Chapter 713: Digging for Wild Vegetables

At noon, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick found the others who were gathering wild vegetables and mushrooms. After having lunch in the mountains, they stored the morning’s harvest in her space and gave the group more bamboo baskets and burlap sacks. The two of them then headed deeper into the mountains to round up wild boars and bison.

There was an incredible amount of wild vegetables in the mountains, along with patches of wild yams and various medicinal herbs. Even young pine needles were edible. On the way to find the boars, Evelyn also picked a large bag of tree blossoms, which could be served cold in a salad—perfect for eating when the weather was hot.

Of course, there were also all kinds of wild fruits, but very few were edible. Most were extremely sour and astringent. Still, she could uproot a few saplings to plant back home, then graft and cultivate them.

As always, Evelyn left nothing behind wherever she went. If not for the fact that the black soil in her space was incredibly fertile and required no fertilizer, she would have even scraped up some rotten leaves with a rake to take back for farming.

In the afternoon, Evelyn and Ronan came across a herd of several dozen wild boars. Since the boars couldn’t escape Demon’s Ridge anyway, she wasn’t in a hurry to round them up. Looking at the mountainsides covered in wild vegetables and mushrooms, Evelyn brought Quincy, Wyatt Vaughn, Officer Graham, and the others out of her space.

Zoe and Annie were ecstatic. If Evelyn hadn’t warned them a thousand times not to leave the group’s sight, the two children would have probably run wild all over the mountainside.

"You two aren’t going after the wild boars anymore?" Quincy asked, holding a hoe. He was on the ground, vigorously digging for wild yams.

Evelyn shook her head. "Not anymore. We’re too tired to run. Demon’s Ridge is huge. Besides, we have plenty of time. We’ll probably be here for two months."

"I don’t even want to go back to the base," Wyatt Vaughn said, gazing at the vast fields of wild vegetables. He wished he could sprout three heads and six arms. The base was great, but resources were just too scarce.

But Zoe and Annie were still young; they would eventually have to integrate into society to grow up. The group couldn’t stay in the mountains forever. Once people were isolated from crowds and detached from society, they would quickly become withdrawn, and their intelligence and motor skills would rapidly decline.

"Then let’s just stay a while longer and clear out all the wild vegetables in the mountains. They’re an inexhaustible resource. As for the boars and bison, we should leave a few behind to let them continue to reproduce."

"That’s a good idea. If we took them all back to the base, the boars and bison here would go extinct. Once the ecological balance is broken, problems tend to arise."

Everyone chatted while working. Wendy was very interested in black truffles. While everyone else couldn’t be bothered to dig for them, she took a hoe and a basket and dug up dozens of pounds in a single afternoon.

"Wendy, why are you digging that stuff up?"

Wendy chuckled. "I think the taste is pretty unique. You won’t find this anywhere else, so I want to dig up some more. Honestly, once you get used to the taste, it’s actually really good."

Everyone had a look of refusal on their faces. Wendy shrugged. "Looks like you all are missing out."

Evelyn stifled a laugh. "That’s a blessing I can do without."

Still, she grabbed a hoe and helped Zoe dig for a while.

At 6:30 p.m., after storing all of the day’s spoils in her space, it was time to head down the mountain for dinner. Quincy was eager to go down with them, and the others were restless too. To get to go down the mountain, a few of them resorted to everything from throwing tantrums to threats and bribery.

"Wyatt Vaughn, Joelle Finch, Zoe, Annie, Mr. Graham, and Wendy, you’ll stay in the space. The rest of you can come down the mountain with us."

As soon as Evelyn finished speaking, the hope in Zoe’s eyes instantly shattered. Evelyn went over, hugged her, and coaxed her for a bit. She told her there were lots of people at the bottom of the mountain, that it got very cold at night, and that there would be snoring and the sound of frogs. Only then did the child hold back her tears.

"Auntie, you have to be careful. If any frogs bite you, you have to hit them back."

Evelyn nodded solemnly. "Don’t you worry. Auntie is very strong. I’ll catch a few for you to play with tomorrow."

Zoe broke into a wide grin. "Okay, I want three."

"No problem."

After sending Officer Graham and the others into the space, Evelyn and Ronan led the rest down the mountain. Quincy was practically buzzing with excitement, chattering nonstop the whole way. It was a mystery where he got so much energy; even Ronan was a bit tired, yet Quincy was still bouncing around.

"Quincy, are you on something today, or have you just lost your mind? Take it easy. If you throw out your back at your age, you’ll be in for a world of pain." Just as Miles Vaughn finished speaking, Quincy shot him a dirty look.

"Have you ever heard the saying?"

"What saying?" everyone asked, looking at him curiously.

"A man at forty is a flower in full bloom."

...

After three seconds of silence, everyone except Ronan Kendrick simultaneously made a gagging gesture.

"So disgusting! I’m gonna be sick. Where’s my sword? Where’s my forty-meter broadsword?" Miles Vaughn couldn’t take it anymore. He broke off a tree branch and lunged at Quincy, and the two quickly started wrestling.

Evelyn and Ronan exchanged a look, both pursing their lips in helpless resignation.

"Quincy’s getting more and more cringey. Does every man turn into a cringey old guy once they hit middle age?" Peter Owens said, rubbing his arms as he stared in horror at the two middle-aged men wrestling in front of them.

"Those two are a lost cause. Let’s just go. There might be jackals in the mountains; we might as well let them get eaten."

Evelyn still hadn’t recovered from Quincy’s "a man at forty is a flower in full bloom" line. She stared at Ronan for a few seconds. ’Thank goodness Ronan is still a handsome, refreshing guy with no signs of turning cringey,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, I’d probably cry from frustration.’

Ronan noticed Evelyn’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Don’t worry, I would never say something so disgusting."

"Ronan, thank you for healing my eyes. Looking at you really does make the world a beautiful place again. Unlike some people, who almost made me gag up my own bile."

The two men who were fighting paused, turning in unison to look at Evelyn and her cloyingly sweet remarks.

"If you two lovebirds want to be all lovey-dovey, fine, but why do you have to put others down to do it? And to do it right in front of me, no less? That’s just too much."

Miles Vaughn nodded. "It is too much. Quincy might be disgusting, but we can’t just abandon him for it. We have to be kind to the mentally handicapped."

"Who are you calling handicapped?"

"Whoever the shoe fits."

They had paused for less than a minute before they started wrestling again.

Ethan Dawson and the others couldn’t bear to watch anymore and simply walked around them. Evelyn tutted twice.

"Ronan, those two have lost their minds. Let’s get out of here."

’This isn’t just putting us down, this is slander!’

Back at the camp at the foot of the mountain, everyone was already getting ready to eat. The meal was as lavish as ever, even featuring an extra dish of steamed pork with rice flour. It got dark on Demon’s Ridge by 7:30, and after dinner, everyone still had to go dig up Water Celery. Unless it thundered and rained, quitting time was still 8:30.

Just as Evelyn’s group returned to the camp, Leo Denton hurried over.

"Evelyn, a few of our teammates were bitten by insects. Could you please come take a look?"

Evelyn’s expression immediately turned serious. "Ronan, bring me the first-aid kit. I’m going to check on the injured."