The mountain night was exceptionally cold, and even with the tent blocking the snow and wind, and thick cotton padding, Xu Mumu felt particularly cold.
Xu Mumu lay next to Yin Yang in the tent, only feeling somewhat comfortable after putting several hot water bottles around.
The night watch was assigned to Xu Mumu and the others in the early hours, so they could sleep a little more now.
Fortunately, the night passed peacefully; occasionally, there were distant wolf howls, but they did not come near.
Recently, the Big Black Snake was hibernating, but its aura wasn’t hidden, so the nearby mutated animals naturally did not dare to approach.
After packing up the tent, the group set off again; once they crossed this mountain range, they would soon reach the next meteorite landing site.
They had just walked not far when Xu Mumu was entangled by a green vine, on which blossomed a pink flower.
This was a mutated wild grass, which surprised Xu Mumu a bit.
"Should we cut this mutated grass?" Yin Lin asked.
"Ignore it. If it doesn’t attack us, we don’t need to bother," Xu Mumu shook her head.
"This little flower is so pretty. Can I pick it?" Yin Chuchu asked hopefully, hesitant to pick the flower casually.
"It should be a wild chrysanthemum, blooming at this time of year," Yin Wanqiu said, staring at the thin vine of the wild chrysanthemum in surprise.
"It’s indeed a wild chrysanthemum. After mutating, it looks quite nice," Xu Mumu observed closely, noting the pink color and crystal-like petals that made the flower look almost surreal.
"Let’s dig it up to plant. This flower is so pretty and fragrant," Yin Chuchu said eagerly.
"Alright, go ahead and dig it up yourself," Song Fuxiao tossed her a small plastic pot to use as a flower pot.
Yin Chuchu, fond of pretty flowers, didn’t hesitate to dig up the beautifully mutated wild chrysanthemum and plant it in the pot.
Seeing the slightly wilting wild chrysanthemum, Xu Mumu raised an eyebrow. The impact of moving a mutated plant was indeed not small.
Xu Mumu took out a Wood Element Crystal Core and had Yin Chuchu bury it in the pot’s soil.
This wild chrysanthemum seemed to sense the usefulness of the Crystal Core, and once it was placed inside, it began absorbing its power, though slowly, given its low level of mutation.
"I wonder if we cultivate it into a powerful mutant plant, could it speak?" Yin Chuchu wondered aloud.
"It probably could," Xu Mumu mused, stroking her chin.
With Yin Chuchu holding the pot, the group continued on their journey and encountered many other mutated plants.
These mutated plants possessed a certain territorial awareness; as long as they weren’t provoked, they wouldn’t attack.
However, as they sought a place to camp by evening, they encountered an enormous locust tree. Nearby, possibly a rat’s nest, countless vines attacked the zombie rats, creating a spectacular scene.
Xu Mumu exchanged a glance with Yin Yang, not expecting to witness such an event, particularly surprised that the locust tree could grow vines resembling tentacles that easily drilled into the zombie rats’ heads, extracting their Crystal Cores.
Looking towards the locust tree, Xu Mumu noticed its abnormal color, even the leaves were black, appearing very eerie—it had become a Zombie Plant.
The trunk of this locust tree had begun to resemble a rat, suggesting it had consumed numerous zombie rats.
The most terrifying aspect was the trunk, where two eyes had opened, resembling those of a rat.
Yin Chuchu stepped back in fright; the locust tree was exceedingly bizarre.
"Squeak," the noises Yin Chuchu made caught the tree’s attention. It then emitted squeaky sounds, eerily similar to a rat’s but raspier.
The sound startled Xu Mumu and her companions; the unexpected noise in the silent valley was extremely unsettling.
"Sister-in-law, this thing is downright creepy," Yin Chuchu’s voice trembled slightly.
"It noticed us, let’s move quickly," Yin Yang urged, as the vines began to approach them.
But as soon as Yin Yang spoke, strange black vines reached out.
Yin Yang swiftly sliced through a vine, pulling Xu Mumu and Yin Chuchu slightly aside, feeling the danger near his heart—the location of the Superpower Core. The locust tree seemed to sense the precise location of Crystal Cores.
The severed vine quickly regenerated, and Yin Yang’s action provoked the vines, which swiftly attacked, as if intent on binding and consuming them.
"Little Huo, burn it," Xu Mumu commanded urgently.
Obediently, Little Huo spat out a large fireball, incinerating the approaching vines completely.
Xu Mumu and her group kept hacking at the approaching vines, which had an excellent regenerative capability, growing back rapidly and persistently.
While they were busy cutting down the creeping vines, the roots underground closed in rapidly.
Before they realized, the roots ensnared them, attempting to drag them underground to consume.
"Ouch, these roots have thorns," Yin Wanqiu’s voice came through.
Xu Mumu froze the vines trying to bind them, while Yin Yang swiftly emitted endless black liquid from his palm, engulfing the nearby roots and vines.
"Squeak!!" A piercing sound attacked, prompting Xu Mumu to instinctively cover her ears.
"You guys hold off those vines. I’ll kill this zombie tree," Yin Yang’s voice was icy.
"Okay, be careful." Xu Mumu nodded.
The zombie tree lacked much intelligence, only attacking on instinct. Its attack strength was close to level six, having gained considerable power from devouring many zombie rats’ Crystal Cores, and its growth rate was impressively fast.
Yin Yang’s black liquid continued to consume nearby zombie rats. The zombie tree, sensing danger, launched numerous vines towards him, yet these vines were corroded by the endless black liquid as they neared.
Releasing so much corrosive liquid at once was very taxing on Yin Yang, exhausting his Superpower Core’s energy rapidly.
With his face pale, Yin Yang finally reached the range within which his superpower could attack, and the mass of black liquid instantly enveloped the zombie tree.