Chapter 127 What’s Missing?
Yunxiang spent the whole morning searching for mature ingredients but didn't find many; they were mostly vegetable seedlings. Perhaps the trees here were absorbing all the nutrients, causing the vegetables to grow slowly. However, the variety was quite varied, and she managed to pick up almost everything she liked.
The zucchini were the most substantial, edible both young and old. She picked a dozen, one of which had turned yellow and could be saved for seed. Yunxiang was lucky that afternoon, finding wild strawberry seedlings on a shallow slope in a sunny, well-ventilated area where water wouldn't easily accumulate.
Each strawberry seedling had five or six plants in a clump, so they could be separated and planted. She had dug up more than twenty clumps in total. If all of them survived, it would be a good harvest. She thought of the clouds beautifully and was very happy all the way.
Shi Qixuan was at a disadvantage because she didn't recognize many of the vegetable seedlings, and very few of them were mature, so after a whole day of labor and capital investment, the harvest was almost zero.
Although she chose the planting department, her previous foundation was too poor and she would definitely not be able to make up for it in a short time, especially these seedlings, which were almost all the same.
The next day, Yun Xiang couldn't bear her annoyance and dragged her along. Shi Qixuan, unwilling to take advantage, was about to refuse when Yun Xiang retorted, "Consider it a favor to me, I'll keep it with you first." In Yun Xiang's opinion, friends didn't need to be so calculating.
Shi Qixuan was so moved by this that she almost cried, and Yun Xiang teased her for a while. Yun Xiang had never been a crybaby, and she couldn't stand seeing others cry, mainly because she couldn't comfort others. Just standing there felt like watching a joke, and that wasn't appropriate. Over time, she came up with this idea. Whether it worked or not was secondary; the key was to make sure people didn't feel left out.
They had a good day. Besides the seedlings, they found several varieties of fruit, all ripe. The fruit was small, though, so Yun Xiang thought the term "scarce" was more appropriate. Each person only had enough grapes to fill a 20-jin (100-pound) cardboard box. Three apricot trees, about 50 jin (100-pound) each, took some effort because of the height of the trees.
The blueberries were okay, over a hundred pounds. The persimmons and kiwis weren't ripe yet, so eating them raw was definitely not an option, so they had to be abandoned. Yun wanted to select tender branches from every fruit tree he came across, store them in a bio-box, and plant them when needed.
For two whole days, she didn't encounter a single medicinal plant. When she returned at night, she knew from their expressions, without even asking, that she hadn't found much. There was no point in staying in the shallow forest anymore, so she continued her exploration as planned.
Yun Xiang, Shi Qixuan, and Bian Linlin were assigned to a team led by Teacher Sheng Yulan. Qian Zexi, assigned to Bian Qin's team, felt like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth. Add to that the unidentified route, and Yun Xiang was worried for him. He quietly slipped him two high-level talismans to save his life in a pinch.
Although they were divided into groups, they were not far from each other and could look after each other. They passed through a light forest that was densely packed with trees. The trees grew very vigorously, lush and green, blocking out the sun.
Some of these trees are towering into the clouds, some are as thick as mountains, some are straight and upright as if they have been specially trimmed, and some have slanting branches, graceful and showing the beauty of nature.
Walking through the woods, his feet treading on thick, soft moss and fallen leaves, his nose filled with the smell of dampness. It should have been fragrant, but instead it had a stench of decay. Yunxiang wrinkled his nose, feeling as if something was missing, but he couldn't put his finger on it. His originally cheerful mood suddenly became heavy for no reason.
"Do you feel depressed? Weird?" Shi Qixuan leaned close to Yun Xiang and whispered.
"Yeah." Yun Xiang nodded. "Look at those guards leading the way ahead. They haven't exchanged any information with each other all morning. This means they are very familiar with this area and must come in and out frequently. Now they look normal, which shows that this is the nature of the jungle."
"Oh, that's me being too suspicious."
"Not necessarily. Maybe the change is so small that we don't notice it, or maybe we know about it but don't take it seriously. In any case, we have to be careful."
"Yeah." Shi Qixuan nodded quickly.
"Do you feel like something is missing?" Yun Xiang's forehead had been furrowed since they entered the dense forest.
"What's missing?" Shi Qixuan asked subconsciously, seeing Yun Xiang's flustered expression.
"We're here!" Captain Hu Wei suddenly shouted.
"Let's go and take a look first." It turned out to be a sandalwood forest. If there were only sandalwood trees, no one would be very happy, after all, not everyone likes wood carvings. However, under the sandalwood trees grew seedlings of medicinal plants and spiritual plants.
Most medicinal plants were rare and valuable, while spiritual plants were relatively low-level. However, their advantage lay in the wide variety of commonly used species, making them a treasure trove for planters. Senior planters were the first to select plots, followed by intermediate, junior, and finally students like Yun Xiang.
There is no way. The unequal treatment among different levels has existed for a long time. Don't try to change it. In this world where the strong are respected, everyone regards this as an honor.
"This... this is too cruel, right?" Shi Qixuan pinched a thumb-sized spiritual plant with two fingers. She had to strain her eyes to identify it as the seedling of the Awakening Spirit Grass.
"Ahem..." Yun Xiang suppressed a cough. "The land is small, and there are many people. It's a good thing they can give us a piece of land." This was obviously the sweet treat Bian Qin gave to the planters, which gave them the confidence to explore further. They were just incidental.
Yun thought that the spiritual plants in his hand were so small that he couldn't tell what was what, so he simply put them all in a vitality box and waited to cultivate them slowly before dividing them into smaller parts.
After she finished digging the plot of land that was allocated to her, she still couldn't fill a life box, so she simply went to cut the branches of the camphor tree.
"How's your wood carving going?" The hand holding the axe paused, cleverly concealing it with a swing. Yun wanted to adjust his facial expression, dancing with excitement as if he had seen his idol, "Master Bian!"
"Watch your axe."
"Oh oh!" Yun Xiang smiled foolishly.
"How's your wood carving?"
Yun Xiang scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "It's too difficult to get started."
"He said that too, but it's easy once you get the hang of it."
Him? "Is he very powerful?" Yun Xiang pretended to mention it casually.
"Well, he is the most talented sculptor I have ever seen." A light flashed in Bian Qin's eyes, so fast that it was impossible to catch.
"Yeah, it would be nice if I could see him."
"He...is gone."
Did he treat her as someone to confide in? Yun Xiang was both surprised and enlightened. She had so many secrets that she wouldn't dare reveal to those close to her, but she could vent to strangers.
"I'm sorry, Master Bian, I didn't expect—"
“It’s none of your business!”
"You two have a good relationship, right?" Yun Xiang asked cautiously.
"Okay?" If a one-sided quarrel doesn't count as a quarrel, then their relationship seems to be pretty good.
"Is he a very powerful talisman maker?" Yun Xiang asked meaningfully.
"Talisman maker?" Bian Qin suddenly raised his voice, staring at Yun Xiang sharply, "Who told you that?"
Why do you ask? Isn't it true? "I just thought of it myself. People here say that if you carve well, you will become a great talisman maker."
"Nonsense!" Although Bian Qin's tone was scolding, Yun Xiang could clearly feel that she was much more relaxed. "There is no connection between carving and talisman making. You are just following what others say."
Is it really okay? Yun Xiang nodded obediently after being denied so quickly, "Oh."
(End of this chapter)
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