Looking out, a layer of grey mist covered the surface of the green forest.
The scene resembled a mystical realm shrouded in ethereal mist, with falling raindrops doing nothing to diminish this effect.
Yan Hua and Sha Lan kept jumping forward on protruding tree roots, each step steady and sure.
Due to the rain, moss and other growths would grow on the tree roots, making them particularly slippery. So, every step forward required extra caution.
"Ah’Lan, you need to be careful, it’s especially slippery here," Yan Hua called out from ahead.
Each of her steps was stable, with good traction on her feet. While looking ungraceful if one fell was one thing, getting injured would be much worse.
"Alright, you be careful too," Sha Lan nodded.
Sha Lan was a very cautious person. She would observe the environment before each jump to ensure there was no moss or other substances on the tree root ahead.
Everyone had close friends, so they all paired up to gather in certain areas.
This was not only to avoid boredom but also provided an extra measure of security – if any fierce Ferocious Beast appeared, the two could look out for each other.
"Ah’Lan, did you see? There are so many mushrooms here!" Yan Hua excitedly called out.
She had seen mushrooms covering the tree trunks and branches across the large clearing, presenting a dazzling array.
"There really are many mushrooms. The Shaman is right. How did we never notice them before?" Sha Lan marveled.
They used to enter the forest during rainy seasons before, but they did not know these things were edible. So, they never paid attention to these small things growing on the tree trunks. Their eyes were only on moving beasts and etc.
"Will these really taste good? They look just like umbrellas." Yan Hua crouched down to look at the mushrooms.
Yan Hua adjusted her raincoat and tugged at her straw hat. Due to the height of the forest trees and the dense foliage, the rain was not as heavy as under the open air.
"They really do look like umbrellas. They should be edible – the Shaman said edible ones all taste good!" Sha Lan affirmed.
Sha Lan really trusted Su Bai. After all, everything they had eaten so far had been delicious. Many things that looked ordinary turned out to taste extraordinarily good when eaten, so she believed these mushrooms would definitely be tasty too.
"Let’s quickly collect them. There are so many," Yan Hua had already eagerly started gathering.
She extended both hands to begin ‘harvesting mode’, following Su Bai’s cautionary instructions as she picked mushrooms one by one.
However, when she started gathering, she had already done a general scan according to what the Shaman had taught her.
She found this large patch of mushrooms were all non-poisonous, so she gathered them with confidence.
"This whole patch is non-poisonous, we can take them all." Sha Lan also crouched down to start picking.
"Don’t pick the small ones, let’s get the big ones, or we’ll fill up too quickly," Yan Hua said.
"Okay," Sha Lan nodded.
The rain kept falling, with rustling sounds constantly echoing through the forest, occasionally mixed with beast calls.
These sounds resonated clearly through the forest, harmonizing well with the sound of rain falling on leaves.
Half an hour later, both girls had finished gathering all the mushrooms in front of them.
Yan Hua stood up, wiping her sweat and adjusting her raincoat, saying, "These are so much easier to pick than I thought."
She had assumed the mushrooms would be deeply rooted and require a lot of strength to pull out. Unexpectedly, they came loose as soon as she reached out for them, making the task very easy.
"Yes. They’re really easy to pick. Let’s go to the next spot, we’ve already gathered all the big mushrooms here." Sha Lan suggested.
"Alright," Yan Hua immediately started looking for the next mushroom patch up ahead.
Sha Lan looked up and saw many mushrooms growing on the trunk of a large tree, and said, "Ah’Hua, look!"
Yan Hua also looked up and said, “Oh? These mushrooms are different from what we just picked."
The mushrooms on the tree trunk were of larger clusters, much bigger than what they had just gathered. The previous mushrooms were fist-sized, while these on the trunk were twice that size.
"These mushrooms are so big, let’s pick them." Sha Lan suggested.
Picking large mushrooms was much better than picking small ones – there was also a greater sense of accomplishment when harvesting them.
"Okay, hold my basket while I check if they’re poisonous." Yan Hua took off the wooden basket from her back.
Since these mushrooms were growing quite high, and they could only see the undersides rather than their surfaces, she needed to jump up to check their tops.
"Alright, be careful." Sha Lan cautioned.
"No problem," Yan Hua nodded, using a protruding branch nearby to jump up.
She held onto the tree trunk looking at the mushrooms, finding that while these mushrooms were large, surface colours were very bright.
There were three to four colours in total, each very vibrant – red, yellow, mixed with some blue, looking quite beautiful.
Yan Hua shook her head after seeing the mushrooms and sighed. "No good. They’re poisonous."
She jumped down disappointedly. [What a shame. These mushrooms are so big…]
If they were not poisonous, ten or twenty of these would have filled up the wooden basket.
"Ah! They’re poisonous? Guess we can’t rely on size after all." Sha Lan said resignedly.
"I saw lots of mushrooms over there while I was up in the tree, let’s go check that area," Yan Hua pointed to a spot in the distance.
Sha Lan immediately adjusted her wooden basket, nodding repeatedly. "What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!"
"Wait for me!" Yan Hua shouldered her basket and caught up, continuing. "Since when did you become more enthusiastic than me?"
"That’s what happens after spending so much time with you. It’s infectious." Sha Lan said without looking back.
"Hey, you can’t blame that on me!" Yan Hua joked.
The two arrived at the spot Yan Hua had seen earlier with their baskets, finding another large patch of mushrooms.
"There are so many, let’s start picking!" Yan Hua rubbed her hands together.
Sha Lan scanned the area and warned. "The mushrooms here seem to be of two varieties, one type is poisonous, so be careful when picking."
One type was bright red in colour, clearly poisonous at first glance.
"I know," Yan Hua nodded.