Chapter 77 - 76: I’m Not Pulling Anymore!

Chapter 77: Chapter 76: I’m Not Pulling Anymore!

Not eat it because it might be toxic? How would she know if it was toxic without trying it? How much even counted as a toxic dose? This all required practical experimentation!

Regardless, as Huai Yu looked at the massive patch of bamboo lying on the ground—their root systems cleanly severed by Kuang Biao—the mere thought of missing out on this bounty made her heart ache.

It was only early April, the absolute perfect season for fresh bamboo growth!

Normally, bamboo shoots required a hoe and some serious digging to harvest. But now, it was incredibly convenient—she could effortlessly snap them right off their exposed roots without breaking a sweat. Her wicker basket couldn’t even hold more than a few of these huge, plump shoots.

Huai Yu sneaked a peek at Kuang Biao, smiling with the utmost respect and politeness. "Since you can already talk, just lying here for a bit, taking a short nap... shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Kuang Biao fell so silent that even his leaves stopped rustling. A moment later, he cursed loudly, "Are you stupid? I’m basically streaking out here! Look at my roots! Do these look like they can be left out to bake in the sun?"

Huai Yu pointed to her empty wicker basket. "But I came into the mountains specifically to find some food. If I don’t eat, I’ll literally starve to death. How would I ever have the strength to drag you all the way down the mountain to plant you? If push comes to shove, Mr. Kuang Biao, you can just find a random spot on the mountain to take root again."

That actually made Kuang Biao fall silent again. After a long pause, he grumbled, "What do you know? These trees have zero vision. Back then, I told them I wanted a patch of land to take root and grow, and they said to go right ahead and grow as much as I wanted.

"But once I actually grew, they started complaining that I was too overbearing. They whined that my underground root system was taking up all the space year after year, that I was insanely greedy at sucking up all the nutrients. They even had the nerve to complain about my fallen leaves, whining that the phenolic acids in them made it too hard for other plants to grow...

"I just wanted to grow a little faster. What did I do wrong? That’s just how us grasses are! Is it my fault that I can grow as rapidly as a giant tree?" He concluded with immense arrogance, "Hmph! Those are nothing but the excuses of the weak!"

Huai Yu finally understood. The bamboo Kuang Biao lying before her clearly couldn’t win in a physical brawl against this forest of trees, but he was certainly exceptional at running his mouth! No wonder out of everything covering these mountains and plains, he was the only one who had learned to speak like a human.

Bamboo growth generally relied on a classic three-step playbook. In the first year, they took root and claimed their territory, thoroughly occupying all the underground space. Regardless of whether they actively grew, they made sure to claim the land first. In the second year, they would crazily absorb nutrients. They took absolutely everything they could get their hands on; the key theme was sheer, unapologetic greed.

And the third year? Did that even need to be said? They would sprout shoots, grow tall, and keep reaching upward until they completely monopolized the sky! Ha! Any plants trapped beneath them would be starved of both sunlight and nutrients. Whether they lived or died was entirely up to fate—after all, that was just how overbearing this grass family could be!

At any rate, Kuang Biao continued to grumble while lying there. He didn’t explicitly say whether he was okay with lying out for a bit longer, but Huai Yu took it as a silent agreement. She promptly dumped the bamboo shoots she had just gathered onto the ground. Wielding the small knife Wu Yue had given her as compensation, she slashed forcefully into the shoots, slicing them open and peeling them one by one.

It didn’t matter if they were slightly old or not perfectly fresh. What mattered was that she had to haul back as many as possible. Once she got home, she could blanch and dry them, so whether she wanted to store or supply them... Oh hey, that rhymes! Huai Yu found a little joy amidst the struggle. Although she was eventually going to have to haul Mr. Kuang Biao down the mountain and find a place for him, at least she was still alive. She had to stay optimistic for now.

The only problem was, where exactly was she going to plant him once she dragged him down? If she planted him next to the Rose Corridor, would the Rose attack her? Speaking of which, who was actually stronger between the two? The Rose Corridor was probably much more powerful. After all, she was capable of single-handedly stopping the invasive plants from the Wilderness from expanding...

CRACK CRACK CRACK. The rhythmic sound of peeling bamboo husks echoed through the silent mountain forest. Once fully peeled, her full basket of bamboo shoots was reduced to only a third of its original volume. Huai Yu quietly glanced at Kuang Biao, then picked up her shovel and headed back into the bamboo grove.

Walking along, she turned back around and eyed the tender bamboo cores. Although it was incredibly shameless of her to keep exploiting him like this, the drinking water nowadays wasn’t exactly crisp and sweet. Pulling out a few bamboo cores to brew in her water wouldn’t hurt, right? Besides, since all the bamboo stalks were already lying flat on the ground, it was perfectly convenient for her to pluck them. Anything related to processing bamboo was incredibly therapeutic.

Huai Yu had just yanked out a handful of cores and was finally getting into the zone when she saw Kuang Biao attempt to do a kip-up from the ground—and fail miserably. The upper half of his leafy stalk almost managed to stand upright before heavily smashing right back into the dirt. He grew even more exasperated. "You’re getting addicted to picking me apart, aren’t you? What? You just have to utilize every single part of my body, huh? Why don’t you just drag my bamboo poles back home too, chop them up, and steam some bamboo rice while you’re at it!"

Mr. Kuang Biao might have had a runaway mouth, but he gave pretty good ideas. Feeling emboldened, Huai Yu gasped in pleasant surprise, "Mr. Kuang Biao, great minds really do think alike!

"Once the bamboo rice is done, the leftover tubes can be baked into bamboo charcoal to help me filter my water! That tiny handful of peanut shells I have at home really isn’t going to be enough to get the job done." Sigh, when it came down to it, Little Tian was just too disappointing!

Bamboo Kuang Biao had lived his entire life as an absolute tyrant. Since his mutation, he had never heard such an incredibly shameless speech. His entire stalk was trembling with sheer rage! Huai Yu still vividly remembered the terrifying SWISH SWISH SWISH of his bamboo leaves cutting down the forest, so she immediately tried to soothe him with a soft tone. "Mr. Kuang Biao, don’t be angry! I’m just too horribly poor. I can’t even afford a sip of clean drinking water... Otherwise, think about it—Sanqing Mountain is so huge, why would I be the only person out here?"

Kuang Biao let out a haughty snort. "Who said you were the only one? There are clearly other Explorers on the small trail on the other side of the mountain!" Then again, those Explorers were two entire peaks away, separated by sheer cliffs and perilous drops. He muttered to himself, eventually giving in to Huai Yu’s relentless harvesting. "After you finish pulling that handful, no more!"

"You got it!" Huai Yu obediently tossed the freshly plucked bamboo cores into her basket, leaving her hands completely empty once more.

After all this fuss, the sun was visibly beginning to set. Huai Yu had already greedily plucked four, five, six, seven handfuls of bamboo cores, and her wicker basket was now overflowing to the brim with pale, yellowish bamboo shoots. It was only then that she suddenly realized the time.

"Ah!" she gasped.

"Are you done yet?" Kuang Biao woke up from a brief nap, automatically grumbling out of pure habit, "That’s the absolute last handful. After this one, we really have to go."

Huai Yu stared down at the sleeping bag strapped to the bottom of her basket, a wave of worry washing over her. "I was originally planning to spend the night out here in the mountains..." But now... The bamboo shoots in her basket definitely couldn’t be left out overnight, and Mr. Kuang Biao lying on the ground probably couldn’t survive an overnight wait either...

A heavy, encroaching twilight was already beginning to settle over the dense forest. Huai Yu let out a depressed sigh, finally pulling her hands away from the bamboo. She walked over and thoroughly sized up Kuang Biao. "Mr. Kuang Biao, I’m grabbing your feet now."

She wrapped her arms securely around his thick root system and began dragging his massive bamboo stalk down the mountain, completely ignoring his immediate mockery. "So narrow-minded! Although I can speak the human language, do I look anything like a human to you? My entire body doesn’t have a distinct head or feet—hey, walk a little faster! If you drag me down the mountain now and plant me by the early hours, I’ll still be able to drink some fresh morning dew."

Huai Yu felt utterly helpless. "But this basket on my back is incredibly heavy!"

Her basket was overflowing with bamboo shoots, and every available crevice had been tightly packed with bamboo cores. If it weren’t for the fact that she had been eating well lately and doing daily physical labor to build up her strength, she wouldn’t have been able to move a single inch. And now, on top of all that, she had to drag an entire bamboo stalk...

But the most critical problem was the lack of light. "It’s completely dark out, and I didn’t bring a flashlight. I literally can’t see the path, Mr. Kuang Biao... Why don’t I just drag you to the campsite I scouted out earlier today, and you can hold on for just one more night?"