How does a tree eat? And it wants to eat instant noodles?
Xu Song looked at Yue Zheng with an inexplicable expression, then glanced at the strange tree brimming with anticipation. He thought for a moment and poured some soup from the bowl into a sunken patch of soil.
Before he could say anything, the small tree eagerly plunged its roots into the soil, causing the soup to visibly disappear at a rapid pace. Then, the water level stopped.
With a swoosh, the tree retracted its roots, followed by two small streams of liquid squirting out from its base as it vigorously shook itself.
The two of them were initially stunned but couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
“Haha! That’s right! People can’t stand eating too much of this thing, let alone a plant! Did you think all human food is good?” Xu Song laughed so hard that tears came out, never expecting the tree to behave like a little child.
After shaking off the last few drops of soup, the small tree sulkingly moved to the side and silently inserted its roots back into the soil, absorbing normal nutrients and continuing its sunbathing.
They couldn’t carry too many things on the journey, but there were some essential items that couldn’t be left behind, such as guns and weapons. They could find food along the way or even hunt, but water was something they couldn’t afford to be without. And then there were some clothes…
“Sigh, I should have loaded the bicycles onto the car,” Xu Song sighed. Bicycles didn’t require fuel, and they were compact. Although it would take up space in the car, it would be very useful in such situations.
Yue Zheng didn’t say anything. He also regretted not picking up a small foldable mountain bike when they passed by the bike shops in City Y during their item collection. It wouldn’t have required much space, and it could have been of great use in times like these.
What frustrated them even more was that this wasn’t a main road, and they couldn’t spot any abandoned vehicles on the road.
They moved everything to an open space. The two backpacks were already prepared, and they wanted to carry the remaining weapons if possible. As for food and medicine, they had to temporarily abandon some items. As for the tent, sleeping bags, large water containers… without any means of transportation, it was impossible to carry them all.
“We’re not taking these?” Xu Song looked at the two thick quilts and thick down jackets, feeling reluctant. These past few days, perhaps due to the anomaly, the nights were unusually cold. Sometimes, even inside the sleeping bags, they would wake up from the cold around midnight.
“No choice. Let’s take a few thick clothes,” Yue Zheng sighed inwardly. City Y didn’t have those extremely lightweight, breathable, and warm clothes that professional explorers and mountaineers used. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have exerted so much effort to carry those quilts and down jackets.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The two of them frowned and worried about the abundance of resources. The small tree, twisting its waist and basking in the sun nearby, looked at them and then glanced at the pile of items on the ground. Although it didn’t understand the purpose of these items or what the two of them were planning, it didn’t affect its curiosity.
A root quietly extended and cautiously approached a bag of moldy bread. It had been interested in human food for quite some time. Even though the taste of the instant noodles had “poisoned” it earlier, it couldn’t suppress its curiosity. For humans, moldy food would cause adverse effects if consumed, but for a plant, it was nourishment!
Two small roots sneaked over and discreetly entered the bag through the opening, gradually absorbing the nutrients inside. Just as it thought, there was something delicious! It was much tastier than the strange soup from before!!
After quietly “eating” the delicious food, the small tree glanced at the empty bag and then at the two people who were still worrying. To eliminate any evidence, it rolled up the bag with one root, lifted it up with a swoosh, and hid the empty bag in its tree hollow, planning to dispose of it along the way.
The actions of the tree earlier were not unnoticed by Xu Song and Yue Zheng. They just chose to ignore it. The bread was full of mold, probably a leftover from what they collected before, and it had slipped through the cracks during the disposal of expired bread. That’s why they didn’t pay attention to it. However, when they saw the tree bravely hiding the bread bag in its hollow, they couldn’t remain calm anymore.
All of them, the tree included, stared at each other again. After a while, the branches bent down from left and right, covering its face, and the tree emitted an aura of “You can’t see me! Can’t see me!”.
Xu Song couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. This tree was really…
Yue Zheng, on the other hand, furrowed his brows, propped his chin with one hand, and suddenly walked towards the tree, standing in front of it.
The small tree realized it had been singled out, and its entire body shrunk even further, it actually decreased in size!
“Do you want to follow us?” Hearing Yue Zheng suddenly speak, both Xu Song and the small tree stared at him.
Rustling leaves and small yellow flowers swayed all over the tree as it shook vigorously. Xu Song suddenly felt that some of the small yellow flowers on top of the tree were withering, and little green fruits were growing.
When it nodded, Yue Zheng also nodded. “As long as you behave and don’t get noticed by anyone, we’ll take you with us.”
The small tree continued shaking its canopy with an excited aura.
“Can you grow bigger?” Yue Zheng suddenly pointed to a nearby thick tree. “Like that one.”
The small tree shook all over, branches and trunk trembling, and it gradually grew taller, thicker, and stronger.
It stopped shaking only when its trunk diameter reached over a meter, still slightly smaller than the large tree Yue Zheng had pointed at.
“Is this the limit?” Yue Zheng circled around the small tree, seemingly deep in thought.
The small tree lowered its leaves with a despondent sway. It couldn’t grow that big, feeling utterly useless…
“Can your tree hollow fit those things?” Yue Zheng suddenly pointed at the pile of luggage on the ground. “Will it crush the items when you shrink down again?”
“Shua shua shua!” The small tree regained its confident appearance, vigorously shaking its canopy and extending its roots. It rolled up the luggage on the ground, one by one, stuffing them into the proportionally enlarged tree hollow.
Xu Song had been silently observing the interaction between Yue Zheng and the tree. Now he was even more dumbfounded, watching the tree’s actions.
Medicine, weapons, food…
Following Yue Zheng’s instructions, the small tree prioritized stuffing the weapons and medicine into the hollow. They managed to fit some of the food as well, and finally forcefully squeezed in a down jacket. There was no more space for other things. It even burped like a human, seemingly satisfied.
“It… can be used like this?!” Xu Song looked at Yue Zheng with astonishment. Yue Zheng’s expression was both surprised and gratified. The capacity of the tree’s hollow was much deeper than they had estimated. They thought it would be difficult to take the remaining weapons and medicine, but with the tree’s help, they managed to bring along many useful items.
The remaining items to carry were not too many. Some necessary clothing, some food, some medicine, and the weapons they carried with them. Most of the useful supplies were in the tree hollow.
They let the small tree try again and found that it could only retrieve items when it was in its largest state. It was a bit regrettable, but at least they didn’t have to discard everything.
With their willing little laborer, watching the small tree’s proud and swaying figure as it walked with its roots, both of them couldn’t help but smile. They strapped on their backpacks and set off.
“There’s a crossroads not far ahead. We’ll head west from here, taking a detour to avoid the area near the zoo and enter City S from the national highway.”
Since leaving City Y, they hadn’t been able to pick up any radio signals. They could only proceed in the direction of the shelter in City S that they had learned about before leaving. They hoped that it hadn’t been relocated.
“We can’t carry the solar panels with us on the journey. Although we have fully charged backup batteries, let’s try to avoid using them and save them for emergencies. Let’s turn off our flashlights for now. Fortunately, the mountaineering watches have radio reception functions and are solar-powered. We’ll try to tune in to the broadcasts at different times throughout the day to see if we can pick up any news.”
Xu Song nodded repeatedly. He now regretted not looking for a solar-powered power bank with Yue Zheng’s advice. Fortunately, he had followed Yue Zheng’s suggestion to replace his watch earlier; otherwise, they might not even have the chance to search for radio stations.
The original walkie-talkie on the car had to be abandoned as well. Both of them held military knives in their hands, cautiously maneuvering through the original road, now a narrow path through the dense forest. The small tree followed behind them, swaying and twisting like a person. If a third person were to witness this scene, their jaws would likely drop in astonishment.
The two of them carefully explored the dense forest. With no functioning vehicle and rough terrain, they couldn’t walk too fast. They also had to remain vigilant about their surroundings. They considered walking 4 to 5 kilometers in an hour to be the limit.
Before long, a fork in the road appeared not far away. Going west from here was the route they had previously discussed. Although it was a longer route, it was relatively safer. If they went north, they would enter City S from the road closer to the zoo.
“West?” Taking out a water bottle, Xu Song moistened his throat and looked left and right. They were already close to the edge of City S, and the outlines of some buildings could be faintly seen in the nearby woods.
“Yes, this is a small road with no visible vehicles. Let’s make our way to the main road, and maybe we can find a car to use for transportation.”
Yue Zheng’s words dispelled Xu Song’s thoughts of exploring the buildings. The area was quiet, and they didn’t know if there were any people inside the buildings. Instead of taking risks and exploring now, it was better to stick to the predetermined plan and detour to the west.
Suddenly, the small tree behind them started shaking.
Both of them quickly turned to look at it, only to see the small tree trembling, exuding a tense atmosphere.
Something was happening!
The early warning ‘shaking tree’ system…
Plus portable warehouse and silly… child…?