Chapter 5: Materials for Building a House

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Materials for Building a House

The 600 acres of land at Rose Mansion and the nearby small hill connecting to the Sanqing Mountain Range had long been cleared by the Alien Plant Defense Army, leaving only unmutated saplings. From a distance, the hill looked like a bald head with a few sparse tufts of stubble sticking out. On the flat land further away, the budding grass was sparse, not even as tall as the stubborn weeds growing in the city ruins.

Huai Yu strolled back and forth across her vast territory. She found the water in the pond to be crystal clear, visible straight to the bottom. Only a few sparse water weeds and minuscule fish drifted faintly within. She wondered how the army had managed to secure the mountains and waters so thoroughly back then.

She looked at the towering, rolling peaks of Sanqing Mountain in the distance. That was where she had woken up. Bizarre and steep boulders stood tall, entwined and encircled from all directions by various mutated plants, forming a spectacle entirely different from the strange rocks themselves.

Glancing up at the Mutant Value sensor next to her, Huai Yu couldn’t help but sigh in frustration and mutter slowly, "The Alien Plant Defense Army really knows what they’re doing."

But before she could wallow in her sighs, she had to figure out how to build a shelter from the wind and rain. However, there were no materials around. Even if she pried the bricks and stones from the foundation, she didn’t have the skills to mix mud and set up roof beams. After much thought, she realized she had to live off the land.

She followed the Rose Corridor straight ahead. Along the way, she passed by a cluster of flat buildings in the distance with sentries at the gates, seemingly a garrison for the Alien Plant Defense Army. After walking for an unknown amount of time, she finally saw a signpost marking Zone 8.

The Defense Army had mentioned an anomaly occurring here yesterday, which was highly likely the moment she had passed through.

Looking around at the familiar traces, Huai Yu’s eyes finally curved into a smile. She reached out to gently stroke the leaves, her voice soft. "Careful now, open a door for me. We absolutely can’t be discovered." After a moment of thought, she politely added, "Thank you."

The branches in front of her began to quiver with a RUSTLE. Before long, they swished aside just like they had yesterday morning, parting to form a passageway wide enough for one person. Once Huai Yu passed through, the branches intertwined and covered the gap once more, leaving no trace behind.

Leaving the city limits, the vast mountain before her felt like her true domain. The faint paths in the woods had long been overgrown with various plants, yet as Huai Yu navigated through the branches, shrubs, and weeds, she looked as relaxed as if she had returned home. But... she didn’t have a home anymore. She needed to find materials to build one herself.

Therefore, it wasn’t long before her eyes landed on some twisted, tangled vines in the forest. In early spring, the temperature on the mountain was quite low. The vines before her only faintly displayed tiny, budding bumps. If one were to ask what kind of plant this was, it would be almost impossible to tell just by looking.

However, Huai Yu only hesitated for a second before making her choice. "Purple flowers! Wisteria! I love it! You’re going to build a house for me!"

Although the plant in front of her was called a "vine," the main stem rooted in the soil was a good four or five centimeters in diameter. The mountain’s soil and rocks were sturdy, and the roots ran deep. Huai Yu gripped the stem with both hands and pulled with all her might. Yet after a long time, it didn’t budge an inch. Instead, the palms of her hands turned slightly red.

Huai Yu fell silent. But she didn’t feel defeated. She simply followed the branch forward, reaching the thin, slender ends that hadn’t yet grown thick, and directly snapped one off with her hand.

SNAP!

The thin vines were broken off with little effort, and she soon gathered a whole handful. She didn’t stop until the entire plant was stripped bare, leaving only the main stem. With a small bundle now piled on the ground, Huai Yu finally stepped back.

Humming a random little tune, she looked around and found herself conflicted once more. "I have the roof beams, but where are the tiles?" After mulling it over, she ventured deeper into the mountains.

The environment, blanketed by the dense forest, was damp and cool. RUSTLING sounds mingled with the chirping of bugs and birds. Everything seemed no different from before the cataclysm. But only Huai Yu knew the difference. As she traversed the vast mountain, she could sense the budding vitality of all the plants. Spring truly was a wonderful season!

After walking for a long time among countless trees and vines that were just sprouting faint, fuzzy greenery, Huai Yu finally found a tall arbor tree. Unlike its peers, it appeared to be slightly mutated, which meant it should be easier to reason with. Even though its leaves were currently smaller than a fingertip, this was the only kind of large leaf she had found after searching for so long that could grow up to thirty centimeters wide!

Unfortunately, the parasol tree was towering. She looked up at it for a long time, but seeing that it remained indifferent, she eventually hugged the trunk and whined, "Please!"

The high branches RUSTLED twice, and after a long while, a single branch extended toward her. Huai Yu hesitated for a long time before taking hold of the branch. Then, she closed her eyes and pushed with all her might. "Nngh—!!!"

Her face flushed red as the sparse amount of Superpower that had just recovered in her body slowly surged, leaving her panting heavily from the exhaustion. Fortunately, tender buds rapidly sprouted on the branch in front of her. Soon, the entire parasol tree had unfolded layers upon layers of massive leaves! They were a lush, glossy green and exceptionally beautiful!

She grabbed the leaves, snapping them off one by one. The crisp CRACKLE AND SNAP sounds were incredibly satisfying. She didn’t let go until she had plucked every last leaf, piling them into a small mountain in front of her. The next moment, the branch that had strained to lower itself quickly retracted, looking very much like it was deeply annoyed by the harassment.

Huai Yu didn’t mind at all. She stared at the little mountain of leaves for a while, then found some thin, flexible vines in the forest and slowly wove them together, one by one. She was a bit rusty at this task, but thankfully, she managed to patch it together. By the time the sun reached its peak, she had created a large vine net with unevenly spaced holes. Luckily, the parasol tree leaves weren’t picky. After scooping them all in, she gathered the four corners of the net, ready to drag it along.

The trees on the mountain remained docile, RUSTLING as they made way for her. After Huai Yu placed the wisteria vines into the net bag as well, she unexpectedly spotted a tall pine tree.

"It’s a Pinus armandii..." Huai Yu was quite pleased. Just like the Korean pine, the seeds of Pinus armandii were edible!

So she patted the trunk. "Do you have any pine cones?"

She was panting slightly as she spoke. Communicating with so many trees today was actually quite draining. She thought it was strange, considering she was supposed to be very powerful. But it didn’t matter. She figured she probably just needed to recover a bit since she had only recently woken up.

Just as this thought flashed through her mind, a few PLOP sounds rang out. Large pine cones dropped from the branches—clearly leftovers that even the squirrels hadn’t managed to snag.

"One, two, three, four... Twelve in total!" And they were all quite big!

Huai Yu happily placed the pine cones into the leaves. To prevent them from falling through the gaps, she deliberately piled the leaves closer to the center. She looked around and finally pulled down another handful of flexible, thin vines.

All done! The materials for building her house were all ready!