Epoch 7

Epoch 7: Vegetables? Fruits?

Yesterday's exploration with Xue was not too fruitful. He only finds two edible plants, and they are in the fruit category.

The first one is like a white radish with smooth white skin, but it grows on small trees and tastes like a bitter melon.

As per Xue, many people have tried this fruit, but they cannot take the bitter taste, and some even have a stomachache after eating it.

He thought that since this fruit has already been discovered, it will not count, but the system quest still progresses.

[The quest is to find, not to discover. As long as you know how to process it and make it palatable, it will count.]

[It is up to you how you will use all the fruits and vegetables you will find in the future.]

That is what Ude told him.

Like the bitter melon, the tribe thought that since it was a fruit, it could be eaten raw. And since he knows that it needs to be cooked first, it will count as progress.

The second one is like a cherry; its shape and color are very similar.

When he tried to pick one, Xue stopped him and said that it was poisonous. But when he asked Ude, Ude replied that it was not.

When he asked Xue, why did he think that it was poisonous. The man told him that before, several females and sub-beasts tried to eat it, but not long after eating it, they started vomiting and felt a burning sensation in their mouths and throats.

'Burning sensation?' Tang Tang picked one and put it in his mouth.

This action makes Xue panic. The man tries to open his mouth and take out the fruit. But when Xue saw that he had already swallowed it, he immediately carried him back to the tribe and asked Lia to cure him.

And that's how he found chili.

Today he wants to go a little far away from the tribe. Now that he has chili, he hopes that he can find garlic and onions.

He also wants to make chili oil. It will surely add spice to the barbecue meat they are always eating.

"Can we go farther today?" Tang Tang asked.

He is putting marks on the place they already visited yesterday and what they found there. Ude made a small holographic map for him.

This is very useful; the only downside is that the map can only show the place he visited himself.

'I will travel in the future! To have a map of the whole Gaia continent. Will you accompany me, Ude?'

[Of course, Tang Tang. (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)]

'Thanks Ude.'

"You can do anything you want. I will protect you."

It sounds romantic, if only Xue didn't say it with a straight face.

"I know, you really protected me very well yesterday," Tang Tang teased.

Xue didn't answer and just averted his eyes, but the tip of his ears is tinged with red.

Tang Tang stifled a laugh.

He doesn't know if the man is opening up to him or if he was just really easy to read from the start.

"Are the plants you are picking really edible?" Xue suddenly asks after they pass on the border of the tribe.

Tang Tang smiled. "Of course." He then embraced Xue's arm. "I will make something for you once we return."

It makes Xue stiffen. He has never been intimate with any females or sub-beasts.

"I hope we can find more ingredients today, so I can make more delicious food for you later," Tang Tang continued, ignoring the man's reaction.

Xue didn't reply. He doesn't know what to respond to because all his attention is on their intertwined arms and on the soft body that is almost leaning on him.

Tang Tang smiled mischievously.

They stayed like that for a long time, like a couple going for a stroll.

Tang Tang only let go when he noticed some flowers with colorful petals. Their flower heads were as big as a satellite dish but had such a stubby stem that they almost lay flat on the ground.

Tang Tang touched a flower and asked Ude to check it.

[No poison was found!]

When Tang Tang heard Ude's confirmation, he immediately picked up a seed in the center of the flower.

The thing that gets Tang Tang's attention is not the colorful petals, but the seeds in the middle of them. Because, besides the color, it looks like a sunflower.

If it's really a sunflower, it means that the seeds in the center can be eaten. The seeds were as big as his thumb.

Tang Tang's eyes brighten after tasting it; it is really a sunflower seed.

[Ding!]

[2nd Quest Progress:

Find 7 more fruits and 10 more vegetables.]

"Xue!"

Xue, who is still staring at his empty arm, came back to his senses when he heard Tang Tang's call.

The sub-beast happily strides towards him.

"Say ahh~"

Xue unconsciously opened his mouth and chewed the thing; Tang Tang fed him.

"How was it?" Tang Tang asked, full of expectations.

"It's tasty," Xue flatly said, but his eyes are full of fondness for the sub-beast. "What is it?"

"It is the seed of that flower." He pointed at the sea of big, colorful flowers. "It can be eaten raw, but it is much more delicious when roasted. It can be a snack for the children," Tang Tang happily explained.

Xue goes where Tang Tang pointed to cut two big flower heads using a bone knife, tie them together, and put them on his back.

When Tang Tang saw this, he decided to look for a plant with the same characteristics as rattan to make a basket.

"Let's go."

"Okay." Tang Tang clung again to Xue's arm.

Xue didn't stiffen this time but instead heaved a sigh of relief. The warmth he had been looking for earlier returned.

_____________

Tang Tang was energetic the whole morning; even though they were walking for a long time, he didn't feel tired at all.

He can feel that today is his lucky day.

After finding the sunflower seeds, they found three more edible plants.

The first is ginger. While walking, Xue suddenly stopped and pulled out an herb. As per Xue, this kind of herb is used by Lia to make medicine.

When Tang Tang heard that it could be used as medicine, he curiously checked it. That is when he smells the familiar spicy scent.

He then asked Xue to help him dig where he had pulled out the herbs.

Xue hesitated first but still complied. After a few minutes, the arm-length rhizomes appear.

Tang Tang then told Xue that even though the leaves of this plant can be used as medicine, they are nothing compared to its roots.

The second is string beans. Tang Tang is feeling guilty enough to let Xue carry all of the things he found. Those are not even small, so he tried to focus on looking for a vine or stem that is flexible and durable enough to make a basket.

That's when Tang Tang found the string beans. He thought that it was a vine, but when he tried to pull it, it snapped, and a soft bean flew towards him.

The third is an onion. For the onion, he just accidentally found it while getting a vine suitable to weave a basket.

He thought that it was grass, if not for the bulb that was peeking out.

Xue told him that this plant has a pungent smell that insects and even monsters don't dare come closer to. So they also never tried to pick it up to eat.

Tang Tang is happy with the progress of his second quest.

[2nd Quest Progress:

Find 6 more fruits and 8 more vegetables.]

'Why are almost all of the plants we found in the fruit category Ude?'

[Because fruits come from the flowers of the plant and contain seeds. While vegetables are the edible parts of the plants, like the leaves, roots, stem, or bulb.]

'I see! Like the string beans and bitter melon, for 18 years I thought that it was a vegetable, but it was actually a fruit!'

[Yes! As long as there is a seed on it, it is a fruit.]

'How about my favorite vegetable, eggplant?'

[Fruits.]

'My life is a joke!'

[╮⁠(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠╭]

They are now resting in the shade of the tree. Tang Tang takes out the meat and boiled red root he packed for lunch and gives all the meat to Xue.

He is already too tired to eat meat every day, and he thinks that he will get sick sooner or later if this continues.

After eating, he asked Xue to cut the vines they found earlier in half so he could try weaving them into a basket.

He is not an expert on weaving; he only has basic knowledge about it because, during high school, there was a subject called livelihood education where they were taught to weave and stitch.

He always gets bored during this class; he didn't expect it would be useful at times like this.

"What are you planning to do?" Xue asked.

Tang Tang answered without looking. "Baskets will make us carry all the things we picked much easier."

"I can carry everything; you don't need to be bothered by it. If it's still not enough, I can transform into a beast," Xue said, but he didn't stop cutting the vines in half.

"No need; this is not only for us. It is also for the females and sub-beasts picking red roots," Tang Tang said as he started making the frame of the basket.

"You see, all of them are using monsters skin as a carrier, but it is not suitable to carry a lot of things at once. If I successfully make a basket, they will not need to return back and forth when picking red roots," Tang Tang added, immersed in weaving.

But after a few minutes without hearing any movement beside him, he looked up. He was then met by two beautiful blue eyes, staring at him intently.

Those eyes, as if they are reflecting the ocean, are deep and calm. Under the sun, it shines like the most refined sapphire.

"So gorgeous," Tang Tang murmurs as he sets aside what he was doing.

He leaned towards the man and gently kissed him on the lips. When he didn't hear any rejection, Tang Tang continued to give light kisses to his cheeks, nose, and eyes.

"If you didn't stop me now, you will not have a chance later," he seductively whispered while straddling on Xue's lap.

Xue didn't show any refusal, as if letting Tang Tang do anything he wanted to do.