Chapter 4: The Beginning of the Exploration

A countdown appeared on the panel. Fang Mingxi moved her finger aside and turned to look behind her. The lush tree suddenly cast a double shadow, and countless fruits abruptly appeared on its branches.

The green grass showed splashes of color as several unknown mushrooms sprouted from the tree roots.

Among the shrubs, red and black wild berries hung plentifully, their ripe fragrance wafting into Fang Mingxi’s nose.

A faint mountain icon appeared in the sky on the panel, overlapping with Red Leaf Mountain, merging the two images.

The golden fingertip indicator appeared. Time was running short. Fang Mingxi hurriedly tugged on Tang Yao’s hair, signaling her to look behind.

Underneath the tree grew a cluster of white mushrooms of varying heights. If she wasn’t mistaken, these were the only mushrooms that couldn’t be artificially cultivated in modern times—the chicken mushrooms.

Chicken mushrooms grow on termite nests and are highly nutritious.

In the famous Southwest F4 Province, people were fervent fans of chicken mushrooms.

Before traveling here, Fang Mingxi had once visited Sichuan Province on a trip and tasted chicken mushrooms at a farmhouse.

That unique texture and special aroma instantly won her over.

Now, seeing something so familiar again, she couldn’t help but feel excited.

“Sis, what’s wrong? Did you poop?” Tang Yao’s scalp tingled as she scratched the dry diaper, “No! Are you hungry?”

Fang Mingxi quickly shook her head, pulling Tang Yao’s hair and babbling while pointing behind them.

Look back, look back there!!!

Tang Yao still didn’t understand what she meant. She put down the wooden bucket and pulled her hair free from Fang Mingxi’s grasp. “Alright, let’s go!” she said, hugging Fang Mingxi, who was slipping down her back, and lifted the bucket to leave.

Fang Mingxi was speechless, wishing she could sprout another mouth out of thin air.

Her eyes fixed on the nearby chicken mushrooms. Resolute, she tilted her body and began to fall downwards.

She didn’t care anymore—she had to find those mushrooms.

Whether her grandparents would have enough to eat depended on this. She would crawl if she had to.

“Ah! Xi Xi!” Tang Yao suddenly felt a lightness on her back. Fang Mingxi, who had been obediently still, suddenly twisted and leaned to the right.

Terrified, Tang Yao dropped the bucket and swiftly turned to catch her.

“Sis, what are you doing? You scared me to death!” she said, her heart pounding as she gently set Fang Mingxi down and began to retie the straps.

Tang Yao glanced ahead and caught sight of the mushrooms growing beneath the big tree. Her hand paused, a surge of joy swelling within her.

Mushrooms—there were mushrooms ahead.

She hurriedly retrieved the bucket, scooped up Fang Mingxi, and ran a few steps to the tree.

Large chicken mushrooms poked through the soil, flourishing wildly around the tree. The ground was cracked in many places; a simple dig revealed even more mushrooms not yet fully surfaced.

Each chicken mushroom was as big as Fang Mingxi’s face.

Tang Yao was ecstatic. Forgetting to care for Fang Mingxi, she placed her gently on the ground and grabbed a thick stick to pry the soil.

She had never seen this kind of mushroom before and didn’t know if it was edible, but she wouldn’t waste anything that could stave off hunger.

She thought, even if she hadn’t seen it before, surely the adults at home had!

They had spent several days here and had chopped wood multiple times on the mountain but never found anything like this.

All their food at home was bought on credit from the team leader in advance, diminishing bit by bit, with debts to settle by year-end.

Now that they had found mushrooms, surviving for a couple of days would be no problem.

Tang Yao dug feverishly, loosening the soil bit by bit until she uprooted the mushrooms.

The opened chicken mushrooms were enormous, with roots as long as her arm.

She pulled some grass and placed it into the bucket before carefully stacking the mushrooms upside down inside. Lost in her task, she didn’t notice Fang Mingxi crawling away.

Her target was a nearby shrub laden with red wild berries, resembling the red thorn bubbles they had eaten in their past life.

Since she could only harvest three types of food, and they’d already used one to guide Tang Yao to pick mushrooms, these berries were the second.

Time was limited; Fang Mingxi had to move quickly.

She didn’t know if anyone else might see the Red Leaf Mountain she’d summoned, so she needed to use up the harvesting chances without delay.

Fang Mingxi was no saint. In this special era, there was no reason for her to hand over her golden finger to others.

She allowed Tang Yao to see the mushrooms because their goals aligned, a fact known to those familiar with this history.

Now that Fang Mingxi had crossed over and become part of this world, she had to ensure her family’s survival.

Unity was the foundation of survival. With Tang Yao caring for her, there was no reason for selfishness.

Fang Mingxi crawled under the bushes, carefully avoiding the small thorns, her still clumsy hands picking the red berries.

Without a container, she gathered a few leaves and layered them to form a makeshift basket. After a little practice, her speed wasn’t slow. By the time Tang Yao finished digging the chicken mushrooms and came over, the red thorn bubbles had all been picked.

Only a few intact ones remained on fallen branches, but most had been stored in the panel’s temporary basket.

There was a cart icon on the panel. Fang Mingxi didn’t know if these things could be sold, but she’d try taking some back.

Spotting more wild berries, Tang Yao squatted down, delighted. “Xi Xi, you actually found red thorn bubbles! These are so sweet. We’ll eat them tonight.”

She kissed Fang Mingxi’s cheek with a smack and deftly folded the leaves into a small basket to hold the fallen berries.

Tang Yao was almost forgetting the anxiety of accidentally entering Red Leaf Mountain, her heart brimming with joy.

She felt bringing Xi Xi along had been the right choice. Just a casual search turned up so much food.

No wonder everyone loved to head up the mountain—the food was truly abundant.

As they prepared to descend, guided by Fang Mingxi, Tang Yao spotted a large patch of wood ear mushrooms on a withered tree.

She quickly picked them and tossed them into the bucket, covering them with leaves.

The chicken mushrooms on the ground were all dug up. The bucket was packed full, and many wood ears wouldn’t fit. Tang Yao stretched open the straps holding Fang Mingxi to squeeze in as many as possible.

Carrying the ten-kilogram bucket didn’t feel heavy. Cheerful, she carried Fang Mingxi on her back, retracing their steps.

After only a few paces, the half-hour exploration time ended.

The panel’s exploration and harvesting counts reset to zero, leaving only a cooldown countdown.

Fang Mingxi glanced back as a faint image before her vanished. The holes left by digging up the chicken mushrooms quickly healed, and everything instantly returned to its original state.

From a distance, the mountain remained the same, the trees unchanged—no difference from when they first arrived.

If not for the things in her hands, Fang Mingxi would have thought it all a hallucination.

She hugged Tang Yao’s neck, a slight smile tugging at her lips. The experiment had succeeded. From now on, there was no need to fear starvation.

Descending was harder than ascending. Though they hadn’t climbed very high, Tang Yao nearly took wrong turns multiple times.

Finally, they reached the correct path. Just as the road lay beneath their feet, several voices suddenly sounded in their ears.