Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 350: Hidden Treasure Beneath the Roots

He uprooted a plant gently.

The leaves were relatively short, with the smaller ones about the size of his thumb and the larger ones no longer than his middle finger.

All the leaves were tender, not overly large or tough.

However, the underground roots were impressively long—once he pulled it out, the root itself, excluding the leaves, was as long as Kim Haru's forearm.

The roots' length and thickness indicated that these were particularly delicious specimens.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, some of the finer roots broke off as he pulled the plant from the soil.

At first, Kim Haru didn't mind too much.

He knew that Fish Mint could regenerate from broken roots.

The remnants in the soil could very well sprout into a new patch of plants the next time he returned.

However, he soon noticed something odd: no matter how careful he was, some roots always broke off.

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Even stranger, the breaks consistently occurred in the same direction.

This piqued his curiosity.

Following the direction of the broken roots, Kim Haru cautiously dug deeper.

To his astonishment, the deeper he dug, the longer the root extended.

What started as a single slender root now stretched far beyond the main root system he had unearthed earlier.

The situation defied reason.

As the root grew increasingly lengthy, disappearing into unknown depths, Kim Haru decided to stop digging on his own.

Instead, he called out to his cat, "Fuzzball, go fetch Little Ginseng for me. I need its help."

Fuzzball, who had been watching him dig with great interest, was equally fascinated by the string-like root.

However, curiosity aside, the cat had no intention of actually helping its human.

With a meow, Fuzzball signaled to Luna that was hiding behind a tree.

Luna doesn't have choice but to become a messenger.

"You little rascal," Kim Haru said, tapping Fuzzball on the forehead. "Be nicer to them. Stop bossing them around all the time."

Fuzzball responded with a dismissive meow.

Before long, Luna returned while bringing along the Ginseng Spirit.

Unexpectedly, Kang Hose also tagged along.

Upon arrival, Kang Hose saw Kim Haru squatting on the ground with a small pile of wild vegetables beside him.

He immediately stepped forward, intending to take the sickle and help.

Kim Haru stopped him. "No need to rush. There's something odd about these roots. Let's figure it out first before digging further."

He then showed the Ginseng Spirit the portion of Fish Mint root he had already excavated. "Little Ginseng, can you help check where this root leads and if there's any danger?"

The Ginseng Spirit nodded and pressed its entire body against the root.

Several ginseng-like tendrils extended from its body, following the long root deep into the soil.

In the soil, the Ginseng Spirit's roots could extend far longer than in the air, making them much more useful.

Completely unaffected by the surrounding plants' root systems, the roots continued to stretch along the path of the fish mint root.

After nearly ten minutes, the Ginseng Spirit finally reached the end of the fish mint root.

It immediately let out a surprised "Oh ho! I didn't expect there to be a treasure under this fish mint root."

"What's going on?" Kim Haru, hearing the Ginseng Spirit's words, realized it had reached the end and quickly asked, "Check it carefully to see if there's any danger."

"Relax! What's there to fear when I'm in the soil? Watch me fish out this little treasure in no time."

As it spoke, there wasn't much visible movement on the surface, but the Ginseng Spirit's roots suddenly began retracting wildly.

The fish mint root it had been clutching broke off and was discarded to the side, lying among its other harvested counterparts waiting to be eaten.

Kim Haru didn't have to wait long.

Within a few minutes, the Ginseng Spirit's roots had fully retracted, and at the very tip, it held a glimmering "glass bead."

"This isn't just any glass bead—it's a merfolk tear," the Ginseng Spirit explained, rolling its eyes when it noticed the questioning looks from Kim Haru and Kang Hose. "This is a rare and valuable treasure."

"Merfolk?" Kang Hose was puzzled. "What kind of creature is that? I've never heard of other ability users mentioning it. Is it some kind of rare mutated creatures?"

Kim Haru, however, thought about the merfolk from the myths and legends in his previous life.

According to the legends, merfolk tears turned into pearls upon falling.

Some tales claimed these tears granted immortality, cured all diseases, preserved youth, or even bestowed enlightenment and immortality.

There were countless stories, each more fantastical than the last.

However, these magical attributes were simply human projections of wonder onto merfolk tears.

In reality, they were all just myths, weren't they?

Wait a minute—standing before him was a literal Ginseng Spirit and it was part of the mythological creatures.

Who's to say merfolk didn't exist in this world?

Kim Haru mulled this over for a moment and instructed Kang Hose, "Kang Hose, go to my house and grab a wooden box from the first drawer of the TV cabinet. Use it to store this item. Also, bring a vegetable basket and a sickle. We'll harvest the vegetables afterward."

Understanding that there were some things he wasn't meant to know yet, Kang Hose didn't ask further questions and obediently went to fetch the items.

After Kang Hose left, Kim Haru asked, "This merfolk tear—does it come from the kind of merfolk I'm thinking of?"

The Ginseng Spirit first nodded, then shook its head. "Merfolk are indeed part of mythical creatures, but they're not human, nor do they resemble humans. They've lived in the sea for ages and appear as silvery fish. However, unlike regular fish, their tails produce silk—both high in quality and visually stunning."

"And this merfolk tear...to put it simply, it's their eye."

Kim Haru was taken aback. "An eye? I thought it was something like tear drops."

"This thing has many uses," the Ginseng Spirit said, using most of its roots to carefully wipe the dirt off the merfolk tear. "Being near it provides a steady flow of spiritual energy. It draws in spiritual energy from the surroundings. But since you're human, this function is probably useless to you. And besides, there's very little spiritual energy left in this world. Even if it could gather some, it wouldn't be much."