The 600 acres of Qiangwei Gongguan land, with the nearby hilltops connected to the Sanqing Shan mountain range, had long been cleared by the Mutant Plant Defense Army, leaving only small, non-mutated saplings.
From a distance, it looked like a few stray hairs standing up on a bald, shiny egg.
On the flatter land farther away, the grass sprouts were sparse, not even as tall as the stubborn weeds growing in the city ruins.
Huai Yu wandered back and forth across her vast territory and noticed that the water in the pond was crystal clear, visible all the way to the bottom. Inside, there were only some insignificant water plants and tiny, tiny fish…
She wondered how the army had managed to make these mountains and waters so safe.
She glanced at the towering, undulating peaks of Sanqing Shan in the distance.
That was where she had woken up. Strange, steep rocks stood tall, surrounded and entwined by various mutated plants, creating a spectacle distinct from the eerie stones.
She then looked up at the Mutation Value sensor beside her and couldn’t help but sigh in frustration, muttering slowly:
“The Mutant Plant Defense Army really knows their stuff.”
…
But before sighing, she still had to figure out how to build a shelter to protect herself from wind and rain.
Yet there were no materials around. Even if she could dig up bricks and stones from a foundation, she didn’t have the skill to mix mud or raise beams.
After much thought, she decided to rely on the mountain for resources.
She followed the Rose Corridor forward, passing by a stretch of flat buildings in the distance along the way. There were sentry posts at the entrance, likely the garrison of the Mutant Plant Defense Army.
After walking for who knows how long, she finally reached the area marked with a sign labeled 【8】.
According to the Defense Army, there had been unusual activity here yesterday, likely when she had passed through.
Now, noticing some familiar traces around her, Huai Yu finally curved her eyes into a smile. She reached out and gently stroked the leaves, her voice soft:
“Be careful, help me open a door. We absolutely must not be discovered.”
After a moment’s thought, she politely added, “Thank you.”
The branches in front of her rustled and trembled, and before long, they parted just like yesterday morning, creating a passage wide enough for one person to pass through.
Once Huai Yu had walked through, the branches twisted and covered the opening again, leaving no trace behind.
Leaving the city’s boundaries, the great mountain ahead seemed to be her true domain. The faint paths in the forest had long been overgrown by various plants. Huai Yu weaved through branches, shrubs, and wild grass, her expression relaxed as if she had returned home.
But… she didn’t have a home now. She had to find materials and build one herself.
So it wasn’t long before she spotted the twisted, entwined vines in the forest.
It was early spring, and the temperature on the mountain was still low. On the vines before her, only small buds with tiny sprouts were faintly visible. From this alone, it was impossible to tell what kind of plant they were.
But Huai Yu hesitated only briefly before making her choice:
“Purple flowers! Wisteria! I like it! You’ll help me build my house!”
Although the vine before her was called a “vine,” the main stem rooted in the soil had a diameter of about four to five centimeters. The mountain soil was firm, and its roots ran deep. Huai Yu gripped the trunk with both hands and tried pulling with all her might.
But after a while, it didn’t budge at all.
Instead, her palms turned slightly red.
“…”
But she wasn’t discouraged. She simply followed the stem forward until she reached the thinner, not-yet-thickened vines at the front, then reached out and snapped one off.
“Crack!”
The slender vine was snapped off without much effort, and soon she had gathered a bundle. By the time the entire tree was stripped bare, leaving only the main stem, a small pile had accumulated on the ground. Only then did Huai Yu stop.
Humming a random, disjointed tune, she looked around before frowning again—
“I’ve got the beams, but where are the tiles?”
After thinking it over, she ventured deeper into the mountains.
…
The environment, blanketed by dense forests, was damp, cool, rustling with the sounds of insects chirping and birds calling.
Everything seemed no different from before the Cataclysm.
But only Huai Yu knew the difference.
Because as she moved through these mountains, she could sense the burgeoning vitality of all the plants.
Spring truly was a wonderful season!
After walking for a long time, among the many trees and vines just beginning to sprout fuzzy green buds, Huai Yu finally found a tall hardwood tree.
Unlike others of its kind, it appeared slightly mutated and should be easier to communicate with.
Although its leaves were still smaller than a fingertip, after searching for so long, this was the only tree whose leaves could grow up to 30 centimeters wide!
Unfortunately, the phoenix tree was quite tall. She gazed upward for a long time, but seeing it remain unmoved, she eventually hugged the trunk with a grumble:
“Please!”
High above, the branches rustled twice before, after a long while, a single branch extended toward her.
Huai Yu hesitated for a moment before grasping the branch, closing her eyes, and exerting force—
“Hmm—!!”
Her face flushed red as the small amount of Ability she had just recovered slowly surged within her, leaving her panting breathlessly.
But fortunately, tender buds rapidly sprouted on the branch before her, and the entire phoenix tree unfurled layer upon layer of large leaves!
Lush and green, exceptionally beautiful!
She plucked the leaves one by one, the “crack-crack” sound utterly captivating. Only after stripping all the leaves and piling them into a small mountain before her did she let go.
The next moment, the branch that had strained downward swiftly retracted, as if thoroughly annoyed.
Huai Yu didn’t mind, though. She stared at the pile of leaves for a while before finding some slender, flexible vines in the forest and slowly weaving them together.
She was a bit rusty at this task, but with some patching and mending, she managed. By midday, she had a coarse vine net full of uneven gaps.
Luckily, the phoenix leaves weren’t picky. After gathering them all into the net, she tied the corners together and dragged it along.
The trees on the mountain remained obedient, rustling as they made way. After placing the wisteria vines into the net, Huai Yu even discovered a tall pine tree.
“It’s a Huashan pine…”
Huai Yu felt a bit happy. Like the Korean pine, Huashan pine nuts were edible!
So she patted the trunk: “Any pinecones left?”
As she spoke, she was still slightly out of breath.
She had communicated with too many trees today and was actually quite exhausted—strange, she should have been much more powerful.
But it didn’t matter. Perhaps she had just woken up and needed time to recover.
No sooner had this thought crossed her mind than she heard several “thuds”—large pinecones fell from the branches, clearly overlooked by squirrels.
“One, two, three, four… twelve in total!”
And they were all quite big!
Huai Yu happily placed the pinecones among the leaves. To prevent them from slipping through the gaps, she carefully piled the leaves toward the center.
She looked around, then pulled one last handful of the flexible, slender vines—
Perfect!
All the materials for building the house were now gathered!