We’re running a little late. Hurry up and get dressed, then go brush your teeth and wash your face. I’ll grab you two boiled eggs to eat on the way. Quick, or we’ll be late!"

"Oh, okay. Mom, can you pick a tomato for me, too?" Gu Nuan Nuan glanced outside and saw it was indeed much brighter than usual. She scrambled out of bed to get dressed, calling out to Zhang Minzhen as she did.

"I know, I’m going to get it now. You hurry up!" Zhang Minzhen, who had already stepped out of the room, called back with a smile.

"If you want a tomato, Master, I can help—Master, look!" Cao Cao’s voice, eager for praise, echoed from the Companion Space. Gu Nuan Nuan sent her consciousness inside and froze. On the floor of the space lay several crimson, perfectly ripe tomatoes. Every single one was flawless in both size and shape. They definitely didn’t look like they came from the small vegetable patch in the Zhang family’s yard.

"You can teleport things?" Gu Nuan Nuan was stunned.

"Mhm! Even in the Cultivation World, as long as a Spirit Plant or its fruit is a lower rank than me, I can pull it into the space without anyone ever knowing." Cao Cao urged excitedly, "Hurry and try one, Master! These are the best-looking and sweetest tomatoes around. I guarantee they’re delicious!"

"If I just pull these out and start eating them, how am I supposed to explain that to my family?" Gu Nuan Nuan gave a wry smile. She glanced at the tomatoes, then her expression turned serious as she admonished Cao Cao. "Besides, except for the wild plants, everything around here was grown through someone’s hard work. They finally get a harvest, and you just come along and pick their very best fruit? That’s not right. I’ll let it go this time, but don’t ever do this again."

"I can’t pick them?" Cao Cao was baffled.

"That’s right. You have to remember this from now on: you can’t just pick plants that other people have grown. You can only pick wild plants or fruit that don’t belong to anyone." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded sternly, then suddenly thought of something else and added, "And if we go traveling in the future, some plants in scenic areas or nature preserves also can’t be picked. At the very least, you can’t just uproot an entire rare plant; that would cause a huge problem... Ugh, it’s hard to explain it all at once. Just remember this: from now on, if you want to pick any plant or fruit, you have to ask me first before you do anything."

"Oh, I’ll remember." Cao Cao was still a bit muddled. ’Why was Master unhappy when I brought back the fruit she wanted to eat?’ It couldn’t quite figure it out, but it knew that making its master unhappy was wrong, so it hastily nodded in agreement.

"Good." Gu Nuan Nuan’s consciousness withdrew from the space. She could hear the confusion in Cao Cao’s voice, but she didn’t have time to explain everything right now. ’I’ll have to teach it slowly when I have more time later.’