Chapter 82 - 81: Did You Really Dig Up Bamboo Shoots?

Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Did You Really Dig Up Bamboo Shoots?

The cotton batting in the upper layer of the water purifier quickly gathered a muddy yellow layer of silt. Huai Yu stared at it for a moment, realizing that using this silk floss as a filter was way too extravagant! Given how clear the pond water was now, it was practically a single-use disposable.

However, there was plenty of cement and brick rubble nearby. Piles of fine sand and gravel were nowhere to be seen... What was going on? Did this construction site really have absolutely no building materials left over?

As she pondered this, she set the pot back on the stove. Once it was heated completely dry inside, she evenly tossed in the bamboo hearts, which had been laid out to wilt for a night and half a morning. The heat roasted the bamboo hearts, and a unique, faint, and refreshing fragrance soon wafted out.

Huai Yu instinctively reached out, wanting to grab and knead the bamboo hearts directly in the pot. But as she extended her arm, she caught sight of the fair, tender back of her hand and instantly snatched it back.

She clicked her tongue inwardly. "Oh my god! I can’t even imagine what kind of rough life I used to lead! Do I really have a pair of ruthless iron hands that dare to fry tea directly in a hot pot?! Just what kind of impoverished life have I been living? Well, I definitely can’t do that anymore!"

She grabbed a spatula, pressing down on the bamboo hearts and slowly flipping them over like she was stir-frying vegetables, trying her best to flatten them into straighter strips. But as the temperature rose, the moisture inside the bamboo hearts gradually evaporated. Not only did their vibrant color dull, but their shape also lost its straightness.

After roasting for over half an hour, the entire pot of bamboo hearts had turned into dry, shriveled, and curled thin strips. However, the fragrance was still incredibly pleasant. It was fresh and elegant, without the slightest hint of the "dirty" scent typical of mutations.

Sure enough, the bamboo was right. For a plant with such a high Mutant Value like him, the edible parts of his body actually had exceptionally low Mutant Values.

Giving the bamboo hearts another gentle flip, Huai Yu extinguished the main fire in the stove, leaving only a couple of embers to slowly roast them. The longer they roasted, the more pronounced the fragrance became, until the entire house was filled with the elegant scent.

"Done!"

She quickly spread the Bamboo Heart Tea flat to cool. Just as she was about to boil some water to brew a pot to try, she heard a distant voice calling out, "Little Yu!"

Huai Yu poked her head out and saw a familiar vehicle parked not far away. Zhou Qian was holding three vases and waving at her.

Ah! The vases she wanted!

Because they were such niche and impractical items, they hadn’t been directly requisitioned for her the previous night; Zhou Qian had simply said he would supply them to her once he found some. She hadn’t expected them to be delivered so quickly!

Huai Yu hurriedly waved back. Just as she was about to run over, she remembered the freshly made tea. It was still warm to the touch. She simply used a piece of paper to scoop up a handful of the Bamboo Heart Tea and ran toward Zhou Qian.

"Captain Zhou."

After helping Huai Yu rebuild her home, Zhou Qian’s attitude toward her had grown much closer. He smiled as he looked at her. "Not calling me ’Captain Brother’ anymore?"

Huai Yu paused, then flashed a sweet smile and said softly, "Captain Brother."

Zhou Qian was speechless.

COUGH!

He tensed his facial muscles, refusing to let his expression slip, and handed the vases over. "Here! I specifically searched for these vases based on your request. Apparently, they were some sort of handcrafted artisanal products from the old days, originally costing over a thousand bucks a piece."

He clicked his tongue, making a TSK TSK sound. "I mean, what’s the point of making a vase so expensive? Sure, it looks nice, but nowadays they just sit piled up in the warehouse. People think they’re too fragile to even hold water."

He continued muttering, but Huai Yu was staring at the three vases with absolute delight. They were clearly part of a set, coming in large, medium, and small sizes with only slight variations in their shape. The clarity, smoothness, and pristine feel of the white porcelain, however, were flawlessly uniform.

These would look absolutely gorgeous for displaying flowers!

Her thoughts drifted to the Ice Sculptures that had been completely smashed. Swallowing hard, she suppressed a surge of sadness and carefully cradled the vases in her arms. Freeing up one hand, she offered him the packet of Bamboo Heart Tea.

"I just finished roasting this, and it hasn’t cooled down yet. It’s best to let it air out a bit more... but it should be drinkable now."

She originally wanted to add that letting it cool would help it keep longer, but the bamboo hearts yielded so little after being roasted, and she had only brought a handful anyway. There was really no point in mentioning long-term preservation.

Zhou Qian looked at the open paper packet, took a sniff, and asked in surprise, "Smells pretty good. Where did you get this?"

Before he could even finish his sentence, his gaze drifted to the large patch of bamboo behind Huai Yu’s house, and realization finally struck.

The bamboo forest!

He had been staring for a while, sensing something was off, but he had completely failed to register the bamboo forest. It looked so harmonious and natural, blending seamlessly with the house!

"You, you, you!" he stammered, pointing at Huai Yu. "Since when was there a bamboo forest behind your house?!"

Recalling the mutation warning from the Rose Corridor the night before, and the sight of that single bamboo stalk being mercilessly thrashed back and forth, he stared at the bamboo forest standing so incredibly close to her home.

That wasn’t a bamboo forest! That was practically a natural graveyard waiting to happen!

But Huai Yu looked completely innocent.

"Ah?" She glanced back over her shoulder. "Is there a problem? When I woke up this morning, the bamboo forest was already there. I thought this was just how mutated plants behaved. But its temper seems really good. Look at these bamboo hearts, I just plucked them this morning."

Good temper? A plant with a good temper wouldn’t have gotten caught by the Rose Corridor. It was definitely trying to smuggle itself past the border! A mutated plant with a good temper... Oh, please! Was there even a single plant from the Wilderness that had a good temper?

Zhou Qian didn’t believe it for a second.

But as he looked down at the slightly warm Bamboo Heart Tea resting in his palm, the refreshing fragrance lingered right at his nose. He didn’t even need to brew it to know that the Mutant Value was incredibly low.

How on earth was he supposed to explain this?

"Is its temper really that good?" he asked, finding it hard to believe.

"It really is!" Huai Yu blinked innocently. "I even dug up some bamboo shoots."

What?!

Zhou Qian nearly jumped out of his skin. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I’m going over to take a look."

If even Little Yu could casually pluck bamboo hearts and dig up bamboo shoots, it wouldn’t be asking too much for his team to dig up a little bit too, right? Or perhaps they could transplant a runner to their camp for observation. If all else failed, they could send it to the research institute... Any of those options would be fantastic!

But the moment the thought crossed his mind and he took no more than three or five steps forward, the thorny vines of the distant Rose Corridor suddenly began to tremble violently!

Although the Mutant Value alarm hadn’t triggered yet, if he took even one more step forward, he was certain the alarms along the entire perimeter would start shrieking.

Zhou Qian was speechless. Feeling thoroughly stifled, he retreated two steps.

Meanwhile, Huai Yu seemed completely oblivious. Cradling her vases, she walked ahead, occasionally glancing back at him in confusion. "Why aren’t you moving?"

"It’s nothing." Zhou Qian tightened his expression. "This Rose Corridor clearly favors women over men. I’ll go back and research it—maybe I’ll send a few female team members over to test the theory."

In the past, no one could get close to it, and that was simply an accepted fact. But now, Little Yu was practically building her house right up against it. What on earth was the difference here? Even Wood Ability users with the highest affinity in the past had never managed to get cozy with the Rose Corridor, had they?