Chapter 70 The Miraculous Mutant Peanut Forest (Revised)
As its name suggests, the Ghost Thorn Vine grows extremely wildly, its branches appearing menacing and terrifying at first glance. If you came here at night, you would suspect that all sorts of unknown ghosts and monsters were hiding inside.
Looking at each of its branches, they are covered with sharp thorns more than three inches long, seemingly challenging anyone who dares to approach it.
Furthermore, its branches intertwine with each other, resembling a tangled mess of yarn; if it doesn't make way, it's truly difficult to find a place to step.
Zuo Shan couldn't help but sigh, no wonder the original owner and Qi Yang had returned empty-handed every time they came here later.
Seeing Zuo Shan frown, Mao Li extended his mechanical arm and said, "Master, would you like me to clear a path for you?"
Zuo Shan looked at the endless Ghost Thorn Vine and shook his head. Mao Li's energy reserves were still insufficient. If it was just a small amount of Ghost Thorn Vine, he could help.
What she saw before her was clearly a sea of thorny vines, stretching for at least several kilometers. She didn't want to make things difficult for him just for a bite to eat.
Mao Li knew he was pushing himself too hard, so when she shook her head, he stopped insisting.
Suddenly, a tiny sprout appeared on Zuo Shan's wrist, its two oval leaves swaying gently and brushing against her wrist.
The next second, a green light emerged from the tender bud, passing through countless intertwined thorn vines and shooting into the depths of the thorn vine forest.
Soon, the branches of the ghost thorn vine began to shake wildly, as if someone were stirring up a pot of porridge with a stick.
A few minutes later, the dense, impenetrable thorny vines retreated to both sides, making way for Zuo Shan, a path wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
"Wanwan, what did you do to them?!" Zuo Shan exclaimed in shock.
Of course, Wanwan couldn't answer her. It just rubbed its tender bud against her wrist and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a pale purple crescent moon mark.
"Chestnut, can mutated plants communicate with each other?" Zuo Shan asked her encyclopedia again.
"Communication is possible, but we won't give way without a reason. Demanding that we make way like this is tantamount to us invading the territory of the Ghost Thorn Vine King."
There are only two possibilities that would allow this situation to occur:
First, the level of the curved ability you contracted is higher than that of the Ghost Thorn Vine King here. Under the level suppression, the Ghost Thorn Vine King had to order its descendants to give way.
Secondly, Wanwan gave Ghost Thorn Vine King benefits we were unaware of, in an exchange of equal value. "Mao Li explained.
In his current state, he can only distinguish between level zero and level one ability levels. For higher levels, he must use professional detection methods, but that requires more energy support.
He couldn't tell Wanwan's level from the beginning, but he knew that Wanwan must be at least at the second rank, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to actively form a contract with a human.
He couldn't discern Wanwan's specific abilities, so he couldn't determine which reason made Ghost Thorn Vine King willingly give way to them.
Either way, it's a fortunate thing, as it at least proves that Wanwan is a very powerful mutated plant, and its owner made a good deal by forming a contract with it.
Left Fan bravely took her first step toward the territory of the Ghost Thorn Vine King. Terrified, Little Bao'er mustered its courage and ran ahead of her. It didn't want Sister Fan to take any risks; it wanted to protect her!
Zuo Shan watched as Xiao Bao, though trembling, still tried his best to straighten his back and walk ahead of her, and her heart was filled with warmth.
She quickly followed behind it, gently patting its back to comfort it.
After taking their first step, the man and the beast grew bolder and bolder. Looking at the ghost thorn vines standing quietly on both sides, Zuo Shan couldn't help but laugh despite his nervousness.
The area occupied by the ghost thorn vine is quite large, covering tens of thousands of square meters, and this road alone is at least four hundred meters long.
It's no wonder that the authorities are unwilling to send people to clear such a large area of thorny vines; the cost is simply too high.
If they tried to burn it, they were afraid of causing a forest fire, so they had no choice but to give up the seventy or eighty acres of scavenging land in the southwest.
Having passed through the territory of the Ghost Thorn Vine, Zuo Shan followed the markings set on the wristwatch map by the original body and finally found the path to the Peanut Forest.
Because this area has been deserted for a long time, the plants have grown wildly, covering the original road so much that it is no longer recognizable.
They could only clear the road as they walked. Xiao Bao walked in front, and whenever he saw a branch growing horizontally, he would raise his chubby panda paw and slap it hard, breaking most of the branches off instantly.
When encountering those particularly flexible and unbreakable plants, Zuo Shan would use a cutting knife to cut them, and unexpectedly discovered a mutated purslane with moderate radiation.
Purslane, also known as longevity vegetable, is rich in various nutrients. It is also called a natural antibiotic and has remarkable effects in treating intestinal infections, boils, and hematochezia.
These are all things my mother, who loves to eat wild vegetables, knows like the back of her hand. Over time, Zuo Shan was influenced by this.
Purslane leaves were originally thick, but after the mutation, they became even thicker, with one leaf being about the size of an adult's palm, and dozens of leaves growing densely on a single branch.
Zuo Shan tried testing a few of the leaves and found that at least half of them were edible. Too lazy to test them one by one, she simply stuffed the entire branch into a sack.
Zuo Shan was very happy to have such a harvest before even entering the peanut grove.
Purslane can be stored for a relatively long time, so we've got our wild vegetables sorted for the next week.
After walking through thorns and brambles for about twenty minutes, we finally arrived at the peanut grove.
Zuo Shan never imagined that peanuts could mutate like this.
Before me was a chaotic expanse of tangled vines, forming a thick, dark green carpet covering the entire ground, spanning several hundred square meters.
Unlike the thin peanut tillers she had seen before, which were only 30 to 60 centimeters tall, the mutated peanuts here were as thick as an adult's wrist and nearly two meters tall.
However, due to the entanglement of so many vines, it is almost impossible to distinguish which stem is the main stem.
Or perhaps it is composed of the main stems of several peanut plants; in any case, it has now become a hodgepodge.
Zuo Shan didn't care about anything else. He followed the vines to the roots, picked up a hoe, and started digging.
Following the root downwards, we dug down to a depth of more than a meter before finding the first fruit.
The fruit is connected to the roots under the soil. After digging up the surrounding soil with a hoe, you can pull out a large clump of yellowish-brown fruit shells, about the size of a cucumber, which look quite cute as they are packed together.
Peel one open, and you'll find it filled with plump peanuts in red skins, each shell containing at least 200 grams of kernels.
If it weren't for the familiar shell color and material, she would have suspected that it wasn't a peanut at all, but some other species.
What she saw in the original owner's memories was a peanut forest in extremely cold weather, with withered vines and bare branches. If they hadn't happened to find a peanut kernel that had been dug up and half-eaten by a mutated field mouse, they would never have discovered that there were edible peanuts hidden under the soil.
That day, two incredibly lucky teenagers, one digging quickly and the other responsible for testing and shelling, collected fifty pounds of peanuts in just over two hours.
But it's extremely hot now, and the peanuts have only just ripened. The peanut kernels are still very fresh and contain moisture. They are fragrant and crunchy when you bite into them, and they have a sweeter and crispier taste than dried peanuts.
It's so delicious!
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