A black vortex appeared out of thin air in front of Ji Xinghe. Drawing on her experience from her previous life, she didn't waste any more time and stepped straight inside.
Everything before her eyes went black.
Ji Xinghe felt her body sway slightly and patted Xiao Xi soothingly.
The next second, the darkness vanished, and everything before her eyes suddenly lit up.
A vast expanse of dark brown trees filled her vision, wisps of gray smoke rising from the gaps in their trunks.
There were only a few clusters of green leaves on the trees, and their withered branches bore bluish-gray fruits that looked like walnuts.
The fruits were so gray they looked blue, and seemed even more poisonous than a witch's apple...
Ji Xinghe looked around. The sky overhead was gray and hazy, as if shrouded in mist.
Murky, silent...
One or two sharp bird calls came from deeper within, making the entire island seem even more desolate.
A faint, almost imperceptible smell of blood mingled with the earthy scent in the air.
After staying here for a while, Ji Xinghe felt like even breathing had become difficult.
"Thud!"
A bluish-gray fruit suddenly fell from the tree in front of her, landing on a pile of dry brown leaves beneath it that were nearly rotten.
Ji Xinghe looked over, crouched down, and used the Bloodthirsty Knife to pick it up and put it in her backpack.
[ Ding, Mist Heart Fruit found. Exploration progress +5% ]
She was just about to check its information panel when Xiao Xi's voice appeared in her mind.
"Master, Xiao Xi... doesn't like... this place." The Vine on her shoulder uneasily poked at the corner of her clothes.
The two new leaves growing on the Vine weren't standing upright like they had that morning, either.
They drooped limply at its sides.
Ji Xinghe gently stroked its Vine to soothe it. "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable? Once I'm in here, I have to either reach 100% exploration progress or wait twelve hours before I can go back."
Xiao Xi shook her head, then pointed its Vine toward the Deep Gray Mist. "There's... something bad... inside... Master can't go in."
Her tone was gentle. "Do you mean there are powerful monsters in there?"
"Not just that! There's also... change... You'll turn into a monster if you go in."
After saying that, it suddenly paused, then muttered softly as its Vine swayed, "But... something fragrant... is coming from... over there..."
Ji Xinghe didn't hear its muttering. She was thinking about what Xiao Xi had said before.
Turn into a monster if she went in?
Xiao Xi would never hurt her. There was probably something hidden in the Deep Gray Mist, just as it had said.
But if she didn't explore further, her exploration progress would never be complete.
Forget it. She'd take things one step at a time. Staying alive came first!
She put Xiao Xi into the pocket of her cloak and tucked it in, then opened the exploration map on her panel.
[Current Island: Orchard Island] [Exploration Progress: 5%] [Remaining Exploration Time: 11:59:33]
Aside from a green dot and the land around it, the rest of the map was completely dark.
Only places she had explored would light up on the map.
The green dot marked her location. She was probably on the southern part of the island.
Now that she knew her approximate location, Ji Xinghe opened her backpack again to check the fruit's information.
If you wanted to understand a place, you first had to learn about everything that existed there.
Besides, the Mist Heart Fruit had increased her exploration progress, which meant it was probably important for exploring the island.
" Mist Heart Fruit: An offensive support fruit. Nontoxic, not edible. Usually grows near gray mist."
"Trait: Reduces speed. (Creatures hit by a Mist Heart Fruit have their speed reduced by 2–5 times. The effect is doubled for Dark Creatures and Deformed Monsters.)"
"Note: One of the fruits Dark Creatures hate most. One day, they'll wipe out every last sticky, gooey Mist Heart Fruit!"
There was a saying: everything has its opposite.
Combining what the system and Xiao Xi had told her, Ji Xinghe could more or less deduce what was hidden in the Deep Gray Mist.
Dark Creatures!
Dark Creatures, which Ji Xinghe had only heard about in her previous life—she was already encountering them so early in this one?
It seemed that even after being reborn, she couldn't always rely on her previous life's experience. After all, she was growing stronger, and the creatures she encountered weren't the little fry she'd faced before.
Ji Xinghe looked around. Everything was still quiet, without the slightest movement.
The fruits seemed useful, and if she wanted to pick them, she'd have to climb the trees. But then she wouldn't be able to keep her weapon in her hand.
She lowered her head, patted Xiao Xi in her pocket, and set it on her shoulder. "You're so capable, Xiao Xi. Picking some fruit should be no problem for you, right?"
She'd already realized Xiao Xi's Vine could extend when it fought the Bubble Fish Beast.
At her words, Xiao Xi's Vine instantly straightened.
The green leaves on its head nodded, too. "Of course!"
Then it stretched out its Vine and moved toward the nearest fruit tree.
Some trees had as many as dozens of fruits, while others had only a few.
There weren't many, so she planned to pick the fruits and then dig up the trees to bring back and plant.
After all, it was Orchard Island. Ji Xinghe had even brought two shovels, afraid there wouldn't be enough fruit trees to dig up.
The trees were a little different from what she'd imagined, but as long as they were useful, that was all that mattered.
Just as Xiao Xi plucked the first Mist Heart Fruit, the gray mist on the ground suddenly gathered into a vortex.
A wolf-shaped monster leaped out of it.
The monster was bloodred all over, and gray mist seemed to emanate from its entire body.
Ji Xinghe hurriedly took a step back and told Xiao Xi to pull back.
The Wood Arrow in the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow in her left hand was poised to fire, and struck the tree behind the monster--
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