Chapter 36: Discovering Chicken Mushrooms

Chapter 36: Discovering Termite Mushrooms

After entering the jungle, although Xu Yi saw many insects, he did not find any traces of other animals. Perhaps, because it was early morning, most of the animals were still resting.

The two moved through the jungle for about an hour before they heard a rumbling sound. Exchanging glances, they both knew they had found a water source.

"Viewers, can you hear that? With such a loud roar of water, there must be a massive waterfall ahead," Xu Yi said, raising his voice. "The humidity in this jungle is likely due to the waterfall." After all, water vapor rises near waterfalls; the larger the waterfall, the more intense the vapor.

Filled with excitement, Xu Yi led Su Keke quickly toward the sound. Twenty minutes later, through the gaps in the trees, he caught a glimpse of a white curtain of water.

"Look at that white wall—it’s definitely a waterfall, and the sound is incredibly deafening!" Xu Yi had to shout to be heard; otherwise, he figured the audience wouldn't be able to hear him, and Su Keke certainly wouldn't either.

After walking for a few more minutes, the view suddenly opened up. The waterfall was right before them.

"What a massive waterfall! It must be at least three or four hundred meters high and fifty or sixty meters wide, right?" Xu Yi looked at the spectacle with mixed feelings. After the water cascaded down, it didn't form a river but instead plunged into a deep abyss. There had to be an underground river at the bottom.

[It's so beautiful! Such a huge waterfall.]
[It feels like the Milky Way falling from the heavens.]
[I think if No. 1 and Keke don't plug their ears, they'll go deaf from the noise.]
[The waterfall is stunning, the view is invincible, simply dreamlike.]
[It’s beautiful, but for No. 1 and Keke, this waterfall is useless.]
[The mountain on the other side is all rock and sheer cliffs. They look like two completely different places forced together.]
[I really want to see the world above the waterfall; it must be beautiful, right?]
[Looking at the despair on No. 1's face, I feel for him.]
[It’s truly frustrating—to find a water source but have no way to access it.]

Xu Yi watched for a while, then patted Su Keke on the head. He pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of the waterfall. It was truly breathtaking. The mist from the spray had already dampened their faces. However, they couldn't stay here to collect water. The flow was too powerful, and the noise was so intense that they wouldn't even hear an animal approaching them. Survival in such an environment was impossible.

"Up there, there must be a large lake or a major river. Unfortunately, it’s going to be very difficult for us to climb up; it looks like nothing but sheer cliffs," Xu Yi remarked. "Unless we follow this jungle upward and the terrain continues to rise. Regardless, I’ve decided to head in that direction. Wish us luck; let’s hope we find another river."

Since the noise was unbearable and they couldn't benefit from it, they couldn't stay. With a heavy heart, Xu Yi led Su Keke toward the north of the forest.

After walking for more than half an hour, the sound of the water finally faded away. Perhaps because it was too noisy, few animals cared to stay near such a place, so they hadn't encountered any wildlife along the way.

"We wasted nearly the whole morning; that was truly a pitfall," Xu Yi said, touching the ground. He noticed the humidity here was lower. It confirmed that the high humidity in the previous jungle had indeed been caused by that massive waterfall. But since that waterfall wasn't suitable for water collection—long-term exposure to such noise would severely damage their hearing—leaving was a wise choice.

"Daddy, look! Termite mushrooms!" Su Keke suddenly pointed into the distance. Xu Yi looked, but his view was blocked by a tree. Once he caught up to her, he saw them: over a dozen chicken-colored mushrooms, some with their caps fully opened.

Su Keke ran to where the mushrooms were growing and began digging with her spear, pulling one out. Xu Yi looked closer and realized they were growing on top of a termite mound. Su Keke handed a mushroom to Xu Yi, beaming. "See? These are termite mushrooms; they taste like chicken."

"These must be *Termitomyces*, right?" Xu Yi said happily. He had bought them before and they looked just like this. Wild termite mushrooms were incredibly delicious. The ones in his hand, with caps still closed, were said to have a flavor comparable to chicken.

[That's right, those are *Termitomyces*. We call them 'chicken foot mushrooms.' Slice them and stir-fry them; they are fresh, sweet, crispy, and fragrant.]
[We call them 'chicken pine mushrooms.' They are the king of mushrooms in our area. Using them to make soup makes it even more delicious than chicken broth.]
[There are so many! These must be 'torch termite mushrooms.' There must be a large termite nest underneath. You could dig it up for the eggs—those are highly nutritious!]
[A bunch of foodies here, you all know so much!]

"A lot of them have rotted; what a pity," Xu Yi noted. These mushrooms could provide them with protein, fat, vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and riboflavin. It was their sixth day, and they hadn't supplemented their diet with vitamins at all. These mushrooms had appeared at the perfect time.

Not wanting to waste even the roots, the two of them dug for a while until they had harvested all of them. "Thirty-two in total—a great haul. We'll have slate-grilled mushrooms for lunch today."

It was past 11:00 AM, a good time to stop and rest for lunch. Xu Yi had been worrying about what to eat, but Su Keke’s good luck had come through again. After eating meat for so many days, a little vegetable dish was a welcome change.

"Keke, you stay here; Daddy will go get some firewood." Su Keke nodded, obediently gripping her spear. Xu Yi had already scanned the area; there were no predators lurking nearby, nor any other animals.

Soon, Xu Yi returned carrying some deadwood. He took the tinder fungus out of his wooden bowl. After blowing on it hard for a while, the fungus glowed bright red, though it didn't burst into flame. Xu Yi placed the glowing fungus into a pile of dry grass and continued to blow. Moments later, the dry grass caught fire. He used it to ignite the firewood and carefully stored the tinder fungus away. With this, starting a fire took less than a minute—it was incredibly convenient.