The Misunderstanding of "Kidney Deficiency" Caused by Cordyceps Sinensis

“Here you two are, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Suddenly, Ye Chonglou’s voice came from beside them. His cunning eyes fixed on the two as if he could see through their hearts. “Is the view better over here?”

From his tone, Yun Zhao sensed mockery.

Qing Xuance cleared his throat lightly. “How did you get here?”

“Came to find you to come back for dinner.”

They were all grown adults, yet still had to be called back for dinner—how unreliable that sounded. Yun Zhao shook her head and took the lead walking back.

Ye Chonglou’s lively eyes swept over Qing Xuance, his keen sense of smell naturally detecting the lingering scent of that troublesome she-wolf on him, and the entanglement wasn’t shallow.

He curled his lips and tossed out a remark: “Quite the taste you have.” Then he turned and left.

Qing Xuance twitched the corner of his mouth.

Ye Chonglou and Wen Lang, seeing Qing Xuance hadn’t returned for a long time, went hunting for a wild sheep. Borrowing a pot from the house, they boiled a pot of mutton.

Yun Zhao, inhaling the fresh aroma of the lamb, eagerly picked up matsutake mushrooms and some herbs to wash, then threw them all into the pot.

Mutton paired with matsutake mushrooms made the broth rich and flavorful; adding herbs strengthened the body and boosted health.

Outside, heavy snow swirled and cold winds howled; inside, steam rose and the fragrance drifted, creating an inexplicably warm and pleasant atmosphere.

The group gathered around the large pot and began to eat.

“What’s this? A bug?” Xiao Yan was horrified, about to toss it away.

“Stop! Don’t throw it away!” Yun Zhao shouted urgently, leaning over. “This is cordyceps, a rare herb, perfect for you.”

“Perfect for me?”

“Yes, it’s used to treat kidney deficiency, fatigue, and boost immunity. It’s a good thing.”

Ye Chonglou laughed mischievously. Aside from the words “kidney deficiency,” nothing else mattered. His sly fox-like eyes glanced at Xiao Yan. “Hmm, perfect for you.”

Wen Lang lowered his head, his shoulders shaking, probably stifling laughter.

Even Qing Xuance’s usually composed face curved into a slight smile.

Xiao Yan froze, caught between putting it down and tossing it out, as if petrified.

“Boost immunity? Xiao Yan, if you don’t like it, then give it to her.” Le Fei, oblivious to their discussion, grabbed the cordyceps from under Xiao Yan’s chopsticks and placed it into Yun Zhao’s bowl with a serious face. “You’re too weak; you need to replenish more.”

Yun Zhao: “...You’re the weak one. Your whole family is weak!”

Ye Chonglou couldn’t contain himself any longer and burst out laughing.

Wen Lang also looked up, smiling broadly.

---

The curve of Qing Xuance’s lips widened.

For the first time, Xiao Yan found Le Fei so... adorable.

Yun Zhao’s healing power had been completely drained today and hadn’t yet recovered. After the meal, she ground the herbs to treat Le Fei’s fractured hand.

Each time she used her power, the dark lines on her hand grew longer, so she planned to avoid using it before detoxification.

Le Fei was carefree, showing no sign of discomfort despite his broken hand—he was truly determined to eat.

After tending to Le Fei, Yun Zhao tried to apply medicine to Xiao Yan, but he refused.

“You never did these things before. Are you sure it’s not poisonous?” Xiao Yan eyed Yun Zhao suspiciously. “I’ll recover in a few days. No need for such dark stuff. Too troublesome.”

Yun Zhao explained seriously, “I’ve read countless books. Just because I haven’t eaten pork doesn’t mean I don’t know what a pig looks like.”

But her flickering eyes betrayed her.

Xiao Yan glanced at Le Fei, whose carefree expression said, “Only that fool would volunteer as your guinea pig.” At that moment, he completely forgot just how cute he had thought Le Fei was not long ago.

Caught, Yun Zhao gave an embarrassed smile.

Xiao Yan was unwilling, and Yun Zhao didn’t insist. She formed the remaining herbs into pills and dried them by the fire.

Le Fei smacked his lips, still savoring the taste of the matsutake. “Yun Zhao, will there be more matsutake tonight?”

Yun Zhao shook her head. “We’ll have to go find them in the woods.”

“Let’s go together and find more.” Le Fei suggested.

Yun Zhao had planned to collect more herbs anyway and nodded. “Alright.”

Le Fei, remembering his broken hands, knew he couldn’t help much. So he looked toward Xiao Yan, who was dozing off nearby.

“Xiao Yan, come with us.”

“No.”

“Come on.”

“No.”

“Brother Yan, we need your protection.”

Le Fei’s coquettish voice startled Xiao Yan awake, dispelling his drowsiness. “Speak normally.”

“Then you have to accompany us.”

In the end, Xiao Yan was dragged along as muscle.

With Le Fei’s help, whether searching for matsutake or herbs, their haul was quite good.

---

Yun Zhao was very happy, but her joy turned to misfortune when she accidentally fell into a black hole.

Xiao Yan, trying to pull her up, was dragged in as well.

Yun Zhao pulled out a luminous pearl to light the way, and the first thing she saw was Xiao Yan’s grimy, foul face.

“Are you possessed by bad luck? Nothing good ever happens when you’re around.”

Yun Zhao twitched the corner of her mouth.

Knowing Xiao Yan’s irritable temper, and that it was just the two of them here, she decided not to argue.

She examined the pitch-black cave, then her pupils suddenly contracted in shock—the rock walls were adorned with hundreds of stalactites emitting a gentle, pearly white glow in the darkness, like an inverted river of stars.

At the deepest part of the cave stood a massive stalagmite like a towering pillar, its surface shimmering with a rainbow halo, each line seeming to record secrets of time. More breathtakingly, beneath the stalagmite pooled a small patch of clear liquid, gleaming with a pearl-like luster in the dim light.

Yun Zhao’s fingers trembled slightly as memories of ancient texts burst into her mind: “The Ten-Thousand-Year Stalagmite… if there’s accumulated liquid, it must be…”

“Are you crazy?!” Xiao Yan’s sharp claws scraped past her ear, trying to stop her from bending down. “Who knows if this stuff’s poisonous!”

But Yun Zhao had already scooped up a mouthful of the clear water and drank it.

As the liquid slid down her throat, she felt as if a thousand stars exploded within her.

“How is this possible…” Xiao Yan took a step back, watching as golden light radiated from Yun Zhao’s body.

Her hair floated as if stirred by wind, her aura swelling like a volcanic eruption. Level one, two, and three!

Xiao Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. “This… this can’t be…”

That useless she-wolf had leveled up twice in one go, now on par with him.

Yun Zhao’s aura finally calmed, her eyes shining brilliantly. “Drink quickly! This is the Ten-Thousand-Year Stalagmite water that can boost cultivation!”

Xiao Yan stared at Yun Zhao now at level three, then at the mysterious liquid, and finally gritted his teeth and bent down to drink.

Instantly, his fur bristled, and a tingling, sharp pain radiated from his severed tail—his long-stagnant barrier was breaking apart!

As a level-four aura burst forth, he looked at his faintly regrowing tail stump, speechless.

Unlike Yun Zhao, who had only leveled up once, as he prepared for another sip,

Yun Zhao stopped him. “It only works once. Drinking more will harm you.”

She then took out a jade bottle and carefully collected the remaining stalagmite water.

Xiao Yan gazed at her serious profile and suddenly felt this troublesome she-wolf seemed a little less dark than before.