Fruit Wine (continued)

Jian Mo turned around, looked at Wu Jiong who was so close, and smiled, "No, I held on tight, and Jiujiu flew very steadily too."

They flew all the way to the unclaimed territory at the border between the True Scarlet Tribe and Yigu Tribe.

Wu Jiong said this territory has a name, called "Dezhou Highlands".

What a strange name! But the naming conventions in the orc world are indeed quite different from those in Huaxia.

Jian Mo repeated the name in her mind and memorized it.

When they arrived at their destination, Wu Jiong gently pressed the Flying-Winged Beast's neck to make it land.

The two people and the animal stopped on the open ground by the river.

Jian Mo looked around and saw nothing but white expanse, with only the yellowish-brown withered grass and trees visible through the gaps in the snow.

Jian Mo turned to Wu Jiong and asked, "How do we find Snow Pearl Fruit? Do we really have to dig through the snow bit by bit to find it?"

Wu Jiong: "I'll transform back into my beast form first and see if I can smell it."

Jian Mo nodded repeatedly; the orcs' sense of smell was far more acute than his.

Wu Jiong quickly transformed into a giant wolf, lowering its head to gently sniff the snow.

The Flying-Winged Beast looked at him curiously, then pattered over and imitated him, sniffing the snow together.

This guy only learned the show; he sniffed for a long time but couldn't smell anything. Instead, his nose was covered in white snow.

After a while, it got cold from the snow on its nose, shook its head, and sneezed loudly: "Achoo--"

Jian Mo quickly took a few steps to the side to avoid being sprayed with the spittle of the Flying-Winged Beast.

Seeing Jian Mo's expression, the Flying-Winged Beast was not satisfied and tried to rub against him.

Jian Mo noticed the creature's intentions in time and pushed it away.

Just as Jian Mo was playing with the Flying-Winged Beast, the giant wolf said, "Found it."

Jian Mo perked up and ran to the giant wolf's side. "Where?"

The giant wolf used its paws to dig through the snow. "Here."

As soon as the snow was cleared away, Jian Mo immediately saw the fruit lying quietly on the ground.

These fruits, large and small, are crystal clear, resembling cracked sugar cubes or sugar horns covered in frost, and look quite tempting.

The moment the fruit was revealed, a sweet aroma rushed into Jian Mo's nose.

Jian Mo counted: five large and three small, a total of eight Snow Pearl Fruits.

Jian Mo sniffed. "Is this fruit edible, or is it only for making wine?"

Wu Jiong: "You can eat it, but not too much."

Without hesitation Jian Mo picked the three largest fruits, grabbed a handful of snow, rubbed the fruits together, stuffed one into the mouth of Jiujiu who was squeezing its big head in, fed another to the giant wolf, and ate the last one herself.

When you bite into Snow Pearl Fruit, its gelatinous flesh gushes out, sweet and sticky, with an indescribable sweet and refreshing fruity aroma.

So delicious!

Jian Mo a cry of "Ah!" and fell backward onto the snow.

The giant wolf's expression tightened, and it immediately stepped forward, placing its paws on his body and sniffing his chest and abdomen. "What's wrong?"

Jian Mo lay on the snow, looking at the sky. "It's so delicious! How can there be such delicious fruit?"

The Flying-Winged Beast chirped Jiujiu in agreement.

Wu Jiong: "..."

Jian Mo rolled over, grabbed the giant wolf's muzzle, and looked into its eyes. "Isn't it tasty?"

Giant wolf. "Delicious."

Jian Mo's eyes crinkled into a smile.

After eating, Jian Mo felt a dryness in her throat, as if something was stuck there, with a slight itch.

It seems that Snow Pearl Fruit is edible, but not in large quantities.

If you eat too much, your throat will definitely hurt, and your stomach might hurt too.

Jian Mo got up and carefully picked the other five fruits, putting them into her basket. "Let's go find some other fruits."

Wu Jiong: "Hmm."

They continued their search.

Wu Jiong sniffed, and soon the tip of his nose was covered with snow.

Jian Mo saw it and thought it was quite cute, so she imitated him and sniffed carefully.

Whether it was just her imagination or not, Jian Mo felt that she could detect an unusually large number of auras today.

Although he hasn't smelled the scent of Snow Pearl Fruit yet, he can smell the scent of withered grass and the lingering scent of small animals under the snow.

Perhaps because the air was so cool, it rushed into his nasal cavity, making his sense of smell exceptionally sharp.

They walked and sniffed as they went.

There aren't many Snow Pearl Fruits; you have to walk for quite a while before you find a cluster.

The giant wolf and the Flying-Winged Beast were responsible for sniffing, Jian Mo picked the fruit. By noon, the harvested Snow Pearl Fruit only barely covered the bottom of her basket.

After walking in the snow for so long, Jian Mo felt a little cold and a bit hungry.

Collecting materials in this kind of weather is extremely physically demanding.

He turned to Wu Jiong for his opinion. "How about we take a break? Or get something to eat?"

Wu Jiong: "Okay."

Wu Jiong turned his back and transformed back into human form, picking up the animal skin robe and boots that had just fallen off and putting them on.

He looked around and pointed ahead, saying, "Go to that rock over there."

Jian Mo had no objection. "Okay, it's sheltered from the wind anyway."

The two people and one beast went to their resting place.

Wu Jiong quickly dragged a dead tree out of the forest and lit it with a tinderbox.

Jian Mo took out a ceramic jar, which was filled to the brim with food, including fish balls, meatballs, and stem pieces.

He glanced at it, grabbed a handful of clean snow from the ground and stuffed it into the jar, then put the jar over the fire to boil.

The snow in the jar quickly melted into water, which then bubbled and simmered, cooking other foods.

Lunch should be ready soon.

While warming herself by the fire, Jian Mo said, "I didn't expect there to be no one outside at this time of year."

Wu Jiong: "People will go out, but they won't come this far."

That's true. In this freezing weather, it's fine to gather resources near the village; there's no need to come all the way here and suffer.

Jian Mo nodded in understanding. He sat by the fire, only his front was warm, his back remained cold.