Guarding the River of Time-Chapter 357 - 347: The Passage of Time, Changes in the Long River, and the Beginning of Growth

Chapter 357: Chapter 347: The Passage of Time, Changes in the Long River, and the Beginning of Growth

Su Mu arrived at the backyard herbal garden.

He walked towards the seven large iron cages holding the "thieves."

As many as seven large iron cages, each holding more than two hundred small animals, totaling nearly a thousand.

These small animals were caught stealing herbs from the vegetable garden.

Before he knew it, all seven large iron cages were full.

So, the little ones came to ask Su Mu how to deal with these thieves.

...

Su Mu’s gaze scanned the iron cages.

The small animals touched by his gaze looked terrified and were trembling.

Most of these thieving small animals were spirit beasts, and some were agile and carried an unusual aura.

Su Mu had thought about eating these thieves, but after eating a hamster once and finding the meat too sour and not very tasty, he gave up on the idea.

As a result, they remained in the iron cages, left unprocessed.

Now that all seven cages were full, he either had to add new large iron cages or slaughter all these thieves.

.....

After thinking for a while, Su Mu activated his cultivation technique and left a "mark" on all the small animals.

With a wave of his hand, he opened the seven iron cages and said, "Go on, don’t come here to steal again next time."

Su Mu didn’t want to kill them all and decided to give them a chance to live. After all, they hadn’t stolen anything from him, so it was better to let them go. He’s not an evil person.

However, to be safe, he left a "mark" inside them to prevent them from coming to steal herbs again.

Upon hearing Su Mu’s words, the "thieves" looked at the open cage doors, but none of them moved; they all stayed obediently inside.

Seeing this, Su Mu was also puzzled. He had opened the cages wide to let them go, so why weren’t they leaving?

"Hurry up and go; I won’t make things difficult for you."

Su Mu thought they were too scared to leave, so he gave them reassurance.

But even after saying that, the small animals showed no intention of leaving.

At this, Su Mu became impatient and waved his hand, shooing them all out.

After being pushed out, they stood stunned for a second, then ran back into the cages, even closing the doors behind them.

In truth, they weren’t afraid of Su Mu going back on his word.

They simply didn’t want to leave now!

Most of them were once lords of dominion, or even world rulers. Many of their worlds were destroyed in the recent "time disaster" a few days ago...

In other words, if they hadn’t been locked up here, they would have been destroyed by the disaster long ago.

Where is the safest place in all the heavens and myriad realms?

Being locked up here is the safest!

So, it’s not fear; they just don’t want to leave!

....

Seeing them return and lock themselves up again, Su Mu was dumbfounded.

Just a while ago, they were howling to get out, and now that they’ve been let out, they refuse to leave?

Did they get locked up too long and become foolish?

The five little ones saw this and understood perfectly what the "thieves" had in mind. They surely knew what calculations these little "thieves" were making since, if there were another time disaster, nowhere would be safer than by their master’s side, even if it meant being caged. It is the safest place in all the heavens and myriad realms.

...

"Forget it, I’m too tired."

"You deal with it."

Su Mu instructed the five little ones.

He didn’t have the energy to build new iron cages.

...

After receiving their master’s response, the five little ones chattered in front of Su Mu.

Upon hearing this, Su Mu waved his hand and said, "Alright, you make the arrangements."

After saying that, Su Mu went back under the Phoebe Tree to meditate and rest.

....

The five little ones stood before the seven large iron cages, taking action one by one.

Among them, the groundhog, being the eldest, stood out and spoke to the more than a thousand "thieves" in the cages, "Since you don’t want to leave and wish to stay, you may do so."

"However, you can’t stay here for free."

"You have to work, understand?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the more than a thousand small animals nodded continuously, expressing their agreement.

As long as they could stay, they were willing to do anything. After experiencing the recent disaster, they understood what it meant to hold on to a "true big leg."

"Aren’t you fond of stealing things?"

"Then I’ll assign you a task."

"Along this river, in many places, grow some rare and exotic fruits, and many special great medicines are spread across various corners of the Long River banks."

"Your task is to find these great medicines, dig them up, or bring the seeds."

The groundhog laid out his plan.

Since all these small animals had been marked by the master, they weren’t afraid of them rebelling, and they didn’t have the guts to rebel; they wouldn’t do so either.

The five little ones’ idea was simple: rather than killing them or letting them go, it was better to recruit them, make them subordinates, and have them search for great medicine seeds in various corners along the River of Time to help their master expand the herbal garden’s scale.

Given these thieves had the ability to steal herbs from here, their techniques in searching, stealing, and digging herbs were undoubtedly top-notch, so they could indeed be recruited and utilized.

After this "disaster," the five little ones realized their own weakness and understood the need to do their utmost to assist their master, help alleviate his burdens, and manage the herbal garden efficiently and orderly, allowing its scale to grow.

Since the master was busy every day dealing with various matters on the river, he didn’t have the energy to manage the herbal garden, so the five little ones had to take up the responsibility.

...

"Choose who you’ll stand behind, and stand there."

Upon finishing these words, the small animals in the cages rushed out and stood behind the five little ones.

The distribution was quite balanced, with the five of them each managing over two hundred small animals.

"Alright, go show us your value."

"Every month, I’ll conduct an assessment, and the bottom ten in performance will be kicked out and sent back to where they came from."

The groundhog instructed these small animals.

This "performance" scheme was understood perfectly by the five little ones; this was the way to maximize their motivation and get them to compete!

As soon as the words were out, the small animals scattered, beginning their search for great medicine seeds in various corners of the River of Time.

Because after this disaster, although many places along the river were chaotic, nothing unexpected happened, and everything was peaceful.

Everything was developing in an orderly manner.....

.....

The tedious, busy time always passes so quickly.

Before anyone realized it, a year had already gone by on the river.