Rebirth: Love in the Apocalypse - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: JR Farm-Stay 8
Three days later, Mo Chenxuan, Qin Wu, Xu Fei, and Lin Rongrong stood at the edge of what used to be an orchard.

Before the apocalypse, the orchard had thousands of fruit trees, including apples, pears, peaches, cherries, oranges, and plums.

At this time, most of the trees had withered and died.

However, a few had mutated.

Twenty metres away, Mo Chenxuan saw a grove of cherry trees.

The trees were laden with plump red fruits, and several people couldn’t help but feel greedy.

However, they knew better.

“Qin Wu, do you want to bet?” Lin Rongrong suddenly asked.

“Bet? What to bet?”

“I bet that most of those cherries are poisonous.”

Qin Wu rolled her eyes when she heard the bet.

“Do you think I am stupid?” She asked.

Generally, mutated fruits were rare, and even then, ninety-five per cent were poisonous or inedible.

How could Qin Wu know this and yet agree to the bet?

“Miss Lin, how should we deal with the mutated cherry trees?” Mo Chenxuan asked.

“First investigate their abilities and then decide.” Lin Rongrong immediately answered.

After following Mo Chenxuan and Qin Wu for several days, she and Xu Fei learned many things.

As a result, they were able to deal with and adapt to more things.

Most importantly, their superpower had advanced to level one.

“Those trees are level one. We will leave them to you and Xu Fei.” Mo Chenxuan decided, and the two didn’t argue.

Soon after, Xu Fei and Lin Rongrong approached the trees.

However, when they entered the five-metre circle, the ground rumbled, and a brown root drilled out from the soil.

“It’s going to be troublesome.” Qin Wu said when she saw this.

“It’s troublesome, but they have learned a lot. They are not the same rookies they used to be.”

“Xu Fei is fine, but it’s hard for Lin Rongrong. She lacks adequate attack power because her healing superpower has nothing to do with combat.”

“Although her ability is not combat-related, she is a superpower, and her body is naturally strong. If she can channel that strength, she will only be a little inferior or equal to ordinary attack-type superpowers.”

“You are right about that.” Qin Wu agreed, and the two continued to watch the fight.

At this time, both Lin Rongrong and Xu Fei were slashing the roots.

However, the roots seemed endless.

The more they slashed, the more appeared.

“How many roots do these trees have?” Lin Rongrong couldn’t help but complain.

“They shouldn’t be endless. Focus on slashing.” Xu Fei said, but he was secretly worried.

Although the roots were not too sturdy, it was still tiring to keep slashing them.

Most importantly, his and Rongrong’s superpowers were not endless.

When they exhausted their superpowers, they would have to retreat to replenish their energy.

‘Is there nothing else we can do besides slashing the roots?’ Xu Fei wondered, looking at the cherry trees with thoughtful eyes.

“Crystal core.” He suddenly remembered.

“What?” Lin Rongrong asked.

“The cherry trees will die if we dig out their crystal cores.”

“Do you know where the crystal cores are? Does each tree have one or more crystal cores? What will happen to the fruits after we dig out the crystal cores?” Lin Rongrong fired a series of questions.

Xu Fei was flabbergasted when he heard the questions.

‘I didn’t think of that.’ He thought with a flustered expression.

“There are six trees. Why don’t we try with one first?” Lin Rongrong suggested, and Xu Fei immediately nodded.

“Rongrong, can you temporarily deal with the roots? I want to approach the outermost tree.”

“Good.” Lin Rongrong nodded.

A moment later, Xu Fei forged a second sword and held it in his left hand.

At the same time, he rushed towards the tree while Lin Rongrong dealt with the encroaching roots.

Unfortunately, the two thought too well.

When Xu Fei was halfway to his target, the tree launched a bunch of cherry fruits.

“Lookout.” Lin Rongrong screamed but didn’t ignore the roots.

She frantically slashed the roots while Xu Fei swung his two swords to block the cherries.

Unfortunately, this was his first time using two swords, and the coordination was not perfect.

Although he managed to block most of the cherry fruits, one slipped in between his swords and hit his cheek.

After hitting him, the cherry fell, but a dark spot appeared on Xu Fei’s cheek.

“Hurry back.” Lin Rongrong roared when she saw the dark spot.

However, Xu Fei didn’t listen and instead continued towards the tree.

Fifteen seconds later, he reached the tree and decisively slashed at a raised knot on its trunk.

When the sword moved, a gap appeared on the trunk, and Xu Fei saw a green crystal core.

‘I have got it.’ He thought, thrust his sword into the gap and dislodged the crystal core.

Instantaneously, the tree stopped moving.

Its roots collapsed, and its branches stopped swaying.

Most importantly, the cherries didn’t fall off or begin withering.

“The crystal cores are in the trunks.” Xu Fei shouted, planning to attack the remaining five trees.

However, Lin Rongrong had had enough.

“You are poisoned. Hurry back.” She shouted through gritted teeth.

“Poisoned?” Xu Fei couldn’t help but be surprised and then remembered the cherry that hit his cheek.

“Was it poisonous?” He wondered, looking at the cherry that lay innocently on the ground.

However, he didn’t have time to ponder the matter because Lin Rongrong was having a hard time slashing the roots, and some had escaped her control.

Seeing this, Xu Fei rushed to help, and both retreated outside the attack range.

“Let me look at your cheek.” Lin Rongrong said and unceremoniously tilted Xu Fei’s head.

“Why didn’t you turn back when I asked you to return?” She spoke through gritted teeth.

At the same time, she positioned her right palm above the cheek and activated her superpower.

Soon after, a white light fell on Xu Fei’s cheek, and the dark spot began to shrink.

Ten minutes later, the dark spot completely disappeared, but Lin Rongrong was paler than milk.

“Rongrong…” Xu Fei called with an anxious expression.

Simultaneously, he removed a purified crystal core from his pocket and forced it into Lin Rongrong’s hand.

“Absorb it quickly.” He instructed, and Lin Rongrong didn’t hesitate.

Fortunately, Lin Rongrong was only exhausted and not injured.

After half an hour of absorbing crystal cores, she regained her vigour and immediately glared at Xu Fei.

“Will you ignore me again?” She demanded, her eyes narrowed into slits.

“I am sorry. I shouldn’t have ignored you.” Xu Fei sincerely apologised.

He only thought about dealing with the mutant plant at that time.

As a result, he wasted time, and the poison almost spread to the entire right side of his face.

If he returned when Lin Rongrong called him, she wouldn’t have needed so much effort to heal him.

“It won’t happen a second time.” He promised.

“Good.” Lin Rongrong smiled and sighed.

“I didn’t expect healing was so tiring.” She said.

When the apocalypse began, the zombies were weak, and the two could easily deal with them.

After that, they formed a team with Mo Chenxuan and Qin Wu and rarely had a chance to fall into danger.

Because of this, until now, Lin Rongrong was a healer who had never healed.

“Do you feel okay?” She asked.

“I am fine.” Xu Fei nodded and quickly continued.

“How about you?”

“I am also fine.”

After that, the two rested for another ten minutes before approaching the remaining cherry trees.

With their previous experience, dealing with the remaining trees was easy.

After completing their mission, they walked to Mo Chenxuan and Qin Wu.

“I think you have already discovered your shortcomings.” Mo Chenxuan said, and the two nodded.

Lin Rongrong sighed.

Although she and Xu Fei were husband and wife, they didn’t have a good tacit understanding.

Because of this, their cooperation was not seamless, and many things that could have been easily dealt with were needlessly dragged on.

“We will work on our shortcomings.” Xu Fei assured, and Mo Chenxuan didn’t dwell on it.

After all, some things were the privacy of others and didn’t need to be said out loud.

“Let’s check the fruits.” Qin Wu said, eagerly looking at the cherries.

“They are poisonous.” Lin Rongrong said in an aggrieved voice.

“Is that true? How do you know?”

However, Qin Wu didn’t answer and instead chuckled before leading several people towards the trees.

There were more than two thousand cheery fruits on the six trees.

Unfortunately, of the two thousand, only thirty-two were edible.

“Look at the colour of this fruit and compare it to the rest.” Qin Wu said, pointing at one of the edible fruits.

When they heard this, Lin Rongrong and Xu Fei immediately focused on the cherry.

A moment later, Lin Rongrong gasped in surprise.

“The colour is a little different, but that doesn’t mean it’s edible.” She continued to question.

“Look at the other fruits.” Qin Wu instructed.