The Princess's Smile (12)
Jian Tanxi said, "No, you must be seeing things."
"Why have you gained weight too? I can feel the back of the broom being pressed down."
"It was blown by the wind."
The witch did not suspect anything.
She had to concentrate on flying and couldn't look back.
Several hours later, the witch returned to a dense forest.
There was a large, crooked tree with a wooden house on it; this was the witch's dwelling.
After she entered the room and put away the broom, she finally saw what Jian Tanxi looked like.
She was startled: "Little Prince, how did you become like this?"
Jian Tanxi said, "Because I'm not the Little Prince. You just promised that you wouldn't capture anyone other than me."
The witch roared in fury: "Damn it! I've been tricked! That damned King of Red Strawberry Kingdom! And you, who are you?"
"My name is Jian Tanxi, and I am a human player."
"You despicable human player, I'm going to throw you into the boiler and burn you!"
“Honorable witch, don’t you need a servant? I am clever and hardworking. If you burn me to death, wouldn’t you be at a great loss? I can help you do more work if I stay alive.”
"Alright, then you'll be my servant. But let me make this clear: I'll give you a task every day. If you fail to complete it, I'll immediately rip out your heart and eat it for dinner!"
"OK."
Although Jian Tanxi appeared calm, she was actually quite flustered inside.
This was her first encounter with a witch. She didn't know what abilities the witch possessed, nor how to survive in the forest.
However, she now has many superpowers and gadgets, so she should be able to handle it.
It was already quite late, so the witch didn't make things difficult for her and let her sleep in the kitchen.
Jian Tanxi was a little nervous, but she felt that only by sleeping well could she do her job well tomorrow.
Therefore, she forced herself to sleep.
Fortunately, she had a strong mental fortitude; she didn't think about anything and fell asleep.
The next day, the witch brought a large bag of mushrooms and said to Jian Tanxi, "Today, you must sort these mushrooms into poisonous and non-poisonous categories. If you sort one wrong, I will kill you! If you sort them correctly, I will allow you to have mushroom soup with me tonight. I have to go out now, and you must finish the work before I come back."
The witch went out.
Jian Tanxi looked at the large bag of mushrooms and felt like her head had turned into a mushroom.
There are at least two hundred mushrooms here, and each one looks different.
Jian Tanxi had never seen most of these mushrooms before, so she couldn't distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous ones.
She first poured all the mushrooms onto the ground and took a quick look at them.
She recognized several of them and categorized them as poisonous or non-toxic.
However, she didn't know how to divide it next.
She can also try the food; if she dies from the poison, she has a revival pill.
However, there was only one Resurrection Pill left, and there was no one else here, nor could anyone feed her the Resurrection Pill.
Moreover, the witch would definitely be angry if any of these mushrooms were bitten.
This method is not feasible.
Then she realized that the witch must have picked these mushrooms from the forest.
The witch couldn't possibly have picked them all; there must be many similar mushrooms in the forest.
If you go to the forest to look for mushrooms, and then observe whether those mushrooms have been eaten by small animals, you can roughly determine whether they are poisonous or not.
If small animals can eat it, it's definitely not poisonous.
However, you can't remember everything just by relying on your brain; you also need paper and pen.
Fortunately, she had a bag with her, which contained paper and pen.
Without hesitation, Jian Tanxi slid down the winding tree and wandered aimlessly through the forest.
She first memorized the location and features of the treehouse so she wouldn't lose it later.
After a while, she came to a stream.
Here, she found four kinds of mushrooms, all of which the witch had picked.
Two of the fungi were being eaten by insects, while the other two fungi were not nearby, and weeds kept them far away, suggesting they were poisonous.
Jian Tanxi drew the four types of mushrooms simply, labeled them as poisonous and non-poisonous, and then continued walking.
Thanks to her improved physical fitness, she was neither thirsty nor hungry, but a little tired from walking for so long.
Judging from the position of the sun, she has been out for two hours.
Currently, she has only found more than twenty kinds of mushrooms, and is still far from completing her mission.
She didn't know when the witch would return, and she felt a little panicked.
Just then, she heard singing coming from not far away:
In that distant, dark forest lived a wicked witch.
She was gluttonous and lazy, and she was fierce and terrifying.
She forces us to do chores for her every day!
Send her a hundred kinds of poisonous mushrooms and wish her a sudden death!
Oh, that terrible, wicked witch—
Oh, that wretched witch—
She's so wicked, it's frightening!
When will we escape her clutches?
The following lyrics are just a repetition of these lines.
Jian Tanxi found it both amusing and intriguing, wondering who was singing there.
She quietly walked up to take a look and discovered that the singing was actually a group of squirrels.
So, can the squirrels here speak human language?
Jian Tanxi was not afraid; on the contrary, she was quite pleased.
She stepped forward and said to one of the squirrels, "Hello, little squirrels."
The squirrel, holding a nut, curiously examined Jian Tanxi with its round eyes, and then said, "Strange, how come there's a second human in this dark forest?"
Jian Tanxi said, "I am the witch's servant. She told me to sort all the mushrooms into poisonous and non-poisonous categories by today, or she will eat me. But there are so many mushrooms, and I don't recognize any of them. I don't know what to do. The song you were singing just now, did you pick the mushrooms for the witch?"
"That's right, the witch always forces us kind little animals to do chores for her, we all hate her!"
"Could you help me sort the mushrooms? I'll repay you for it."
"No, we're already exhausted from helping the witch pick mushrooms, we can't keep working."
"I can help you. Is there anything you need help with?"
"Alright then, we have a bunch of hard nuts that we can't crack with our teeth. If you can help us crack those nuts, we'll help you sort the mushrooms."
Jian Tanxi was overjoyed and said, "That's very simple, I can help you."
The squirrels led Jian Tanxi to a large tree hole.
Inside this tree hollow, the nuts were divided into several piles.
The squirrel pointed to one of the piles and said, "These are the ones, there are quite a lot of them. Are you sure you can help us get them apart?"
"Can."
Jian Tanxi took out the interstellar triangular pyramid and gently tapped it, cracking open one of the nuts.
The squirrels squeaked excitedly.
Jian Tanxi didn't dare to delay and quickly opened all the hard-to-open nuts.
The squirrels sang happily as they ate: "Little squirrel, eating nuts, one after another. If you ask why there are so many nuts, it's simply a gift from the great forest—"
Keeping their promise, the squirrels went to the witch's treehouse and helped Jane Tanxi separate all the mushrooms.
These mushrooms were picked by squirrels, so they know very well which ones are poisonous and which ones are not.
After they finished dividing the ingredients, Jian Tanxi asked, "Are you sure you didn't make any mistakes? The witch said that if she made a mistake, she would eat me."
The squirrel replied, "Don't worry, kind girl, we never make a mistake in identifying poisonous mushrooms. We won't let you die."
"Thank you very much."
The squirrels scurried away in a flash.
Not long after, the witch returned.
She was very surprised when she saw the sorted mushrooms: "I didn't expect you to sort them all correctly. Was it just good luck, or something else? There are many mushrooms that can only be found in the Dark Forest, you definitely wouldn't be able to recognize them all..."
Jian Tanxi said, "That's because I'm exceptionally lucky."
"Yeah, I guessed so. Those wretched squirrels, I knew they'd pick some poisonous mushrooms to fool me, but I didn't expect most of them to be poisonous. Humph, they think they can poison me? Not so easy."
The witch didn't suspect anything. She threw all the poisonous mushrooms out and then put all the non-poisonous ones into the pot to cook. She added some cream and vegetables, making a thick stew.
She brought a bowl, filled it with a small bowl of mushroom soup, and gave it to Jian Tanxi, saying, "This is your dinner tonight."
Jian Tanxi wasn't hungry, but she didn't want to anger the witch, and besides, there wasn't much in the small bowl, so she finished it in one go.
At that moment, a voice rang in her mind: "Congratulations to player Jian Tanxi for obtaining a special item: Witch's Mushroom Soup. This item only works after you drink it. You have finished drinking the mushroom soup and gained the superpower: Tenfold Taste Sense."
Your sense of taste will be ten times more acute than the average person's, allowing you to discern subtle differences between foods. From then on, a legend circulated: it wasn't that Jian Tanxi was picky about food, but simply that her sense of taste was exceptionally sensitive. Want to know how much thought went into a dish? Have Jian Tanxi taste it for you!
Jian Tanxi was overjoyed; she did indeed feel that her sense of taste had improved a lot.
When she was eating the mushroom soup earlier, she only thought it tasted good. But now, she can taste the different flavors of each type of mushroom.
The witch ate the entire remaining pot of mushroom soup.
After she finished eating, she fell fast asleep.
Jian Tanxi also quickly went to sleep.
The next day, the witch led Jian Tanxi to a garden.
There are only a few scattered plants in this garden, and most of the space is empty.
The witch said, "I planted many flower seeds here a long time ago. They should have sprouted long ago, but I don't know why they haven't. Today you must make all the flower seeds sprout, or I will turn you into fertilizer and bury you here."
Jian Tanxi shuddered upon hearing this.
The witch continued, "I have to go now. You must make sure all the flower seeds sprout before sunset."
After saying that, the witch left.
Jian Tanxi was at a loss because she had never grown flowers and plants before, nor had she studied agriculture and forestry.
She could only stare blankly at the flowerbed.
She went to the nearby stream, scooped up some water, and watered the flowerbed.
However, growing flowers is not something that can be done in a day, and even if you water them, the effect is not significant.
After sitting there for half an hour, she decided to dig out a few seeds to examine them.
Although she dug it up, she couldn't see anything wrong with it, so she had to replant it.
Just then, two sika deer passed by.
They were chatting, and Jian Tanxi was surprised to find that she could understand what the sika deer were saying.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com