Chapter 851 Harvesting Bamboo Shoots
The cowardly ghost pondered and said, “Since it’s called the Spiritual Spring, there should be springs nearby.”
The harem spirit chimed in, poking her head out and adding, “That’s right! Where there’s a spring, there’s always a puddle nearby… I guess the spring water overflows because the puddle is full.”
Lilly felt a pang of sadness, thinking about how the overflowing water had falling into the bottomless abyss. It seemed like such a shame.
I’m taking it away!
I can’t be a wasteful kid!
Thrifting is a virtue!
gone to waste,
Lilly enlarged the jar of souls, but she had to be careful not to make it too large. If it exceeded the crack in the cliff, it would be torn apart by the strange forces of the abyss outside.
So she enlarged it to the size of a small bucket, rapidly filling it with the immeasurable spiritual spring water. Even though it was a swift process, Lilly could not help but feel anxious.
“Michael, do you think Ivan could be here?” Lilly asked, her gaze fixed on the depths of the gap as the jar of souls absorbed the boundless spiritual spring.
The cowardly ghost, sipping water from the spiritual spring, replied, “It’s hard to say. The spring water rushes out and forms a waterfall. Normally, it would be impossible for a regular child to enter such a rapid current…”
Lilly nodded and said, “But Ivan is not a regular kid.”
The cowardly ghost sighed, feeling a bit unsettled once again. He turned around and punched the rebel ghost, which seemed to alleviate his frustration.
The rebel ghost was dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, the jar of souls had completely absorbed the spiritual spring, leaving the stone cliffs bare. The water that had once flowed up to Lilly’s waist now only remained as a thin layer on the rocks.
As they ventured further into the darkness, the tearing force from the abyss outside weakened, allowing the cowardly ghost to move more freely. He urged them to follow the
current and search for the source of the spring.
“If Ivan has been here before, he would have found a way to trace the current back to its origin,” the cowardly ghost suggested.
Lilly and the others continued walking, but as they went deeper, the stone walls rose higher and the darkness became oppressive. It was so pitch-black that they could not see their own fingers, making it difficult to breathe.
Lilly’s unique vision allowed her to see in the dark, but even she could not make out anything in this place.
“Let’s light a fire!” the cowardly ghost suggested, pulling Lilly to a stop. It was too dangerous to continue without any visibility.
The harem spirit held up a torch, but to their disappointment, it refused to ignite. “It’s no use,” he sighed. “I tried, but even the fire of a will-o-wisp won’t light up here.”
The unlucky ghost chimed in, saying, “Maybe Lilly’s Spiritual Fire can…”
But before he could finish his sentence, the rebellious ghost interjected angrily, “Oh, come on! So how could Spiritual Fire be considered a will-o-wisp? If we can’t light a will-o-wisp, then how can hers be lit?”
Lilly was about to offer her Spiritual Fire when she realized that it would not ignite either. She let out a sigh, disappointed.
The cowardly ghost tried to comfort her, saying, “Lilly, it’s okay, we…”
Suddenly, Lilly pulled out a powerful flashlight and switched it on, instantly illuminating the entire cave.
The ghosts were momentarily stunned by the sudden burst of light.
“Michael, what were you saying?” Lilly asked. “I wasn’t paying attention earlier.”
The cowardly ghost replied quietly, “It’s nothing…”
The unlucky ghost could not help but exclaim, “That’s brilliant! Why didn’t we think of bringing a flashlight?”
Lilly, scanning the cave with the flashlight, replied in a somewhat paternal tone, “Isn’t it
common sense?”
“My father always said, when metaphysics fails, try using science.”
The flashlight was a product of science, a modern technological invention.
Uhm…
Vesting Bamboo Shoots
The ghosts were left speechless.
Under the powerful beam of light, the cave was illuminated, revealing its features.
The inside of the cave resembled a karst cave. After the uphill path they had traversed earlier, the terrain flattened out, and the ground became slightly concave, forming numerous puddles.
Stalactites hung from the cave ceiling, with water dripping from their tips and collecting in the puddles below.
“Don’t let it go to waste!” Lilly murmured as she walked along, allowing the jar of souls to collect all the spiritual spring water from the puddles.
“Have
you found the spring?” the harem spirit inquired.
The rebel ghost, the foolish ghost, the unlucky ghost, the bridal ghost, Jessie, and the others, scattered throughout the cave, responded one after another…
“No.”
“Nothing here either!”
“I can’t find the source where the spring water came from. This whole area is filled with puddles… It should be here…
Lilly looked up, fixing her gaze on the row of stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling. “If it’s not on the ground, could it be up there?” she wondered aloud.
Without hesitation, she forcefully broke off one of the stalactites.
Wow…
As the stalactite shattered, a small stream of water began to trickle down, and Lilly, promptly tilting her head back and opening her mouth, caught the water as it fell, drinking it all at
once.
“Wow… it’s delicious!” she exclaimed with delight.
Lilly’s eyes sparkled as she realized that the stalactites were filled with even richer spiritual spring water than the ones outside.
“This is amazing! It’s like harvesting bamboo shoots!”
She eagerly collected the stalactites, taking one in each hand and feeling increasingly
Harvesting Bamboo Shoots
delighted as she gathered more.
The bridal ghost and the harem ghost returned to the jar of souls, retrieved the “bamboo shoot” stalactites that Lilly had broken off, found jade bottles one by one, filled them with the spiritual spring water, and sealed them tightly.
As for the remaining stalactites, they were tossed aside without much thought, piling up beside the large pit of spiritual spring water.
The jade bottles had been accumulated over time within the jar of souls, serving as a pastime for the ghosts. Little did they know they would come in handy now.
As for the jade itself, it had been collected incidentally during their underground ventures. Its quality was not as good as the royal purple jade piece Lilly had picked up, and the Crawford family was not lacking in wealth, so it had been kept in the jar of souls.
In the blink of an eye, Lilly harvested all the stalactites in the cave, her belly becoming rounded and swollen from drinking so much water.
“Is there nothing left?” Lilly looked around, feeling a sense of unfinished business.
If the stalactites could speak, they would be afraid of Lilly harvesting them.
Did Lilly forget about Ivan while she was harvesting the stalactites?
