Chapter 148 The Ever-Changing Pepper

But the boy in the red vest just looked up, smiled, and said, "Okay."

The two found a place to sit down in the store.

Many tourists around them were staring at them, wondering if there were any other survivors like them among these people.

Lin Yun looked up and glanced at the tourists who were staring at them, and noticed that the food placed in front of them was extremely bloody.0

And some... weird bugs?

She looked away and stopped looking.

Like Lin Yun, Song Xizheng only glanced at it twice before looking away.

Unsure of the danger posed by the tourists, neither of them spoke.0

Soon, the girl in the red vest came over with two set meals. As if venting her dissatisfaction, she slammed the bowls of food onto the table and then left.0

The two exchanged a glance but said nothing.

[Flavorful Eggplant Rice Bowl: Normal food, not tasty, not delicious.]

Only after confirming that the food was safe did the two begin to eat.

The surrounding tourists remained completely still, staring intently at them.

They only returned to normal after they finished their meal and left the restaurant.0

The atmosphere around the table remained strange and tense, even though neither of them had done anything unusual. Lin Yun quietly ate while keeping the tourists in the corner of her vision, and Song Xizheng likewise avoided looking at them for too long. The strange meal itself was not the problem. What bothered them was the way everyone watched them, as though eating the food had somehow crossed an invisible boundary.0

"Sister Lin, have you noticed? Those tourists act like they want to eat us up, as if we’ve committed some heinous crime by eating normal food."

Song Xizheng felt uncomfortable whenever he thought about the unpleasant stares that had lasted throughout the entire meal.

Lin Yun nodded again, "Let’s try to get more meal tickets. I feel that the tourists and the ’little vests’ will become more and more dissatisfied with us as time goes on. If we have meal tickets, we might be able to escape this predicament."

Song Xizheng agreed.

Both remembered Linglan’s reminder from that morning, and soon they parted ways and returned to the shelter.

After entering the shelter, Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief. A few children were playing there and almost got caught.

"Sang Biao, Tuan Tuan?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the two little ones rushed in through the open back door.

"You’re back so early today, Youyou."

Tuan Tuan didn’t say anything, but kept circling around Lin Yun.

"Yeah, I met a staff member, and she gave me a heads-up."

She picked up the two little ones and walked towards the backyard.

Back at the shelter, Lin Yun’s mood gradually relaxed as the familiar little ones gathered around her. She listened to their warning without brushing it aside, especially after hearing what had happened at noon. The reaction of the Hundred-Change Pepper was clearly becoming harder to predict, yet the System’s information made it possible to understand each fruit before deciding what to do with it.

Once inside the backyard, Ghost Vine nimbly scrambled down and dashed towards its favorite star tea tree.

Star Tea Tree: May I ask you something? Am I a cat tree?

Seeing this, Lin Yun blinked again, thinking that it did seem like they were indeed missing a cat tree.

Can you get a cat tree from the random toys in the points mall?

[A capable host, capable.]

"Really?"

[...I can only say that the random toys include a cat tree, but I don’t know when it will be randomly generated.]

"Really? I almost spent my points to buy one." Lin Yun put the two down again, and she saw the chili peppers hanging on the Hundred-Change Pepper.

Just as she was about to go over, the two little ones grabbed her trouser leg.

She turned to look over. "Trying to stop me?"

"Youyou, its smell is so pungent, don’t go over there!" Sang Biao bit her trouser leg and wouldn’t let go.

When it was playing with Tuan Tuan at noon today, it accidentally rolled under a spicy pepper. The smell was so spicy that it ran away and ran into the bathroom to rinse off for a long time before it recovered.

"Yeah, yeah, it’s so pungent. Even we can’t stand it, let alone you, a human!"

Tuan Tuan wouldn’t budge and continued to accuse Bai Bian Jiao of its crimes to Lin Yun.

Lin Yun hissed again, looked at Bai Bian Jiao, and sized it up.

It seemed like only seven or eight fruits were produced, and then the two smaller ones were turned into this?

Detailed information about the Hundred-Change Pepper suddenly popped up.

The content above remained unchanged; only the notes section had changed.

[Note: I’ve taken it! It’s smellless now! QAQ]

She was somewhat surprised. "The system... what is this...?"

[Oh dear~ Isn’t it able to grow so fast because you used Wood Spirit’s Breath a few times? It’s normal for it to be a little smart.]

"Is this one of the additional benefits of the Wood Spirit’s Breath?"

[You can think that way if you want?]

Hearing this, Lin Yun felt much more at ease.

Although I can’t be like Ghost Vine and the others, things seem pretty good now.

She carefully examined the different peppers one after another. The green bell pepper was harmless enough to taste, while the more dangerous varieties clearly required greater caution. When the Death Pepper appeared, she immediately understood why the little ones had tried to stop her. Even though she had been curious about it, she was not willing to touch it directly after reading the warning about its dangerous properties.

Lin Yun explained it to the two smaller ones again, and chatted with the Hundred-Change Pepper for a while before carefully examining the fruit that had grown on its body.

[Bell pepper: No spiciness; judge the flavor of the pepper by its color.]

[Exploding Chili Pepper: As its name suggests, it is not recommended for human consumption. It emits a very strong, pungent chili smell.]

Note: It’s closed, it’s closed, there’s no smell anymore!

[Exploding Pepper: As its name suggests, it’s recommended to use it on enemies for unexpected results.]

[Bell peppers: Standard bell peppers, low or no spiciness, with a sweet and crisp texture.]

...

Lin Yun picked another green bell pepper. She didn’t know what it tasted like, but the detailed information said it was not spicy, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

She popped it into her mouth and chewed it. It wasn’t spicy at all, and it even had a fruity flavor, but Lin Yun couldn’t quite place what kind of fruit it was.

She looked at the other peppers. Some she could pick directly, but were there others she could handle?

[Again? Aren’t you going to pick them?]

Ghost Vine wanted to pick the peppers after they finished bearing fruit, but Lin Yun hadn’t returned yet. It decided to wait for her to come back so she could take a look, so it didn’t touch them.

The baskets were all ready.

They had a special way of communicating with each other, and since Ghost Vine also took care of the Hundred-Change Pepper, it already knew what the peppers did.

"Pick them, pick them."

Lin Yun picked off some of the chilies, but she hesitated to touch the last few.

The detailed information made her hesitant to try them.

[Death Pepper: Do not touch directly with your hands, as the capsaicin on the pepper’s surface can easily burn your skin. Capsaicin has a long-lasting effect, and the effect is enhanced after consumption.]

[Let me do it!]

Ghost Vine learned about the last few peppers from Bai Bian Jiao and volunteered to help.

It plucked a leaf, wrapped it around the Death Pepper, and quickly removed the pepper, placing it in a transparent box that Lin Yun had specially brought out.

As soon as it was put in, a ring of red appeared on the side of the box, which stunned Lin Yun once again.

"Wow... if I smash this thing to pieces and then throw it around, the other person will scream in pain?"

Lin Yun immediately had another idea. However, although the Hundred-Change Pepper had thoughtfully removed the smell from the chili peppers, the Death Pepper still had some of its smell.

She turned to the Hundred-Change Pepper and asked it to produce some more Death Peppers or peppers with offensive properties.

Bai Bian Jiao happily agreed.

[Oh yeah! Today I harvested over a dozen ears of corn, over a dozen tomatoes, and picked quite a few lettuce leaves too.]

[I brushed aside the corn husks, and the kernels inside seem to be a slightly different color. Do you want to take a look?]

(It’s all fake, all made up, and has nothing to do with reality.)