125: Picking lotus leaves

A week later, Lu Chuan and He Jingrui once again arrived in the world on the other side of the crevice.

“A Chuan, A Chuan, can this glowing mushroom be eaten?”

“A Chuan, A Chuan, look, this little snake is like a spring!”

“A Chuan, A Chuan, there’s a one-meter-tall red-eyed rabbit over there!”

All the way, Lu Chuan listened to He Jingrui’s continuous shouts and exclamations.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and turned around to give him a flick on the forehead.

“Shut up, keep it down! Do you think this is a picnic?”

“Oh…”

He Jingrui rubbed his forehead and quickly shut up.

Lu Chuan was satisfied now and continued to explore the canyon cautiously.

But not long after, He Jingrui lowered his voice and leaned in again, chattering about all sorts of topics.

“…”

Help, someone take this chatterbox away!

Lu Chuan wanted to escape, but couldn’t… Fortunately, their destination for this trip was finally reached.

This was a vast marshland.

From the center outwards, fresh green lotus leaves radiated.

Above the marsh, the faint fragrance of lotus flowers wafted.

He Jingrui looked at the marshland and found it familiar.

After a while, he suddenly widened his eyes and was about to pull Lu Chuan away.

“A Chuan, be careful, there’s a group of Mud Monsters hidden in here, they’re very scary!”

Lu Chuan immediately looked at him in surprise.

“You’ve been here before?”

He Jingrui nodded and recounted how he and Gao Lingfeng had accidentally stumbled upon this place earlier.

Lu Chuan’s eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly said:

“Then did you pick a pure white lotus pod in there, and eat the lotus seeds inside?”

He seemed to be able to figure out how He Jingrui had awakened his Gourmet Cells.

He Jingrui, however, shook his head in denial.

“No, are there even pure white lotus pods?”

After hearing this, Lu Chuan shook his head in disappointment.

Then he heard He Jingrui continue:

“However, the lotus root I ate was indeed pure white!”

“…”

If Lu Chuan didn’t know He Jingrui’s personality, he would have genuinely been unable to resist kicking him into the muddy swamp.

The System seemed afraid of getting blood on itself and quickly popped up to explain.

【Lotus root can also help awaken Gourmet Cellss, but the medicinal power is too violent, not as balanced and gentle as lotus seeds.】

“…”

Lu Chuan was speechless again, listening to the System adding settings.

Since he already knew how He Jingrui had awakened, he was too lazy to dwell on this point any further.

“Alright, we’ll sell beggar’s chicken next week, let’s come here and cut some lotus leaves to take back.”

He Jingrui nodded quickly.

He put the basket he was carrying on the ground, then began to roll up his trouser legs.

Lu Chuan asked in surprise.

“What are you doing?”

He Jingrui stopped his movements and looked up at Lu Chuan in confusion.

“Didn’t you say we’re cutting lotus leaves?”

Lu Chuan pointed at the lump of stuff in the basket, looking at him without speaking.

He Jingrui’s face immediately flushed as he took out the lump of stuff, spread it out on the ground, and then connected the electric inflator from the basket to the inflation port.

The lump of stuff immediately inflated and expanded, transforming into an inflatable raft.

Before long, the raft was in the water.

He Jingrui volunteered and began to paddle.

As the raft gradually moved away from the shore, the lotus leaves not only became more numerous but also looked much better than those by the shore.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan quickly called out to stop.

“Alright, stop right here. If we go any further, we’ll run into those strange creatures!”

He Jingrui obediently complied, then began to help Lu Chuan cut lotus leaves.

During this time, both of them also looked for lotus pods and lotus roots.

But whether it was the wrong location or if these two were simply too rare,

No matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find any.

He Jingrui sighed regretfully.

“Ah, why can’t we find any? I wanted to eat them again!”

Lu Chuan said indifferently:

“Never mind, since it’s already awakened, it’s optional anyway.”

He then glanced at the inflatable boat and found that there was no more room to stack lotus leaves.

“OK, this much is enough, let’s go, go, go!”

Upon hearing this, He Jingrui immediately began to paddle the boat.

But just a few meters out, he was once again rewarded with a flick on the forehead by Lu Chuan.

“You idiot, you’re paddling in the wrong direction!”

He Jingrui looked at both directions in confusion and couldn’t help but scratch his head.

“They all look the same!”

Lu Chuan pointed to the side where the lotus leaves were gradually becoming sparse, and couldn’t help but loudly complain.

“Then can’t you observe which side has fewer lotus leaves? And, if they all look the same, does it not matter which side you choose?”

He Jingrui let out an awkward “haha” laugh, then changed direction and began to paddle.

Just then, a clump of mud flew over with a whoosh, hitting the side of the raft like a cannonball, splashing a large amount of muddy water.

Caught off guard, Lu Chuan and He Jingrui were instantly covered in mud.

“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!”

The two spat out the muddy water that had splashed into their mouths, then simultaneously looked in the direction from which the mud clump had flown.

They saw strange-looking Mud Monsters emerging from the muddy water, then shouting and screaming as they rushed towards them, constantly digging out clumps of mud from their bodies and throwing them at the two.

Watching the mud clumps, carrying enormous kinetic energy, fly towards them, smashing the surrounding lotus leaves to pieces,

Lu Chuan’s face immediately changed, and he quickly snatched the paddle from He Jingrui’s hand, rapidly paddling the raft.

“I’ll paddle the boat, you’re responsible for blocking those mud clumps!”

In this critical moment, He Jingrui’s intelligence once again took over.

He immediately took off his shirt, quickly soaked it in the muddy water, and then wielded it like a nunchaku.

Driven by his immense strength, he swung it with great power, preventing the incoming mud clumps from getting close, which made the Mud Monsters howl in anger.

Lu Chuan felt gusts of wind behind him and heard the angry roars of the Mud Monsters, knowing they were temporarily safe, and his hanging heart finally settled.

Seven or eight minutes later, as the raft approached the shore, the Mud Monsters also seemed to realize they couldn’t catch up, and one by one, they angrily submerged back into the muddy water and disappeared.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan and He Jingrui quickly jumped ashore, then, without resting, quickly bent down and dragged the raft up as well.

He Jingrui looked regretfully at his dirty and torn clothes, then looked at Lu Chuan, who was checking the damage to the lotus leaves.

He scratched his head and asked in confusion:

“A Chuan, actually, we don’t necessarily have to come here to pick lotus leaves, don’t we have a lot in our world too?”

Lu Chuan looked up at him, thought for a moment, and then explained:

“It’s different. The lotus leaves in our world are very ordinary, but the lotus leaves here, how should I put it, using them to make beggar’s chicken will make it taste better. The principle is a bit complex, you can think of it as two types of lotus leaves existing…”

Before he could finish speaking, He Jingrui had already nodded in sudden realization.

“I understand, the lotus leaves here can make a more delicious beggar’s chicken! Are these lotus leaves enough? If not, I’ll go pick more!”

“…”

Lu Chuan, who had wanted to explain the principle in detail, couldn’t help but shake his head.