Chapter 43 The Mutant Bird Has Grown a Little

Cheng Zhiyu wiped his hands clean. There was no need to worry about the pork stewing in the pot for the time being. He then said to Tian Qiao and Tian Manman, who were looking at him with curiosity, "Let's go take a look."

Tian Qiao stroked his chin: "I wonder what they found, a strange beast?"

Cheng Zhiyu picked up Xiao Hei, paused for a moment, and then said, "How is that possible? Beasts have a very strong sense of territory. If that were true, Zhou Min wouldn't have reacted this way."

Tian Qiao nodded: "I was just guessing."

The group walked over and saw Zhou Min standing with his hands on his hips, straining to look up at the top of a tree. Hearing the noise, he turned to look at them and said, "You've finally arrived! Look, look! Aren't those wild eggs on that tree?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked up and, sure enough, it really was a nest of wild eggs. It was fortunate that Zhou Min had good eyesight; otherwise, they wouldn't have noticed it without careful observation.

However, after hearing this, Tian Qiao immediately looked disappointed: "I thought it was something else. Wild chicken eggs are still eggs. If you want to eat eggs, there are plenty in Orange's space. You don't need to dig up wild chicken nests."

Zhou Min, who followed Cheng Zhiyu and the others, did indeed get to eat an egg every day.

Hearing this, I felt it was unnecessary; the tree was quite tall, and climbing it would be difficult.

"Let's go, let's go." Tian Qiao patted Zhou Min's shoulder and was about to leave when she saw Cheng Zhiyu standing there motionless.

"Orange, what's wrong?" Tian Qiao paused, then came over to look with him. "Isn't it unnecessary? It's just a few eggs. Let's keep them to hatch baby pheasants."

He just assumed that Cheng Zhiyu adhered to the principle of "a thief never leaves empty-handed"—basically, the virtue of thrift—and was unwilling to give up any food.

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "Why would a pheasant lay its eggs in a tree?"

"Not in the tree, but..." Tian Qiao said subconsciously, then paused, "Oh right, don't pheasants, like domestic chickens, lay their eggs on the ground?"

Others may not know, but they grew up in the countryside and know it all too well. It's not that they specifically go looking for wild eggs; these animals are protected species, and they don't lack eggs to eat, so it's not that they would do that.

Moreover, finding wild eggs is entirely a matter of luck. Although these birds can fly, they don't build their nests in trees like other birds. When the branches and leaves are lush, it's fine, but when the leaves have fallen, you can see them at a glance.

Pheasants are completely different; in any case, they've never seen a pheasant's nest.

But how do we know that pheasants lay their eggs on the ground? Because pheasants choose to lay their eggs in the fields, and they are discovered when the harvest is plentiful.

They had just looked at the eggs in the nest in the tree with preconceived notions, thinking that the eggs were quite large and didn't seem to belong to an ordinary bird.

Hearing what Cheng Zhiyu said, I realized something was wrong.

"This...this can't be a bird egg, can it?" Zhou Min shrank his neck. "But how could an ordinary bird have such a big egg?"

The group exchanged glances: "Mutant bird."

The eggs on the tree weren't wild eggs at all, but rather mutated bird eggs.

This conjecture silenced everyone. Zhou Min swallowed hard after finishing his sentence: "Doesn't that mean that the mutated bird lives here? If it comes back and finds us here, it won't attack us, right?"

Tian Qiao: "It's wrapped."

Zhou Min: "..."

Tian Manman said slowly, "Then...should we change locations?"

Little Black scoffed: "It's just a bird."

Cheng Zhiyu smiled and said, "Why change locations? We came to the forest to clear out the strange beasts, didn't we?"

“We didn’t know this was the territory of the mutated birds before. It’s good that we know now, so we can be prepared,” Cheng Zhiyu said. “It’s all thanks to Zhou Min for discovering it.”

Zhou Min scratched his head sheepishly; it was just his foodie nature.

After hearing what Cheng Zhiyu said, everyone felt that it made sense. If they were acting alone, they would have to think twice if they encountered a mutated bird. But with so many of them together, what was there to be afraid of with just one bird?

Besides, Tian Qiao said, "That's right. Even if we go somewhere else, who knows which beast's territory it will be? We might as well just stay here peacefully."

Everyone agreed with this.

Zhou Min, constantly thinking about food, asked, "What about this mutated bird egg?"

Cheng Zhiyu said, "Don't move yet. If that mutated bird comes back and finds the eggs are gone, it might attack us without restraint, which would be bad."

Even if they don't move the eggs, the bird will still attack, but... the intensity might be different?

If everyone agrees with Cheng Zhiyu's point, then let's stop taking the bird eggs for now.

Cheng Zhiyu looked away from the tree, wondering if the mutated bird's egg would hatch into a mutated bird.

His Chinese heritage, particularly its fertility-related genes, is starting to stir again.

"Let's go back, let's go back," Tian Qiao said.

Cheng Zhiyu was about to nod when he twitched his nose and said, "I think I can smell Sichuan peppercorns."

Zhou Min took a deep breath upon hearing this: "It really is. I just felt that there was a familiar smell, probably the smell of Sichuan peppercorns."

Tian Qiao: "Sichuan peppercorns are great! Let's go pick some!"

Xiao Hei asked, "What is Sichuan peppercorn?"

Cheng Zhiyu explained, "It's a seasoning that makes dishes taste great."

After he finished speaking, Xiao Hei indeed became interested.

Cheng Zhiyu told Tian Qiao to go with him to pick the fruit: "Manman, you and Zhou Min go back and watch the fire. Simmer it over low heat and don't let the fire go out."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Min felt that this task was very important, since it concerned everyone's dinner.

The two went back, and Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao went to pick Sichuan peppercorns. Xiao Hei jumped to the ground, slowly stretched, and followed them.

Based on the smell they had just caught, they guessed that the Sichuan peppercorns were nearby. Sure enough, after walking a few dozen meters, they saw several Sichuan peppercorn trees.

The pepper tree in the middle is probably quite old; it's taller and bigger than any Cheng Zhiyu and the others had seen before.

Around it were some small Sichuan pepper trees, and it was unclear whether they had grown from the seeds of the one in the middle that had fallen to the ground.

The Sichuan peppercorns looked fully ripe; the outer shells were cracked and dry, and the black seeds inside had disappeared.

Cheng Zhiyu took out a long-sleeved jacket and gloves from his spatial storage, and he and Tian Qiao put them on.

Sichuan pepper trees have thorns, which can easily scratch your skin, so it's best to cover your skin properly.

There are a lot of Sichuan peppercorns here; it would probably take quite a while to pick them all and take them with us.

Cheng Zhiyu picked up a bag that was about half his height: "This much is enough for us."

The amount of food just enough to fill this bag is enough to feed them for a long time.

The two got busy, and Cheng Zhiyu told Xiao Hei to stand further away: "Don't get pricked by the thorns, there might be some on the ground too."

Little Black looked at its paws, jumped onto a nearby tree, climbed up a branch, and sat on it watching them work.

The two worked quickly and filled their bags before dark.

Cheng Zhiyu took out a flashlight from his spatial storage, turned it on, and the surroundings instantly became much brighter.

Looking at the lush and leafy Sichuan pepper tree, he said, "Let's pick some more Sichuan pepper leaves."

Sichuan pepper leaves can be used to make Sichuan pepper-flavored steamed buns, which are delicious and have the aroma of Sichuan pepper.

Upon hearing that there would be Sichuan peppercorn steamed buns to eat, Tian Qiao immediately busied herself picking leaves.

You don't need to pick too many leaves; just chop them up and mix them into the flour later.

Finally finished with his work, Cheng Zhiyu took off his gloves. Xiao Hei jumped down, startling him. He rushed over to check on Xiao Hei and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that Xiao Hei was alright. However, he couldn't help but give him a stern lecture: "You just jumped down from such a high place? I think it was three or four meters high. You're not a cat. What if you hurt yourself when you jumped down?"

Little Black flicked its tail, thinking Cheng Zhiyu was making a fuss over nothing. But when it heard the last sentence, its round eyes turned into semicircles: "You think cats are better?"

Cheng Zhiyu was completely speechless: "What are you talking about?"

He gently tapped Xiao Hei's head: "Be more careful next time, understand?"

Xiao Hei: "...I heard you."

Never mind, it'll save him from nagging.

Xiao Hei cleaned the dust and leaves off Cheng Zhiyu, then jumped into Cheng Zhiyu's arms and skillfully found a comfortable spot to snuggle up.

Tian Qiao: "Brother Hei, help me too..."

Before she could finish speaking, a stream of water came over, completely different from when it cleaned Cheng Zhiyu earlier, and roughly cleaned Tian Qiao.

Tian Qiao was used to it. Xiao Hei didn't target him, but everyone else. Except for Cheng Zhiyu, Xiao Hei had no patience for anyone.

"Let's go, let's go back. The pork should be stewed by now, right?" Tian Qiao said, swallowing hard. He was really hungry; the little food the base gave him wasn't enough to fill him up.

When the two returned, they saw Zhou Min peeking around, and he was overjoyed to see them: "You're finally back! I was saying I'd go look for you if you hadn't come back."

Cheng Zhiyu washed his hands and prepared to stretch the dough, only to find that it had already been stretched and placed in the pot.

"Oh, it's just tearing a dough ball, it's super simple. I saw you guys weren't back yet, so I just tore it up. What do you think?" Zhou Min walked over to take credit.

Cheng Zhiyu glanced at it. Although it was a bit thick, it didn't matter. It wasn't noodles, as long as it could be cooked. He praised Zhou Min, "Pretty good, more reliable than Tian Qiao."

Tian Qiao, who felt she was being compared to someone else, immediately retorted: "Hey, hey, hey? What are you saying? I'm perfectly reliable, okay? It's just that I can't cook!"

Zhou Min: "Hahaha..."

Even Tian Manman couldn't help but laugh.

Tian Qiao looked at Tian Manman sadly: "Manman, whose side are you on?"

Tian Manman was so embarrassed that she didn't dare laugh at him.

"Alright, alright, let's eat." Cheng Zhiyu told them to stop arguing; someone had just said they were hungry.

Each person is given a pair of chopsticks and a bowl of steamed rice, and they eat directly around the pot.

Zhou Min touched the rice container. Goodness, it was still warm. He remembered very clearly that Cheng Zhiyu hadn't steamed any rice.

Just then, Xiao Hei, who was standing next to him, took a bite of meat and started to miss the taste of crayfish, so he asked Cheng Zhiyu if there were any left.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "There's more, we've made quite a lot before."

So, I brought out another bowl of crayfish, garlic flavored. The crayfish, about the length of my arm, had their backs cut open and were topped with vermicelli and garlic. The flavor wasn't overpowering, but it was so delicious it was intoxicating.

Zhou Min: "Holy crap, what's this? Is it a giant lobster?"

Tian Qiao really enjoyed seeing Zhou Min's naive and unsophisticated demeanor. Although he had been just as unambitious back then, well... it was just so satisfying.

He pretended to be calm and said, "What lobster? This is a mutated crayfish. We used to eat it every day, and we were almost tired of it."

"Mutant crayfish? Wouldn't that be incredibly ferocious?" Zhou Min asked instinctively.

The others were taken aback, but Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "No, it's just a different size from regular crayfish."

After he finished speaking, he pondered, "It seems that biological mutations should be divided into two types. One type has superpowers, like what the base said, which means it has offensive capabilities. The other type should be like a crayfish, except that it will grow bigger, and otherwise it will be no different from before the mutation."

Of course, the fact that the strength has increased doesn't count, since the size has changed, so it's normal for the strength to increase as well.

"If crayfish can grow this big, I love eating oysters. If oysters could grow super big too... oh my, I can't even imagine how happy I would be." Zhou Min, a foodie, immediately thought of making his favorite food bigger.

Hearing him say that, Tian Qiao swallowed hard and asked Cheng Zhiyu, "Will we pass by the beach on our way back?"

Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "We'll be passing by, so we'll catch some seafood to eat."

Clearly, they were all thinking the same thing.

Although the apocalypse is fraught with danger, there are also happy things to do.

As Zhou Min stuffed garlic shrimp into his mouth, he sobbed with emotion, "My God, I never had such a good life before the apocalypse."

Xiao Hei, who had been eating slowly, immediately felt a sense of crisis upon seeing Zhou Min's pig-craving behavior and sped up his eating.

Cheng Zhiyu sighed helplessly, "Eat slowly."

Xiao Hei wouldn't admit that it was too shameful for him to fight for a bite of food, so he made up an excuse: "I was hungry."

Cheng Zhiyu: Okay.

Unexpectedly, the cucumber salad was eaten first. The sweet cucumber, after being simply seasoned, was refreshing and helped to cut through the greasiness. Paired with sweet and sour tomatoes, it was a simple cold dish, but it was surprisingly addictive.

Moreover, red cucumbers and tomatoes are full of energy. Eating them may not completely eliminate fatigue, but it certainly makes you feel less tired, and you'll feel warm all over afterward.

Next up was the garlic vermicelli mutated shrimp, followed by the piglet blanket.

The piglet blanket was the last thing eaten because of its large quantity—a whole potful. They ate it all up, even using the broth to mix with rice, leaving nothing to waste.

The group ate to their hearts' content and rested comfortably for a while before Tian Qiao and the others voluntarily cleaned up the pots and pans.

Zhou Min was in a good mood after eating his fill: "I'd be happy even if I had to sleep in the forest tonight, under the open sky, after eating so well!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Qiao said, "Don't drag me into this. I'm not going to sleep under the open sky."

Zhou Min looked up at the star-studded sky: "If you don't sleep under the open sky, where else do you want to sleep? Besides, look at this starry sky, it's quite beautiful. I've never seen it in the city before."

Zhou Min patted Tian Qiao on the shoulder, thinking he was unwilling to accept the current situation, and comforted him, "It's okay, I'm good at making hammocks. Let's go pick some vines and I'll make a hammock for us."

Tian Qiao thanked him for his kindness: "But it's really not necessary. You don't understand. You'll see in a bit. Do we really need to go through all this hardship with Chengzi?"

Zhou Min: "? Does Brother Cheng think he can carry a bed with him everywhere? That can't be right."

Tian Qiao shook his head mysteriously: "It's more exaggerated than you imagine."

He repeated his previous statement: "You'll find out soon enough."

Zhou Min muttered: He must have brought a bed, right? Is Brother Cheng's space really that big? He just discovered that the other party's space also has a freshness-locking function. If it's big enough to fit a bed, that's just too incredible.

At this moment, Zhou Min had no idea that Cheng Zhiyu hadn't just brought a bed, but the whole "house".

While they were washing the pots, Cheng Zhiyu wasn't idle either. He took out some of the freshly picked Sichuan peppercorns, washed them clean, and planned to make Sichuan peppercorn chicken stew with potatoes later.

Then chop the peppercorn leaves and mix them into the dough. Once the dough has risen, you can make peppercorn flower rolls.

However, the temperature was too low at night, and he was worried that the dough wouldn't rise properly, so he prepared a basin of hot water and placed the bowl of dough in the hot water to make it rise faster.

Seeing that Cheng Zhiyu had already started preparing tomorrow's meals, Zhou Min flattered him, saying, "Brother Cheng, how could I live without you? I feel like I can't live without you anymore."

Cheng Zhiyu chuckled: "Is it really that exaggerated?"

Zhou Min: "Really..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Xiao Hei look at him with an... not very friendly gaze.

Haha, that must be your imagination. Black guys have always been like this.

Xiao Hei: What do you mean I can't live without you? How can you say such cheesy things? And you're saying it to Cheng Zhiyu.

I feel inexplicably annoyed.

While the dough was rising, the pot was already cleaned, so Cheng Zhiyu simply started making Sichuan peppercorn chicken stew with potatoes, covering the pot and simmering it slowly, since he wasn't in a hurry to eat it anyway.

When steaming the flower rolls, Tian Qiao and the others came to help. Making flower rolls doesn't require any special skills, and they won't leak like steamed buns. Cheng Zhiyu did the most difficult step well. After rolling them up, he cut them horizontally in the middle and then cut them into pieces about the length of a palm.

Tian Qiao and the others pinched the two ends of the cut pieces together, and it became a flower roll.

Zhou Min's work was quite decent, while Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were rather clumsy, producing all sorts of bizarre and ugly results. But they really did their best; the way they made the steamed buns really looked like they were taming newly grown limbs.

There was no steamer, but Cheng Zhiyu brought a steaming rack, which he put in a large pot and could steam about ten at a time. It was a bit of a hassle, but it wasn't too late yet, and they weren't in a hurry to sleep. They just changed the rack every half hour.

After changing the pot three times, the chicken was cooked, so I took it out and put it in the space. I also steamed the last batch of steamed buns.

After finishing their work, everyone was tired. Tian Qiao went to check and found that the mutated bird hadn't returned yet. She wondered if it would come back in the middle of the night.

Zhou Min leaned closer to Cheng Zhiyu: "Brother Cheng, how are we going to sleep tonight?"

Cheng Zhiyu looked around. The most important reason he chose this place was that it was relatively open, so he could put Xiaoqiang here.

There are mostly weeds and shrubs here, no trees. They just cleared the weeds and shrubs, so they can just release Xiaoqiang.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "Please step aside for a moment."

Zhou Min scratched his head and obediently stepped aside.

Then, Cheng Zhiyu muttered something under his breath, and suddenly a huge tree appeared not far away. Zhou Min immediately opened his mouth wide, almost dislocating his jaw in shock.

No wonder Tian Qiao said he didn't want to sleep under the open sky; it turns out there was such a big tree—no, a treehouse. He could see it had a door and windows.

It was indeed more extravagant than he had imagined—to bring a bed with him.

After he followed them into the treehouse and looked at the bright room inside, he suddenly felt: I really followed the right person!

Anyone else who comes to the forest will undoubtedly suffer, but they haven't suffered at all so far. In fact, they've suffered nothing at all. What's the difference between this and camping in the wild?

No, there is a difference; outdoor camping doesn't offer such good conditions.

Zhou Min asked and learned that the treehouse was one of the magical plants that Cheng Zhiyu had planted. Apart from Xiao Tie, Cheng Zhiyu had not let him see the others, mainly because it was not convenient at the base before.

"Wait a minute, aren't the vegetables we're eating magical plants?" Zhou Min asked, puzzled.

Tian Qiao laughed and said, "Those are just ordinary plants."

Zhou Min: "..."

You're telling me those are ordinary plants? How are the plant-based ability users at the base supposed to feel about this?

However, after glancing at the towering treehouse, he had to admit that compared to it, those plants were indeed just ordinary plants…

If the plant-type ability users in the base knew that the few plants they painstakingly cultivated were just ordinary plants in Cheng Zhiyu's eyes, their feelings would be incredibly complex.

Moreover, seeing Tian Qiao and Tian Manman's calm demeanor, it made him seem like he was making a fuss over nothing.

"The treehouse only has two rooms..." Cheng Zhiyu thought that Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were staying in the upstairs room, so he said, "Why don't you sleep in the same room with me and Xiao Hei?"

Anyway, Little Black is so small, it doesn't take up much space.

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Hei said, "I'm not used to sleeping with other people."

He was telling the truth, except that Cheng Zhiyu was an exception.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu found himself in a dilemma, as he naturally did not want Xiao Hei to feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Min said, "No, I've never slept in the same bed with anyone before, it feels strange. I'll sleep in the living room, this sofa should be able to be turned into a bed?"

Cheng Zhiyu asked him to confirm, "Is it okay if you sleep in the living room?"

Zhou Min: "What's wrong with that? I was prepared to sleep under the open sky, and now the conditions are good enough."

Cheng Zhiyu nodded after confirming that he wasn't forcing him, and then told him where the bathroom was so he could take a shower.

Zhou Min exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't expected that there would be running water in this treehouse. It was amazing!

Cheng Zhiyu explained with a smile, "It's not tap water. There's a water tank in the treehouse that stores water."

Zhou Min nodded knowingly, "I see."

Cheng Zhiyu took out spare bedding from the cabinet, had Zhou Min lay it down, and then tidied up before returning to his room.

Little Black jumped onto the bed, ready to sleep.

Cheng Zhiyu told him not to rush, then took out a scale from his storage space and had Xiao Hei stand on it.

He got this scale from the supermarket before, thinking it was small and wouldn't take up much space, and he could use it to weigh Xiao Hei, so he brought it with him.

Xiao Hei, puzzled, walked over and asked, "What is this?"

Cheng Zhiyu: "When we weighed you, I felt like you had gained some weight."

Xiao Hei thought he had gained weight, and his body stiffened in disbelief: How could that be?

Then he stepped onto the scale and said, "I've gained half a pound."

Xiao Hei's vision went black: So much? He's a cub now, and half a jin is almost a fifth of his weight.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Zhiyu asked, squatting down in front of Xiao Hei, puzzled by his sudden dejected look.

Xiao Hei said sadly, "I'll put away all the mirrors from now on. I don't want to see myself looking fat."

Cheng Zhiyu chuckled, and Xiao Hei immediately turned around, its back to him.

Cheng Zhiyu: "Are you stupid? You've not just gained weight, you've grown up. Who told me they were starting to grow up?"

Xiao Hei: "...Go to sleep."

Cheng Zhiyu: Hahaha, how does Xiao Hei manage to be so reliable in crucial moments, yet also so adorably absent-minded in ordinary times?

He glanced at Little Black, who was lying down pretending to be asleep, and gently patted him: "Goodnight."

Little Black didn't respond, but it flicked its tail slightly.

They slept soundly that night, but the next morning, Cheng Zhiyu and the others heard Zhou Min shouting.