Chapter 5: Materials for Building a House
The 600 acres of the Rose Corridor, along with the nearby small hills connecting to the Sanqing Mountains, had already been cleared by the Mutated Plant Defense Army, leaving only unmutated saplings.
From a distance, it looked like a few tufts of hair standing on a bald egg.
On the flat lands farther away, even the grass sprouts were sparse, not as tall and resilient as the wild grass growing in the ruins of the cities.
Huai Yu wandered back and forth across her vast territory, noticing that the water in the pond was crystal clear, the bottom visible at a glance. Only a few insignificant water plants and tiny fish swam inside…
She couldn’t help but wonder how the army had managed to clean the mountains and waters so safely.
She glanced at the towering Sanqing Mountains not far away.
That was where she had woken up. Strange and rugged rocks stood tall, and all around, mutated plants coiled and intertwined, creating a bizarre spectacle different from the rocks themselves.
She then looked at the mutation detector beside her and couldn’t help but sigh dejectedly, muttering slowly:
“The Mutated Plant Defense Army… really capable.”
…
But before sighing too much, she needed to think about how to build a shelter against the wind and rain.
However, there were no materials nearby. Even if she pulled up the foundation stones, she had no way to mix mud and lay beams.
Thinking it over, she realized she had to rely on the mountains.
Following the Rose Corridor, she walked forward, passing a flat building from a distance guarded by sentries — likely a station of the Mutated Plant Defense Army.
She didn’t know how long she walked before she finally saw the sign for Zone 8.
The defense soldiers had said there had been a disturbance here yesterday, probably when she was passing through.
Looking around, recognizing some familiar traces, Huai Yu finally smiled and gently reached out to stroke a leaf, speaking softly:
“Careful now, open a door for me. Don’t let anyone notice.”
After thinking for a moment, she politely added: “Thank you.”
The branches in front of her trembled and, before long, quietly opened a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Once Huai Yu slipped out, the branches twined back together, leaving no trace.
Beyond the city’s borders, the mountains seemed like her true domain. The faint forest paths were long overgrown with vegetation, but Huai Yu wove her way through branches, bushes, and wild grass, looking as relaxed as if she were home.
However… she didn’t have a home now. She needed to build one herself.
It wasn’t long before she spotted some twisted, tangled vines in the forest.
Early spring brought cool temperatures to the mountains, and only tiny buds could be seen on the vines. It was hard to tell what species they were just by looking.
Still, Huai Yu hesitated only briefly before choosing:
“Purple flowers! Wisteria! I love them! You’re going to help me build a house!”
The vine, though called a “vine,” had a main stem rooted firmly in the soil, already four or five centimeters thick. With the solid mountain soil, it was deeply anchored. Huai Yu grabbed the trunk with both hands and pulled hard.
But after a long struggle, it didn’t budge an inch.
Her palms even turned slightly red.
“……”
Yet she didn’t feel defeated. She simply followed the vine to its thinner ends and easily snapped off the younger shoots.
Crack!
The thin vines broke off easily, and soon she had a bundle. By the time she had stripped the whole vine down to its main stem, she had gathered a neat pile.
Humming a cheerful, messy tune, she looked around, then hesitated again—
“I’ve got the beams… but where are the tiles?”
Thinking it over, she headed deeper into the mountains.
…
The dense forest was damp, shady, and full of the sounds of insects and birds.
Everything seemed just like it had before the catastrophe.
But only Huai Yu knew the difference.
Walking through the mountains, she could feel the life awakening in all the plants around her.
Spring was truly a wonderful season!
After walking for a long while through the freshly budding trees and vines, Huai Yu finally found a tall tree.
It was a bit different from the others, probably slightly mutated, which made it easier to communicate with.
Although the tree’s leaves were still smaller than her fingertip, she knew that once grown, they could reach 30 centimeters wide — perfect for roofing!
Unfortunately, the tree was very tall. After craning her neck and seeing no reaction, Huai Yu could only hug the trunk and whimper:
“Please!”
The branches rustled, and after a long pause, one branch extended toward her.
Huai Yu hesitated before grabbing it, then closed her eyes and focused with all her might—
“Hmm—!!!”
Her face flushed red as her barely recovered abilities started to surge, leaving her panting with exhaustion.
But it was worth it — tender buds quickly unfurled on the branch and all over the tree, spreading layer upon layer of broad green leaves!
The lush greenery was beautiful!
Huai Yu plucked the giant leaves one by one, the crack crack sound oddly satisfying. She piled them up into a small mountain before letting go.
The branch quickly retracted, clearly eager to be left alone.
Huai Yu didn’t mind at all. She simply gazed happily at the leafy pile, then found some thin, flexible vines in the forest and started weaving them together.
She was a bit rusty, but with patchwork here and there, by noon she had a large, vine-woven net, full of holes but serviceable.
Fortunately, the leaves weren’t picky — she bundled them into the net, tied the corners, and could now drag it along.
The trees on the mountain obediently made way for her. After stuffing the wisteria vines into the net as well, Huai Yu even spotted a tall pine tree.
“A Huashan pine…”
Huai Yu beamed. Huashan pines, like red pines, produced edible pine nuts!
She patted the trunk: “Any pine cones left?”
Panting slightly, she realized she had communicated with way too many trees today. It was tiring — strange, she was supposed to be strong…
But it didn’t matter. Maybe she just needed to rest a bit.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, plop plop — several big pine cones dropped from the branches, apparently ones that even the squirrels had missed.
“One, two, three, four… twelve in total!”
And they were all pretty big!
Huai Yu happily stuffed the cones into the pile of leaves, carefully heaping the leaves over them to prevent anything from falling out through the gaps.
Looking around, she tugged up another handful of flexible vines—
All done!
She now had all the materials needed to build her house!
