Chapter 26: Guiding Grass

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Guiding Grass

’That’s bad.’

Seraphina Sinclair fell silent, her gaze fixed intently on the Earth in the flowerpot.

The Unknown Seed seemed to sense something, and the Earth above it suddenly began to shift.

As Seraphina Sinclair watched, the Earth in the center of the pot suddenly swelled into a small mound.

A tender sprout pushed aside the clumps of Earth, trembling as it poked its head out like a hatchling breaking from its shell.

The sprout was a translucent, pale blue, its surface covered in fine golden veins that shimmered like liquid crystal in the light.

As it unfurled completely, two leaves suddenly opened with a SNAP. Shockingly, the leaves were different colors. The one on the left was fiery red, while the one on the right was silvery white. Neither were colors that would occur in nature.

’Good.’

’This is definitely no ordinary plant.’

Seraphina Sinclair was puzzled. ’The thing has sprouted, so what now?’

’What am I supposed to do? Is it not done growing?’

’There are no instructions at all!’

Seraphina Sinclair frowned. She circled the flowerpot, glanced at the silent Sunflower, and even opened the regional channel to look for inspiration. Finally, on a whim, she used [Insight] on the sprouted seed one more time!

This time, it actually worked.

[Guiding Grass]

[Description: Left leaf red as magma, right leaf white as a frosted blade. Make your choice; the leaf that remains will show you the way. (Plain English Version: See these? Two leaves. Pluck the one you don’t want! Then this grass will mark the location of a special area for you! Travel a certain distance, and you’ll reach it! As for whether the reward in the special area is good or bad... well, friend, that all depends on your luck.)]

’How thoughtful, it even has a plain English version.’

Seraphina Sinclair read it through carefully and got the gist of what it did.

After she plucked one leaf, the Guiding Grass would mark a special area for her mobile cabin.

According to the Description, this special area was supposed to be a reward zone. Whether the reward was good or bad was purely up to her luck.

Seraphina Sinclair preferred white, so she decisively plucked the red leaf.

The entire Guiding Grass suddenly began to tremble violently. The silvery-white right leaf shot out and curled into a tube, wrapping tightly around Seraphina Sinclair’s finger like a startled touch-me-not. Meanwhile, the plucked red leaf melted into a pool of flowing liquid in her palm.

It looked just like magma, but there was no burning sensation. Instead, a faint coolness seeped out from it.

Then, the pool of liquid and the Guiding Grass both dissolved into motes of light, which coalesced in the air to form a new system panel.

[Special Area coordinates located!]

[Distance from current mobile cabin: 200 sunshine away. Estimated arrival: the day after tomorrow!]

Just as Seraphina Sinclair finished reading the text, the system panel dissolved into motes of light and vanished once again.

And just like that, it was over.

She blinked blankly. It wasn’t until she saw the empty flowerpot that she realized it was really gone.

So that was how the Guiding Grass worked.

"Gone... little friend..."

It was the Sunflower’s voice.

Seraphina Sinclair glanced over guiltily. The Sunflower had curled up even tighter than before, looking utterly pitiful.

Seraphina Sinclair cleared her throat twice. Realizing she hadn’t done anything wrong—she had just used the Guiding Grass as intended—her confidence returned. She tried to comfort it, "If I find another one, I’ll save it for you, okay? The next one’s yours. I’m sure we’ll find more."

The Sunflower didn’t understand. It just silently curled its leaves, hugging its helpless self.

Seraphina Sinclair did a final lap around her mobile cabin, and once she confirmed all her tasks for the day were done, she lay down on her bed.

She closed her eyes and took a short nap.

She opened her eyes again when she received a private message.

[Hadoruk]: Sorry to bother you! I heard from Pretty Guardian that you still have some cola. I’d like to trade for a can. Would you be interested in this?

[Broken Compass (F+)]

[Description: The needle occasionally points toward the nearest sky-lake, but it often gets stuck. If you can fix it... who knows? It might gain new functions.]

He sent another message.

[Hadoruk]: Or is there something else you need? If this isn’t enough, I can add some basic parts.

Seraphina Sinclair was puzzled. She opened the item’s Description and read it again. After confirming that it could indeed find lakes, she couldn’t help but frown.

’Why would anyone be willing to give something like this away? Especially for a can of cola, which is useless for survival.’

To Seraphina Sinclair, such a trade seemed extravagant. But as the one with the cola, she was more than happy to agree.

Seraphina Sinclair replied immediately, "Deal."

She swiftly took a can of cola from her inventory and sent it through the trade system. The other party confirmed almost instantly, and the broken compass appeared before her.

Seraphina Sinclair picked up the compass and examined it carefully.

Its rusted brass casing was covered in scratches, and the glass cover was split by a fine crack. The needle inside twitched erratically, making a stuck CLICKING sound from time to time.

She gave it a little shake. The needle suddenly spun around frantically a few times as if having a seizure, then finally settled, trembling, on a northwesterly direction.

Seraphina Sinclair narrowed her eyes, suddenly realizing another problem. ’This thing can point in a direction, but how do I control where the mobile cabin goes?’

’Don’t tell me that’s the "new function" mentioned in the description?’

In any case, the item was currently inferior to the Guiding Grass.

Still, getting an item with so much potential for a single can of cola was worth it.

Seraphina Sinclair was in a decent mood. She fiddled with the compass for a little longer, but the private messages today seemed to be coordinated, arriving one after another.

[Pretty Guardian]: Hey, Boss, are you looking to trade that compass?

Seraphina Sinclair frowned. She had no idea what these two were up to.

As if guessing Seraphina Sinclair’s thoughts, Pretty Guardian proactively explained, "Hadoruk posted that compass on the trade channel. He didn’t want anything for it but cola."

[Blacktiger Ford]: Didn’t I just trade you a bottle?

Pretty Guardian seemed a little embarrassed. It took her a moment to reply, "I just got thirsty..."

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

She understood the situation now. But the item was already in her hands; there was no way she was giving it up.

[Pretty Guardian]: It’s so annoying. He insisted on cola and wouldn’t take anything else. I have a lot of food, just no drinks. I can’t believe he refused all of it.

Before Seraphina Sinclair could reply, Pretty Guardian sent another message.

[Pretty Guardian]: I’m the worst.

’Huh?’

[Pretty Guardian]: His sister was bitten by a Rotting Corpse. He showed me the wound... ugh, it was too gruesome to look at. He figures she won’t make it to tomorrow. Said she loved drinking cola in her past life, so he was willing to give up everything he had just to get one last bottle for her.