Now that the specific antidote had been developed, Evelyn Ford planned to mass-produce it.
Ronan Kendrick’s workload was immense. Harvesting the rice and corn would take several days, but fortunately, they had a harvester, which made it much easier than doing it by hand.
Ronan Kendrick was in charge of harvesting, while Evelyn Ford handled hulling the grain. The rice produced in her pocket dimension had plump, full kernels and gave off a rich, fragrant aroma.
As basket after basket of rice was moved into her storage space, Evelyn Ford couldn’t contain the smile in her eyes.
Just looking at the bountiful stores of grain lifted her spirits.
Once the corn was threshed, the kernels were moved to the storage space. The cobs could be saved for firewood, and the stalks could be placed in the livestock area to feed the cattle and sheep.
After the rice and corn were harvested, Ronan Kendrick started tilling the land. Evelyn Ford, meanwhile, took out all her medicinal herb seeds and began cultivating seedlings.
Some of the medicinal plants had been dug up while they were traveling. For now, she would plant them all, regardless of their specific properties or effects.
"Dendrobium, Panax notoginseng, Gastrodia, and also Gold and Silver Flower and hemostatic vine... I need to plant more of these."
Evelyn Ford sorted through a jumble of saplings and found a very strange one.
She couldn’t even remember where she had dug up these saplings, but something about this one felt wrong.
"Ronan, I don’t think this is a medicinal plant. I just saw it was alive while we were traveling and dug it up without trying to identify it. Now that I’m looking at it closely, this sapling... it looks a lot like Poison Arrow Wood. It’s also known as the ’deadly upon wounding’ tree, and it carries a potent poison."
Evelyn Ford picked up the sapling, sniffing and examining it from every angle.
The sapling was very small, only about thirty centimeters tall, and looked a little withered.
There were many books in the pocket dimension, including some on plant identification. Ronan Kendrick found one, and the two of them quickly compared the sapling to the illustrations.
"It’s a close match, but the sapling is too small for me to be certain. Should we test it on a rabbit?"
"It’s the Poison Arrow Wood. The leaves and trunk are a perfect match. Do you want to plant it?"
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Plant it in an isolated corner. Put a fence around it and keep it a good distance from the other medicinal herbs. The Poison Arrow Wood is highly toxic. Even its roots growing underground will affect the plants around it."
’If this sapling really is the Poison Arrow Wood, then I’ve hit the jackpot,’ Evelyn thought. ’In the future, I won’t have to formulate poisons. I can just develop them directly from this tree.’
Ronan Kendrick took the sapling, found a remote corner, and planted it. He then encircled it with a wire fence and hung a sign on it, on which he had drawn a skull.
Evelyn Ford sorted the remaining saplings, separating them by medicinal use and distinguishing between toxic and non-toxic varieties before replanting them.
While the two of them were working furiously inside the pocket dimension, trouble was brewing outside.
Chet Lawrence’s eyes had begun to swell and water. The others were experiencing the same symptoms, but his case was more severe since the flying insects had gotten into both of his eyes.
Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick had just stepped out of the pocket dimension when there was a loud banging on their door. Ronan went to open it. Seeing Quincy, he stepped aside to let him in.
"You two are such homebodies, hiding in here all day. Anyway, down to business. The guys who got attacked by those flying insects while fetching water... they’re going blind. What do we do?"
"What’s going on?"
"After the insects got in their eyes, they rinsed them with clean water, but they were unlucky this time. They all got infected. Everyone’s eyes are swollen like walnuts and won’t stop watering, even when they’re closed."
Evelyn Ford got up. "Let’s go take a look."
The three of them went to the main bunkhouse. When she saw Chet Lawrence and the others, even Evelyn Ford was taken aback.
"Evelyn, you’re here."
Evelyn Ford nodded and walked over to Chet Lawrence. Staring at his eyes, which looked as if they’d been stung by bees, she felt at a loss for what to do.
"It’s possible that powder from the insects’ bodies was left in their eyes, causing an allergic reaction or an infection. This swelling looks more like an allergy."
"An allergy? Flying insects got in Quincy’s eyes before, but he didn’t seem to have this problem. Could it be because of the fog? After all, the fog we’ve been having lately is completely different. It’s turned pitch-black now, like smoke from a fire." Ethan Dawson sat to one side, his brow deeply furrowed. He seemed to be wearing every piece of clothing he owned, making him look exceptionally bulky.
"That’s possible."
Evelyn Ford remembered she had some plastic bags in her pocket dimension. She went back to get them and passed them around. Handing out her goggles was out of the question. Even though she had a large supply, taking them out now would be hard to explain, and besides, she didn’t want to give any more away.
A clear plastic bag worn over the head could shield their eyes and protect them from the flying insects.
"Everyone, use this antiseptic solution to rinse your eyes later. I don’t know if it will help, but it’s worth a try. I’m going to go with Ronan to check the situation outside." Evelyn Ford set down a bottle of her homemade solution and prepared to leave with Ronan Kendrick.
The pair bundled up tightly and put on their goggles. The moment they stepped out of the cave, a bone-chilling wind assaulted them. Evelyn Ford immediately held her breath, crouching down and covering her head.
Just as Ethan Dawson had said, the dense fog had become a black smog. They couldn’t see the path at all. The ground beneath their feet was once again covered in ice, which went CRUNCH CRUNCH under their boots.
Evelyn Ford took out her air quality monitor. The readings were all over the place. She waited for half an hour, but the values kept fluctuating wildly, offering no stable baseline and no useful data.
"Can we still boil this ice for water, now that it’s been contaminated by the black fog?"
The two decided to head deeper into the mountains to see if the ice on the trees had also been contaminated.
Even though she was wearing four or five masks, Evelyn Ford could still smell a faint, lime-like odor in the fog that made her want to sneeze.
She didn’t dare pull her masks down, so she had to suppress it.
"There are flying insects and grit on the ice," Ronan Kendrick said, scraping off a piece. After studying it for a long while, he tossed it onto the ground. "And probably a lot of microscopic bugs we can’t see."
"I don’t think we can drink this ice anymore."
"If we boil it and then filter it, it should still be drinkable." Evelyn Ford tugged on Ronan Kendrick’s hand. "Let’s go back. I really need to sneeze."
"Alright. This way."
Back in their cabin, Evelyn Ford finally dared to pull off her masks and let out a sneeze.
"Could more of those black spheres have fallen somewhere else?" Evelyn Ford wondered aloud.
"Or maybe a volcanic eruption? How else do you explain the grit in the fog?"
As she spoke, Evelyn let out another string of sneezes.
"Ronan, I have a very bad feeling about this."
BANG BANG BANG... Just then, someone pounded on the door again. Evelyn Ford went to open it.
"Zoe says she has something important to tell you," Quincy said, holding Zoe. In her own arms, Zoe was holding a mountain finch.
"Auntie Evelyn, Dot says it wants to leave this place."
Evelyn Ford looked at the little finch. It tried to flutter toward her, but Zoe held it fast by its feet.
"It says this place is dangerous. But when I ask what the danger is, it says it doesn’t know."
After she finished, Zoe gently patted Dot’s head. "It’s not nice to lie."
A thought struck Evelyn, and she carefully took the mountain finch from Zoe’s arms.
"Pack your things. We have to leave this place. Now."
Quincy looked completely baffled. "Now? But it’s all black smog out there. How are we supposed to leave?"
"No more questions. Just go pack."