Chapter 48: The Crimson Mist
“An anomaly?”
Han Ning’s expression shifted as he once again extended his palm toward the young tomato plant.
A column of emerald green light enveloped it.
[Nature’s Blessing (Basic) proficiency +1, current 33/200]
Whoosh—
The moment the green light seeped in, the red glow at the tomato’s roots flared up like a flame doused in oil, suddenly brightening.
It emitted a steady, warm, and peculiar red radiance, flickering rhythmically like a heartbeat.
The vibrant green stem trembled lightly and slowly grew upward by about five or six centimeters, stopping just above eighty centimeters in height.
Then, several small, immature tomatoes—once only the size of fingertips and pale green—seemed pressed by an invisible hand fast-forwarding their growth.
Their color shifted visibly from green to pale yellow, then rapidly transitioned to orange-yellow…
“Ripening? So fast!”
Just as their hue continued toward a ripe red, as if paused mid-transformation, the color change abruptly ceased.
“?”
Han Ning’s gaze dropped to the soil around the tomato’s roots and discovered it was losing moisture and color at an alarming rate.
What had been moist cultivating soil instantly turned cracked and dry; all the nutrients appeared to have been sucked dry by the tomato, leaving only a lifeless handful of parched earth.
“Could it be that the plant drained all the soil’s nutrients, and without nourishment, the ripening process halted?”
Han Ning realized the truth.
He dug out the dry soil and quickly fetched several bags of nutrient-rich planting soil scavenged from other residents.
Tearing open the bags, he filled the pot with the organic-rich, dark soil, carefully re-burying the tomato’s roots.
Sure enough,
after adding the black soil, the tomato’s color resumed changing.
However, it only deepened slightly from pale yellow.
Within just over ten seconds,
the soil beneath the plant visibly dehydrated again, turning gray and compacted.
The tomatoes on the branch remained yellow, showing no sign of ripening.
“Again!”
Han Ning repeatedly excavated the dry soil and replenished it with fresh soil.
Each time, the fresh soil dried up faster.
Bag after bag of planting soil was consumed.
---
Finally, after exhausting dozens of pounds of cultivating soil and nearly depleting his stock,
when Han Ning added fresh soil for the last time, the drying rate slowed, stabilizing at a relatively normal pace.
The tomato plant in the pot ceased its frantic nutrient extraction.
Several fist-sized, plump tomatoes, as if about to burst with juice, hung steadily on the branches, emanating an indescribable allure.
Most strikingly, each tomato’s surface began to emit a faint, thin mist resembling a translucent crimson veil.
This mist was unlike ordinary water vapor; rather, it seemed to be a kind of energy radiating from the fruit itself, swirling mysteriously around each tomato.
“Success? Is this the enhanced effect brought by Nature’s Blessing...”
Han Ning swallowed hard and cautiously plucked the plumpest tomato from the branch by its stem.
The instant the fruit detached from the plant—
*Pfft!*
A tangible crimson mist burst forth from the tomato’s stem.
The red mist rapidly spread, enveloping Han Ning in a radius of over one meter, forming a faintly glowing red haze.
“Shi-shoo!”
Watching the tomato intently, Xuebing couldn’t help but sniff the air.
Inhaling a small amount of the red mist, Xuebing suddenly sneezed loudly, its body shuddering violently, a humanlike expression of bewilderment crossing its face.
“Grrr!”
Instinctively, it took a few steps back, distancing itself from the misty area and nervously fixating on the tomato in Han Ning’s hand.
Han Ning himself felt no particular discomfort, only detecting a peculiar scent in the red mist—a subtle blend of rain-soaked earth and a faintly spicy plant aroma.
Why did this tomato resemble a chili pepper so much that it could even drive Xuebing away?
He lowered his gaze to the mist-enshrouded tomato, then glanced back at the retreating Xuebing, thoughts racing:
“This mist… Xuebing’s reaction is so strong, clearly it’s harmful or highly unpleasant to it, yet it doesn’t affect me much. Is this due to differences in physiology, or perhaps because, as the druid who nurtured it, I have some kind of immunity?”
He decided to test the mist itself.
He tried waving his hand through it; the mist dispersed with the airflow but quickly reconcentrated around the tomato within a fixed radius.
“Hm? Seems cohesive.”
Han Ning’s mind stirred as he gently placed the tomato on the balcony floor in a corner.
Something miraculous happened.
The crimson mist, like a miniature “smoke generator,” stabilized around the tomato, maintaining a faint red haze with a radius of over a meter.
The mist no longer spread chaotically but formed a relatively stable hemispherical zone.
“A fixed-area mist zone…”
---
“But what exactly is this mist’s purpose?”
He refrained from eating the tomato immediately, wanting first to understand the mist’s function.
“Xuebing, come here.”
Han Ning beckoned, pointing to the red mist area. “Approach it slowly and sense it.”
“Hoo?”
Xuebing hesitated but obeyed, cautiously moving forward with twitching nostrils, inching toward the edge of the faint red haze.
The moment its nose barely touched the thin mist—
“Hoo!” Xuebing snapped its head back at lightning speed and sneezed again, its eyes filled with intense aversion and discomfort.
From the emotions relayed through their soul link,
the mist made it feel extremely “choking” or “nauseous,” provoking an instinctive urge to flee.
It scratched the ground irritably with its paws.
“It’s not physical harm, more like a mental disturbance or irritation…”
Han Ning observed Xuebing’s reaction, forming a preliminary conclusion:
“This red mist seems capable of creating an area that causes strong discomfort or repulsion in other creatures—like a kind of… biological repellent?”
This discovery invigorated him.
If this red mist could drive away monsters, for example… those troublesome creatures lurking in foggy zones?
Unfortunately, he couldn’t test that now; he’d have to wait until tomorrow when he went to the fog zone.
Next was the tomato’s flesh.
He carefully broke off a tiny piece about the size of a fingernail.
The flesh was crystal clear, like red chalcedony, brimming with juice, exuding a strange, intensely sweet aroma far richer than any ordinary tomato, mingled with the faint spicy-earthy scent of the red mist.
“The mist doesn’t affect me, so the flesh should be safe too, right?”
To be cautious, Han Ning took a small bite.
The flesh was slightly tart at first, then an indescribably refreshing sweetness flooded his taste buds, surpassing any fruit he’d ever tasted.
However, the sweetness lasted less than a second.
Boom!
“Damn it!”
A dizzying sensation surged from his stomach straight to his head.