Chapter 24
Qian Hui was initially delighted, but then became skeptical.
He asked, "What kind of plant is it?"
“They are very large,” Nan Tingjin replied. “I’ve seen one once, but I don’t know what kind they are.”
Qian Hui muttered under her breath, "Then how did you know it was top-grade..."
He had never heard Nan Tingjin mention this before, but since they had only recently reunited, it was understandable that Nan Tingjin didn't know he wanted to find all the top-grade exotic plants.
Qian Hui leaned against Nan Tingjin's chest, looked up at him, and said, "It's true, you're not lying to me?"
He felt a slight sense of unease, and besides, the base was human territory; he couldn't just go there whenever he wanted.
Nan Tingjin lowered his eyes: "When have I ever lied to you?"
Qian Hui fell silent. He thought back carefully and realized that Nan Tingjin in the past would never have lied to him.
After arriving here, it seems that Nan Tingjin... hadn't lied to him after all.
The man-eating plant they were looking for was nearby, and he didn't hide it from himself.
Nan Tingjin then said softly, "Why would I lie to you?"
"I..." Qian Hui said vaguely, "I don't know either."
In fact, even though Nan Tingjin had lost his memory, he was the only human that Qian Hui trusted the most.
Several of his companions had tried to capture the man-eating flower, but Nan Tingjin came to the forest and promised Qian Hui that he would not capture the man-eating flower.
When the two were together, Qian Hui bought things from the game store without avoiding Nan Tingjin, who even reminded her not to let others see her.
In short, although Nan Tingjin is the leader of the human base, he has almost always been obedient to Qian Hui, and does not seem like an "enemy faction" at all.
Qianhui thought for a while and was almost ready to believe it.
His eyes lit up slightly, and he asked again, "Then...how do we get there?"
He said "we," meaning he wanted to bring the plant team along.
Nan Tingjin paused for a moment, then said, "Promise me, and I'll make the arrangements."
Qian Hui hesitated for a moment: "I'll ask the radishes later."
Nan Tingjin patiently replied, "Alright."
The plants were still taking a bath, and the little bamboo shoots hiding behind the trees hesitated for a long time before slowly making their way to the lakeside.
It didn't go near other plants, but deliberately chose a more distant spot, intending to quickly wash itself and then return to the tree to keep watch for the night.
As soon as they touched the water, the corn and potatoes swam over with a "splash".
Potato waved and said, "Woo!"
They all saw the little bamboo shoots help kill zombies before, and since they fought together, they are friends.
The little bamboo shoot nodded modestly, peeled off a layer of its outer shell, and put it in water to wash.
Corn stared wide-eyed, peered closer at its husk, and reached out to touch it.
Potato also came over to look, snatched it away, and wanted to try it on himself.
However, it was a bit too fat, and the shell couldn't close properly.
Corn turned its head and saw Little Bamboo Shoot take out a bamboo knife from its back and peel off another layer of its shell.
A moment later, the bamboo shoot was pulled into the lake, and the corn and potatoes surrounded it, looking at it, wondering if it could peel off another layer.
The little bamboo shoot held on tightly to the third layer of shell, refusing to let go.
Just then, the carnivorous plant heard the commotion and came over. It told the corn and potatoes to behave themselves, because if the little bamboo shoots got angry, they might not be able to beat it.
The two plants were quite obedient and immediately retreated. The little bamboo shoot scooped up its outer shell and bamboo blade from the water, climbed ashore, and ran away.
Once all the plants had returned, Qianhui handed the sleeping sunflower and apple to the carnivorous plant and used a towel to wipe the water off each of them.
He casually mentioned what had just happened, asking if anyone had heard of the exceptional rare plants in Black Ridge Mountain.
The carnivorous plant was the first to shake its head, indicating it didn't know.
Carrot also shook its head. Apart from wanting to fight the zombie king last time, it rarely approached human bases and had never been to Blackridge Mountain.
Even the most knowledgeable chili pepper is unclear, let alone the rest of the plants.
Qian Hui hesitated, then said, "I want to go over there and take a look..."
Nan Tingjin didn't describe the plant much, only that it was very large, without any further details.
Based on this alone, Qianhui had absolutely no idea which plant it was, or rather, any one of them could be.
When the carnivorous plant was in the small courtyard, it only reached his waist. It was only after coming here that it was able to change its size.
Carrot thought for a moment, then let out a "whoosh," and decided it was okay to go.
The man-eating flower still shook its head; it didn't quite trust Nan Tingjin. If this was a lie, Qian Hui would be in danger.
Carrot scoffed and pointed to his neck.
Nan Tingjin is still under Ruan Teng's control. They've already kidnapped the leader, so there shouldn't be any problem with taking a stroll around the leader's base, right?
The man-eating flower remained silent. It never thought that Nan Tingjin could be controlled by a small vine; it was always better to be cautious.
Finally, the corn and potatoes agreed to go, the chili peppers disagreed, and the rest of the plants didn't care whether they went or not.
Qian Hui was even more conflicted now: "I'll ask Xiao Kui again tomorrow..."
Or they could try to find some information from humans, but that would be quite risky.
After wiping the last plant with water, Qianhui was about to put the towel away when she caught sight of a small bamboo shoot not far away.
Under the moonlight, the little bamboo shoot hid behind a tree. When it noticed Qian Hui looking over, it quickly shrank back and hid.
Qian Hui walked over with a towel and squatted down in front of the tree: "Hello?"
After a while, the bamboo shoots slowly emerged from behind the tree.
Facing Qian Hui now, it felt a little embarrassed, after all, it hadn't chosen to trust Qian Hui before and had even resisted desperately, almost delaying the time to save the sunflower.
But Qian Hui didn't seem angry. She beckoned to him and said, "Come here, let me wipe it for you."
The bamboo shoots were covered with two wet outer shells, with water droplets constantly dripping down.
It stood still for a while, then gently twitched its nose.
Qian Hui smells wonderful, almost like a sunflower, as if she has an innate affinity for plants.
He waited patiently, and the little bamboo shoot finally moved slowly closer and came to him.
Qianhui first wiped its leaves, and seeing that it did not resist, she continued to wipe its body.
However, the water droplets seemed to multiply as he wiped them, so he simply wrapped the bamboo shoot in a towel, picked it up, and gently shook it head down.
The water hidden inside the bamboo shoot husk was finally poured out, the bamboo shoot was dried, and it was put back on the grass.
It was still a little dizzy. The scents in the towel were too mixed, with all the plant scents mixed together. When it was buried in it, it felt very strange, as if it had been "assimilated".
The little bamboo shoot sneezed and sat down on the ground.
Qian Hui couldn't help but reach out and touch it: "Do you want to come with me?"
After successfully rescuing the sunflower, the bamboo shoot's loyalty immediately jumped to 50%, even higher than that of the mimosa.
Whether it genuinely cares about the sunflower or is a highly mutated plant, Qianhui wants to keep it by her side for whatever reason.
The little bamboo shoot sniffed Qian Hui's fingertips, then looked at the sunflowers and apples in the leaves of the carnivorous flower behind it.
Hesitantly, it turned and ran back to the tree, picked up its bamboo knife, and ran back to follow closely at Qian Hui's feet.
Qianhui picked it up and turned back.
The addition of bamboo shoots was not surprising to the rest of the plants.
Sunflower and Apple returned to Qianhui's arms, and he carried the three new team members. The carnivorous plant grew larger and carried the two of them and all the plants deeper into the forest, preparing to find a more distant and safer place to spend the night.
On the way, Qianhui opened the game, and the plant team's combat power had increased to 9000.
Faction value 2000, Prestige value 790, Balance over 70,000.
I had 500 reputation points after killing several mid-level zombies last night, accumulating enough to reach 30, and finally completing the main quest.
The guide to buying a high-level mutated plant only costs 5 reputation points, which should be enough for a long time.
One faction point can be exchanged for 20 balance points. With the current 2000 faction points, the balance should be over 110,000.
But it's still not enough... I've only saved up a third of the revival bean I need to buy.
The side quests haven't been completed yet. If you raise the loyalty of two high-level mutated plants to 40% and the loyalty of two mid-level mutated plants to 50%, you'll get another 2000 faction points as a reward.
Four more are needed... Qianhui opened the encyclopedia. The Mimosa's loyalty was stuck at 30%, and the apple she brought back with the sunflower was a low-level mutated plant.
To complete the mission, the team will need to add new plants.
Qian Hui looked at the backpack. If she got a bigger one, it should be able to hide everything, but...
Since there have been more and more plants around me, especially after I found carrots, I don't know if it's because the scent in the group is too strong and domineering, but many plants have quickly run away when they smell it.
Upon arriving at this forest, we encountered far fewer mutated plants than before.
Qianhui was a little troubled. She couldn't just leave the carrots behind; she had to think of a way.
Qian Hui opened the taskbar again, and a new main quest had been released.
[Main Quest]: Use the Evolution Water from the shop to help your plants evolve successfully (2/5)
[Quest Reward]: Faction Points +300
That's easy. Qianhui has already given Chili and Soft Vine Evolution Water, so we only need to use three more bottles.
The loyalty of the corn, potatoes, and money tree has just reached 70%, so it is recommended to cultivate them.
Qianhui bought three bottles of Evolution Water and stored them in her game inventory, planning to use them tomorrow.
He turned off the game, leaned against Nan Tingjin's chest, and gazed at the dark night in the distance.
The mimosa clinging to the cuff gently lifted its leaves, gazing at the three new plants in Qian Hui's arms.
Qianhui said that sunflowers were his friends, but apples and bamboo shoots didn't seem to be.
Apples, in particular, are not considered high-ranking plants. In the eyes of the mimosa, they are "useless" plants. If caught by humans, they would most likely be discarded directly and not taken back to be kept in captivity.
But Qian Hui was different. He brought Little Apple along, perhaps just because he happened to be there when he rescued Sunflower. He even fed Apple food and pills.
So... am I considered Qianhui's friend?
Help me find the sunflower. That night, Qianhui quietly praised the mimosa for a long time, saying it was really amazing.
The mimosa plant stirred uneasily, its leaves gazing in a distant direction.
That was where it was once imprisoned, along with many other plants.
Plants don't usually have friends, but when they were locked up together, the surrounding plants all became the mimosa's friends.
Now it has finally escaped and doesn't have to go back to that place.
The plants around Qianhui are all very strong and willing to protect her.
But its friends are still there.
If only Qianhui would be willing to save its friend... The mimosa looked at Qianhui, its leaves drooping quietly.
The woods were quiet, with occasional swaying of the grass and branches, and some mutated plants fleeing into the distance upon smelling the scent.
The carnivorous plant deliberately followed the path with fewer trees and stopped after half an hour.
We're quite far from the low-rise building beyond the ruins, and all the zombies we encountered have been killed, so we should be safe now.
Qianhui took out a cabbage shell and crawled inside with all the plants, including the small bamboo shoots.
Tonight, the man-eating flower is on guard. It patrols the area once and then lies down next to the cabbage shell.
Also outside was Nan Tingjin, who sat under a tree, his whole body enveloped in the shadows.
At the same time, a high-level zombie appeared in the forest.
It is very short and thin, and doesn't look very powerful, but its limbs are very long and its nose takes up almost a quarter of its face.
The zombie moved slowly forward, sniffing out any remaining scents, searching for its target.
—
Before she knew it, it was dawn. Qian Hui had gone to bed too late last night and didn't get up until almost ten o'clock.
When he woke up, the cabbage shell door was open a crack, and all the plants had slipped out to play, except for the three newly joined plants beside him.
The sunflower petals emitted a faint glow, while the bamboo shoots and apples obediently squatted to the side, not daring to wander off.
Qianhui hugged the sunflower, then touched the bamboo shoot and the apple: "Are you hungry?"
He got up, washed up, opened his backpack to prepare breakfast, and the plants that had been playing and wandering around all returned.
After feeding the animals, Qianhui took out three bottles of evolution water.
Upon seeing this, Yumi quickly stuffed the jerky in her hand into her mouth and sidled up to Qianhui.
"Woo..." It pointed to the evolution water, its eyes full of anticipation.
Qianhui picked it up: "Yes, it's for you."
Corn was excited and its loyalty increased by 10% on the spot.
It swallowed the jerky in its mouth, then held the bottle and drank it down in one gulp.
Potatoes and money trees are also happy; the evolution water represents the ability to become stronger, and few plants don't want to become stronger.
Corn finished drinking the evolution water and burped.
It patted its belly and quickly asked the chili pepper next to it if it had grown taller.
Chili coldly shook her head, indicating no.
Corn snorted and pulled out another corn kernel, which seemed unchanged from before.
Qianhui is opening the encyclopedia to check its new advanced skill: "Explodes upon landing, spreading corn-like smoke with a psychedelic effect..."
Smoke is a group attack that can put enemies into a hallucinatory state, and in severe cases, even cause them to attack their own allies, with a success rate as high as 99%.
The corn finally felt the effects of evolution. It sensed that this must be very powerful and became excited again, eager to find a target to try it out.
The skills of the potato and the money tree have also been updated. The potato's bomb has been transformed into a flight-homing missile, available in three different sizes and with varying power.
The money tree is defensive; it can directly activate a protective shield within a certain range, eliminating the need to enlarge its leaves to cover the target.
Potato pulled out a mini missile and nudged Corn: "Whoosh!"
It claimed its own was more powerful and wanted to compete with it.
The corn didn't bother with it; it snatched the missile, examined it closely, and then stuck its own corn kernels on top.
It proudly showed the corn missile to Qian Hui, who carefully took it and exclaimed, "So clever!"
Potato, who had been watching from the side, asked Chili for a chili seed, tied it up with weeds and missiles, and squeezed over to show it to Qianhui.
Qianhui praised them one by one, finally appeasing them, and then went to find the sunflower.
“Little Sunflower,” he asked, “do you know where the cabbages are?”
The sunflower leaf reached out and was placed in Qianhui's palm.
This is its unique way of communicating, telling Qianhui that it doesn't know.
After arriving here, Sunflower had never seen the plants in the old courtyard before, until Qianhui rescued her from the zombies.
It also conveyed its concern for Little Mushroom, who was not with Qianhui. It had asked the Man-Eating Flower in the morning, but the Man-Eating Flower refused to tell it.
Qian Hui lowered her eyelashes and said with difficulty, "Xiao Fen... Xiao Fen will be alright, I'm here."
Every time he found a plant in the yard, he had to mention the little mushroom to it. It was a very unpleasant feeling, but he was really bad at lying.
The sunflower's light flickered slightly, already guessing roughly from Qian Hui's emotions.
It gently held Qianhui's wrist, trying to comfort him.
The sunflower witnessed what had just happened. Qianhui can evolve the plant's skills, and she will definitely be able to help the little mushroom as well.
Qian Hui hummed in agreement and turned to look at Nan Tingjin not far away: "Xiao Jin also said that there is a top-grade exotic plant over Black Ridge Mountain, but it's not certain who it is."
Sunflower recognized Nan Tingjin and told Qian Hui that she could go if she wanted, but she must be careful.
Qian Hui nodded, and the little bamboo shoot next to her suddenly let out a "whoosh".
It had been following Qian Hui the whole time and had heard everything that was said.
The little bamboo shoot raised its head, its eyes showing some hesitation.
It touched the sunflower leaf, and its thoughts were conveyed to Qianhui through the sunflower.
"You mean..." Qian Hui exclaimed in surprise, "There really is one there?"
The little bamboo shoot nodded, but that was a long time ago. At that time, Zone 5 of the safe zone was being expanded, and it was passing by when it encountered several plants that were preparing to escape.
The plant told it that there was a very strange, top-tier exotic plant over Black Ridge Mountain, and if it didn't want to die, it was best to stay away from there.
The little bamboo shoot wasn't afraid of the special exotic plants, but it didn't intend to go there, so it left.
Qianhui picked up the little bamboo shoot and said gratefully, "I understand, thank you."
This at least proves that Nan Tingjin did not lie to him.
But how do we get into the human base?
Nan Tingjin said he would make the arrangements; did he mean to sneak in secretly?
Qian Hui opened her backpack; there was only one bottle of disguise potion left inside.
He put down the bamboo shoots and went to find Nan Tingjin.
Upon learning that Qian Hui had a way to transform into a human, but could only maintain it for two hours, Nan Tingjin said, "No need."
He lowered his eyes and took Qian Hui's hand. After several days of massage, the bluish-gray discoloration on her bones and joints had faded considerably, and her skin had become more rosy.
Nan Tingjin pulled Qian Hui closer and stroked his silver hair: "Two hours is not enough."
Qian Hui was puzzled, but Nan Tingjin suddenly composed himself and looked into the distance.
The carnivorous plant raised its head and growled.
In an instant, almost all the plants sensed the rapidly approaching danger.
“Pah—”
A radish thorn flew down from the sky and landed in the grass not far from Qianhui, along with a carrot.
Carrot went out on patrol not long ago and most likely went to a faraway place again. Qianhui hasn't seen it since breakfast.
At this moment, it clutched the wound on its side, grimaced, and crawled up, looking rather disheveled.
Qian Hui exclaimed in panic: "Radish?!"
At the same time, a game notification popped up.
[A large number of enemy forces have been detected around you, indicating a high probability of faction conflict. Please take appropriate action!]
Outside the woods, a large horde of corpses is gathering here.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
