As for the burdock’s root, Leng Xuan judged that the probability of it being edible was even lower. After all, the root grew in soil with radiation exceeding standards, and after many years of growth, its radiation levels were bound to be excessive.
She casually dug down a bit, exposing a small part of the root, and stuck the detection needle in. Ding: High radiation contamination. Not recommended for consumption.
She gave up.
Leng Xuan folded the leaf she had just found neatly, stowed it carefully in her backpack, and looked at the light screen. She still had 10 Luck Value points left.
With Luck Value on hand, whatever she tested next would most likely yield a reward, so she naturally wanted to choose food with a higher starch content.
If she could find grain, it would be much more filling than wild vegetables.
“Little brother, let’s go.”
Leng Yi was currently bent over, digging at an ant nest. “Big sis, none of these ants have fangs. Should I eliminate them?”
Leng Xuan walked over and lifted her little brother by the collar. “Remember, we only need to eliminate mutated insects and mutated animals. Don’t worry about the others. Now, take me to the wheat field.”
According to the original owner’s vague memories, there were farmlands in this world. She had once followed Father Leng to the fields to glean wheat ears.
In her memory, the Base’s large agricultural vehicles would harvest at the front, while the common folk from the Shantytown followed behind the harvesters to pick up wheat ears.
When they returned home at night, her parents would stay up late under the dim candlelight, testing those wheat ears. They could always find some edible wheat grains among them.
“Little brother, has this year’s wheat been harvested? Can we go to the wheat field to glean ears?”
Leng Yi replied, “The wheat was harvested long ago, and all the ears have been gleaned. But I can take you to my secret base.”
Leng Xuan was speechless.
“What secret base? Is there wheat?”
It couldn’t be some Huashan Sect cultivation holy land, could it?
“Of course there’s wheat. The spiritual energy there is abundant. After one crop is cut, another grows. If you want to go, you have to join my Huashan Sect!”
Leng Xuan was speechless.
“How do I join?”
Leng Yi scratched his head. “My master hasn’t come recently, but I can accept you on his behalf for now. The next time my master comes, I’ll take you to be formally inducted into the sect.”
Leng Xuan asked, “So can I go now?”
“Of course. From now on, you’re my senior sister.”
With that, Leng Yi started running ahead. Leng Xuan chased after him, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep up with her little brother’s pace.
Leng Yi’s physique was truly amazing; he bounded over hills and ridges with incredible speed. But she herself was a person with nearly 80% radiation contamination.
She had to stop and pant after every few steps, completely unable to keep up.
“Leng Yi, wait for me, you… cough cough…”
Leng Yi looked back to see his older sister sitting down again, not moving. He shook his head helplessly and ran back. “Senior sister, you’re too weak. At this rate, we definitely won’t make it before noon.”
Leng Xuan sized up her brawny little brother, mentally calculating whether his words were reliable.
If this was all just a figment of his imagination and there was no wheat when they got there, then she would have dragged her broken body around with him all morning for nothing. That would really suck!
Just how much of a blockhead was this kid?
How much of what he said could be believed?
After a frantic internal struggle, Leng Xuan ultimately decided to go with Leng Yi. After all, she had no one else to ask. At worst, she would just waste a day.
If Leng Yi really led her to a place with second-crop wheat, it would mean he was only half a blockhead. If they arrived at the “secret base” and found no second-crop wheat at all, it would prove he was a complete blockhead!
From then on, she wouldn’t believe a word he said.
Leaning on her large staff and braving the increasingly intense sun, Leng Xuan followed Leng Yi over hills and ridges, finally arriving at the place.
A look at her watch showed it was already 10:30 AM. The hottest hours of the day were approaching, and these were also the hours with the highest radiation levels.
She hurriedly glanced in the direction her little brother was pointing and saw that in a gully extending into the valley, there was indeed a lot of wheat growing.
And those wheat stalks were truly topped with ears!
Leng Xuan was overjoyed. This was great! It seemed this little brother of hers wasn’t completely foolish. At least he was much better than the original owner.
Happy as she was, now was not at all a good time for harvesting. The two of them had to find a shady spot to hide from the peak radiation period.
Leng Xuan pulled her little brother into a dense thicket of bushes, took out the anti-radiation cover cloth from her backpack, and completely covered both of them with it.
Although the cloth could block the sunlight, it did nothing to lower the perceived temperature. It was still unbearably hot.
Grumble, grumble!
When it rains, it pours. Just then, their stomachs began to protest.
After Leng Xuan’s stomach growled, Leng Yi’s followed, one after the other in a resounding chorus.
Leng Yi said, “Sis, I’m so hungry. If only I could have a full meal someday.”
Leng Xuan touched her brother’s large hand, which was so thin it was almost skin and bones, and couldn’t help but sigh. Every wastelander who managed to survive was no ordinary person.
She took out the burdock leaf from her backpack, tore off a quarter and handed it to her little brother, then tore off another quarter for herself. She carefully put the remaining half back into her backpack.
Leng Yi looked at his big sister suspiciously, clearly not believing that something his foolish sister gave him could be edible. He even took out his own detection instrument to test it.
“Ding, medium radiation contamination. Moderate consumption recommended.”
“Holy crap, big sis, you actually found something good to eat!”
With that, he began stuffing the leaf into his mouth in big bites.
He didn’t ask what kind of vegetable it was, nor did he care about eating it raw. Perhaps in the eyes of a wastelander, none of that mattered. No matter the species or the taste, as long as it was non-toxic and had medium radiation, it was edible!
Leng Xuan took a bite. This thing was truly awful raw. Bitter!
But hunger ultimately made her abandon her demands on taste. She ate the entire piece of leaf in one go and finally felt full for the first time since she had transmigrated.
The temperature climbed higher and higher. Leng Yi took out a small iron shovel and started digging a pit in the ground. Before long, he had dug a sizable hole. After the two of them climbed in, it did feel a little cooler than outside.
The siblings took turns, one standing guard while the other rested.
Under the scorching sun, all the animals and insects were like them, hiding in their holes to escape the heat, so there was no need to worry about being attacked by Mutant Beasts.
At 2 PM, the alarm on the wrist device went off, startling them from their sweet dreams.
It was time to go out and scavenge.
The two packed their things and quickly ran to the gully where the wheat was growing.
Leng Xuan discovered that the wheat in this gully wasn’t planted by humans. Rather, the roots of the wheat in the main field had spread and grown into the gully on their own.
Therefore, when the Base harvested each year, they wouldn’t specifically enter this gully to harvest the wheat inside.
This wheat had most likely been cut by scavengers.
However, no one had discovered that a second-crop of wheat had grown here, which was a stroke of luck for the siblings.
Coincidentally, this second-crop wheat had also reached maturity. The wheat grains were plump and full. Leng Xuan inserted the needle into a grain. “Ding, high radiation contamination. Not recommended for consumption.”
She then inserted the needle into the second grain, the third…
She kept testing until the seventh grain. “Ding, medium radiation contamination. Moderate consumption recommended!”
Leng Xuan’s heart pounded wildly at the sound.