Chapter 91 - 86: Shock, the Fourth Extraordinary Creature
An ability to control plants...
’It’s not a beast, but a plant-type Extraordinary Creature?’
Chen Chong was shocked, but at the same time, it was as if a light had just turned on in his head.
He’d been guessing what kind of beast this last Extraordinary Creature was for days, but he’d been stuck in a mental rut.
’I should have thought of it sooner.’
A Fear Wolf could evolve into an Extraordinary Creature by eating plants containing Extraordinary Power, so it stood to reason that Extraordinary Creatures weren’t limited to just birds and beasts.
Plants could become Extraordinary Creatures, too.
But...
’What kind of plant is this plant-type Extraordinary Creature?’
’And why was it in the same cave as an injured Stone Claw Eagle?’
’Besides controlling plants, what other special abilities does it have?’
’The vines probably aren’t its main body, just a part of its tendrils. Otherwise, the sense of beastly danger would have been more intense and direct from the start, instead of a mere warning that only later skyrocketed.’
Chen Chong couldn’t figure it out, and in the end, he decided to stop thinking about it.
The priority right now was still hunting the Unihorn Catfish. He’d kill that first and worry about the rest later.
As for everything else, he’d see if any new information surfaced in the coming days.
Although the plant-type Extraordinary Creature gave him the strongest sense of crisis, and its power was likely the greatest among the four, it posed the lowest threat to the people at the school compared to the Unihorn Catfish, Blood-tooth Python, and Stone Claw Eagle.
Aside from accidentally stumbling upon its tracks today, neither he nor anyone else at the school had encountered it in the past nine days.
This Extraordinary Creature seemed to stay exclusively in the jungle.
’Perhaps it’s not interested in humans?’
’That... should be it, right?’
...
「The group returned to the school and entered the faculty apartment building.」
Before heading upstairs, Chen Chong sent Huang Mao to the Fishing Club to see if Zhong Fang was there. If he was, he was to have him come over.
After that, he made a special trip to check on Shen Xinrou’s traditional medicine room.
It was the same scene as yesterday: Shen Xinrou was diagnosing and treating patients while her handmaiden took notes and ground herbs beside her.
The only difference was that the laborer who used to help outside was gone.
They were a bit busier, but it was still manageable.
There were more students coming for treatment than before. Perhaps the word was getting out, and more people were learning about this place...
Seeing that everything was fine, Chen Chong went back upstairs.
The moment he opened the door, the Lion-headed Goose spread its wings and came running with a HONK HONK HONK, its large webbed feet slapping against the floor.
It didn’t fold its wings until it had thrown itself into Chen Chong’s arms, as if it had deeply missed its master.
Seeing this, Xu Jun immediately joked:
"Brother Chong, with you raising a Tiger Striped Dog and a Lion-headed Goose, I guess you could say you’ve got a lion and a tiger of your own, huh!"
Chen Chong was speechless. He patted the Lion-headed Goose and walked inside.
The Tiger Striped Dog jumped straight onto the sofa upon returning home.
Xu Jun, Zhang Meng, Wang Biao, and Jia Wen also sat down to rest.
The morning of non-stop travel and gathering had left them all a bit exhausted.
They planned to rest for a bit before making food...
"How’s it going?"
Arriving on the balcony and seeing the cured meat hanging overhead, Chen Chong asked.
The laborer, who was adding wood to smoke the meat and boiling brine for salt, quickly stood up and bowed.
"Sir, as you instructed before you left, I’ve been smoking the meat and making salt here at home. I haven’t left the apartment or entered your room. I’ve stayed right here the whole time."
"It’s fine, I wasn’t asking if you were slacking off."
Chen Chong patted the laborer’s shoulder to reassure him.
After spending a few days with him, Chen Chong had gotten to know the laborer’s personality. He was an honest man who would diligently do whatever he was told.
Although he was timid and his Loyalty was low, he was a quick worker. As long as he was well-fed, he would work hard.
Over the past few days, the laborer’s Loyalty had been gradually increasing, and it had now reached 70.
Chen Chong glanced at the smoked Fear Wolf meat; there were no issues.
The brine boiling in the pot was also slowly evaporating. He was clearly following the steps Zhang Meng had taught him.
"Keep up the good work. There’ll be plenty of meat for you tonight."
"Thank you, Sir!"
A smile appeared on the laborer’s face. In the past, he could only gnaw on coarse rice buns; his greatest wish had always been to have a full stomach.
Since following Chen Chong, not only could he eat his fill, but he could also eat meat—something he might have only gotten during the New Year before.
He even got meat with every meal!
The laborer secretly resolved to repay his master by working even more meticulously...
Just as he was about to leave, Chen Chong suddenly noticed the laborer’s Loyalty had risen a few more points. He was a bit puzzled, but after a moment’s thought, he let it go.
’Who cares what the reason is? As long as it’s a good thing, that’s all that matters, right?’
Returning to the living room, Xu Jun, Zhang Meng, and Jia Wen had finished their rest and were getting up to work.
Although the Vermilion Fruits they brought back were covered in mud, they were meant for the Unihorn Catfish, not for them to eat, so there was no need to wash them.
As for the haul from the riverside...
Xu Jun had been worried that Chen Chong might need help, so after bringing it home, he hadn’t sorted through it. He just dumped it in the room and rushed back out.
Now, inside the fish box, half a fish-trap’s worth of fish were swimming around. It was the same as before—a mishmash of various species.
Most were small, palm-sized fish. Larger fish of one or two pounds were rare; there were only four or five.
However, the trap was designed for catching small fish anyway. Catching anything over a pound was a testament to how rich the river’s resources were.
With the principle of "many a little makes a mickle," plus the accelerated growth from the fishpond, the size of the fish wasn’t a huge concern.
As long as they survived, they would grow much faster than they would in the wild...
Chen Chong didn’t rush to take the fish to the pond. Instead, he asked where the wild pheasants were.
Xu Jun said, "I really couldn’t find a place for them when I got back, so I just threw them in the pen."
"In the pen?"
Chen Chong was taken aback. ’Wouldn’t they start fighting with the wild ducks?’
Xu Jun opened the bathroom door. Inside, the pen in the corner had been divided in two by a wooden plank.
The wild ducks, which previously had a decent amount of room, were now squeezed into a corner, lying on the ground motionlessly.
Even though it was expressionless, for some reason, Chen Chong could see a hint of resentment on its face.
On the other side were two speckled, gray wild pheasants.
They were clearly two female pheasants.
Compared to male pheasants, they had no long tail feathers or red-and-green patterns, making them look drab and much plainer.
When they saw someone appear, the two pheasants immediately started jumping and flitting about, as if they hadn’t yet adapted to their new environment.
But no matter how they tried to escape, they couldn’t fly out of the nearly two-meter-high pen.
A closer look revealed that a section of their wing feathers had been clipped. Like the wild ducks, they had clearly lost their ability to fly.
Unsurprisingly, Xu Jun had done it. He must have learned the trick when Chen Chong clipped the wild ducks’ wings last time...
"You’re quite resourceful, actually dividing the pen in two," Chen Chong said with a smile.
Xu Jun grinned. "Well, I couldn’t think of anywhere else to put them. Besides, the pen is a Card structure with an acceleration effect, so putting the pheasants inside maximizes efficiency. It’s just a little crowded, that’s all."
"It is a little crowded."
The pen wasn’t large to begin with, only five square meters, and now it was split in two.
Luckily, the ducks and pheasants weren’t too big, or they wouldn’t have any room to move at all.
"Let’s hope we get some Cards for raising poultry or livestock in the next settlement. Otherwise, we’ll have nowhere to keep them. If it comes to it, we’ll have to go ask around and see if any other students have those kinds of Cards and trade for a couple."
Seeing that the pheasants were fine, Xu Jun closed the bathroom door again.
"Ah Jun, take Zhang Meng to cut some grass to feed them. I’m going to take the fish to the pond."
"You got it!"
Chen Chong carried the fish box into the room.
The Tiger Striped Dog and the Lion-headed Goose followed him in.
HONK HONK HONK!
The Tiger Striped Dog was fine; it slept here every night and was already familiar with the room.
But it was the Lion-headed Goose’s first time inside.
When it saw that there was such a large space inside the room, it flapped its wings excitedly, looking extremely pumped up.
It was as if it were saying... ’So our house is this big? The territory I can patrol has expanded!’
Then, with its head held high, the Lion-headed Goose began to patrol the room.
When it saw the large fishpond, it flapped its wings with even more excitement.
Until Chen Chong opened the incubator...
Seeing what was inside, the Lion-headed Goose instantly froze.
...