Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 271: Chapter 238: The Strange Red Mist Flower

The Red Mist Flower Xu Xin had seen before was a dazzling large flower half as tall as a person, spraying red mist periodically.

This flower was smaller than the three he had seen before, only half a meter high, but looked almost identical. Under his identification abilities, this Red Mist Flower emitted a blue-grade glow.

But why is there a Red Mist Flower here?

”Is this... a Red Mist Flower?” Ji Chaoyang dismounted, walked to the flower, and scrutinized it, ”I saw it during the defense battle; this kind of flower can release red mist. Xu Xin should have seen it too.”

Xu Xin did not respond, just stared fixedly at the flower, his brows gradually furrowing.

Li Wenxi widened her eyes and covered her mouth, while Qi Xuefei lightly gasped.

”What’s wrong with you all?” Ji Chaoyang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Their reactions made him feel a bit uneasy.

”Hmm?” Keke also cocked her head in confusion, jumped off the wolf’s back, inspected the flower, and pawed at it a couple of times.

Li Wenxi nudged Xu Xin, whispering, ”Isn’t that the spot where we... buried the corpse?”

”It must be. It’s right here.” Xu Xin slowly nodded.

”The corpse burial site?” Ji Chaoyang also furrowed his brow, turned back to the Red Mist Flower, ”You mean this flower grew newly at the spot where you buried the corpse?”

”That’s right.” Xu Xin dismounted the wolf, walked over to the Red Mist Flower, lifted Keke to his shoulder, and drew a shovel.

A Red Mist Flower grew at the site where they buried a corpse, making him feel quite eerie.

Moreover, the crucial point was that this piece of soil was just of white grade, and according to previous descriptions, such Red Mist Flowers could only grow in blue-grade soil or higher.

Its sudden growth in white-grade soil made Xu Xin suspect a certain connection with the corpse they buried.

He wants to dig out these two pieces of soil to see if the corpse is still there.

”...Do you really want to dig it up again... But, you’ve seen this kind of flower before?” Li Wenxi also dismounted the wolf and came over to ask.

”Yes, during the defense battle, there were several such flowers in one of the tunnels.” Xu Xin explained while swinging the shovel, aiming to dig at the Red Mist Flower’s roots.

[Obtained Red Mist Flower plant*1, Red Mist Flower seed*1]

It was indeed a Red Mist Flower, and he actually managed to successfully dig it out, acquiring the plant!

[Red Mist Flower Plant (Blue): A flower that can release red mist, requires transplantation within 24 hours, or it will wither.]

Holding this half-meter long flower, Xu Xin glanced again at the soil where it grew, lost in thought.

”Quick, dig below and take a look too,” Qi Xuefei urged from behind him.

It’s only been a few hours since they buried the corpse, making them all a bit anxious about the current condition of the corpse below.

Xu Xin wielded the shovel, starting to dig the soil.

The advanced shovel dug the soil quickly, hacking down a few shovels to extract the soil that had been filled in before.

”Eh?” Xu Xin felt he hit something hard.

He swept the shovel over the pit, and suddenly a patch of white appeared in the soil.

”This is...”

He continued to swing the shovel, and the buried thing in the soil began to show clearly.

Everyone stared at the thing in the soil.

”Hiss—”

”Hmm!”

”Oh my god!”

”How could this be...”

Xu Xin also looked into the pit, although he had anticipated it, his spine still felt a bit chilly.

The white thing was a bone.

A human bone. Moreover, it was a skull with the neck directly severed.

Without saying anything, Xu Xin continued digging, extracting all the bones.

The bones were scattered, but it could be discerned that these were human bones; the skull, hand bones, and foot bones could still be distinguished.

One hand’s bones were shattered; it was obviously the hand Xu Xin crushed.

It was clearly Ma Hongyu’s corpse from a few hours ago!

In just a few hours, a fully fleshed corpse had turned into a skeleton?

Everyone looked at the vibrant red flower placed on the ground by Xu Xing.

Did this flower really grow by consuming the survivor’s flesh?

”Is this skeleton really Ma Hongyu’s?” Ji Chaoyang’s voice brought the three back to reality.

Xu Xin glanced around slowly and nodded, ”Exactly, based on the bone characteristics, it’s definitely him.”

”What kind of principle is this?” Ji Chaoyang furrowed his brows, ”A survivor dies, buried in the soil, and a few hours later, a Red Mist Flower grows?”

”No idea...”

Xu Xin watched the bones on the ground.

His heart was actually somewhat relieved.

The thing he was most worried about was that there might be no body below, and if that were really the case, it would be truly chilling.

However, since the bones were still there, it meant that Ma Hongyu was truly dead.

A dead person isn’t something to be afraid of.

”Red mist flower can only grow in blue-level soil, right?” Ji Chaoyang asked, ”Is this soil blue-level? Your identification skills should tell, right?”

”No.” Xu Xin shook his head, ”This soil isn’t blue-level, not even green-level, it’s just a piece of white-level soil.”

A red mist flower growing on white-level soil, although Xu Xin was somewhat reluctant to admit it, the reason was already obvious.

Looking at the strange and beautiful flower in his hand, he felt a bit intrigued.

This really is a flower grown from human blood.

”Do you guys want this flower?” Xu Xin shook the red mist flower in his hand and asked Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei.

Both he and Ji Chaoyang had encountered the red mist flower before, and presumably, Ji Chaoyang also obtained its seed, so he probably didn’t need this thing anymore.

”No, no! It’s a dead person’s flower!” Li Wenxi shook her head vigorously. She didn’t want a large flower nourished by a corpse, it was truly creepy.

Qi Xuefei also shook her head, but her reason was different, ”It can’t be used in medicine, it’s useless for me to take it.”

”This kind of flower can release the red mist, you probably encountered it near the cave before,” Xu Xin explained, ”The red mist can enhance the abilities of mutant beasts. Wenxi, your Aniu probably needs it.”

”This...” Li Wenxi had a mixed expression, then still shook her head, ”You can keep it yourself.”

Enhancing Aniu’s abilities was indeed great, but this flower was really spooky.

This flower was nourished by the flesh and blood of survivors alive!

”I already have three.” Xu Xin thought of the three red mist flowers that weren’t fully grown when he left. They should have matured and started releasing the red mist by now.

”Why don’t you give it to me.” Ji Chaoyang looked at the large flower in Xu Xin’s hand, frowning, and said, ”I just hadn’t planted a red mist flower, I can bring it back for research. You should give the red mist flower’s seed to Li Wenxi.”

”Alright.” Xu Xin handed the flower over to Ji Chaoyang.

Ji Chaoyang didn’t mind and put the ”human blood flower” straight into his backpack.

Then, Xu Xin handed the red mist flower seed to Li Wenxi, telling her how he used the red mist flower to make a ”sauna room.”

”I can’t make a steel frame, I can’t build a house outside, you should come to help me then,” Li Wenxi said to Xu Xin while holding the seed.

She was okay with growing the flower herself, and she did want Aniu to become stronger.

”Of course.” Xu Xin naturally agreed. As long as the coordinates were set up, he and Li Wenxi would be neighbors, making it easy to assist each other.

He filled the soil back into the pit, finally gazing complexly at this flat piece of land.

Why does the red mist flower grow by absorbing the flesh and blood of survivors?

Perhaps, this involves some secret about the survivors themselves.

The deceased survivors turned into flowers that release the red mist, and the mist then enhanced the mutant creatures.

Complicated, incomprehensible.

Shaking his head, choosing not to dwell on it, Xu Xin mounted the wolf and pulled Li Wenxi up with him.

This world had too many mysteries; it was better to complete today’s scheduled tasks first.

The other two were already on their horses too.

”The treehouse to the south is Li Yajun’s treehouse. Let’s go, Silver King.” Xu Xin pointed towards the green area in the south.

Silver King let out a long howl, traversing the jungle, heading toward the treehouse, with Ji Chaoyang following on horseback.

”Xu Xin, what’s the deal with this flower? It’s so scary!” Li Wenxi still sat sideways in front of Xu Xin, resting her head in his arms, holding onto him.

Keke curled up between them, the little one getting drowsy again.

”Unclear, but Ma Hongyu is indeed dead; this matter doesn’t need to be worried about for now.” Xu Xin was also convincing himself with these words, feeling slightly unnerved.

”There really are so many secrets in this world that we don’t know...” Li Wenxi sighed.

Xu Xin slowed the pace a bit, allowing Ji Chaoyang’s white horse to match Silver King’s pace amid the dense trees, riding side by side.

”What’s your take on this flower?” Xu Xin asked.

”Not particularly significant,” Ji Chaoyang rubbed his temples, ”Either we survivors are somehow unique, or this land is unique.”

”If you get the chance to kill next time, you could test it out,” Li Wenxi suggested.

”Hmm, it’s possible to try, but don’t purposely kill for such a thing. If people can be preserved, they should be; the more manpower, the better.” Ji Chaoyang nodded.

Qi Xuefei remained silent after mounting the horse, finding horse riding better than riding a wolf, yet she still felt uncomfortable, fearing speaking would make it worse.

Before long, they neared Li Yajun’s treehouse.

Li Yajun, at the time, was diligently observing the surroundings for any abnormal movements because Xu Xin and the others had asked her to do so.

Since Xu Xin and Li Wenxi left, she had been monitoring outside but hadn’t noticed anything unusual so far.

But now, she suddenly saw a wolf and a horse galloping from afar, carrying several individuals.

”Ah!” Li Yajun exclaimed joyfully.

They have returned!

And with two more people, both seemed to be leader explorers!