It's Complicated

A wild shrub bore brilliant red berries. Their shape and color were perfect, but they reminded Shen Lantang of a wild berry called Snakeberry. The elders back in the countryside used to say it was poisonous.

Shen Lantang looked around again. Apart from these berries, there were only a few fungi of unsettling color growing in the damp shade behind a tree trunk, and some high-protein insects wriggling on the trees... No. Absolutely not.

By comparison, the berries were the least dangerous option.

"Xie Jin, I want to ask you something. It's just..."

Shen Lantang held the berries out to him. "If you martial artists get poisoned, you can use Internal Force to drive it out, right?"

It was complicated.

In short, it was wilderness survival.

Shen Lantang blinked at him earnestly. That was how martial arts novels always described it.

Xie Jin glanced at the berries in her palm and took a few.

"It's fine. Poisonous berries usually grow on cliffs and sheer rock faces. These won't be poisonous."

Uh, so they were relying on luck?

Shen Lantang thought back over her luck in life so far and decided to take the gamble. She opened her mouth and tossed the berries in.

Tart and sweet. They were quite good.

Fortunately, none of the berries were poisonous. By afternoon, neither of them had an upset stomach, and Shen Lantang finally relaxed. Then they ran into another problem: a massive boulder blocked the mountain path. Jagged rocks crowded one side, while the other fell away in a steep slope. They had to get over it.

The path they had taken so far had been rough, but at least it had not been steep. They could make it through by going slowly. Here, rocks piled on rocks, forming an obstacle two Xie