"Pop!"
Jiang Xuan and the other two approached the whipping tree with their crude shield. One of the longest branches was the first to whip over. It was very strong and made a crisp sound when it hit the shield.
"Keep moving. Walk slower."
Jiang Xuan walked in the front, Chi Shao was in the middle, and Stone Loach was at the back. The three of them slowly moved towards the whipping tree.
"Clap, clap, clap…"
As the three of them approached, the whipping tree was enraged. Countless branches rained down on the shield, making a series of sounds.
The big shield perfectly defended against the attack from above. The three people under the shield were unharmed and were getting closer and closer to the trunk of the whipping tree.
"We're almost there!"
Chi Shao was thrilled. She had never thought that she would one day be able to pick the fruit of the whipping tree herself. It was like a dream.
Jiang Xuan and Stone Loach were also very excited. They took the opportunity to speed up and arrived below the whipping tree.
The whipping sound of the tree became more intense, but other than some bark and sawdust, the big shield held strong.
The fruit of the whipping tree ripened relatively early. Although it was summer, the fruits were close to maturity and emitted an alluring fruit fragrance.
"Hold your shields tight. I'll go pick the fruits."
"Okay."
Jiang Xuan swallowed and let go of one hand. He reached for the nearest fruit on the trunk of the whipping tree.
The fruit of the whipping tree was green when it was not ripe. It was oval in shape and purple when it was ripe. A crack would open at the bottom of the fruit, revealing the fragrant flesh inside to attract prey.
The fruit that Jiang Xuan wanted to pick was a mature purple fruit. Through the crack at the bottom, one could clearly see the red plump flesh inside.
Jiang Xuan accurately grabbed this fist-sized fruit and twisted it gently. The stalk of the fruit was immediately broken.
The fruit was successfully picked by Jiang Xuan.
"Clap, clap, clap…"
With its fruit plucked, the whipping tree became even angrier. It whipped the big shield crazily, but it was useless. Its branches were not strong enough to break an entire row of thick wood.
After successfully picking one, Jiang Xuan continued to work hard and picked all the five fruits that he could. He even stabbed at the fruits that were higher up the tree with a bamboo spear.
Half an hour later, most of the ripe fruits on the whipping tree had been picked. Jiang Xuan filled more than half of the animal skin bag with these fruits.
The poor whipping tree probably never expected that it would encounter Jiang Xuan's shield when it had a powerful attack method.
If it could speak, it would have stomped its feet and cursed.
"Let's go!"
Jiang Xuan tied the animal skin bag to his waist in satisfaction. Then he, Chi Shao, and Stone Loach raised their shields and left.
After they left, the branches of the whipping tree drooped weakly. After whipping for so long, it was probably exhausted.
After the three of them left the whip tree, they threw away the heavy shield and began to check the harvest.
"We're rich!"
Jiang Xuan put down the animal skin bag. After undoing the strap, he looked at the half-filled bag of fruits and immediately beamed with joy. His mood was extremely good.
"Can eating this fruit really increase one's strength?"
Stone Loach picked up a fruit and flipped it around. He still had some doubts about the legend of this fruit.
Chi Shao couldn't be sure, because she had only heard the legend but had never tried it herself.
Jiang Xuan said, "What's there to guess? We'll know after we try it."
Jiang Xuan casually picked up a whipping tree fruit and broke it in half along the crack. Then he used a stone knife to slice off a small piece of the fruit. He casually grabbed a bug from the tree and placed the fruit in front of the bug.
A legend was a legend after all. Jiang Xuan did not dare to be careless. He had to confirm that this fruit was not poisonous before he could eat it in peace.
Insects were relatively weak. Normally, insects would die quickly after eating poisonous fruits.
The bug did not have much intelligence. After smelling the tempting fruit fragrance, it immediately lay on the fruit and ate it quickly. It seemed to be eating happily.
Jiang Xuan was still worried. He caught a few other insects and fed them some of the fruit of the whipping tree.
Half an hour later, not only were the insects safe and sound, but they were even looking for more of that fruit everywhere.
Jiang Xuan was finally relieved. If the insects could not be poisoned to death, it meant that even if this fruit was poisonous, the tribesmen could still survive with their strong physiques.
"I'll try one first."
Jiang Xuan picked up a fruit and wiped it before putting it into his mouth.
However, Chi Shao quickly snatched his fruit and placed it in her mouth. She took a bite and swallowed it.
Chi Shao smiled at Jiang Xuan and said, "I've been craving it for a long time. I couldn't help it."
However, Jiang Xuan knew very well that there was only one reason why Chi Shao did this. She wanted to test the poison first.
Although they had already tried using bugs, there were all kinds of poison in the forest. They could only be at ease after someone ate it.
Chi Shao quickly finished the fist-sized fruit and tied the animal skin bag. "Let's go find the plants that eat insects first. There are so many fruits. We can eat them slowly when we get back."
Jiang Xuan knew that she was using this excuse to stall for time. He was quietly touched.
Chi Shao was really so good to him. No matter what danger he encountered, she would always be the first to put herself out there, afraid that Jiang Xuan would be injured.
By unspoken agreement, the three of them continued to walk through the swamp, looking for insect-eating plants.
It didn't take long for them to find such a plant.
This plant was called the Clap Blossom.
It had red flowers at the top and bloomed very brightly. The entire plant had only two leaves which resembled two large hands.
This plant relied on the nectar in its flowers to attract insects. When an insect flew over, two ghostly-looking leaves quickly attacked with a clap from both sides, slapping the insect to death.
In the end, the insect would fall to the ground, where it would be wrapped by the roots of the clap blossom and slowly digested.
Jiang Xuan dug up seven or eight seedlings of the clap blossom plant. As it was getting late, the three of them carried these seedlings and a bag of fruits from the whipping tree and headed back.
In the evening, the three of them returned to the Vine Tribe.
First, Jiang Xuan planted the seedlings of the clap blossom in the ground, then returned to the bamboo house and opened the animal skin bag containing the fruits.
It had been half a day since Chi Shao ate the fruit of the whipping tree. She showed no signs of being poisoned, which meant that this fruit was not poisonous.
"Sister, did you feel anything after eating the fruit?"
Jiang Xuan looked at Chi Shao expectantly.
Chi Shao thought about it carefully. "When I came back, I felt lighter. I wasn't as tired as before."
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up. This meant that the fruit of the whipping tree was indeed very magical. At the very least, it could make people more energetic after eating it.
"What about your strength? Did your strength increase?" Jiang Xuan was most concerned about whether eating the fruit of the whipping tree could increase one's strength.
"I'll find out when I try."
Chi Shao walked out the door and found a large rock that she was familiar with. She wrapped his arms around it and raised it above her head.
"Eh? My strength seems to have increased a lot! It wasn't so easy to lift this rock in the past."
Chi Shao gently lowered the large rock again and tested the other rocks to make sure her strength had increased.
"Wonderful! It seems that the legend is true. The fruit of the whipping tree can indeed increase one's strength."
Jiang Xuan was indescribably excited. It seemed that his hard work had not been in vain.
At the same time, something else occurred to him.
Legend had it that some warriors of large tribes developed much faster than ordinary warriors because they ate the fruits of magical plants.
From the looks of it, the fruit of the whipping tree was clearly one of the magical plants that could increase one's strength.
If he could find more magical plants and pick more fruits in the future, the Vine Tribe might have three, four, or even five-color warriors!
Thinking of this, Jiang Xuan was overwhelmed with emotions.
A powerful tribe needed powerful warriors to protect it.
If the Vine Tribe could gain a batch of powerful warriors through this method, they would really be able to gain a foothold in this primitive forest in the future.
That night, Jiang Xuan distributed the fruits to Chi Shao, Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star. As the chief, he had two more.
After Jiang Xuan personally ate a fruit, he felt that a part of his potential seemed to have been stimulated. The fatigue from the day was swept away, and he was full of energy. His muscles were also stronger!