Chapter 25: Sunny Plateau
After preparing the kimchi and having dinner, Chu Jiu started thinking about the route to Sunny Plateau.
Thanks to Little Can taking him to the bamboo forest last time, he saw the edge of Sunny Plateau. As long as he continued along the same route, he could reach Sunny Plateau and unlock the new area map.
After that, he could use the “Treasure Seeker’s Target” to locate what he was looking for.
Chu Jiu found a wooden board and charcoal pencil, roughly drew the map from the system panel, and estimated the round trip time.
Hmm… it might take about 40 days to come back.
40 days.
Such a long time made food supply a problem.
Chu Jiu wasn’t worried about his own dry food. Not to mention that his backpack had infinite space, even if he ran out of dry food, he could cook fresh food during nighttime camping.
He was worried about Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glug-Glug.
Unlike Little Can, who insisted on going on adventures with him, Rawr Rawr Rabbit wanted to stay and take care of the fields, and Glug-Glug wanted to repair the hut and waterwheel every day.
He couldn’t go against their wishes and take them with him.
He couldn’t take them with him and had to ensure they had enough food.
Rawr Rawr Rabbit was a little better. Jerky, pork jerky, and lamb slices had long shelf lives. As long as he made enough in advance, he didn’t have to worry about this carnivorous little rabbit going hungry.
But Glug-Glug, who liked fruit juice, was a bit of a problem.
Chu Jiu tried to call the two little ones to him: “Rawr Rawr Rabbit, Glug-Glug, can you peel this orange?”
Chu Jiu had given them grapes before, and the two little ones had mashed the grapes into a pulp but couldn’t squeeze out the juice.
This time, Chu Jiu decided to try oranges.
If they could learn to peel oranges and squeeze out orange juice, Glug-Glug’s food would be taken care of.
Chu Jiu handed them a [Small orange with a rough, thorny peel].
As he spoke, Glug-Glug extended its little arms, which turned into thin tentacles that wrapped around the orange.
Chu Jiu had witnessed the terrifying power of these tentacles more than once.
Whether it was logs or bamboo, Glug-Glug could easily split them with these tentacles.
However, these usually invincible tentacles were now useless against the orange peel.
They wrapped, squeezed, and pressed, but the orange peel didn’t change at all.
Chu Jiu handed over a small knife.
Glug-Glug rolled up the small knife and started sawing the orange peel like a lumberjack sawing wood.
“Clang!”
After sawing a few times, the small knife was flung away.
Glug-Glug looked at the flung knife, its little mouth turned down, tried its best to hold back, but finally couldn’t help but start whimpering.
Chu Jiu quickly scooped up the little guy in his hands, gently stroked the little leaves on its head, and told it, “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll think of another way.”
At this moment, Rawr Rawr Rabbit patted its chest, “Rawr rawr rawr, I’ll do it!”
“I can definitely crack this orange! Watch my sharp teeth attack!”
With that, Rawr Rawr Rabbit held the hard orange with its two little white paws, opened its three-lobed mouth, took a big “chomp,” and bit down hard!
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Five seconds passed, and there wasn’t a single crack on the orange peel.
Instead, Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s little white fur started shaking uncontrollably.
It put the orange on the ground, its ears drooped, and it looked at Chu Jiu with teary red eyes, “My… my teeth hurt, rawr rawr rawr…”
Helpless, Chu Jiu had to pick up this one too, gently patting its back: “Don’t cry, don’t cry, we’ll think of another way.”
It seemed hopeless to expect these two little ones to squeeze juice themselves. He had to do something else…
Chu Jiu sat under the candle, flipping through the “Pioneer’s Hut Renovation Guide” in his hand.
The system had indicated that this “Guide” would continue to add content as his level increased.
At first, this guide was just a small booklet of about ten pages, looking a bit like an advertisement for a one-day wilderness survival tour.
Now that Chu Jiu’s pioneer level had reached level 5, this booklet had grown to thirty pages, and thoughtfully added a table of contents, looking less like an advertisement and more like a simplified game manual.
Chu Jiu found the new chapter “Food Storage” in the table of contents.
[Food Storage:
At this stage, you have most likely emerged from the predicament of “severe food shortage” and “extremely limited food variety.” You may have your own fields, from which you can obtain single but stable crops; or you may have mastered superb hunting and gathering skills, allowing you to obtain your daily needs from the forest.
Next, you will inevitably face a problem:
What should you do if you have a temporary surplus of food, or if you need to store enough food for possible bad weather?
Here, we recommend a facility that suits your current production level:
Small Underground Cold Storage.
Only 10 ice blocks, 30 dry grass, and 100 wood are needed to build a small cold storage near the hut that can store perishable food.
Read the attached instructions carefully and comprehend them to obtain the corresponding recipe for this facility.]
The reason Chu Jiu didn’t directly choose to build an “underground cold storage” but tried to let Glug-Glug and Rawr Rawr Rabbit peel oranges and squeeze grapes themselves was that building this cold storage required “ice blocks.”
If it were winter now, Chu Jiu could collect ice from the frozen river surface during the coldest time.
As long as the cold storage had sufficient insulation, the ice mined in winter would be enough for summer use.
But it was still autumn.
Where could he get ice…
Chu Jiu frowned, flipping through his backpack repeatedly, combining various materials in his mind, wondering if he could find something even remotely related to “ice blocks.”
Finally, his gaze fell on a white crystal.
This was the “nitre” he had brought back from the gypsum mining trip.
At that time, he thought that nitre was an essential material if he needed to make explosives or fertilizer.
But thinking carefully…
Chu Jiu closed his eyes and tried hard to recall the chemistry knowledge he learned in junior high school, as well as some of the little stories the teacher told in class.
“Nitre minerals mainly contain potassium nitrate.”
“About 1500 years ago, ancient Chinese people discovered the ‘easily soluble in water, endothermic freezing’ properties of potassium nitrate and applied this property to the ice-making industry…”
Chu Jiu suddenly opened his eyes: Yes! Potassium nitrate ice making!
He jumped off the stool and cheered: “Ice blocks! We’ll start making our own ice blocks tomorrow!”
*
Grind the nitre into a fine powder, add enough water, and stir continuously to thoroughly mix the nitre powder and water.
During the mixing process, you can see some of the water start to freeze. Continue stirring to turn the previous ice crystals into uniform slush.
Finally, place the large container holding the solution in a cool, ventilated place, and you will get complete ice blocks!
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the “Homemade Ice Block” recipe!]
“Wow! So this is ice! It looks so cold, rawr rawr rawr!”
“This, um, is transparent, so pretty…”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit, its ears twitching, and Glug-Glug, its eyes wide open, circled around the newly made ice blocks.
Finally, the two little ones looked at Chu Jiu in unison, “Um, can we touch it?”
Was it the nature of young animals to want to touch ice when they saw it for the first time? Even spirit beast cubs were no exception?
So Chu Jiu waved his hand, “Touch it, but be careful, it’s quite cold.”
With permission, Rawr Rawr Rabbit eagerly placed its little furry paws on the ice; Glug-Glug also transformed its tentacle hands, and a strand of tentacles landed on the ice surface.
“Wow! It’s really cold!” the two little ones exclaimed in unison.
Chu Jiu smiled, “Yes, it’s ice.”
He touched the pocket in front of his chest, “Little Can, it’s ice, do you want to touch it? We’re going to seal the ice blocks later to make materials.”
Little Can meowed, seeming uninterested.
But its ice-blue eyes had been fixed on the ice surface since it was made.
Its round little cat face was filled with “I want to touch it, I want to touch it, just a little touch…”
Chu Jiu pretended not to see Little Can’s expression, placed Little Can on the cat climbing frame, and walked outside the hut with Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glug-Glug, starting to discuss where to build the cold storage and what food to keep as reserves for the next month or so.
As he spoke, Chu Jiu glanced through the window crack—
Whoa!
That Little Can was climbing onto the ice and sliding down, using the ice as a slide!
Chu Jiu held back his laughter and continued to pretend he saw nothing, withdrawing his gaze.
*
It didn’t take long for Chu Jiu to successfully create 10 ice blocks using the recipe.
Now that he had all the materials, the next step was to comprehend the [Underground Cold Storage] recipe and arrange for Glug-Glug to build it.
An afternoon passed.
In the hut’s fenced yard, a hidden underground passage with a wooden door appeared.
At the end of the passage was a square “cold storage room.”
On the wooden shelves in the cold storage room were rows of orange juice, grape juice, grapefruit juice…
And pre-made roasted meat, cold meat, and braised meat.
With the cold storage room, not only was Glug-Glug’s food supply secured, but Rawr Rawr Rabbit could also eat food other than jerky!
This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the little guys going hungry and crying while he was out collecting cotton.
Chu Jiu returned to the surface from the basement and stretched contentedly towards the sunset.
*
Emerald Town, residential area, a simple two-story building.
A gaunt middle-aged man was half-lying on a round table, his upper body buried in his arms, his body shaking from violent coughing.
On the simple wooden round table were honey water and wine, which the doctor had told him to drink.
He had tried his best to control his coughing.
But the way his shoulder blades shook as he coughed still made the little girl standing in the outer room peek in and burst into tears.
The little girl wanted to come in and see him, but was held back by a woman in an apron, who told her through tears, “Be good, darling, let Daddy have some time to himself, okay?”
The middle-aged man’s name was Douglas, Reg’s brother.
He used to be one of the most powerful ability-user in the Emerald Town area.
However, “abilities” would suddenly reach their peak one day, and then, like a receding tide, disappear from humans with devastating force.
After that, these ability-users, who were once much stronger than ordinary people, would become unprecedentedly weak.
It was as if all the illnesses and pains that had never bothered them during the years they had abilities would line up to take their revenge, and with doubled ferocity.
Now, Douglas, who had never known what a cold was since he was a child, was tormented by this inexplicable cough, unable to sleep or eat. The once tall and strong man had become a shadow of his former self.
Another fit of violent coughing.
Douglas lay on the table, gasping for breath, his vision sometimes blacking out, sometimes filled with flashing lights.
Just then, someone knocked on the door downstairs.
Douglas’s wife, Eileen, changed her expression slightly and quickly told her daughter to stay in her room, while she went downstairs.
Eileen adjusted her expression and pulled open the door with a straight face.
Outside the door, as expected, stood three people wearing cloaks.
When they saw Eileen open the door, they bowed slightly as a greeting. The one in the middle stepped forward and handed over an exquisite small bottle, saying, “Ms. Eileen, this medicine is very beneficial for relieving Douglas’s symptoms, you…”
Eileen said coldly, “We’ve said before, we don’t want this.”
The cloaked man holding the medicine smiled, “Madam, I suppose Douglas has been coughing non-stop and losing his appetite recently? This medicine will make him feel much better immediately and free him from coughing.”
Eileen said, word by word, “We don’t want it.”
Another cloaked man said impatiently, “Alright, alright, don’t bother with this ignorant woman.”
“This panacea is impossible to buy even if you want to. We are now delivering it out of kindness according to the president’s wishes, and she’s still giving us a cold shoulder!”
“Have it your way! Let her husband cough himself to death!”
Eileen’s face stiffened, and she pointed at the cloaked man, “What nonsense are you talking about? My husband is just sick, but he’ll get better!”
“If he becomes a living dead after drinking your medicine, that’s worse than death!”
“Take your poison and get out!”
The cloaked man didn’t expect Eileen to be so stubborn, and was about to raise his voice to curse back when he heard another man’s voice next to him:
“You people from the association, why don’t you stay in Ancient Linburg and come to our Emerald Town to cause trouble?”
The cloaked men turned their heads—
It was Douglas’s brother, Reg.
Unlike Douglas, who had lost his abilities, Reg was still a full-fledged ability-user.
Although he only had a low-level fire ability, according to the association’s rules, they couldn’t do anything to Reg.
Therefore, the cloaked men could only snort coldly, say some meaningless harsh words, and leave in a hurry.
Eileen breathed a sigh of relief, leaning on the door frame, her face tired, “It’s good you’re here.”
“These people have come several times, insisting that your brother drink their ‘panacea.'”
“Douglas said before that he would rather die of illness than drink that.”
Reg said, “My brother is right.”
He and Douglas had seen what ability-users would become after drinking that potion. He’d rather die than live like that.
But Reg didn’t want to scare Eileen. He didn’t say much, only:
“I found a new cough medicine, not that strange potion. Let’s try it on my brother.”
*
Douglas closed his eyes and took the wooden jar from his brother, drinking the light brown liquid inside in one gulp.
Reg stood beside his brother, staring at him expectantly and nervously.
Not far away, Douglas’s wife and daughter looked at their husband and father with worry and fear.
About ten minutes passed.
During these ten minutes, Douglas didn’t cough again.
He slowly raised his upper body, his chest heaving like a bellows, and let out a long breath:
“My throat… doesn’t hurt as much.”
“This medicine… is truly rare…”
Reg’s eyes lit up with surprise.
Eileen quickly covered her mouth with her hand, afraid that she would shout out in her excitement.
*
Forgotten Forest.
“Bamboo bow… hmm… dry out a bamboo stalk about 1 meter long, split it on both sides with a knife, and repeatedly flatten it.”
“Leave a small section of the bamboo tube in the middle of the bamboo stalk, which can be modified into a bow handle; leave grooves at both ends of the bow to tie the bowstring.”
Chu Jiu tried to recall the wilderness survival videos he had occasionally watched before, planning to make a bamboo bow.
Right now, the only thing he could consider a weapon was a “slingshot,” which was far from adequate in terms of range or lethality.
To be honest, if the wild boar hadn’t been afraid of the cat, and if Little Can hadn’t miraculously aimed at a target that could trigger a domino effect, he might have been gored by the wild boar long ago.
The Sunny Plateau he was going to this time had monsters with higher levels than those in the Forgotten Forest, and even if he used [Body Concealment], he might still be detected by the monsters.
So Chu Jiu had to upgrade his weapons.
With the bow body formed, Chu Jiu began to choose materials for the bowstring.
It was said that the best bowstrings were made of cow tendons or the hide from a cow’s back.
Chu Jiu had never encountered a cow or any bovine monsters, so he couldn’t make cow tendons or cowhide.
However, he had the [Superior Snake Skin] he had collected before. This snake skin, after being tanned, had excellent toughness and could be used to make a bowstring—the only problem was that this snake skin bowstring, which came from a chicken-headed snake monster, would occasionally make strange sounds like a rooster crowing when plucked.
Next, Chu Jiu used finger-thick bamboo to make arrow shafts, sharpened [Sharp Beast Teeth] into arrowheads, and modified [Wind Rider Bird Feathers] into fletching, combining them into matching bamboo arrows.
[Sharp Beast Teeth] came from wild boars and could increase attack power by 5%; [Wind Rider Bird Feathers] were beautiful feathers with gold and orange colors that he had picked up when collecting wood at the edge of the Forgotten Forest. They were very conspicuous in the forest. When combined into equipment, they would have a BUFF of [10% weight reduction, 10% hit rate increase, 10% critical strike rate increase], making them very suitable for archery weapons.
Chu Jiu wiped the sweat from his forehead, completed the construction of this set of bow and arrows in the virtual production line, and obtained the [Homemade Beginner Bow and Arrow Recipe x1].
Using another 5 spirit points, Chu Jiu conjured a set of bamboo bow and arrows with decent quality and a simple and elegant design.
[Homemade Beginner Bow and Arrow: Normally, such a crude bow and arrow would be of little use in the jungle.
However, all the materials for this set of bow and arrows came from the Forgotten Forest. Due to the host’s clever stacking of various material effects, this set of bow and arrows has a longer range and higher lethality than ordinary bows and arrows, and is no longer a toy product that can only be used for practice—
However, the disadvantage of using snake monster skin for the bowstring is that it will occasionally turn this bow into a screaming chicken. But this is just a minor disadvantage.
In short, if used properly, this set of bow and arrows can unleash astonishing power.]
“Can unleash astonishing power?”
Not bad!
Chu Jiu followed this recipe and made a set of [Miniature Homemade Beginner Bow and Arrow] that was scaled down to the size of a miniature toy.
He had already planned to make a special weapon for Little Can.
He held the bow and arrow on his fingertip and handed it to Little Can, “Look, for you.”
Little Can’s round eyes widened instantly, “Meow meow meow?”—”For me?”
Chu Jiu: “Of course, it’s specially for you.”
Little Can gently touched the smooth bow with its cat paw, was stunned for a while, and then looked up at Chu Jiu, “Why give it to me?”
Why bother making a special weapon for me?
Chu Jiu smiled and pressed the tip of Little Can’s nose, “Because you’re very good at shooting.”
“And…” Chu Jiu’s eyes flashed with a hint of mischief, “And, you’ll look very cute with it.”
Cu-cute?!
Little Can’s cat paw twitched, and its fur almost stood on end.
What nonsense was this human talking about!
How could I have anything to do with the word “cute”!
If we’re talking about “cute,” it’s clearly… clearly…
Little Can glanced at the smiling boy in front of him, its cat tail swaying unnaturally.
It’s clearly this human… who’s more cute.
Chu Jiu, of course, knew nothing about the little cat’s complex inner thoughts.
He put away the little cat and its miniature bow, carried his own bow and arrows, and plunged into the forest, aiming at a [Skull-like Gourd] hanging on a vine, nocking and shooting!
Thump!
The bowstring made a dull thud.
Chu Jiu looked up expectantly.
However, the gourd on the vine remained motionless, still grinning like a laughing skull.
The Screaming Mushroom not far away, however, let out an extremely sharp and ear-piercing cry: Eee eee ya ya ya.
Looking closely, it turned out that the bamboo arrow had slanted into the Screaming Mushroom below, like a branch arm attached to a gray snowman.
Chu Jiu scratched his head, retrieved the bamboo arrow, and turned the Screaming Mushroom into ingredients.
Could it be that the gourd was too high? What about changing the target?
This time, Chu Jiu aimed at the [Troll’s Ear] on the tree trunk. It looked like a giant fleshy ear, with a somewhat frightening color and shape. But in fact, it was genuine wood ear. Washed, cut into small pieces, and stir-fried with pork, it was incredibly fragrant.
Pull the bow again! Shoot an arrow!
This time, the bamboo arrow didn’t even touch the Screaming Mushroom, landing directly in the soil, piercing a few leaves.
Chu Jiu: …
Strange, this is a bow and arrow with buffs!
At this moment, Little Can jumped out of his pocket silently, stood lightly and steadily on Chu Jiu’s shoulder, and nocked its special bamboo arrow, which was as thick as chopsticks—
Only two “whoosh” sounds were heard, and the [Skull-like Gourd] and [Troll’s Ear] fell in response.
Chu Jiu: …
Understood. The bow and arrow are fine, it’s just that I don’t know how to use them.
Chu Jiu looked at the bow and arrow in his hand, thinking that he either had to practice his archery skills hard or think of other ways, he couldn’t really let a little cat protect him all the time.
*
A few days passed, and Chu Jiu had prepared his weapons and dry food.
He also had Glug-Glug build a barn next to the field, specifically for storing the crops harvested by Rawr Rawr Rabbit.
After all the big and small things were arranged, Chu Jiu prepared to set off for Sunny Plateau.
This morning, he was about to go out when he heard a bell ringing.
When he walked to the road sign, he saw that it was Reg.
Chu Jiu was a little surprised, after all, it wasn’t time for Marco to come to the village yet.
Reg came up and bowed to him solemnly, thanking Chu Jiu for the cough medicine he made last time, which immediately relieved his brother’s condition.
Chu Jiu: “Oh… you’re welcome, you’re welcome…”
That cough drink actually had such a good effect, it was worth Reg coming to thank him in person?
It was really unexpected.
Chu Jiu said again: “If you need it, I can make some more for you.”
He could now make this simple prop using the recipe at a speed of one per minute, and the consumption of spirit points had also decreased. It only took 1 spirit point to make two props.
This was probably the result of practice makes perfect?
Reg thanked him again and immediately bought 10 bottles of [Fresh Bamboo Sap Juice] that Chu Jiu had just made for 5000 copper coins.
This price, coupled with Reg’s willingness to pay, and the 500 pioneer points additionally rewarded by the system, made Chu Jiu feel like he had become a profiteer.
After putting away the bamboo sap given by Chu Jiu, Reg took out a sheepskin book from the backpack behind him: “This, my brother heard that you are pioneering alone in Bean Village and occasionally have to go deep into the wilderness, so he asked me to give you this.
“The monster stories recorded in it are said to be based on real prototypes, and may be useful when you are pioneering.”
The sheepskin book was thick and heavy, with metal edges wrapped around the four corners, and the cover was written in italics: [Folklore—Intelligent Races Living in Monster Regions].
Chu Jiu politely accepted it, saying that he was going to explore the wilderness and would definitely be able to use it.
Holding this heavy book that hurt his arms, Chu Jiu became a little curious: “Reg, is this sheepskin book an ancient book? The kind that can’t be bought on the market?”
As a result, Reg was a little surprised: “Ancient book? This is not an ancient book.”
“Our current books are all like this.”
Chu Jiu: “…Eh?”
Reg explained again, and Chu Jiu understood:
The text and pictures here are all transcribed on parchment and then made into scrolls or books.
It is said that a long time ago, there was a lighter and more useful writing material called “paper.” Many years ago, books were actually made of “paper.” They were thin and even young children could pick them up.
Now, no one knows how this magical object was made. Those light paper books are the real ancient books and can sell for thousands of copper coins each.
I see.
After Reg left, Chu Jiu took out the “Simple Furniture Making Manual” given to him by the old village chief, feeling very emotional:
No wonder this book looks tattered and is about to break after a few flips.
Unexpectedly, this book was a product of the time before the monster invasion and the interruption of civilization.
At that time, he had just arrived in this village, and just because he didn’t run away in the middle of the night, the old man gave him such a valuable book…
And the flint and salt at the beginning, if converted into beans, could be exchanged for a lot of beans…
The old village chief must have really hoped that the pioneers could develop the area around the village well and let the villagers live a better life.
Chu Jiu clenched his fists, tightened his backpack straps, and set off in the direction of Sunny Plateau.
*
This evening, Chu Jiu found a safe campsite, lit a bonfire, and opened the book “Intelligent Races Living in Monster Regions.”
After reading a few pages, Chu Jiu roughly understood:
Long before the monsters appeared, intelligent races such as elves and orcs lived in the mountains and fields.
Unlike monsters, they had interactions with humans and even exchanged goods with humans through bartering.
However, with the invasion of monsters and the transformation of large areas into wilderness that ordinary humans could not set foot in, they became increasingly difficult to find and became shadows that only appeared in legends.
Chu Jiu flipped through the pages, reading with relish.
Not only was he fascinated, but Little Can in his pocket also poked out its head, yawning and squinting at this human book.
Chu Jiu touched its little nose: “So sleepy, why don’t you sleep?”
Little Can meowed, “It’s quite interesting.”
As it spoke, it yawned again and raised its paws to rub its eyes.
Chu Jiu thought for a moment and said, “Then close your eyes, and I’ll read it to you?”
Little Can yawned again and meowed in agreement.
So Chu Jiu slowly read in the firelight: “Among the elves, there is a race called ‘Chestnut Elves.'”
“They are usually small in size and look like brown chestnuts.”
“They are very good at camouflage and don’t like to reveal their traces in front of humans.”
“They live in the mountains and forests for a long time and love all kinds of flowers, plants, and trees. They regard all kinds of seemingly ordinary objects as treasures.”
“If anyone tries to steal these treasures, they will be pricked and wounded all over by the chestnuts…”
As he read, Chu Jiu heard small, even breaths.
He knew that Little Can had fallen asleep.
Chu Jiu closed the book and looked up at the sky—
The moon had risen at some point. The deep blue sky set off a crescent moon, and the moonlight was bright.
Chu Jiu stretched, extinguished the campfire, and climbed into the hammock, as usual, holding Little Can in his arms.
Moonlight brushed Chu Jiu’s face, and leaves cast shadows on his face.
Chu Jiu closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with the warm little cat in his arms.
*
This time, Chu Jiu traveled even faster than the last time.
Apart from the Sichuan peppers and garlic he had planned to collect, he didn’t even take any time to gather materials along the way.
He kept thinking about going back as soon as possible, bringing cotton back before the weather turned cold, one day sooner was one day better.
After walking for seven days in a row, Chu Jiu was about to leave the Forgotten Forest.
He found a tall enough tree, climbed to the canopy with his hands and feet, and looked out at the plateau in front of him from this angle:
Sunny Plateau wasn’t large in area, but its terrain was quite special, formed by layers of giant, protruding terraces stacked on top of each other, looking like a terraced field magnified countless times from a distance, or a multi-tiered wedding cake with dark colors.
Although the place name had “Sunny” in it, in fact, it was mostly rainy here, only the top terrace at the highest point had clear weather all year round.
Perhaps because of the abundant rainfall, the plants in this area were usually particularly tall, and the animals were also very strong.
Of course, the monsters here also followed suit and grew fat and strong, especially fond of chewing up all foreign creatures as snacks to pass the time.
After walking for another half day, Chu Jiu finally stood on the edge of Sunny Plateau.
The prompt sound rang instantly:
[New open area: Sunny Plateau]
[Openness of each area map: Forgotten Forest—92%; Sunny Plateau—1%]
Great! The new map was open! “Treasure Seeker’s Target” could be used!
Chu Jiu closed his eyes and recalled the materials on the illustrated card in detail.
Light gray, olive-shaped, very, very light…
Got it! A small star appeared on the pitch-black map, not too far from Chu Jiu’s current location.
Chu Jiu took out his bow and arrows and put them on his back, saying to Little Can, “Let’s go, we’re going to find the ‘Wind Breath Fruit’.”
Little Can was confused: “Wind Breath Fruit? What’s that? Aren’t we looking for ‘cotton’?”
Along the way, this human had kept talking about “cotton.”
Saying cotton was fluffy and soft, and it was very warm to sew into clothes or quilts, and it was much more comfortable than dry grass and not as expensive as goose or duck feathers…
Anyone could see how eager Chu Jiu was to bring cotton back.
But now that he had rushed to Sunny Plateau, the first thing he was going to find wasn’t cotton?
Chu Jiu pointed to the high place: “Cotton should be at the highest point of Sunny Plateau.”
The cotton illustrated card said, [On any sunny day, you can find this white flower on the top of Sunny Plateau.]
“To get to the highest platform, you can either take a detour and slowly climb up the zigzag slopes connecting the layers.”
“At our speed, it would probably take ten days or so.”
“Or you can try to take a shortcut, ‘soaring straight up’.”
Little Can: “Meow.”——”Oh.”
So, Wind Breath Fruit made people’s bodies lighter and easier to climb?
The little cat guessed.
*
Sunny Plateau, first layer.
Fog shrouded the ground, and light rain fell.
Chu Jiu put on a bamboo leaf raincoat and put a miniature bamboo hat on Little Can, who insisted on sitting on his shoulder and wouldn’t stay in his pocket.
The man and the cat walked through knee-deep moss.
The moss was soft and sticky, making it impossible to walk fast. However, the sound absorption effect of this moss was also excellent, and there was no sound at all when stepping on it, so there was no need to worry about disturbing other creatures.
Besides the moss, the roadside, which couldn’t be called a road, was covered with flowers as tall as a person.
In his previous life in China, Chu Jiu often saw these white flowers called “zephyranthes” on the roadside: six oval petals, clustered with light yellow stamens, a small branch was very cute.
But here, this flower grew to the size of a soccer ball, looking as heavy as a shot put, hanging heavily on a thick stem, and had nothing to do with “small and cute.”
Walking, walking, a muffled sound—
It was a flower falling from a branch that couldn’t bear its weight, hitting the moss and making a pit in the thick moss.
If you accidentally stood under that flower, your head would probably be flattened directly.
Chu Jiu hissed softly, carefully avoiding other wobbly “shot puts” while walking towards the fallen flower, and conveniently collected a handful of [Giant Zephyranthes’ Stigma].
The stigma was about the size of an egg, tasted similar to eggs, and provided plenty of protein.
Such high-quality ingredients couldn’t be missed.
After walking for a while in the light rain, the moss on the ground gradually decreased and eventually disappeared completely.
Covering the muddy ground were dark, rotten branches and leaves.
Through the wet fog, you could vaguely see a tall, straight tree in front, with light orange bark, particularly eye-catching in this gloomy, gray rainy day.
That was the “Wind Breath Fruit Tree.”
However, Chu Jiu stopped.
He said softly, “Little Can, there will be many centipedes ahead.”
Little Can: !
Centipedes?It’s a bug!
Its eyes instantly widened, its body tensed up, and it quickly grabbed its miniature bow and arrow.
Chu Jiu said again, “But, you have to hold back, don’t attack those centipedes.”
The [Hill Centipedes] here are a bit like centipedes magnified a hundred times. They are flat, elongated creatures covered with a hard exoskeleton, with dozens of segments, each segment having two pairs of curved legs, and the head having two pairs of powerful jaws.
Like the centipedes on Earth, centipedes also have venom glands and can secrete venom.
Not only that, but these centipedes, when physically attacked, secrete venom in double amounts, and even spray venomous mist directly; even if they die, their bodies will turn into poisonous water, spreading everywhere with the rain on the ground, poisoning everything around them.
In short, this thing is not easy to deal with.
But the “Wind Breath Fruit Tree” just happens to grow in this area full of centipedes.
Or rather, the centipedes particularly like the sap of the Wind Breath Fruit Tree. As long as there is a Wind Breath Fruit Tree, it will attract dense centipedes.
After hearing Chu Jiu explain the characteristics of this insect, Little Can’s face became even more serious.
At this time, several centipedes had already poked out part of their bodies from the ground, and the antennae on their heads began to shake non-stop.
Like centipedes, Hill Centipedes are also almost completely blind and can only sense prey with their antennae.
Now, they obviously sensed that some creature had entered this territory, and began to drill out segment by segment, preparing to swim towards where Chu Jiu was standing.
The rain continued to fall.
The rustling of raindrops falling on the dead leaves, mixed with the clattering of the centipedes rubbing their jaws, was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.
Little Can lowered its voice and meowed, “Step back, I’ll jump over from the tree and pick the Wind Breath Fruit.”
Chu Jiu: “Eh? No need to take risks.”
“I have other ways.”
With that, Chu Jiu took down the bamboo bow and inserted one end of the bow into the soil.
Little Can: …?
Didn’t you just tell me not to attack? And why put the bow in the ground?
Chu Jiu didn’t nock an arrow.
He took out another bamboo pick and quickly plucked the bowstring!
Little Can: …?!
The bowstring first made a series of muffled thuds, and as the vibration speed increased, the muffled thuds had ups and downs and pitches.
Finally, this bowstring, made from the chicken-headed snake monster, vibrated with a passionate and loud sound—
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
This sound was completely the sound of a rooster crowing!
The little ones are such innocent cuties