The Fragrance

After ditching Li Cuihua, Lin Yuelan walked along the winding mud path.

Soon, she arrived at the intersection at the foot of the mountain.

Both sides of the intersection were grown with lush and verdant Old World forked ferns. They were almost as tall as her. In fact, the entire mountain was covered by this fern.

Lin Yuelan remembered going mushroom hunting under these large ferns at her grandmother's place when she was young. Sometimes, she would find one or two wild mushrooms; other times, she'd find rows of mushrooms under a single fern.

Lin Yuelan almost drooled when she thought about the delicious taste of wild mushrooms. She had not eaten wild mushrooms for almost twenty years already.

Lin Yuelan said excitedly, "Little green, I want to eat wild mushrooms. Can you ask your little friend to help me look for them?"

Little Green immediately replied, "Yes, Master."

Then, Little Green jumped off Lin Yuelan's wrist and disappeared like a thin snake with two green leaves poking out of its head.

Soon, Little Green returned and said, "Master, they've found a lot." Then he climbed onto Lin Yuelan's wrist and pointed out the direction for Lin Yuelan. "There are some there."

Lin Yuelan pushed aside the lush fern and indeed saw a few wild mushrooms.

However, the color was very bright and bright red. It was obvious that they were poisonous mushrooms. This was something her grandmother had taught her. Colorful mushrooms were mostly poisonous.

Lin Yuelan said, "Little Green, these are poisonous. Humans can not eat them. You have to find those white or brown mushrooms."

Although Little Green could communicate with plants, he was not human. He didn't know that the colorful membranes the mushrooms used as camouflage were actually poison to humans.

Little Green's two buds curved, indicating that he had learned the lesson. Later, Little Green pointed out a few other spots.

Lin Yuelan pushed aside the fern to take a look. This time, they were edible mushrooms. They stood there with umbrellas on their heads, looking exceptionally cute.

Lin Yuelan happily picked some and then found a relatively flat and clean place to start a fire.

Why was she starting a fire? She was going to roast the mushrooms.

She found a source of water in the mountains and washed the mushrooms clean. Then, she used the thin branches on the ground to skewer the mushrooms. She roasted them over the fire. 

As the mushrooms roasted, the fragrance of the mushrooms began to spread. Lin Yuelan swallowed her saliva again. "This is so fragrant! I'm starving."

After the mushrooms were done, Lin Yuelan took out all kinds of seasonings from her space. She had gotten these from the supermarket during the apocalypse.

Rustle...

Lin Yuelan heard the faint sound of animal footsteps. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was actually a wild rabbit. It was hiding under the fern. Its head poked out, and its red eyes were looking in her direction. It seemed to be attracted by the fragrance of the wild mushrooms.

'This is great. The wild mushrooms will pair great with wild rabbit.'

Lin Yuelan stored the roasted mushrooms in the space, rolled up her sleeves, and then, with lightning speed, pounced on the rabbit and caught it.

She returned to the river and cleaned the rabbit with a small knife.

She split the rabbit in half and roasted it over the fire. Then, she took out the mushrooms from her space and ate them. She was very happy. It had been a long time since she had eaten such a delicious meal.

As the rabbit fat dripped onto the flame, it sizzled. Lin Yuelan smelled the fragrance too.

Her stomach seemed to have become a bottomless pit. After eating a few mushrooms, she felt even hungrier.

When the rabbit meat was almost ready, Lin Yuelan's ears suddenly twitched, and her expression immediately became stern. Then, she raised her head to look at a big tree not far away. Then, like a monkey, her thin and small body climbed up to a spot on the big tree and hid.

More than ten soldiers in gray armor, holding spears and long knives, appeared. They were led by a tall and strong man in silver armor and a silver mask.

"Hey, what smells so good?" Suddenly, a person said in surprise.

"It smells like roasted meat, but not quite. I've never smelled anything so delicious," another person echoed.

In fact, what they smelled was the smell of roasted mushrooms.

When Lin Yuelan cooked the mushrooms, the fragrance had wafted thousands of miles away. It drifted into the nostrils of these soldiers too.

This was a time when people hadn't understood how to differentiate between poisonous and edible mushrooms, so these soldiers hadn't tried roasted mushrooms before.

"The smell seems to be coming from this direction," a soldier who was closer to the masked man said with a smile. "Boss, let's go take a look. What exactly is so fragrant? What do you think?"

The masked man had never smelled such a fragrant smell before. Of course, he was also very curious about its source.

The group of soldiers followed the trail of the fragrance.

When these people were about to arrive at the firepit, Lin Yuelan's rabbit was almost ready. However, she heard these people's movements. Lin Yuelan immediately went into hiding, leaving behind a few skewers of roasted mushrooms and the roasted rabbit.

After all, Lin Xinlan just arrived in this world. These people looked and sounded like soldiers. She didn't want trouble.

She didn't know if they were good people or not. If they were good people, they would be curious why a girl like her was doing alone in the mountain, but they wouldn't harm her. But what if they were bad people?

In that case, Lin Yuelan would have to defend herself and kill these people. It wouldn't be hard for Lin Yuelan to kill them, but what was she going to do about the bodies? Plus, what if the soldiers came from a powerful background? It'd be so complicated.

Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, instead of confronting these people directly, it was better to retreat and observe.

Those people soon found Lin Yuelan's firepit.

"Huh, it's a roasted rabbit. Did we smell rabbit earlier?" The person next to the masked man spoke and sniffed, "No, the smell is different. It's not just rabbit."

Then, he looked around, "Hey, what's this?"

He pulled three or four skewers of mushrooms from the side of the fire. He sniffed and said excitedly, "This is it! Damn, it's so fragrant."

He put a skewer in his mouth.

"Sir First Lieutenant, you can't! These things are poisonous!"