Meng Qingyin tapped into the Highway Survival Management Group.
“Pheasant has joined the group chat.”
Upon seeing the notification, Meng Qingyin was slightly startled.
Another new member joined the group chat?
The group immediately became lively.
“White Fox: Welcome new member @Pheasant! A warm welcome!”
“Cang Lang: Welcome @Pheasant!”
“Honey Badger: @Pheasant Welcome, welcome!”
“Hyena: @Pheasant Welcome!”
“Pheasant: Hello everyone, I am Pheasant, a native resident of Qingqing Grassland.”
“White Fox: Pheasant, my friend, don't be so reserved. Once you're in the group, we're all family! I really didn't expect you to be the first native resident to join the group.”
“Pheasant: Yes, I didn't expect it either. I was catching bugs to eat at the time and was completely bewildered when I felt the summons—do you know which player unlocked the Qingqing Grassland station?”
“Honey Badger: It's a player from the 30th District, but that's not important. Pheasant, I'm very interested in Qingqing Grassland. Could you tell me a bit about it?”
“Pheasant: It's my honor! Qingqing Grassland is a station with almost no danger. We produce a fruit there called chicken heart fruit, which is very thirst-quenching. If you ever have the chance to go, you must try the chicken heart fruit.”
“Hyena: That sounds pretty good. Are the fruits non-toxic?”
“Pheasant: Of course! You can eat them with complete peace of mind!”
“White Fox: But I don't like eating fruits.”
“...”
The Management Group fell silent because White Fox had killed the conversation.
However, Meng Qingyin felt an indescribable strangeness.
She had always thought that everyone in the Management Group was human, although she wasn't sure if they were aliens or what kind of people, they could still be categorized as “people.”
They just used animal aliases to hide their information.
But the newly joined Pheasant...
His avatar was a colorful rooster, which wasn't strange, as White Fox, Hyena, Cang Lang, and Honey Badger all had avatars corresponding to their respective animals.
But Pheasant said he was “eating bugs” at the time...
That sentence made it hard not to make a connection.
Also, she had just obtained the Qingqing Grassland Pass, and Pheasant was pulled into the Management Group right after. Was there any connection between these two events?
Her mind was a jumbled mess, unable to sort out any thoughts.
Meng Qingyin shook her head, casting aside these notions.
No more thinking about that. First, she would go to “Qingqing Grassland” to take a look.
Pheasant said there was almost no danger there, and it was rich in a very thirst-quenching fruit. She had an hour of stay time and could go pick some to bring back.
Thinking this, she used the Qingqing Grassland Pass.
The next moment, the straight, endless road before her was replaced by a winding dirt path, with a green virtual arrow in the middle of it.
“Qingqing Grassland: Please proceed 500 meters from here.”
Meng Qingyin set off on her twist car, bumping along, kicking up dust.
Soon, the end of the dirt path appeared before her, connecting to a lush grassland. Before she even got close, she smelled the fragrance of fresh grass, and even the air felt much more humid.
As far as the eye could see, the verdant grassland and the azure sky met in the distance, stretching endlessly.
Even the clouds in the distance seemed a bit lower.
Occasionally, there were a few bushes scattered across the grassland, bearing small red fruits.
Meng Qingyin's eyes lit up. Could those be chicken heart fruits?
She tied her stun baton to her waist, grabbed her bag, and ran to the nearest bush.
Although Pheasant said there was almost no danger here, it also meant that there wasn't absolutely no danger. Carrying her stun baton made her feel safer.
This bush was about human height, growing very vigorously, with round leaves roughly the size of a one-yuan coin.
Scattered on it were some cherry-sized red fruits, looking fresh and juicy.
Meng Qingyin reached out and picked one.
“chicken heart fruit: Edible berry. Slightly sweet, rich in water.”
She simply wiped it and took a bite. The fruit's juice burst in her mouth, and there was a slight sweetness after swallowing.
It tasted pretty good and could also be used to quench thirst.
The only drawback was that the skin was too thin; ripe fruits would split open with a light touch.
Meng Qingyin picked another fruit that wasn't fully ripe and tasted it. The sweetness was even fainter, and it had more water.
For quenching thirst, fruits of this ripeness were just right.
She began to pick chicken heart fruits.
Although this berry bush was quite large, it didn't bear many fruits. Coupled with Meng Qingyin avoiding overly ripe ones, she didn't pick too many from one bush.
But it didn't matter; there were plenty of berry bushes on the grassland!
Meng Qingyin quickly ran to the next berry bush to pick.
The collected chicken heart fruits were directly placed in her system backpack, which was quite convenient.
Soon, Meng Qingyin found that her backpack was full.
She glanced at it and saw that the last slot contained “chicken heart fruit × 99.”
So, there was a limit to each slot.
Meng Qingyin quickly ran back to her twist car, emptied all the materials from her system backpack, put on her camouflage bag, and ran back to the grassland to continue picking.
About forty minutes passed, and both her system backpack and camouflage bag were full.
Meng Qingyin then jogged back to her twist car, directly emptying the miscellaneous items from the storage box onto the car bed, laying a layer of tissue paper at the bottom, and carefully pouring all the chicken heart fruits from her bags into it.
Then, she jogged to a new bush.
Before she could stand still, a colorful wild Pheasant flew out of the bush and lunged at her.
Meng Qingyin was startled and immediately grabbed her stun baton. She waited for the right moment, and as the Pheasant got close, she swung the baton and pressed the power button.
“Zzzzzzzt!”
The Pheasant was instantly stunned and fell to the ground.
Meng Qingyin stepped forward, picked up the Pheasant by its wing, and sprinted back to her twist car.
She rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items for a rope, securely tied the Pheasant's legs and wings, and then tied the other end of the rope to the twist car's bed, ensuring that even if the Pheasant woke up, it couldn't escape.
Only then did she feel at ease and continued to pick chicken heart fruits.
She hadn't expected to catch a wild Pheasant, and Meng Qingyin was very pleased. Afterward, when picking fruits, she would specifically pay attention to the bushes to see if any more Pheasants would deliver themselves to her.
However, it was a pity; there were no more Pheasants later on.
But when there were three minutes left, she discovered a different chicken heart fruit.
This chicken heart fruit was as big as an egg and was no longer a vibrant red, but a brilliant golden yellow.
“Mutated chicken heart fruit: The fruit has absorbed the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon, undergoing mutation. Consumption can increase Agility by 1 point.”
Meng Qingyin's eyes lit up. This was a good item!
She carefully picked the fruit, wiped it, and ate it completely.
To avoid any complications, it was safest to eat it immediately.
After eating, she didn't feel anything special. Perhaps it was psychological, but the road back seemed to have shortened.
Maybe it was because her speed had increased.
As soon as Meng Qingyin returned to her twist car, the Qingqing Grassland and dirt path immediately disappeared, replaced by the straight road and sand dunes on both sides.
In the car bed, the Pheasant woke up, glaring at her with its small, beady eyes, squawking “Oh oh” and trying to flap its wings to fly, but its wings were tightly bound, unable to move at all.
However, Meng Qingyin felt that this Pheasant looked somewhat familiar.