Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

"Let's eat something before we go, it's already afternoon," Qi Xuefei checked the time. "We haven't had lunch, how can we explore on an empty stomach?"

"Huh?" Hearing the mention of food, Keke, who was sleeping in Li Wenxi's arms, suddenly opened her eyes.

"Haha, the little one is hungry too!" Li Wenxi rubbed Keke's little belly.

"Hungry, hungry!" Keke nodded her little head vigorously.

"Then you all sit down, I'll go make some food." Qi Xuefei got up and headed to the kitchen.

"I'll help!" Li Wenxi followed her to the kitchen.

"You should sit down! It's not right to have the guest help." Qi Xuefei's voice came from the kitchen.

"Oh, it's fine! Plus, I'm quite good at cooking! Wow, Sister Xuefei, your kitchen tools are so complete, everything is ready here!"

Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang didn't get up to help; both simultaneously raised their watches.

In [Explorers], there hadn't been activity for quite a while.

Qin Yunlong and Wen Guixin must be meeting up, so naturally, they're not communicating in the group.

Xu Xin spoke up in [Explorers]: "The four of us here have already met up; how are things on your end?"

Wang Lei: "Haha, I've already persuaded the guy next door, now I'm on my way back with treehouse seeds and people!"

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Persuade? How did you do it, teach me, I'm almost there!"

Wang Lei: "Haha, persuasion through physical means. Ask him if he's coming; if not, I beat him up. Nothing really to teach."

Zhao Xiaochuan: "I—damn it!"

Wen Guixin: "Wang Lei's right. If they don't come, we just beat them up. Is there a problem? I've already met Qin Yunlong and Qin Yunhu, these brothers are really well-built, hehe..."

Qin Yunhu: "..."

Qin Yunlong: "We are currently dealing with people in the surrounding areas, have already handled two treehouses. One didn't listen and got kicked to death by Wen Guixin, another we brought back."

Wang Lei: "Kicked to death... she's like a dinosaur!"

Wen Guixin: "? Why? You want to challenge me, the strongest in this group?"

Wang Lei: "No, just peace and blessings..."

Wen Guixin: "I'm in a good mood now, won't argue with you."

Zhao Xiaochuan: "By the way, about the vines you talked about getting thicker and stronger, I tried, but over here nothing's changed. They're still the same old vines."

Wen Guixin: "It's the same here, just regular mutant vines. I haven't noticed them getting thicker."

The conversation made Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang exchange a glance.

"Is it only special over here?" Ji Chaoyang pondered while stroking his chin.

"Maybe only that location is special." Xu Xin pointed in the direction of Li Wenxi's treehouse, they encountered a group of monsters there, north of the treehouse.

"Hmm, it's possible," Ji Chaoyang nodded. "Because there's something near that area, the vines became stronger?"

Xu Xin suddenly thought of Silver King's odd behavior.

He turned to look at Silver King lying on the ground.

Ever since leaving Li Yajun's area, Silver King hasn't had the glowing blood streak again. And Li Yajun's treehouse is very close to where they tested the vines before.

Could there be a link between them?

Is there really an issue with that area?

Xu Xin told Ji Chaoyang about Silver King's odd behavior.

"Silver King has also gotten stronger... let's focus on exploring that area today," Ji Chaoyang pondered.

"There's also a special location near my treehouse," Xu Xin mentioned naturally referring to the Hilly Resource Zone and Salt Mine, "I haven't been there since the defense battle."

"I also have a special location nearby, and our treehouses aren't far apart, let's go together," Ji Chaoyang nodded.

"Sure, it fits into our route. First, go near Li Yajun's treehouse, then mine, and finally yours." They finalized the itinerary.

Just then, Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei came out carrying four plates of food.

"Ta-da! Three dishes and a soup, what do you think? Not bad, right?" Li Wenxi placed the dishes on the coffee table, "I made these two dishes myself! But not much seasoning, just a simple stir-fry."

"...So lavish? There's quite a lot of ingredients," Xu Xin looked at the four dishes on the table, somewhat surprised.

Qi Xuefei's treehouse didn't have a planting room. Also, he didn't recognize any of these four dishes, could they be medicinal herbs?

As expected, Qi Xuefei placed the dishes on the table and said, "These were stir-fried using medicinal herbs I grew in the cultivation room, very precious, make sure to eat them all."

Medicinal herbs, huh?

"Hungry..." Keke snuggled into Xu Xin's arms, the little foodie seemed hesitant hearing about medicinal herbs.

Xu Xin's eye twitched: "Do you usually eat medicinal herbs?"

"For me, medicinal herbs are easier to obtain than vegetables," Qi Xuefei handed a pair of chopsticks to everyone and sat down. "Plus, with proper pairing, it's good for the body. These things are expensive on Earth. Right now the jungle is desolate, and there's no regular vegetables or fruits for sale on the trading platform; having these is already fortunate."

"Are medicinal herbs tasty?" Ji Chaoyang seemed intrigued, he reached out with his chopsticks, picked up a piece, and put it in his mouth.

"Hmm... not tasty. Usually, it has a bit of bitterness, but it's edible."

"Ugh... it is bitter, but it's also very fragrant. It's my first time eating stir-fried herbs." Li Wenxi had already started using her chopsticks. "You guys should try this stir-fried meat. It's quite good, with a bit of bitterness and fragrance!"

After a few bites, Xu Xin's mouth twitched a few times.

He felt that his mouth was filled with a bitter taste.

Currently, they didn't have condiments like soy sauce or chili to cover up the taste. They only had salt, but salt could enhance the freshness, which even brought out the bitterness of the herbs. These dishes were simply unbearably bitter.

"Ugh..." Keke only took one bite and stopped eating. Its small paw pushed Xu Xin, and he understood its meaning. He handed it an apple, which it clamped in its mouth and climbed to the side to nibble on.

And so, a few of them finished this meal of stir-fried herbs.

"Wow, this meal... was really unique." Li Wenxi stuck out her tongue. "So bitter!"

"...Sister Xuefei, if you ever lack vegetables, you can ask us for some..." Xu Xin was filled with bitterness. He felt like this taste might linger in his mouth for a long time.

One must trust in the wisdom of one's ancestors. Although there's nothing that can't be eaten, tasty things were made into food, while the ones that aren't tasty were made into herbs.

This saying was meant to be humorous, but the stir-fried herb with meat... was truly terribly bad.

"I actually don't mind." Qi Xuefei seemed to either be insensitive to bitterness or accustomed to it, as she ate the meal with a casual expression the entire time.

"I think it's okay." Ji Chaoyang set down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "It's actually not as bitter as bitter melon, which I quite like eating in cold dishes."

Xu Xin's mouth twitched.

Cold bitter melon... is that really something people can eat...

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Everyone's full now, and time is valuable, so it's time for us to set off." He immediately changed the topic and stood up.

"Eep!" Keke climbed onto his shoulder in two leaps.

Silver King and Bai Ma also stood up.

"Hmm... how are we going? I really don't want to ride a wolf again..." Qi Xuefei looked at Silver King.

Even after eating such bitter dishes, her expression didn't change, but it turned pale in an instant. She was about to have a psychological shadow about it.

"Isn't there a horse over there? Let Ji Chaoyang take you!" Li Wenxi pointed at the horse larger than Silver King.

"I can take you," Ji Chaoyang nodded and said, "Don't worry, riding a horse is much smoother than a wolf."

"Well... alright then." Qi Xuefei glanced at Ji Chaoyang and agreed.

The four of them arrived under the treehouse. Xu Xin pushed Li Wenxi onto the wolf's back and then mounted the wolf himself.

On the other side, Ji Chaoyang mounted Bai Ma, while Qi Xuefei was behind him, holding onto his waist.

"Wow, you two look so compatible, like the Prince Charming and Snow White!" Li Wenxi leaned against Xu Xin, holding Keke, and teased.

"You little girl, stop talking nonsense!" Qi Xuefei glared at Li Wenxi, who just chuckled.

"Xu Xin, you lead the way. Let's first go check out Li Yajun's area." Ji Chaoyang, as if he hadn't heard their conversation, spoke to Xu Xin.

"Alright." Xu Xin nodded and then instructed Silver King, "Silver King, head to the previously destroyed treehouse!"

"Awoo—" Silver King let out a howl and dashed forward.

Ji Chaoyang and Qi Xuefei closely followed behind.

"Hey, hey, Xu Xin, do you think Ji Chaoyang and Sister Xuefei make a good match?" Li Wenxi elbowed him from behind and whispered, "In terms of both looks and age, they really suit each other!"

"You..." Xu Xin gave her a helpless glance, "They just met today, and you already want to pair them up?"

"Hehe, it's just that they look so compatible. Just think about it, although Ji Chaoyang is a year older than Sister Xuefei, when they stand together, it's like a sibling romance, a bit exciting!" The more Li Wenxi thought about it, the more she felt it made sense.

"You little romance fanatic!" Xu Xin gently patted her head. "A new crisis is about to arise, with the harsh cold being difficult to endure. Stay sharp!"

"Hehe, it's just that being with everyone makes me feel so safe!" With that, Li Wenxi swung her leg over to sit sideways on the wolf's back, embraced Xu Xin with both hands, rested her face against his chest, and said softly, "If we all work together, we can definitely overcome this hardship."

"Slow down a bit; Silver King is moving too fast through the jungle. We can't keep up!" Ji Chaoyang's voice came from behind.

"Oh, okay!" Xu Xin replied and had Silver King slow down a bit.

Soon, the four of them saw the ruins of Ma Hongyu's collapsed treehouse.

Qi Xuefei released her grip on Ji Chaoyang's waist, her face slightly pale. It seemed that riding a horse wasn't entirely comfortable for her either, although it was much better than riding Silver King.

"This was Ma Hongyu's treehouse, and he's buried nearby." Xu Xin explained.

"I don't want to know where you've buried someone." Ji Chaoyang shook his head. "Let's keep going. The treehouse to the south is Li Yajun's, right?"

"That's right, it's..." Xu Xin abruptly stopped speaking.

"What's wrong?" They all looked at Xu Xin.

Xu Xin's eyes were fixed on the area behind the ruins.

Following his gaze, their pupils contracted.

In the desolate area, a bright red flower was swaying in the wind.

It was a half-meter tall flower, with yellow stamens and bright red petals, exuding a strange beauty.

"...Scarlet Mist Flower?"