On the outskirts of the Silent Forest, the trees grow a little low due to wind and water erosion. There are not many dead branches and leaves scattered around these trees. In addition, it is now the season for the reproduction of all things, and the trees are not willing to be lonely.
, in line with the old saying, spring comes out of dead trees, making trees suitable for firewood increasingly rare.
Zheng Qing finally picked up the first piece of wood suitable for firewood at the end of the edge of the forest.
This is a dead branch that fell from the Soul-Returning Poplar. There are still a few fancy 'caterpillars' crawling on the dead branch. Zheng Qing pinched the root of the dead branch and removed the crawling 'caterpillars'.
Shaking it to the ground, the caterpillars turned over and disappeared in the cracks of dead branches and leaves in a blink of an eye.
These caterpillars are actually the seeds of the soul-returning poplar.
The soul-returning poplar is a magical magical plant.
Its plant is dioecious. The female plant is no different from an ordinary big tree. It has a high crown with white branches, leaves like thin daggers, and its aerial roots penetrate deeply into the soil. The bark is covered with moss and large and small black bumps, with one or two here and there.
The dark tree hole looks like a woodpecker has just visited. From a distance, it looks like an ordinary green tree.
The male plant of the Soul-returning poplar lives on the bottom of the shallow sea not far from here. Different from the shape of the female plant, the female plant of the Soul-returning poplar is an activated plant with a shape closer to that of a sea anemone.
In early spring every year, when the female plants that have been dormant all winter reveal their first buds, the male plants crawling on the bottom of the shallow sea will receive this signal of reproduction through mysterious channels and start rowing their short and complicated flowers.
The tentacles, driven by the waves and trade winds, left the shallow sea bottom, crossed the rocks, crawled across the tidal flats, came to the feet of the female plants, and planted their short and tender roots.
The difficult journey, the drastic changes in the living environment, and the coveting eyes along the way have caused these male plants to suffer heavy losses. Often, only one out of ten male plants can successfully survive under the feet of the female plant.
In mid-spring, the flowers of the female plants begin to bloom.
At this time, those male plants that had successfully taken root began to slowly lift up their hardened tentacles, climbing up the trunk of the female plant, until near the flowers on the branches, the tops of the tentacles cracked in the wind and spurted out a stream of water.
Wisps of white catkins like smoke.
These light catkins hovered and lingered between the crowns of the female trees, like a swarm of bees returning from searching for their nests. Finally, they gently attached themselves to the blooming stamens and disappeared.
The flowers of the female plant always need to absorb a lot of light fluff to be satisfied.
When they are satisfied, they will curl up the petals and shrink the flowers into small blue balls. Under the blowing of the sea breeze and the nourishment of spring rain, these small balls gradually harden and tighten, and finally slowly penetrate into the branches of the female plant.
Turned into ugly tree tumors.
These tree tumors contain the descendants of the soul-returning poplar.
After a long period of gestation, the descendants in these tree tumors will wake up after a spring rain in the following spring, drill through the thin tree shell, roll down their mother's body, and swallow the branches and leaves under the tree that may contain the remains of their father.
Then they drag their furry bodies and crawl away into the distance, looking for their own land where they can take root.
For wizards, the soul-returning poplar is a magical economic plant with a very wide range of uses.
Its bark can be made into talisman paper, and smaller branches can be cut into talismans. The effect is not inferior to that of peach wood and locust wood. Its heart can be used to refine magic weapons and burn magic disks. Its leaves
And 'caterpillar' tree species can be used to raise spiritual animals. As far as Zheng Qing knows, these 'caterpillars' are used in the recipes of the school pet garden.
In addition, its aerial root is ground into powder and is a very commonly used neutralizing agent in standard soothing potions. Its offspring can serve as temporary 'sacrifice' in many magical rituals.
Because of its wide range of uses, the school has planted this plant extensively outside the Silent Forest.
But for Zheng Qing, at the moment, the soul-returning poplars in front of him have only one function, and that is to provide fuel for the picnic bonfire.
The silent forest was extremely quiet. Apart from the rustling of branches and leaves, there were only sporadic chirping of birds and the distant sound of running water that seemed to be on the horizon.
Zheng Qing bent down and picked up the seventh piece of firewood. Then when he straightened up, he caught a glimpse of white in the corner of his eyes. He looked intently and saw that it was a half-picked mushroom. Maybe the picker thought the remaining mushrooms were a bit small.
, it was not completely removed, so some residue was left.
Zheng Qing's eyes lit up.
He originally picked up firewood and followed a certain gypsy witch who was picking mushrooms, but unexpectedly the witch disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye. However, even though there was such a trace, if he did not use magic, he would not be able to find his way deep in this dense forest.
It is still very difficult to find a human figure everywhere.
Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds, then put his finger into the gray cloth bag and touched a deformation potion.
If he turned into a cat, he would definitely be able to find her by smelling it. But when he thought of the warning from the old man before, Zheng Qing felt a little uneasy - for wizards, such taboos are always more trustworthy.
The hoarse, unpleasant croak of crows could be heard from deep in the forest.
Zheng Qing was heartbroken, threw the firewood in his arms on the ground, took out the transformation potion, and drank it straight down.
Compared with the uneasiness in his heart, he was more interested in Elena's whereabouts. And his intuition told him that if he didn't find her now, he would definitely regret it.
After drinking the high-concentration standard-dose deformation potion in his mouth, he felt a strong burning sensation. There was no one around or above his head. Zheng Qing resisted his physical discomfort, packed up his clothes, stuffed them into a gray cloth bag, and then put a few evil spirits on his body.
The warm talisman was hidden deep in the grass.
Not a moment later, a black cat with a gray cloth bag hanging around its neck emerged from the bushes, ran to the remaining mushroom and sniffed it, followed the distant scent, and disappeared deep into the bushes.
While running, the black cat was wondering in his heart.
He did smell Elena's scent next to the mushroom just now. It was the same fragrant aroma as always. But besides that, there was also a faint aroma that was a bit familiar, but he couldn't recall it.
Didn't you see her go into the woods with others? The black cat ran briskly, twitching its ears and thinking to itself, who was the owner of the other breath?
Compared with humans, cats are at home in the woods and have almost no constraints when running.
Soon, the black cat was embellished with Elena's figure. Elena had stopped and was standing between several big trees. She also had a small bamboo basket on her arm, with scattered things in it.
A few handfuls of wild vegetables and some white mushrooms.
The black cat looked around, followed the mottled bark on a Soul-Returning Poplar, jumped up to the crown of the tree, and then hid among a small branch and young leaves, quietly starting to follow.
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