Digging up plant after plant until it was around dinner time, Lin Songmei, Yan Mingqing, and Han Youhong all gathered back around in a part of the clearing that was now devoid of the red-leafed invasive flora. 

Gathered in a circle, Songmei and the others began to set up camp. Songmei and Mingqing pulled out their shared tent, and Han Youhong brought his personal one, and all three of them worked together to set up a bit of a small hangout area between their tents. 

Some outdoor cushions, some heat lamps, some normal lamps. Everything that they might want while hanging out. 

Plopping onto one of the cushions, leaning back and letting out a long sigh, Songmei looked up to Mingqing who was standing above her. “We didn’t end up doing any investigating today... We all just dug up a bunch of plants. Luckily our storage rings are big, but what if we have to bring back other stuff later on?” 

“Hmm... It should be fine,” Mingqing mused, crouching down on the ground right behind Songmei and staring down at her from above with a smile, “The investigation won’t be a quick process anyway, so starting twelve hours later isn’t too big of a deal. And, we can always just find a way to get rid of the excess plants we find~” 

“I guess...” Songmei agreed, reaching up and pinching Mingqing’s nose. 

“C’mon... again?” Han Youhong interjected, having walked out of his tent, his arms laden with food. “Isn’t it time for dinner? Not now, you two lovebird... I mean... best friends don’t need to do that, right now...” 

Turning away and taking a seat while Songmei and Mingqing both extricated themselves, Han Youhong couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. “I literally don’t feel love or sexual urges, and yet... I still feel like a third-wheel around these two... Hot damn.” 

Not hearing the details of Han Youhong’s muttering, Songmei assumed it was him professing his ever-lasting love for lychee jelly as always while pulling out some food from her spatial storage ring. 

There was... a decent amount in there. She had a few meals that she could cook, but... it was a real pain to pull out her cooking set, then pull out ingredients, so for most days she just went by on rations. 

The “Add some water, instant [blank]” series of food was great... 

Instant noodles... instant soup... 

Like... What else did she need?

Nutrition and balance??

Pfft...

... She really needed to get some fruits and vegetables the next time she returned to Westriver. 

“Anyway,” Han Youhong changed the topic, munching on some snacks while waving his hand. “Is there anything of note we found today while digging our plants? I know we only dug for a couple of hours but... yeah.” 

Pouring hot water into her food, Mingqing waited a moment, looking around only to be greeted by silence. 

“... Fine, I’ll start talking...” Mingqing shook her head, letting out a chuckle seeing the immediate brightening that Han Youhong and Songmei’s faces underwent. “I think there’s not much to note. I found... a lot of plants. As we all did. There weren’t any traces really of tampering around here, it seems like it naturally spread in this area due to the animals pooping. Did you two find anything different?” 

“Nope.” Han Youhong shook his head. His hands, moving faster now than any other time in the day, shoveling a constant stream of freeze-dried fruit into his mouth. “Just dug a buncha dirt. It was greaaaat~ I loved it... Luckily the roots weren’t deep, the problem was that I couldn’t eat while digging.” 

“Must’ve really hurt you, huh.” Mingqing mused, seeing that, for once, Han Youhong wasn’t eating his normal lychee jelly. “Is it because of the digging that you’re not eating jelly, or because it's meal time? Though, in the past, even during meals, half of it would be a lychee product... Anyway, Songmei?” 

“Not much for me...” Songmei shrugged, eating her instant noodles. “The problem is, we can’t really find where it was first introduced. These plants like... spread through where animals poop, and that’s really random.” 

“True, true,” Mingqing agreed while Han Youhong nodded. “We’ll see, I guess. It’s tough...” 

Falling into silence for a bit as everyone ate their food, enjoying the surprising goodness that was ration meals. 

Songmei had to say, they weren’t bad. In the past, because they were cheap, she had bought a few to be midnight snacks while she was up late studying for tests. However, back then, they were like a rare treat, like... going out to eat at a fancy restaurant. 

It was... an investment to open up those packages... 

But now, she had them piled up in her spatial storage ring like they were worthless bricks waiting to be laid... 

Songmei shook her head, swallowing her mouthful of noodles. She would never complain about the taste of food, not even these. She still remembered the first time she bought about twenty of these once she got her spatial storage ring... 

She was over the moon!!

Songmei had almost ascended right then and there... 

It still warmed her heart just to look at them... 

Slurp... 

Even if it was... probably unhealthy, the hot water that had become a broth-like existence tasted not bad too.

“Wait a second,” Han Youhong disturbed the silence, having finished devouring his food, his rocket-like eating pace firm as always. “What happens if we eat the plant? Does the same thing happen to us?” 

“I mean... I’d assume so,” Songmei murmured, seeing that Han Youhong had pulled out one of the plants and was eyeing it with a... suspicious glint in his eye. “There are differences between us, the spiritual beasts, and normal animals that roam around. But still, I don't think it’d end well.” 

“Probably not...” Han Youhong agreed, sighing as he continued to look over it. “Yeah...” 

Shaking her head, not even looking up from her own food, Mingqing put an end to Han Youhong’s thoughts. “You probably wouldn’t do so great. Because even though we aren’t crazy attracted to the plant because of its smell that we can’t smell, the part that forcibly stimulates potential probably works on us...” 

“Oh... damn.” Han Youhong remembered, putting away the plant without another thought. “I forgot about the whole “forcibly stimulate your potential and make your mind stop working” part... ” 

“Yeah...” Mingqing agreed, cleaning up her trash now that she had finished her food. “Though... sadly, the forcibly stimulating potential part is probably being misused somewhere, right now...” 

A bit of a heavy atmosphere descended onto the group, and with it, there was a short pause before Songmei could only nod and say, “Yeah...” 

That was stuff that... wasn’t nice to think about.

Esiyx

My sister came home todayyy
yayay
that was fun...
am really tired tho...
eughhhh
It's so late...
gonna sleep so muchhhh

Thanks for reading thoughh~!!
Take care reader friends~!! <3