Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, there was already movement in the courtyard.
Su He woke up early. Just as she stepped out of her room, she saw Xiao Yue squatting in the courtyard weaving a basket. The girl was nimble and dexterous; several thin twigs flipped back and forth in her hands, quickly taking the shape of a small basket.
Seeing Su He come out, Xiao Yue immediately smiled.
“Sister-in-law, you’re awake! I’m going up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables in a bit.”
Lately, it was the lean season when the old grain was exhausted and the new crop wasn’t yet ripe. The garrison didn’t have any extra relief grain to spare, so everyone in the village was currently heading into the mountains to search for food. She planned to try her luck on the mountain again, taking a different path up this time.
Hearing this, Su He’s eyes lit up. “I’ll go with you.”
“Huh?” Xiao Yue froze.
“I have nothing else to do anyway.” As she spoke, Su He stepped forward and picked up another worn-out bamboo basket.
It wasn’t until last night that she learned that because of the drought, the imperial court couldn’t distribute grain and pay, yet the annual military farming quota still had to be submitted on time. As a result, life at the border had become even more difficult.
By now, the Military Household Village had shifted to a two-meals-a-day system. The morning meal was set for the Chen hour (7:00 AM – 9:00 AM), while dinner was usually eaten during the Shen hour (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM), also known as the evening meal.
In other words, the meal she ate yesterday served as both lunch and dinner. She had been too hungry to sleep well last night, but fortunately, she was well-accustomed to starvation, so it hadn’t been too unbearable. Therefore, to eat her fill, she had to find food on the mountain as quickly as possible.
Wang Guixiang was adding firewood to the stove. Hearing the two of them talking, she looked back over her shoulder.
“It’s fine for you two to go, but don’t wander too far. The grass on the mountain has mostly dried up lately.” She let out a sigh, not holding much hope. “It’ll be a miracle if you can dig up any wild vegetables at all.”
Affected by the severe drought, even the grass on the mountain on their side was sparse and patchy, making it hard to find wild vegetables in many places.
Xiao Yue remained optimistic. “Maybe we’ll find some today.” She slung the basket over her arm and gestured, “Sister-in-law, let’s go.”
Thus, the two sisters-in-law quickly left the village.
Behind the Military Household Village lay a continuous stretch of green mountains, but since it hadn’t rained for a long time, much of the vegetation looked withered and yellow. Walking up the narrow path, they could see quite a bit of overturned soil, an obvious sign that the villagers had already been here many times.
After walking upward for about fifteen minutes, they reached the mountainside. Xiao Yue began keeping her head down, searching along the way for wild vegetables, while Su He quietly observed their surroundings.
When they reached a slightly secluded slope, Xiao Yue wandered off toward the other side to search.
Su He stood before a clump of withered, yellow weeds. Seeing that Xiao Yue wasn’t paying attention to her side, she slowly extended her hand.
She slightly curled her fingertips, and a very faint ripple of energy gradually radiated from her palm. Closing her eyes, a familiar sensation slowly surfaced. A weak, green aura flowed from her palm, sinking into the roots of the withered grass.
A few seconds later, the withered grass twitched slightly.
The originally dried-up stalks slowly took on a hint of moisture, as if the few weak, thin roots in the soil were being awakened by something. A sprout of tender green slowly emerged from amidst the withered grass.
In the apocalypse, she had been a level-five wood-element superpower user. However, her ability was very singular—she could only accelerate plant growth. Unlike some top-tier wood-element mutants, she couldn’t heal, nor could she control vines for combat. Her superpower had been deemed rather useless, lacking any combat capability. Because of this, she could only serve as a logistical worker growing crops at the apocalyptic base.
It was also precisely for this reason that she had chosen the heavily built and exceptionally capable Xiao Zheng at the military field with a single glance.
Su He opened her eyes and couldn’t help but sigh. Her wood-element superpower was noticeably much weaker. If this had been back in the apocalypse, this patch of grass would have grown out in a matter of seconds, but now she could only stimulate a tiny wild plant.
However, she wasn’t too disappointed. As long as the ability was still there, there was hope for everything.
Just as she was about to stand up, she suddenly froze.
In that exact split second, she seemed to have “felt” something.
It wasn’t with her eyes. It was more like… her consciousness had brushed against a plant?
Su He closed her eyes again and released her superpower. She slowly immersed her spiritual force into that wood-element energy, sensing everything in minute detail.
This time, she didn’t accelerate growth; she only perceived.
A faint ripple of green energy slowly expanded. In an instant, the surrounding plants seemed to light up as weak, glowing dots in her mind. Some were very dim, while others were slightly brighter.
Su He’s heart rate picked up a bit.
This was…
An incredibly miraculous perceptual map unfolded in her mind, and the surrounding flora seemed to suddenly “come alive.” Right at that moment, she suddenly “saw” a cluster of bright spots not far away, which stood out much more clearly than the surrounding withered grass.
“Wonderful!”
Su He opened her eyes, her gaze filled with pleasant surprise. Her voice was kept very low, but it couldn’t hide her excitement.
She hadn’t expected that by transmigrating and being reborn, her wood-element superpower would actually undergo a mutation!
Just now, when she released her wood-element power on this clump of withered grass, she could actually perceive the status of the surrounding plants through it. In other words, her wood-element superpower could not only stimulate growth and planting, but it could now also sense the condition of plants within a few kilometers of her.
For instance, where were there wild vegetables? Where were there Chinese medicinal herbs? She could sense it all through the signals passed along by the surrounding vegetation.
Moreover, under her perception, their locations, types, attributes, and even the natural efficacy of certain plants were entirely clear to her.
This ability might not have amounted to much back in the apocalypse, but in this borderland area where people depended entirely on the mountains for survival, it was nothing short of a treasure-hunting cheat!
“….”
Su He took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.
Through her perception just now, she discovered a patch of wild vegetables nearby. The location wasn’t far—just behind a small slope ahead. Because it was blocked by a large boulder, it was very well hidden.
“Ah Yue.”
“Huh?”
Not far away, Xiao Yue was crouching on the ground digging up grass roots. Hearing her voice, she immediately looked up to answer.
Su He pointed in a direction, subtly guiding her. “Let’s go over there and take a look.”
“Uh? Sister-in-law, that way is a rocky slope. There aren’t any wild vegetables there,” Xiao Yue explained with a slight frown.
Su He smiled gently. “Let’s just check it out. What if there are wild vegetables growing in the rock crevices?”
“Alright, then.”
Xiao Yue didn’t want to spoil her sister-in-law’s spirits. Besides, she couldn’t find many wild vegetables where she was anyway.
Thus, the two of them rounded the small slope. After passing a large boulder that was over a person’s height, they had just walked across when Xiao Yue suddenly gasped.
“Sister-in-law! Wild vegetables!”
To her utter surprise, a small patch of wild vegetables was actually growing in the little hollow behind the rock. The tender green leaves clung tightly to the ground, looking exceptionally prominent amidst a sea of withered grass. There were no traces of human presence around, showing clearly that no one had harvested them yet.
“This is amazing! We have vegetables to eat today!”
Xiao Yue was incredibly excited, talking happily as she dug. “Sister-in-law, you’re amazing! You actually managed to find this place!”
“I just went with my gut.”
Su He spoke ambiguously. When it came to her superpower, she naturally wouldn’t blabber about it to them. But if she wanted to live a good life going forward, she would have to rely on her power. Therefore, she decided to casually build up a reputation for having a bit of a “mystical” intuition. This way, she would have a plausible excuse when she displayed her abilities later on.
“Sister-in-law, then your luck must be really good!” Xiao Yue praised with a beaming smile, though the speed at which her hands dug up the wild vegetables didn’t slow down one bit.
“It really isn’t bad.”
Su He smiled and also squatted down to help.
The upgrade to her superpower gave her a bit more confidence about her life in this world.