"Tiantian?"
Xiao Qing's voice interrupted Tian Jing's thoughts.
"Right, Xiao Qing, what year is it in the apocalypse?"
"The fourth year of the apocalypse."
Four years?
Her parents were gone, and in this life, she had just awakened her ability.
"Xiao Qing, do you know where Zhengyang Base is?"
"I don't know."
Tian Jing was a bit disappointed, but leveling up was the priority now. "Xiao Qing, I'm going to dig for crystal cores to level up."
"You know about crystal cores? Then why is your ability so low?"
"The world where Xiao Song was, it not only restricted him, but it also restricted me."
"I, you..."
Xiao Qing's hesitant words made Tian Jing secretly pleased. "Just say what you want."
"I want to go with you, can I? I also want to use wood-element crystal cores to level up. Human ability users' crystal cores are all over the place, and they're useless to me if I eat them."
"Eating their flesh and blood is not as good as the plant energy I got from you earlier."
She was trapped.
"Then you caught me because I'm a wood-element ability user?"
Xiao Qing admitted, "Yes. If you hadn't mentioned Xiao Song, who is similar to me, you would have only had skin and bones left buried beneath my roots."
Tian Jing was not convinced, "That's not necessarily true. I can absorb your energy. Your energy is immense, and I could at least reach mid-level four."
"Then, by drawing in surrounding energy, I could rise to high-level four and then dig out your crystal core."
The entire pine tree trembled. "Hmph! You humans are the worst."
Tian Jing retorted, "Don't generalize. I'm not that kind of human."
"I can take you with me, but how will you go?"
Tian Jing's words made Xiao Qing happy.
"Dig up my main root from the grave. I can shrink myself and be planted in a flowerpot to go with you."
Pointing at the small mound of earth next to the pine tree, Tian Jing asked in surprise, "Is this a grave?"
"Yes, otherwise, why would there be a pine tree behind the village?"
"This, how old is this grave?"
"Over a hundred years old?"
Ugh!
Could it be someone's ancestral grave? She wouldn't do anything that involved digging up other people's ancestral graves.
As if understanding Tian Jing's thoughts, Xiao Qing added, "No one has come to burn paper offerings for eighty or ninety years, otherwise, the grave mound wouldn't have shrunk to the point where you couldn't recognize it."
Bear with it!
To trick this Xiao Qing into being her bodyguard, no matter whose ancestral grave it was, even if it was her own, she would dig it up.
She just hoped she wouldn't dig up a zombie.
Placing her hands on the ground, the mound quickly turned into a large pit.
In the middle of the pit was a perfectly intact coffin.
Around the coffin were some human bones with flesh still attached.
Seeing the condition of the coffin, Tian Jing could only think "Holy crap."
"Xiao Qing, why does your main root go through the middle of the coffin?"
"I don't know. I didn't have consciousness back then."
"Then, why is your main root wrapped around the coffin, loop after loop?"
"I don't know either. It's been like this since I woke up. That's also why I can't leave here."
"Your lateral roots and root hairs are so flexible, why can't your main root retract on its own?"
"Tiantian, you have so many questions. Why don't you open the coffin and find out?"
She went back to the village to find tools like iron rods and cleavers, and untangled the main roots wrapped around the coffin.
After some fiddling, Tian Jing managed to pry open the coffin lid.
Instead of the expected putrid white bones, there were half a coffin of dazzling gold bricks.
Most of Xiao Qing's root hairs were wrapped around the gold bricks.
Was this a greedy tree?
Seeing Tian Jing staring blankly, Xiao Qing urged, "Tiantian, hurry up and help me untangle those root hairs."
Tian Jing had a question. "Xiao Qing, your current appearance strongly suggests someone deliberately put you in this state."
"Was that person worried about you running away, or worried about this coffin being lost?"
"I don't know."
Tian Jing asked again, "Xiao Qing, after eating so many humans, do you feel an urge to destroy the world?"
"No, I just thought it tasted bad."
"Then why don't you eat other plants?"
"Because they don't have crystal cores, and I can't absorb energy like you can."
Tian Jing picked up the iron rod and cleaver from the ground. "Xiao Qing, I don't want to be enemies with you, after all, you and Xiao Song are too similar."
"I also genuinely want to take you with me. In this kind of apocalypse, humans are unreliable, and having a companion like you would be good."
"But my friendship has been misplaced again. You actually lied to me."
"I didn't!"
Xiao Qing became anxious. "I'm almost exposing my crystal core to you now. I really don't know why it's like this. I really was like this the moment I woke up."
"Really?"
"Really, really."
Xiao Qing repeatedly agreed. "Look carefully, my root hairs are all tied up. Can I do this to myself?"
Tian Jing leaned closer to the coffin and picked up a root hair. A gold brick was dangling beneath it.
"Ouch, ouch, Tiantian, put it down quickly."
Hearing Xiao Qing cry out in pain, Tian Jing quickly reached out to hold the gold brick.
"Thank you, Tiantian."
Xiao Qing's voice was filled with grateful excitement. "This is why I can't retract my main root."
"If I abandon all these root hairs, my main root will be injured, and I might not survive."
"Even if I survive, my abilities will drop significantly, and I might even lose my consciousness."
Listening to Xiao Qing, Tian Jing examined the knots on the gold bricks.
This must have been done by someone, but she didn't know if it was in the early days of the apocalypse or when the coffin was buried.
"Wait here, I'll try to open it. If I use the wrong method, you tell me."
"Okay."
Tian Jing tried various methods but couldn't open the knot with her hands, as Xiao Qing always cried out in pain.
"Xiao Qing, you're not allowed to absorb my ability. I'll try to untie it with my ability."
"Okay."
Xiao Qing's voice was weak. It was in too much pain.
Tian Jing only dared to channel a small amount of her ability.
She managed to untie one knot. Untying this one not only exhausted her but also caused Xiao Qing pain.
Both the person and the pine tree were resting.
Tian Jing took the opportunity to inquire about the situation. "Xiao Qing, there are no people in this village, why aren't there any zombies either?"
"I don't know."
"Everything I ask you, you say you don't know. Can't you recall carefully?"
"Perhaps something happened when your consciousness was hazy? Perhaps there's a clue to untangling these knots?"
Xiao Qing thought and thought, and finally remembered something.
"Before I was fully conscious, I felt a period of extreme comfort. I was greedily absorbing, and it felt like something was being drawn out and then sent back."
Drawn out and sent back?
Energy exchange?
Was it that female wood-element ability user?
How could she have forgotten about that person? She was such a noble, pure white lotus.
Tian Jing stood up and sat by Xiao Qing's trunk. "Xiao Qing, I'll try to draw out and send back too. You absolutely must not absorb energy on your own."
"Once you can leave with me, you'll have as much energy as you want, right?"
"Mm-hmm, I know."
Xiao Qing's voice was choked with emotion. "Thank you, Tiantian. I understand why Xiao Song could become your good friend. It's because you treat us as living beings with flesh and blood."
She's actually crying? Tian Jing awkwardly changed the subject.
"Once you gain consciousness, you have flesh and blood and emotions, just different from us humans. Alright, I'm going to start. Stay steady."
"Okay!"