Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 170: Chapter 163 Return to the Treehouse

”Wow, you have so many mutant beasts around you! Did you tame all of them?” Li Wenxi exclaimed as she finally noticed Silver King Mimi and Afu behind Xu Xin.

”Yeah, all tamed using that contract I gave you,” Xu Xin explained casually, now completely captivated by the small cave.

”Eeek!” Seeing Xu Xin’s interest in the cave, Keke wanted to run inside.

”Get back here!” Xu Xin grabbed Keke by the scruff of its neck and pulled it back. This wasn’t a place it could explore without permission.

Silver King Mimi and Afu were much more obedient; all three of them had contracts with Xu Xin and were well-behaved, except for Keke, who always bounced around chaotically.

Even now, Keke still doesn’t show up as a light spot on the map. Fortunately, this little guy has already become a great companion, and there’s basically no worry of it running away.

However, since Keke dared to venture inside, it suggests there shouldn’t be any danger here. Otherwise, it would never dare to do so; it would just cling to Xu Xin to prevent him from entering.

”Is everything okay? Did something happen over there?” Li Wenxi sounded concerned, although she had the video on, she could only see Xu Xin and what was behind him, not the cave in the corner.

”Nothing much,” Xu Xin replied while turning the camera toward the corner, ”A mutant beast just crawled out from this cave.”

”A small cave? It’s so small, you can only crawl in, right? If there’s any danger inside, crawling would make it hard to do anything.”

Li Wenxi made a valid point; at least Xu Xin wouldn’t be venturing inside.

”Alright, let’s not talk about this for now. Are you free to help divide the meat? Hmm, make it three kilograms per portion.”

”Oh, okay, hehe, I can finally help you guys with something!”

”Try using fire to burn a piece and see if it can drive away the vines under the treehouse.”

”Okay!”

After ending the video, Xu Xin posted a message in the area channel: ”Everyone, don’t try to attack those vines. Killing them will only make more of them appear; it’s endless.”

He didn’t tell them there was a mutant heart underground beneath the treehouse, nor did he mention that these were all mutations of the treehouse’s roots. Although his guess was close to the mark, saying it would easily incite panic among everyone, in case someone’s mental state couldn’t handle it...

Of course, those who have survived until now generally aren’t those kinds of people.

At this moment, the area channel was bustling with activity. Everyone was staying indoors, unable even to go to the window to enjoy the view, so people were restless in their treehouses.

”I listened to the boss, never went outside, never poked my head out, killing vines? That’s impossible!”

”Killing vines? Boss Xu really overestimates me, am I worthy?”

”Speaking of which, wasn’t there a guy who said he wouldn’t stay inside and wanted to go out? Where is he now?”

”He’s gone cold. When I heard him say that, I started watching his name, and in just a few seconds, his name turned gray.”

”Salute to the warrior!”

”Warrior, my foot. That’s just a brainless fool rushing to reincarnation.”

”We need pathfinding pioneers!”

”Boss Xu and his team are the real pioneers; this is at most cannon fodder.”

Most people in the channel were making sarcastic comments about those who went out and died, which is normal, just like the sarcastic comments under most extreme sports videos on Earth.

Xu Xin actually hoped for more people willing to venture outside—not reckless fools, but people who could survive. Even if severely injured, that’s alright, as they can all be saved anyway. Such people at least have courage and ability.

But in the current situation, it seems like there aren’t any. Most who ventured out are completely wiped out. Of course, it’s also possible they just don’t want to share their experiences in the area channel.

Xu Xin glanced at the cave, feeling a bit hesitant. Crawling inside himself was indeed too dangerous and too inconvenient.

”Eeek!” Keke saw Xu Xin’s hesitation and patted its little chest, indicating that it could venture inside to explore.

Afu landed beside Keke, seemingly wanting to go in with Keke.

”Alright then.” Xu Xin nodded in agreement. Since Keke itself felt there was no danger, there should truly be no major issues, ”Go in and take a look. If it’s very deep, don’t venture further; come out right away, okay?”

”Eeek!” Keke nodded, and turned to run into the one-meter-high cave, and Afu followed inside. Despite Afu’s wingspan being two meters, its body was small, allowing it to tuck its wings in and crawl easily.

Xu Xin leaned against the Silver King, enjoying its soft fur while waiting for news from Keke and Afu.

Mimi, meanwhile, stretched out on the ground. This tiny cave was impossible for Mimi and Silver King to crawl into.

After just a few minutes, there were sounds of Keke’s yips and Afu’s faint cries from inside the cave, seemingly discussing something, and soon, Keke ran out, followed by Afu.

”Eeek! Eeek eeek!” Keke started gesturing with its small paws again.

”There are many forks inside, many caves, they are tangled and complicated. I was afraid of getting lost inside, so I didn’t go deeper.” Xu Xin understood Keke’s meaning and repeated it aloud.

”Oh!” Keke nodded.

This really makes exploration impossible.

According to Wen Guixin’s words, the third underground hole is likely related to this pangolin-like creature. When we go out, let’s explore the third hole and see. Maybe, the third hole is connected to this place?

But before that, he needs to return to the treehouse and check the situation.

He is still not sure what happened to the mutated vines above after killing the heart of this mutant plant.

Even if they were transformed from the roots of the treehouse, they are now mutated vines, and they cannot be left alone. If they are still alive, he must eliminate them all.

Riding on Silver King, Xu Xin quickly came out of the underground hole and returned swiftly to the front of the treehouse.

Sure enough, these mutated blood-thorn vines were not dead, continually swaying in the wind, but without the support of the heart’s power, their blood thorns no longer emitted a red glow and were merely ordinary blood-thorn vines.

Xu Xin took out his crossbow, thought for a while, and put it back.

Starting to harvest from the outside is much simpler than rushing out from the inside, at least there is no need to worry about being surrounded from all sides.

”Silver King, Mimi.” Xu Xin dismounted from Silver King.

”When you guys came out, weren’t you eager to rush into these vines and kill everything? Now’s your chance,” he pointed at the vines, ”These vines won’t regenerate anymore, you can enjoy the battle to your heart’s content! And Afu, you’re up!”

Mutant beasts should become stronger faster after battles. This is the conclusion Xu Xin reached after watching them become stronger again and again through battles. So if there is a fight, it’s better to let them handle it.

These blood-thorn vines are only low-level mutant creatures and are afraid of Silver King Mimi, these middle-level mutant beasts. To them, these vines are not dangerous enemies, just experience treasure.

Also, his points treasure.

Upon hearing this, the aura of Silver King and Mimi changed instantly. Silver King let out a low growl, and the blood lines on its terrifying sharp tusks started to faintly shine, while Mimi’s claws immediately extended, directly creating several deep holes in the ground.

Afu flapped its wings in the air. It hasn’t reached the level of a middle-level mutant beast yet and isn’t very keen on fighting, but it’s very obedient and does whatever Xu Xin says.

Before Silver King and Mimi could attack, Afu initiated the attack first. A sharp screech ensued, causing the vines on the perimeter to stiffen, and cracks appeared on them.

Silver King and Mimi also launched their attack simultaneously. Instantly, broken pieces of blood-thorn vine branches flew everywhere.

”Squawk, squawk! Squawk!” Keke perched on Xu Xin’s shoulder, waving its little claws to cheer for the three beasts.

”Clear them out circle by circle from the outside!” Xu Xin commanded the three beasts. He certainly didn’t want them to charge directly into the interior of the vines. Although with Silver King and Mimi’s strength, they could do so and enjoy the fight, they would surely suffer significant injuries.

He still has an underground hole unexplored, so they can’t afford to have them injured meaninglessly.

Afu disturbed the area with sound waves from above, while Silver King and Mimi attacked below. The vine-clearing speed was incredibly fast, and the sound of points grading from killing the blood-thorn vines never ceased next to Xu Xin’s ear.

Now his points have surpassed the 5000 mark. To him, even blue-grade soil is not a scarce resource anymore. After all, a bag of [Organic Fertilizer (Blue)] costs just 500 points, and he has a 30% discount, only 350 points.

But right now, he doesn’t want to use his points, because the treehouse is soon about to complete its upgrade, and the second phase will officially start too. Perhaps after the treehouse upgrade, there will be new things in the points mall?

Things maybe related to decoration.

So let’s keep accumulating those points for now.

In just about ten minutes, the blood-thorn vines around the treehouse were completely cleared away, entirely according to his expectations. These blood-thorn vines can no longer regenerate.

Numerous broken vines wriggled slightly on the ground before finally coming to rest.

Xu Xin put all these vines into his backpack. These mutated vines are full of value and can’t be wasted. They can be used to collect [Mutated Vine Juice], and the rest can be used by Qi Xuefei for pharmaceuticals.

”Wow, so heavy...” Naturally, so many mutated vines are extremely heavy. Xu Xin returned to the treehouse and packed them into several green-grade backpacks he used for resource storage. Then he immediately came down and stood at the base of the treehouse.

It’s time to plant the [Plant Heart Seed].

The description says that since this plant heart needs to coexist with the treehouse, it’s best to plant it in the same soil patch as the treehouse.

Xu Xin dug a small pit under the treehouse with a shovel and planted the emerald green seed inside.

[Plant Heart Seed successfully planted, growth time remaining 2 hours]

Great, just like the treehouse seed, it can quickly grow within two hours. Now, wait for the changes that will happen two hours later. It’s now past three in the afternoon, and this plant heart can completely mature before nightfall.

Taking the four beasts back into the treehouse, Xu Xin removed the Scale Armor and nestled into the sofa with a sigh of relief. At least the problems on his end have been solved.

Rest for a while before heading out again. First, tell them about the experience this time and exchange some information.