41 Wild Plum Rain

The sun was still shining bright high in the sky as Xiang Ling stepped inside the perimeter of the mountains standing tall behind the Shengdu Village. She walked through the dense wood, navigating her path toward the destination.

One of the three basic requirements of a mortal was food and that was exactly what the refugees needed the most at the moment to stay alive and fight through the disaster that they all were facing at the moment. From what she learned from Li Xian, they were almost out of rations to feed the refugees.

Solving the issue of lack of rations wasn't initially a hard task for Xiang Ling. With all the resources she carried in her space, she could easily provide the refugees with delicacies every day. However, all her resources were sealed at the moment and she couldn't use them to help the refugees.

Hence, here she was - wandering through a dangerous place in search of wild fruits and other hunts. Though she couldn't use her own resources, she could still use her powers to find enough food from the forest for the refugees to survive for a week or so. However, she was having a hard time finding her way to those wild treasures as she couldn't use her powers.

She trudged through the thick underbrush, her senses heightened as she scanned the forest for any signs of edible plants or game. The air was thick with the earthy scent of moss and pine, the occasional rustle of leaves hinting at hidden creatures moving in the shadows.

Without the help of her powers, she relied solely on her wits and instincts to navigate the dense woods. Every step was deliberate, every movement calculated as she searched for sustenance for the refugees. She knew that time was of the essence, that every moment spent in the wilderness brought the villagers closer to hunger's cruel grasp.

As she pressed on, the sunlight filtering through the canopy above cast dappled patterns on the forest floor, illuminating patches of vibrant greenery. Xiang Ling's keen eyes darted from one cluster of bushes to the next, her fingers brushing against leaves and stems in search of familiar shapes and textures.

The chirping of birds and the distant gurgle of a nearby stream provided a symphony of sounds that echoed through the woods, a constant reminder of the life teeming within the wilderness. Yet, amidst the beauty of nature, Xiang Ling felt the weight of the gaze of the man who had been following her from the moment she started her journey.

She tried her best to ignore him but the deeper they stepped into the forest, the more she felt frustrated for wasting precious time because she couldn't use her powers to search for what she was looking for.

Letting out a sigh, she stopped in her tracks and asked while looking over her shoulder at the man who too stopped walking. "Why are you following me?"

"What are you doing here?" Xin Cheng asked in return instead of answering her question.

Xiang Ling turned her body to look at the man and replied, "None of your business. Stop following me!"

Not like she was actually expecting him to listen to her but when he started following her again as soon as she started walking, Xiang Ling couldn't help but feel perplexed. It seemed like she couldn't get rid of him even if she wanted to.

Silence once again cocooned them as the two wandered deeper into the mountains. It was not until another half an hour had passed that Xiang Ling finally spotted a group of trees bearing fruits.

A huge smile bloomed on her lips as she clapped her hands in excitement. The sudden gesture left Xin Cheng confused and surprised as he tried to find out what could be the reason behind her happiness. What he didn't expect was to see a few trees covered in fruits.

"You came here to eat these fruits?" He was unable to hold himself back from asking the question.

Xiang Ling just gave him an unimpressed look before she completely ignored him and walked closer to the first tree that was covered in wild plums. But she soon realized that the tree was too tall for her to pluck the plums without using her spiritual powers or martial arts. The problem was - Xin Cheng was still there.

She turned her attention to look at her third husband and with a barely audible tone, she put forward the request - "Can you help me pick these fruits?" She wasn't expecting a positive response but it was still worth asking before she could take some serious measures like activating his sleep acupoint to make him fall asleep.

"If you want to eat fruits, you don't have to come all the way here. You can get some in the village or back in the City." Xin Cheng told her as he ignored responding to her request.

Xiang Ling couldn't help the sigh that immediately left her lips the moment she heard his words. Starting right into his eyes, she spoke - "I'm here to pluck these fruits for the refugees. Are you going to help or not?"

She was sure that he wouldn't help her. Her third husband disliked her way too much to believe her words and even if he did believe her, there was still next to no chance that he would help her. Yet, she was left shocked when the man let out a sigh and stepped forward, moving to stand next to the wild plum tree.

She watched in shock as he pulled back his left hand in a very elegant and mastered move before forcing it forward. His palm struck the trunk of the tree and the next moment, Xiang Ling witnessed a wild plum rain.

He didn't use any spiritual energy, nor did his move carry any internal energy. Yet, that simple looking push was enough to shake the entire tree.

"Are you not going to pick them up? We don't have much time left before the weather will shift."