Fulen listened to the girl's proud voice and couldn't help but inwardly grumble, "Seriously, you call this obvious destroyer of nature a new creature you created yourself? Are you really a follower of the Earth Mother? No, the people of the Earth Mother Church are clearly all abnormal, crazy Biologists. This is obviously not the same as the Druids in DND who are crazy about maintaining nature."
However, looking at Granda's clearly proud smile that seemed to be expecting praise, Fulen still suppressed the discomfort of witnessing a strange event and praised her with a smile, "Granda, you're amazing!" But his voice was dry, without a hint of genuine praise.
Granda frowned slightly after hearing him, raised her eyebrows, and said with displeasure, "Fulen, you're not sincere." Seeing Fulen's awkward expression, she raised an eyebrow and then smiled, "Never mind, you must be seeing the power bestowed upon me by the Mother God for the first time. It's normal to feel shocked. I forgive you."
With that, Granda walked two steps beside the Mother God's Table, and two stool-like tree stumps rose up. Granda walked to the deer that Fulen had gutted and easily threw the deer onto the Mother God's Table.
After this giant tree stump caught the deer, Granda ignored Fulen and excitedly began to process the deer further. Looking at Granda's movements, it was clear that she was quite familiar with processing game.
And the Mother God's Table, if one ignores its unique mysterious aura of the mysterious world, is simply more perfect than a dining table in other aspects. This tree stump can not only grow seasonings but also secure game, provide water, and neatly arrange processed items. It's practically an intelligent, compact outdoor kitchen combined with a dining table, seeming to be utilized to its fullest potential.
Fulen immediately felt that this plant, with its very Cthulhu-esque growth process, was not so annoying after all. Granda, who was clearly not pampered, finished processing the deer in a short while. After adding various seasonings, the area emitted a strange aroma.
Fulen sniffed expectantly, smelling the scent of chili, salt, and various other seasonings. Yes, this was the smell of the city. Fulen still preferred city life, convenient and hygienic.
However, as he kept sniffing, Fulen's eyebrows furrowed. It seemed the scent of the seasonings in the food Granda made wasn't right? Had he been out of the city for too long, causing his sense of taste to become abnormal?
But before Fulen could think for long, Granda had already finished processing the venison and, wielding a sharp carving knife, split the venison in two. She then placed the two portions into two plates and began to dig into her own portion, while the large tree stump automatically moved the other portion in front of Fulen.
"Thank you," Fulen said subconsciously upon seeing the food in front of him.
But Fulen instantly felt something was off. Where did Granda get the knife and plates? Did they grow out of this dining table?
Granda noticed Fulen's pause, so she stopped her ravenous eating and looked at Fulen with concern, saying, "Fulen, are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no, let's eat." Fulen saw that he had disturbed Granda's eating enthusiasm and didn't want to hesitate too much. After all, she had so enthusiastically cooked for him and invited him to eat, so he might as well just eat.
The first bite of venison Fulen swallowed, made by Granda, felt even worse than the meat he hadn't processed much. The taste of the seasonings was also strange, not as delicious as the seasonings he usually tasted.
However, Fulen was ultimately not picky and finished in a few bites, and Granda also finished. After seeing Fulen finish quickly, Granda asked with concern if Fulen wanted more, which Fulen flatly refused.
At this point, the large tree stump swallowed all the leftover and unprocessed venison, deerskin, and deer bones. The large tree stump, which had looked full moments ago, was instantly cleared. As Granda tapped the table, the large tree stump raised a kettle and two cups.
The kettle was wooden, not glass. Fulen was genuinely afraid that this table would raise a glass cup, but this kettle contained something other than water. Fulen sniffed the scent inside the cup; it smelled a bit like chrysanthemum tea. And the pouring action was done automatically by the large tree stump holding the teapot and cups, filling the cups.
This time, Fulen no longer hesitated. He raised the cup and took a sip of the tea. With this sip, Fulen immediately knew that his sense of taste was not mistaken.
However, Fulen then began to question Granda's intentions and became even more wary. The tea tasted fine, but why did the food taste problematic?
Fulen looked at Granda's innocent smile and could hardly imagine that beneath her beautiful exterior, there seemed to hide a sinister and vicious heart. However, Fulen dared not say anything. The enemy was strong, and he was weak, and he had also eaten the food she had personally made. Even if Fulen wanted to resist, he couldn't, so he could only silently resign himself to his fate.
Generally speaking, there are two situations in which people feel relieved: one is when they finally resolve their doubts and concerns, and the other is when their doubts and concerns have piled up so much that they can no longer be resolved. Fulen's situation was the latter—he had given up and accepted his fate.
"Thank you for the hospitality," Fulen said, simply forgetting all his worries and smiling as he thanked Granda.
Granda also replied energetically, "You're welcome. I've always had a dream of being a chef, although when I entered the kitchen to cook for Mrs. Nina and Mrs. Tracy, everyone would say not to bother. They really took care of me. Now I can pass on the love to another person."
"You are truly kind," Fulen could only say.
Next, Granda and Fulen started chatting about various things. Fulen naturally didn't have many interesting stories to tell, so he could only answer her using content from the novels and books he had read. But Granda didn't mind at all; Granda's natural optimism allowed her to converse easily with Fulen.
When night fell, Granda also felt it was time to rest. She put away the large tree stump and simultaneously scattered two seeds, which grew into two small wooden houses. Inside the wooden houses were things like tables, chairs, and beds. Fulen immediately felt that the Planter Pathway was truly wonderful; no one knows how to live in the wilderness better than someone on the Planter Pathway.
With Granda's addition, Fulen's pace quickened significantly. Traveling through dense forests is actually similar in speed to moving through extreme environments like deserts, because tangled trees and intermittent natural traps like swamps and mud force one to slow down. However, Granda could command those trees and also survey those natural traps, so Fulen's speed was naturally more than double what it was before.
After about two weeks, Fulen and Granda finally discovered signs of human habitation.