Chapter 5
Seeing Qian Hui’s movements, Lajiao grew anxious and clutched his sleeve.
What are you doing? Are you going to join those humans?
Forget about Qian Hui’s appearance—wouldn’t they mistake him for a zombie and kill him outright? If those people recognize him, they’ll definitely capture him and send him to the Sky Base!
Lajiao felt inexplicable anger. If they’d known this would happen, they should have left secretly. Even with their limited mobility, finding a place to hide would have been better.
Qian Hui thought Lajiao was worried about him and whispered soothingly, “I won’t get too close… Just looking.”
So it’s not suicide after all… Lajiao sighed in relief and squirmed into Qian Hui’s pocket, leaving only a small part of his head visible.
Xiao Baocai, who had been perched on Qian Hui’s shoulder, quickly jumped down to hide with them.
Qian Hui patted the quiet soft vine around his wrist as he stealthily followed the group ahead.
Collapsed buildings and ruins littered the area, providing ample hiding spots. The group moved slowly, occasionally stopping to check their surroundings, but failed to notice Qian Hui.
The short man at the front frowned slightly. “Why is there constant low-level energy nearby? Are there so many mutated plants in this area?”
The instruments could detect energy fluctuations from zombies and mutated plants, with higher energy levels indicating higher grades.
Low-energy zombies, being of inferior intelligence, wouldn’t remain so silent. That left only one possibility: mutated plants.
This area had been cleared as a waste zone, offering scarce resources. Apart from their group and Liang Jie’s squad, no ordinary humans or ability users would venture here.
“Fear a few low-level plants?” one companion dismissed the concern. “Don’t worry about it. We need to complete the mission.”
The nearby forest made the presence of more plants seem natural.
However, a small nearby base had recently fallen. Rumor had it that many newly spawned zombies had wandered into this area, but now they saw few. Perhaps they had evolved into higher-level forms and led their horde elsewhere.
Regardless, they didn’t need to worry about the low-energy sources nearby.
Another companion urged, “Let’s search the outskirts before dark.”
Qian Hui, trailing behind, maintained a safe distance and couldn’t hear their conversation.
The group must have been familiar with the environment or had a map. After leaving the forest edge, they circled through two streets around the ruins.
Further ahead, the road grew increasingly uneven. Qian Hui had to move with extreme caution, avoiding any noise from his footsteps.
This slowed his pursuit significantly.
As the distance between them widened, Qian Hui considered giving up.
Better to use this time to find a safe place to stay…
At that moment, two “bangs” echoed from the distance, startling Qian Hui into hiding immediately.
By the time he recovered, he saw that the humans ahead had encountered several zombies.
They appeared remarkably skilled, using some unknown method to effortlessly take down the zombies.
Qian Hui felt a surge of fear, relieved that he hadn’t acted recklessly.
Though he knew he differed from other zombies, he wasn’t human either.
Those zombies had red eyes and hair that had faded to white, not much different from him.
The urge to give up grew stronger. Qian Hui glanced at the sky, then followed them anyway.
He couldn’t clearly hear what the humans were saying—they were too far away, their faces indistinguishable.
Even with faint hope, he still wanted to hear voices similar to Nan Tingjin’s, even if just to confirm they weren’t him.
After the group cleared the surrounding zombies and left, Qian Hui navigated around the ruins by stepping on a section of collapsed wall.
The wall was littered with loose stones. Not paying attention, his foot slipped.
The vine at his wrist sprang out in time, hooking onto nearby objects to pull him upright. The entire process made little noise.
Qian Hui sighed in relief, patting the vine’s leaves. “Thank you,” he murmured gratefully.
He continued forward. When he reached the spot where the group had previously killed zombies, the pepper in his pocket twitched.
Qian Hui turned his head. In a corner of the ruins lay a zombie with its arm slightly raised, still breathing faintly.
Nearby were several other zombie corpses, all low-level and without crystal cores. The group had casually defeated them and left.
The zombie in the corner of the ruins had been lucky. A twisted piece of rebar had stabbed into its forehead, but the position was slightly off.
Qian Hui hesitated for a moment, then drew his dagger and stepped forward to finish off the zombie completely.
[ Congratulations! You have successfully killed a Level 1 Zombie (1). Rewards have been delivered to your account! ]
Qian Hui’s eyes lit up. He opened the game and saw his balance had increased by 1000.
So this counted as a kill too… He quickly checked the other zombies, but unfortunately, except for this one, the others were completely dead.
Even so, this 1000 reward was like picking up money from the ground.
Qian Hui happily put away his dagger and took out a cookie to eat, replenishing his rapidly depleting stamina.
He continued on his way, catching up to the group ahead.
Just like that, he secretly followed them for over half an hour. The human team ventured deeper into the abandoned city and encountered two more waves of low-level zombies, but the numbers weren’t many.
Qian Hui prayed for another encounter with the same situation. As they seemed in a hurry to leave, they truly did overlook one zombie.
The zombie, trapped under a pile of rubble and barely able to move, was killed by Qian Hui with his dagger.
Another 1000 reward points arrived, bringing his balance to 3600.
After that, the human team passed a sign marked “Danger Zone (Area 2)” and entered a severely damaged skyscraper.
Qian Hui saw the sign and recognized the words, so he didn’t advance further.
Moreover, the environment inside the building was unknown, making it difficult to continue tracking.
With night approaching, finding a hiding place became the most important task.
Although he couldn’t obtain the desired information, the harvest wasn’t insignificant.
Qian Hui began searching for a hiding spot nearby, planning to retrace his steps.
From the time the human team entered the building until he followed them, some time had already passed. Now, before he could get far, the group emerged again.
Lajiao promptly gave a warning cry, and the vine dragged Qian Hui into hiding behind some ruins.
Now that fleeing was no longer an option, Qian Hui bent down to conceal himself, clutching his dagger in nervous anticipation.
The mini cabbage in the pocket slowly poked its head out, black bean eyes fixed on the direction of the approaching footsteps.
Low-level plants aren’t stupid at all. It knew there might be danger now, and if something happened later, it would use its invisibility to lead these humans away…
Disorderly footsteps drew closer. Four people had arrived—the same squad from before.
“There’s nothing over there either. Where could it possibly be hiding…?”
A game notification suddenly sounded, making Qian Hui nearly drop his dagger.
[ Congratulations! You have successfully approached non-friendly factions three times without being detected! Obtained title: “Junior Reconnaissance Expert”! Rewards have been delivered to account .]
[Plot point triggered. Obtained original ending for special-grade plant: man-eating flower. ]
Qian Hui’s attention remained focused on the humans nearby, but the game interface automatically popped up with the second message and several lines of text.
[ Man-eating Flower—Shi Ren Hua
Special-grade mutated plant
Origin: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Personality: Brutal and violent, indiscriminately attacks all humans and zombies within sight.
Typically found roaming in mid-risk zones. Later captured by human ability users after sustaining injuries, but mysteriously died during transport to the base.]
Qian Hui’s eyelashes fluttered, his breathing suddenly becoming more ragged.
He frantically clicked through the game interface, trying to see more information. However, there was no further explanation beyond these few lines, and the plot point remained unexplained.
At that moment, the short man, holding an instrument, said impatiently, “Why are there plants here again?”
The low energy warning had been almost constantly present, though it didn’t hinder their search for the man-eating flower. Still, with little progress made throughout the day, frustration had inevitably set in.
He looked around, his gaze slowly sweeping over all objects within view.
There was too much rubble. If the plant was small, it could easily hide.
His companion, who was looking down at messages, said, “Liang Jie’s group hasn’t made progress either.”
After separating yesterday, they had switched to a different communication channel, still receiving some residual messages.
“What are they looking for?”
“A runaway mutated pepper. I heard its abilities are quite unusual…”
If it had been captured and escaped, there would likely be marks left on its body. The fact that they still hadn’t found it made the short man feel somewhat relieved.
The group quickly walked away, their footsteps fading until they disappeared completely.
Qian Hui slowly sat down on the ground, his expression a mix of confusion and worry.
“man-eating flower,” “captured alive,” “mysterious deaths,” and finally, the team’s mention of “mutated pepper”—Qian Hui had heard it all.
The sudden flood of information left him at a loss, unsure what to do.
The pepper in his pocket raised its head, meeting Qian Hui’s gaze.
It calmly averted its eyes, trying to pretend it wasn’t involved.
Qian Hui said nothing. He patted Lajiao’s head, then stood up.
The human team had already walked away, disappearing from sight.
Their conversation must have triggered a plot point… So were they the ones who captured the man-eating flower?
But they still hadn’t found the flower’s whereabouts. That might be the only good news right now.
If he could find the man-eating flower before them, could he change the outcome?
But Qian Hui didn’t know where to search.
He bent down again, a sour taste rising in his throat.
In the old plant courtyard, the man-eating flower had sometimes been irritable, often brawling with other plants, yet fiercely protective of Qian Hui.
Just two nights ago, the man-eating flower had waited by the door for him to return home. But when he woke up, it felt like an eternity had passed, with countless events unfolding in between.
Qian Hui strained his memory. When the man-eating flower was injured before, after each treatment session, it would always return to play with the little mushroom in the rear courtyard near the giant tree…
He lifted his head, his vision filled with ruins and wreckage, the scene desolate and dilapidated.
Lajiao let out two urgent whistles. A low-level zombie staggered toward them, its nose twitching as it detected Qian Hui’s scent.
Qian Hui calmly rose, drawing his dagger.
The zombie lunged forward, but two pepper seeds struck its shoulders, slowing its movements.
Qian Hui swung his dagger, the first strike only grazing the zombie’s arm and cheek.
A vine snaked around the rubble, yanking him back two steps just in time.
The zombie’s attack missed completely. The vine around Qian Hui’s wrist detached, swiftly coiling around the creature’s neck and pulling it downward.
While the zombie was restrained, Qian Hui thrust his dagger at its forehead. But lacking sufficient strength, the blow failed to kill it outright.
He withdrew the blade, shielding the pepper and cabbage in his arms as he dodged the zombie’s flailing hands. With renewed force, he drove the dagger into the same wound.
[ Congratulations! You have successfully killed a Level 1 Zombie (1). Rewards have been delivered to your account! ]
The zombie finally collapsed. Lajiao swallowed the pepper seeds he had been brewing in his mouth.
Qian Hui leaned against the wall behind him, breathing heavily. Even with the plants’ assistance, it had taken three attacks to completely kill this low-level zombie.
He needed to stay alive until he found the man-eating flower.
Wiping his face, Qian Hui gathered the three plants and quickly left the area.
On the way, he opened the game interface.
In the illustrated handbook, Ruanteng’s loyalty had reached 50%, unlocking its skill bar.
[ Species: Soft Vine—Ruanteng
Level: Low (Small and Agile)
Status: Good
Loyalty: 50%
Basic Skill: Body Extension
Advanced Skill: Branch Generation (Quantity 1)
Berserk Skill: Unknown
Preparation Details: Unlocked at 80% Loyalty
Suggested Class: Support
Class Level: Beginner
Skill Points: Attack 0 Defense 0 Speed 0 (No Available Points) ]
Including the recent title reward and the kill from this low-level zombie, his balance now stood at 4700.
Qian Hui purchased a mid-level Panacea and fed it to Lajiao.
The dagger was still usable, but after thoroughly searching the shop, he decided to buy some items for the plants.
Both Lajiao and Ruanteng had helped him before. Xiao Baocai, though weaker, had already reached 70% loyalty.
Qian Hui spent 3,000 points to buy 30 skill points in one go.
With the remaining 1,300, he could only purchase food and water, which he’d have to use sparingly.
He opened the skill allocation menu, his expression hesitant.
Qian Hui had never played games before, so he didn’t know if 30 skill points were considered much or how to use them.
Guided purely by instinct, he allocated 10 points to Lajiao’s attack, 10 points to Xiao Baocai’s defense, and 10 points to Ruanteng’s speed.
After completing the allocation, a confirmation prompt popped up in the game.
Qian Hui tapped it, and three labeled pills appeared in his hand, which he needed to feed to the plants.
Xiao Baocai mistook them for snacks and swallowed them whole, while the Ruanteng didn’t refuse either.
Lajiao hesitated for two seconds before eating the pill.
When Qian Hui checked the three plants’ information again, Lajiao appeared unchanged, but Xiao Baocai’s advanced skills now included an (Unknown) entry. Ruanteng’s ability to generate new branches had increased to 2.
The estimated combat strength showed 20 points, with a 10% chance of winning battles.
He wasn’t sure what the winning rate was based on, but since he’d invested so many skill points, it should be useful…
Feeling confused, Qian Hui looked around everywhere before closing the game.
Xiao Baocai licked its lips, rolled around twice in a pocket, then closed its eyes.
Lajiao lowered its head and discovered a large new branch had grown from the broken section of its stem.
It remained silent, its new branches and leaves concealing its presence.
As the sky darkened, Qian Hui pressed forward undetected, his path clear of obstacles.
He had noted the direction the human squad had taken earlier, assuming he’d lost them. But as he scaled a section of collapsed wall, he spotted them again in the distance.
The group stood at the edge of the ruins. Qian Hui swiftly descended and took cover behind the rubble.
Peering cautiously, he observed the figures conversing among themselves—perhaps planning to camp nearby.
Suddenly, another silhouette appeared from a different direction.
Approaching the group, the newcomer removed their hooded mask and tossed an object toward them.
The exchange was clearly between acquaintances. The squad members caught the item and continued their conversation.
Studying the distant figure, Qian Hui felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
His heart quickened as hope reignited within him.
Soon, the human squad resumed their journey. The lone figure didn’t follow but took a different path instead.
Without hesitation, Qian Hui turned to pursue.
