Chapter 28: The Mysterious Fruit

  The legendary Peng bird is mentioned in many ancient books, such as the Zhonghuang Jing of the Shenyi Jing and the Shuijing Zhu, with the most famous being Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering".

  "In the Northern Darkness there is a fish, its name is Kun. The size of Kun is unknown, it may be several thousand miles long. It transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The back of Peng is unknown, it may be several thousand miles wide. When angry and flying, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky."

  Zhuangzi, with his unrestrained and majestic brushstrokes, painted a vivid picture of a divine bird that could soar up to 90,000 miles high, leaving readers in awe.

  It is obvious that this does not conform to the normal logic of the existence of things. The Roc, no matter how big it is, cannot have such a shape. This is an extremely exaggerated description by ancient people. However, what puzzles people is that there are records of the Peng bird in many other ancient documents, and even some ancient books claim with certainty that the Peng bird exists, but not as large as several thousand miles as described in legends.

  This cannot help but give rise to all sorts of associations. In that distant ancient world, did a divine bird named "Peng" really exist?

  Zhou Yi and others gazed at the golden shadow that disappeared behind a mountain ridge, all revealing shocked expressions.

  "Legendary divine bird!" Many people exclaimed after being petrified, a heartfelt shock that easily tore apart an enormous elephant with one charge, grabbing what seemed to be just a mouse rabbit, its massive body left people staring in awe, its incredible strength leaving them speechless.

  Cai De said seriously and stuttered: "That giant bird... belongs to the Falconiformes, it's a... new species, it's a... great discovery."

  "Just stay there!" Pang Bo was a bit speechless towards this stubborn foreigner, what time is it now, still viewing things with a scientific perspective, without even thinking about how he ended up here.

  "Be more polite, Pang Bo." Li Xiaoman showed a displeased expression, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and her beautiful eyes glanced at him.

  "I didn't say you..." Pang Bo muttered softly.

  "What kind of world have we actually come to?" After calming down, everyone had no choice but to think about this question.

  Traveling through the desolate universe, arriving at the star domain where the Big Dipper is located, entering such a mysterious world, have I really come to the dwelling place of the gods?

  How to survive from now on is a problem that everyone is considering at present. The future is unknown and everything needs careful consideration.

  Many people grasped the divine relics in their hands, but at this moment all the Buddha's instruments had become dull and dim, some even cracked, with cracks appearing one after another, completely destroying them.

  The last bit of divine power in the relic was absorbed by the bronze ancient coffin, and from now on, there is no longer any divine glow flowing. Holding it in one's hand is not much different from holding scrap copper. However, everyone did not discard it, hoping that the relic could re-accumulate divine light for future use. If it can be repaired, it will be their greatest reliance from now on.

  Gulu

  It's unclear who let out the fart, but many people felt embarrassed. After all, humans have to eat and drink, and then excrete waste. Many people shifted their feet, searching for a secluded spot to relieve themselves.

  "Dying for face, living in sin..." Pang Bo disdainfully curled his lip and said: "After all, I had the foresight to leave my great mark on the ruins of the Heavenly Palace on Mars. I think that even if hundreds of years pass, it will still be one of humanity's greatest testimonies to exploring the starry sky!"

  "Hmm"

  Ye Fan spat out the water in his mouth and almost threw away the mineral water bottle in his hand.

  "I'm telling you, brother, don't say this kind of thing when I'm drinking water, it's going to kill me."

  The people next to them couldn't take it anymore and moved away, awkwardly solving their own problems.

  Pang Bo burst out laughing when he saw the expressions of the crowd, and then deliberately coughed heavily in a certain direction, pretending to walk over, instantly making the people behind the big tree tremble with fear, and they couldn't even solve their own problems smoothly.

  Pang Bo chuckled and picked up two stones, throwing them out. From behind the vines in the distance came Li Changqing's angry shout: "Who is it? Who is so despicable?" Accompanied by Liu Yunzhi's annoyed cold hum.

  Seeing this guy pick up another stone and wanting to throw it in the direction Li Xiaoman was leaving, Ye Fan hurriedly stopped him with a smile.

  Seeing everyone walking out one after another, Pang Bo immediately put on a serious face and then pulled Ye Fan to start wandering around the mountain top, wanting to see if there were any wild fruits to eat.

  Although Ye Fan had collected a large package of divine crocodile corpses on the Five-Color Altar of Mars, neither of them really wanted to eat it with nausea at critical moments.

  "There's a spring over there." Pangbo suddenly had an epiphany.

  Just a few dozen meters ahead, several thick old vines surrounded an empty space, where there was a one-meter-square spring pool, flowing gently, like the sweet dew of the gods.

  On the side of the spring pool, a dozen or so small trees over half a meter tall grew, with wide and large leaves, emerald green and dripping with dew, resembling human palms. It seemed as if several multi-armed little people were standing there. On the top of each small tree hung a bright red fruit, similar to cherries but all about the size of an egg.

  Ye Fan and Pang Bo walked quickly through the vines, and from a distance, they smelled the strong fragrance of fruit. Suddenly, they almost drooled. After all, it had been a day and night since they last ate, their stomachs were already growling with hunger. If they couldn't find anything to eat, the two were prepared to eat the crocodile meat.

  "It smells so good! I've never seen such a fragrant and dense fruit before."

  The aroma became even more fragrant as it approached the nose, and even the aged flavor of a thousand-year-old wine cellar was overpowered.

  "The fragrance is intoxicating, but could it be poisonous?" Both of them were somewhat uncertain, because the more gorgeous and enticing something was, the more likely it was to be toxic.

  "Whatever, such a fragrant fruit aroma, even if it's poisonous I'd like to take a bite, I don't want to eat those disgusting crawling bugs that have been drilling into people's brains."

  "Unless you try it first, your physique is strong and healthy, if it's poisonous, you'll definitely be able to withstand it."

  "I think you're thick-skinned and immune to poison, making you the most suitable person for a poisoning test."

  Both of them were very optimistic, even if they came to a strange world, they didn't frown or look sad, but instead faced it with an optimistic attitude.

  Ye Fan picked a bright red fruit, holding it in his hand looked very tempting, crystal clear and shiny, like a red jade carving.

  At this time, Pang Bo also picked a bright red and translucent fruit and said: "It's no good, the fragrance of this fruit is too tempting, I couldn't help it, let me try first."

  "Let me go first."

  The two of them almost simultaneously took a light bite, and the moment the crystal bright red skin cracked open, it instantly made people feel a burst of fragrance that rushed into their five viscera and six entrails, spreading throughout their body.

  "Delicious!" Pang Bo couldn't help but swallow his fingers, the juice flowing, bright red, and the fragrance wafting, filling the air with aroma.

  "I've never eaten such a delicious fruit, could it be that I was too hungry?" After the two finished eating the first fruit, they waited for a while and only felt their physical strength increase significantly, without any other uncomfortable feelings.

  "Not poisonous."

  "What's holding you back? Let's keep going!"

  Two people sat by the side of a square meter pond, and began to devour their food with gusto, sauce splashing everywhere. They were so hungry that they could have swallowed their own tongues, let alone facing such delicious fruit.

  However, each of them stopped after eating only four, and Ye Fan said: "Give a few more to Yiyi and Zhang Ziling."

  "They must be starving too."

  These small trees, over half a meter tall, were all lush and vibrant, quite extraordinary, but each tree only had one fruit at the top, and around the spring pool, there were only thirteen emerald-like small trees in total. At this moment, only five bright red and shiny fruits remained.

  Pang Bo took a deep breath and bent down to sniff the gurgling spring, saying: "Strange, this spring water seems to have some fragrance too."

  Ye Fan picked up some spring water and smelled a faint fragrance, although it was very light, but it did exist. He said: "These small trees can bear such peculiar fruits, probably also have something to do with this spring."

  Pangbo took a few big gulps of the spring water and said, "It has a faint sweet fragrance, but unfortunately that's all there is to it. After drinking it, I don't feel anything special." He poured out all the water from several mineral water bottles and started filling them with this fragrant spring water.

  The two of them rested for a while, ate the fruit, drank some spring water, and then picked off the remaining five fruits. As they walked back, Pang Bo said in a low voice, "Do you feel that after eating the fruit, the fatigue seems to have disappeared, I now feel full of energy."

  Ye Fan also found it strange and immediately nodded, saying: "This red fruit seems to be extraordinary."

  At this time, everyone had solved their own problems. Some people were gazing into the distance, surveying the terrain, while others gathered together to discuss where to go and what to do next.

  As soon as Ye Fan and Pang Bo walked over, the fragrance of fruit wafted through the air, instantly drawing everyone's attention. Many people couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and a lot of them had already felt hungry.

  "Here you are, eat quickly." Pang Bo stuffed two bright red fruits into Liu Yiyi's hands, which sparkled with glittering light under the sunlight.

  Li Changqing stood not far away, smelling the enticing fruit fragrance, and suddenly couldn't help but say: "Pang Bo, where did you find these fruits? Hurry up and share them with everyone, we're all starving."

  He walked up, not treating himself as an outsider at all, seemingly forgetting that he had maliciously targeted Ye Fan not long ago and almost killed him. He stretched out his hand to grab the other three fruits from Pang Bo's hands.