Chapter 9

Holding something, Wang Buping carried the turtle down the mountain, chatting about the legend of the mountain-carrying turtle along the way. Before long, they arrived home.

Seeing his grandfather and grandmother sitting under a tree, Wang Buping hurried over, placed the basket on the ground, and said, "Grandpa, look, is this the mountain-carrying turtle from the legend?"

Hearing about the mountain-carrying turtle, Grandpa immediately perked up and leaned in to look into the basket. However, because the turtle was standing upright, he couldn't see clearly, so he picked it up with his hands. Seeing the mountain-like protrusions on the turtle's shell, which were arranged in the shape of a mountain, he confirmed it was indeed a mountain-carrying turtle.

He asked Wang Buping, "Where did you catch this turtle?"

"By the reservoir. It came out on its own. I thought it looked like a mountain-carrying turtle, so I brought it back."

At this moment, Grandpa muttered to himself, "That's strange. The mountain-carrying turtles are supposed to be in Gu Jianchou. They haven't come out in decades. How could one appear now, and it's even a baby mountain-carrying turtle?"

A series of questions swirled in Grandpa's mind, but Wang Buping couldn't wait and asked, "Grandpa, is this a mountain-carrying turtle?"

"Yes, it is a mountain-carrying turtle, but it's a baby one. It's strange that it would appear by the reservoir."

Hearing Grandpa confirm it was a mountain-carrying turtle, Wang Buping was thrilled! He had finally seen a mountain-carrying turtle. The stories of the mountain-carrying turtle had accompanied his childhood, and now he had finally seen one. But why did it differ so much from the legend? He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

When he was young, the elders used to tell him stories.

According to the legend, the mountain-carrying turtle started as an ordinary turtle. Later, it cultivated into a great immortal, traveling between heaven and earth, helping mortals. One day, it passed by here and saw people working hard to move mountains. Using its immortal powers, it carried the mountains on its back. Eventually, the mountains formed the shape of a mountain on its shell. It died from the exhaustion of carrying too many mountains. Its body transformed into countless small turtles, each carrying a stone mountain on its back. People named these turtles "mountain-carrying turtles" to remember the immortal turtle.

Grandpa said, "When the mountain-carrying turtle grows up, its shell is as big as a millstone, over a meter tall, with mountain-like protrusions. I saw one in the deepest part of Gu Jianchou. I wonder how this one got out here."

"Grandpa, is the legend true?"

"That's a lie. The mountain-carrying turtle was named by our ancestors. When our ancestors fled to this place, they couldn't cross the cliff because of the water below. The mountain-carrying turtles lived at the bottom of the cliff. Our ancestors found them in the water and used them to cross the river. That's how our ancestors were able to live here. To remember the mountain-carrying turtles, they created the myth. Later, due to environmental degradation, the mountain-carrying turtles moved to Gu Jianchou. I wonder how this baby mountain-carrying turtle got out here."

Hearing Grandpa's story, Wang Buping wanted to go to Gu Jianchou. Grandpa seemed to know what he was thinking.

He looked at Wang Buping and said, "Buping, are you thinking of going to Gu Jianchou? You mustn't go there. It's deep in the mountains, full of wild animals, even tigers. There are also some unknown creatures. You mustn't go, understand?"

Wang Buping's father and mother, who had just arrived, heard that their son wanted to go to Gu Jianchou and became tense.

His mother pulled him to her side and said, "Son, you can't go to Gu Jianchou. Do you understand? People who went there for exploration never came back. You mustn't go, understand?"

"Mom, I understand. I won't go. By the way, I dug up three ginseng plants, two of which are over a hundred years old. I plan to sell them to raise money for the cable car. The smaller one I'll keep at home for medicinal wine. Mom, this is wild honey I found in the mountains. You can drink it with tea every day."

"You, you dared to touch wild bees in the mountains. Let me check if you were stung." She then searched Wang Buping's body.

"Mom, I'm fine, I wasn't stung!" Seeing that her son was really fine, Li Yubing took the jar of honey from him and warned him not to do such things again.

Grandpa was examining the ginseng. "Not bad, they are indeed over a hundred years old. Sigh! If we hadn't dug up all the ginseng in the mountains to sell for money back then, our village wouldn't be like this. We only realized the value of ginseng too late."

Wang Buping understood what Grandpa meant. When he was young, outsiders came to buy herbs and saw the ginseng in the village. The villagers didn't know the value of ginseng, so the outsiders bought it at a very low price. This led to everyone digging up ginseng, and now it can only be found in the deep mountains.

"Grandpa, should we tell the old clan leader about the mountain-carrying turtle?"

"Yes, you reminded me. I almost forgot. Quickly put the mountain-carrying turtle in the basket, and we'll go see the old clan leader. I'm the only one who has seen a mountain-carrying turtle; they haven't."

The two of them hurried to the old clan leader's house. Grandpa told the old clan leader about the mountain-carrying turtle, and the old clan leader immediately asked Wang Buping to release the turtle. After examining it, the old clan leader went into the inner room and came out with a wooden box labeled "Wang Family Clan Genealogy." He opened the box, and Wang Buping saw an old book inside.

The old clan leader took out the book and started reading the first page. After reading, he pointed at the mountain-carrying turtle, excitedly saying, "It's just like what's recorded in the genealogy. This is indeed a mountain-carrying turtle. It seems our ancestors were saved by the mountain-carrying turtle. You don't know, the genealogy records that our ancestors were being pursued by the emperor's troops. When they reached the cliff, with no way out and the troops closing in, the mountain-carrying turtle appeared and carried the clan across the river, saving them. However, the genealogy doesn't record when the mountain-carrying turtle disappeared from the cliff."

"Great-grandpa, what about the legend?"

"That's just a myth to make people remember the mountain-carrying turtle."

"What should we do with this mountain-carrying turtle?"

The old clan leader looked at the mountain-carrying turtle, feeling at a loss. He then looked at Wang Buping, as if an idea struck him. "Since you brought it back, it must be your destiny. Take it home and take good care of it. The genealogy says it eats fish, so feed it fish every day."

Wang Buping thought about it and agreed. It could be a good attraction in the future, drawing many visitors.

Wang Buping and Grandpa said goodbye to the old clan leader, went home, and had dinner. He asked his father to store the ginseng and told him he would sell it in a few days to raise money for the cable car.

Back at the mountain cottage, Wang Buping didn't know where to put the mountain-carrying turtle. He decided to store it in his space. Inside the space, he saw the wisdom fruit. He thought about picking one for the mountain-carrying turtle. He went to the glowing tree and picked one, seeing that only six fruits were left. He didn't know when he could upgrade his space again.

He gave the fruit to the mountain-carrying turtle, which seemed to know it was good and ate it immediately, then remained still.

Wang Buping knew it was evolving and didn't pay much attention. He looked at the vegetables in the space and the large empty area. He hadn't planted anything recently because he had been too busy. He had harvested a lot of vegetables, and fortunately, the space could quickly decompose the straw, or he wouldn't have known what to do with it.

After arranging things in the space, Wang Buping took out his new computer, which he had forgotten about for a few days. He turned it on and connected to the internet.

Wang Buping logged into QQ to see if anyone was online. As soon as he logged in, he saw his QQ flashing. It turned out his friends were asking why he hadn't logged in and why his phone number was canceled. Wang Buping quickly told everyone he had returned to his hometown and changed his phone number, having been too busy to send them a message. He chatted with his friends and invited them to visit his hometown. They all knew his hometown was in an unpolluted mountain and said they would come during their break. Wang Buping also posted about his new phone number in the group.

After logging out of QQ, Wang Buping thought about his future plans in green vegetables and tourism. He took out his camera and prepared to post the photos he had taken on a famous travel website, registering a username called "In My Hometown."

He created a post, uploaded the beautiful scenery he had photographed, and then turned off the computer to go to bed, exhausted from the day.

However, he didn't know that the post he had made caught the attention of the forum moderator, who was always looking for interesting places. When the moderator saw Wang Buping's post, he found the scenery appealing and was particularly excited by the mountain-carrying turtle. He had never seen such a turtle before, so he pinned the post. Many of the moderator's acquaintances saw the pinned post and asked what was so interesting. The moderator told them to check it out themselves.

One by one, they read the post and, upon seeing the magical mountain-carrying turtle, asked the moderator where it was. They wanted to see the turtle and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Wang Buping didn't know his post had gone viral, nor did he know that the photos of the mountain-carrying turtle had been shared widely and caught the attention of some biologists.

By the time he realized, a group of travelers was already looking for him. This was the first batch of tourists Wang Buping brought to Wang Family Village, and it marked the beginning of hope for the village.

Wang Buping was now thinking about going to his great-grandfather's to discuss raising animals.

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