"Since I've lived here safely for a month, staying a few more months should be fine. As long as I stay away from that valley, the danger should be manageable."
"I need to hunt down that golden electric eel as soon as possible and make myself stronger..."
Beside the crackling fire, Zhang Ming kept transferring points into Mental Value. By the time it rose to [50/80], most of his panic had faded.
He stopped transferring attribute points and let out a soft sigh.
"Without my cheat, I probably would've gone mad by now."
Spirit was the most mysterious and complex attribute, and also the one that fluctuated the most.
A higher spirit brought courage and a positive, optimistic outlook. The only thing it could not dispel was that damned loneliness.
Old Zhang was no robot, after all. No matter how high his Mental Value rose, there were still times in the dead of night when he wanted to sit alone in silence.
The radio said, "The northern gas fields suffered severe leaks during the earthquake, releasing large quantities of methane into the atmosphere. Methane's greenhouse effect is 120 times that of carbon dioxide. Experts estimate that global warming will intensify dramatically, accelerating the melting of the polar ice caps."
"If the ice caps melt completely, sea levels will rise by 66 meters, flooding most of the world's coastal cities."
The sea turtles nearby listened to the broadcast with great interest. In truth, they could not understand human language at all. They simply found the babbling object fascinating and enjoyed the lively noise.
"There's only one way to get stronger-eat!"
"I'm starting right now!"
The sea turtles suddenly saw Zhang Ming dump a huge pile of plants out of his backpack. They stretched their necks and came scrambling over.
"Can you tell me which plants are edible?" Zhang Ming asked.
As it turned out, the turtles refused to eat most of the plants.
As ocean-dwelling animals, land plants were not part of their diet.
Their shiny black eyes stared at him, as though saying, You used to feed us crab shells, at least. Now all we get is bark and roots?
What a cheapskate!
Where's your conscience? You've gone completely rotten!
The Turtle Tastes a Hundred Herbs Plan seemed to have failed. Zhang Ming felt no embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, he scowled and scolded them. "What's the point of keeping you lot? What if I eat these plants myself and get poisoned? Will you look after me?"
"I'm in a bad mood today. If I get poisoned, I'm bound to have a breakdown, and once I do, I'll slaughter a sea turtle to try something new!"
Of course, he was only joking. He knew these turtles could only read expressions, not understand human speech.
But at least:
[Mental Value +1]
If he were going to test all these plants himself, he would need to raise his physique, perception, and spirit above 100 points each. Only then would it be safe enough.
He simply did not have that many attribute points right now.
Zhang Ming acted out having diarrhea and foaming at the mouth, then drew several pictures in his notebook of someone dying after eating plants. The silly turtles watched in bewilderment.
Eventually, the cleverest little white turtle seemed to catch on to what he was trying to express.
The little white jade turtle, only the size of a fist, crawled forward excitedly and moved several brightly colored leaves aside. Then the little turtle rolled onto its back with all four feet in the air and pretended to foam at the mouth.
Something clicked in Zhang Ming's mind, and he grew excited. "You mean only these plants are poisonous, and the rest aren't?"
The little white turtle cheerfully mimed vomiting, putting on an act of being at death's door.
"Awoo, awoo!"
"Can you tell whether food is poisonous?"
"Awoo, awoo!"
"As long as it's not poisonous, I can try tasting it myself."
The little white turtle grew even more enthusiastic, picking through the pile. Soon, all the potentially poisonous items had been sorted out.
From the large pile of nontoxic plants remaining, Zhang Ming shaved a tiny sliver off a root with his knife, put it in his mouth, and chewed it a few times.
He closed his eyes, using the abundant nerve endings at the tip of his tongue to sense the changing flavors.
The root tasted bitter and astringent, nothing like something edible. He hurriedly spat it out with a "Ptooey!"
It was not poisonous, but it had no special effects either.
In fact, most plants were like that: nontoxic, but not edible.
He cut off a small piece of a leaf and put it in his mouth. How could he describe the taste...? It stank, like a mass of stinkbugs. A rush of foul odor flooded his nose.
He spat it out with another "Ptooey!"
[Mental Value -1]
Old Zhang scratched his scalp, inwardly cursing, then tossed the stinking leaf into the fire to burn.
He continued trying them one by one and actually discovered a few good things.
One was a kind of bark. Like fennel, it gave off a faint medicinal fragrance, and it also produced a mysterious warm current inside his body.
What Zhang Ming valued most was its use as seasoning. It could remove the fishy smell from seafood, making it perfect for cooking!
Another was a green fruit-it was spicy!
Unbelievably spicy!
The instant he sliced it open with his knife, the pungent heat shot straight to the top of his head and brought tears to his eyes.
He touched the tip of his tongue to the clear liquid on the knife's point. Instantly, Zhang Ming discovered that his "tongue" had disappeared.
With the fiercest chili peppers, you could not taste the heat at first, because the nervous system simply short-circuited under such extreme conditions-What the hell did you eat? I'm out. You're on your own!
Then it went on strike for a few seconds.
After that, the heat slowly spread along the tongue toward the throat, wave after wave, surging relentlessly onward.
Zhang Ming was in precisely that state of extreme, fiery agony. He stuck out his tongue and panted, tears and snot streaming down his face.
This really was a Super Chili Pepper...
His whole body went numb!
"Could these be chilies grown by the local natives?"
Yet discovering this green chili filled him with wild joy, so much that he could not keep the delight off his face.
[Mental Value +1+1+1]
At last... at long last, he had seasoning for his cooking!
Tears spilled from his eyes again. He could not tell whether they came from the heat or his overwhelming joy.
"A day full of twists and turns, and one worth remembering!"
"That trip was worth the risk!"
What was more, just a little chili juice had generated an enormous surge of warmth inside him!
This stuff was definitely a natural treasure, even more nourishing than crab meat!
That meant loads of attribute points!
After more than a month of wilderness survival, he had truly had enough of that damned bland food. His mouth was practically forgetting what flavor tasted like.
With bark, chilies, and sea salt...
All the world's delicacies are mine to make!
High spirit brought inexplicable optimism.
Old Zhang reflected deeply that he might no longer be quite normal.
An ordinary person might have been uneasy with a demonic valley right next door, or perhaps intensely curious and excited. Yet he had not only accepted it, but immediately settled into taking it easy, enjoying good food in his camp.
"Am I really any different from these turtles?"
The sea turtles, adept at reading expressions, saw Zhang Ming's tear-filled eyes and assumed he was keeping the food all to himself. They all began crying, "Awoo, awoo!"
They made it clear that they wanted to eat that green fruit.
You can't hog it all, you rascal! Share some with us sea turtles!
We sea turtles are greedy eaters. Surely you know that just as people die for wealth, turtles die for food?
The little white turtle, in particular, clamped down on his trouser leg and began clamoring shamelessly, looking both adorable and fierce.
"Awoo?"
Show some sense, young man. There are rules to these things.
Zhang Ming was not stingy. He cut off a tiny piece of the green fruit with his knife, then, worried that the heat might genuinely hurt the little turtle, dropped the piece into clean water to dilute it.
Then he fed the little white turtle some of the diluted chili water.
"Turtle King, come on. You get the first taste of this delicacy."
Before you continue