Chapter 11
The soft vines were not very effective in densely wooded environments, and Qianhui ran forward on her own for a long time.
The forest was vast, and everything looked much the same. He would occasionally glance back and find that he could no longer discern the path he had taken.
There were still many mutated plants along the way, and the grass and treetops swayed from time to time, making a slight sound.
The game also keeps popping up messages, reminding players that there are unbonded plants nearby.
However, most plants are small in size when not in combat, and are not easily spotted unless you look closely.
Qian Hui accidentally stepped on an unknown flower. The little flower shrieked and ran away. He hurriedly apologized, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."
He had to be careful where he stepped, trying to avoid areas where the weeds were too deep.
After taking only a couple of steps, he bumped into a long, horizontal branch. The branch lifted up, and the tree trunk made a disgruntled sound: "Hmm?"
Besides the mutated plants that move freely and at will, there is also a small number that don't like to move around. From the moment they develop consciousness, they stay in one place, such as trees.
Qian Hui quickly moved aside, bending down to go around her: "I'm sorry..."
He was a little nervous about all these unfamiliar plants.
But in reality, he was holding a man-eating flower, and the aura of a top-grade mutated plant was constantly emanating from it. Even if the surrounding plants sensed the intruder, they dared not make any rash moves.
They walked on like this for a long time before Qian Hui stopped to rest for a moment. She had just taken a couple of sips of water when Chili spoke up again: "Ugh..."
It pointed to the side, and Qian Hui looked in that direction and saw Nan Tingjin again.
He seemed to be coming from another direction, and the two were now even closer than before.
She thought she could shake him off... Qian Hui panicked and turned to leave quickly.
Chili tugged at Qian Hui's sleeve to keep herself from falling out of his pocket, gazing in the direction of Nan Tingjin.
We definitely can't beat it in a fight. It used a charged attack last night, and even after taking the medicine, it won't be able to prepare for a second one so quickly.
The man-eating flower was also recovering; its eyes were closed, and it was curled up in Qian Hui's arms, seemingly asleep.
"Or I could hide the man-eating plant first, but what if Nan Tingjin also tries to capture me...?" Chili's eyes were serious as she tried to think of a solution.
Qian Hui's physical strength was already poor, and her progress became slower and slower, gradually closing the distance between her and Nan Tingjin.
Finally, his body suddenly froze, and he found himself unable to move.
The footsteps behind him drew closer, and Nan Tingjin slowly stepped forward.
Only Qianhui was controlled by the superpower; the plants could still move. Chili pepper suddenly leaped from Qianhui's shoulder, swung over wrapped in soft vines, and spat out several chili pepper seeds as it did so.
Nan Tingjin dodged to the side, and all the chili seeds fell to the ground.
Chili pepper wanted to launch another attack, but her body suddenly stiffened in mid-air and she fell into the grass along with the soft vine.
Now no one could move. Nan Tingjin came to Qian Hui and glanced at him.
Having not slept all night, Qian Hui wasn't in good condition; there were two faint marks on the side of her face, probably from being scratched by tree branches.
However, he was dressed perfectly, had no other wounds, and seemed to be in good spirits, staring at Nan Tingjin with his beautiful red eyes.
Nan Tingjin said calmly, "Why are you running?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Chili Pepper and Soft Vine got up from the ground, and Qian Hui also felt that she could move again.
He quickly picked up the two plants and took a few steps back.
Nan Tingjin stood still, seemingly with no intention of doing anything.
Qian Hui looked tense and wary, and stared at him carefully for a while: "You...you're here to capture Xiao Zi?"
He carefully protected the carnivorous plant in his arms, covering it with the fabric of his sleeve, but a bit of its deep purple shell was still visible.
Nan Tingjin glanced down at him but said nothing.
Qian Hui took another step back: "You're not allowed to grab it, or else I...I..."
He tried to think of the second half of his sentence for a while, but couldn't come up with anything to say.
Nan Tingjin replied, "Very well."
Qian Hui was taken aback, half-believing and half-doubting: "Really?"
Nan Tingjin agreed too quickly, as if he hadn't thought about it seriously at all.
In fact, that's exactly what he did.
It's just a bounty mission; failure is failure. Besides, the unexpected situation last night had a serious impact. Even with the leader present, no one would question the mission's failure to be completed.
Failing to capture the man-eating flower alive won't cause any damage to the Blackridge Mountain base; we can just take on another bounty mission later.
Nan Tingjin patiently replied, "Really."
Qian Hui was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I don't believe it..."
If he didn't catch the man-eating plant, then why did he chase after it, and...?
The humans who injured the man-eating flower were Nan Tingjin's companions.
Qian Hui did not witness Nan Tingjin's actions and did not know the specific relationships between the group, but he had been with the four-person team last night.
Nan Tingjin probably doesn't remember the man-eating flower either, which Qian Hui had mentioned to him many times before.
Given the current situation, Qianhui dares not fully trust Nantingjin.
But the man-eating flower in his arms had not yet recovered, so escaping would not be so easy.
Upon hearing this, Nan Tingjin frowned slightly.
He took a step forward, and Qian Hui quickly stepped back, glaring at him weakly: "You...you stay away from me."
After saying that, Qianhui turned and ran away again.
Nan Tingjin's expression shifted between light and dark as he followed.
Qian Hui still couldn't run very far. Every time she looked back, she could see Nan Tingjin not far behind her.
Soon, he vaguely realized that Nan Tingjin was indeed keeping his distance from him.
The game alerted her twice that she was in poor condition. Qianhui was sleepy and tired. She leaned against a tree trunk for a couple of seconds to rest, then sat down on the ground in a self-destructive manner.
The footsteps behind her stopped, and Qian Hui turned around.
Nan Tingjin stood under the tree, at the same distance, his indifferent features obscured by the shadows.
Qian Hui awkwardly looked away, finally feeling a little relieved.
The carnivorous plant in her arms just woke up, slowly opened its eyes, and rubbed against Qian Hui's palm.
"Are you hungry?" Qian Hui asked softly. "Would you like some more medicine?"
The medicines in the game store seem to have no usage restrictions and no side effects.
Qianhui bought a little of each kind, and also bought a relatively expensive beef bread, which she tore into small pieces to feed the man-eating flower, and also fed a few pieces to the chili pepper and soft vine.
The man-eating plant slowly finished the bread, then swallowed several pills, and closed its eyes to fall asleep again.
Qianhui stuffed the remaining medicine into her pocket and leaned against the tree trunk with her head tilted to the side.
He ate some food and then opened the game to check the status of the plants one by one.
[Variety]: Man-eating Flower
[Status]: Injury not yet healed
[Variety]: Green chili pepper
[Status]: Feeling slightly tired
[Variety]: Soft Vine
[Status]: Feeling slightly tired
[Variety]: Mini Cabbage
[Status]: Sleeping
The moment the carnivorous plant saw Qianhui, its loyalty level immediately reached its maximum, and the information in the encyclopedia was very detailed.
It is an offensive plant with extremely high attack power, requiring no additional points to be added, and its size can be freely controlled at any time.
The Berserk skill section has a line of small print at the bottom: [Charge Progress: 20%]
Chili's berserk skill was updated last night, and it also has a charge-up progress, showing 2%.
Its berserk skill is: [Within a radius of 100, human faction abilities are disabled for 3 minutes (100% hit rate)].
Qian Hui's eyes widened slightly; this seemed quite impressive...
No wonder the chili pepper helped the man-eating plant escape from the four men last night, despite the circumstances.
Unfortunately, the plants' skills are fixed, and the only additional points can be added to improve their attack, defense, and speed.
Qian Hui hugged the chili pepper tightly and rubbed the leaves on its head: "Thank you for last night."
He casually bought dozens of skill points and added them to all the available ones.
Chili, feigning indifference, pushed Qianhui away and unceremoniously ate all the skill point balls.
Qianhui bought a lot more Soft Vine. Although it is not an offensive plant, adding attack power can also increase the binding force of its branches.
As for the baby cabbage, it hasn't woken up yet, so it can't be used for the time being.
Only then did Qianhui notice the balance displayed above.
He didn't have time to look carefully beforehand and bought a lot of things all at once, and now he still has...
18039!
Qian Hui stood there in a daze for a long time, counting the numbers back and forth several times to confirm that it was indeed a five-digit number.
There were no records of income or expenditure in the balance. He tried hard to recall and finally remembered that not long ago, when he found the man-eating plant, a bunch of game prompts popped up.
One of the messages seemed to congratulate him on successfully acquiring a top-tier mutated plant and quickly increasing its loyalty to 100%, giving him a lot of free balance.
He originally had several thousand, and after buying a lot of things, the remaining balance was at least 20,000.
Killing a low-level zombie only costs 1000, while killing a mid-level one costs 2000.
Upon finding the man-eating plant, they were immediately given 20,000.
Not only that, with the addition of a powerful mutated plant, the team's combat power suddenly increased to 2000, and their faction value also became 500.
Qianhui's mission is not yet complete, and her prestige value is still 0.
He was secretly happy for a while, then browsed through the online store again.
Not far away, Nan Tingjin leaned against a tree trunk, his gaze quietly fixed on Qian Hui.
Occasionally, small plants would pass by, scout the situation, and then quickly flee, or linger nearby to observe secretly.
This forest is a high-risk area, where zombies often come in to hunt. Even the lower-level plants are full of combat experience and are much bolder.
A large corn cob smelled the carnivorous plant but couldn't find it. After lying in wait for a long time, it decided to attack Qian Hui, who looked weaker.
It took out a small ball made of corn kernels, and was about to throw it when it was scared away by the chili pepper.
Chili wanted to chase after him, but Qianhui stopped her.
Looking at the thick grass, Qianhui bought a bag of biscuits and crushed them in her hand.
He got up and walked around, scattering cookie crumbs everywhere.
After returning to the tree, the grass was quiet for a moment, then began to rustle.
The game notifications for the plants she had already bonded with sounded one after another. Qianhui saw the corn from before, as well as a four-leaf clover, a daisy, a white radish...
There was a money tree and a kiwi fruit that got into a fight over a bigger cookie.
The kiwifruit was much smaller, and the money tree couldn't beat it. Its leaves were covered in sticky pulp, and it took a long time to shake it off.
Qian Hui, being soft-hearted, bought another bag of cookies and waved at it, saying, "I still have some here."
The money tree hesitated, not daring to approach, and turned and slipped away.
Just as Qian Hui was about to put the cookies away, a familiar-looking potato fell from the tree branch above her head and landed in the grass in front of her with a "thud".
Potato rolled over and got up, reaching out to Qian Hui with her big, green bean-sized eyes looking over.
Qian Hui had never seen anyone so bold before, and hesitated for a moment.
Is this potato from last night...?
Potato snorted, jumped up, snatched the biscuit from Qianhui's hand, and disappeared into the bushes in the blink of an eye.
Qian Hui's eyes widened: "You..."
Chili chased after it for a few steps but couldn't catch up, so she angrily turned back.
Qian Hui picked it up: "Never mind..."
The carnivorous plant in his arms opened its eyes at just the right moment and glanced outside.
What plants fear most are their own higher-ranking counterparts; the grass swayed constantly before gradually returning to calm.
Then, the carnivorous plant closed its eyes and continued to sleep.
The sun shone through the gaps in the leaves, and Qianhui yawned before slowly lying down in the grass.
Nan Tingjin was not far away. Qian Hui had her eyes closed, but she could vaguely feel his gaze.
As long as he doesn't take away the man-eating flower, his mere presence and sense of security are palpable.
Qian Hui fell asleep in a daze, and when she woke up again, she was awakened by the sound of zombies.
He opened his eyes and saw two mid-level zombies attempting to attack Nan Tingjin.
The two mid-level zombies were skinny and emaciated, moving very fast, and could spit out something like a spider web to stick to their prey.
All the nearby plants disappeared. Nan Tingjin stood in front of the grass where Qian Hui was sleeping and raised his hand to control the zombie's movements.
He was about to lure the zombies away to kill them when he heard Qian Hui's voice: "Wait a minute..."
Qian Hui ran up from behind, holding her dagger in her hand.
The zombie stood stiffly, its bloodshot eyes constantly moving, its face contorted in a grotesque scream.
Qian Hui was a little frightened and stood close to Nan Tingjin: "Can I kill them?"
Nan Tingjin was silent for a moment, then said, "Okay."
The two zombies remained motionless. Qian Hui circled around behind them and forcefully plunged the dagger into the back of their heads.
Chili peppers also helped, digging out the crystal cores.
It glanced at Nan Tingjin secretly, then hid the crystal core behind its back.
Having successfully killed two mid-level zombies, I've completed more than half of the main quest and still have a 4000 reward remaining.
Although the balance is sufficient, a thousand fen is never too much.
He returned to Nan Tingjin's side and said "thank you".
Nan Tingjin looked down at her, without asking Qian Hui why she did it.
There were dead zombies nearby, and the smell was not pleasant. Qianhui picked up the sleeping man-eating flower under the tree and took the chili peppers and soft vines to another place.
Nan Tingjin followed behind, this time at a closer distance.
After walking a little further, Qianhui found a long, winding stream.
The stream was clean and clear. He looked closely and saw that there didn't seem to be any mutated plants in it.
Qian Hui took a nap, and it was already late afternoon. He sat by the stream and dipped his hand into the cool water.
The sun quickly set, and a wind began to blow through the woods.
Qianhui wasn't afraid of the cold, but she was worried that the man-eating flower would catch a chill, so she bought a small blanket from the mall.
He picked and chose, and also bought himself new clothes and a coat, as well as a backpack to carry the leftover food and water.
Qianhui thought for a moment and then bought another small towel.
As night fell, he gave Nan Tingjin a piece of bread as payment for the two mid-level zombies.
Nan Tingjin did not refuse. He sat down under the tree with his legs bent, and was about to say something when Qian Hui turned and left.
As darkness fell completely, Qianhui deliberately moved away from Nantingjin and went to the stream.
He unbuttoned his clothes, dried himself with a towel soaked in the stream, and then changed into clean new clothes.
After doing all this, Qianhui quickly left and returned to the tree where she was preparing to sleep.
The man-eating flower didn't wake up at night and was put into a backpack, where Chili was responsible for guarding it for a while.
Unlike city ruins, the forest offered no hiding places. Gazing at the pitch-black surroundings, Qianhui led the plants closer to Nantingjin.
Nan Tingjin observed all his actions, lowered his eyes, and seemed lost in thought.
—
The next day, Qianhui woke up very early.
There was fog in the woods, and the moisture in the weeds was heavy. He hugged the backpack tightly and felt the carnivorous plant inside move.
Qian Hui immediately snapped out of her daze, opened her backpack, and picked up the carnivorous plant wrapped in a small blanket.
"Are you feeling better?" He patted the head of the carnivorous plant and opened a bottle of water to feed it.
After almost a full day of rest, the man-eating plant finally felt much better.
It tilted its head and rubbed against Qian Hui's palm, making soft "woof woof" sounds, and licked him with its leafy tongue.
“I have a lot of medicine here. You can also tell me if you’re hungry,” Qian Hui said. “Don’t be afraid, I will protect you.”
Even though he was still very weak, all he could do was buy medicine for the man-eating flower and help it recover as soon as possible.
The man-eating flower seemed to enjoy it, constantly licking Qianhui's chin like a clingy puppy.
Qian Hui smiled as she tidied the leaves of the carnivorous plant's stem and asked, "By the way, have you seen Little Pink?"
The carnivorous plant did not respond to this question yesterday.
But the mark above that tree hole must belong to the little mushroom, and the carnivorous plant is also hiding inside.
Upon hearing this, the man-eating flower's raised leaves quickly withered, and its eyes became extremely sad.
It moved closer and continued to rub against Qian Hui's cheek, as if seeking comfort from him, or perhaps comforting him.
Qian Hui had a bad feeling and asked blankly, "What's wrong?"
The carnivorous plant nuzzled him again, then buried its head in his palm and spat out a small object from the thicker part of its throat.
The object's surface was dry, wrapped in yellowed, withered leaves, indicating it had been there for some time, hidden in the throat of the carnivorous plant.
Qian Hui stared at it for a while, and vaguely guessed what it was.
His nose stung, and tears welled up in his eyes.
If it weren't for his special physical condition, which prevents him from truly crying like a human, he would already be wiping away tears right now.
Qian Hui reached out and slowly parted the layers of leaves to reveal the small pink mushrooms inside.
The little mushroom lay quietly among the leaves, its eyes closed, its stiff body half-dried up and stained the same color as the leaves.
The man-eating flower whimpered softly, leaning against Qian Hui's hand.
Qian Hui's breathing trembled, and her throat felt as if it were blocked by mud, causing her immense discomfort.
He held the leaves, bewildered, unwilling to believe it, and too afraid to touch them.
"How could this happen..." His voice choked with emotion.
Suddenly, Qianhui remembered something and hurriedly opened the game.
He forced himself to calm down and scrolled to the special items section of the shop: "Wait, I..."
[Resurrection Beans]
[Price]: 300,000
[Usage]: Can be used by any species, regardless of time of death, provided the body remains intact. Simply place the resurrection bean in your mouth and wait. (Friendly reminder: High-value items will consume the host's positive status; it is recommended to purchase when your balance is above 600,000.)
Qian Hui ignored the last sentence and hugged the carnivorous plant tightly: "I have a way."
The man-eating flower, not understanding what was happening, looked up.
"It's possible to be resurrected, but... but..." Qian Hui stammered, "...we have to wait a little longer..."
How can he raise the remaining 300,000?
Killing a mid-level zombie only costs 2000... But when he found the man-eating plant, he was given 20,000 in his balance. Maybe he'll give the same amount to other friends in the plant garden in the future.
Moreover, the product's usage instructions state that there is no time limit for death, so even if you accumulate enough, you will eventually have enough.
Qian Hui thought about many things in a jumbled way. He rubbed his eyes, carefully wrapped the leaves, and handed them to the man-eating flower again.
“Little Purple,” he said earnestly, “I have a way to revive Little Pink, but we have to wait… We must protect Little Pink.”
Realizing that Qianhui was telling the truth, the man-eating flower's eyes lit up with hope.
It nodded, swallowed the wrapped leaves back into its throat, and hid them.
After doing all this, the man-eating flower rushed into Qian Hui's arms, whimpering continuously.
Qianhui is still very sad. The hope of being resurrected does not mean that Xiaomogu's ordeal did not exist.
He hugged the man-eating flower tightly, and after a long while, he finally spoke, "When..."
"Who did this?" Qian Hui's eyes reddened. "Was it...humans?"
Zombies hunt plants and usually eat them.
Qian Hui didn't want to think about it too much, but she knew that it was extremely difficult to leave a complete body after being attacked by zombies.
The carnivorous plant raised its head and nodded slightly.
Qian Hui asked again, "Is it... those from last night?"
The man-eating flower thought for a moment and shook its head.
The little mushroom that was killed came from a different place than the one that attacked it last night; it could smell it.
Qian Hui breathed a sigh of relief. If it wasn't the human from last night, then it had nothing to do with Nan Tingjin.
He sniffed and stroked the head of the man-eating flower.
Once Qian Hui's emotions had calmed down a bit, footsteps sounded beside her.
He turned his head and saw Nan Tingjin.
The carnivorous plant remembered Nan Tingjin's scent and knew that he was Qian Hui's ex-boyfriend.
It never trusted any human, its eyes were very wary, and its flower stem was taut and ready to attack at any moment, but it held back for the time being because of Qian Hui.
Ignoring the man-eating flower, Nan Tingjin knelt down and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qian Hui looked like she had been crying; her eyes were red, and she looked fragile and sad.
Upon seeing Nan Tingjin, his emotions, which had just begun to calm down, surged up again.
But Nan Tingjin forgot everything; he didn't remember himself, and of course, he didn't remember Xiao Zi and Xiao Fen either.
Even if I told him, he probably wouldn't understand.
Finally, Qianhui's sadness turned into resentment and accusation: "Why..."
He looked at Nan Tingjin and whispered, "Why don't you remember me?"
Qian Hui felt like crying again, and a few tears welled up in her eyes.
Nan Tingjin frowned and extended his hand to him.
As if encouraged, Qianhui lunged forward.
He buried his face in Nan Tingjin's collar, hugging him tightly with both arms: "Waaah, hug me..."
Nan Tingjin lowered his eyes, his movements both awkward and natural, as he held Qian Hui between his legs.
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