Chapter 16
Several modified cars from the Black Spine Mountain Base swiftly departed, leaving the intersection restored to normal.
Qian Hui slipped inside, then seized an opportunity to slip away unnoticed when the guard’s attention wandered.
He had no idea where the White Bird Base lay, and revealing his ignorance would be disastrous.
Moreover, the disguise potion’s two-hour duration meant he couldn’t afford to waste time.
Standing at the fork in the road, Qian Hui surveyed his surroundings.
The cars had already vanished without a trace, their destination unknown. Pursuit was now impossible.
The fork bore more detailed signs than before, including regional divisions and the positions of various bases.
Qian Hui opened the game map and marked down directions and routes based on the landmarks.
This information was partially displayed in the outer ring of the Safe Zone, not particularly secret. Strangers wishing to enter a base still required strict identity verification.
Thus, the guarded intersections only monitored energy signatures, watching for any approaching zombies or mutated plants.
Inside the inner ring, security measures relaxed. At most, two or three rotating patrol squads maintained the area.
No one could have imagined someone like Qian Hui—carrying a backpack full of mutated plants—would boldly walk right in.
After recording the map, Qian Hui headed in the direction the modified cars had last been seen.
Judging by the previous human guard’s words, Nan Tingjin had come here for some specific reason.
Qian Hui dared not ask further, fearing exposure.
Still, he’d confirmed Nan Tingjin’s presence here, eliminating the need for blind searches.
Qian Hui found everything in the human Safe Zone fascinating, as if he’d never seen anything before. He even stopped to examine a perfectly functioning streetlight.
Compared to the abandoned city outside, these roads were wider and more open, kept meticulously clean. With no tall buildings obstructing the view, one could see far into the distance.
The advantage was that if he found a secluded corner to stash his cabbage shell, he could probably sleep there undetected.
Qian Hui spotted a fenced vegetable patch with a sign, likely belonging to a nearby base.
With no one else around, Qian Hui—having never seen a garden before—couldn’t resist approaching. He crouched down and reached out to touch a small sprout inside.
Plants had mutated extensively, making every blade of grass and tree dangerous for ordinary humans without special abilities. Fortunately, normally cultivated fruits and vegetables were still edible.
Qian Hui withdrew his hand, then noticed a slender leafy hand emerging from the backpack’s zipper gap behind him. It swiftly plucked the nearest sprout.
“No!” Qian Hui quickly grabbed the sprout back, frantically replanting it in the hole left behind and pressing soil around it. “This belongs to someone else…”
A soft “whoo” came from the backpack, sounding like the corn.
Among the three newly added mutated plants, the corn had the lowest loyalty at just 5%.
However, it usually behaved well, obediently following Qian Hui on their journey without wandering off.
Qian Hui guessed the plants were hungry. After quietly leaving the garden, he bought some food and stuffed it into his backpack and pockets.
As he continued walking, he encountered three or four people along the way.
The relationship between different bases wasn’t particularly good, and the people inside didn’t know each other. The few people he met saw Qian Hui with his head down, rushing forward, so they didn’t pay much attention to him.
Soon, there were only half an hour left of the disguise potion’s effect.
Qian Hui pulled his hood up and stopped to rest for a moment.
The area here was much larger than he’d imagined…
There were only two portions of the potion, and once they were gone, there would be no more. He had to save the remaining portion and not use it unless absolutely necessary.
When his hair and eye color returned to normal, he’d have to be even more careful.
Fortunately, Qian Hui had already gotten a general understanding of the environment as he walked along.
He wasn’t as nervous as he was at the beginning, and there was even a hint of excitement about exploring the unknown.
While the potion’s effect was still working, Qian Hui passed a small house at a roadside corner.
Two signs hung by the door: “Medical” and “Shop.” It could provide what people needed for a fee.
The door was open. Qian Hui walked past with his head down, but he heard someone speaking.
“People from Black Spine Mountain came?” a voice said. “Help me contact them. Any of them will do.”
Hearing the familiar place name, Qian Hui’s footsteps paused slightly.
Meanwhile, the Lajiao in his pocket twitched uneasily.
Its eyes, filled with suspicion, resisted the urge to poke out and investigate.
That voice sounded so familiar…
A game notification promptly appeared:
[ Unfamiliar mutated plant detected. Waiting to unlock entry in field guide. ]
This was the inner circle of the Safe Zone. How could there be an unknown plant here?
Qian Hui furrowed his brow slightly, but with people nearby, he dared not show any unusual behavior. His footsteps continued without pause.
The passing Qian Hui went unnoticed. The shopkeeper, head bowed, replied, “My apologies, we don’t offer that service. However, if there’s an opportunity, I could ask on your behalf.”
Liang Jie sat on a chair by the door, rolled up his sleeve, and let the shopkeeper help dress his wound.
With a grim expression, he forced out a, “Fine.”
At that moment, the black bag by his feet gave a slight twitch.
Liang Jie looked down. There was a small opening in the bag, revealing a mimosa plant contained in a cage.
Sensing Liang Jie’s gaze, the mimosa immediately stilled, as if nothing had happened.
When Liang Jie’s attention shifted away, the mimosa quietly extended a few leaves, peering after the departed Qian Hui.
That human… no, the aura was… very… familiar.
Unaware of mimosa’s unusual behavior, Liang Jie produced some common currency from his pocket and paid the shopkeeper.
His wounds had been treated, but his expression remained grim.
During the pursuit of the man-eating flower and the pepper that night, a sudden disaster struck. Liang Jie had escaped just in time, becoming the only survivor of the entire team.
His communicator was lost, and even if it were still intact, he couldn’t face contacting the base—let alone returning directly.
The mission had seemed so assured of success, yet it had failed completely. Liang Jie couldn’t comprehend how this had happened.
Even if they’d misjudged the man-eating flower’s recovery speed, the pepper had been within their grasp—yet so many mutated plants had appeared out of nowhere.
Liang Jie’s arm injury came from a corn. The skin that came into contact with the plant’s sticky mass had to be forcibly peeled away, and even after two or three days, it continued to seep blood.
Fortunately, he’d escaped in time and brought mimosa with him. Otherwise, not only would they have suffered heavy casualties and returned empty-handed, they would have lost their “hound” as well.
After fleeing with mimosa, he encountered a group of kind people who brought him here. mimosa’s iron collar and cage made it easy to bring them in together.
When he met the people from Black Spine Mountain Base, he would have to ask them properly about what happened the night the man-eating flower escaped. He wondered if there was anything they were hiding.
No matter how Liang Jie thought about it, something felt off. The whole affair reeked of strangeness.
First, there was the search for the pepper that yielded no results for days. Then there was the man-eating flower that had fled gravely injured yet recovered quickly.
There was also the pepper’s assistance to the man-eating flower, and the other plants in the forest that had blocked their path…
He’d never heard before that these mutated plants could be so united.
Meanwhile, Qian Hui left the corner and the small house disappeared from view.
Lajiao could no longer contain itself and stuck its head out to look back.
Qian Hui asked the pepper in a whisper, “What’s wrong?”
Lajiao’s expression turned serious. The pepper pointed toward the house, then at itself. It made a fierce face, pounded its chest twice, then closed its eyes and pretended to be dead.
Perhaps because his loyalty had increased, communicating with plants became smoother. After pondering for a moment, Qian Hui actually guessed what Lajiao meant.
“That person earlier,” he whispered, “was a bad guy?”
Lajiao nodded vigorously and lifted up Tudou, the potato who was snoring loudly nearby, as a reminder of the one they’d encountered in the forest that night.
At the time, there were too many humans and too many plants. Later, they were busy going back to find Nan Tingjin, so they didn’t have time to confirm. That evil leader of the group definitely took the chance to escape.
Lajiao wouldn’t mistake his voice. It was him who said to come out voluntarily, promising unlimited access to crystal cores afterward.
Ugh!
Who cares about a few stinking crystal cores?!
Qian Hui turned, gazing toward the small house.
Xiaozhi in his backpack twitched, indicating agreement with its judgment.
Xiaozhi had detected the scent but feared its movements might attract attention and bring trouble to Qian Hui, so it held back.
Qian Hui checked the remaining time on his disguise potion and temporarily hid behind a nearby fence.
He asked, “That human, did he have a plant with him?”
Lajiao thought for a moment, nodding while sighing.
There was a mimosa. It saw it, chained up… it looked so pitiful.
The Handbook hadn’t been activated, so Qian Hui carefully recalled and remembered the bag Liang Jie had placed by his feet.
Was it inside the bag?
It was almost dark, and night would be more convenient for hiding.
A human who had harmed the little mushroom and was carrying another mutated plant—Qian Hui had to go check it out.
He quietly returned to the vicinity of the small house and waited patiently. Soon, Liang Jie emerged carrying a backpack, following the shopkeeper to the rear.
Behind the house stood two single-story buildings marked with the word “Inn.” These structures provided temporary lodging for travelers passing through the Safe Zone or those seeking to join the base who had not yet completed their application process.
Qian Hui watched as Liang Jie entered the inn and took a room facing the window on the side.
Hiding himself carefully, he opened the game shop and began browsing.
This place housed many human ability users. In case of an accident, even his plants could be endangered.
Qian Hui decided not to kill Liang Jie immediately. Instead, he’d let Xiaozhi handle things later. For now, his priority was stealing the backpack containing the unfamiliar plant.
He’d never attempted such a theft before, fearing failure and the risk of being discovered.
Qian Hui meticulously searched the weapons section of the shop, picking through options until settling on a bottle of Sleep Mist.
The mist’s application was simple, effective against all living creatures including zombies. Though the bottle’s contents were limited, it should suffice for dealing with Liang Jie alone.
Qian Hui clutched the spray bottle and waited patiently until the sky darkened completely.
The shopkeeper delivered dinner to Liang Jie. The man seemed exhausted, as the light in his room was extinguished early.
Qian Hui munched on biscuits and waited for a long time, watching until the shopkeeper closed the storehouse door and left.
The streets were silent and deserted. Qian Hui was about to move forward when Lajiao grabbed his sleeve.
Lajiao snatched the spray bottle, patted it chest, and gestured that it would handle it.
The mutated plant’s smaller size made it easier to climb windows without being noticed.
Seeing this, the corn excitedly approached from the side and raised his hand, indicating that he wanted to go too.
Qian Hui hesitated before saying, “Very well… but you must be careful.”
Lajiao nodded, took the spray bottle, led the corn over the wall, and quickly ran to the opposite side.
Under the cover of night, the two plants successfully climbed onto the windowsill of Liang Jie’s room.
The window was already slightly open. Lajiao held its nose, used its other hand to insert the spray bottle inside, and pressed down until the entire bottle was emptied.
It waited cautiously for a moment, knocked on the iron bars of the window, confirmed there was no movement inside, then pushed the window open and slipped in.
The corn followed closely behind, looked around, and jumped onto the bed.
Liang Jie lay unconscious, his face pale. The corn stood by his pillow, pounding his cheek with two clenched fists.
Lajiao quickly found the suitcase hidden beneath the bed and sniffed it curiously. It urgently beckoned to the corn. The two plants hoisted the suitcase and slipped out the window.
By the roadside, Qian Hui waited anxiously.
Seeing Lajiao and the corn return with the suitcase, he sprang up to meet them, leading the group to a more secluded spot.
After ensuring their surroundings were safe, Qian Hui asked, “You weren’t discovered, were you?”
Lajiao shook its head confidently and unzipped the suitcase.
Instantly, all the plants crowded around, eager to see what was hidden inside.
In the faint moonlight, a mimosa cowered in a corner, trembling violently.
It was confined in a cage, with three miniature iron rings fastened to its body and secured by iron chains.
The mimosa’s condition was clearly poor—many of its leaves drooped listlessly, and it wore an expression of extreme fear.
Witnessing this scene, Qian Hui felt both anger and pity.
He found the cage’s lock and reached in to pick up the mimosa, trying to soothe it as he spoke: “Don’t be afraid…”
Mimosa continued trembling, too frightened to resist. It huddled with its head buried in its chest.
The iron rings on its body seemed specially made, as Qian Hui couldn’t remove them. Xiaozhi leaned in for a closer look, then exhaled sharply.
The iron ring, struck by the air current, shattered into several pieces and fell to the ground.
Sensing that its physical restraints had completely vanished, Mimosa froze.
Qian Hui was still examining its old wounds and had just bought some medicine from the Shop when he suddenly noticed Mimosa’s body rapidly shrinking.
It had originally been as tall as Qian Hui’s calf, but in the blink of an eye, it shrank to the size of a palm, then to the size of a fingernail…
Beside the fence grew some weeds. In the time it took to blink, the mimosa before him had disappeared.
Qian Hui was bewildered and shocked. “How did it disappear?”
Lajiao pointed at the tree stump to the side. “Woo.”
The mimosa had become very small, which must be its hiding form. It was now hiding behind the tree stump, peeking out timidly.
Qian Hui feared it might run away and be discovered, yet also feared scaring it. He therefore had Ruanteng, with its gentle aura, deliver some food and medicine.
At first, Mimosa didn’t dare to touch it. But after smelling it and realizing it wasn’t poisonous, it quickly ate everything while Qian Hui was dealing with the backpack and iron cage, then continued hiding.
Seeing its continued timidity, Qian Hui didn’t press the matter and forbade other plants from approaching. The surrounding terrain proved suitable, so he temporarily set aside the mimosa and produced a cabbage shell, placing it at the edge of the clearing.
After the cabbage shell expanded, Qian Hui led all the plants inside.
Once the shell closed, it vanished completely from the spot.
The mimosa observed this scene, its leaves twitching in the air as it confirmed Qian Hui’s presence.
It remained crouched by the tree stump for a long while, sneaking away only to return and guard the cabbage shell’s base.
Late at night, a patrol squad passed nearby but detected no abnormalities.
Lajiao woke up once in the latter half of the night. Opening its leaf door, it saw Mimosa still there and finally felt completely at ease.
Inside the cabbage shell, Qian Hui had already fallen asleep.
He lay on his side, using his jacket as a pillow, with a haphazard pile of plants sprawled across his chest.
In a corner of the West District, Luobo the carrot was still awake.
It had wandered around all day without finding the Zombie King mentioned in human intelligence reports. Instead, it had only killed a few mid-level zombies and beaten up two or three humans.
Luobo lay flat on a large rock, gazing at the stars in the sky.
Ah, this is so boring.
The little mushroom was gone, and Luobo didn’t know where the other plants had disappeared to.
Luobo had initially thought Xiaozhi was dying, but when it encountered the plant recently, it was still full of life.
Luobo felt a mix of relief, sadness, and inexplicable anger with nowhere to vent.
It rolled over and got up, staring at the distant human base and deciding to find some fun there tomorrow.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The people at Black Spine Mountain Base were also still awake, having just finished assigning teams and their respective areas of responsibility.
Nan Tingjin sat at the front, stroking the tail ring on his hand. He spoke coldly, “Alright, everyone out.”
The others immediately stood up and left one by one, careful not to make too much noise and avoid upsetting Nan Tingjin again.
Perhaps because they failed to capture the man-eating flower, Nan Tingjin had been visibly in a terrible mood since returning, his face dark and gloomy all day.
When the last person left the room and gently closed the door, only Nan Tingjin remained inside.
He sat quietly with lowered eyes, his entire figure like a statue—heavy and oppressive.
The next day, as the cabbage shell’s invisibility was about to expire, Qian Hui seized an opportunity to slip out and retrieve it.
Still preoccupied with Mimosa, he glanced around until Lajiao reminded him that it was still hiding by the wooden stake.
After a full night’s rest, Mimosa’s courage seemed to have grown slightly. It cautiously extended half of its feathery leaves, studying Qian Hui.
Qian Hui approached a few steps and crouched down.
He had reviewed Mimosa’s Handbook entry last night and even purchased a cultivation guide.
The mimosa was a high-level mutated plant with exceptional sensory perception and olfactory abilities. Though gentle and timid by nature, it possessed intelligence and kindness, yet its combat capabilities remained limited.
Qian Hui placed a cookie and a Panacea in his hand, slowly extending them forward.
He said, “This is where humans live. It’s very dangerous outside… Would you like to come with me first?”
Qian Hui knew Mimosa could understand him and sense his friendly intentions.
He held out his hand patiently, waiting until a stranger approached from a distance.
Mimosa suddenly darted to Qian Hui’s side and leaped into his hand.
As a stranger approached, Qian Hui pulled his hood up and stood, walking with his head down while straightening his clothes.
When they returned to an uninhabited area, all the biscuits and medicine in Qian Hui’s hands had been eaten by Mimosa.
Mimosa remained the size of a fingernail, its entire body pressed against his sleeve cuff like a tiny piece of embroidery.
Qian Hui whispered to it, “If you’re still hungry, come to my palm.”
Mimosa didn’t move, quietly sensing Qian Hui’s presence.
On the second day in the Safe Zone, Qian Hui continued his journey, trying to gather more information from road signs and buildings—whether about Luobo or Nan Tingjin.
This limited method actually yielded results. Qian Hui saw a safety notice on a bulletin wall at the edge of a base.
It warned that a mutant carrot was roaming around the outskirts of the Safe Zone, suspected to be in extreme agitation. It would actively provoke and attack any humans it encountered, and its level was very high. Anyone who saw it should try to get away as quickly as possible.
Beside the warning was a drawing of a ferocious-looking carrot with a large X marked on its body.
Qian Hui stared at it for a while before reaching out to touch the paper.
The warning didn’t specify the carrot’s exact location, but the previous outer road sign had mentioned something about the West District…
Qian Hui opened his map and checked the marked points, trying to decide where to search first.
At that moment, Mimosa in his sleeve twitched. It lifted its leaves to examine the carrot’s illustration.
Before leaving, Qian Hui noticed a mailbox nearby.
Mailboxes could be found at the entrances of many bases. In the post-apocalyptic world where resources were scarce, not everyone could afford communication devices.
If you couldn’t travel but needed to contact someone elsewhere, you could write them a letter. For a set fee, a dedicated service would handle the delivery.
Gazing at the mailbox, Qian Hui’s heart stirred.
At this rate, he didn’t know when he’d find Nan Tingjin.
If he wrote a letter first, telling him he was here… perhaps they could even arrange a meeting time.
Qian Hui approached the mailbox, rummaged through the nearby trash bin for discarded letters, found a suitable piece of paper, tore off the blank section, and located an empty envelope. He quickly left with both items.
He had no pen, so Lajiao found a branch. They dipped it in water-mixed mud to write.
The branch’s tip was sharpened to a fine point. Qian Hui, fully focused, carefully wrote the words “Xiao Jin.”
Since he couldn’t receive any reply after sending the letter, he had to think very carefully about what to write.
Qian Hui thought for a while, then wrote the first line: “I miss you very much.”
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Awaaa shoo cuteee edhbrd
Thnx ya for the chappiiee~
AWWW