The weather gradually turned colder. The grass and trees on the mountain withered. Yellow leaves on the branches fell with a cold gust of wind, making the whole mountain look a little desolate.
Ran walked on the fallen leaves, which made a rustling sound. There were not many animals left in the outer area. Without stopping, she headed straight into the depths of the mountain.
Fairy Mountain was the largest mountain outside Suzhou City, formed by the connection of several large mountains. Inside, there were not only tigers but also packs of wolves. Every winter, when food became scarce in the mountains, the wolves would come down.
Because of this, the villagers here deeply hated the wolves but were powerless against them. All they could do was send the village men to patrol more often. Fortunately, the local governor organized people every year to help villagers hunt the wolves.
Otherwise, this place would have been long abandoned. Ran used the wood-based power in her body to guide the nearby plants to help her find the most convenient path and clear away hidden dangers. With the plants showing the way, she safely arrived at a valley deep in the mountains.
Just like the scenery outside, this valley was not only beautiful but also had a steaming hot spring. This was her first time coming this deep into the mountains. She didn't expect to find such a nice surprise.
She happily walked quickly to the hot spring. Looking at the white mist rising from the water, the smile on her face grew bigger. She was just about to reach out and touch the hot spring.
Before her hand reached it, she pulled it back. After hesitating, she cautiously checked the surroundings. Seeing no danger around, she relaxed a little.
Using her power, she quietly connected with the nearby plants. From a big tree, she learned that this hot spring was safe, and she finally let her guard down completely. To show her thanks, Ran sent a bit of her power into the big tree.
The big tree, receiving her power, let out a weak but comfortable moan. Some yellowing leaves even turned green again, full of vitality. It was Ran's first time hearing a plant make a sound, and she felt a little surprised and happy.
So she sent in a little more power, and again heard the soft and gentle voice. "So comfortable." "You can talk? Did you gain consciousness?" Ran asked curiously.
"I'm not sure. I've always been asleep. Just now I felt something very warm and pleasant enter my body, and then I could make sounds."
That soft and confused voice actually sounded a bit cute to Ran. She hadn't expected that, in the apocalypse, no plants had ever awakened intelligence. Yet here, a plant could do it by absorbing her power.
She wondered whether this was just a special case, or if other plants could too. Ran suddenly thought of the peach tree in her yard. When her house was built, she could try it out.
"Do you have a name?" Ran wanted to test the tree's intelligence and asked with interest. "What is a name?" The soft voice sounded puzzled.
"There's always been a voice in my mind calling me Smoliv. Is Smoliv my name?" "It probably is." Ran thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Then I'll call you Smoliv from now on."
"Alright! Then what's your name?" Smoliv was very curious about this first human who could talk to it.
"From your voice, you must be a little kid. I'm already twenty-five, so you should call me sister. That's called being polite, got it?" Ran shamelessly coaxed.
"Okay! Sister!" Smoliv didn't doubt her at all and obediently called her sister.
That one word made Ran's heart melt. If she could, she would've loved to hug Smoliv and squeeze it tight.
After chatting with Smoliv for a while, Ran finally remembered what she had been thinking earlier. She looked serious and said, "Smoliv, I'm going to take a bath later. You're not allowed to peek, understand? Also, help me keep an eye out. Don't let anyone come over, alright?"
"Smoliv can do it! Smoliv will be good!" Hearing her tone, Smoliv responded obediently. The leaves on the tree even shook slightly, as if nodding.
"Good!" Ran praised and patted its tree trunk. Then she turned and walked toward the hot spring.
She reached out to test the water carefully. The temperature was just right.
It was cold now, especially in this deep mountain area where it was even colder. Ran quickly took off her clothes and placed them on a nearby patch of ground.
Wearing only a vest and shorts, she slowly stepped into the spring and sat down in a suitable spot to wash herself thoroughly.
Since moving into the village chief's house, she hadn't had a proper bath in a long time. Not to mention this hot spring was way more comfortable than bathing in a wooden tub.
After a refreshing bath, Ran took out clean clothes from her space and changed. She wrapped her wet hair in a towel, looked around for some dry branches, and used a lighter to set fire to some dry leaves.
She fed the fire bit by bit with the branches until it grew larger. Only then did she sit quietly by the fire to dry off.
Once her hair was half-dry from the fire's warmth, Ran stood up and carefully walked to the nearby pond, wondering if she could catch a fish.
That's right, fishing!
During the apocalypse, she and her team were once trapped in a fishing gear shop by zombies while collecting supplies. She didn't know why at the time, but she grabbed a fancy-looking fishing rod and secretly stored it in her space.
Back then she never had a chance to use it, and now she could finally fish in peace here.
If her old teammates saw this, they'd definitely be jealous and beg her for a treat, maybe even try to eat her out of house and home.
Thinking of those days with her team, things were tough, but they really were happy.
If only she didn't have those bloodsucking relatives, she would've been even happier.
Looking back, she had really been such a pushover.
But luckily now she only lived for herself. Even though this world forced women into marriage and treated them like child-bearing tools, she had to admit one thing: it really protected women well.
If those protective laws had existed before the apocalypse, there wouldn't have been so much fear around marriage.
As she sighed in her heart, Ran swiftly hooked a worm onto the fishing hook, swung the rod, and the hook drew a perfect arc before landing quietly in the lake.
After traveling for so long and soaking in the warm spring, Ran now felt hungry. Her stomach growled.
She rubbed her protesting belly and took out a steaming bun and a bottle of hot milk from her space. She ate while watching the lake for any movement on the fishing line.
This was the first time Ran went fishing. She wasn't sure if it was beginner's luck, but before she even finished eating her steamed bun, the hook she had just thrown in started moving. She stuffed the bun into her mouth, grabbed the fishing rod excitedly, and stared at the hook while pulling hard.
She didn't know if the fish was too big or if she just didn't know how to reel it in, but it felt like the fish was playing with her. So Ran tried to reel it in properly, no longer as flustered as before. After a while, she gave it a strong pull and finally managed to throw the fish onto the shore.
She rushed over, full of excitement. She really wanted to see how big the fish was after such a long struggle. As soon as she got close, her eyes widened.
A fish about half a meter long was flopping around on the grass, and its scales shimmered brightly in the sunlight. She estimated it must weigh over ten pounds. She had seen bigger fish back in the apocalypse, but in this world, she hadn't seen anything close to this size.
Every time she went to the market, it was rare to find fish for sale. People here thought fish bones were dangerous and could easily get stuck in the throat, even causing death. Another reason was that they didn't know how to clean fish.
The strong fishy smell was hard to bear, so people just didn't like eating them. Only the very poor who had nothing else to eat would catch and eat fish, so there were very few people who bought fish. Ran stored the big fish in her space, then happily ran back to the lakeside to keep fishing.
Since they were deep in the mountains and it wasn't easy to come here often, she figured she should catch a few more and store them. They wouldn't spoil anyway. Over the next hour, Ran truly experienced what beginner's luck meant.
Almost every few minutes, she caught a big fish, each weighing at least three pounds. Maybe no one had been here in a long time, so there were lots of fish in the lake, and they were all big. This time, she had a great harvest.
After a while, she looked at the pile of fish stacked like a small hill in her space and, feeling satisfied, packed up her fishing rod. She took out an apple and started eating while looking around for anything useful. "Sis, are you looking for something?"
Smoliv asked curiously as he watched her search quietly. "Yeah! I want to see if there are any valuable herbs nearby." As she said this, Ran suddenly became excited and asked expectantly, "Smoliv, do you know where I might find some aged medicinal herbs around here?"
"What are medicinal herbs?" Smoliv looked confused as he met her hopeful gaze. Only then did Ran remember that Smoliv had just awakened his intelligence and didn't know much about the world. So she patiently explained a few common herbs to him.
At the same time, she used her ability to help her find valuable herbs. After Smoliv replied with an uncertain "Oh!", Ran, with the help of her ability, found a wild ginseng plant. Judging by its age, it looked to be around a hundred years old.
She hadn't expected to find such an old wild ginseng and jumped up in excitement. It took her a long time to calm down. Then she took out a small shovel from her space and carefully dug it out.
She looked at the nearly perfect ginseng in her hands and gently placed it into her space. She didn't plan to sell this rare hundred-year-old wild ginseng. First, she didn't need money now.
Second, it was a precious life-saving herb. Even though she had quite a few medicines in her space, in a world where even a small cold could be deadly, having one more life-saving herb meant one more chance to survive.
Ran put away the wild ginseng, then found more than ten more nearby. Judging by their size and appearance, they looked as old as the one she had just dug up. They were probably a hundred years old too.
She hadn't expected to be this lucky. It was already rare for others to find even one hundred-year-old ginseng, but she had found over ten. It really seemed like no one had entered this valley for many years.
Otherwise, a place like this couldn't have gone unnoticed. Seeing that it was getting late, Ran hesitated for a moment. Then she decided to go down the mountain before it got dark.
After all, she was still staying at the village chief's house. If she didn't return for the night, it wouldn't be proper. It looked like she would have to come back another time.
With that in mind, Ran walked over to the bamboo basket and strapped it onto her back. Then she placed her hand on Smoliv's tree trunk and said goodbye. "Smoliv, it's getting late. I'm heading home now. I'll come back to visit you again later."
"When will you come again, big sister?" Smoliv's voice was filled with reluctance. It had only just gained self-awareness and was curious about everything. It wanted to talk to people, but other than Ran, there was no one else who could speak.
It didn't want her to leave. "Don't worry. I'll come often whenever I have time." Ran gently patted the tree trunk to comfort it.
She had planned to give it more energy, but she was worried that too much at once wouldn't be good for it. "Then big sister, please remember to visit me more!" Smoliv's soft voice was full of sadness. "Okay. Next time I come, I'll bring you something delicious."
After spending half a day together, Ran had learned that Smoliv thought her energy was something tasty. So to comfort it, she promised to bring more. "Yay! I'll wait for you like a good kid!" Smoliv immediately cheered up, and even its voice sounded brighter.
"Hmph. Always tricking little kids." Just as Ran was about to leave, an old voice suddenly sounded in her ear, startling her. "Who's there?"
Ran quickly pulled her hand back from Smoliv's trunk. Her eyes swept sharply around her as she quietly activated her power. If there was any danger, she was ready to act at once.
At the same time, she scolded herself for being careless today. She hadn't even noticed someone approaching. But after scanning the surroundings, she didn't see anything suspicious.
From the sound of the voice, the person seemed quite old. How could someone of that age appear so quietly? Was this some kind of reclusive expert?
"May I ask who you are? Can you show yourself? If there's anything, we can talk face to face."
After confirming that no one was nearby, Ran spoke calmly. She wasn't worried that this person would steal her ginseng. She just wanted to know when they arrived and whether they had seen something they shouldn't have.
"No need to look for me. I'm not human." Seeing how anxious she was while searching, the old voice came again.