Chapter 8: Showing Up

Chapter 8: Showing Up

A pine cone the size of a palm rolled to Ye Qing's feet with a soft rumble.

Startled, Ye Qing turned around hurriedly.

There, on a branch not far behind her, was the culprit—a grayish-brown squirrel.

As it jumped, the little thing bared its teeth and chirped at her incessantly.

Ye Qing couldn't help but frown.

Truth be told, Ye Qing had never had much resistance to these furry creatures.

Especially squirrels with their big, feather-duster-like tails. Whenever she saw one, she couldn't resist wanting to reach out and give them a good rub.

But throwing a pine cone at her was a bit annoying.

After all, a pine cone had some weight. Dropped from such a high tree, it felt like Ye Qing had a huge bump on the back of her head.

Angrily, she glared at the squirrel, quickly rubbing the bump on her head and using her wood-type ability to reduce the swelling and pain.

Ye Qing thought the squirrel had just dropped the pine cone by accident and couldn't blame the little animal too much. She chalked it up to bad luck and turned around to continue down the mountain.

But just as she took a couple of steps, the squirrel panicked.

In a hurry, it leaped down from the tree and darted right in front of Ye Qing, blocking her path.

As if afraid Ye Qing wouldn't understand, the squirrel gesticulated wildly on the ground, jumping up and down anxiously. It stretched out its paws toward the forest from time to time and looked into Ye Qing's eyes.

Ye Qing was confused.

Although she couldn't understand the squirrel's language, she could see the urgency in its expression, as if it was seeking help from her.

Squirrels were usually afraid of humans. Normally, if a human approached, they would run away immediately.

But this squirrel had overcome its instinctual fear, actively coming to communicate with her, which showed just how urgent its request was.

"Do you want me to help you?" Ye Qing asked tentatively.

Whether the squirrel understood or not, it tilted its head, seemingly pondering for two seconds before turning around and darting back into the forest.

After not going far, the squirrel stopped on a low shrub, chirping and urging Ye Qing to follow.

Ye Qing looked at the setting sun, hesitated for a moment, and finally resigned herself to follow.

Oh well, consider it a good deed for the day. If it got too late, she could weave a vine into a hammock and sleep in the forest for the night. It shouldn't be a big deal.

Following the squirrel through twists and turns in the forest, Ye Qing eventually arrived in front of a large tree adorned with fallen flowers.

The tree looked somewhat familiar.

Of course it did. With its blooming flowers and new leaves, wasn't it obvious who had revitalized it?

Ye Qing couldn't understand why the squirrel had led her here.

Could it be that the squirrel had been eyeing the fruits on this old pine tree? After she rejuvenated the tree, the fruits had disappeared, and now the squirrel was upset and had come to find her?

But there were so many pine trees in this forest. Even if this one old tree had changed, there were still plenty of fruits on the other trees. It shouldn't affect the animals' winter food storage.

While Ye Qing was lost in thought, the squirrel scrambled up the tree and stopped on a branch, scolding her non-stop.

Even though Ye Qing couldn't understand, she could tell from the squirrel's angry and anxious demeanor that it was probably cursing quite harshly.

Ye Qing was full of question marks.

Just as she was puzzling over it, a small, dark head poked out from a small, inconspicuous hole in the tree trunk where the squirrel was standing. After touching noses with the agitated squirrel, it also began to chirp incessantly.

Ye Qing then realized there was a squirrel hole in the middle of the tree trunk, with another squirrel inside, and judging by their appearance, the two were likely a couple.

Seeing Ye Qing standing there unmoved, the two squirrels seemed to have given up hope. They clung to each other at the tree hole entrance, as if enacting a tragic farewell.

In a flash of realization, Ye Qing understood what had happened.

She smacked her forehead, her face flushed with embarrassment and apology as she looked at the little couple.

"I'm really sorry. I had no idea your home was here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have touched this tree. Never mind your scolding, I'll get your partner out right away!"

Ye Qing had completely forgotten. All she had been thinking about was how to quickly absorb energy to level up. She hadn't realized that after being infused with her ability, not only would the tree grow rapidly, but old wounds on the trunk would also heal.

Squirrels usually nested in trees. Some took over unused bird nests, while others used holes made by woodpeckers.

Clearly, the pair in front of her had chosen the latter.

Unfortunately, their home was on a pine tree that was growing vigorously with an abundance of wood-type energy, and it just so happened to catch Ye Qing's attention.

After being catalyzed by Ye Qing's overwhelming ability, the tree rejuvenated within minutes, and the small hole that had been pecked by woodpeckers began to close up.

Naturally, the narrow entrance that had once allowed the squirrels to pass freely had shrunk.

At the moment the hole shrank, one of the squirrels had been napping inside and hadn't realized the danger.

By the time it noticed, it was already trapped inside the cage-like hole and couldn't get out.

Luckily, the other squirrel had been out foraging. Otherwise, both of them would have been trapped, and it would have been a truly hopeless situation.

Ye Qing really felt guilty about it. It was such an undeserved disaster, and even if the two little guys cursed at her, the culprit, with the worst words, she deserved it.

She quickly calmed the two little ones down while racking her brain for a solution.

The trunk of the pine tree was quite thick. There was no way to kick it down, so all Ye Qing could do now was pry open the tree hole and rescue the trapped squirrel first.

Ye Qing rummaged through her shoulder bag.

The only suitable tool inside was an old iron pencil sharpener, barely an inch long, with both the blade and handle made of iron. It was a bit rusty, but the blade still looked quite sharp.

This pencil sharpener was something the original body had picked up on the way to school during junior high. Although it wasn’t worth much, the original body cherished it and had kept it in her shoulder bag.

Ye Qing wasn’t sure if this tool would work, but she couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer. After looking around, she found a vine and used her wood-type ability to quickly make it grow. She then tied the vine around her waist and hoisted herself up to the shrunken tree hole.

The two squirrels were obviously startled by Ye Qing’s move, but the two little guys quickly realized she was there to help. The one outside immediately moved out of the way, while the one inside obediently stayed in the tree hole.

Fortunately, the pencil sharpener in Ye Qing’s hand was quite effective. After dozens of cuts, she successfully enlarged the hole by half, allowing the trapped baby squirrel to come out smoothly.

Finally having rescued the little one, Ye Qing wiped the sweat from her forehead and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as she was thinking about giving some compensation to the couple, after escaping, they quickly darted into the forest, disappearing without a trace, treating Ye Qing like a ferocious beast.

Ye Qing touched her nose, feeling too embarrassed to say anything.

After repairing the tree hole again, Ye Qing used the vine to lower herself back to the ground.

But now she wasn’t in a hurry to go down the mountain and head home.

Mainly because, after this little episode, the sun had already set, and it was probably close to 6 o’clock.

On the way to the outskirts, she had already asked the ticket seller.

The last bus back into the city on this route was at 5:30. That meant, even if she went down the mountain now, she wouldn’t make the last bus.

So she would have to spend the night in this forest.

Having experienced the apocalypse, Ye Qing had already grown accustomed to dealing with various emergencies. So even though she was stuck in this forest, she wasn’t panicked.

While it was not completely dark yet, she wandered around the area.

Luckily, she found a wild chestnut tree and a kiwi tree, both bearing sparse fruits. There weren’t many, but they were enough to satisfy Ye Qing’s hunger and thirst.

It was already mid-September, and the wild fruits in the mountains were almost ripe. Ye Qing injected a bit of her ability to catalyze them, turning the nearly mature fruits into fully ripe ones.

She then picked the wild chestnuts and kiwis. The chestnuts were crisp and rich in starch, while the kiwis were refreshingly sweet and juicy, so delicious that Ye Qing couldn’t stop eating.

Full and satisfied, Ye Qing found a relatively open and flat spot nearby and weaved several vines between the branches of nearby trees, creating a circular high-altitude hammock.

The hammock was about four or five meters off the ground, and Ye Qing estimated that unless she encountered a cat species adept at climbing, there shouldn’t be any danger.

Sleeping in the lush, vibrant forest was an extraordinary pleasure for Ye Qing, a wood-type ability user. Such a scene would have been unimaginable during the ten years of the apocalypse.

So she quickly fell asleep.

She didn’t know how long she had been asleep when she vaguely dreamt of fleeing from disaster during the apocalypse. Suddenly, a gunshot startled her, and she jolted up from the hammock.

“Bang! Bang!”

Two more gunshots.

This time, Ye Qing heard it clearly. The gunfire echoed through the forest, especially clear in the silent night.