Chapter 300: Brain-Domain Evolution: The Crow and the Chinese Torreya Tree

Although most of the chestnut tree's leaves had fallen, exposing several dozen large chestnut burs on the branches, these were bait used by hornets to trap birds. Xia Qing had no intention of harvesting them, lest the evolved hornets, whose attacks had grown stronger, fight her to the death.

Having confirmed that the chestnut grove hadn't been destroyed by migratory birds or lightning, Xia Qing planned to withdraw and go after the animal that had left hoofprints on the game trail. She had only taken two steps back when she heard movement in the trees—a sound Xia Qing knew well: a squirrel scrambling along the branches.

Every morning Xia Qing would hear this sound, and then a little fellow would appear on her windowsill to drink water and eat the food she left there.

Xia Qing turned her head and, sure enough, saw her adorable guide-squirrel squatting on a nearby branch, swaying its big tail, rubbing its little paws, and gazing at her with eager eyes.

One look at that posture and it was obvious—it wanted a freebie. The target of the freebie was also clear: it hoped she would go pick chestnuts for it.

Xia Qing was amused by it. "Your cute little act isn't enough. If you turned into Bai Mao and grew nine more tails, this old lady might be bewitched into doing something stupid."

Having said that, Xia Qing stopped paying attention to the freeloader and began tracking the footprints the wild beast had left on the game trail. The red squirrel was so angry it leaped about in the tree, even plucking a few leaves and throwing them at Xia Qing.

The leaves drifted lazily down onto the game trail. Xia Qing couldn't be bothered and kept following the footprints forward. After tracking for five hundred meters, Xia Qing had to stop.

Any further ahead was no longer part of Mountain 49, Zone Three, but the training ground of the Blue Dragon Squad. Xia Qing cocked her ear and listened: within three hundred meters ahead there was no sound of large animals moving. That cloven-hoofed animal was lucky—it would survive the day.

After giving up the chase, Xia Qing simply walked back along the slope, searching as she went for edible plants in the valley below.

Running south to north, Mountain 49's elevation increased, and the drop from slope to valley grew steadily steeper. From Xia Qing's position to the valley floor should have been three hundred meters, with an extremely steep gradient. Standing on the slope and looking down, the little stream winding along the valley floor looked like an evolved giant centipede crawling through the vegetation.

There had been a thunderstorm the night before, and the slope was slick. Xia Qing had no intention of entering the valley for a carpet search; she would rely on her excellent evolved vision to scan downward from the slope.

After walking another fifty-plus meters, Xia Qing stopped. On her side of the slope stood a tree over four meters tall. The leaves on the observable portion of the canopy were strip-shaped, arranged in two rows along either side of the small branches, and the tips of those small branches bore quite a few oval green fruits.

A Chinese Torreya tree!

Chinese Torreya fruits take three years to mature: the first year they put out catkins, the second year they flower and fruit, and the third year they ripen. Precisely because a single tree bears first-, second-, and third-year fruits at the same time, locals also call the Chinese Torreya the "Generations Tree."

When the third-year Chinese Torreya fruit ripens, its outer skin splits open, and once it does, it can be harvested. The kernel is a nut with a natural fragrance—not only nutritious but also quite tasty. Because edible Chinese Torreya trees are scarce within Destroyed-Three Base, Chinese Torreya nuts fetch a higher price than pine nuts!

If a squad on an outside gathering mission stumbled on one, they'd be overjoyed for days.

Within Mountain 49, Zone Three, Xia Qing had already found eight Chinese Torreya trees, but only one was edible—and it was Yellow-Light. Moreover, the largest fruit on that Yellow-Light tree was only a second-year fruit; it wouldn't be harvestable until next year. Yet the Chinese Torreya she had just discovered in Valley One actually had quite a few split-open fruits. If it turned out to be edible, Xia Qing felt she wouldn't be able to forgive this four-meter-plus tree if she wasn't happy for at least two weeks.

Xia Qing first picked up a stone and threw it at the Chinese Torreya and at various trees along the way. When none of the trees attacked and no animals darted out or flew away, she concluded the danger level here was low. She decided to go down and test this tree's qiang-element content.

After raising her hand to confirm the air-toxin detector she was wearing showed green, and confirming there were no large animals within two hundred meters, she quickly sprayed insect-repellent on the trunk of a large tree at the top of the slope before tying her rope to it. Although the climbing rope was very sturdy, it couldn't hold up against the gnawing of evolved rodents; spraying it with insect-repellent was the safe move.

Then she applied some more bug spray to herself. She had to—without it, given the slick, steep slope and dense vegetation, Xia Qing needed to focus on her footing and didn't want to be distracted dealing with all manner of evolved insects.

After checking her gear and finding nothing wrong, Xia Qing grabbed the rope and began descending the slope, heading for the Chinese Torreya tree some twenty-plus meters below.

Although the ground beneath her was slick and the vegetation dense, this wasn't Xia Qing's first time working under such conditions. Relying on the climbing rope, she quickly descended fifteen meters; another five meters down and she'd reach the Chinese Torreya.

A red squirrel that had been following Xia Qing at a discreet distance was excitedly leaping about on the branches, cheering her on.

Why excited rather than angry? Because when angry, this little fellow's tail bristles straight up; when excited, its big tail fluffs out and wags back and forth.

Seeing it act like that, Xia Qing stopped at once.

The fruits were right in front of it, yet the red squirrel wouldn't pick them itself and was instead throwing a fit beside her—naturally because it didn't dare pick them.

That Chinese Torreya must have given the red squirrel a bad experience, or the red squirrel had seen other animals have a bad experience with it.

By what means did this Chinese Torreya protect itself?

Back in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing had encountered edible Chinese Torreya trees on outside gathering missions. After evolving, the flesh of Chinese Torreya fruit contains toxins and can no longer be eaten.

The toxin in Chinese Torreya flesh can be absorbed through animals' outer skin, blocking nerve transmission—and it takes effect very quickly. The duration of the block varies with the toxin's concentration.

Put plainly, the flesh of evolved Chinese Torreya fruit has the effect of a topical anesthetic, and is one of the sources of topical anesthetics for medical use after the Cataclysm.

It's said that the lower the qiang-element content of a Chinese Torreya tree, the higher the toxin concentration and the stronger the anesthetic effect. The red squirrel's not daring to pick the fruit itself suggests this tree's toxin concentration is high, making it very likely an edible plant.

But after descending another two meters—when she could already see the Chinese Torreya through the dense shrubs beside her—Xia Qing cut down a snake that lunged at her, and stopped again.

Because she heard at least two eagles and over thirty crows landing one after another not far from her. Looking more closely, Xia Qing could also see several small squirrels hiding among the leaves or in the bushes. Even in the small holes on the slope, she could spot little heads of mice or snakes poking out.

All the animals were waiting quietly. Waiting for what?

Of course, waiting for her.

Damn it—she hadn't even started moving, and a clear food chain had already formed: once she touched the Chinese Torreya fruit and tumbled down to the valley floor, the snakes, mice, and small squirrels would rush in to grab the easy pickings; once the small animals stirred, the eagles and crows would dive down to fight over hedgehogs, mice, and small squirrels. Those two eagles had very sharp beaks and talons, and the looks they fixed on her were murderous. That meant they didn't only eat mice and snakes—even Xia Qing was their target.

The crows crouching beside the eagles to scavenge would, once the eagles finished their meal, peck every scrap of flesh off Xia Qing's body. Within a few hours, Xia Qing would be nothing but a skeleton.

Maybe not even a skeleton would remain, because some evolved rodents can gnaw through bone.

In other words, in these animals' eyes, she—human Xia Qing—was the main course of this feast.