Chapter 160: I Think I Can See You, Yue Bai

Xiao Jiao was holding a lingzhi mushroom in her hand, called Chizhi.

It was the most common type of lingzhi before the wasteland era.

It must have gotten mixed in with those vegetable seeds from before.

Shi Yue Bai asked Xiao Jiao to lead the way, and together they went to check the vegetable patch.

In the vegetable beds, scattered here and there, were small patches of Chizhi, each about the size of a palm.

“Is this dangerous?” Nong Yasi came over, pulling A-Hong along, and Xu Xuejiao followed behind Shi Yue Bai.

The Chizhi that Xiao Jiao had found was only about the size of a fingernail.

To them, it didn’t really look like a mutated mushroom.

But Shi Yue Bai’s expression was rather serious.

Xu Xuejiao said, “Just to be safe, why don’t we just dig these up and get rid of them?”

A-Hong said, “If they’re mutated plants, we have to report it and get the mercenaries to remove them.”

The trouble with mutated plants was that sometimes only a tiny bit showed above ground, but the root system could be absurdly huge.

And they grew incredibly fast.

Otherwise, why would the wasteland have become a wasteland?

It wasn’t just man-made disasters or natural calamities—the roots of mutated plants had destroyed everything as well.

There was once a city where a mutated plant appeared, and in just a few days, its roots destroyed all the skyscrapers.

In the end, wherever there were people, there were no mutated plants; wherever there were mutated plants, there were no people.

The wasteland itself became barren, not even a blade of grass growing.

For survivors trying to farm, it wasn’t just about whether they could grow crops in a high-radiation environment.

They also had to worry about whether their crops would mutate from the radiation.

In short, if a mutated plant appeared at the Shi family’s place, it would be no small matter.

Everything they’d built would have to be blown up.

And everyone within a hundred miles of the Shi family would have to move out.

Whether they knew the Shi family or not.

Everyone was worried, all eyes fixed anxiously on Shi Yue Bai.

None of them wanted to leave behind everything they’d worked so hard to build.

Shi Yue Bai frowned. “Don’t worry, it’s not a mutated mushroom.”

The reason she looked so serious was because the Chizhi must have been planted a long time ago.

That palm-sized patch of Chizhi had only three mushrooms in total.

But despite their small size, the spiritual energy contained in them was greater than the total of all the vegetables put together.

That’s just how annoying lingzhi is.

They grow deep in the mountains, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

But in this world, whether before or after the wasteland, there is no spiritual energy at all.

The so-called “blessed land” here has nothing to do with Shi Yue Bai’s kind of spiritual energy.

The lingzhi here only has the nutritional value people have managed to develop.

But if they grow on Shi Yue Bai’s spirit-gathering array, it’s a different story.

Then they’d have all the functions you read about in cultivation novels—

Boosting cultivation, healing injuries, strengthening the body, assisting in alchemy, extending lifespan, enhancing comprehension…

Supposedly, they can cure every disease.

The older the lingzhi, the more powerful its effects.

Even these tiny, fingernail-sized lingzhi in Shi Yue Bai’s vegetable patch were about as effective as the enhancement agents sold in the big cities.

They were good, sure, but they really consumed a lot of spiritual energy.

And the more you raised them, the more they’d eat.

What’s worse, their size didn’t increase much, so you couldn’t even make a proper dish out of them.

To Shi Yue Bai, these lingzhi were a bit like tasteless chicken ribs—too good to throw away, but not really useful.

Back in the day, when she was fighting people from the Wu tribe, if the spirit-gathering array ran out of energy, she’d just chew on these things.

And once she finished them, the other side was usually wiped out too.

She never would have imagined that, after searching high and low in the Wu tribe for just a few lingzhi,

Now they were growing right in her own vegetable patch.

But now, what she lacked wasn’t spiritual energy—it was a body that could move freely.

“Let’s just keep them for now. Maybe they’ll come in handy later.”

Shi Yue Bai looked at the lingzhi in her hand.

There had originally been four, but Xiao Jiao had picked one, leaving three in the field.

After thinking for a moment, Shi Yue Bai handed the one she had to Second Sister-in-law Shi.

She said, “You gave me an enhancement agent before, so now I’m giving this to you.”

Second Sister-in-law Shi’s vision was shrouded in darkness.

She slowly blinked in Shi Yue Bai’s direction.

Even though it was all black, she could still make out Shi Yue Bai’s large figure through the haze.

“Yue Bai?”

She reached out to touch, “What is this?”

Shi Yue Bai casually placed the fingernail-sized Chizhi in her palm.

“It’s called Chizhi. Nothing special. Just eat it.”

Second Sister-in-law Shi silently put the Chizhi in her mouth.

She lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Yue Bai. I’m so useless now.”

Everyone else could do something, but she was blind and couldn’t do anything.

She used to be able to feel her way around and carry stones out of the Shi family’s tent.

Now she could only sit here every day, listening to the sounds around her.

Gradually, Second Sister-in-law Shi felt more and more useless.

With Shi Yue Bai’s temperament, she should have been kicked out of the Shi family long ago.

Shi Yue Bai never kept people who couldn’t work.

“Says who?” Shi Yue Bai sat down beside her.

“Weren’t you the one who killed all those people chasing Da Jiao last time?”

She patted Second Sister-in-law Shi on the shoulder.

“Second Sister-in-law, there are plenty of people who can do chores. One more or one less doesn’t matter.”

“But you’re the only one who can use a crossbow to kill people from a distance.”

The little Chizhi she’d just swallowed seemed to get stuck in Second Sister-in-law Shi’s throat.

A burning sensation spread from her throat, filling her whole body.

She couldn’t help but cry. “I—I really miss your second brother.”

“Just a few days ago, I dreamed of him wandering outside all alone, being bullied like a fool, Yue Bai…”

Maybe it was the spiritual energy from the Chizhi burning through her insides,

But Second Sister-in-law Shi was especially emotional now.

Her tears, as they flowed, changed from blackish-yellow to brownish-yellow,

With streaks of blood mixed in.

Her hearing, on the other hand, grew sharper.

She could even hear the sound of wind blowing over stones far away.

“Yue Bai, Yue Bai, I—”

Second Sister-in-law Shi didn’t know what was happening to her.

So many sounds poured into her mind. Crying, she grabbed Shi Yue Bai’s hand.

Seeing her reaction after eating the Chizhi, Shi Yue Bai quickly asked Yao Yao to bring a basin of water.

“Wipe your tears first. Second Brother is gone. Don’t dwell on it.”

Shi Yue Bai patiently used a wet towel to wipe the brownish tears from her face.

But Second Sister-in-law Shi anxiously said, “I—I think I can see you, Yue Bai.”

“Yao Yao, Yao Yao, is that you?”

She squinted, and in a haze of dark gray mist, she could just barely make out two blurry figures in front of her.

She couldn’t see clearly, like someone with severe nearsightedness.

But Second Sister-in-law Shi was sure—she could see again.

(Today I just couldn’t focus my attention.)"