Chapter 896: White Fruits and Natives

Zhang Yi was greatly surprised in his heart. In such a freezing and snowy season, there were still fruit trees able to bear fruit.

But as soon as he thought of the Bai Xue Jiao’s former blood vine, Zhang Yi instantly felt relieved.

Plants could also undergo mutations.

Moreover, as one of the most tenacious life forms, trees indeed adapted to changes in nature better than animals.

Even dead old trees had chances to flourish again in spring.

So it was not strange for plants to mutate and adapt to severe cold.

When Zhang Yi and the others landed ashore, they saw the group that had first set foot on the island already at the fruit grove.

Those trees were extraordinarily tall, their tops interconnected, with huge needle-like leaves interlaced like canine teeth, blocking out the sky and sun, making the inside of the forest very dim.

But white fruits grew on the branches.

They looked somewhat like melons but were more slender, about twenty to thirty centimeters long.

These fruits swayed slightly in the wind, giving off an aroma that made mouths water uncontrollably.

Some people could not resist and wanted to pick a fruit to eat.

Zhang Yi saw this and was about to stop them, but then he thought better of it and kept silent.

Thus, a man climbed the tree and picked a fruit to eat.

He forcefully broke open the white fruit; inside was creamy pulp with an even stronger fragrant aroma.

Seeing the crowd’s hesitant expressions, the man smiled and said, “I study plants. Just by smelling this fruit, I can tell it’s not poisonous. It’s safe to eat!”

Then he bit a big chunk right in front of everyone.

The sweet juice filled his mouth, and he laughed, “So sweet, so thirst-quenching!”

Except for Zhang Yi and a few others, most of the people on the ship rarely had full meals and didn’t remember when they last tasted fruit.

So when they saw the fruit was normal, they rushed over, scrambling to pick the fruits on the tree.

Some were cautious and worried about the fruit, so they didn’t dare approach.

Old Tian walked over, holding a fruit, and asked Zhang Yi, “Mr. Zhang, this fruit…”

“Don’t eat it.”

Zhang Yi responded simply with two words.

But after some thought, he still put the fruit into the Dimensional Space.

Old Tian swallowed his urge to taste it and said, “Yes!”

Su Nuanxi was also a bit tempted. She said to Zhu Yunque beside her, “Senior Sister, everyone’s eating them. Let’s pick one and try it too!”

Zhu Yunque carefully observed Zhang Yi.

Seeing that Zhang Yi and Zhou Ke’er remained indifferent, she frowned slightly and said, “Better not eat it. Safety first.”

Su Nuanxi swallowed, her expression a bit regretful.

Just then, Tommy in her arms woke up smelling the fragrance.

As soon as he woke, he started crying loudly.

Su Nuanxi hurriedly said, “He’s probably craving the milky scent! Maybe we should get some for the child.”

Zhu Yunque instinctively said, “Are you crazy? You want Tommy to eat this unknown…”

Her voice gradually lowered halfway through.

“Unknown stuff.”

Su Nuanxi blinked, “But everyone else is eating! Look, nothing’s wrong.”

Zhu Yunque hesitated and still didn’t dare to take the risk.

She had learned a lot on this journey and was already terrified by the various strange events at sea.

Zhang Yi held a gun in his right hand and pulled Zhou Ke’er with his left, instructing the crew around him to hold guns on alert.

After seeing that some passengers had eaten the white fruit with no abnormalities, he said, “Let’s go. We’ll move further inland.”

The passengers walked while stuffing more white fruits into their pockets, then slowly moved forward.

Zhang Yi needed to determine if there was any danger here.

If possible, he would temporarily settle everyone here.

After all, there were fruits to eat, so they wouldn’t starve anytime soon.

The island’s thickets were huge. When moving deeper inside, they had to use miner’s lamps to illuminate.

However, as they walked, Zhang Yi sensed something was off.

He actually found traces of human activity inside the forest.

The ground in the depths of the forest was muddy and damp, so human footprints were clearly visible.

“There are people living here!”

Zhang Yi secretly raised his vigilance.

But the fact that people lived here meant there was an environment suitable for human survival.

He led the group step by step forward.

After passing through dense woods, they found a village built of wooden houses ahead.

The fields and houses were orderly and closely packed.

There were no tall buildings; all were uniform wooden houses.

They stepped out of the woods but did not see anyone outside.

However, this was understandable. Outside was freezing cold, and no one would venture out without necessity.

Compared to Zhang Yi’s caution, the other passengers on the ship were much more excited.

They felt they had found a sanctuary suitable for survival.

Here were abundant fruit trees that could fully supply their food.

And a village meant long-term survival was possible here.

Some people could not hold back and ran toward the village asking if anyone lived there.

“Excuse me, is anyone here?”

“Hello? Is there anyone else here?”

...

Zhang Yi frowned slightly at their shouting but did not stop them.

He just pulled Zhou Ke’er and others to stay at a distance.

Soon, a wooden house door carefully opened.

The door was opened by an old woman dressed in black. Her skin was dry and wrinkled, and she was hunched over, looking over eighty years old.

“Where are you all from?”

Surprisingly, the old woman spoke Mandarin.

But in this sea area, people of Chinese descent lived in various places.

Seeing that there really were people, the passengers were all very excited.

Someone immediately stepped forward and said, “We came from far away to rest here for a while.”

Old Tian walked beside Zhang Yi and said, “Mr. Zhang, she looks like an ordinary person. We must have arrived at a small island in the southern sea area, very close to entering the Starry Sea.” 𝐫𝐚NÔ𐌱Ɛș

Zhang Yi nodded without saying more.

The passengers over there were already chatting happily with the old woman.

Perhaps it had been too long since they last saw other people, so they were very excited.

Gradually, other local villagers cautiously opened their doors and came out.

They all claimed to be natives who survived thanks to the fruits from the native sacred tree after the sudden heavy snow.

But Zhang Yi felt something strange when looking at them.

Because the village had only women; not a single man was seen.

And those women’s skin had an unusual pale color.

“Everyone, you’ve come all this way. Just rest here for a while! I’ll go prepare dinner for you.”

The old woman said with a warm smile.

Then she turned and went back inside. Other women in the village also warmly welcomed the passengers to their homes for dinner.

These passengers were deeply moved and warmed by the locals’ hospitality.

Zhu Yunque lowered her head to look at the child in her arms and muttered, “Tommy, leaving you in the care of these people might not be a bad thing either.”

Author's Note