Chapter 525 (1/2)

The Cabbage

Shao Xuan couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He looked at it for a while. After he was sure that he wasn’t hallucinating, he went down the hill towards that familiar-looking vegetable.

Shao Xuan had a good reason to not notice the cabbage even though he walked around the area a few times, it was way too big!

The forest was home to all sorts of weird and unique plants, he also has seen his fair share of plants that had similar leaves so he didn’t pay much attention to the flora as he walked.

However, when he stood on the hill, it became hard to ignore, especially when he could see the thing as a whole.

Although the leaves of the plant had some differences with a normal cabbage, it was almost identical to one. However, this cabbage, in particular, was taller than Shao Xuan!

Shao Xuan stood before the odd vegetable and took a closer look at it.

Shao Xuan heard a soft buzzing sound.

He turned his head to find a worm as thick as his arms biting off bits from the outer leaf of the cabbage. It may have sensed Shao Xuan’s presence because it stopped chomping and lifted half of its body up in Shao Xuan’s direction.

If Shao Xuan hadn’t prepared himself and knew it was a herbivorous worm, he would definitely think the creature before him was a snake.

The worm had intricate patterns and spots that mimicked the look of a poisonous green snake found in the forest. Even the outline of the scales was clear from afar. The two “eyes” on the worm’s head really made it seem like a snake was staring at you.

Shao Xuan had seen this type of worm too many times to be afraid. Instead, he observed it excitedly nearby.

The worm sensed that Shao Xuan wasn’t a threat and continued his mission of demolishing the leaf.

The worms in this forest needed years to transform into butterflies or a moth. This worm was near its transforming stage.

Shao Xuan pulled away from his gaze from the worm to look at the huge vegetable before him.

He used his dagger to slice off a piece and took a big whiff. It didn’t have any weird smell but he didn’t think it was wise to taste it. What was safe for the worm to eat may not be safe for him. He took the sliced piece and placed it before the flying squirrel. It didn’t seem to show any interest for the leaf. Only after some agitation, it took a bite but immediately spat it out.

Shao Xuan tried that a few more times only to find no changes when the flying squirrel bit and swallowed the leaf angrily.

Fine, no more torturing the rodent.

Shao Xuan walked around the surrounding forest land near the cave. The plants around it didn’t grow well because of the Vein of the Sky. That plant that he found just now was further away from the cave but it proved to be quite a strong species since it managed to squeeze a plot of land for itself in this crowded forest.

There were still many that didn’t manage to grow to a significant size, some had obvious animal tracks on them, some were bitten by insects, leaving their leaves with large holes. Shao Xuan didn’t count those in as they most likely wouldn’t survive, either killed by the animals or lack of nutrients.

Done with his counting, Shao Xuan headed towards the cave. He spent the last night observing the flying squirrel and the whole morning running around. He needed to recharge so he sat on the grass to rest and had some leftover meat from yesterday to ease his hunger.

Shao Xuan thought about the origins of those cabbages.

Are they native to this land?

People planted vegetables similar to this plant too but theirs had thicker stem and roots. The tribespeople mostly ate the stems and the leaves were more of an afterthought. The cabbage here were slimmer looking with their stems thinner and longer. The largest cabbages the tribe grew to Shao Xuan’s waist but it was nothing compared to the cabbage he found here.

Did it evolve?

Shao Xuan was reminded of the vegetables by the sea.

Shao Xuan had seen cabbage-looking crops at the Ji residence. However, those cabbages there had large leaves like the one here but their leaves aren’t tightly coiled like this one and they were very short. Most of them reached Shao Xuan’s knee. Many tribes didn’t plant it as a crop as the yield was very small for that plant and it wasn’t filling enough yet the slave masters loved it.