Full stomachs breed sleepiness. The moment she finished off the sweet potato leaf, Shen Tangtang let out a massive yawn. Her eyes darted around the clearing before landing on a prime resting spot.
It was a patch of thick brush tucked right behind a tall tree.
Because the tree’s foliage was broad and dense, the midday sun cast a massive shadow across the ground. While most of the shade fell over the open dirt, a small portion extended back into the tall grass.
The open ground was packed with scavengers, and since nobody wanted to deal with the overgrown weeds in the grass, that little patch in the back had been left completely empty.
“Daiyu-jie, how about we go rest over in that brush?”
With that, Shen Tangtang pointed toward the grassy enclave.
Lin Daiyu cast a glance over there, shook her head, and replied, “The grass there gives people itchy red rashes. Nobody wants to touch it.”
“Ah, I see.”
What a shame.
Shen Tangtang drooped her shoulders. In this blazing sun with the humid air pressing down, the whole atmosphere practically begged people to drift off to sleep.
Though she hadn’t actually planned on falling completely asleep, closing her eyes for a bit would still feel amazing—think of it as a much-needed spa day for her eyeballs.
Lin Daiyu looked at her with an amused smile and said gently, “You go ahead and catch a few winks. I’ll wake you up once the shade moves over.”
“Awesome! Daiyu-jie, you’re the absolute best.”
Shen Tangtang grabbed her little sack, shifted her spot slightly to buy herself more time before the sun caught up, hugged her bag tight, and closed her eyes.
Bai Yanjun glanced at Shen Tangtang several times, utterly baffled by how anyone out here scavenging could drop their guard and fall asleep so blissfully in the scorching sun, totally unbothered by the risk of someone walking off with their food.
Lin Daiyu, meanwhile, scanned the surroundings with sharp, vigilant eyes, determined to spot any hint of trouble the second it arose.
Bai Yanjun fell silent. To be fair, you couldn’t really blame Shen Tangtang for being so carefree—with Lin Daiyu playing protective mother hen, nobody dared wander over, and since the mercenaries had already swept this wasteland, the odds of a mutant beast popping up were pretty slim to begin with.
Leaning against a tree trunk, Bai Yanjun stared out at the brush ahead, lost in his own thoughts.
Shen Tangtang had originally felt heavy with sleep, but the moment she shut her eyes, her senses actually sharpened. Her ears twitched, picking up the faint sound of scavengers nearby chewing on leaves. It was the hottest, most brutal hour of the day, so everyone was hiding under tree cover to rest, waiting out the peak heat before resuming their hunt for food.
Two patrolling mercenaries were also hunkered down beneath a massive tree, chatting idly back and forth. The surrounding scavengers wore blank, numb expressions, as if they hadn’t heard a thing.
Mostly, they had heard too many stories like this: someone else dropped dead from heatstroke over in that sector, someone else dug a pit and buried themselves alive, the mercenary corps hunted down another mutant beast today, another family got evicted from the shanty town…
These days, gossip was worth less than dirt in the face of sheer starvation. Opening your mouth in this heat was an effort in itself; hearing that someone else had kicked the bucket failed to stir up even a shred of curiosity. Dying out here was just part of normal life.
When Shen Tangtang finally opened her eyes, most of the surrounding scavengers had already cleared out. Lin Daiyu and Bai Yanjun had shifted spots as well, leaving the sun’s edge lingering a mere half-meter away from her.
Seeing Shen Tangtang stir, Lin Daiyu was the first to speak up. “Tangtang, are we heading back to yesterday’s spot? The leaves over there are a bit broader.”
Thinking of the heavy water dropwort she had bagged, Shen Tangtang nodded. Still, since everyone and their mother had their eyes locked on that area, she had her doubts about whether anything edible was left to be found.
By the time they reached the little riverbank, a large crowd of scavengers had already congregated. So many people had scored edible leaves here yesterday that today’s head count was easily double what it had been.
The chime of scanning alerts rang out intermittently.
Tugging on Shen Tangtang’s sleeve, Lin Daiyu plunged headfirst into the sea of scavengers.
Shen Tangtang tucked the opening of her sack into the crook of her elbow and squatted down to scour the ground for unsearched foliage.
An hour later, Shen Tangtang had come up completely empty-handed, and Lin Daiyu emerged looking dusty and dejected. Only Bai Yanjun remained doggedly focused, scanning leaves with deadpan seriousness.
He had lived his eighteen years dealing with this exact reality—managing to unearth a single edible leaf in an entire day was a blessing to be thankful for, so patience was something he never lacked.
Shen Tangtang had no intention of calling it a day just yet. When she couldn’t find food, she simply drifted quietly toward the upper stream.
Forgetting all about Bai Yanjun for the moment, Lin Daiyu fell into step right beside Shen Tangtang, leaving the dropwort scanning grounds behind.
After walking for about ten minutes, they reached the spot where they had scored edible leaves the previous day. However, only a few patches of wild greens remained here, and since they’d already been scanned by them yesterday, they didn’t linger, strolling past the taro patch and hopping across a few giant boulders until the terrain suddenly opened up ahead.
The roar of rushing water echoed from a distance—sure enough, a waterfall cascaded down ahead, and the little stream they had followed was merely a feeder branch flowing into the main river.
“Wow, the breeze here is so refreshing.”
Lin Daiyu sighed in appreciation.
It certainly was refreshing. The wind caught the fine mist blowing off the waterfall, chilling the air and feeling incredible against their sweaty skin.
“Don’t leave your mouth open—the water here hasn’t been treated, so there’s no telling if it’s safe to drink.”
Noticing Lin Daiyu instinctively about to lick her lips, Shen Tangtang hurried to issue a warning.
Catching herself, Lin Daiyu clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head, only for her gaze to instantly get snagged by a patch of plantain weeds growing in a nearby nook.
While Lin Daiyu happily dropped to scan her find, Shen Tangtang narrowed her eyes to survey her surroundings, feeling a slight edge of unease at how dead-silent this particular pocket felt.
After scanning the area for a long moment and spotting nothing amiss, she joined in on the leaf-hunt.
Squatting down, she noticed Lin Daiyu had already stripped a leaf and stowed it in her sack, meaning it was definitely safe to eat.
Stepping a bit further away, Shen Tangtang zeroed in on a plantain weed. Its leaves were two fingers thick, lush, and overflowing with moisture. She sliced open the outer skin with her stone knife, letting the escaping plant sap drip right onto her wristband sensor.
[Scan result: Radiation level 41%, edible.]
This entire plant was edible.
Shen Tangtang squinted in delight. Instead of cutting it away immediately, she continued slicing into the remaining leaves.
[Scan result: Radiation level 44%, edible.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 38%, edible.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 39%, edible.]
…
Eight consecutive leaves turned out to be completely edible, leaving Tangtang ecstatic.
This marked only the second time she had managed to unearth an entire plant of fully edible vegetation. She wondered if there might be an energy stone buried underneath.
With that thought, Shen Tangtang stopped wasting time.
She began digging up the soil with her stone knife when a tiny clod of dirt accidentally flew out, landing right on her wristband’s scanning screen and triggering a brief vibration.
Shen Tangtang lowered her head to look.
[Scan result: Radiation level 26%, edible.]
Soil was edible? Was she supposed to start eating dirt now?
Wait—dirt didn’t necessarily have to be eaten; it could be farmed.
The safe zone maintained dedicated agricultural zones. When crops matured, the safe zone would hire mercenary guards to protect scavengers while they harvested the produce, after which everything was weighed and half was surrendered as tax.
So… could she try growing plants of her own?
The idea struck Shen Tangtang, and she quickly scraped the stray patch of dirt back into her pile, scooping it up and stowing it straight into her spatial storage as she dug.
Her entire body shielded the hole, completely blocking anyone nearby from seeing what she was up to.
By the time the entire plantain root system was completely unearthed, Shen Tangtang finally halted her soil-harvesting operation.
She had zero intention of tossing this particular plantain into her spatial storage; Lin Daiyu had glanced over a few times while she was scanning, and if an enormous pit suddenly appeared out of nowhere while the plant vanished into thin air, it would look more than a little suspicious.
Rolling up the plantain plant, she shoved it directly into her burlap sack, then poked around a bit more inside the hollowed-out hole just in case, but found none of the energy stones she had half-hoped for.
She decided against harvesting any more soil, instead kicking all the surrounding loose dirt back into the pit and tossing a few small stones in to top it off.