CHAPTER 506: CHAPTER 497 CHIEF LEADER 15

Just as Yan Shuangshuang was excitedly thrilled, Ben beside her exclaimed in astonishment, "So many White Stone Fruits! I’ve never seen so many White Stone Fruits growing together! It’s a pity these White Stone Fruits aren’t ripe! If they were all ripe, it’d be enough for our tribe to eat through two hot seasons and the winter!"

Yan Shuangshuang was taken aback by Ben’s exclamation and looked carefully at the big green fruit in her arms. She glanced at Ben, with her eyes clearly saying, "You’re lying. Do you think I don’t recognize White Stone Fruits? The size of White Stone Fruits is as tall as a person, and their skin is as hard as a white stone, impossible to split even with a Stone Axe. These green fruits, both in size and appearance, are way too different, aren’t they!"

The meaning in Yan Shuangshuang’s eyes was so obvious that even the least brainy primitives could see it. Ben, seeing Yan Shuangshuang’s disbelief, explained seriously, "Don’t doubt it. When we pick White Stone Fruits, the unripe ones look just like this. I definitely won’t mistake them."

Yan Shuangshuang thought about it and agreed. Ben and his team are out there every day. Although picking is mostly a woman’s task, the Hunting Team does bring back edible things they find outside, definitely knowing more than someone like her who only looks at results, not processes.

Thinking about this, Yan Shuangshuang pulled up the detailed information in her mind. Sure enough, the image was exactly of the green fruit in front of her. Only now, upon closer inspection, she realized the image could flip pages. With a thought, Yan Shuangshuang flipped the page.

The new image that appeared was exactly the White Stone Fruit Ben had mentioned. However, adhering to the usual style of the big gift package, the plant’s name wasn’t written.

Yan Shuangshuang didn’t recognize the unripe White Stone Fruit, but she did recognize the ripe ones and loved eating them. However, the tribe doesn’t pick many White Stone Fruits each year, so Yan Shuangshuang doesn’t get to eat much annually.

There was a row of small words on both images. Earlier, Yan Shuangshuang was too focused on having something to eat to check. Now, upon looking, she discovered that the image of the green fruit had a note: Edible plant, unripe, flesh is tart and slightly toxic, should only be consumed when ripe.

The other image of the White Stone Fruit stated: Ripe form, exterior is a white hard shell, flesh is creamy yellow, texture is soft, taste is sweet, cools heat and detoxifies, nutritionally rich, can be stored long-term without spoiling.

After reading the information, Yan Shuangshuang didn’t know what expression to put on. This gift package was a bit of a joke. Although it told her there were many edible plants, there indeed were, but they were all unripe — only visible, not edible — utterly useless.

If it weren’t for the Hunting Team accidentally hunting a giant ape, solving the food problem for the hot season, would everyone be sitting around these still inedible White Stone Fruits, starving in this hot season!

The Hunting Team was oblivious to Yan Shuangshuang’s thoughts. They were quite happy since, with a giant ape now, the maturity of these White Stone Fruits no longer mattered. Having seen them, they knew these White Stone Fruits would eventually become the Hunting Team’s bounty.

Eventually, Hunting Team members climbed and jumped on the vines for half a day, managing to find some early-ripening White Stone Fruits, packing each of their baskets half-full, making the trip to the White Stone Fruit Forest worthwhile.

On the way back, the Hunting Team members carefully and diligently documented the route back and forth. Just for this White Stone Fruit Forest, this path had to be developed and become a hunting route for the Power Tribe.

After the hot season, these White Stone Fruits would gradually ripen, and since they have an extremely long storage time, having these White Stone Fruits means they don’t have to worry about food during the cold season!

On the way back, the group, as expected, encountered the Earth King Beast still sleeping in the same place after having eaten its fill. Earlier on the road, Yan Shuangshuang happened to see a cluster of Big Leaf Grass being plucked and eaten by a few small herbivorous animals.

Yan Shuangshuang noticed that the Big Leaf Grass was very tender but scattered among various weeds, growing in a somewhat chaotic manner. She couldn’t help but recall the Earth King Beast grazing with its head down, seemingly always biting in places where this grass grew.

With a thought, Yan Shuangshuang casually plucked the grass while walking and tossed it into her Father Tie’s basket. Despite the scattered distribution, the grass was quite abundant. Yan Shuangshuang quickly gathered a large heap, enough, at a glance, for the Earth King Beast to have a bite.

Tie, being doting on his daughter, saw Yan Shuangshuang picking the grass and asked her why. Hearing that Yan Shuangshuang wanted to feed the Earth King Beast, although a bit puzzled by this interest, he figured that since the Earth King Beast wasn’t harmful and approaching cautiously posed no danger, it wouldn’t hurt to help. So, he joined Yan Shuangshuang in picking the grass.

Ben, although a leader with no children of his own, usually doted on Yan Shuangshuang too. Seeing Tie helping, he joined in as well. The three of them picked along the way, soon filling their not-quite-full baskets to the brim.

Now seeing the Earth King Beast, Yan Shuangshuang eagerly took a large bundle of Big Leaf Grass and placed it under the Earth King Beast’s nose. The moment the Big Leaf Grass was set down, the Earth King Beast’s nose twitched, its enormous eyes opened at once, and upon opening, its gaze fell on the small pile of Big Leaf Grass in front.

The Earth King Beast extended its long tongue, rolling the small clump of deliciousness into its mouth, chewing contentedly, its eyes half-closed in pleasure.

After finishing the Big Leaf Grass, the Earth King Beast’s large eyes turned to Yan Shuangshuang, who was quite small by comparison.

In the Earth King Beast’s eyes, humans weren’t as small as ants, but only about the size of hamsters, especially Yan Shuangshuang, who appeared even smaller, like a baby hamster. Such a small being wouldn’t even be noticed if it didn’t approach actively.

The Earth King Beast lay on the ground, trying to get a better look at Yan Shuangshuang standing in front of its nose, causing its huge eyes to converge into a cross-eyed state! Instantly, the Earth King Beast’s menacingly terrifying face became foolishly cute with those crossed eyes!

Yan Shuangshuang was so amused by the Earth King Beast’s expression that she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She reached out and touched its big nose, then, with the help of Tie and Ben, piled the Big Leaf Grass they had picked in front of the Earth King Beast’s head.

The Earth King Beast snorted, its big eyes curiously observing Yan Shuangshuang, puzzled as to why these hamster-sized humans would offer it tasty treats. But its heart warmed towards these small people, delighted by the abundance of tasty grass, without any bad-tasting grass mixed in — truly blissful.

After gaining the Earth King Beast’s favor, Yan Shuangshuang led the group back quickly, as it was getting dark. Taking the giant ape they had hunted and the baskets of White Stone Fruits they had collected, they swiftly returned to the cave.