White light finally broke through the morning mist. Cool morning sunlight slanted into the forest edge, dispelling the chill and oppression that had lingered all night.
The menacing presence of the beasts roaming the night before had completely faded, and the mountain forest regained its morning vitality. Unnamed forest birds perched here and there among dead branches and atop low shrubs, their gray-brown and pale yellow feathers bathed in morning light. Now and then, they fluttered their wings and let out delicate, clear chirps.
They were extremely alert. As soon as Lu Heng's footsteps approached, the birds on the branches took wing together, fluttering across the forest air and scattering into the deep woods, leaving only a faint rush of wind and an even quieter forest behind.
The forest teemed with life in the early morning, with new growth and wild vegetation everywhere.
Clumps of herbaceous greenery in all shapes sprouted from the frozen ground. Tiny green fruits dotted the low bushes, vines wound around dead trees and unfurled tender leaves, and wild vegetables, moss, and assorted forest plants lay scattered across the ground. The greenery filled his vision in a profusion of tangled growth. Edible plant resources were everywhere, yet to Lu Heng, every one of them looked utterly unfamiliar.
He moved slowly along the forest edge, carefully scanning each patch of vegetation and repeatedly lowering his head to inspect it.
His knowledge extended only to the common varieties cultivated by people in his previous life.
If he came across the rough, cracked bark of a walnut tree and branches bearing green fruit, or saw the broad, spreading leaves and developed fruit stalks of an apple tree, he could recognize them at a glance and tell them apart with perfect clarity. Such familiar fruit trees were etched into an ordinary person's common knowledge; there was no mistaking them.
But everything in this wilderness forest lay completely outside his knowledge.
The wild vegetables growing everywhere, the herbs unique to the forest, the nameless vines, the scattered ferns, and the little mountain fruits-he did not know a single one and could not identify them at all.
There were no familiar features, nothing he could recognize through common knowledge.
He crouched and gently touched a wild vegetable with tender green leaves growing close to the ground. Its leaf texture was unfamiliar, its shape strange. He had no way of telling whether it was an edible vegetable or a poisonous herb containing trace toxins that could cause dizziness and diarrhea.
He looked next at the vines wound around a dead tree trunk. Their tender leaves looked fresh and succulent, as though they could fill his stomach. But in the wilderness, the brighter and more harmless a wild plant looked, the more danger it concealed.
Lu Heng knew this all too well-in a desperate struggle for survival, an unknown plant was a plant he could not eat.
Without a field guide to verify it or common knowledge to support him, recklessly picking and eating something based on looks alone could, at best, cause stomach pain and vomiting, putting more strain on his body. At worst, it could poison him and leave him unconscious. In this wild forest, where no one could help him, that was as good as courting death.
He walked on, scanning as he went. Green plants covered the entire forest edge, seemingly offering plentiful supplies, yet to him they might as well not have existed.
He had not seen a single fruit tree he could recognize as safe to eat.
Instead, there were thousands upon thousands of wild plants utterly unfamiliar to him.
Wild plants that ordinary people never encountered in daily life were everywhere in this frozen forest, but Lu Heng's knowledge of them was a complete blank.
He tightened his grip on the stone axe and gazed at the unfamiliar greenery filling his vision, feeling a measure of helplessness rise within him.
He had planned to find edible plants to replace raw meat, settle his troubled stomach, and ease his physical weakness, but the reality before him was cruel.
He could identify common cultivated fruit trees, yet knew nothing about any of the native wild vegetation.
After searching for a long time, he still saw nothing but plants he could not identify, and his helplessness gradually turned to anxiety. The dull pain in his stomach and intestines continued to trouble him intermittently. If this stalemate continued, his body would only grow weaker. At this point, he had no options left to spare. He gritted his teeth and made a silent decision-I can only take a gamble.
Suppressing his unease, he continued slowly along the forest edge. Clear birdsong rang through the woods again. Looking up, he saw strings of round, orange-red berries hanging from several low bushes, their skins plump and bright. A few small birds on the branches were pecking at the flesh, their lively figures bobbing among the leaves as they ate with relish.
The sight lifted Lu Heng's spirits and eased his apprehension a little. Birds ate these berries, so they probably were not highly poisonous. This was the only clue he could seize upon right now. He hurried over, his eyes fixed on the berry bushes. Alongside the joy of finding food was the tension of staking everything on a gamble, and a thin layer of sweat seeped into his palms.
He hesitated no longer. Reaching out, he picked a few berries, his fingertips touching their plump flesh. He took a deep breath, pushed aside his distracting thoughts, and put the berries straight into his mouth, chewing hard. Sweet-and-sour juice instantly burst across his tongue. The flesh was soft, and the taste was not unpleasant.
The instant he swallowed the berries, the bracelet on his wrist abruptly lit with a faint blue glow, and a mechanical notification sounded softly in his ears.
[Host detected consuming an unknown wild fruit. Basic plant guide partially unlocked.]
Immediately afterward, lines of text appeared on the light screen:
Red Pearl Berry Grows in shrubs along the edges of cold-region forests. The fruit is sweet and sour, nontoxic, and rich in sugar and moisture. It can be eaten raw. It quickly replenishes stamina and gently soothes the stomach and intestines. A common edible wild fruit in frozen-ground regions.
Reading the newly unlocked information on his bracelet, Lu Heng's tense body relaxed completely, and a faint smile of relief unconsciously lifted the corners of his mouth. He had won this gamble.
Once he confirmed that the berries were nontoxic, his apprehension vanished completely. He immediately set to work, carefully selecting intact, plump, fully ripe Red Pearl Berries from among the bushes and discarding every shriveled, damaged, or dust-covered one.
He moved back and forth along the entire patch of bushes, deftly stripping off strings of fruit and placing them in the bracelet's storage space. After harvesting the whole patch, he checked the scattered plants of the same kind nearby to make sure he had missed none.
When he finished picking, he raised his hand and summoned the storage interface to count them. The light screen clearly displayed: Red Pearl Berry ×78.
The number left Lu Heng feeling considerably more secure. A full seventy-eight berries finally guaranteed his food supply for the short term, and he could rely on these fruits to gradually nurse his troubled stomach and intestines back to health.
With the picking finished, Lu Heng brought up his inventory and confirmed the number of berries, then opened the Shelter binding interface. Looking at the notice that binding remained incomplete, he sighed softly. The cave was ultimately only a temporary place to stay. Only by formally binding a secure Shelter could he truly establish a foothold on this land and act with greater confidence in the future. He had to put this on the agenda as soon as possible.
He surveyed the surrounding forest edge. Vegetation grew everywhere he looked, but most of it consisted of wild species he could not identify, leaving little he could safely gather and use. He had encountered no signs of fierce beasts along the way, which meant he had been fortunate enough to avoid quite a few dangers. After a brief rest, he tightened his grip on the stone axe and continued exploring.
He had not gone far when a dense clump of thorny bushes blocked his path. Sharp thorns crisscrossed the branches, tangling into a tightly packed mass. In the middle of the bushes, a wooden treasure chest lay quietly, its clearly defined grain making it especially conspicuous.
At the sight of the chest, Lu Heng first felt a surge of delight. But as his gaze swept across the dense thorns surrounding it, his brows knitted tightly, and he felt a headache coming on. The chest was enclosed on all sides by brambles, with sharp, hard thorns all around it. There was no way to approach barehanded; the slightest carelessness would leave him cut.
With no shortcut available, he could only pin his hopes on the stone axe in his hand. Steadying himself, Lu Heng stepped up to the outside of the bushes, gripped the axe handle firmly in both hands, and aimed at the outward-reaching branches, slowly hacking at them one stroke at a time.
The stone axe was crude, making the chopping especially strenuous. With every swing, he had to steady his stance and avoid the springing branches and flying thorns. Patiently, he worked his way along the bushes' outer edge, clearing them bit by bit to open a path.
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