I slept for less than three hours before it got light.
The morning after the rain, Yishan Mountain was shrouded in a thick white mist. All the mutated plants and animals had not yet awakened. The mountain was so quiet that only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard.
Because the Meng brothers were sleeping next door, Zhao Gang did not wrap Zhao Xiaoxiu up this time.
She slept alone on a single bed in the duty room, surrounded by a railing made of quilts by Zhao Gang.
The tiny creature curled up inside, sleeping like a young animal sleeping in its den.
Zhao Gang didn't sleep all night, nor did he need to.
He sat quietly at the table, organizing the things in his backpack. He pulled out a colorful hair tie from Shan Yuan's bag and furtively gestured at the cub sleeping on the bed with its hair all messed up.
Finally, tie the frizzy hair into a small bun on top of your head.
Awakened by the noise from the Meng brothers tidying up the Buddhist temple next door, Zhao Xiaoxiu sat on the bed, repeatedly touching her little bun on her head with her small hands, her eyes gradually becoming vacant.
Hmm...that's weird.
I'm a little happy.
The mischievous strands of hair that used to fly everywhere and get stuck on my face and eyes are now behaving themselves.
Zhao Gang picked up a vegetable basket and waved for the cub to follow him.
The father and daughter went to the temple's vegetable garden and picked a basket full of fresh vegetables.
Some were cooked for breakfast, and the rest were planned to be packed in sacks and taken back to the base for personal consumption.
While eating the sweet and sticky steamed pumpkin, Zhao Xiaoxiu was surprised to find that her father's cooking skills were unexpectedly good.
No, to be precise, it seems he suddenly mastered superb culinary skills.
Not only that, but overnight, he learned how to handle the vegetables in the garden.
They also have a deep understanding of the evolved fruit and vegetable seeds they have collected.
As Zhao Gang scooped the softest, sweetest part of the pumpkin into his baby's bowl, he said:
"Once we get back to the base, we can try growing our own vegetables using flower pots, foam boxes, and the like."
Meng Laoda looked over in surprise: "Brother Gangzi, do you know how to grow those evolved fruits and vegetables?"
Zhao Gang nodded. The more than ten years of experience in planting and evolving fruits and vegetables by Shanyuan were all in his mind, just like his own memories.
When it comes to growing vegetables, no one in this house knows more about it than him!
Zhao Gang was very happy; his baby especially loved eating these things.
Look, Pumpkin has eaten two big bowls, holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, stuffing big mouthfuls into his mouth, it smells delicious.
It was only seven in the morning when we finished our delicious breakfast.
Zhao Gang and the Meng brothers packed up and prepared to go down the mountain.
The few people who could pick all the vegetables in the garden took them away.
Even so, most of the vegetables were still unharvested.
After returning to base, they need to recuperate, and with the recent bad weather, it's unlikely they'll be able to come back anytime soon, so these vegetables will have to be left behind.
Meng Lao Er only regretted not having a hoverboard, otherwise he would have definitely brought all these precious and delicious evolved vegetables back.
Even if you can't eat that much yourself, you can still get a lot of points by selling it.
"Oh, what a pity."
Before leaving the temple, Meng Lao Er was still feeling the pinch and reluctant to leave.
Meng Laoda glanced at his younger brother, thinking that it was good enough that he was alive to go back, and that he was still thinking about these unnecessary things.
Old Meng's thigh was badly injured, and the two mutated hyenas were carried by Zhao Gang and Meng Lao Er, who walked in front.
Zhao Xiaoxiu carried the machete and walked in the middle by herself.
Old Meng, using a stick as a crutch, was responsible for covering the rear and keeping watch. Feeling a little reluctant to let such a young child walk alone, he suggested:
"How about I carry Xiaoxiu down the mountain? The road is slippery and there's a lot of grass, so I won't fall."
Zhao Xiaoxiu said seriously, "Uncle Meng, just take care of yourself. I can manage on my own."
Zhao Gang also said, "She can do it."
With her father's approval, Zhao Xiaoxiu became even more energetic, huffing and puffing as she walked forward. Every now and then, she would help the adults cut down the mutated weeds blocking their way, and her speed was not much slower than that of the adults.
Occasionally, he would slip and fall, but he would get up on his own, dust himself off, and keep walking.
Zhao Gang made no attempt to help his cub down the slope, letting it stumble and slide along.
Seeing that she had learned her lesson and knew to plan her next step before taking it, she looked very proud.
Upon seeing this, Meng Laoda never mentioned carrying her on his back again.
After walking for half an hour, the three adults and one child passed the viewing platform where they had previously taken shelter from the rain.
Suddenly, Zhao Xiaoxiu, who had already rushed to the front, slammed on the brakes and came to a sharp stop.
The three adults looked up and saw that the evolved macaque, which they hadn't seen all night, had appeared in the pavilion at some point.
There were traces of ash on its limbs, indicating that it had probably gone back to the temple to tend to the fire where the father and daughter had been burned, and then deliberately ran to the viewing platform to wait for them to pass by.
Upon seeing Zhao Xiaoxiu and her group, the little monkey immediately bared its teeth and let out a series of shrieks at them.
The Meng brothers felt a chill run down their spines.
Meng Laoda immediately raised the detection gun and aimed it at the monkey.
Zhao Gang's tentacles also lashed out rapidly in an instant, the fleshy buds at the top opening their blood-red maws, ready to swallow the evolved macaque whole.
"Daddy, no!"
Zhao Xiaoxiu quickly grabbed the blood-red tentacle that Zhao Gang had flung out.
The fleshy bud, which had already opened wide enough to devour the evolved macaque, suddenly closed with a "whoosh" and hovered in front of the shrieking macaque.
It was clearly stunned for a moment, then realized how powerful and terrifying the 'human' in front of it was. Its monkey eyes blinked rapidly, and it turned around, trying to run out of the pavilion and jump off the cliff.
Unfortunately, as soon as it turned around, the fleshy bud immediately turned around as well, intercepting it and preventing it from moving forward.
The macaque was both startled and frightened, baring its teeth incessantly, its head turning back repeatedly as it looked helplessly and terrified at the humans.
It was as if the monkey that had just bared its teeth and shrieked at them wasn't it.
"Daddy, let it go," Zhao Xiaoxiu pleaded softly, her little brows furrowed.
She didn't know what was wrong with her.
When the macaque screamed, she clearly sensed its anger and sadness, but she didn't feel that it wanted to retaliate or harm them.
When the cub said it was time to release, Zhao Gang immediately retracted the tentacles.
With no obstacles in sight, the macaque immediately leaped off the cliff, swinging on pine branches and vines, and disappeared into the forest at an extremely fast speed.
Meng Lao Er slapped his thigh hard, "This is a huge amount of points... Ouch!" Forgetting that his hand was still injured, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat from the pain and howled for a while.
Old Master Meng couldn't bear to look at himself. "Don't you have any self-awareness about the state you've become?"
I glanced at Zhao Xiaoxiu again. It's understandable that a child wouldn't want to hurt a small animal.
Zhao Xiaoxiu wasn't reluctant to part with it; she just felt that this evolved macaque was too intelligent.
She could sense its emotions simply by looking into its eyes.
Killing it would make her feel like she was killing a child who was still clueless about the good and evil of the world.
Zhao Gang didn't care; as long as the cubs weren't harmed, everything was fine.
The two Meng brothers nodded to each other, and the three adults and one child continued down the mountain.
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