After spending a few minutes following behind the cat, Lin Qiao and her pets soon arrived at a new area.
The area was bright and roomy, about four square miles. Small-sized, black plants were scattered sparsely in that area. Those plants were shorter than a meter, with daisy-like, red leaves. A small part of them each had one black fruit just like the one Red brought for Lin Qiao earlier. Some of those fruits weren't black but grey.
Some of the trees that didn't bear fruits had a small flower each. The bright light illuminating the area was emitted from those flowers. It was a bright-yellow glow that seemed very beautiful. However, as the number of flowers wasn't large, not a large area was illuminated. Yet, in the dark underground realm, that light already made for a beautiful scenery.
The leaves were red, and the flowers were yellow, but the fruits were gray and black. Lin Qiao figured that the fruits turned black only when they were ripe,
Lin Qiao looked around to observe the surrounding environment and found the place to be rather unique. That area was far away from those energy swirls in the air. It seemed as if those energy swirls were avoiding that area on purpose.
She narrowed her eyes and looked around again as she sniffed. Indeed, the air in that area was cleaner and fresher than that in all the other places that she had been to. The glowing yellow flowers had been giving out a refreshing scent. The energy contained in the fruits still on the tree spread to a larger area than from the fruit that the cat brought her earlier.
It was probably because the first fruit was picked from the tree.
"This place is beautiful! I wasn't expecting to see such a great scenery underground," Lin Qiao looked at those trees. Thankfully, she was no longer color blind, or the scenery wouldn't be so beautiful in her zombie eyes.
Puff! Puff! Red stopped moving at the edge of the area and squatted on top of a meters tall plant, not seeming ready to enter the area.
The cat was an underground creature. The energy in the fruit conflicted with its own energy, so it didn't like the vibe in that area at all. It wouldn't have come here to pick the fruit for Lin Qiao if it didn't know the fruit was helpful for her.
Earlier, she came here, picked the fruit, and left as soon as possible without lingering for even one extra second.
Lin Qiao looked at the cat and figured it out. She also found the place making her feel comfortable and safe. There was no danger nor crisis to be sensed.
On the contrary, for underground creatures, that place was like a forbidden zone.
"Woof?" A dog bark was suddenly heard. Bowwow didn't care how beautiful and quiet the place was. The dog was just amazed by the glowing flowers. It couldn't see the color of the light, but it loved the aroma of the flowers, which made it excited.
Lin Qiao looked at those plants and suddenly wondered if they had the same kind of effect as the catmint that Lin Wenwen brought back from the past. Which one of the two kinds was better?
Judging by what happened to Yuan Tianxing after he took the catmint drug, using catmint underground was obviously a bad choice, because the two types of energy would attack each other fiercely. The underground energy was so strong and had gathered into a thick layer in the air. If a human being came down to that place after taking the catmint drug, the underground energy in the air might be drawn over to attack that person!
Unlike the catmint energy, the energy contained in the black fruit was much gentler. It grew underground and was immune to the energy in the air.
In comparison with the reactions of Bowwow and Black, the mushroom's action was much more direct. It reached out its tentacles and, quickly picked some fruits, and absorbed them. It ate those fruits!
Lin Qiao turned to find the mushroom picking and eating the fruits smoothly. The full and lustrous fruits withered in its tentacles within a single second.
"Mushroom! Don't eat all of them! Save some for me!" Lin Qiao shouted at the mushroom.
While speaking, she immediately started picking fruits as well. Both she and the mushroom picked the ripe, black fruits only and not the gray ones. The energy contained in those gray fruits was obviously very little.
Wherever the mushroom reached, all black fruits were gone. Seeing that, Black vigilantly reared up its head and encircled about ten trees with its body. After that, the snake raised its head and watched the movements of Lin Qiao and the mushroom. Its meaning was pretty obvious.
As Lin Qiao started picking fruits as well, the mushroom moved even faster than before. The mushroom had quite a few tentacles while Lin Qiao had merely two hands. She pointed a finger at it and yelled, "Stop! You! Or I'll kick your ass later!"
On hearing her angry growl, the mushroom paused briefly. However, in the very next second, it forgot about her threat completely.
The zombie and the mushroom started a very intense fruit-picking competition. In less than a minute, all the black fruits, apart from the ones on the trees encircled by Black, were harvested by Lin Qiao and the mushroom.
After that, Black, who was watching the competition between Lin Qiao and the mushroom with great interest, saw the two come to itself and stand right beside it, staring straight at the trees in its territory. The snake immediately grew alert and showed the fake eyes on its neck as he glared at the two.
'You are not allowed to touch mine!'
"You're not eating them now," said Lin Qiao, "They'll rot if we leave them here. You can either eat them or let me have them."
The mushroom stealthy reached its tentacles into the snake's territory, but Black lashed them away using its tail.
Black didn't want to pick those fruits because the amount of energy contained in each fruit wouldn't be as large as it currently was once it was picked from the tree! It wondered if those trees could be transplanted into Lin Qiao's space.
With that thought, Black cut into the earth around the roots of a tree with the tip of its tail and dug out the tree entirely with its tail, handing it to her.