As soon as Daohua finished speaking, a drop of water from a petal landed on Li's face as she looked up at the flower.
"Haha, it's alright, this flower is so pretty, it definitely can't be poisonous..." Rice Flower exclaimed excitedly, then bent down to lick the drop of water again, "...Ah, where's the water? Oh my god, it's dried up! I should have licked it quickly, this flower is so pretty, the water inside must be sweet, it's all gone, what a pity!"
Daohua said to Li with a regretful look, "Li, really, this flower is definitely not poisonous! Let's cut it down quickly. It's so hot now, if all the water inside dries up, we'll have no water to drink at all."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Daohua received a punch on the back of the head. Chu angrily scolded, "It looks good, doesn't it? You'll eat it after you cut it down, won't you? Do you remember when you were a kid, you were playing near the tribe and dug up a bunch of colorful mushrooms, then you ran happily to our chief and said that you'd made dinner tonight? What a stupid thing to do!"
The more colorful and vibrant the mushroom, the more potent the toxins it contains. This is common knowledge, both in modern times and in primitive times. Daohua, having been exposed, looked somewhat embarrassed, but still said unwillingly, "Mushrooms are mushrooms, and flowers are flowers. They're not the same thing, are they? Besides, the petals of this flower are pale yellow, and the color isn't very bright."
Chu didn't give Daohua any face at all, and said in an unquestionable tone, "How many times do I have to tell you, no means no! Li already told you to wait a little longer, and you're still in such a hurry to die. What, do you think you have more experience than Li?"
Li spoke gently to Daohua, "Daohua, I understand how you feel, but we've never seen this flower before, and we can't take that risk."
Standing behind Daohua, Pan said unwillingly, "Li, it's okay. There aren't that many poisonous plants. We're really thirsty. Let us try."
Gu and a group of people around his age echoed Pan, urging Li to cut it down and take a look first, no matter what. If it didn't look like a good thing, they could deal with it later.
Li looked at Chu.
He had encountered situations where he was tired, thirsty, and hungry when he participated in hunting before, but he also knew that sometimes, you just can't do something. Unknown dangers are the most terrifying, and he couldn't let the hunting team take that risk. Now, the people in the hunting team were all from the tribe, so Li couldn't speak too harshly. He could only look at Chu, hoping that he could say a few words to dispel the hunting team's idea of "fetching water".
Chu scratched his head, clearly unsure what to say, when Li Qing suddenly exclaimed, "Look!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Qing pointed to the flower: "There is a bird on the flower's stamen."
"So what if there are birds? Isn't that a normal thing?"
"I thought it was something serious, why were you yelling so loudly... Hey, Mai Zi, you haven't even seen a bird in your entire life, have you?"
Upon hearing this, not only Li and Chu, but even Daohua laughed good-naturedly, because they all felt that what Li Qing had just said was really silly. Birds are everywhere, and there's nothing surprising about a bird perched on a flower stamen.
Li Qing wasn't angry; he simply said calmly, "You can continue watching."
"What's so interesting? It's not like we haven't seen birds before."
"Alright, enough of this useless talk, let's..."
Just as he was saying this, the man noticed that Li and Chu were also looking up at the bird, just like Li Qing.
Scratching his head, he looked up with some curiosity, wondering, "What, could that bird be some rare species?"
But after about three or four seconds, his mouth opened wide, and he stammered, "Oh... God, God, it's a man-eating flower!"
Everyone has seen birds, but the man-eating flower is a plant that most of the members of the hunting team who came out with them had only heard of but never seen. Upon hearing these three words, they couldn't help but look up, and then they saw a scene that left a very deep impression on them.
The petals, which had been opening outwards, were slowly contracting and expanding inwards. During this process, the bird was unaware of anything amiss, still attracted by the fragrance of the flower and clinging to the stamen. It wasn't until the petals were about half closed that the bird seemed to realize something was wrong. It struggled with its wings a few times, trying to fly away, but the mucus secreted from the stamen seemed to act like glue, firmly sticking its wings to its sides, making it unable to move at all.
The flower stamens close very slowly, but during this process, the bird cannot break free even slightly.
Until the petals are completely closed.
Then, after a while, the petals slowly opened again.
The little bird that was there earlier is no longer in the center of the flower.
Clearly, it has been digested by this man-eating flower.
This scene disgusted many members of the hunting team, especially Daohua. When he learned that the drop of water dripping from his chest and the drop of water on his finger were actually the slime of the man-eating flower, his face turned pale. He turned to Li Qing and stammered, "It's...it's good that I didn't lick the slime while talking to you."
Li Qing: "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. This man-eating flower just looks strange, but it's not actually that big among man-eating flowers. I estimate that it's already at its limit after eating a bird. And it's so tall, it's obviously not there to eat people. So we just need to stay away from it."
Daohua said with a mournful face, "I know I'll be fine, but I was just resting under the man-eating flower, and just thinking about it..."
Li Qing laughed and said, "It's alright. Now that we know it's a man-eating flower, we just need to avoid causing it trouble."
Li walked up to Li Qing and looked at him intently.
Clearly, from Li Qing calling him a "traitor," to Li Qing bringing Yong home, and now, unlike the other level-one warriors in the hunting team who had never seen a big scene, his calm demeanor in the face of unknown plants has forced him to re-evaluate "Wheat."
Li Qing had a clear conscience; he wasn't trying to harm the hunting team, so he didn't avoid Li's gaze and looked back at him earnestly.
Li saw a hint of determination and composure in Li Qing's eyes. Now that his temperament has changed so much, he didn't say anything, but patted Li Qing's shoulder with one hand.
Chu, watching from the side, burst into laughter: "Maizi, don't be afraid. Li has been acting like a different person lately. He doesn't mean you any harm; in fact, he seems to admire you."
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