Chapter 27: I Am a Big Fish

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Iron Pot nodded frantically, but with its beak pinched shut, it could not quite complete the gesture.

Qin Little Fish understood and slowly released her hand.

Realizing that something sticky had gotten onto her fingers, she wiped them disdainfully against its feathers.

Stupid fat goose. All it knows is eating.

She was just about to turn away when something occurred to her. She looked back at Iron Pot.

Iron Pot was gazing at her curiously, wondering whether she had also woken in the middle of the night, unable to sleep from hunger, and crawled out in search of food.

“Going to the back mountain?” Qin Little Fish asked.

Iron Pot was just about to honk when its beak was pinched shut again.

“You only need to nod or shake your head. If you understand, give me a response. If you don’t, your whole family is eating roast goose.”

Iron Pot: …

Of course it understood.

It hurriedly nodded.

Qin Little Fish smiled and turned toward the courtyard gate, with Iron Pot following close behind.

Seeing this, the dog sprang to its feet and could not resist barking at her.

“Woof!”

Qin Little Fish stopped, spun around, pulled off one shoe, and waved it threateningly at Sesame Cake.

Sesame Cake: …

Sesame Cake obediently lay back down, covering its eyes with both front paws, looking utterly aggrieved.

Whimper. Why leave the house without taking the dog?

Qin Little Fish ignored it and continued toward the gate with Iron Pot.

Once outside, she headed straight for the back mountain.

In the darkness, the mutant plants gave off a faint glow, far more conspicuous than during the day. Looking out across the mountain, one could immediately tell how many mutant plants there were, except for those hidden from view.

After comparing them carefully, she found that the ones emitting red light truly outnumbered those emitting green light by a great deal—not merely ten to one. There were far more red-glowing plants than she had guessed during the day.

It might even be a hundred to one.

Qin Little Fish only swept her eyes over them a few times. She had no intention of interfering with too much and led Iron Pot straight to the summit of Olive Mountain.

The instant she drew near, the olive tree began to sway without any wind.

“There you are, fragrant carrion compost.”

Qin Little Fish: …

What kind of description was that?

Iron Pot’s eyes shone as it stared at the olive tree, but it did not dare approach too closely. Instead, it searched nearby for fallen green olives to eat.

Qin Little Fish studied the olive tree for a while and confirmed that it had advanced to Level Two.

“You’ve grown quickly. But why are you glowing red?” Qin Little Fish murmured to herself.

Just as she was about to approach the base of the canopy, she suddenly remembered the nest of hornets.

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She looked around and began searching carefully.

There was nothing. Not only were there no hornets—the hollow in the tree where their nest had once been was gone as well.

There was no need to guess. The olive tree had certainly swallowed them.

It was probably thrilled. After suffering the hornets’ tyranny for so many years, it had finally turned the tables and punished them.

“Fragrant one, don’t stop. Come a little closer.”

The corner of Qin Little Fish’s mouth twitched.

In her memory, this olive tree had borne plenty of olives every year. Though she had never dared provoke that nest of hornets, she could still knock down a few olives from the edge with a bamboo pole.

The olives they brought home would be washed, dried, mashed, and salted into pickles. There would be enough to eat for an entire year, even several years.

She had eaten them as a child. They went wonderfully with rice.

And now it wanted to turn the natural order upside down? It no longer wanted people to eat its fruit, but instead wanted to eat people?

A flash of red glimmered in Qin Little Fish’s eyes, and she suddenly grew excited. Without another moment’s hesitation, she strode toward the olive tree.

“Carrion compost. Such fragrant carrion compost.”

The olive tree became extremely agitated. Its entire body began to tremble.

Qin Little Fish’s lips curled slightly. “Guess why I smell so good.”

The moment she finished speaking, countless roots sprouted from the hand she extended and drove viciously into the ground beneath the olive tree’s trunk.

Some of the roots bent sharply aside just before touching the dead snake, avoiding it as they burrowed into other places.

Crack! Crack!

The tall, sturdy olive tree seemed to turn into rotten wood beneath the roots. Its entire trunk rapidly split apart.

“Ah! Damn carrion compost! How dare you hurt me!”

The moment the olive tree finished speaking, its entire trunk split into eight sections and came crashing down.

Crash! Crash!

Iron Pot crawled out from beneath the branches, looking badly shaken as it glanced around, searching for something.

It soon spotted Qin Little Fish. But when it saw what she looked like now, it hesitated and did not dare approach.

The slender roots dug around beneath the fallen olive trunk. A moment later, they pulled out a vivid green crystal.

The roots retracted with the crystal, and in the blink of an eye, it landed in Qin Little Fish’s hand.

Yet her hand was soft, fair, and plump. There was not the slightest trace of roots.

She held the crystal up to the moonlight and examined it.

Well, she could not make out anything at all.

She slipped the crystal into her pocket and turned to Iron Pot.

“Honk?” Little Fish?

“Who else would I be? Old Fish?” Qin Little Fish rolled her eyes.

Iron Pot blinked, somewhat afraid to come closer. It could recognize general body shapes, distinguish scents, and knew personalities well enough, but it was not very good at recognizing faces.

It was much like how humans looked at geese and felt they all looked the same.

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The person before it felt both familiar and strange. Her aura was terrifying, yet somehow deeply familiar. Iron Pot widened its eyes several times, but still could not determine whether this was truly the one it thought she was.

“Honk!” Are you really Little Fish? But Little Fish’s hands don’t grow tree roots!

Qin Little Fish froze for a moment before belatedly realizing that she could somehow understand what it was saying now.

What a surprise.

“I told you, I’m Big Fish.” Before it could ask anything else, Qin Little Fish pointed at the green olives on the ground. “Weren’t you hungry? Hurry up and eat.”

She wondered whether geese could eat olives.

“Honk?” Are you really Little Fish?

“Eat them or don’t. If you won’t, I’m going home.”

“Honk!” It really is you!

That temper, that personality, that impatient expression—if it was not its new owner, Little Fish, then who else could it be?

Iron Pot came closer and sniffed her. She smelled fragrant, and even her scent was the same.

No doubt about it!

Iron Pot relaxed. It stretched out its neck and rubbed against her, then lowered its head and began pecking wildly at the olives.

Then Qin Little Fish saw that the creature was eating and defecating at the same time, looking exactly like a heartless manure-making machine.

Suddenly, Qin Little Fish noticed something. She crouched down and stared at the lump of droppings Iron Pot had just left behind.

Beneath it was a sickly-looking plant that had already been flattened beneath someone’s feet. As the goose droppings landed on it, the plant slowly began to unfurl. With the passage of time, it gradually started to emit a faint glow.

Fortunately, it was green light. Otherwise, she would have had to pull it out while wearing dung on her head.

She examined it carefully and was quite surprised.

It was a blood-stanching herb.

How wonderful. She had to dig it up.

For the past few days, Grandpa had been muttering about digging up some medicinal herbs to plant in the courtyard, making them easier for him to study.

She had come empty-handed and brought no tools.

After hesitating briefly, she simply reached out her hand.

All the while, Iron Pot watched from the corner of its eye.

Iron Pot: …

Why was she playing with poop?

The next moment, roots sprouted from Qin Little Fish’s fingertips, exactly like those it had seen earlier. Iron Pot shuddered so violently that it nearly choked to death on a green olive.

Although most of the plants on the mountain had not mutated, they had still grown enormous after the rain. Even the taro leaves on the mountain were nearly as large as the dining table at home.

Qin Little Fish tore off one of the leaves and effortlessly wrapped the entire herb, roots and soil alike, so that no dirt would fall out.

She had only just tied it up with a grass cord when she turned around and found herself face-to-face with Iron Pot’s enormous goose head.

Her fist rose instinctively. If she had not come to her senses at the crucial moment, she might well have smashed its head open.

“Honk!”