281-300

Chapter 281 Soul Wood Mystery City (5)

When the earthquake struck, Qiao Yong and his team had already fallen asleep. They used the cardboard provided by Wei Dong to spread a layer on the ground, and several people squeezed together, so they could easily get through the night. It was a bit cold, but there was nothing they could do with the conditions. They didn't even have cardboard the night before.

In fact, after the communication, Wei Dong wanted to recruit them to join, but Qiao Yong decisively rejected it. He didn't get angry, and proposed cooperation. He meant that if they could leave, both sides would work together to find a way to leave. If they couldn't leave, they could go out together to find supplies. Obviously, after learning about the situation outside from Qiao Yong and his team, he was very good at grasping the situation and immediately realized that his side was weak. At the same time, he also saw an opportunity, so he made a prompt decision and seized the opportunity to express his intentions and sincerity, and even invited Qiao Yong and his team to rest in the shed. One

more person means more strength. Qiao Yong did not reject his proposal for cooperation, but refused to sleep in the shed. They were not familiar with each other yet, so it was always better to be cautious. Wei Dong did not say anything about this, but just pulled out a few pieces of thick cardboard from the shack for them to barely resist the coldness of the ground. It can be said that this person is very knowledgeable and interesting, and it is difficult to make people dislike him.

"Earthquake?" Even in sleep, the people in the gymnasium were very alert, and they got up quickly, no slower than Qiao Yong and others, and felt the movements around them in fear and vigilance, ready to escape if the situation was not good.

However, after this tremor, there was no movement, which made the people in the dark puzzled. They couldn't figure out whether it was their own illusion, or the earthquake intensity was low or the epicenter was far away from here. But judging from the reactions of other people around them, the possibility of so many people having illusions together was too small, so the latter possibility was more likely.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went to sleep one after another. As long as there was no high-intensity earthquake in the local area, it would not be a problem for them. As for whether other places were affected, their hearts, exhausted by cold, hunger and long-term imprisonment, had no spare energy to sympathize or worry. Only a few people could not help but feel a little sad for the human condition. If an earthquake really happened, it would be like adding insult to injury.

Qiao Yong climbed up the stands, climbed to the top floor, and looked out through the glass wall. In fact, it was pitch black outside and he could not see anything, but he still stood there and did not go down, as if he was trying to find a little light from the deep darkness in front of him.

Not long after, Wei Dong also came up.

"I feel something is wrong." Wei Dong said, his eyes were bright in the darkness, but there was a hint of worry in his voice.

Qiao Yong tilted his head slightly and did not answer. People like them who have been dealing with death for a long time have a particularly keen sense of danger. At this time, let alone Wei Dong, he was a little frightened, but it was dark and he had no idea what to do. There was no point in saying more.

Half an hour later, there was another tremor, which was weaker than the previous one. The people who had fallen asleep did not move.

Qiao Yong and Wei Dong sat cross-legged on the spot and looked outside silently. After most people had put their minds at ease and fallen asleep, the tremors occurred twice more, each time about half an hour apart from the previous one, and the intensity was not as strong as the first one. Then the two of them stared at each other and stood up at the same time.

The change finally happened.

The night is the world of mutant creatures. The outside of the gymnasium is full of mutant plants, and it is rare for mutant beasts to break in. At least Qiao Yong and his team have not encountered one in the two days since they came here.

"There have never been mutant animals here before. The ones we eat are all hunted by half a person from other places." Wei Dong said, looking through the glass at the green glow passing through the dark forest outside. Compared with his previous worries, after determining the source of the sense of danger, he was very calm.

Those glows are the eyes of mutant beasts, and there are quite a lot of them. Judging from their different sizes, there is obviously more than one species. They appeared very suddenly, as if they were suddenly seen by someone who had taken the wrong road. Perhaps it was so sudden that even they themselves were surprised. From the roars and fighting sounds that faintly penetrated the glass wall, as well as the embarrassed escape of some people, it can be concluded that they were not coming for the people in the gymnasium.

However, no one let down their guard. Even those who had fallen asleep were startled by the noise coming from outside and got up again. Some climbed up and looked out, while others squatted nervously, praying that the mutant beasts would not notice that there were people in the gym.

At such a distance, separated by a glass wall, and separated by a dense forest of mutant plants, plus the flying snowflakes, it is normal that as long as they don't do anything to attract attention, such as making loud noises or emitting light, it is difficult for the mutant beasts to notice this side even if they are very sensitive.

But neither Qiao Yong nor Wei Dong is the kind of person who does nothing after understanding the source of danger and leaves life and death to luck. At the moment, the two of them briefly discussed a few words and then went to arrange people separately.

Now, except for the top of the stands, the other three sides of the stadium where they are now have no doors, windows or passages directly connected to the outside. As for the glass wall above the stands, although it is fragile, it is more than ten meters above the ground. As long as they are not discovered, ordinary mutant beasts will not jump so high for no reason. So they only need to guard several entrances and exits.

However, accidents always catch people off guard. Just as they were dispersing and not yet in place, they heard a loud crash. The sound of glass breaking was like thunder in the ears of the people who had calmed down a little because of Qiao Yong and Wei Dong's arrangements. At the same time, there were screams of fear from people who were probably still staying by the broken glass wall. Nothing could be seen

in the darkness. All they could hear was the sound of heavy objects rolling down from the stands, crushing many seats, and crashing onto the playing field at the bottom. Judging from the momentum, it was obviously not caused by the weight of one or two people. Then there was a sharp whistle, and the glass broke again. The biting cold wind carried snowflakes into the venue, and there was a sound of flapping wings.

Roar - another angry roar, coming from the playing field below.

Chaos! People screamed and cried in the darkness, running away like headless flies, bumping into each other, trampling on each other, and pushing each other, just like the moment when the end of the world came, completely losing the numbness and deadness of the usual days.

Boom! A fireball larger than a football streaked across the western stand walkway and hit the dome of the stadium, followed by the second, third, and fourth... falling in all directions. Qiao Yong saw that the situation was not right and immediately released the fireball, not to defeat the enemy, but to see the current situation clearly. Since he had been discovered, he naturally did not need to worry about the influence of sound and light. Compared with mutant beasts that ignored darkness, bright environments were naturally more beneficial to humans.

It took only a few seconds for the fireball to appear and go out, but it was enough for those who could still keep calm to see the huge mutant flying beast hovering on the top of the stadium and the mutant bull-headed beast under the stadium. The

mutant flying beast looked like a centipede with wings, more than ten meters long, with multiple wings and legs, and a hideous appearance. Unlike a centipede, its feet were in the shape of eagle claws and as sharp as knives. If it was caught, it would not be known whether it could break free, but it would definitely be pierced and disemboweled, and 70% to 80% of it would die. At this time, it was hovering on the top of the stadium, with a pair of eyes that were glowing with a dark and fierce light, staring at the ground, as if waiting for an opportunity to strike.

As for the mutant beast on the ground, it was a monster that looked like a cow, but had a circle of fan-shaped hard armor on its neck. It was also five or six meters long and no less than three meters tall. Its shoulders, spine and legs were covered with bulging and strong muscles, and it looked equally ferocious. However, one of its horns was broken, blood was dripping from its mouth, and its body was covered with deep and long scratches. However, it still stared fiercely at the mutant flying centipede above its head, and let out an angry low growl.

It was obvious that the two mutant beasts were originally fighting each other, but accidentally broke through the glass wall and broke in. As for whether the mutant bull-headed beast was caught by the mutant centipede and smashed in, or jumped in by itself, there was no way to know.

The mutant beasts that were originally confronting each other were startled by the sudden appearance of the fireball. At the same time, they looked towards Qiao Yong with caution. It seemed that they only noticed the humans in the gymnasium at this time. Greedy light floated in their cold and bloody eyes. The hostility between them disappeared instantly, and then they pounced on the panicked people on the ground.

The fireball went out, and the surroundings fell into darkness again. The momentary silence caused by the sudden light disappeared in an instant, replaced by more shrill screams for help and messy running sounds.

Qiao Yong's heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely regretted throwing those fireballs, causing the two mutant beasts that were clearly killing each other to divert their targets. However, he knew that this was purely a fluke mentality. Without light, they couldn't figure out the current situation, which was really bad for all of them. Moreover, darkness had no effect on mutant beasts. It was only a matter of a few seconds earlier or later that everyone was discovered. After all, the noise caused by fear was not small. They couldn't expect to be lucky enough to have the two mutant beasts that broke in to be both blind and deaf.

What to do?

In a flash, countless thoughts flashed through Qiao Yong's mind. Before he could think about what to do, another fire lit up. It was a fire-type mutant who set the plastic chairs on the stands on fire because he couldn't see the road. At the moment when the fire was the strongest, Qiao Yong saw a scene that made him furious.

In just less than half a minute from the fire going out to the fire lighting up again, the two mutant beasts had captured more than one human. The mutant flying centipede had two people in each of its claws and swallowed one in its mouth, but it was still rushing towards the other fleeing people, obviously not satisfied with just this little harvest. The other mutant bull beast was holding a survivor and gnawing on him. Although it was not as greedy as the mutant flying centipede, the splashing blood and meat scraps and the screams of the bitten people made it look even more cruel and violent.

Qiao Yong felt the blood rushing up, and there was no way to think about whether to protect himself. He set the plastic chair next to him on fire and ran to the competition venue below.

"Run to the passage! Run to the passage, leave the auditorium..." He shouted at the top of his lungs, giving directions to the survivors who were panicking like headless flies. Either resist or simply flee from here and find a safer place to hide. No matter what they did, it was better than running around in panic.

The venue was too big, and such shouting generated an echo, which made the content blurred, but it still attracted people's attention, and of course attracted the attention of the mutant beasts. However, because they were at a distance, they did not abandon the food in front of them and pounce on him.

It was not known whether the survivors heard his words clearly, but their emotions were obviously much more stable. Except for those who were so hungry that they had no strength, they all ran towards the athlete's passage with all their strength. Obviously, they also realized that facing these two behemoths, the narrower the place, the better it was for hiding. The hall that was too empty and spacious was only suitable for them to hunt. As for the chance of escape, no one cared about it. They only knew that they had to run faster than others.

"Boss Qiao!" Liu Xia and his men, who were originally assigned to guard the entrances to the auditorium, saw his actions and could not help shouting. They also wanted to run to the competition venue.

Qiao Yong, who was about to rush to the bottom floor, stopped and raised his hand to stop them. After thinking for a while, he said, "Liu Xia, come here. The others retreat first. We will block them for a while. Pay attention to the situation outside!" If everyone works together, they will definitely be able to kill these two beasts, but it will definitely take a lot of time, and there will be no less casualties. Moreover, there are still many mutant beasts outside. They will never give them so much time. It will be even more difficult for them to get away by then. Instead of dragging everyone here, it is better to only have one or two people to deal with them. Even if they run, it will be easier. Anyway, they are not going to fight to the death. It is just to buy time for others to escape. In comparison, Liu Xia, who has wind ability, is more suitable for this than others.

"We will help you." Just as Liu Xia rolled out like a whirlwind, Wei Dong, who had already evacuated to the audience passage with his men, also rushed out again with two people holding sharpened iron rods.

Qiao Yong was stunned for a moment, then reacted, gave them a thumbs up, and praised, "You are real men!" He originally looked down on these people, thinking that they only knew how to bully the good and fear the evil, but he didn't expect them to stand up at this time, which inevitably changed his view.

Wei Dong smiled and said nothing, but just signaled the other two to disperse. They did not gather with Qiao Yong, but they echoed each other from a distance. However, before the five people went down to the competition venue, they saw many black shadows suddenly jumping out of the shadows, rushing towards the mutant bull beast that threw down the half-eaten body of the survivor and chased the others, and the mutant flying centipede that swooped down because it wanted to catch people.

The five people stopped in astonishment, watching the black shadows rushing out, some jumping on the back of the mutant bull beast, some grabbing the claws of the mutant flying centipede and climbing up, or falling from the steel frame on the top of the venue and falling on the back of the flying centipede, causing the two mutant beasts that were hunting calmly to start flopping around in annoyance, and the survivors who were regarded as prey were able to escape by chance.

Some of the survivors had already fled, but more were still running around in panic on the playing field, avoiding being trampled by the crazy mutant minotaurs. Fortunately, it was still clear that their destinations were the passages, not rushing around like before.

The flames were spreading, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of burning plastic, but no one cared about it. The five of them looked at each other, and continued to flip down the stands in tacit understanding, but instead of helping to resist the mutant beasts, they ran to the vicinity of the shack to get the food bags.

In fact, except for the several large bags of food brought back by Qiao Yong and his team, Wei Dong and his team didn't have much to eat. After all, the amount of food supplied every day was limited, and it was good enough to eat 70% to 80% full, not to mention storage. The little things in the shed were all squeezed out of their teeth, which was only about half a small plastic bag, but there were also some things to keep warm, so it would be better to take them if possible.

"Numb!" On the way to the shed, Qiao Yong quickly grabbed a weak survivor who fell to the ground. He rolled and crawled to avoid the hooves of the mutant bull-headed beast that was rushing like crazy, but his feet slipped again, almost sending himself directly under the big hoof that was running and kicking wildly, but he stepped on a pile of feces.

Fortunately, he didn't have mysophobia. At this time, he was in a hurry to escape and didn't care about being nauseous. He rubbed his feet on the ground twice, and then dragged the person he just rescued to dodge the hooves of the mutant bull beast and the violent collision of the mutant flying centipede. He ran to the place where they slept before, and the others arrived here one after another within a few seconds.

Their food bags were still there, which was surprising, but it seemed to be expected. After all, the incident happened suddenly, and everyone was too late to escape, so who would care about grabbing these things. Besides, everyone knew that Wei Dong was not easy to mess with. How could someone who was personally recruited by Wei Dong be easy to mess with? Even if they took advantage of the chaos to rob the food, they would not be able to keep it warm in their hands, let alone eat it. It was better to seize the time to escape.

Everyone did not delay. They each carried all the food and some necessary but not burdensome things and quickly ran to the nearest exit.

The battle between the mutant beasts and the half-humans was very fierce. The half-humans who were soft and agile with corrosive liquid were like the nemesis of the mutant beasts. Once entangled, it would be difficult to get rid of them. But facing the mutant beasts with hard shells and strong bodies, the half-humans with a single means of attack obviously could not do anything to them for a while. The two sides were in a stalemate, and they ignored the people who were running away.

It was not until this time that Qiao Yong, including Wei Dong and others, realized that there were actually hundreds of half-humans here. No wonder they could not escape. But they still didn't understand why these half-humans kept humans here. If they wanted to eat them, it didn't make sense to keep them thinner and thinner, and they kept them for so long without moving. If they wanted to keep them as pets... considering the half-humans' usual peeping behavior, this possibility seemed to be greater.

However, no matter why, they had no time or energy to investigate. They looked back carefully at the fighting methods of the half-humans and the mutant beasts for a while, and after they had a rough idea in their minds, they ran into the athlete's passage without looking back. Behind them, a wall of earth slowly rose up, blocking the passage.

"Boss!"

Not long after, two unfamiliar faces caught up with Ruan Feng. All three were earth-type superpowers who had been waiting here to pick up Qiao Yong and the others. The two greeted Wei Dong, who was obviously his subordinate. As for Ruan Feng, seeing that Qiao Yong was fine, he just nodded slightly, took a food bag from Liu Xia and put it on his back, and left first. There were still many places that needed to be blocked, so there was no time to waste on small talk. Seeing him like this, the two who had originally wanted to follow Wei Dong to show their presence also followed him reluctantly at Wei Dong's signal. Fortunately, they also knew that the situation was worrying, so they did not hesitate to work without putting in any effort.

When they left in the morning, Qiao Yong and the others had roughly figured out the overall layout of the gymnasium. There were wide steps on the north, south and southwest sides that went straight to the second-floor platform. The platform was quite spacious, with flower beds and benches, and then there was a fragile glass door leading directly to the hall, which was connected to the entrance to the auditorium. If the mutant beasts outside broke in from here, they would not be able to stop them at all. Therefore, everyone who exited from the audience entrance went down to the first floor one after another, and blocked the passage between the first and second floors.

The first floor has the entrance for guests, the entrance for equipment and the entrance for staff, as well as the emergency exit and the fire evacuation exit. Although there are many passages, they are not surrounded by glass doors like the second floor. In terms of safety, it is much stronger, and the defense workload will be greatly reduced.

Of course, there are also the third and fourth floors. Because they are not directly connected to the outside world, they are the best choice for hiding, but there is no way out, so they are excluded by everyone. Food is limited, and if you are trapped to death, you will die.

So the first floor is the best choice.

Everyone is busy, even the person who was rescued by Qiao Yong, who was so hungry that his legs were weak, followed behind the crowd to help as much as possible. Even though most people had lost hope of survival, the instinct for survival still drove them to do something.

A few minutes later, the survivors who fell behind also ran out from other passages one after another, and those who did not come out were probably never to come out again. After all, it was such a short distance, if they were still alive, they should have crawled over. At this time, other mutant beasts had already entered through the broken glass wall, ignoring the half-human and mutant bull-headed beasts and mutant flying centipedes that were entangled, and directly chased the fleeing people into the passage. Fortunately, everyone was prepared. While sending people to intercept, they asked Ruan Feng and the other two to speed up the earth wall to block the passage.

This full effort revealed the strengths and weaknesses. Ruan Feng was already accustomed to doing this kind of thing, and he never forgot to improve himself on weekdays. He did it quite smoothly. The other two, however, were trapped in the gymnasium for a long time, and had neither crystal cores to improve their abilities nor actual combat training, so they were much worse in comparison. Fortunately, the three worked together, and Qiao Yong and others collected a small amount of crystal cores when they escaped during the day, and provided them at this time, which barely dealt with the problem of blocking the wall and the road.

As for the others, those who were strong helped to clean up and resist the mutant beasts that might break in from other entrances, and those who were weak also helped to search and carry metal objects to provide them to the gold-type superpowers to further reinforce the blocked earth wall, so as to prevent the mutant beasts from digging through the earth wall with their sharp claws. Dozens of people had never been so united.

"Boss, I found someone." Wei Dong pushed open the door of a conference room, and just as he was waiting for Qiao Yong to throw a fireball to illuminate, he saw a subordinate hurriedly coming over with a strange look on his face.

"What's wrong with the person?" Wei Dong didn't understand.

"It's a person I haven't seen before." The subordinate hurriedly explained. "An old man, about seventy years old."

Qiao Yong had thrown a ball of fire to roughly check the conference room, and found no danger. Hearing this, he looked over, and Wei Dong happened to be looking at him and asked, "Is it one of yours?"

Qiao Yong shook his head, but after thinking about it, he said, "Go and have a look." There were also old people in their Ronghe team, but he didn't believe that the old man could get in here. But this city is weird and no one can guarantee that such a thing will not happen.

Chapter 282 Soul Wood Mystery City (6)

The place where the old man was found was a VIP lounge, which was furnished with a TV, a coffee table, a water dispenser, and seven or eight single sofas. In the room, a simple oil lamp was made by using a can filled with some unknown oil and soaking it in cotton strips twisted into a rope. It was placed on the glass coffee table in the middle of the room. The flickering flame of the lamp was only as big as a soybean and was not bright. Next to the lamp were several thick piles of books, which seemed to be related to history from the cover. A sofa with the armrests removed was sandwiched between two complete single sofas to form a single bed. The single bed was close to the wall with a long landscape painting hanging inside. On it was a neatly folded quilt and a pillow. The curtains were very thick. If they were opened, one should be able to see the snow outside and various mutant creatures. If it was daytime, the lighting would probably be good, but now they were drawn tightly, and no light could leak out, not to mention that the light was very weak.

The old man was sitting on a sofa leaning against a coffee table, wearing a gray winter coat, with a blanket on his legs, and his gray hair was neatly combed, without a single strand of hair out of place. There were two people guarding the door, but he looked calm, holding a cup in one hand and flipping through a book with the other, drinking a sip of hot water slowly from time to time. There was a half-lit charcoal basin at his feet, and a teapot was tilted on the basin, making a very subtle sizzling sound.

When he saw Qiao Yong and others coming in, he smiled kindly on his gaunt face, nodded slightly at them, put down the book, but didn't say anything. There was a calmness and clarity in his wise eyes that saw through the world.

Qiao Yong didn't expect to see such a person here. He was surprised and secretly alert, but his face remained calm. He walked over with a smile, pulled a sofa over and sat down naturally, as casual as if he were at home. He turned around and rummaged through the bag on his back, took out a pack of cigarettes, tore it open, picked out a cigarette, leaned over and handed it over.

"Would you like one?"

Wei Dong and the subordinate who reported the news, who followed him in, did not sit down because of suspicion and vigilance. When they saw him take out a cigarette, their eyes suddenly turned green. They couldn't help but secretly scold him for being stingy. They talked for so long in the first half of the night and even reached a cooperation agreement, but he didn't give up a cigarette. At the same time, they secretly expected that after he gave out cigarettes to the old man, he would give them to himself as well.

Who knew that the old man waved his hand and said, "I never smoke." His voice was deep and powerful, and it contained the vicissitudes of time.

Qiao Yong didn't force it. He ignored the eager eyes of Wei Dong and the others and put the cigarette away again. The two were disappointed, but they didn't know how to ask for it, so they could only mutter a few words in their hearts.

"What's your name, old man?" After the cigarettes were handed out, there was a seemingly casual greeting.

"My surname is Lin, Shuangmu Lin." The old man looked indifferent, as if he was chatting with someone. He raised the cup in his hand and said, "I don't have any extra cups, so I won't invite you to drink water. Oh, I remember, there seems to be a disposable cup in the lounge next door. If you are thirsty, go and get it and pour it yourself."

"Don't be polite, old man, let's talk." Qiao Yong hurriedly asked, "How long have you lived here?" The furnishings in the room looked like a long-term residence, so he didn't give the other party a chance to deny and pointed it out directly.

"How long? Let me calculate..." I don't know if he didn't see his little thoughts, or if he didn't care at all. The old man raised his head and squinted, counting on his fingers, muttering to himself: "Five months...seven months...Oh, I can't remember clearly, it's probably been a year. I came here one or two months after the zombies appeared, and I have lived here until now. Alas, there are no four seasons, and I can't even tell the days apart."

Qiao Yong secretly took a breath of cold air, thinking that he had stayed here for a long time, so he became more suspicious and alert.

"Yes, yes, not to mention that you stay in here, like us who run around outside all day, we can't tell the time either." He put his hands on the charcoal pot and rubbed them while roasting them, smiling and agreeing, and then asked casually: "By the way, Mr. Lin, why don't you see your companions?" If the old man was told that he had lived here alone for nearly a year, he would definitely not believe it. Not to mention that there were half a million people here, food and fuel were a big problem.

Facing his inquiry, the old man seemed to have expected it. A trace of complex emotions flashed in his eyes, and then he smiled faintly, slightly turned sideways and looked behind the sofa, "Pray for life. Pray for life!" He shouted twice in a row. Just

when Qiao Yong and the other two were puzzled, they saw a black shadow behind the sofa flash, and then shrank back in an instant. They couldn't help but be startled. Even with Qiao Yong's self-control, he was startled and stood up. The sofa he was sitting on was pushed back a short distance, making a dull sound.

"Don't be afraid, he's my good friend, he's timid, he won't hurt anyone." Lin Lao smiled and explained, but his eyes were sad and helpless.

In fact, because the time was too short, Qiao Yong didn't see the man clearly, it was all because it was too sudden, and he didn't notice that there were other people before, so he was frightened. After he recovered, he was not so nervous, but now he heard the old man's words, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused. However, before he could figure it out, Wei Dong's men had already screamed in fear and retreated again and again.

"Half-man! The one behind him is a half-man!"

After being kept in captivity by half-men for a long time, these people have been psychologically branded with a huge shadow, and have an instinctive fear of half-men. Even Wei Dong couldn't help but step back a few steps after hearing the shouting. If Qiao Yong hadn't been still standing there, the two of them might have run away.

Qiao Yong narrowed his eyes, and his gaze became sharp. He first looked at the old man who was still sitting on the sofa with a homely look, and then fell on the back of the sofa behind him. The light in the room was dim, and there was a shadow behind the sofa. The man hid too well, and he could not see a single bit of it. But after a while, Qiao Yong still found traces of corrosion on the ground, proving that the half-man had indeed visited here

. "Mr. Lin, is your friend a half-man?" He asked with a cold voice. After all, half of the reason why they were trapped here was because of the half-man, and no one would be so generous as to not care.

"Oh? Half-man? Half-man...can't be considered a human anymore, but not a zombie either, so this name is barely appropriate." Mr. Lin didn't seem to notice the change in his attitude, muttering to himself, and only remembered his question after a moment, nodded and said: "If the half-man you are talking about refers to those who live in this gymnasium and have mutated, soft bodies that produce corrosive mucus, then my friend Qisheng is a half-man."

His attitude was so frank that it was impossible to blame him.

"Do you mean that they were originally human?" Although Qiao Yong had already guessed this, he still asked.

"Of course." Elder Lin snorted, obviously somewhat dissatisfied with his question, but soon his expression became melancholy again, as if he remembered some unpleasant past events. "I saw with my own eyes how Qisheng slowly became what he is now." At this point, his tone suddenly became heavier, "Although they are ugly in appearance, can no longer speak, and don't need to breathe, they are still human."

The three people present disagreed with his emphasis. In their eyes, half-humans and monsters are the same, and even more disgusting than mutant beasts and zombies. After all, they can fight zombies with real swords and guns, and even kill them several times, but facing half-humans, they can only be helpless and be imprisoned like lambs.

"If it is a human, why did you catch us here? Is this something a human can do?" The subordinate of Wei Dong who had retreated to the door couldn't help but refute, his voice was sharp and piercing, with a hint of anger and perhaps mixed with fear.

This is indeed something that some people can do. Qiao Yong thought to himself, because he remembered what happened to Routa Chen and others in Xiaojie Village. Compared to the Jie people, the half-humans' methods are obviously much gentler. Of course, this cannot be used as an excuse for the half-humans.

Obviously, Elder Lin also understood this. He smiled awkwardly: "They have no ill intentions..." Perhaps even he himself felt that this statement was not convincing, so he quickly explained before the victim lost his temper: "Their brains may have been damaged during the alienation process, their intelligence became very low, and they almost forgot all about the past, but they still instinctively approached humans, but they were afraid of people... Maybe they were afraid that their appearance would scare people." When he said the latter sentence, his voice was a little low, and he subconsciously wanted to look behind the sofa, but he turned his head back halfway.

"Knock someone unconscious and carry him back, this way of approaching people is really special." Perhaps it was because Elder Lin's attitude was too kind, or perhaps it was because the half-man behind him called Qisheng had not shown up, Weidong's subordinate couldn't control his anger and said sarcastically.

Weidong and Qiao Yong seemed quite calm, but they didn't say anything to stop him.

Elder Lin coughed twice, and seemed helpless about this question. He said in a weak tone: "At least they didn't want to rush up and eat the living people."

Hearing this, the three of them felt speechless. Even the subordinate who was originally angry and full of grievances fell silent. He could ask sarcastically based on the premise that the other party was gentle and willing to reason with him, but what could he say when he really faced the half-human, or the more cruel zombies and mutant beasts? To put it more bluntly, even if they are both human beings, the stronger party will do whatever they want, just like they themselves, didn't they suppress others by force to enjoy more food? And those who are weak or even dead because of hunger, who should they question?

"Do you know why they caught us here?" Qiao Yong changed the subject and asked.

Elder Lin was stunned. Hearing that he thought he was on the side of the half-human, he felt even more helpless, but he couldn't explain it. He just said: "I was brought here by Qisheng." There was a light of memory in his eyes.

——On

the avenue on the left side of the gymnasium, a huge humanoid creature covered with scales emerged from the dense forest of mutant plants and appeared on the roof of an abandoned bus. He looked around, and his cold eyes that could chill people to the bone showed a puzzled look, as if he didn't know why he was here. But soon, his attention was attracted by the mutant beasts rushing towards the gymnasium.

He didn't smell a familiar smell here, but all the mutant beasts rushed into the gymnasium, which proved that there was something inside that attracted them. Thinking of this, he jumped and ran towards the gymnasium. Wherever he passed, the mutant plants along the way almost subconsciously retracted their branches and vines to make way for him, trying not to attract his attention as much as possible. Occasionally, he encountered one or two mutant beasts, and before the other party made a choice to attack or avoid, he had already caught and torn them to pieces.

As he got closer and closer to the gymnasium, he finally smelled a faint human scent from the various stench and corruption. The scent was very faint, but for all the mutant beasts and zombies, it was like a beacon in the dark, luring them to swarm in. He

circled the gymnasium and finally stopped in front of the wide stone steps. He looked at the broken glass door on it and did not enter immediately. He was not sure if he could control himself when facing strangers, especially after killing mutant beasts and seeing blood. There were

many mutant beasts outside the gymnasium, large and small, there were hundreds of them, surrounding the four sides, and the most were in the south. Because there was a big hole in the glass wall over there, more than ten meters above the ground, the human smell leaked out was enough to drive the mutant beasts and zombies crazy. And more importantly, there were sounds of fighting inside, and the mutant beasts sounded a bit shrill roar.

It's dangerous! It's dangerous in there. He could feel it, but he couldn't think of the reason. After all, since he turned into a beast, no mutant beast or person could make him feel this way.

The hole in the glass wall, more than ten meters high, was like a monster with its mouth wide open, emitting an obscure smell that gave people the illusion that they would be crushed into pieces if they jumped in.

He bypassed the wall and the hole that was full of devilish temptation. In addition to the glass wall and the entrance to the auditorium in front of him, the entrances and exits for guests and employees on the first floor of the gymnasium had been blocked by earth and stone walls, with obvious traces of man-made things and tightly covered windows. He knew that if there were people, they must be hiding on the first floor.

The coexistence of the unknown existence that even he was afraid of and the human survivors cast a strange and mysterious shadow over the gymnasium.

He stood under the stone steps, the roars of the beasts around him reached his ears, the smell of blood filled the air, his breathing gradually became rapid, the violent beast and hostility flowing in his blood were boiling, his eyes were covered with a layer of blood, and his sharp claws stretched and retracted, which seemed a little difficult to restrain. He still had his sanity, so he took a step back, but then he pounced on the nearest mutant beast at lightning speed and began to slaughter.

Compared with the beast tide near the Yunzhou base, the mutant beasts that gathered here for some unknown reason were far inferior in both number and strength. He couldn't kill people, but he had no psychological barriers to killing these things.

——Lin

Lao's name was Lin Daoru, and he was a retired university professor. Due to some special reasons, he never got married in his life, and his parents died early. He did have some relatives, but he never interacted with them. He was a real loner. However, he studied history and spent most of his time buried in piles of old papers. After retirement, he was no exception. When he had free time, he would grow flowers, drink tea, and listen to some old operas, and he didn't feel lonely.

In contrast to his indifference, Feng Qisheng was a man in the officialdom. After twenty years of ups and downs, he finally stood firm after the storm. After the forty, his official career was smooth, from the city to the province, and he was already a frontier official when he retired. However, after decades of ups and downs in the political world, he gave up many opportunities to rise, took root in Zhongzhou, and never left.

Zhafeng is an industrialized metropolis with serious air pollution. It is not a good place for retirement, but Lin Daoru lives in the school's family building, surrounded by old neighbors who have known each other for decades, and have a very harmonious relationship with each other. Not only him, but most of the old professors are reluctant to leave this kind of neighborhood atmosphere. In addition, it is in the school, and it is very convenient to go to the library to find information. If there is a problem, you can easily find someone to study together, so he has lived here.

The house is wide, and Feng Qisheng also moved in after retiring from his position. Because his wife died early, the children in the family have their own careers and have no time to accompany the old man. Naturally, they have no right to his decision, and of course they dare not oppose it. They can only bring their families to drive every week to see him and show their filial piety.

Logically, with Feng Qisheng's status and a bunch of very promising descendants, even if he has retired long ago, he will not be ignored after the end of the world. But no one expected that the whole city would be ruined. No matter old or strong, male or female, they all turned into zombies or half-humans. There were less than 100 survivors like Lin Daoru, and they were scattered in the city. Not to mention escaping from the city, more than half of them died of starvation due to lack of food or were bitten to death by their family members who turned into zombies. More than half of them died in the mouths of zombies while looking for food. In the end, only a dozen people were taken to the gymnasium by half-humans. It was still unknown whether Feng Qisheng's children and descendants survived, let alone sending people to the city to find him who had turned into half-humans.

"They are different from zombies. They did not become what they are now immediately after the darkness disappeared." Old Lin's eyes showed a look of reminiscence. "At that time, Qisheng seemed to be sick, coughing, fever, and very short awake time. He was in a coma most of the time. There were cold medicine and antipyretic medicine at home, but they didn't work. And he couldn't go to the hospital..." At this point, he sighed heavily, with deep regret and self-blame. He always felt that he was the one who harmed Feng Qisheng. If Feng Qisheng lived with his children and received good treatment when he first fell ill, he might not have become like this.

"At first he could still recognize people, but then he started to lose his hair and develop pustules, and gradually became confused. Until one day, I went out to find food and water, and when I came back, the door of the house was wide open, and I couldn't find him anywhere." Old Lin squinted his eyes, thinking of the panic at that time, and he was still frightened. In his life, he lost his parents and siblings at an early age. This was the only person who was so important to him. For more than 60 years, he had gone through ups and downs like a mountain to protect him from all kinds of suffering and natural disasters. The word "lost" had never appeared in his mind. Even in death, he felt that he would be the one who walked in front. So when he suddenly found that this person was missing that day, he really understood the fear.

"But within two days, he came back to find me again." The old man laughed, and there seemed to be tears in the corners of his eyes, as if he had returned to that day, and saw Feng Qisheng still wearing the clothes he left home, almost like a human, and squatting stubbornly at the door even though he didn't remember anything, and his heart was filled with joy and pain.

Chapter 283 Soul Wood Mystery City (7)

Feng Qisheng brought him to the gymnasium. He was not as unlucky as Qiao Yong and the others who were knocked unconscious. He was directly carried to the gymnasium. Of course, because it was hot and his clothes were too thin, he was burned by the corrosive mucus flowing out of the pustules. This was inevitable. Fortunately, he had awakened his own superpowers, and his physical condition had greatly improved, so he healed quickly.

At that time, many half-humans had gathered in the gymnasium. They seemed to rely on the instinct of the remaining humans to gather together. Seeing him, the half-humans looked very scared and hid themselves, but they always liked to hide in the dark and secretly spy on him. After a long time, he realized that they just wanted to get close to him, but they were afraid of scaring him. They were the same for the other survivors in the gymnasium. It was because of this behavior that they were covered with a shadow of cowardice, gloom and evil.

Lin Daoru was not the first survivor to be brought to the gymnasium. Before he came, there were already a group of survivors in the gymnasium. Some were locals, and some were from other places who fled through Zhafeng and came in to search for supplies. The half-humans still retained a little wisdom, and they would not go crazy like zombies when they smelled human breath and blood. They did not eat humans, but they were not interested in human food either, so they did not expect that the survivors wanted to eat.

The gymnasium was located in a busy area in the city, surrounded by thoroughfares, and relatively speaking, there were more zombies. The captured survivors were full of disgust and fear of the half-humans. After failing to escape and many people died, they all stayed in the gymnasium honestly, and did not even dare to walk around the gym. There was nothing to eat, and they could not escape. When Lin Daoru came, people were already starving to death.

Lin Daoru brought a lot of food, but because he was old and injured, he was robbed in a blink of an eye without any preparation. In the face of hunger and death, it is very easy for people to turn into animals. At that time, an old brother who was ten years younger than him was so hungry that he could not walk. He crawled to his side and talked to him a lot.

People from outside said that the government was unreliable, that it was like this everywhere, and that there were zombies everywhere. If they could get out of the city, they could go to Changshi, where they heard that the army had built a survivor base. They said that we in Zhafeng were unlucky, that there were zombies in other places, but there were also many people who survived, and some had evolved superpowers, just like what was shown on science fiction TV. In Zhafeng, there were few living people, and there were also many weirdos that were more ferocious and terrifying than zombies that were not seen elsewhere. They said that we were old, and we had to leave the hope of living to the young people...

Before he finished speaking, the old brother died, without even leaving his name, and there was no information about his origins, past, and relatives. As for whether his last sentence was out of helpless self-mockery or a true spirit of selfless dedication, it was impossible to explore.

The weather was very hot at that time, and the corpse began to smell bad in less than a day. The young and strong people who had received food regained some strength, came over to carry the corpse to the flowerbed outside, dug a shallow pit and buried it. This was the best outcome. Before this, the dead were piled up there, and no one cared even when they rotted and maggots appeared. In the end, half a person came to take them away in the dark.

Lin Daoru occasionally thought that maybe the old brother had put his words into practice with actual actions, so he was respected like this.

The past cannot be verified, and Lin Daoru did not have time to continue to verify this issue. If he did not do something without food and water, he would follow the old brother's footsteps in less than two days because of the worsening of his injuries. If Qisheng had not been there, at his age and with no relatives or friends, there would be no need for him to endure the hardship in such a doomsday. But Qisheng was still there, and he could not leave Qisheng alone.

So he left that place with his strength, and the survivors probably thought he would not live long, so they didn't care about him. But when he walked outside the gymnasium, Qisheng appeared. Qisheng was afraid of him, and hid in the places where he passed by, following him all the way.

He found a sponge mat, tore it apart and tied it to his chest, arms and legs. Then, through difficult negotiations, he finally made Qisheng understand and carried him to the hotel opposite the gymnasium. There, he found food, recovered from his injuries, and then returned to the gymnasium.

Because of Qisheng, Lin Daoru was not as afraid of the half-human as other abducted survivors. After the previous experience, he did not consider how to get along with other survivors. Instead, he found another place in the gymnasium to settle down. He took half of the food he brought back and secretly threw it to the survivors. His idea was simple. He could help a little bit, and as for more, they could only rely on themselves.

However, he did not expect that his action was actually seen by the half-humans and then imitated. As a result, the captivity became true to its name, saving many people from starving to death.

Later, he only went out twice, once to find books, and once to get thick clothes and quilts when it was cold. The rest of the time, Qisheng brought him food, and occasionally brought back books and clothes. Compared with other half-humans, Qisheng seemed to be smarter. Although he needed to spend a lot of time to communicate, he could always understand what he meant in the end.

Lin Daoru thought that this was enough, at least the human was still there.

"If humans are willing to put in more effort, half-humans can actually become good partners and helpers for humans." The old man said softly. The water in the cup was already empty. He bent down, picked up the kettle, and poured another cup. Drinking water is actually secondary. As he gets older, his hands and feet are cold, so he always likes to hold a cup of hot water in his hands to warm them up.

During the whole process of narration, whenever the two words Qisheng were mentioned, the half-human behind the sofa where Lin Daoru was sitting would be slightly restless, as if he wanted to come out, but didn't want to see other people. At this time, Lin Daoru would turn around and say a few words to him in a very soft tone, and then calm him down.

This scene made Wei Dong and others, who had been under the psychological shadow of persecution by half-humans, a little unacceptable, but their anger and resentment dissipated a lot in this peaceful and warm atmosphere.

Qiao Yong habitually raised his hand to touch the top of his head. The short hair had grown into a watermelon rind, which felt wrong. This made him feel irritated, so he put his hand down again. As for the two small mustaches that he had not trimmed for a long time, which he was proud of, he did not have the courage to touch them.

"Um... Mr. Lin, you are familiar with the half-humans, see if you can talk to them and let us go." He said hesitantly, but did not mention anything about what Lin Daoru said about establishing friendly and peaceful diplomatic relations with the half-humans. There was no energy, no time, and more importantly, the unpredictable temperament of the half-humans. Before they found a stable living environment, they could not consider these things.

Lin Daoru sighed silently and did not continue to persuade him. He was also somewhat helpless about Qiao Yong's request. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about this. Qisheng has been with me all the time. He won't kidnap anyone back. As for the other half-people, I can't get close to them." Although he said so, he still put down the cup and stood up, "I'll try."

"Hey! Hey! Old Lin, don't worry!" Qiao Yong remembered that the half-people and the mutant beasts were blocked in the competition venue, and hurriedly called Lin Daoru.

Lin Daoru looked at him, said "oh" twice with a look of understanding, and sat back again, picked up the cup, and drank water silently.

Qiao Yong wanted to explain, but seeing him like this, he couldn't say anything, so he had to smile awkwardly. If it were normal, they might be able to talk about other things, but now because there are many mutant beasts attacking, the situation is not critical, but it is not calm. Since the matter has been understood almost, it can be confirmed that the old man and his half-people are not in danger for the time being, there is no need for them to stay here and waste time, so they stand up and say goodbye. Of course, it was impossible to be completely defenseless, so one person was left outside the door.

The conversation didn't take long, only about half an hour. Ruan Feng and his team had already built preliminary defenses outside and were reinforcing them. In order to save time and abilities and concentrate defensive forces, the corridor on the first floor that surrounded the entire gymnasium was cut off, leaving only the guest entrance and exit section, which included the athlete lounge, library, conference room, luxury VIP room, guest lounge and other rooms, as well as the staircase passage and elevator shaft to the basement.

Except for Ruan Feng and his men who were reinforcing the defense, the rest of the people relaxed, but they still separated and guarded the weak defenses. They split the wooden cabinets they found and built a fire in the corridor to illuminate it. Because there were rooms on both sides of the corridor, as long as the door was closed, there was no need to worry about the light leaking out.

When Qiao Yong and Wei Dong came out, except for a few of Wei Dong's close men who came to greet them, most people just looked at them indifferently. After the danger was temporarily over, these people returned to their usual numbness and lifelessness. Even the person who was saved by Qiao Yong was the same, and he did not show any gratitude or gratitude for this.

Six people did not escape. However, no one felt regretful or sad. In the end times, human lives are worthless. No one can guarantee whether it will be their turn in the next moment. There is really no energy to worry about people who meet by chance.

"A big guy came outside and is slaughtering other mutant beasts." At this time, He San quietly retreated from an athlete's lounge and said to everyone. At the end, he couldn't help but sigh: "How brutal!"

At this time, someone in another room also opened the door a little, came out from inside, and then quickly closed the door. He turned around and heard what He San said, and nodded repeatedly.

"In just a blink of an eye, it killed two mutant beasts." It turned out that he had seen it too, and was terrified, afraid that the thing would break in, so he retreated to warn others, but he didn't expect that someone got there before him.

The news brought by the two people cheered up the lazy and listless people around them. Only those who were farther away, because they didn't hear clearly and had no interest in coming to inquire, still looked indifferent to everything.

"Do what you should do." Wei Dong stopped those who wanted to go and see. The more it was at this time, the more they couldn't make a mess. There were powerful guys here, and there was no guarantee that there would be no other directions.

The interesting thing was that those people didn't know whether they were afraid of Wei Dong or they were not curious. After being stopped, they honestly returned to their original places. There was not even a little dissatisfaction on their faces and eyes. The only change was that they were much more energetic than before.

Qiao Yong and Wei Dong followed He San into the lounge. Another person who came out to report the news did not dare to go back by himself, so he followed.

Lu Jun and Liu Xia were inside. When they heard the door open, they just turned their heads and turned their attention to the corner of the curtain that was lifted.

"What's going on?" Qiao Yong walked over, squeezed Liu Xia's head and looked outside, but it was pitch black outside and he could not see anything.

Wei Dong was not that familiar with them, so he walked to the window on the other side, lifted the curtain and observed silently.

"There were quite a few mutant beasts wandering outside before, and most of them were slaughtered by that thing." Liu Xia lowered his voice and said, "Listen carefully." In such darkness, it is impossible to capture too much useful information with just the eyes.

The lounge became quiet, and the sound of the mutant beasts fighting and biting outside came in. I don't know if they cut corners during the construction or if there was a problem with the design. The soundproofing of the room is very average. In addition to the sharp roar of the mutant beasts, you can also hear the sound of claws scratching flesh and blood splashing, which makes people's scalps numb and their hearts shudder.

After a long time, the mutant beasts outside extinguished a few more eyes, and the rest began to flee in panic. Qiao Yong and Wei Dong finally saw the existence of the big guy. A vague black shadow, about two and a half to three meters long. Because of the light and angle, it is not possible to make a very accurate judgment. The appearance is somewhat like a human, but such thick muscles and huge claws are not something that humans can have.

"Is it trying to kill the other mutant beasts and then slowly enjoy us?" Someone suddenly said.

Eat alone! These three words popped up in everyone's mind at the same time, and they were immediately terrified. At this moment, the big guy, who didn't know if he heard their voices, turned his head and looked over, with a chill in his dark eyes.

Everyone was silent, not daring to move.

——Just

when Qiao Yong and others were worried about whether the ferocious beast would break in through the window, Li Muran had already found them.

It turned out that when the tremor occurred, Zhang Yi and others also felt it, and they all thought it was an earthquake, and they were almost caught in a dilemma. Who would have thought that Li Muran tried to use his supernatural power, hey, it worked. This was simply a pleasant surprise. Worried that this situation was only temporary, she didn't care that it was night, and immediately began to search with her mental power.

In her opinion, Qiao Yong and his group were not many people, as long as she seized the time, she could take everyone out of the city in less than an hour. Who knew that when she found Qiao Yong and others, she realized that she thought things were too simple.

"I saw Qiao Touer..." She said to others with a strange expression, "Their situation is not very good." She not only saw Qiao Yong and others, but also Song Yan. She couldn't figure out why Song Yan appeared there. It couldn't be that he was looking for her, this deviation was too far.

"What's going on?" Everyone was in the lobby. Because of the previous earthquake, they didn't dare to sleep too deeply. When they heard her talking, not only Zhang Yi and Nan Shao who were on night watch heard it, but even the people who were sleeping opened their eyes and stood up. Xiong Hua and the other five people surrounded her directly.

"They are in the gymnasium about 15 or 16 kilometers away from here. Qiao Tou'er and Liu Xia are both there. I haven't seen the others, so I'm not sure if there are any casualties." Li Muran added the latter sentence unconsciously under the eager eyes of Xiong Hua and others. She and Zhang Ruiyang were separated from everyone during the rat plague in Ziyun County, so it was normal that she didn't know Chen Changchun and others who joined later.

"There are six people in total. They left with six people. Count them and see if there are six people?" Xiong Hua said hurriedly.

Li Muran paused, then answered in a flat tone: "More than six people."

"What?" Xiong Hua was a little confused.

"I said, there are more than six people with Qiao Tou'er." Li Muran slightly emphasized his tone. "There are

at least sixty or seventy people over there." Everyone gasped in surprise. Before they could ask questions, they heard her continue, "Besides that, there are hundreds of people who look like humans in the gymnasium..." She was not sure what they were. People? Mutated zombies? Or humanoid creatures?

So after a brief thought, she uttered two words with some difficulty, "things." It was a complete temporary reference, without any derogatory meaning.

"A flying mutant centipede, a large mutant bull-headed beast, and a dozen smaller mutant beasts. There are about a hundred mutant beasts gathered around the gymnasium." She described everything she saw in one breath. As for Song Yan, who was also there, she hesitated and was about to say it, but was interrupted by everyone who thought she had finished.

"Did we run into a gathering place of survivors?"

"How are they doing? Are they in danger?"

"Things that look like humans? What are they? Can you be more specific?"

"Why are there so many mutants?"

"All in the gymnasium? Are they fighting?"

Several people spoke at the same time, and then seemed to realize something and shut up at the same time. You looked at me, I looked at you, and after a moment of silence, Zhang Yi asked on behalf of everyone: "Muren, is Qiaotou anxious?"

"Not bad." Li Muran breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't hear everyone talking at the same time just now, and she didn't know which question to answer first. "They are hiding on the other side, not with those mutant creatures. And now the mutant beasts are fighting those things that look like humans, so they can't take care of them for the time being."

After hearing this, everyone was relieved.

"Are they mutant zombies?" Zhang Yi asked the second question.

Li Muran knew he was talking about the humanoid creatures, and shook her head, "There's no way to be sure. They all look similar, very flexible, able to slide on walls and roofs, soft bodies, covered with pustules... The pus seems to be corrosive." She answered while observing carefully.

"It sounds like it." Xiong Hua said, grinning, revealing an extremely painful expression, "There are so many, things may be a bit tricky."

In fact, it was not only him who thought so. After hearing Li Muran's description, others also felt that those things were likely to be mutant zombies. Thinking about the number again, it really made people feel uncomfortable.

Zhang Yi did not dwell too much on this matter, but instead asked in detail about the layout of the gymnasium, the locations of Qiao Yong and others and the mutant beasts and humanoid creatures, how the survivors' defenses were done, what mutant beasts, mutant plants and buildings were around the gymnasium, and which route would be faster and safer if they took dozens of people to escape. All these things gave everyone a clear understanding of the situation over there, so that they would not be in a hurry after going there. At the end, he suddenly asked a question.

"How far is this place from the entrance we came in from?"

Li Muran looked at him with some surprise. She didn't know if he asked casually or was too perceptive and noticed something. She answered honestly, "Very far." It was much farther than the distance they had walked before. It was so far that she began to wonder if her supernatural power had suddenly erupted uncontrollably again. Otherwise, how could a group of people cross a distance of nearly 20 kilometers out of thin air?

Zhang Yi noticed her expression and nodded. He knew what was going on and didn't ask again, "Send everyone there."

Li Muran was really unsure about her supernatural power. She wanted to try it first to see if it was working properly before taking people with her, but Zhang Yi and Shi Pengsan disagreed. First, they felt that there was no need to waste an opportunity to use supernatural power, and second, it was impossible for a girl like her to take the risk alone. Fortunately,

this worry was completely unnecessary. Li Muran ran twice and brought the twelve people to the gymnasium smoothly without any setbacks. Seeing the person who suddenly appeared in front of him, Qiao Yong was really frightened. He cried out twice, but he was afraid of startling the beasts outside, so he quickly closed his mouth and motioned everyone to follow him to the corridor. Not only he and the others in the gymnasium were frightened, but also the five bear-changed people.

Along the way, through the conversations between Li Muran and others, they had vague guesses about her ability, but when the guess became a reality, they were still shocked. This ability is really too practical. Even if it is difficult to advance, it can still greatly increase the survival rate of her teammates.

"Shi San, you are back, hahaha... Sister Muran is back too, hahaha... Then Xiao Yangyang must be back too. Good! Good! They are all back! Hahahaha..."

When he came to the corridor, Qiao Yong no longer had to restrain himself. He was so happy that he rubbed his head and rubbed his hands. After a long time, he remembered to stride forward and gave Shi San a warm and tight hug. As for the others, except Muran, he selectively ignored them.

Shi Pengsan saw that he was fine except for his sloppy appearance. His originally anxious mood calmed down and he returned to his usual expressionless look, without the feeling of meeting again after a long absence.

"What's the situation here?" Zhang Yi didn't waste time reminiscing and asked directly.

Nan Shao seemed to have sensed something, so he retreated to the lounge, lifted the curtain and looked out. After a moment, he came out and glanced at Li Muran, who seemed a little uneasy, with a meaningful expression. Li Muran didn't notice at all. She was paying attention to the situation outside with her mental power, preparing to find a suitable time to go out and say hello to Song Yan.

"The day before yesterday, we came in to find food. Because we were in a hurry to go back, we didn't plan to go too deep. Who knew that the mutant plant forest outside the city was too big. By the time we completely passed through it, it was dark..."

Because the matter was too complicated, Qiao Yong had to start from the beginning. Fortunately, the situation is not critical at the moment, and there are powerful helpers, so there is no need to worry about not having enough time. On the other side, Wei Dong and others who had not been introduced yet were looking at this group of people who suddenly appeared with envy. Looking at their faces, clothes, and spirit, and then looking at their own side, it was like heaven and earth. If they could successfully escape, they would definitely ask the other side if they would accept them. Of course, their focus was all on the group of people coming from Longren, and the down-and-out Xiong Hua and others were automatically left aside.

Chapter 284 Soul Wood Mystery City (8) (1)

"So, the half-humans won't cause us any trouble for the time being?"

Zhang Yi asked.

After listening to Qiao Yong's narration, although they felt that this was unfortunate, Xiong Hua and the others, who were worried about their argument for no reason, wanted to laugh for some reason. Especially after Qiao Yong showed the bump on the back of his head, this feeling became even stronger.

Seeing everyone trying hard to hold back their laughter, Qiao Yong felt helpless. He obviously wanted to win some sympathy.

"According to our past experience, as long as we don't actively attack them, generally nothing will happen." Wei Dong was obviously more qualified to answer this question than Qiao Yong. He was worried about how to start a conversation with Zhang Yi and the others, so he was very active in the conversation, but he didn't dare to say too much. "Now they are fighting with the mutant beasts, and we have blocked their way back. I don't know if there will be any accidents."

Zhang Yi frowned when he heard this, but soon relaxed his brows and turned to look at Li Muran, who had been silent since he came here except for greeting Qiao Yong at the beginning. "Muran, look at how many mutant beasts are there around. Can you roughly judge their strength? Are there any small but large numbers like mice or ants?"

Before Li Muran could speak, Nan Shao suddenly came over and whispered something in his ear. He couldn't help but show a look of surprise on his face, "Muran, is Mr. Song outside?"

Li Muran hummed, and for some reason, his face was slightly hot.

Shi Pengsan and others were startled and looked at her. Seeing that she looked shy, they couldn't help but laugh, thinking that this girl was too thin-skinned.

"Well... cough, let's do this," Zhang Yi clenched his fist and put it against his lips, coughing, and said with a smile: "You go and say hello to him later, and we will cooperate with him in the gymnasium to kill the mutant beasts together first." Since Song Yan is already outside to kill the mutant beasts, no matter how dangerous it is, they can't just sit back and watch and enjoy the results.

"Okay." Li Muran agreed, thinking of the previous question, and replied: "No mutant beasts were seen in groups within a radius of 20 kilometers. The number of mutant beasts outside the stadium is about 100, there are 13 inside the stadium, and there are none underground for the time being. It is impossible to judge their strength, but the mutant beasts in battle have not yet been seen using their superpowers." She carefully selected her words and tried to convey everything she saw to everyone in a straightforward manner, without any personal speculation or ideas, so as to avoid misleading or misjudgment.

"Well, this number is not small, but as long as we shrink the contact surface with the mutant beasts, open the exit a little smaller, strengthen the defense facilities in other directions, and deal with it carefully, we can barely cope with it. Muran, wait for us to open the passage to attract the attention of the mutant beasts outside, then find a chance to go out, meet Mr. Song, and then go outside the city to report safety to the people outside, so that they don't come to find us, and we will find a way out ourselves." Zhang Yi pondered for a moment, and then made a plan. After instructing Li Muran, he turned to others, "Clear the ones outside first, is it okay?"

In his opinion, the mutant beasts that broke into the gymnasium were dealt with by half a person, just to let them restrain each other, and the pressure and danger they would bear would be much less. As for ignoring the mutant beasts outside and letting Li Muran take people out directly, this is not realistic. Her ability is too limited. It will take at least three days to take everyone out. After all, they are all here, and they can't ignore the survivors in the gymnasium who were abducted by half a person. So in these few days, with fewer and fewer people, how to resist the invasion of mutant beasts? And there is the biggest variable. Those more than a hundred half-humans, no one can guarantee that they will not suddenly change their minds and attack the survivors. Moreover, Li Muran's ability failed once before, and there is no guarantee that it will not fail again, so we can't put all our hopes on her. Therefore, the best choice is to hurry up and eliminate these mutant beasts that will pose a threat to them, and then calmly consider dealing with the half-humans and leaving.

He didn't need to explain more. Everyone had crawled out of the pile of dead bodies. They were not lacking in courage, and they were not lacking in caution. Naturally, they understood the necessity of doing so. They didn't waste words at the moment. They assigned the tasks in a few words and went about their business.

It was not until they were about to open the sealed entrance on the east that Wei Dong reacted. He was immediately shocked by the group's swift and decisive actions. Just as he was about to ask what he was going to do, Zhang Yi turned around and said to him in a gentle tone: "You guys should still guard where you should guard. If there is any situation, just call out. Don't let the mutant beasts break in from other directions. Okay?" Although Qiao Yong didn't mention it, a little comprehensive analysis of the information he provided was enough to judge that the strength of these survivors who had been trapped in the gymnasium for a long time was probably not much better than at the beginning of the apocalypse. Zhang Yi and his men didn't have the habit of letting people serve as cannon fodder. For their own safety, they had no intention of letting these people rush to the front to kill the mutant beasts before they were strong enough to deal with it.

"Okay!" Wei Dong responded very energetically, and it was not until he walked a distance that he came back to his senses. They looked down on them. He couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, but he didn't stop, but became more energetic. The more this happened, the more they couldn't make any mistakes, otherwise they would really be too embarrassed to mention joining.

On the other hand, the character of these people was trustworthy. It's not that he hasn't seen the world. Before he was captured, he followed a caravan. He had seen what kind of life those weak people who were dependent on the caravan lived. They ate last and rushed first. He had even prepared himself to endure for a while, but he didn't expect that these people didn't seem to have such an idea, which was quite surprising.

The exit on the east side was opened, and the strong smell of people drifted into the dark and cold night. The mutant beasts that were chased by Song Yan and ran around immediately forgot the terrible enemies behind them and swarmed here. The people who were ready for battle saw a scene that surprised them. Stuck

!

In order to avoid too many mutant beasts rushing in at once and everyone being unable to cope with it, the door was not opened very wide, only about one and a half meters wide. Only two people were needed to guard there and fight the mutant beasts head-on, and the others were enough to support from the side, and then they took turns. This not only minimized the danger, but also gave everyone enough time to rest and recover their abilities. If an accident happened in other places, people could also be drawn out to deal with it.

Unexpectedly, the first mutant beast that ran over was stuck there because of its wide body and too fierce rush. And the one behind it did not have the good character of being polite and courteous to wait for it to slowly enter, and directly pounced on it and started biting it. The ones behind it soon joined the chaos and fought for the entrance, without any intention of detouring elsewhere.

Looking at the chaos in front of them, Nan Shao and Zhang Yi, who were originally guarding the entrance, looked at each other and tacitly did not take action immediately. Instead, they asked the earth-type mutants waiting next to them to continue to reinforce the earth walls on both sides of the entrance to prevent them from being squeezed down. Watching the fire from the other side of the river

has always been what humans like to do most. And being able to watch the fire from the other side of the river is also a kind of luck. If you don't cherish it, it will really waste this scene that no one expected.

On the other side, Li Muran caught the mutant beasts and suddenly turned around. Song Yan was slightly startled, and when there was a brief blank around her, she teleported to his side. It was actually very risky for her to do this. If Song Yan was furious and thought it was a mutant beast, he might tear her apart with one claw. It was precisely because of this that she had positioned herself to the side of him, so that even if he wanted to attack, he would have a buffer, giving her time to speak, and not causing him a great sense of threat as if she was behind him.

Who would have thought that Song Yan seemed to know that she would appear there. As soon as she appeared, he grabbed her and lifted her in front of him.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked her with some dissatisfaction.

"We met someone from Ronghe, and we knew that Qiao Tou'er and the others were trapped in the city, so we came in to help find them." Seeing that he recognized her, Li Muran relaxed and answered honestly. Then, he couldn't help but ask back: "Why did you come in too?"

"Looking for you." Song Yan's answer was very simple.

Li Muran then laughed. Although these two words were very blunt, she felt warm inside. However, she was not good at expressing herself, and the time and place were not right, so she just felt something in her heart, and quickly told Zhang Yi's arrangement in a few words.

Song Yan hummed, and he understood. He appeared here before, and judged from the smell that the humans in the gymnasium were not what he was looking for, and did not leave immediately. He just wanted to clean up these mutant beasts as much as possible to prevent them from spreading into the city and being run into by Li Muran and his friends.

"Be careful." Before leaving, Li Muran could not help but remind him. Although Song Yan was powerful, it was still very dangerous to be alone outside without anyone to help.

Song Yan did not speak, and tightened his hand around her waist, then let go, indicating that she could leave. But Li Muran, who knew him well, could feel that his mood improved after she said that, so her mood also improved. For a moment, she was reluctant to leave, but Song Yan had already pounced on the mutant beasts.

She was stunned for a moment, then smiled, and without further delay, she activated her supernatural power and left the city.

It was not too late at this time. Shen Chi and the others had only been back for less than two hours and had just served the meal. They were all a little surprised to see Li Muran appear safely, but they became nervous again because they did not see anyone else. However, before everyone could ask, Zhang Ruiyang had already rushed over and hugged her.

"Auntie, where is my father?"

"Brother Yi is still in the city and will not be back until tomorrow." Li Muran touched his little head and answered. Then he looked at the others and added, "Everyone is fine. We found Qiao Touer." He then roughly told everyone what happened after entering the city, and also mentioned the situation in the gymnasium and the existence of the half-man.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise, because they really did not expect that the things inside were so bizarre. As for Shen Chi, Leng Fengchen and Yuan Jinshu, who had gone out together before, were really convinced by the sick ghost this time. It seems that the reason why those mutant beasts gathered there is very likely because of the disappearance of the overlapping space caused by the dark soul wood. At the same time, they began to unconsciously put the sick ghost's previous statement about the origin of the end of the world into their hearts. It's like a new immigrant from another place and a local native, even if they look similar, they will give people different feelings. The sick ghost gave them the same feeling, too familiar with everything in the end of the world, and implicitly above all of it, making people have to re-examine his origins.

"This is for you." The sick ghost put the heart core and brain core of the dark soul wood brought back by Dudu in a small bag and threw it to Li Muran. There are four heart cores and four brain cores in it. Only one pair is as big as a fist. They were dug out from the dark soul wood that Dudu killed first. The other three pairs are much smaller, about the size of a date. "Absorb the crystal core and eat the wood brain."

Li Muran took it with some confusion, opened it and took a look, and subconsciously asked: "What is this?"

"It's useful for your superpowers." The sick ghost replied simply.

Li Muran said "oh", speechless, feeling ashamed. She could use her superpowers because the sick ghost helped her get the crystal core of the domain. In her opinion, the sick ghost obviously understood her superpowers better than she did, so it was right to listen to him. However, Mu Nao knew at a glance that these crystal cores had a complicated origin. She didn't do anything, but got them for nothing. It was really embarrassing. But she also understood that every time her superpowers were upgraded, it could be regarded as picking up, completely relying on luck. Unlike other people who had a stable source of crystal cores, it was only a matter of time to advance. If she missed it once, she didn't know where the next opportunity would be. Maybe it would be like this until she died. So even if she was embarrassed, she couldn't refuse.

"It was Dudu who got it." Zhang Ruiyang, who followed her closely, suddenly spoke up to praise his little friend.

"Really?" Li Muran's mind was diverted and she was surprised. "Dudu is back? Where is it?" Wasn't the little bug scared? Why did it dare to appear again?

"It slept. On the roof. It ate too much." Zhang Ruiyang answered, looking very emotional. "It will sleep every time it eats too much."

"Is that so? I'll thank it when I come back." Li Muran felt a little regretful. Dudu hadn't been back for so long that he really missed her.

"Are you still going?" Zhang Ruiyang grabbed her hem and asked.

"Yes. There are mutant beasts and half a person over there. I have to go back. If something unexpected happens, I can also save people." Li Muran answered seriously, just like talking to an adult. "Don't worry, Yangyang. I will definitely bring Brother Yi and Brother Shao out safely."

Zhang Ruiyang was very entangled. His little hands almost twisted Li Muran's hem into a knot, but in the end he didn't ask to go together. He let go of his hand with great difficulty, looked at Li Muran eagerly, and nodded. He knew that if he went, Li Muran would have one less person to bring back.

"Good boy." Li Muran touched his head, declined everyone's invitation to have dinner together, and disappeared quickly from the spot. The speed was so fast that it always gave people a feeling of fleeing in despair.

Zhang Ruiyang stared blankly at the empty space in front of him, his eyebrows drooping in frustration.

——It

took Li Muran less than half an hour to go to see Song Yan, then go outside the city, and then return. Therefore, when she returned to the gymnasium, the battle here was not as intense as she had imagined.

The mutant beast stuck at the entrance finally managed to squeeze in after being bitten and scarred, but was immediately easily killed by Nan Shao and Zhang Yi who had been waiting for a long time. The mutant beasts behind were still killing each other. Nan Shao and Zhang Yi only had to deal with the occasional fish that slipped through the net, so they seemed very relaxed and leisurely.

Seeing this, the others were too lazy to wait for their turn, and they found a place to sleep directly, taking the time to rest. No one knew whether those half-humans would cause trouble after the mutant beasts were wiped out.

Li Muran didn't need to play, so after scanning the surroundings, she sat down on the floor in the corner of the lobby, took out the food that the sick ghost gave her, dug out the walnut-like wooden brain from it, hesitated, and put it to her mouth. She didn't know what kind of reaction she would have after eating this, nor did she know the character of the survivors in the gymnasium, and she couldn't guarantee whether the mutant beasts and half-humans would break in from other places, so she didn't dare to stay alone in a room on either side of the corridor. It was noisy outside, and there was a possibility that mutant beasts would break through Zhang Yi's blockade and break in at any time, but everyone who came with them was here, so it was naturally more reassuring.

The wooden brain didn't feel as hard as it felt when held in the hand, nor was it as crisp as a walnut, but it was like rotten meat and mud, bitter and smelly, and it almost made people vomit. Li Muran quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it with difficulty. After eating the largest one in two or three bites, she picked up the second one with difficulty...

After eating all four wooden brains in one breath, her wrinkled face slightly returned to normal, but her hand was still pressing her mouth, fearing that she would vomit it all out. This thing was not easy to come by. In order to improve her superpowers and avoid the tragic incident of picking up a pile of vomit and eating it again, she had to hold it in.

The survivors of the gymnasium who had been watching her eat like wolves turned their heads away silently after noticing her distorted expression, and there was a hint of sympathy. Sure enough, these people looked more glamorous than them, but in fact they couldn't eat anything.

Li Muran didn't know that she had left people with the impression that she was so hungry that she didn't know what disgusting thing she was eating. After swallowing the wooden brain, she kept paying attention to the changes in her body, but she didn't respond after waiting for a long time, and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Thinking that maybe this might not have any effect for a while, she didn't waste any more time and picked up the largest crystal core to absorb it, but suddenly stopped.

She felt a ball of cold air rising from the air in her abdomen, slowly poking its head out like a coiled snake, then stretching its body, running up to her heart, throat, philtrum, and sinking into her brow. A

sharp pain came, as if thousands of needles were piercing her, causing her body to freeze all of a sudden, and she almost held her breath, as if the pain would increase exponentially if she breathed a little harder.

I thought it would pass if I just endured it, after all, the sick ghost hadn't mentioned this happening. Who knew that even if she tried to slow down her breathing as much as possible, each breath felt like a century, and after a few breaths, the pain not only showed no signs of easing, but became even more intense. It started as a needle prick, but then it felt like she was cutting with a thin blade.

She was sweating profusely. Li Muran finally realized the profound meaning of this word, and her breathing became uncontrollable and became rapid. She wanted to raise her hands to hold her head, to bang her head against the wall, to scream desperately, but she was still rational and knew that if she really did this, it would seriously disturb others, and even let Song Yan, who was still outside, know. So she just controlled herself with the greatest willpower and slowly turned her back, curled up in the corner, and let people think she was asleep. As for the slight tremor that could not be suppressed, no one would notice it at this time.

Will I become an idiot? What exactly went wrong? Is it the wrong way to eat, or is it that I ate too much at one time? Or did I misunderstand the sick ghost's meaning? In order to relieve the pain, she tried to distract her mind and think about all kinds of guesses, but she never thought that the problem would be with the sick ghost.

The sick ghost forgot. Mu Nao's improvement of spiritual consciousness was something he had done when he first practiced Taoism. After tens of thousands of years, he had experienced too many things. He had long forgotten that the process of improving spiritual consciousness was accompanied by pain that ordinary people could not bear, so he did not mention it. As a result, Li Muran resisted the pain while being suspicious, fearing that this pain would continue and kill people alive.

Maybe it was an hour, maybe two hours, or maybe just a few minutes or ten minutes. Time is meaningless for people who suffer from extreme pain. Every minute and every second, Li Muran thought she couldn't hold on, but she miraculously held on until the pain disappeared.

The pain disappeared abruptly, as if she was in purgatory the moment before and ascended to heaven the next moment. It took Li Muran a long time to react. If her clothes were not soaked with sweat, she would have doubted whether everything before was just a nightmare.

After a long time, the muscles that had become spasmodic and stiff due to fighting the pain gradually relaxed. The soreness and numbness made her almost groan, but fortunately she had been clenching her teeth tightly before, and they had not loosened yet.

She did not get up immediately, but still maintained the previous side-lying posture, carefully and expectantly checking her superpowers. But soon she was disappointed, her superpowers did not increase at all. So what is the use of the wooden brain? It would not be in vain to torment her for nothing? She thought that the sick man would not do such a boring thing. It

took more time for the stiff teeth to relax, and then a bloody smell spread in her mouth, mixed with the residual taste of the wooden brain, making her stomach churn. Finally, she had to sit up to calm down the feeling. But she bit her gums too hard unconsciously and bled.

It must be useful. She lowered her eyes and thought, not noticing that others saw the surprised look on her pale and sweaty face. Carefully recalling the changes in superpowers after absorbing the crystal core twice before, she suddenly remembered that there was one thing she had not tried.

The distance of mental exploration. The first time she absorbed the crystal core of the domain, her mental exploration ability appeared at the same time as her superpower breakthrough. The second time, only her superpower increased, and the mental exploration range did not increase. So she was not sure whether these two abilities belonged to the same superpower or two related superpowers.

Never mind that. She tried it for the time being and extended her mental power. She had no expectations at first, but this time she was surprised that the detection range actually broke through the previous limit of 20 kilometers.

30 kilometers... 40 kilometers... 50 kilometers...

She held her breath unconsciously, and the more she explored, the weaker her legs became. When she reached the limit, she actually felt a sense of relief that she had finally reached the end. It really increased too much at once, which made her feel a little uneasy.

One hundred kilometers. One hundred kilometers, far or near, the floating up and down would not exceed five kilometers. This was a result she had never dared to think of before. She stood there for two minutes before she laughed foolishly.

Is this woman sick? The survivors in the gym who had been keeping an eye on her looked at each other in confusion, seeing the suspicion in each other's eyes. However, although they thought so, they did not dare to show it. It would be no good for them to offend these newcomers.

Li Muran didn't care about anything in the outside world. Although her mental detection range had greatly expanded, she knew that her current ability was not enough to support such a long distance. So her eyes subconsciously fell on the crystal core still in her palm, her eyes flickered slightly, and her hands clenched again, absorbing it without delay.

Her physical strength might not be able to support it, and the process of absorbing this crystal core might be full of unspeakable pain and unpredictable variables like Mu Nao, but she was full of confidence as never before, believing that this crystal core could greatly improve her ability. This place is not safe, and she has no reason to slack off.

It was already late at night when Nan Shao and Zhang Yi were replaced. Zhang Yi wanted to ask Li Muran about the situation outside, but seeing that she was absorbing the crystal core, he gave up. He just couldn't help but look at her twice more, one to see her face, the other to see the crystal core in her hand.

"Mu Ran doesn't look right." He whispered to Nan Shao.

Nan Shao looked over and said after a while: "It's okay, just a little tired, recovering. I didn't see her with the crystal core before, it should be obtained when she went out just now..."

"Maybe it was given by Mr. Song." Zhang Yi guessed.

Nan Shao hummed and shook his head, "Maybe." Judging from the size of the crystal core, the mutant creature he had to face was probably very powerful. He doubted whether Song Yan could deal with it. And if it was really obtained by Song Yan, then he would have to re-evaluate the gap in strength between himself and Song Yan. He was unwilling to lose to that person.

Zhang Yi saw his strange reaction, and after thinking about it carefully, he guessed his thoughts and couldn't help but smile. These two people are really strange. They are obviously old acquaintances, and now they are both transformed into alien beasts, but they just can't stand each other.

"Wait for me here." Nan Shao said to Zhang Yi, then went to the rooms on both sides of the corridor and came back with three leather cushions. No one knew where he found them.

The two sat down next to Li Muran, and the extra leather cushion was thrown directly in front of her without disturbing her.

"Sleep on me." Because they were too tired, the two did not chat. Nan Shao directly pulled Zhang Yi over and let him rest on his legs. He adjusted to the most comfortable position and took out the crystal core he had just obtained from killing the mutant beast to absorb it. Zhang Yi

was not like a superpower who could use the crystal core to restore strength. In addition, he was not young anymore, so he did feel tired. He was not polite to Nan Shao, and he no longer cared about other people's eyes. Therefore, in such an intimate posture, he snored lightly in a blink of an eye.

Nan Shao lowered his head and looked at his sleeping face for a long time, his eyes were gentle, and finally he couldn't help but lower his head and kissed his temples before he calmed down.

The survivors of the gymnasium around them were not as bold as Shi Pengsan and his group because the door was open. They really didn't dare to sleep. They saw this scene and looked at Li Muran who was sitting there alone and acting abnormally. Their expressions became weird. They felt that the group of people who came later were capable, but they all looked abnormal.

Maybe it was because this place was far away from the Yunzhou base and had not participated in the cruel killing and elimination. Or maybe it was because they were trapped in the city for too long. Just like the humans locked up here, there was less competition and the speed of evolution was slow. In short, the overall strength of the mutant beasts here was a few points weaker than those Zhang Yi and his group had encountered outside, so it was not as difficult to deal with them as imagined.

Before the sky got light, all the mutant beasts around the gymnasium were dealt with. The half-humans calmed down earlier than them, which made their nerves tense, fearing that they would suddenly appear.

Fortunately, until dawn, the half-man was as silent as usual, and did not even get angry because he was blocked in the competition venue. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then without delay, they packed up and prepared to leave as soon as possible. As for Song Yan, after finishing the last mutant beast, he quietly hid himself.

Li Muran did not sleep all night, but only absorbed one-third of the fist-sized heart-shaped crystal core. It was because it could not absorb any more, so she stopped. But even so, she still felt that her superpowers had obviously improved, but it was not certain whether it was specifically reflected in the number of people she carried or the distance she crossed. Fortunately, during the whole process, there was no terrible pain like the one after swallowing the wooden brain.

"The straight-line distance from here to the outside of the city is about 15 to 20 kilometers, but if we go out, even if we take the shortest shortcut and walk from the bridge, the distance will be more than twice the straight-line distance." Li Muran picked up the burned wooden stick and roughly drew the surrounding roads and major buildings on the ground, explaining.

Zhang Yi, Nan Shao, Shi Pengsan, Qiao Yong and Wei Dong surrounded her, some touching their chins, some rubbing their palms, each of them thinking about something.

"But there are a lot of zombies on the shortest road, I don't recommend taking this route." Li Muran gestured and pointed out several places where zombies were densely populated, which happened to be on the route of the shortest shortcut.

"If you go this way, there will be more mutant plants on the road, but almost all of them are what we have seen and can be dealt with." Because there are many mutant plants, the zombies will be restricted in their movements. Unless they are unlucky and encounter mutant zombies, it will not cause them any trouble. Zhang Yi and the others knew this, so she didn't say much. As for the mutant zombies, with Nan Shao around, they were not afraid at all.

Only Wei Dong looked at her with a confused look on his face. In his opinion, mutant plants were obviously more difficult to deal with than zombies. Li Muran's choice was really incomprehensible to him, but no one else had any objections, so he could only hold back and said nothing.

"This route is quite long. It is estimated that it may be more than 40 to 50 kilometers in a rough step. I am afraid that we cannot walk out in one day." At this point, Li Muran's eyes fell on the survivors gathered in the hall. With the mental state of these people, it would be great if they could walk 20 kilometers a day.

"If we can't get out by dark, we will be caught by the half-people." Wei Dong finally couldn't help it and reminded him. He didn't understand. There was a shortcut, why didn't he take it. Even if there are many zombies, can zombies be more terrible than mutant plants?

He was trapped here for a long time and raised them as pets, but he didn't know that with a small number of zombies and a small number of mutant plants, people would of course be willing to encounter zombies; but when there are hundreds of zombies and mutant plants, or even an endless supply, people would rather face mutant plants.

"This is it. We will find a way to deal with the half-people." After pondering for a long time, Zhang Yi asked the others for their opinions and finally made the decision. "Muren, tell me how to get there..."

"Wait." Qiao Yong suddenly spoke up. Just when Wei Dong thought he was going to object, he stood up and walked towards the lounge where Lin Daoru was. Not long after, he came out again with a piece of paper and a pen in his hand. "Draw it here."

"I want to go with you." Li Muran was puzzled, but she still drew a route map as she was told. She marked clearly which landmark buildings she would pass by, where there were small paths, which buildings had two doors in front and back or overpasses that could be passed directly through, and so on.

It took a full hour to describe and draw. When everyone looked up again, in addition to the sore neck, they also felt hungry, and then they remembered that they had not eaten breakfast. The food that Qiao Yong and his team had was not enough for seventy or eighty people, but it was better than nothing.

When the survivors at the bottom of the status in the gymnasium got half a pack of biscuits or half a piece of instant noodles, they were a little bit unbelievable. They had never thought about it, nor dared to think that they would have a share. For a moment, they were filled with uneasiness and doubt, but this did not prevent them from stuffing the food into their mouths as quickly as possible.

"The meat of mutant beasts can also be eaten." Although the food was not his, and it was shared with him, Wei Dong still felt sorry for Qiao Yong and the others, but the half piece of instant noodles in his hand only slightly relieved the hunger in his stomach, and was not enough to completely solve the problem, so he looked at the mutant beast corpses piled at the exit, swallowed his saliva, and said. All along, the half-man provided them with processed mutant beast meat, so he thought that all mutant beasts could be eaten.

"There is no time to make a fire and roast meat." Zhang Yi answered him, "We have to hurry up. Let's find food on the way."

"We can eat it raw." Wei Dong said reluctantly. They have never seen so much mutant beast meat before, and it would be a pity to throw it away like this.

"If you want, go ahead and cut it." Zhang Yi didn't think much about it, and then noticed that the survivors with Wei Dong all had wolf-like green eyes, so he added: "You too, cut it yourself. But the meat of these mutants is very unpalatable..."

Before he finished speaking, those people had already swarmed over, just like they did every day when they were fighting for food. Because there were so many mutants, they didn't fight.

Zhang Yi shook his head and ignored them, but turned to Li Muran and said, "Take some of the weaker people out first, so that they won't drag everyone's journey."

Li Muran also wanted to know how much his ability had improved, so he agreed happily, and then, with the cooperation of Liu Xia and others, began to look for the target. Zhang Yinan, Shao Shipengsan, led by Qiao Yong, walked towards the VIP lounge, intending to meet the old man before leaving.

Lin Daoru had been up for a while, and the room was tidy, and he was eating slowly there. He slept well at night and was not affected by the fighting outside at all.

Breakfast was a cup of brewed milk, a few pieces of dried fruit, and a spiced egg. The portion was small.

"I don't usually do anything, so these foods are enough." Lin Daoru said after being rejected when inviting Zhang Yi and others to have breakfast together. "If conditions permit, you can supplement some vitamins." He pointed to a small bottle of vitamin C placed next to him. "But speaking of it, I don't think any of the survivors I saw got sick due to vitamin deficiency. Perhaps the end of the world not only brought death and disaster, but also promoted the evolution of human physique."

Facing the old man who was talking freely, Zhang Yi had the illusion for a moment that this was a very ordinary morning without the end of the world, but the bloody smell left by the mutant beasts on everyone's body quickly pulled him back to reality.

"We are leaving here, please come with us." He said straight to the point, without asking any extra questions, and there was no time for small talk.

The old man did not answer immediately. After finishing the last bite of egg and the milk in the cup, he wiped his mouth with paper, then stood up, shook his head, and smiled elegantly: "Thank you for your kindness. I am old, so I will not cause trouble to you."

Zhang Yi wanted to persuade him, but the old man waved his hand to stop him and continued: "My home is here, Qisheng is here, and I will be here too."

Zhang Yi and his friends finally saw the half-man, but it was only a very brief glimpse. The half-man seemed to want to hide, but also wanted to protect the old man. After flashing, perhaps because he did not feel the hostility of the visitor, he hid behind the sofa where the old man was sitting again. Everyone could have gone a little further to see it clearly, but for some reason, they were reluctant to do so.

"We can let the half-man go with us." Zhang Yi said after a moment of silence. Their team includes the old, weak, sick and disabled, mutant beasts, and beast-like people. If they are harmless to humans, it is possible to let the half-man join. Moreover, more than a hundred half-men are a force that cannot be underestimated. Of course, he did not hold out much hope for this.

Sure enough, Lin Daoru shook his head and rejected the proposal.

"They can't communicate yet, you can't take them away. As for Qi Sheng, I still hope he can live with his own kind." Otherwise, what will he do when I die?

Seeing that the old man's attitude was peaceful, but it could not be changed, Zhang Yi sighed silently and said goodbye to him with the others.

"Wait a minute." The old man called them and walked to the coffee table. He took out a big and thick notebook from the pile of books on it and handed it to Zhang Yi. "I wrote down some things here, which may be useful to you."

Zhang Yi took it with doubts, opened it, and found that it was actually a record of some mutant animals and plants. There were about a dozen kinds of them. The appearance characteristics, weaknesses, whether they were edible, whether they could be used for other purposes, and the methods of eating or processing were recorded in detail, and there were also pictures. The pictures were very realistic, showing the solid foundation of the painter.

It turned out that after the animals and plants mutated, the half-humans who didn't eat began to hunt mutant beasts to share food, and would also throw some to the captive survivors. But not all the meat of those mutant beasts is suitable for human consumption. Let's not talk about whether it is poisonous or not, the fishy smell is unbearable. Anyway, he was free, so Lin Daoru began to study which meat can be eaten directly, which needs to be processed, and which must not be touched. He thought of the mutant plants outside. Since animals can be eaten, can plants also be eaten?

He had supernatural powers, and Feng Qisheng was there to help him, so he would occasionally bring back some plants from the dense mutant forest around him for research, and record the results of his research.

"I found that eating mutant creatures frequently would change our physique, enhance our resistance, and better adapt to the current environment." Lin Daoru explained, and at the end he was a little regretful, "It's a pity that the time is too short, and my strength is limited. I have only studied this little. I hope you can add more content in the future and spread it out to contribute to the survival of mankind. I will continue to study here, and if there is a chance in the future, you can come again to take it."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but respect the old man. The notebook in his hand seemed to become extremely heavy all of a sudden. Zhang Yi originally held the notebook casually with one hand, but now he changed to holding it with both hands, and became very careful and cautious. He solemnly promised the old man.

"What other wishes do you have? We will definitely work hard to help you fulfill them." Qiao Yong, who had a good conversation with the old man, felt his blood boiling in his chest, and the words of promise came out of his mouth.

"I have no relatives, no worries." Lin Daoru smiled, and then was silent for a moment, looking back at the half-person hiding behind the sofa, his eyes sour. "Qisheng has three sons and one daughter, all of whom are working in other cities and provinces. Some of them may be alive. If you meet them, please help report their safety so that they won't come looking for them. Qisheng is not...

I hope they will take the risk to find him. "At this point, he took the pen and wrote down the names of Feng Qisheng's children and grandchildren and their places of work. When he handed it to Qiao Yong, he said, "If they are not in good condition, please take care of them."

Qiao Yong agreed, folded the paper neatly and put it close to his body.

"One more thing." Lin Daoru was very satisfied with this. He probably felt that these people were worthy of trust. After thinking for a while, he said,

"You say." No one was impatient.

Lin Daoru's eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one, and his expression became very serious. "I will try to collect all the history-related books in the city as soon as possible, and then recompile them. When you settle down, please be sure to come again, take these materials out and keep them well. I may not be here by then, but I will definitely leave a mark here to tell you where I put my things. "

I didn't expect such a request. Zhang Yi and others were very surprised. You know, it's hard to survive now, who has the time to care about history? But the old man's attitude made it impossible for them to say anything different.

"The inheritance of civilization cannot be cut off with us. If we don't hurry up and preserve all of this, one day, our descendants will either struggle to survive in a difficult environment and forget their roots, becoming the same as insects, snakes, ants, birds and beasts, or they can only look for fragments of their own civilization in archaeological relics. "

Chapter 285: Beasts Transformed into Humans (1)

The convoy drove towards Changshi, intending to turn northwest after reaching Changshi. The original eight vehicles had increased to fourteen. Three large buses, two van trucks, and a tanker were added later. It was very arrogant, but if there was strength, arrogance could deter those with bad intentions. The destruction

of the entire city, the existence of half-humans, and the growth of the Dark Soul Tree had almost sealed off the city of Zafeng. More than a year was not enough for most food and various daily necessities to rot and be destroyed, not to mention that it was in extreme cold for more than half a year. Therefore, the abundance of supplies here was enough to make the survivors at the bottom of the base salivate.

However, after the Dark Soul Tree was removed, it would be difficult for this place to be left alone, even if the half-humans were still there. Especially when the supplies in the cities around the human settlements were almost completely looted, I believe the survivors' search tentacles would soon extend here.

Therefore, Zhang Yi and his team easily collected enough supplies for two trucks, and got a tanker truck at the oil depot. By the way, they also sent Lin Lao enough food, coal, other daily necessities, and some books found under his guidance for three years. Although this was not a piece of cake for them, it only took a little more time to clean up the zombies and mutants in the building and collect things. The rest was done by Li Muran, who had domain abilities. They

did this out of respect for the old man and also to do their best. They rushed around, they looked for a way to survive, and there were too many things that made it impossible for them to calm down and do something that was very far away for most people. History, civilization, inheritance, etc., are like a big and empty slogan, far less important than survival. But they know that as long as human beings can continue to reproduce, the importance of these things will soon become apparent. Twenty years, fifty years, a hundred years... When their generation dies, whether the new generation will return to barbarism and ignorance, or summarize the history of their predecessors, combine it with the current environment, and rebuild the glory of civilization, all depends on the preservation and inheritance of past knowledge.

Inheritance, such a heavy topic that has been subtly ingrained into the human blood during the long period of peace, has been almost forgotten by everyone in the cruel environment of the end of the world. Only the old man is still trying to complete it with his weak strength and old body.

So they respect and feel ashamed, but they are powerless. They can only hope that when they find a stable place and have time to spare, they will still have a chance to do this.

On the bus, Zhang Yi is looking down and flipping through the old man's notes on mutant creatures. It has been several days since he got this notebook, and this is the first time he has time to read it carefully.

That day, they said goodbye to Elder Lin. They had prepared to fight their way out. Unexpectedly, Li Muran's ability was greatly improved after absorbing the crystal core. Originally, she could carry six people at a time, but after the improvement, she could carry fifteen people, which was 2.5 times the original number. The number of times she could use it also increased from ten to eighteen times. Although the increase was smaller than the increase in the number of people she carried, it was already very satisfactory. The distance she crossed also increased. After more than twenty kilometers, it was related to the number of people she carried. The more people she carried, the shorter the distance she crossed. If she was alone, the farthest distance she could reach was fifty kilometers.

As a result, she brought all of them out of the city in one morning.

She felt that her ability was really useful, and with the sudden increase of more than a hundred people, it was impossible to just leave them there. So they delayed for a few more days to collect supplies and find suitable vehicles. In addition, they were also worried about where to find fuel to replenish, so they simply got a tanker truck. Thanks to Li Muran's ability, even if Nan Shao and Song Yan were strong enough to move around the city, they would not be able to get so many things, let alone let them pick and choose vehicles that are easy to use. Without

the interference of the Dark Soul Wood, the half-humans may also be adapting to the new environment. They have never encountered them once, which made their actions much smoother. Of course, considering the special hobbies of the half-humans, they will leave the city before dark.

"This... I know this." Zhang Ruiyang's little head suddenly poked over from the side, pointing to the plant drawn on the page, almost blocking Zhang Yi's entire vision.

Zhang Yi tilted his head slightly, pointed at the words on it and read them to the child.

"Hydralin, a vine-shaped mutant plant, has no leaves, is as thick as an adult's arm, and is two to twenty-five meters long. It has multiple vines, and its epidermis is as rough as cloth gravel, earthy brown, and has no patterns. It has needle-shaped thorns, which are hollow and retractable. They are usually hidden in the vine. Once it captures prey, it will extend its thorns, pierce the prey's body, inject venom that can cause paralysis, and then suck its flesh and blood."

"Reproduction method: The maximum length of Hydralin is twenty-five meters. Once it reaches the limit, it will automatically shed its mother buds about two meters long, grow on the spot, and become a new Hydralin. After accumulating enough energy, the mother vine will also grow new vines from the roots (the author has encountered a twelve-vine Hydralin, and stayed away from it.)" "

The plant is good at hiding, and it often hides in the soil, the rotten leaves dropped by other mutant plants, and collapsed buildings. It will actively attack humans and mutant beasts. Its means of attack are mainly vine nets, entanglements, and venom paralysis. The attacks are concealed and agile, and it is difficult to defend against."

"Weaknesses: First, it is afraid of fire, and the flames of supernatural powers have a restraining effect on it (the author has fire supernatural powers, other supernatural powers have not been tried and will be supplemented); second, the mother bud will not be aggressive within one hour after it falls off, so you can take advantage of this time to collect it. After the mother bud falls off, the mother vine will have a half-hour fatigue period and will not actively attack creatures that break into its territory. Third, the animal fur and human clothes scattered near the hydralis vine are mostly covered with dense holes, which may be used to judge the existence of the hydralis vine (this point cannot rule out other mutant plants with the same attack method)."

"The outer skin of the hydralis vine is hard and tough and can be peeled off. Under the skin is a spongy substance that is highly poisonous. Peel off the vine skin, and the supernatural fire will burn it into dark red powder, which is non-toxic and has a very light aroma of cooked chestnuts. It becomes sticky when mixed with water and is edible..."

As Zhang Yi read on, his voice gradually became silent. He unconsciously concentrated on reading the content above, forgetting his son who was following him word by word carefully, and he did not notice that the car, which originally had some chatter, had become quiet. Everyone was waiting for him to continue reading.

There was actually not much to say afterwards, except that the main point was that the whole plant of the thorn snake vine could not be burned. The powder produced by burning it would taste more fragrant, like chestnut stew, but it was poisonous. Even a small amount could cause difficulty breathing, blurred vision, headache and vomiting. As for how the toxicity was verified, the notebook did not mention it, but everyone could imagine that for an old man, an old man who majored in history, to research such detailed information alone, the hardships and dangers involved could be imagined.

Zhang Yi silently flipped through the pages with full respect, so Zhang Ruiyang, who was lying on his lap and recognizing the words one by one, could not keep up. The child was not angry, but pushed his little head against his father's arms, then turned around and ran away, squeezed into the row of Ge Ayi and the others, and went to play with his friends.

Seeing this, the others did not want to disturb him, so they turned their attention away and talked to the people around them again. But everyone was a little excited in their hearts, secretly thinking about how to borrow the notebook to take a look. If the above records are true, then they don't have to worry about the source of food in the future. After all, mutant plants are everywhere and grow very fast. If they are cultivated, it will definitely not be as difficult as ordinary crops.

Most of the people sitting in this car are from Ronghe. Zhang Yi and his friends gave up the RV to the injured and the elderly. Grandpa and Jian Jian were both in it. Ge Ayi, who had been keeping a close eye on the old and the young, did not follow them this time, but took the bus with everyone.

Nan Shao, who was sitting side by side with Zhang Yi by the window, glanced around the car boredly, and his eyes stopped at Nan Wei, who was sitting in the front two rows with his head down. It seemed that he only noticed that his younger brother was there at this time. But it was not his fault. In the past few days after the two sides met, everyone was busy leaving Zhafeng City and collecting supplies. No one thought of mentioning this, and Nan Wei deliberately avoided it. It was normal that he didn't notice it.

Although Nan Wei had almost killed Zhang Yi because of his lack of kindness, which made him want to kill him, after a long time, Zhang Yi was sitting next to him again, and his anger faded. Now that he saw him again and found that the boy was fine, he still felt relieved even though he no longer had any love or hate in his heart. After all, he was his brother, and he didn't want him to die.

He retracted his gaze and looked at Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi's expression was very focused, with a straight nose, gentle but shrewd eyes, and lips that were unconsciously pursed because of his concentration. He had no youth and delicacy of a teenager at all. He had a very pure man's face, a man's face that contained endless vicissitudes and hardships...

Nan Shao couldn't hold back the surging emotions in his heart, and raised his hand to gently touch the short white hair of the man next to him. In fact, what he wanted to do more was to kiss this white hair, kiss this person, possess this person fiercely, and feel that he belonged to him completely and thoroughly.

Zhang Yi was disturbed, raised his head, and looked at him with a smile: "What's wrong? Bored?"

Nan Shao shook his head, but did not put his hand down, but took the opportunity to put it on Zhang Yi's neck, stroking it intentionally or unintentionally. Combined with the love in his eyes, even if he didn't say a word, Zhang Yi's face gradually became hot.

The next development that best fits the current atmosphere is an inseparable passionate kiss. Unfortunately, neither of them was open enough to let others watch them being intimate, so they could only regretfully restrain their love and impulses and smile at each other.

Zhang Yi raised his hand to grab the hand that was playing tricks on his neck, then clasped it tightly and put his eyes back on the notebook.

"Mr. Lin is really amazing. He can study the mutant plants we often see on a daily basis to this extent. Look at this thorn snake vine. Who would have thought that its skin needs to be burned with supernatural fire before it can be eaten. Let's find a chance to try it?" Obviously afraid of neglecting Nan Shao, this time Zhang Yi was not as engrossed in watching as before, forgetting everything around him, but talking to Nan Shao in a low voice while watching.

"Okay." Nan Shao stroked Zhang Yi's palm and fingertips, feeling the rough calluses and chapped mouths caused by the friction of the knife handle, and slowly used supernatural powers to help him repair them, but his eyes fell on Zhang Yi's side face from time to time, as if he couldn't see enough.

Perhaps it is true that a lover's eyes see beauty. He had no impression of their first meeting. The second time, when he was rescued, was his first time. In his eyes, Zhang Yi was just a tired, haggard, and sloppy middle-aged man, a cripple, just like the bottom-level survivors struggling to survive in the end of the world. At that time, he could never have imagined that one day he would fall in love with this man and give him everything. Now, when he looks at this face again, he feels that everything is good, nothing is bad, and he never gets tired of looking at it. No one can compare to him.

"It's a pity that he refused to go with us. It's not safe for an old man to stay there after all, and... it's too lonely." Zhang Yi sighed. Even if there are a group of people around him, they can't communicate after all.

"The relationship between Mr. Lin and Qisheng should be the same as the two of us. He is not lonely." Nan Shao replied. If it were him, he would make the same choice.

Zhang Yi hummed, as if he thought it made sense, but after thinking about it, he shook his head: "That's not necessarily the case. The two are more likely to be close friends, just like Qiao Tou and Shi Sange..." Sometimes friendship is so deep that it is difficult to distinguish it from love and family affection. For an old man who has nothing and no worries and is already in his seventies, it is not so difficult to understand that he is unwilling to leave with them, but stays to accompany his mutated old friend, study knowledge, and make use of his remaining energy.

As for what the truth is, without Lin Lao, perhaps they will never know.

The two whispered to each other, and the two children were heard whispering over there, but they thought their voices were low, but in fact most of the people in the car heard it.

"Are your father and your pumpkin father in love?" Ge Ayi was like a ghost, but he saw the relationship between Nan Shao and Zhang Yi after only the second meeting.

"Yes." Zhang Ruiyang looked ignorant, and there was also some incomprehensible little pride, as if he thought this matter was very worthy of envy. He was young, and the people he met were not as complicated as Ge Ayi's. He didn't understand the meaning of love at all, but he watched TV and saw that boys and girls would kiss each other when they were in love, and Pumpkin's father and his father would often kiss each other, so he thought that was it.

"But they are both men, how can they be in love?" Ge Ayi knew more than him. Although he had heard of homosexuality, he couldn't understand it at all.

"Why can't men be in love with men?" Zhang Ruiyang scratched his head.

"Because men can only be in love with women." This was Ge Ayi's inherent concept, which was formed by the influence of the surrounding environment.

"Why can men only be in love with women?" Zhang Ruiyang asked back unconvinced. He thought it was good for his father and Pumpkin's father to be in love, just like on TV, sweet and sweet.

"Because that way you can have a baby." Ge Ayi answered as a matter of course, and didn't forget to roll his eyes in contempt.

"My father already has a baby." Zhang Ruiyang patted his chest and said proudly.

"..." Ge Ayi decided not to talk to this little idiot again.

Hearing this, Zhang Yi looked at Nan Shao, his ears felt slightly hot, but he couldn't help but smile.

Huo Rui, who was squeezed together with the two little guys, was silent, but he was thinking in his heart, if his parents were alive, he could accept it even if his father found another man and his mother found another woman. But if his father found another woman and his mother found another man, that probably wouldn't work. Because then there would be more brothers and sisters, and neither of his parents might want him anymore.

Thinking of this, he felt a little ashamed again, thinking that if his parents were still alive, they would definitely beat him up if they knew he thought this. But it doesn't matter if he gets beaten, as long as they are alive...

Nan Wei was in the same row with them, squeezed in the innermost. He pinched his palms, endured the bitterness in his heart, and restrained himself from looking at Nan Shao. He didn't like men. He was relieved that Nan Shao had changed his target. However, when he saw the two people's tacit understanding and warm way of getting along, and listened to the two children's childish words, he couldn't help but feel jealous and angry. He wanted to yell at everyone that Nan Shao was originally his. But he was no longer like before. He felt that the whole world should revolve around him, so no matter how uncomfortable he was, he still tried to hold it in. He knew that he had to learn to be independent and forget, because no one would sympathize with him, and Nan Shao would never treat him unconditionally and unreservedly like before, and would not even look at him more.

Time is flowing, the world is changing, and no one will always stand in the same place waiting for another person. Not to mention waiting for someone who has trampled on his sincerity.

Nan Wei finally understood this, and at the same time he also knew where he was wrong. He was not wrong for not accepting Nan Shao's feelings, and even felt disgusted and angry because of it. His mistake was that he shouldn't have taken Nan Shao's kindness to him for granted while despising him. He was wrong in trampling on the brotherhood. He was wrong in abandoning Nan Shao as if he had been freed after he was scratched by zombies because of his unreasonable demands. If he had had a little conscience at that time and stayed to guard Nan Shao until he changed, even if it was just for show, the relationship between the two would not have become what it is now, and he would not have encountered those things later.

However, he knew better that if it hadn't been for those things that happened later, he might never understand how precious what he once had was. It's just that it's already lost and can never be found again, and regret is useless, so the only thing he can do now is to stop dreaming of relying on anyone, and work hard to make himself stronger. By then, Nan Shao might look at him differently.

Everyone in the car had different thoughts, but overall it was quite relaxing. For Zhang Yi and others, there didn't seem to be much change, but the survivors who escaped from the Rong River hadn't had this feeling for a long time. After all, their number of people had increased so much, their strength had increased exponentially, and they didn't have to walk hard on their legs, let alone worry about running out of food at any time. Except for taking turns to clear the way, such days were almost no different from traveling before the end of the world.

There is strength in numbers. With sufficient food supply, the gymnasium people who were eager to improve their own strength and the refugees from Ronghe River showed unprecedented strong fighting power. In addition, the road from Ronghe to Zhafeng was cleared by survivors from time to time. The newly grown mutant plants were not strong enough, and even the psychics in the gymnasium could barely cope with them. With other experienced psychics watching over them, not only did they not lose personnel, but they also cleared the road a few points faster than when Zhang Yi and his team came from Longren, and they were at ease.

Therefore, at noon the next day, they arrived at Ronghe. The convoy stopped here.

Standing on the highway, everyone looked at the county town occupied by the huge exploding tree from a distance. They saw that the poisonous thorn tree blocking the entrance of the county town had disappeared. A huge tree towered over the county town. The flourishing branches and leaves, the drooping aerial roots, and the twisted roots formed an independent small forest, which completely engulfed the entire city, without even revealing the corners of the buildings. There was a vast expanse of space between the county town and the highway. The originally densely covered mutant plants were now completely gone, as if it had suddenly become a forbidden area for plants, forming a sharp contrast with the other side of the highway.

"What a domineering plant!" Someone sighed.

"It will be a scourge sooner or later. Is there any way to get rid of it?" Zhang Yi asked Nan Shao in a low voice. Among all the people present, Nan Shao was the only one who could answer this question, except for the sick ghost.

Nan Shao did not answer immediately, but stared at it for a moment and said after careful consideration: "I'm afraid it's difficult. If it was when we first arrived at Ronghe, there might be a chance. Now its vitality is very strong. Compared with it, the ant mother I encountered before is like a firefly and the bright moon. With my current ability, let alone not being able to get close, even if I stick to its main body to absorb, I can't absorb half of it in a year." As for the rebound when the explosive wood senses the disappearance of its vitality, other attacks, and continued growth, he didn't need to say anything.

Zhang Yi was speechless. The other people who came out of Ronghe also sighed when they heard it. This place where they had lived peacefully for half a year had to be abandoned after all.

Li Muran did not get off the car. She had no feelings for Ronghe, but the huge mutant tree still made her feel frightened intuitively. After listening to Nan Shao's words, she couldn't help but lean on the back of the chair and asked the sick ghost who was resting with his eyes closed in front of her, "Sick brother, can Dudu deal with that tree?"

Dudu might be too sleepy. This time he didn't run around. He was woken up when everyone left, so he lay on the roof of the car and slept all the way.

"No." The sick ghost responded coldly.

Li Muran had long been accustomed to his attitude and didn't care. He continued to ask: "Then do you have any way?"

"No." The tone of refusing to help was obvious. Of course the sick ghost had a way, but this matter was really irrelevant to him and would not affect the journey. He didn't have the patience to do it.

Li Muran smiled embarrassedly and didn't dare to ask again. She was not too disappointed. After all, it was the same for sick ghosts. If they asked a few more questions, it was normal not to get an answer. If they got an answer, it was a great honor.

Since it was a matter of trying to shake a tree, no one would do it. So the convoy set off again soon.

This time the destination was the Bowe base. Zhang Yi and his team could not bring too many people to the northwest. It was unsafe and cumbersome. So it was best to find a human settlement and let those who were willing to stay stay. The first choice at the moment was naturally Bowe. If the situation in Bowe was too bad, they could look for it along the way.

This was also one of the reasons why Song Yan asked Shen Chi and the others to follow him. They should pay attention to the distribution of the survivors' bases along the way and check the situation of the zombies, mutants and survivors in various parts of the northwest. After all, there was not only one choice for the location of the base.

Chapter 286: The Beasts Transformed into Humans (2) (1)

It took Zhang Yi and his team four days to get to Ronghe from Bowei, but it only took two days to get back this time. The closer they got to Xianze City, the fewer zombies there were on the road. When they arrived at Xianze, there were no zombies on the outskirts of the city. Instead, they encountered several convoys of survivors. When they saw them, they all watched from afar, with envy, greed, and covetousness in their eyes, but no one approached to talk.

Those in the team who had never been to the Bowei base became excited, especially those survivors who had originally wanted to come to Bowei but were trapped in Zhafeng. They were even more excited.

However, not long after, Qiao Yong stood up and walked over from the front.

"Something seems to be wrong." He said to Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi also felt it. After hearing this, he paused for a moment and stopped the convoy.

"What's going on?" Soon, Shen Chi and Cong San, who were sitting in the armored car in front, got on the car together and asked in confusion. According to them, the road ahead was clear and they should reach their destination in one go.

"You should pay attention to the team of survivors." Zhang Yi said. They had been in Bowei before, and they noticed something unusual after just a few more glances.

The car stopped at the outskirts of Xianze City, which is still an hour's drive from Bowei. The mutant plants around were sparse, and compared with the mutant plants seen along the way, they gave people an inexplicable feeling of being pale and thin. The buildings on both sides of the road were stripped of doors and windows, leaving only a layer of concrete shell trembling in the cold wind.

Not too far away from them, on the road leading to Xianze City, three pickup trucks were slowly driving towards the city at the speed of an old ox pulling a broken car. Dozens of survivors were standing or squatting in the truck bed, all looking back at them.

"Nothing." Shen Chi looked for a moment and said in confusion.

"The ones standing are holding guns." Zhang Yi explained.

"What's the matter, don't we have guns too?" Shen Chi felt that he was making a fuss. It is not uncommon for people who can survive to this day to get a few guns.

"No." Zhang Yi shook his head. "The survivors we met along the way all had people holding guns."

Shen Chi shrugged, still not taking it seriously.

But Zhang Yi continued, "The relationship between the people holding guns and the other survivors in the car doesn't seem to be that harmonious."

After hearing him say this, Shen Chi became serious. Because he had been instructed, he really saw something different this time. Those people holding guns were standing, and their clothes were obviously better than the other survivors. Moreover, the muzzles of their guns were not pointed outside, but pointed vaguely at the people squatting in the same car. They didn't look like they were protecting them, but more like guarding them. At first, he didn't care because he had a preconceived notion that those people were together, but now he could see the clear distinction between them.

"The other teams we met before were the same." Zhang Yi added.

"Do you mean that there is something wrong with this base?" Shen Chi didn't know much about this place and was completely confused.

"Half a year ago, there was a power change at the Bowei base. Could it be that the management method inside has changed?" Zhang Yi guessed uncertainly. If it was just one team of survivors, it could be said to be an accidental phenomenon, but if it

was the case for every team, it would make people wary. "Why don't we ask someone about it first?" Shen Chi touched his nose and felt that it was necessary to be cautious. After all, all kinds of people emerged after the end of the world, even the likes of Wu Zong, and it was not impossible for some weirdos to appear.

Zhang Yi and others also had the same idea. So they were not in a hurry to get to Bowei, but asked Li Muran to check the surrounding situation first, and then get in the car and continue to move forward, but drove slowly.

"The gate of the base is closed, and there is a small team of soldiers guarding it. No one was seen entering or leaving. There are not many people in the base, and basically they stay in the house. Few people walk on the streets. Apart from this, nothing unusual was found." Li Muran's current exploration distance is already 100 kilometers, and the Bowei base is just within this range, so she roughly described the situation inside to everyone. But after all, she didn't know this place, and at first glance, she couldn't see anything.

Zhang Yi and others did not hold much hope for this. Some things cannot be seen at a glance without certain life experience and sufficient vision. Li Muran lacked in this aspect. Now as long as they make sure that there is nothing unusual on the surface, they can still calmly inquire and plan.

"There are many survivor teams in Xianze City killing zombies. Half of the entire city has been cleaned up. They built a high wall between the cleaned area and the uncleaned area..." Li Muran was shocked when he saw the tall stone wall that divided the entire Xianze City into two, but his attention was quickly diverted. "Someone is coming in front."

Sure enough, two minutes later, five cars appeared on the road ahead, and Shen Chi hurriedly leaned out to greet them. The two parties stopped separately when they were still dozens of meters apart. Shen Chi jumped out of the car and walked over with Cong San, while the others stayed in the car without moving. It seems that they are doing their own things, but in fact, they are all paying attention to the situation over there.

"Hey, buddy, I want to ask something. Is there a survivor base nearby? How to get there?" When he got closer, Shen Chi took the initiative to speak, while observing the other team inconspicuously.

As Zhang Yi said, some people in the team also had guns. Except for one or two pointing at them, the rest kept their guns pointed downwards, but it gave people the feeling that they were always pointing at the survivors in front of them.

"Where are you from?" A man in the army's winter training uniform poked his head out of the car, his eyebrows and eyes cold, and asked instead of answering.

Originally, people who came from the same army should feel close to each other when they met, but Shen Chi saw the other party's attitude and immediately gave up the idea of ​​getting close to him. He smiled and said, "We came from Yunzhou. It's a mess over there now. We can't survive. We heard that there is a base here, so we came here. You are from the base, right? Is the base far from here?" There were five cars, two off-road vehicles and three light trucks. Except for the off-road vehicle that had been modified, the other three were all tattered, with the bumpers hanging crookedly and the front of the car covered with black stains. There were a total of fifty or sixty people, most of whom were squeezed in the last three light trucks.

"It's not far. Just drive straight along this road. When you come to a fork in the road, look at the road signs and go to the right, in the direction of Bowei. You will see the base in about half an hour. We have cleared this road, it's very safe." A young man with thin eyebrows and eyes in the same car pushed aside the man in front and smiled amiably at Shen Chi and the others.

Shen Chi's pupils shrank slightly, but the smile on his face remained unchanged. He continued to act like a foreigner who came to seek refuge, and seemed a little excited and nervous, as if he wanted to find out as much information as possible. He asked in a chattering manner: "Are there many people in the base? Are there any conditions for entering? Is it safe?"

"Several tens of thousands of people, do you think it's a lot?" The young man smiled and patiently answered his questions one by one: "We have built high walls, and there are soldiers guarding day and night. As long as you go in, I guarantee you will have a good sleep. Look at Xianze City, most of it has been cleared by us. I believe that within two or three months, there will be no zombies in this city. As long as you become a member of the base, you will not only be allocated housing, but also free food, and there will be healing psychics on standby at any time. Is anyone in your team injured? What, no? It doesn't matter, it will be useful in the future..."

He talked a lot of nonsense, and if the air around him was not still filled with the stench of decay, it would almost make people think they had arrived in utopia. But there is no doubt that these words are very tempting to the survivors who have come from afar after hardships. If Shen Chi had not been alert, after listening to him, even if he did not plan to stay in this base, he would probably be eager to go and see if there is such a good place in the end of the world.

But now he noticed that the eyes of the people in the car were very interesting when the young man was talking. Those with guns were indifferent, playful, or greedy, while the people who were squeezed in the back of the light truck like ducks being sold were different. Most of them were gloating, and a few people were slightly sympathetic, and some were indifferent.

It must be said that Shen Chi was indeed an intelligence worker. He had collected a lot of useful information in just this short conversation.

"Thank you! Thank you! The guys have had enough of wandering around and living in fear. I'll take them to the base to settle down first. What's your name, buddy? I'll treat you to a meal after I'm done." Shen Chi took out a pack of cigarettes, shook it in his hand, waited for the other party to see it clearly, and then threw it over to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. "Brothers, please have a smoke."

The young man caught it and sniffed it. The smile on his face deepened by two points. The look he gave him was somewhat meaningful, and then he swept to the line of cars behind Shen Chi and the others. His eyes stopped on the top of the bus where Zhang Yi and the others were. A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes. He seemed to not understand why they put a big black stone on it, but he didn't care too much. His attention was soon attracted by the last tanker truck, and a trace of satisfaction appeared at the corner of his lips.

The two parties separated, and the other party's car whizzed past. Shen Chi and Cong San hurried back, first said a few words to the people in the first car, and then walked back and got on Zhang Yi's bus. As soon as he got on the bus, the smile on Shen Chi's face disappeared immediately, and he just said two words to the driver very quickly: "Go!"

Then he turned to Li Muran and said: "Muran, pay attention to that team."

Li Muran saw that his face was not good, and did not ask more questions. He responded and released his mental power.

"I'm afraid we can't go to this Bowei base..." Shen Chi was about to explain to Zhang Yi and the others, but before he said a word, Li Muran's side came with news.

"A car left their team, did not go to Xianze City, nor did it return, but took another road."

"Follow and see where that road leads." Shen Chi said, and then urged the driver to drive faster. Then he said to Zhang Yi and the others who had been waiting for his explanation: "This base is indeed problematic. You must not go in without understanding what's going on."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Wei Dong asked. He represented the survivors of the gymnasium, who were more eager to enter the base than the people of Ronghe. After knowing that something was wrong, they were also called over. As for He San, he had already made up his mind to get on the good side of Qiao Yong and the others, so he shamelessly followed the car when they set out from Zhafeng.

"I'm worried that there will be trouble." Shen Chi glanced at him and said in a deep voice. The car was probably driving at the fastest speed, and there was nothing he could do at this time. He simply relaxed and repeated the words of the previous person, and then sneered: "Do you believe this?"

Wei Dong shook his head subconsciously, but there was a trace of unwillingness. It was just talk. Maybe the man was too satisfied with the base, so he kept saying good things. This also indirectly shows that this base may not be bad.

"Before the apocalypse, there was no such thing as free food and lodging, but after the apocalypse, it did appear." Shen Chi snorted and laughed, "He said such exaggerated things, just to arouse our yearning and curiosity. Even if we didn't plan to go, we would probably want to go and see if it's really that good because of such words. He knew that we came here from a long way away. Even if his attitude was a little bit worse and he said the base

was a little worse, we couldn't help but take a look. But he still did this to add fuel to the fire, which only proves that he cares too much." "Are you saying that he is interested in our cars and supplies?" Wei Dong felt that there seemed to be some truth in it, and couldn't help asking. He subconsciously used the word "us", which showed that he was still eager to join Shen Chi's team in his subconscious.

Shen Chi may not have noticed this small detail, or he may not care. He just smiled and said, "For a base of tens of thousands of people, these things are nothing."

"He is interested in the hundred or so of us." Qiao Yong suddenly spoke with a firm tone, which shocked everyone present.

Shen Chi nodded: "Maybe the free food and accommodation is true, but looking at the situation of the survivors in his team, we know that this free thing is not so delicious. If we go in, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out."

"Then why don't we just not go? There's no need to run away in a hurry." Wei Dong was skeptical, always thinking that they were too sensitive. He was caught by half a group of people and taken to the gymnasium before the rainstorm. Before that, he just wandered around with a group of survivors who gathered together, looking for a place to stay. He had never had the opportunity to enter the survivor base. Therefore, in his mind, the shelter built by the government and the army should still have a certain order, and no matter how bad it is, it won't be that bad.

Shen Chi is different. Because of his wide source of information, he should be the one who knows the most about the survivor base among all the people at present. Therefore, after Zhang Yi and others pointed out the abnormality, he quickly collected the information he wanted from the team he just contacted and realized the crisis. He could see Wei Dong's suspicion, but he didn't want to convince him. He just said: "I'm worried that they will send someone to intercept..."

Before he finished speaking, new news came from Li Muran.

"Hmm? The direction that the car was heading seemed to be the Bowei base." The tone was a little uncertain.

"Why did you say seemed?" Shen Chi suddenly became alert, knowing that his guess might be confirmed, and he did not bother to explain any more, and hurriedly asked.

"Because the road that the car just took was heading for the Bowei base, but that road turned a corner at the foot of the mountain where the Bowei base was located, and turned to another place, and did not enter the base. Moreover, the Bowei base was a cliff in that direction, and there was no road connecting to the outside." Li Muran frowned and answered, thinking about it, and felt it was necessary to add: "That road is much closer to Bowei than the one we took."

"That's right." Shen Chi slapped the back of the chair next to him, turned his head and shouted to the driver: "Hurry up the one in front, go faster!"

The driver did not answer, but honked the horn directly.

The speed of the car increased again. It was also thanks to the fact that people walked on this road every day, and even the snow was shoveled clean, that the car could speed so fast. If it were to go somewhere else, I'm afraid it would have overturned long ago.

The car went quiet, and everyone seemed to have lost interest in talking all of a sudden, but most people's eyes were still fixed on Li Muran, waiting for her follow-up news.

However, before Li Muran could send any more news, someone appeared in front to stop the car.

Wei Dong's heart suddenly sank to the bottom, thinking that Shen Chi had been right, but when he saw the person who stopped the car, he was relieved.

There was only one person who stopped the car. Because he was wearing too thick clothes, his hair was neither long nor short, and he was pale and thin, it was really hard to tell his gender. He did not stand in the middle of the road, but just waved his hand by the roadside as if to hail a taxi, and it did not seem like he was forcing a car. There

were no mutant plants on both sides of this section of the road, only a few half-human-high broken walls stood like tombstones in the gray wasteland, and there was no way to hide anyone. But even so, the convoy did not plan to stop.

At this time, a person just stood here to stop the car, even if it was not a thriller novel, it was weird enough. The people in the convoy had to be alert. Even if they were not afraid, there was no need to take risks.

Several cars in front of him whizzed past him. Just when the car Zhang Yi and his friends were about to pass by, Hao Weiming suddenly shouted, "Stop! Stop now!"

Everyone was puzzled, but Shen Chi nodded when the driver looked over.

Creak - the car braked suddenly, and many people were almost pushed off their seats. Shen Chi, Weidong and others who were standing almost fell out. Fortunately, because of the frequent emergencies in the end times, people walking outside have long been accustomed to it. There is always a distance between cars, avoiding a series of rear-end collisions.

"Jin Mantang!" Without waiting for Shen Chi to ask, Hao Weiming had already leaned on the window and shouted outside.

Hearing his shout, not only Qiao Yong and Zhang Yi were surprised, but also the person who stopped the car outside showed a surprised look, obviously he did not expect that there was someone he knew in the car.

"Open the door quickly and let her get in." Zhang Yi said to the driver. He didn't recognize her just now because Jin Mantang's appearance had changed too much, and they hadn't been together for a long time, so his memory became a little fuzzy after a long time. But when Hao Weiming called her name, he could vaguely recognize her features after a closer look. When they were at the Bowei Base, Jin Mantang helped them a lot. Now, no matter why she came, they couldn't ignore her.

The car door opened, and Jin Mantang's expression had returned to normal. She quickly jumped into the car, and the first sentence she said was not to greet everyone or reminisce about the past, but: "You can't go to the Bowei Base."

I don't know if it was intentional or coincidental, but there is a fork in the road 500 meters away.

"The other way is not possible either." Jin Mantang said again, "Come with me, I'll take you to hide first, and then we'll find a way."

Shen Chi frowned slightly. Suddenly, such a person appeared and wanted the entire team to follow her with just one sentence. Who does she think she is?

Zhang Yi and Qiao Yong looked at each other. Although they had a good impression of Jin Mantang, it had been nearly half a year since they last met, and in such an environment as the end of the world, no one knew whether people would change. In addition, it was related to the entire convoy, so they were a little hesitant. Even Hao Weiming shut up at this time and did not interrupt.

"We can't stay here for long. The convoy from the base may pass by at any time. You should make a decision quickly. I won't harm you!" Jin Mantang seemed to be used to dealing with this kind of situation. He didn't care. He just urged him and took the time to explain a few words: "Once you enter the Bowei base, don't think about getting out again. The roads leading to other places nearby have also been guarded. It's okay to get in, but it will be very troublesome to get out."

"Muren, see what's going on on the road ahead." Without answering her, Shen Chi turned to Li Muran and said. He would not change his original intention because of a few empty words.

Li Muran hummed, retracted the mental power that was tracking the car, and then leaned forward. After a moment, the result was given: "If you take the road on the left, you will pass a bridge about 20 kilometers away. There is a convoy near our side not far from the bridge. There are three trucks and more than 30 people. They seem to be resting there, but they are not parked on the road we are going to pass, but on the fork road on the left."

"When you came here, you also had to pass a bridge. Did you see a convoy watching from a distance there? When you came in, they didn't care at all, as if they met by chance, but if they wanted to go out, they would immediately drive to block the bridge head." Although Jin Mantang was shocked by Li Muran's ability, he did not forget his purpose and explained briefly.

After hearing her say this, everyone thought about it again and found that it was really the case. At that time, they thought it was an accidental encounter and didn't take it seriously. After all, they encountered more than one convoy of survivors along the way.

"Two questions." Shen Chi pondered for a moment, and had a plan in his mind. He signaled Li Muran to continue monitoring the whereabouts of the previous car, and then looked at Jin Mantang and said.

Jin Mantang looked back, his eyes did not dodge.

"First question, where are you taking us?" Shen Chi asked.

"Where we hide." Jin Mantang knew that if he didn't explain clearly, the other party would not follow him, so he answered very straightforwardly.

"You?" Shen Chi raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, us. All the people who escaped from the base, including me, a total of twelve people." Jin Mantang said frankly.

Shen Chi did not delve into it, but asked: "Second question, is your hiding place inside the encirclement or outside?"

"Inside." Jin Mantang's answer was a little lacking in confidence this time, but he did not hide it.

"There is no way to the outside?" Shen Chi asked closely.

Jin Mantang shook his head.

Shen Chi turned his head and looked at Zhang Yi, Qiao Yong and others. Seeing that they all shook their heads slightly, he knew that they had the same idea as him, so he made a decision: "If this is the case, then we would rather rush out while they are not prepared. A few dozen people can't stop us." They didn't want to stay here for a long time, so they had to go out anyway, and it would be better to go out early than late.

"But those people have guns. They can fight you by just blocking the car across the road." Jin Mantang was not optimistic about this kind of forced intrusion.

"It's better than being caught in a jar." Shen Chi smiled.

Jin Mantang was silent. After a moment, she seemed to have made a decision, and her eyes became sharp again.

"Then I will go with you." She said decisively. No matter how much she changed, she still retained her past straightforwardness in her bones. Seeing that they were determined to leave, she no longer dissuaded them, but decided to go with them without hesitation.

Everyone was stunned. Before they could say anything, they heard Jin Mantang say again: "And my companions, can they go with you?"

"Where are they? We can't wait too long." Shen Chi looked at Zhang Yi and asked. He knew that Zhang Yi, Qiao Yong and others were familiar with Jin Mantang. Although he had some doubts in his heart, he didn't intend to refuse.

"Not far, they are hiding nearby. I'll go call them." Jin Mantang replied, and as he said that, he turned around and got out of the car and ran towards the broken wall on the side of the road.

Soon, more than ten people came out from behind the wall, brushing off the dust as they walked, leaving everyone in the car dumbfounded. They could not imagine that so many people could hide behind the broken wall that was not even half a person's height.

Shen Chi thought for a moment and asked everyone to get on Zhang Yi's car. First, there were still empty seats in this car, unlike the other cars that were full. Second, Zhang Yi and his friends were familiar with the visitors and were stronger than the people in the other two cars. If these people had any plans, they could be suppressed.

When the group got on the car, Shen Chi pulled Zhang Yi aside and whispered a few words, then called Li Muran and several children down and moved to the car in front.

Bing Gui, Leng Fengchen, Yuan Jinshu, Zhang Yi, Nan Shao, Shi Pengsan, Qiao Yong and others were all in this car. Not to mention that there were only twelve people, even if there were twice as many, nothing would happen.

The convoy started again, but few people noticed that the three armored vehicles that had been leading the way had disappeared out of thin air and appeared thirty kilometers away. They cleared the sparse mutant plants and snow on the road, then turned the car around and drove back in the direction of the bridge.

"How did you hide?" Hao Weiming looked at the dusty people, secretly sizing them up, and asked curiously, "Did you dig a tunnel underneath?"

Including Jin Mantang, there were a total of twelve people, only Jin Mantang was a woman, and the rest were all men. Everyone seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze, but unlike most survivors who were numb, their eyes were sharp and full of murderous aura, like alert beasts. After they got on the car, they didn't communicate with others. There was no room for seats, so they sat directly in the middle aisle. No one made a sound during the whole process, and the strange silence made the hairs of everyone in the car stand up. In comparison, Jin Mantang looked more normal.

"Yes." Jin Mantang admitted it directly.

"Why hide here?" Hao Weiming didn't understand at all. Did they want to rob people?

"Stop people who come from other places to seek refuge at the Bowei base." Jin Mantang said coldly, without giving a detailed explanation, but asked back: "Didn't you go to Ronghe? Why are you back?" His tone was not very good.

Her cheeks were sunken, her cheekbones were protruding, she was so thin that she was almost out of shape, and her eyes were dark, as if no light could penetrate. Compared with a few months ago, she was actually a completely different person. If Hao Weiming had not been familiar with her and had a good relationship with her, he would probably not have recognized her.

"Ronghe has been occupied by a mutant tree, and we can't go to Yunzhou, so we can only go this way." Hao Weiming sighed.

"There are so many of you, can't you just find another place to settle down? There are abandoned cities everywhere, and you have to go back the way you came?" Jin Mantang blamed them unceremoniously, obviously thinking that their return was extremely stupid.

Many people felt uncomfortable after hearing this, especially those who didn't know her. Before anyone could say anything in response, Hao Weiming quickly changed the subject: "Didn't you and Jiang Hang go back to the Bowei base to rescue people? Did you rescue them?"

Jin Mantang's face suddenly darkened, making Hao Weiming almost think that he had said something wrong.

"Jiang Hang is dead." Jin Mantang said coldly.

Hao Weiming was stunned, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. He didn't have a good impression of Jiang Hang, but he knew that Jin Mantang and Jiang Hang had a special relationship, so he couldn't ask any more questions.

Zhang Yi and others finally understood why she had changed so much, so they had a little more understanding, and naturally they wouldn't mind her attitude anymore. As for Jiang Hang's death, because of all the experiences later, they had already looked down on the minor frictions in the past, and they didn't feel happy. Of course, they didn't feel sorry. They just felt a little sad, feeling that human life was like grass in the last days.

"When he and I returned to Bowei, the base was still being reorganized." Not knowing whether he wanted to prove that he had no ill intentions or wanted to find someone to talk to, Jin Mantang looked at the broken walls and strange plants in the snow that flashed by quickly outside the window, and took the initiative to talk about their experience. "We took the opportunity to sneak in. That stupid... Jiang Hang didn't want revenge, he just wanted to rescue his uncle and then live in another base."

"But no one could have imagined that Tang Bowen didn't kill Jiang Weiguo, but only put him under house arrest, just to lure those who were loyal to Jiang Weiguo to rescue him, and then eliminate them completely." Jin Mantang had a sarcastic smile on his lips, but his voice was very cold. "So, we got caught."

The consequence of being caught is naturally death. She did not elaborate on the process, but changed the subject: "Since Tang Bowen came to power, he summoned the leaders of each team in the base, saying that there was a meeting. After the meeting, some came back, some did not. Then the base was closed, and the army was dispatched to forcibly seize all private supplies."

Each team was disbanded and reorganized, and the leaders of the newly formed teams were assigned by the base. The team members were unfamiliar with each other, and some were even completely strangers. Housing and three meals a day were all arranged by the base, and they also completed the assigned tasks under supervision. If it was just like this, although I lost my freedom, I could bear it with the support of the entire base. After all, this is no longer a peaceful time.

But food is distributed according to rank. The core members of the base and their families belong to the privileged class. They don't have to go on missions, but can enjoy all resources at will. The second is the army. The army's task is to guard the base and look after ordinary survivors to prevent them from being lazy or running away. The army has a special canteen to cook. The food is unlimited and the nutrition is reasonable. The third is the mutants. They are full of food, but the quality is much worse. However, they will occasionally improve their meals and can selectively leave some supplies when they find them. The worst is the ordinary people who have not awakened. They collect supplies, kill zombies, build fortifications, and do heavy labor, but they eat steamed bread made of moldy grains and soup cooked with smelly pickles. They are also rationed per person and can't eat enough. All the collected materials must be handed in. If you are not careful, you will be beaten and scolded. Your status is equivalent to that of slaves.

Such an arrangement is naturally unbearable, so people often slack off and even want to escape, but they all end up being shot directly. The soldiers' bullets are no longer used against the enemy, but fall on the heads of the people they once vowed to protect.

During the turmoil at the base, some people died, and some left. Later, when the base was reorganized and Xianze City was cleaned up, many people died again. Now Bowei is seriously short of manpower, so it is necessary not only to guard against internal personnel escaping, but also to add fresh blood as much as possible. In this way, the survivors from other places are like sheep entering the tiger's mouth, which is really a case of going in but not out.

The man I met on the road before told Shen Chi that food and accommodation were provided, which was indeed true, because the entire base had such rules, but the prerequisite was that you had to hand in everything you brought when entering the base, and you had to lose your personal freedom and work for them, but you ate pig food and lived in a cage.

"Everything is afraid of comparison. At the beginning, Jiang Weiguo had to redefine the system because he lost a lot of manpower and supplies began to be scarce, which caused dissatisfaction among most people in the base, and many teams left because of this. It was also because of this that Tang Bowen took the opportunity to seize power. After this happened, almost everyone applauded. I wonder if they will miss the days when Jiang Weiguo was in power now." Jin Mantang sneered.

Zhang Yi and the others were a little surprised when they heard this. No matter how rich their imagination was, they could not imagine that the Bowei Base would become like this. Even though Nan Shao and Jiang Weiguo had a bad relationship, it could not be denied that the team under Jiang Weiguo's command still retained the ethics of a soldier, while Tang Bowen's behavior completely deviated from the soldier's duty. It was originally a national weapon, but now it has become a national weapon. It is really sad.

"You stop the survivors from outside here every day?" Hao Weiming couldn't help asking.

"What else can we do?" Jin Mantang looked at him with sinister eyes, like a wolf hiding in the depths of the jungle.

Hao Weiming shuddered and unconsciously closed his mouth, but secretly felt that Jiang Hang's death had such a great impact on Jin Mantang, turning a cheerful and cheerful girl into this.

"In addition, we will try our best to pick up the survivors who escaped." Although his personality has changed a lot, he has not become less talkative. Or maybe she knew that if she didn't speak clearly, she would always arouse suspicion. For example, now she could feel Zhang Yi, Qiao Yong and others' defense against them, even if it was not obvious. Therefore, except for Jiang Hang's death, Jin Mantang told everything else without reservation.

It turned out that when Jiang Weiguo was rescued, it was not just Jin Mantang and Jiang Hang. At that time, the two did not know it was a trap, and they rushed into it. As a result, not only did they fail to rescue Jiang Weiguo, but they also involved the remaining men of Jiang Weiguo who were hiding in the dark and preparing to find an opportunity to rescue people. There were more than 50 people at the time, but only she and two others escaped. The rest were shot dead on the spot, including Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Hang. If she did not have the healing ability, I am afraid that the two would not be saved.

After that, the three of them hid from place to place. Although all the intersections were blocked, they could still escape with some effort and risk. However, the three of them hated Tang Bowen very much and did not want to leave like this. Besides, they were a little discouraged and had no energy to fight for a way out, so they simply stayed in Xianze City.

At that time, Xianze City was not as severely cleared as it is now. Although there was the risk of zombie mutants, they could still find food and clothes, and it was easy to hide. In addition to this place, the area within fifty miles around Bowei had been plundered and nothing could be found.

However, they were unwilling to just live like rats. They wanted revenge, but it was nothing but a fantasy with the strength of three people. In the end, they could only choose such a thing that was almost insignificant.

The reason why it was insignificant was that there were not many survivors who came to the Bowei base, and after going through so much hardship to get here, they would not give up the idea of ​​going to the base just because of a few words from her. So their efforts were almost in vain, and they looked particularly stupid in the eyes of slightly normal people. After all, those who survived to this day were not good people. It was hard to guarantee that they would not encounter some survivors who were not kind to them, detained them, or even directly sold them to the base. But they never thought of giving up, and stayed here like self-torture.

Of course, it was not all in vain. There were still some people who listened to their advice and followed them to hide and wait and see the situation, but after confirming that it was true, most of them found a way to leave. For those survivors, even if they had to walk with their feet, even if they had to go through thousands of difficulties and dangers, they had to find a base, a base where they could live in peace, instead of staying here at the risk of being caught at any time, and doing stupid things every day in fear.

In addition, as long as the survivors in the base had a little bit of determination, they never gave up escaping. There were heavy casualties in the whole process, but with the help of Jin Mantang and others, some people still ran out, although the number was small. These people were deeply harmed by the Bowei base, full of resentment, and wanted to take revenge, so they all stayed. They hoped to gather more people and then find a way to use guerrilla warfare to sneak attack the base's mission team. However, as the number of people decreased, the base's control over the survivors became tighter and tighter, and they had not rescued a single person for a long time.

A few months was enough to cool down their heads that were heated by hatred, and they realized that they had desperately escaped not to seek death like now. The hatred in their hearts was still there, but they were finally able to rationally consider their current situation.

The base was advancing towards the other half of Xianze City every day, digging three feet into the ground wherever they passed, and looting everything that could be eaten. The sources of food they could obtain would become fewer and fewer. Bo Wei drove the survivors of the base to clean up half of Xianze City in half a year. The remaining half would only take a few months. By then, even if the base could not control the entire city with the current manpower, and left them with space to hide and move, they would still die if they could not find food. Therefore, when Shen Chi said that he wanted to break through directly, Jin Mantang immediately decided to go with them. Because if he stayed any longer, not only would he not be able to take revenge, he would probably die in vain.

Of course, they took this ride because they saw that the team was strong and there were many acquaintances with whom they had had good relations. If they were to take other surviving teams, they would rather wait until night fell and the people guarding the intersections returned to the base before they could go over.

As they were talking, the car turned a corner and saw the 200-meter-long bridge from a distance. The river under the bridge had long been frozen, but the river bank was five or six meters high, so vehicles could not drive directly up, so the bridge became the only passable road. On this side of the bridge was a circular ring road, where three roads converged. One went up the mountain, which was the one they were taking now, and the other two went along the river on the left and right, and no one knew where they led. At this time, about a hundred meters on the left road, there were indeed three cars parked as Li Muran had observed before.

Three heavy trucks. There were no buildings nearby, and those people built a concave snow wall, built a fire inside the wall, and gathered there to keep warm.

Just as their car turned to the other side along the ring road, three cars drove over from the other side of the bridge. They were the three Wild Dog 2s that had disappeared in the convoy.

The other people in the car didn't know about Shen Chi and Zhang Yi's plan, but they knew about Li Muran's ability, so they were just a little surprised, surprised that the three cars were driving back when they were already in front. But Jin Mantang stood up in shock, wondering if he had seen it wrong.

"Muran's ability can take people and cars directly to dozens of kilometers away." Zhang Yi saw this and explained with a smile.

"Oh." Jin Mantang understood, responded sullenly, and sat down again, but his expression could not hide his disappointment and regret.

It would be great to use such an ability to save people. If she could persuade Jiang Hang to be patient for a while, wait for these people to appear, and ask them for help, maybe so many people wouldn't have to die.

Her eyes were not even red, but she gave people a sense of sadness and sadness that made them want to cry. Zhang Yi couldn't help but sigh secretly, and turned to look at Nan Shao who was resting with his eyes closed beside him.

Nan

Chapter 286: Beasts Transformed into Humans (2) (2)

Shao seemed to have sensed something, opened his eyes, and looked back at him.

"There are many Gobi deserts in the northwest. I wonder if there will be mutant plants everywhere like here." Zhang Yi said casually, but what he was thinking in his heart was that although his mother's death left a regret and pain in his life that could never be made up, he was luckier than most people in the end times to be able to know and accompany Nan Shao, and his son was alive and well.

Nan Shao smiled, as if he knew that was not what he wanted to say, but still continued: "It should be less. After all, mutant plants also need nutrients to grow... But it's hard to say. I'm afraid there will be some mutant species that we don't have here."

The two chatted in low voices. Except for the group of people who got on the car with Jin Mantang, who were surrounded by a cold and solemn atmosphere, the overall atmosphere in the car was relatively relaxed. They did not become nervous and uneasy because they were approaching the bridge.

On the other side, when Li Muran detected that the convoy was about to appear on the winding mountain road, they sped up and headed straight for the bridge on the other side.

The appearance of three armored vehicles attracted the attention of the team parked on the left fork road, but they did not react much until they crossed the bridge and parked the car on the side of the road, blocking the entire exit on the left. The other party became dissatisfied.

"Hey, the one in front, why are you parked there, don't block the road!" A tall man with a scar on his face, carrying a submachine gun on his shoulder, walked over here with two people, swaying and shouting as he walked.

Shen Chi opened the car door and jumped out of the car, smiling and greeted them. When the three people approached, one of them threw a cigarette over, "Brother, I have a question, which way to Bowei?" Behind him, the windows of three cars were half-down, and cold gun barrels flashed by.

It was not known whether it was the effect of the cigarette or the threat of the gun barrel, but after a moment of frowning, the scarred man relaxed. He put the cigarette under his nose and sniffed it, and said with a smile: "Take the middle road. Where are you from? Why are there only a few of you?"

"Huangzhou." Shen Chi also took a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but did not light it. He took two steps back, leaned his elbow against the car door, and started to talk nonsense: "It's hard to get through there, so let's go over here. We are the front station to explore the way. The main force is still behind, with four or five hundred people, and we are looking for a place to settle down."

Hearing the number of people, the scarred man shuddered and his eyes became hot. You know, there has been no new blood joining the Bowei base for a long time, but the casualty rate of ordinary people on missions has not dropped much. If this continues, they will have to go into battle bare-chested in the end.

"Hey, brother, you are from the Bowei base, right? Why are you staying here? It must be miserable in this weather!" Shen Chi chatted with a smile, and seemed to be in the mood to chat for a while.

The scarred man was about to speak when he heard the sound of a car starting behind him. He was stunned and looked back. Shen Chi was also surprised, thinking that the other party wanted to force him, so he tilted his head slightly to signal the people in the car to prepare for a fight.

Amid the sound of the engine starting, a skinny man like a monkey jumped off the truck, ran over here, and whispered a few words to the man in his ear. The man raised his head and looked at the winding mountain road leading to the middle road.

Shen Chi had been paying close attention to the changes in the expressions of the two people. Seeing this, he knew that Zhang Yi and his men had been discovered. He was not too nervous. As long as he did not give the other party the opportunity to block the bridge head with a truck to delay time, it would not be difficult for them to get through.

Seeing that there were more than a dozen cars coming down the winding mountain road, the scarred man showed a hint of hesitation in his eyes, and then he seemed to have made up his mind, and turned to Shen Chi and said, "Bowei Base is a good place, you will definitely like it. It's getting late, let's go quickly." After saying that, he waved his hand and led the people back.

Shen Chi noticed that his shoulders were tense, and he was obviously still on guard against him. He couldn't help but smile, took out a lighter, lit it, took a deep breath, and was not in a hurry to get in the car.

The scarred man waited until he got into the big truck that had already started before he completely relaxed.

"Where did they come from? Why are they still parked there?" A bearded man in the car asked unhappily, his face full of anger, "Just get rid of them, there are not many people, they are really in the way!"

The man saw through the windshield that Shen Chi was still standing there smoking, and seemed to be planning to finish this cigarette before leaving. He frowned, but did not agree with the bearded man's opinion: "They are just here to explore the way. There are hundreds of people behind them. We must not arouse their vigilance."

"Then what should we do? Are we going to let them go in vain?" The bearded man pointed at the convoy that had already gone down the winding mountain road and was heading towards the bridge. "There are quite a lot of people here. How long have we not seen them?" He smacked his lips as he spoke, his face full of reluctance. You know, they can choose the people they take back first.

"Look at their car, you can tell that the number of people must not exceed 200." The scarred man seemed a little reluctant, but thinking about the 400 or 500 people on the other side, he had to give up this group of people with great pain. "There are two or three hundred less than the other team. Which one do you want?"

"I want all of them." The bearded man didn't know how to be polite at all.

The scarred man sneered, "Not impossible. It will be dark in less than two hours. Even if we let them go, how far can they go? Once we get the extra people into the base, we will report to our superiors and send more people. We can catch them back tomorrow." In fact, he had another layer of concerns in his heart. Although they had guns, they were few in number after all. Without trucks blocking the bridgehead, if the other party fought desperately, they might not be able to stop them, and they might even have to pay with their lives.

"I told you a long time ago to set up a checkpoint here and send more people to guard it. They insisted that it was unnecessary and that once they entered the base, they could not get out. We were just here to stop some small cats and crabs that slipped through the net. Now we are blocked by people and have to watch a big piece of fat meat slip away..." The bearded man was still muttering indignantly.

"Okay, stop talking!" The scarred man was annoyed by the noise.

As he was talking, Zhang Yi and his convoy had arrived and passed by the three cars where Shen Chi parked. Shen Chi was in a good mood and helloed to the convoy twice.

"I say, they are not together, are they?" Seeing this scene, the bearded man couldn't help but doubt.

"Do you think it's possible?" The scarred man glanced at him, not in the mood to answer such an idiotic question.

"Hey!" The bearded man sighed, obviously knowing that there was almost no such possibility. If the two parties were really in the same group, there would be no reason for one to come from the south and the other from the north to meet here and tease them? Thinking of this, he got angry again and cursed: "Where did this group of people come from? Which damn guy guarded the base today? Why didn't he keep an eye on the people?"

The scarred man was speechless, but he was secretly blaming the people in the base for being incompetent. Why did they let go of such an obvious target.

At this time, the convoy had completely crossed the bridge. Shen Chi put out the cigarette in his hand, and did not forget to turn around and waved to the scarred man, and then jumped into the car. The three armored vehicles turned around and whizzed away closely behind the convoy.

Seeing this scene, the scarred man and the bearded man were dumbfounded, and they both had a very bad feeling in their hearts.

"Are you sure they are not in the same group?" The bearded man murmured.

The scarred man was silent. After a while, he said lightly: "They should go back to report the news." However, from the heart, although he felt that this was the most reasonable answer, he didn't know why he was always uneasy.

"Even if they are not together, if the two sides meet, will they reveal the secrets of our base?" The bearded man looked careless, but his mind was very sensitive and suspicious.

The scarred man was shocked when he heard this. If this was the case, then all their previous plans would be in vain. But thinking about it, he felt that it was impossible, and hesitantly said: "Those people may not know the situation of the base. Otherwise, how can they come out without losing a hair?"

"What if it is, what should we do?" The bearded man was entangled in this problem. "Should we chase them?"

The scarred man said nothing. Chase after them? The other side also has guns. With so few people, what can they do? The only thing they can do now is to pray that the people who just passed by don't know the situation inside the Bowei base, otherwise they will be happy for nothing.

Twenty minutes later, ten trucks carrying soldiers with live ammunition came from the Bowei base. They stopped at the bridgehead for a while. The leader asked the scarred man a few words and then chased along the road. However, after chasing for more than ten miles, not only did they not see the other team of four or five hundred people mentioned by the scarred man, but even the convoy that just passed by and the three armored vehicles that asked them about the matter disappeared.

Looking at the two forks in front of them that were occupied by dense mutant plants and obviously had no vehicles or people passing by, the people in charge of tracking were a little dumbfounded. They couldn't understand how more than a dozen vehicles disappeared. But the wheel tracks that broke here told them that a convoy had indeed arrived here not long ago.

"What the hell!" The scarred man who followed to figure out what was going on spat and said it was bad luck.

The author has something to say:

Beast-transformed people refer to people who have transformed into beasts, like Nan Shao and Song Yan. It doesn't mean that Dudu has become a human.

This section and the previous section are transitional, and the next section will officially enter the plot of beast-transformed people.

Chapter 287: The Transformation of Beasts into Humans (3)

After crossing the bridge, walk along the main road for two miles and you will find a curve. The curve is caused by a rocky mountain. At the foot of the rocky mountain is a village with two to three hundred households. Before the end of the world, the villagers built houses on both sides of the main road. They were all two-story buildings with tiled facades. They did some small business there, such as car repair and car washing, restaurants and small shops, and lived a good life.

But now, those houses have been stripped down to only a layer of empty cement frames, which are trembling with a few mutant plants and piles of snow. The cold wind blows through the gaps, as if someone is crying miserably there.

A mile or two behind the village is a mountain, not high, and almost all stone. Before the end of the world, there was not much grass growing there. After the end of the world, it seems that mutant plants don't like it either. It is so bare that even snow can't be stored.

The pursuers from the Bowei base roared past fiercely, then slowly returned in confusion and disappointment. When the road in front of the village returned to silence again, it was already dark.

A head popped out from the pile of rocks on the mountain, then the second, the third...

"They left, should we hurry up and leave too? They will definitely come to search again tomorrow." Qiao Yong's unshaven face was exposed. After squinting for a moment, he rubbed his frozen hands and said.

It turned out that the car that Shen Chi had asked Li Muran to track before drove to the cliff where the Bowei base was located from another shortcut and stopped. The people inside climbed up the cliff with their bare hands. Not long after, the gate of the Bowei base was opened, and the soldiers who were not on the mission were pulled out fully armed and chased them. All of this was detected by Li Muran, so after crossing the bridge and the two sides met, they communicated with each other and made a decision on the spot.

The pursuers came in a hurry, and there was no time for them to think of a detailed plan. There was snow and mutant plants on the road, which needed to be cleared from time to time. The car could not be driven fast, even if it was urgent. It would be caught up sooner or later. So they simply took the time to get everyone except the driver and Li Muran out of the car as soon as they were out of sight of the guards at the bridgehead, and hid on the rocky mountain behind the village. With all the guns and ammunition of the convoy, they quickly set up a simple, concealed but powerful defense line on it. Even if they were discovered, they believed that they could make the other side retreat.

Of course, it was necessary to erase the traces left by the places where everyone stayed and passed through. Qiao Yong, Shi Pengsan and Shen Chi were all good at doing this. It would certainly not hurt them to reduce the possibility of being discovered. After all, no one wanted to fight a meaningless fight, especially with their own kind, which was already scarce. No matter who won or lost, there would be casualties.

On the other hand, the vehicles continued to drive forward until the mutant plants began to gather densely and could not move forward without clearing them. The drivers used spare ropes to tie the fourteen vehicles together front and back, and Li Muran moved them to a cemetery five kilometers away.

Qingshan Cemetery. This should be the best preserved place after entering the apocalypse. Even zombies will not visit, let alone survivors. Perhaps because of this, although the mountains are lush with trees, they are all relatively less ferocious mutant plants. There is an open space at the foot of the mountain, where several cars that look intact are parked, covered with a thick layer of snow. The open space

is large, paved with bluestone. Before the apocalypse, it was used to provide parking for people who visited the graves. It was not occupied by mutant plants. This is why Li Muran chose this place. I didn't want to hide for long. As long as I could deal with the previous wave of pursuers, I would achieve my goal.

During this period, although she had the crystal core of the Dark Soul Wood in her hand, Li Muran's ability did not grow as fast as expected before, because until now, she had not absorbed more than half of the fist-sized crystal core. It was not that she was lazy, she was the kind of person who would hold the crystal core in her hand whenever she had time, because she had clearly realized that her ability could not only protect her, but also save people, save many people. Not considering others, just to increase the survival rate of her teammates, she had to improve herself as much as possible. However, for some reason, after absorbing one-third of the crystal core in one breath that night, she seemed to be full. Later, she absorbed more, which only made the crystal core a thin circle smaller, and the number of people she led increased from fifteen to sixteen, and the maximum teleportation distance only increased by four or five kilometers, and she could no longer extract a trace of energy from the crystal core.

Later, when she asked the sick ghost, the sick ghost didn't say anything, but just asked her to stop for a while and fully master the current ability.

Therefore, with her current ability, it was impossible to take away all the people in the entire team, so she had to let everyone get off the car and leave only the driver. Fourteen drivers were not a burden to her who could carry sixteen people at a time, but rather a life-saving substance. As long as they could be tied together, she would carry as many as she could. So far, she had not yet found her limit. At least, fourteen cars connected together were not her limit.

After sending the car here, Li Muran did not care about it anymore and returned directly, because she still had to lead the way for everyone. Her return also allowed Zhang Yi and others to more accurately grasp the whereabouts of the Bowei pursuers, so they did not have to carefully scout and guard against it, wasting more time.

Those people did return to the base, including the three cars that were originally guarding the bridge. Because it was dark.

"Originally, you should have been allowed to choose whether to go to the Bowei base, but for the safety of others, even if some of you want to go, you should put aside this thought first. After we get out of here, if you still want to come back, we will provide cars and supplies." Before coming down from the stone mountain, Shen Chi said this to everyone with different expressions.

The life of the superpowers in Bowei was not good, but not too bad. They could always make ends meet and save money. In the short term, it seemed stable, better than wandering around. It would be a lie to say that no one was tempted, especially some of the superpowers in the team. But if they were allowed to choose to stay or leave freely at this time, they would probably leak the whereabouts of the team and Li Muran's secrets, which would cause big trouble. That's why Shen Chi made a call in advance to prevent some people from feeling resentful about this. Although this kind of small resentment would not affect the team's progress, it would always ruin the atmosphere and make people unhappy.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, the frustration that had been silently growing in the team was swept away, and everyone's spirits looked much better. Obviously, even if they didn't want to go to the Bowei base, they didn't want this decision to be made for them by others. And Shen Chi's words made them feel that they still had autonomy.

Coming out of the village where the Stone Mountain was located, walking along the main road, there was no need to clear the road for more than ten miles, and everyone walked without difficulty. Although it was already dark, there were so many people that there was nothing to be afraid of. However, Li Muran still sent the old and weak in the team directly to the cemetery. Sick Ghost and Da Qing enjoyed this treatment as a matter of course.

Many survivors who joined later could not understand the existence of Da Qing and its special treatment. In their opinion, this thing was really useless except for its meat. So they once suspected that it was given various preferential treatments because it was raised as a reserve meat. After all, it was too difficult to eat normal fresh meat after the end of the world. Maybe one day it would be slaughtered and filled into someone's stomach.

Of course, this kind of thing can only be thought about in their hearts. They are very clear about their position in the team and will never say or do anything beyond their duties. If they don't understand this, they can't live to this day.

After reaching the fork in the road that the people from the Bowei base chased, take the road on the left. After about three kilometers, there will be a branch road that leads directly to Qingshan Cemetery. The total distance is only about five kilometers, which is not very far, but it takes a lot of effort to clean up the mutant plants. Moreover, they didn't plan to spend the night at the cemetery, so they had to drive down.

"Did the sick guy say which way we should go?" The road was so narrow that it couldn't accommodate hundreds of people working together, so they had to follow the old rules and take turns. Zhang Yi had nothing to do at this time, so he chatted with Li Muran who had just sent someone back.

"He didn't say, but if you go northwest, you can go either way, but the left one is closer, and the other one takes a lot more time." Li Muran replied. She had thought about this a long time ago, otherwise she wouldn't have to come back to lead everyone there, and it would be easier to move the car back directly.

"It would be great if Dudu didn't sleep. Dudu would just fly over and fly back, and all these plants would disappear." Zhang Ruiyang was holding Zhang Yi's hand and standing quietly aside. At this moment, he suddenly said something, obviously thinking of Dudu's amazing performance when he went to Gelao Township.

The little guy's hands were warm, which was better than Zhang Yi's body, and he was more than capable of taking care of himself, so he didn't let Li Muran send him directly to the car, but walked with everyone.

"Why did Dudu sleep for so long?" Speaking of this, Zhang Yi immediately thought of another question and turned to ask Nan Shao. After all, Dudu was hatched by Nan Shao, so he should know its habits better than others.

Before Nan Shao could speak, Zhang Ruiyang had already answered: "Dudu will sleep when he eats too much, and when he wakes up, he will grow very big." This is not the first time.

"It should be evolving." Nan Shao guessed this based on some information he got after absorbing the vitality of the ant mother. But in fact, he only had a certain deterrent effect on Dudu in nature. In terms of understanding, he was probably not as good as Yangyang.

"I hope it doesn't grow too big." Zhang Yi sighed. If it grows too big, it will not only take up space, but also arouse the fear of others. It will be a headache to be targeted.

"Isn't it good to grow bigger?" Zhang Ruiyang didn't understand. "If Dudu grows as big as a train, it can carry everyone on its back. It can fly as fast as a train."

Zhang Yi was silent. It would be too exaggerated if it was that big, and there would be few people who dared to sit on Dudu's back.

"If it is that big, the house can't fit it." Li Muran couldn't help saying.

Zhang Ruiyang groaned and became worried. If it can't get into the house, then Dudu will have to stay outside all the time, how pitiful it is.

The little guy had something to worry about, so he didn't have the energy to chase the adults to ask why. Zhang Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was still difficult to explain the various calculations of adults to a five or six-year-old child. He was afraid that once he opened his mouth, he would be followed by a series of whys, and it was very likely that he would get himself confused

while explaining. "Brother Yi, I'm going to leave for a while." Li Muran whispered to Zhang Yi. It was already dark for a long time. She had to tell Song Yan about the situation here, otherwise he would come over. It would be torture to get close to someone. If he ran into the Bowei base, the other side had many people and guns, and he might suffer a great loss. If he accidentally killed someone, then his patience for this period of time would probably go down the drain.

Zhang Yi also knew this, so he didn't ask any more questions and said okay, but a thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly called her again: "Hey, wait, Muran."

"What's the matter, Brother Yi?" Li Muran dispersed the supernatural power he had just gathered.

"You still have a lot of times to use your superpowers today. Why not send some people to the cemetery and clear the road on both sides at the same time, which can save a lot of time." Zhang Yi said. It was because there were quite a lot of people in the team now. Even if some of the old and weak and those who had not awakened were excluded, there were more than a hundred awakened people. It would be a waste to wait here for all of them to rotate.

Li Muran had no problem with this. So Zhang Yi discussed with Shen Chi, Qiao Yong and others, and divided the team into two parts. They picked some people from Shen Chi's men, the Ronghe people, the survivors of the gymnasium, and Jin Mantang's group, and gathered 32 people. Shen Chi, Shi Pengsan, Wei Dong and Jin Mantang were among them, while Zhang Yinan, Shao Qiao Yong and others remained here. Li Muran ran twice, sent people over, and brought back some food. She was destined not to rest tonight, and she could only have a perfunctory dinner like this. After everything was done, she had time to find Song Yan.

"The surname Song is so lucky." Looking at the place where she disappeared, Nan Shao said inexplicably, with no disguising envy and jealousy in his tone.

Zhang Yi was in tune with him, and laughed when he heard it, knowing that this guy was thinking about something inappropriate for children again. As a man, he naturally understood that kind of need, but given their current situation, it was obvious that they couldn't think of anything in the short term. After all, the two of them were together because of their spiritual connection, and they would naturally not be like some people who lost the rules and moral constraints after entering the end of the world and reverted to their ancestors. They would catch someone they liked and do it without any cover or because of excessive pressure and other reasons. He couldn't say whether this behavior was right or wrong, but he would definitely not do it, and the same was true for Nan Shao, so the two could only continue to live this kind of life where they could see but not eat.

However, Nan Shao envied Song Yan, but he was wrong to envy him. You know, he had been in harmony with his beloved, but Song Yan had countless opportunities to be alone, but he couldn't do anything. That was really bitter.

Five kilometers is not a short road. If a lane is opened, it may not be opened in two hours. But at the moment, they don't need to open it so wide. The first three kilometers only need to allow people to pass through. The two kilometers leading to Qingshan Cemetery need to clear the lane. In addition, both ends are working together, so it took less than an hour to open a road. I believe that by tomorrow morning, the three kilometers of road will be occupied by mutant plants again. Not to mention leaving no trace, at least it can stop the enemy for a while.

When they arrived at the foot of the Qingshan Cemetery, Li Muran had also returned. Everyone rested for half an hour, ate something, got in the car and set off again. However, this time everyone was divided into two groups. One group opened the road in the first half of the night, and the other half slept in the car and switched back in the second half of the night. In this way, everyone can get a rest and will not delay the journey.

Fortunately, I don't know if it's because it's close to the Bowei base and is often cleared, but there were no mutant animals to interfere along the way, which saved a lot of trouble. By dawn, the convoy had traveled more than 40 kilometers.

This distance was not short, but they had to clear the way for each step ahead, and the road behind was cleared. If the Bowei people were not determined and came again today, even if there were three kilometers of uncleared roads blocking them, they would only be blocked for a while, and they might be caught up before the afternoon. They couldn't do it again like they did yesterday. After all, they could only do it once, and no one was stupid. So, just in case, they dug a pit on the road.

The pit was one and a half meters long, wide, and one meter deep. It was not big, and it wouldn't take much time for an earth-type supernatural to dig it. The first pit was located in the middle of the main road that intersected with the road to Qingshan Cemetery. The second pit was one kilometer away, still in the middle of the road. The third was five kilometers away, but it was not one pit, but two, one on the left and one on the right of the road, not on the same line. Then there was another pit ten kilometers away, still in the middle of the road. Then, less than half a kilometer away, there were three more pits lined up in a row. The bottom of each pit was equipped with sharp metal spikes made by gold-type psychics. The pits were covered with branches and leaves of mutant plants and thin soil. When snow fell, nothing could be seen. Later on the road, the pits were no longer set up so carefully, but were randomly distributed according to the mood of the earth-type psychics, and some were even not covered.

Regardless of the size and number of these pits, it was not difficult for the team with earth-type psychics to dig them, but it was a nightmare for those who were tracking behind, because although these pits would not cause any harm to them, they were disgusting. Because of the irregular distribution, if you want to find them one by one, it will slow down the speed of the convoy. If you don't find them, the wheels may get stuck, and if you are unlucky, the tires will be punctured, which will take a lot of effort to get them out.

After dawn, the Bowei base really sent people to check the situation again. After all, if you don't figure out such a weird thing, you may not be able to sleep well. So the pits worked. After the tires of two cars were punctured, and it took a little effort to get the stuck and tilted truck out, the opponent decisively gave up tracking. But finally, they saw a little clue about the disappearance of Zhang Yi and his team's convoy. They knew that their abilities were not as exaggerated as imagined, and there was no threat to the base for the time being. At the same time, they speculated that there must be a special ability among them, so it was not a complete loss.

However, in view of this, the Bowei base quickly built fortress-like checkpoints on the surrounding traffic arteries to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Chapter 288: Beasts Transformed into Humans (4)

Going northwest from Zhongzhou, you will find Qinzhou, Baixia, and Huangzhou. Beyond Huangzhou is the border, which borders many countries. Qinzhou is okay. Although its economic development and population are not among the best in the country, it is also in the upper middle. Baixia and Huangzhou are different. Because of the bitter cold climate, barren land, and many wastelands and deserts, they are sparsely populated. Whether in economic development or cultural education, they are at the bottom. Even though the country has increased its support in recent years, the gap with other provinces is still very large. However, after the end of the world, it is difficult to say whether this gap is good or bad.

No one knows where the sick ghost's goal is, so everyone can only go west. Go west.

On the way, evil plants blocked the road, fierce beasts robbed the road, and the battles continued, which reminded people of a team of monks who went west to seek Buddhist scriptures. So a few children had a treat. On the boring journey, they heard a story about a lawless monkey. Although some of them had heard or even watched related stories and animations, as well as live-action movies and TV series, they were still very happy to hear it again. Especially at times like this.

The storyteller was Zhang Yi. He wanted to bring his son as much happiness as possible while ensuring his survival, even if it was just half a story or a picture.

"How could a monkey be born from a stone?"

"Why didn't Bodhi Patriarch allow Sun Wukong to say he was his disciple?"

"Isn't it good to raise horses? You can ride horses, so handsome... Go! Go!"

"Sun Wukong..."

Zhang Ruiyang had a lot of questions while listening to the story. Ge Ayi, who was listening to the story, looked at Zhang Yi's patient answering profile, and wanted to beat Zhang Ruiyang to shut up and tell him not to interrupt the wonderful story with all kinds of idiotic questions. At the same time, he couldn't help but imagine how great it would be if Zhang Yi was his father. Thinking of this, the expression on the child's face suddenly became ferocious, because he remembered that he was abandoned by his parents, so he felt that he still had fantasies about them, which was unforgivable.

"There is a village ahead, and there are many survivors there." At this moment, Li Muran suddenly spoke, and then added: "More than 30 kilometers."

Everyone in the car was excited, and even the children lost their minds to listen to the story. Although they knew they could not see anything, they still looked out of the car.

It has been more than a month since they came from Bowei. They have long been out of Zhongzhou. They are about to leave Qinzhou. Except for the dense clumps of mutant plants blocking the road, the endless mutant animals, and the ubiquitous zombies, there is no one in sight. The convoy is like an ant lost in the wilderness, without companions, and without knowing where the destination is. A random fallen leaf may crush it into powder.

Loneliness. Even if there are 160 or 70 people in the team, they still feel an unspeakable loneliness from the bottom of their hearts, so they are excited when they hear that other survivors have appeared.

The village is not on the side of the highway, but near a coal mine. After getting off the highway, we had to drive along a county road for more than ten kilometers, and then down a dirt road that was bumpy due to the coal trucks. After more than forty minutes, we saw a building that looked like an ice fortress. A high wall separated the village from the outside world. The wall was more than twenty meters high, majestic and thick, and the surface was covered with a layer of solid and transparent ice, blending into the vast snowfield. Outside the high wall was a huge trench that was more than ten meters wide and ten meters deep. The bottom of the trench was covered with metal spikes, which made

people feel chilled at first sight. The convoy stopped two or three kilometers away from the village. Only two cars drove over. Li Muran, Zhang Yi, Nan Shao, Shen Chi, Shi Pengsan, and Qiao Yong went together. With the previous experience of Bo Wei, they certainly could not be defenseless. Even though they were eager to contact other survivors, they still cautiously adopted this method of advancing and retreating.

The group followed the road to the outside of the village. Opposite them was a large, tightly closed iron gate. The iron gate was thick but not wide. It could only accommodate one car. Against the backdrop of the snow, it had a cold metallic luster, which made people feel like they were being kept away from it.

Everyone got out of the car and looked at the wide trench in front of them, feeling a little powerless. They couldn't knock on the door. Should they shout?

Although shouting was the most taboo in the end times, it seemed that they had to do so in this situation. They couldn't let Li Muran take them in directly, right? That would be a real taboo.

As everyone was hesitating, a head popped out from the high wall and asked, "Hey! Where are you from? Do you want to come in?"

It was a teenager of eighteen or nineteen years old. His dark face still had some childishness. His eyes were full of curiosity, excitement, and vigilance as he looked at them.

Everyone looked at each other and finally decided that Zhang Yi, who looked the most friendly, would step forward and talk to the teenager.

"Hello! We are from Zhongzhou. We are passing by here and want to ask something. Can you let us in?"

"Wow! We are from Zhongzhou... Wait a minute, someone is going to call the village chief." The boy's eyes lit up, and he was obviously very interested in the visitor from afar.

"Okay." Zhang Yi responded, and noticed that a few more heads popped out from the boy's side, almost all of them were young people, both men and women, but he did not take the opportunity to ask questions from them, but turned his head and whispered to Nan Shao, talking about topics such as climate and geography.

The boy couldn't help it and called him again.

"Hey, uncle, what's the situation in Zhongzhou? Are there zombies everywhere?" He is a local and has not left the village since the end of the world. He only learned from some people from other places that the entire Qinzhou was occupied by zombies and mutants, but it is not clear about places farther away, so he especially wants to know whether other provinces are like this, and whether there are any provinces that have not experienced disasters. After all, no one wants to be isolated from the world forever.

"Yes, most of the people over there have also turned into zombies, just like here." Zhang Yi heard the voice, stopped talking with Nan Shao, and looked up and replied.

"Are there also these plants and animals that have become very fierce?" The boy felt unsatisfied and asked again.

"Yes."

The two chatted casually across the ditch, and Zhang Yi was not stingy, picking up some things they encountered after the end of the world, such as the survivor base, mutant zombies, edible mutant creatures, etc. The most important thing in the end of the world is the exchange of information. He will not cherish what he has, and naturally hopes to get the same return for it.

The boy and his companions listened with relish, envying them for knowing so much, and being glad that they could live here safely without having to run around in great danger. At the same time, their perception of Zhang Yi and others has also improved a lot. As they

were talking, an old man with white hair appeared on the wall. He only glanced out at Zhang Yi and the others, and without asking more questions, he asked people to open the iron gate and lower the drawbridge.

Needless to say, Zhang Yi and others could guess that he must have been here for a while, but he just didn't show up, otherwise the teenagers wouldn't have no reaction. Li Muran was the one who knew this best, but she was afraid that there were also people with hearing mutations like Bai Xi in the other team, so she didn't remind them. Of course, trusting Zhang Yi and others to deal with this situation was also one of the reasons.

The old man was indeed satisfied that Zhang Yi and others did not bully the young and ignorant teenagers and trick them, and seeing that there were few of them, he let them in without asking any questions. After all, after entering the apocalypse for so long, even a three-year-old child would have to be more careful, let alone an old man who had experienced the world.

The suspension bridge was built with a combination of mutant rattan wood and metal plates, and was raised with steel cables. It looked very strong and should have no problem carrying a large truck full of coal blocks.

Zhang Yi and others did not hesitate, said excuse me, turned back to the car, and drove the car directly into the open gate. After they entered, the suspension bridge was pulled up again, along with the metal door that was closed on the ground.

The gate is connected to a wide cement road, passing through the village. There is an open space of more than 50 meters wide near the wall, where many cars are parked. There are also several huge snow piles standing next to the open space, like small hills. Because the surface is covered with snow, it is impossible to tell what they are. Beyond that are the houses, most of which are bungalows with courtyards. There are only two or three two-story red brick buildings, which are quite outstanding. It can be imagined that this village was not very wealthy before the end of the world. As soon as

their car stopped, a group of people surrounded them. Most of them were young people who had been lying on the wall and chatting with them. There were even a few women and children.

When getting off the car, Zhang Yi quickly glanced at the crowd of onlookers. He did not see any hostility in their eyes. Only a few of them were slightly defensive. He couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

The crowd parted, and the old man who should be the village chief walked out slowly from the back. When he showed his whole body, everyone found that he was actually very tall. He looked to be over 60 years old, but his back was not bent at all. His eyes were bright, like searchlights, making those with strange intentions dare not look directly at him.

"Hello! My name is Zhang Yi. Bowmaster Zhang, Sun and Moon Yi, you can just call me by my name." Zhang Yi hurriedly stepped forward and introduced himself first, then glanced to the side, and saw Nan Shao behind him, so he pulled her forward directly, "This is my wife, Nan Shao."

His introduction was a bit abrupt, and Nan Shao was stunned. Although their relationship had been made public in the convoy, it was the first time that they had introduced themselves solemnly in front of strangers. For a moment, he couldn't tell what he felt in his heart, more sour or sweet, or maybe he was flattered and forgot everything around him.

Not only him, the old man's expression was also a little stiff. Even if it was the end of the world, some concepts could not be changed easily, especially for people of their age. If it were peacetime, with the old man's tyranny and prestige in the village, he might have ordered the whole village to drive this group of people out directly, but now he can't do what he wants. Because he felt awkward, he didn't notice Nan Shao's impoliteness.

Zhang Yi saw his expression and understood, but he didn't wait for the old man to respond. He introduced Li Muran and others to him one by one.

"My last name is Liu, and others call me Liu Laoqi." After the introduction, the old man came back to his senses, put the matter aside, and said coldly. Obviously, he had a bad impression of Zhang Yi.

Hearing his words, the group of young people following behind couldn't help but secretly complain, what do you mean everyone calls you Liu Laoqi, and only your grandmother in the whole village dares to call you that. Your eldest brother once shouted like this in anger, and he was beaten and couldn't get out of bed for several days.

Of course, Zhang Yi and his friends didn't know about this, and they didn't know that this seemingly calm old man actually had a hot temper. However, whether it was out of politeness or respect, it was impossible to call an old man by his name or nickname.

"Master Liu Qi." Zhang Yi thought about it and decided to use this name.

So, the old man, who had been expressionless, actually smiled slightly. Because everyone in the village called him this way, Zhang Yi was just accidentally calling him that. After all, a name that you are used to hearing will sound much more pleasant.

"Come with me." The smile was only a flash, and Master Liu Qi quickly returned to his expressionless face. He turned around and waved to the others, "Disperse, disperse. What are you all doing standing here? Waiting for me to treat you to wine and meat?"

With a whoosh, just like when they gathered together, those people dispersed quickly. Before leaving, the young man who had talked to Zhang Yi did not forget to wink at Zhang Yi and his friends, and mouthed that he would come to play with them again in the evening.

Chapter 289: The Beast Transformed into a Human (5)

Zhang Yi and the others had not seen such a vigorous young man for a long time. Even Pei Yuan, Fu Dan and the others had grown old due to the pain brought by the end of the world. Therefore, seeing him again at this time, they actually had an indescribable feeling, like relief, but also like melancholy, but it is undeniable that they felt much more relaxed.

"Master Liu Qi, we have companions behind us, can we let them come in as well?" At that moment, Zhang Yi made a decisive decision and said to the old man who had already walked a few steps. Master

Liu Qi paused, turned his head, and smiled: "Oh, you still have a trick up your sleeve!"

Zhang Yi smiled awkwardly, but did not explain.

Fortunately, Master Liu Qi said something, but did not embarrass him. He waved his hand, turned around and shouted to the top of the wall: "Hu Zi, open the door, lower the suspension bridge, don't rush to close it." At this point, he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Zhang Yi: "It's not far away, right?"

"Not far, a few kilometers away." Zhang Yi replied. Although he was happy that other people could come in, he inexplicably felt that the other party agreed too readily, which made him confused.

Liu Qiye nodded, "Okay, when the people are here, ask Hu Zi to bring them to me." After saying that, he actually walked away with his hands behind his back.

Zhang Yi and others were stunned and looked at each other. Shen Chi said, "I'll go and call someone."

Zhang Yi almost immediately understood what he meant, so he said, "Okay, then we'll go with Liu Qiye first." It was just the right opportunity to learn more about the village. It would be best to build a good relationship with Liu Qiye, or at least not leave a bad impression on him.

So Shen Chi drove away alone.

Liu Qiye lived in the center of the village. It was a red brick bungalow with a large yard surrounded by a wall. There was an old chicken coop in the corner, but it was empty now. There was also a doghouse made of bricks and wooden boards, and an empty basin was placed next to the doghouse.

The apocalypse happened strangely. All living things except humans disappeared overnight. Until now, no one has figured out what happened, just like no one has figured out how all kinds of mutant creatures suddenly appeared.

In addition to these, there was a large snow pile in the yard. A basin-sized hole was dug at the bottom of the snow pile, revealing the black stuff inside. It turned

out to be coal. "We are close to the coal mine, so it is very convenient to get coal." Seeing that they seemed to be very interested in the coal pile, Liu Qiye explained casually.

Zhang Yi and his friends suddenly realized that the huge snow pile next to the parking lot was probably this thing. After the apocalypse, the weather was freezing cold. In addition to food and clothing, heating materials were also in short supply. This village was close to the coal mine, which was a kind of luck. At least there was no need to worry about freezing to death.

Several people followed Liu Qiye into the house, and a warm air rushed towards them, making the people who had been outside for a long time shiver, and then all the pores on their bodies stretched out, and their frozen bodies began to greedily absorb heat, and the whole person seemed to be alive again.

A quick look revealed that there was a large iron stove in the middle of the room, with a kettle on top and a large teacup on the stove. There were a few benches next to the stove, and against the wall was an old-fashioned six-drawer wooden cabinet with a 21-inch TV on it. In front of the other wall opposite the TV was a worn-out long sofa covered with a floral cloth, and a New Year painting on the wall.

Even in the countryside, this kind of furnishings could be considered simple, but it somehow made people relax.

"Sit down." Mr. Liu Qi pointed at the bench and said something, then turned and went into the inner room. After a moment, he came out with a copper pipe, looked around, and finally dragged a small bamboo chair over to sit down.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" He asked without looking up as he took out the cut tobacco from his pipe and filled it into his pipe.

Zhang Yi and the others exchanged glances and asked tentatively, "Two or three days, do you think it's okay?"

"Okay, but we only provide a place to stay, you have to find a way to eat." Liu Qiye nodded very straightforwardly, filled the tobacco leaves, pinched a piece of paper and was about to pick up the kettle to light a fire in the stove.

"Hey, Qiye, I have a fire here." Qiao Yong hurriedly used his supernatural power and diligently pinched a ball of flame as big as a date pit and sent it over.

Liu Qiye glanced at him and said nothing, but he held the cigarette holder and leaned forward slightly.

"That's for sure. I definitely can't let you spend money. It's not easy for anyone now." Zhang Yi smiled, "Do you have any other requirements? We will definitely not refuse if we can do it." Liu

Qiye took two puffs of the cigarette, and the spicy smell of the tobacco leaves spread in the room. He slowly raised his eyelids, "Nothing, just take care of your people and don't cause trouble." But he didn't mention any requirements.

Zhang Yi and others were a little surprised. They originally thought that the other party would blackmail them for some supplies.

"That's what I should do." Zhang Yi smiled.

Seeing his good attitude, Master Liu Qi's face became much kinder, and his tone of voice was no longer so cold.

"By the way, how many people are there?"

Zhang Yi was silent for a while, then said: "More than a hundred." He was not sure whether this number was within the other party's acceptable range. After all, looking at this village, it seemed that there were not many people.

"What?" Master Liu Qi's hand holding the pipe trembled, and he almost lost his grip.

Zhang Yi felt a little guilty for some reason, but he still nodded seriously and gave an affirmative answer, "More than a hundred." In fact, it's not too many... right.

Master Liu Qi hissed, and his eyes became complicated when he looked at the few people: "With so many people, where are you going?"

"You just want to find a place to stay." Zhang Yi smiled bitterly. He immediately talked about the Yunzhou base, Zhafeng, Ronghe, and Bowei base. Of course, he didn't say anything that shouldn't be said. As for the real purpose of their going to the northwest, he naturally wouldn't say it. There was no need, and in fact, until now, even he himself didn't understand what they were going to do. He only knew that the sick ghost was looking for something.

While he was talking, Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan said hello to Liu Qiye and stood up to go for a walk outside.

Liu Qiye just waved his hand casually and didn't care. Instead, he was shocked and angry when listening to Zhang Yi's narration.

"The end of the human race, all the evil spirits are out." Finally, he whispered, with deep compassion and helplessness in his tone. Then, perhaps out of the idea of ​​returning a favor, he also shared some information from his side with Zhang Yi and others.

This village is called Sanjia Village, with three major surnames, Liu, Wang, and Cheng. It is said that the ancestors of the three families fled here and then intermarried with each other. After hundreds of years, they finally multiplied into a village. Now, if you randomly pull out two people in the village, they are all relatives, whether distant or close. Therefore, although there are some minor frictions between the villagers from time to time, the relationship is generally very close.

When the end of the world happened, many people in Sanjia Village also had zombie mutations, but generally speaking, it was better than other places. At least half of the people survived, and some families did not even have a single person die. At first, they just thought it was a strange disease, so they locked up all the zombies and prepared to go outside for help. Who knew that when they went out, they found that other places were even worse than them, and there was not even a single living person in many places.

They were particularly confused during that period of time, because they had almost no contact with the outside world and did not understand what was happening. It was not until they met a group of survivors who had fled from other places that they realized that it was likely that the entire Qinzhou Province was like this, and they could only rely on themselves.

Some of the survivors stayed, while others wanted to find a shelter built by the government or the army, and continued their journey, never coming back, and no one knew what the outcome would be.

After all, Sanjia Village is a rural village. The land produces a lot of things, and there is no shortage of food. They are not forced to survive. Naturally, no one is willing to risk leaving their homes that can provide them with the greatest sense of security to find a government shelter somewhere or not. Later, when the animals and plants mutated and the road became difficult to travel, this idea was even more gone.

However, they never gave up looking for information in this regard. They collected supplies from village to village, and also looked for living people. After searching the nearby villages, they went to the town, then the county town, and the city.

In more than a year, not counting Zhang Yi and others, they met a total of five groups of refugees. From these survivors, they learned that there were no shelters in several nearby cities. However, it is said that there seems to be a large base in Baixia, and there may be one in Huangzhou. After all, that place is vast and sparsely populated. If the government wants to build a base, it is indeed a good choice.

The two of them exchanged ideas, and from the initial cautious exploration of each other, they gradually relaxed and shared with each other all the information and information that had nothing to do with their own interests without reservation. Zhang Yi even took out Lin Lao's notes.

In addition to Lin Lao's original content, the notes have added a lot of things in the past few days, all of which were discovered during their journey. However, in terms of the degree of detail, it is much less than Lin Lao's. The focus is still on whether it can be eaten or not, and other aspects are relatively lacking.

Liu Qiye took the notebook and flipped through two pages. He couldn't help showing a look of surprise on his face, and then gradually became serious. After a while, he raised his head and asked: "Can I copy a copy?" Obviously, he also realized the value of this notebook. Although there is a lot of food in the village, it will always run out. Finding a new source of food is really a problem that cannot be ignored or avoided. What's more, it also marks the weaknesses of various mutant creatures. Just relying on this point, they can be much easier when facing mutant creatures, and even save lives at critical moments.

Elder Lin's original intention was to spread the contents of the notebook among the surviving humans to increase the chances of human survival, so Zhang Yi certainly had no reason to refuse Liu Qiye's request. Besides, he had this idea in mind, otherwise he would not have taken out the notebook.

Liu Qiye smiled for the first time since they met. When the rest of the team arrived and saw the elderly and children in the team, his expression became even gentler.

Maybe he had other plans, but now he waved his hand and allocated ten bungalows with courtyards to the team. The houses were fully equipped with bedding, stoves and kangs. When everyone went in, even the stove was lit. The house was warm and everyone's fatigue was swept away. However,

not all the people in the team came. Shen Chi's people stayed outside and found a place to stay with two armored vehicles, a supply truck and the tanker. Although they were roughly sure that the people in this small village had no ill intentions, it would always be good to keep a few more.

Chapter 290: The Beast Transformed into a Human (6)

Master Liu Qi called a young man in his twenties, handed him a notebook, and asked him to copy it in the room. He then talked to Zhang Yi and the others for a long time, and promised to return the notebook to them before they left, and then let them go.

After this exchange, both sides gained something, and their relationship became much more harmonious.

Zhang Yi and the other two, led by a young man named A Xing, came to the area where the team was temporarily staying. As for which house they were going to live in, it was their internal matter, so after giving them a few words of advice, A Xing left without interfering.

The ten houses that Master Liu Qi allocated to them were connected and located in the center of the entire village. At first glance, they seemed to be surrounded by the surrounding houses. Obviously, although the old man had a good impression of them, he did not completely withdraw his defense, just like them, otherwise he would not have left some people outside.

Shen Chi arrived early and had already chosen a yard. After Zhang Yi and the other two said goodbye to Ah Xing, they were taken there by the team. When they entered the house, they found that Shi Pengsan and Qiao Yong were there. They obviously came directly.

"There are about 600 people in the whole village, mostly young and middle-aged men, but there are also old people, children and women. The atmosphere in the village seems pretty good, and I don't see any strong people bullying the weak. Except that you can't enter and leave the village at will, ordinary daily activities are not restricted, including us." Qiao Yong told what he observed. It turned out that he and Shi Pengsan went out to stroll around the village and chat with the people they met. "Also, although the people in the village are a little wary of us, they are generally friendly."

After hearing his words, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, no one wants to be on edge all the time, especially when they are with the same kind they finally met.

Since there was nothing to do, everyone had nothing to discuss, so they dispersed, preparing dinner, going out for a stroll, and began to enjoy this rare leisure time. Several children had already started playing with the children in the village. Compared with the adults, they seemed to integrate faster.

Li Muran saw that there was nothing for him to do, so he said hello and left Sanjia Village to find Song Yan.

It was still early at this time, and Song Yan was still wandering around in the jungle, looking for mutant beasts to vent his violent anger. When he ran at full speed, his speed was very fast, not inferior to that of a car running at full power. The convoy had to open the road while moving, so it was easy for him to catch up. So most of the time, he did not follow the convoy, but wandered in the dense mutant forest. Only before it got dark, he would catch up, find a safer place more than ten kilometers away from the convoy, and wait for Li Muran's arrival.

Now, when it comes to understanding mutant plants and mutant animals, I am afraid no one can compare with him. It's a pity that he has no way to deal with his own mutation. After so long, the situation of beast transformation has not only not eased, but has become more serious. Of course, this is not reflected in his appearance. His appearance has been mutated to the extreme, but psychologically. He can feel that the anger in his heart is getting heavier and heavier, and gradually he wants to devour his reason. Even if he tries to stay away from humans and only kills mutant beasts, he can't change this situation. If Li Muran hadn't come to accompany him often, he might have been unable to restrain himself.

Li Muran used his mental power to search for Song Yan. Just as he was about to teleport over, he found a flame bull appeared in front of Song Yan. She hurriedly stopped and saw that as soon as the two sides met, they crashed into each other like enemies and fought fiercely. The

body of the flame bull is similar to that of an elephant, and its horns are dark and curved forward, like two black iron spears. This kind of bull has a very bad temper. Any moving object is a provocation in its eyes, and it will rush forward regardless of it. Moreover, when the battle is fierce, its two horns can also spray flames that can melt rocks, making it hard to defend against. What's even more weird is that it only eats mutant plants and completely disdains meat. Perhaps because of this, its meat is very delicious and tender, which is very rare among mutant beasts.

Song Yan often gets some delicious mutant beast meat or mutant plants for Li Muran, and he will not let go of this cow when he sees it. Li Muran is very clear about this, and he did not try to stop it, because it is useless to stop it, and Song Yan will not listen to her at all in this regard. So she simply waited honestly, and not causing trouble for him was considered helping.

The flame bull is very fierce, but because of its huge size, its flexibility is greatly limited in the jungle full of mutant plants. In comparison, Song Yan, who is also not small in size but can climb up and down with the help of tree trunks and vines, is much more flexible. What's more, Song Yan is more than just flexible.

Boom! Boom! Several balls of flames sprayed out, and the front, top, and even the left and right of the flame bull were all within the range of the flames. The mutant plants were not spared either. In a blink of an eye, a clearing was burned out, leaving only the charred ashes that were still smoking. The raging and ferocious flame bull also became depressed after emitting flames, but it still swung its tail and raised its head to let out a triumphant howl, thinking that the enemy had been burned to death.

Who knew that just when it was halfway through its howl, it felt a weight on its back, a tearing pain in its neck, and then it lost consciousness.

Song Yan jumped off the bull's back, holding the bull's head that was still spurting blood in his hand. The headless huge bull body was still standing because it died too suddenly.

The flame bull is not difficult to deal with. As long as you avoid its flames and long horns, you will be halfway to success, and the remaining half is to break its defense. However, this is not difficult to deal with for people like Song Yan and Nan Shao who have transformed into beasts, because the speed of the flame bull is not slow, and the impact force is very fierce. If it is in an open area, even if the awakened face it, it is a dream to take it down without any casualties. As for the jungle of mutant plants, it is even more difficult, because you have to guard against the attacks of mutant plants, unlike Song Yan and Nan Shao, who have to avoid mutant plants. In comparison, it is easier to kill it by cutting through its armor-like leather. Although this ease is limited.

Therefore, if Nan Shao and Song Yan were not there, the team would never provoke the flame bull, even though its meat is much more delicious than the beef and mutton before the end of the world.

Song Yan looked at his prey and thought hard for a moment, as if he was considering how to deal with it. In the end, he decided to carry it all back, even the head. Because if the leather of the flame bull is nitrated, it is a very good protective equipment. It can be made into armor and boots. It has good warmth retention. The horns can be used as weapons. As for other things, let alone beef, the head, tail and internal organs of the bull can make very delicious food. Not to mention the current food shortage, even before the end of the world, there were people who loved this.

After making a decision, he stopped dawdling, because the smell of blood would attract other mutant beasts. Although he was not afraid, if there were too many, it would not be so easy for him to bring the bull to Li Muran intact. Besides, it was getting dark, so he had to find a place to spend the night and wait for Li Muran to come.

Just as he stretched out his hand to carry the headless cow corpse and started running, his body suddenly stopped and his eyes fell to his side. As his eyes arrived, Li Muran's figure appeared there.

Li Muran originally thought that he would eat more than half of the beef first, and then leave with the beef left for her, so she left him time to eat the meat. She knew that he didn't like her to see him eating raw meat. Who knew that he would actually carry the whole cow away, so he quickly appeared. She had the ability to teleport, so naturally he didn't need to work so hard. Carrying such a big cow and walking through the jungle is not an easy task, even if the mutant plants have made way as much as possible.

Seeing Li Muran, Song Yan was actually happy, but the blood that had just been boiling because of the killing had not yet subsided, and his eyes were still cold and fierce, as if he was not seeing someone he liked, but a prey that he wanted to tear apart.

This was not the first time that Li Muran had faced this kind of situation. Although her hair stood up reflexively, she was able to suppress her fear and remain calm. She did not speak, but met the eyes that looked like those of an ancient beast without dodging, and waited quietly.

After a while, Song Yan finally suppressed the desire to kill that was surging in his chest. Joy prevailed, and his eyes gradually softened.

"We have beef today," he said, his voice deep and as if rolling in his throat.

Li Muran smiled and said, "Will you eat with me?" Song Yan hardly eats cooked meat now, so she said this. She sometimes wondered if the fact that he had not gotten better was related to eating raw meat. Brother Shao, for example, had been eating with everyone, and it seemed that there was no problem in this regard.

"Yeah." Song Yan paused slightly and nodded. It's not that he can't eat cooked meat, but his taste buds have mutated because of the transformation into an alien beast, and he feels that blood food is more delicious, while cooked meat is more like chewing dry wood chips.

"Let's eat stewed meat." Li Muran thought about it seriously and decided.

"Okay." Song Yan's face covered with scales showed an unbearable expression, but he still agreed. Soups and water are the most annoying.

Seeing his face become hideous because of the distortion, Li Muran pursed her lips, wanting to laugh, but holding back. She actually did it on purpose. Anyway, he finally had a different expression. As for whether it was scary or not, after seeing it for a long time, you will get used to it.

Because of Li Muran's arrival, Song Yan naturally didn't have to carry the whole cow back. He used his sharp claws to cut the cowhide and tore off a piece of fat tenderloin. The rest was sent back to the team by Li Muran. Compared with this kind of beast that only gnawed grass leaves, he preferred carnivorous beasts, because the latter's meat contained higher energy and was more suitable for his current body's needs.

The people in the team were naturally happy to see fresh beef to eat. And out of gratitude to Liu Qiye for taking in the team, Zhang Yi and others cut a leg of beef and sent it over, saying that it was hunted on the way here. As a result, Liu Qiye turned around and asked someone to send two baskets of potatoes. I don't know how they kept it for so long.

So in addition to leaving a small part for seeding to see if there is a chance to cultivate it again in the future, and then dividing it for the people parked outside the village and Li Muran's part, the rest of the potatoes were washed clean, and they were reluctant to peel them. They were directly cut into pieces and stewed with beef, bones and offal, and served with rice. The whole team had a great time. Only the beef tongue and a small piece of beef intestines and tripe were cut and braised separately, peanuts and soybeans were fried, a few bags of chicken feet and chicken wings were opened, and the wine that was basically untouched was taken out. Liu Qiye was invited over, and two middle-aged men whose status in the village was second only to Liu Qiye were called over. Zhang Yi, Shen Chi and others accompanied them, and they chatted drunkenly until late at night.

As for Li Muran, when she returned after delivering the things, Song Yan was killing a mutant beast that came over with the smell of blood. This was his real dinner.

The two found a relatively well-preserved farmyard about ten kilometers away from Sanjia Village. Although it had been looted, because there was no shortage of heating fuel here, the wooden furniture in the house had not been touched, the doors and windows were all good, and there were even some clothes left by the owner. Just clean it up and heat the house, it is still good for overnight stay.

Chapter 291: The Beast Transformed into a Human (7)

While cleaning the house, Li Muran told Song Yan, who was eating the mutant beast in the yard, about what happened on the way to the convoy and about the things in Sanjia Village.

She was never talkative. No matter how complicated the situation was, she could just say a few words and then shut up. However, within two seconds of being quiet, she heard an unhappy snort from outside, so she had to rack her brains to think of some details to say.

Song Yan's temper became more and more strange after the transformation of the beast. He was particularly unwilling to be seen by Li Muran when he was eating raw blood. If he accidentally bumped into her, he would turn his face away and get angry. In addition, when Li Muran was talking, except for questions that had to be answered, he usually kept silent, as if he was talking to himself, and no matter how much he wanted to talk, he would lose his interest. But he couldn't keep silent. Once he was silent, he would immediately express his dissatisfaction in various ways until she spoke again, and a snort was considered gentle.

Li Muran was particularly helpless, and felt that taking care of children was not so tiring. But seriously speaking, compared with the former strict and solemn Director Song, the transformed Song Yan made her feel more comfortable and not so restrained and respectful.

"I used to be busy all the time, working, going to school, and doing internships. I had no entertainment activities and no friends. I always thought that after I got a job, I would do everything I wanted to do again, and then save money to buy a house. It doesn't have to be too big, just enough for me to live in. It's best to be in an unfamiliar city where no one can find it." As long as he gave some money to the woman every month, it would be considered as repaying her for giving birth to her. Anyway, she still had other children. If she got old, those children would not care about her. He would take her over and take care of her until she died. It was also worthy of her

. Li Muran really thought so, but no one could have imagined that all the plans and all the beautiful expectations for the future had become bubbles. She didn't even have the opportunity to graduate, let alone any happy memories. It was because of this that she understood a truth: if you want to do something, you'd better do it right away. If there are no conditions, you should create them to do it, instead of postponing it indefinitely with various reasons, because no one knows what will happen in the next moment, and whether it will leave irreparable regrets.

Song Yan came in with a bundle of orange stalks. His face and hands were wiped clean without a trace of blood, and even the gaps between his nails were not spared. He glanced at Li Muran who was wiping the kang and the table, and actually walked away from her, walked into the kitchen, squatted down and started a fire to heat the kang.

Li Muran, who was originally there in pain and trying to find something to say, was stunned for a moment, feeling a little weird, and unconsciously closed his mouth and tiptoed over.

This house still uses the rural earth stove, but the surface is covered with white tiles, which looks very clean. However, Song Yan's tall body squatting there makes people feel very out of place.

He found a lighter next to the stove, but the sharp claws could tear open the hard shell of the mutant beast, but it was obviously not capable of such delicate work as making a fire. After a long time, the lighter fell several times and failed.

Li Muran looked outside the kitchen for a while, and finally couldn't help it, so he walked over and squeezed him aside and squatted: "Let me do it."

Song Yan didn't move his feet, but just leaned slightly to the side. Li Muran felt a little crowded and his hands were not easy to move, so he gently pushed him again, "You move a little closer..." As a result, before he finished speaking, he was pressed down on the wheat straw next to him.

It was really hard!

"I told you not to seduce me." An hour later, the tall and majestic figure stood up as if he was not full, and muttered something sullenly, and then quickly disappeared, as if he wanted to eat everything and run away.

You said it? The girl who was inexplicably messed with angrily pounded the straw under her.

At this moment, a bed sheet flew in from outside and landed on her. At the same time, the man's cold voice came again, "Wait for me here, don't run around."

Li Muran was stunned for a moment, propped herself up slightly, stretched her neck to look outside, and found that the man had disappeared, which was a bit puzzling. She covered her red face, calmed down, touched her aching neck, sat up straight, and didn't dare to delay any longer. She had to tidy up her clothes before he came back.

But when she took off the bed sheet, she was dumbfounded. Her pants were torn into pieces and couldn't cover anything. She finally understood why the man ran so fast. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether she was ashamed or annoyed. She just suddenly pulled the bed sheet tightly and quickly curled up her legs. Although she knew that there was no one else around, she subconsciously looked around. After making sure that she was not being peeped, she carefully folded the bed sheet around her waist. She wanted to go to the house to look for pants, but she didn't know whether it was because of the pain or the cold, and her legs were shaking, so she had to kneel down and light the fire first.

With Song Yan's size, the two of them naturally couldn't do the last step, but they had been rubbing against each other's skin for so long without any obstruction, so she must have felt it, and it was inevitable that it hurt. For example, she felt that her legs were a little bit unable to close.

It happened too suddenly, and she didn't even have the chance to be shy or resist, and she was just like that. But to be honest, Song Yan didn't really hurt her, even though he grabbed her neck more than once during the whole process, exuding a manic murderous intent. She could feel it, and she could also feel that he was struggling to restrain his boiling animal nature, so she felt nervous as if walking on a tightrope, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel distressed. Perhaps it was this complex emotion that made her unable to be really angry with him, and even though she knew that it might be dangerous to be around him, she still couldn't bear it.

There was a big iron pot on the earthen stove, which could not be burned dry. After the fire was lit, Li Muran found a plastic bucket and went to the yard to get a bucket of clean snow. She first cleaned the pot, and then heated the kang while boiling water. She had planned to take a bath, but now her legs were sticky and uncomfortable even after wiping them, so she needed to wash them.

She guessed that Song Yan must have gone to find clothes for her, so she was not in a hurry to make food. She just squatted quietly on the messy orange stalks, concentrating on boiling water and keeping warm, and did not use her mental power to detect his whereabouts. She knew that he was very sensitive, and her visits would make him feel anxious and uneasy. It would be better to avoid them as much as possible when possible. And even if the reason for his leaving was not what she guessed, it would be okay for her to wait for him to come back before looking for clothes. You know, he asked her to wait but she didn't. With his current temper, there would probably be a commotion again.

Thinking of pants, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed again. In fact, when they were still in Longren City, Song Yan had almost no self-control because he had just completely transformed into a beast. He had hugged her and rubbed against her several times, but because his claws were too sharp, he was afraid of hurting her, so he did it through her clothes. After leaving Longren, he never did this again, and he didn't even get close to her. She was a slightly conservative person, and of course she would not take the initiative to get close to him. So although the two stayed together every night, they were actually separated by a distance. So what happened today was both sudden and real...

There was a rustling sound from the roof, and the sound of the wind, and the snow seemed to fall even harder. The fire was blazing, the burning straw made a crisp crackling sound, and a thin white mist began to rise from the big black iron pot. It was very quiet, without the hustle and bustle of cars and the noise of human voices. It was a luxury before the overcrowded apocalypse, but now it can be seen everywhere, and it is even so quiet that it makes people despair. However, Li Muran, who was waiting here alone, did not feel lonely or afraid, but instead had a faint sense of peace flowing in his heart.

Perhaps it was because she had the confidence to protect herself in any critical situation, or perhaps it was because of Song Yan's existence, even though they didn't have a stable place to stay, her wandering heart seemed to have settled down.

She obviously realized this, and a warm smile appeared on the corner of her lips. However, before this smile was fully formed, her expression suddenly changed and disappeared in an instant.

A silver-white, almost transparent rope-like object slammed down on the straw where Li Muran had just sat, and a lot of grass leaves and dust were stuck. An angry hissing sound came from the roof, as if it was dissatisfied with the loss of prey, but soon the sound disappeared, and the silver rope that suddenly appeared disappeared with it.

Li Muran appeared in the teacher's office of a primary school a few kilometers away. This primary school is not big, only more than 300 square meters. The classroom is a small second floor. There is a row of bungalows next to it. The principal and the teacher's office are here. There is a long flagpole in the middle of the cement playground, with a tattered national flag flying on it. There is no greenery in the school. It is all gray cement buildings. So when the surroundings are occupied by mutant plants, this place is still cement-colored. However, there are zombies everywhere in the teaching building and the playground. Obviously, no one has cleaned it up after the end of the world.

In order to avoid the situation that the supernatural power is uncontrollable when encountering fatal danger, Li Muran almost always stops at a place. The first thing he does is to determine a safer point not too far away, so as to ensure that he will not be in a hurry in an emergency and can control his teleportation location. The lesson learned after several losses was used this time.

It was class time when the end of the world happened, so this office was empty. As soon as she came in, she rushed over to close the door, and then turned back to check what made her feel dangerous. However, to her surprise, she found nothing, not only in the kitchen where she had just stayed, but also in the whole house, and even after a careful search of several kilometers around the house, she did not see anything that made her feel dangerous.

Was it an illusion? She couldn't help but doubt it, but she was still a little unsure in her heart. She didn't dare to go back immediately, but this was not a place to stay for long, because through the window she could see that the zombies outside had smelled the smell and were coming over, and it was very cold. Her legs wrapped under the sheets were trembling, and she would freeze to death if she stayed any longer.

At this time, the best thing to do was to find Song Yan, but she couldn't find him all at once. However, when she was exploring the surroundings before, she had seen some well-preserved clothes in a residential building, so she teleported directly over and found a pair of thick winter pants that were not much different from her body size. She finally felt a little safe.

Chapter 292: The Beast Transformed into a Human (8)

This residential building was more than 30 kilometers away from where they had planned to spend the night. It was a small two-story building, close to the foot of the mountain, with a courtyard. However, under the collapsed courtyard wall, there was a ten-meter-long thorn snake vine, and some bones and rags were scattered around. Perhaps this was the main reason why the things in the house were still intact. After

carefully looking around and making sure that she was not in the attack range of the thorn snake vine and there were no other dangers around, Li Muran calmed down and began to look for Song Yan. She had to stop him before he went back. After all, she was not sure whether the sense of danger was her own illusion. It was always better to be careful.

Song Yan went to the county town, which he had passed by when he was bored and wandering outside. It was far away from Sanjia Village, more than 40 kilometers away, and nearly 40 kilometers away from the courtyard where he and Li Muran planned to spend the night. On the contrary, it was much closer to the small building where Li Muran was now. When Li Muran found him, he was carrying several large bags and walking back.

Seeing Li Muran, he was stunned for a moment, and then the first thing he did was to look at her legs, and then his face turned ugly.

Li Muran understood him, and quickly told him the reason why she came out, and finally diverted his attention.

Song Yan frowned, and looked at her carefully again, making sure that she was not injured, and then thought for a while and said, "Go to where you came from." According to his original idea, he would naturally go to check and determine the source of the danger, but that was under the premise that he was alone. Now that Li Muran was here, he couldn't take this risk, even if he was confident that he could protect her.

Li Muran also felt that there was no need to take this risk. Hearing his words was just what she wanted, she happily took him back to the small second floor guarded by the thorn snake vine. With him there, the thorn snake vine was not a threat at all. Who knew that as soon as he arrived at the place, Song Yan pressed him on the dusty bed and started to take off his pants. Li Muran was startled, thinking that he was going to mess around again.

She was so anxious that she struggled and shouted, "I haven't eaten yet!" She had to keep her voice low, fearing that he wouldn't hear her because of his animal nature.

Fortunately, Song Yan didn't really want to do anything to her, so he stopped when he heard her words, but he still said coldly, "Change your pants!"

It turned out that he couldn't bear to see her wearing something that others had worn. "I'll change after I take a shower." Li Muran pulled her pants that were almost torn again, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Song Yan ignored this and glared at her fiercely. L

i Muran had no choice but to take the bag of clothes and change in another room. Fortunately, Song Yan brought back more than one set of clothes, even underwear. Even if she wore one set now, she would still have something to change after taking a shower. Seeing that she was obedient, Song Yan stopped making trouble.

He looked at the furniture and other things in the house that had not been moved, turned around and looked around in the yard, and finally carried out a large pile of logs and started to chop them into small pieces. As for the hydrilla in the corner of the yard, he did not move it. First, this thing would not attack him, let alone the building, and it could also be used as a sentry. It was already dark, and Li Muran, who had changed her clothes and came out, continued to resign herself to her fate and started to make a fire, boil water, and clean the house again. In other words, she might have to stay another day tomorrow, otherwise she would not have gone through so much trouble. It was a pity that the mutant beef that Song Yan prepared for her was lost. She wanted to go back and get it, but Song Yan would not let her. Instead, he went to get another mutant beast that tasted not bad. But when she had eaten, taken a shower, and lay down on the heated kang, the long-lost feeling of comfort showed that all the hard work was not in vain.

However, she only enjoyed it for a moment, then gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit up. She habitually used her mental power to scan Zhang Yi and the others to make sure nothing happened. She then looked at the yard where the two of them had stopped before and found that the stove had gone out, but the water in the pot was still steaming. The whole house was empty. After searching around, she still couldn't find anything that made her feel dangerous. Even the mutant beef was not moved, which made her doubt her feelings again, but she didn't continue to struggle.

Finally, she glanced around the small building where she was staying to make sure there was no danger. Then she sat cross-legged and closed her eyes and began to practice the skills created by the sick ghost. She practiced the more difficult one. She had supernatural powers and could protect herself, so she didn't have to rush to make herself stronger in a short time. She could lay a solid foundation. Of course, if she wasn't forced to do it, no one would want to practice the kind of skills that would make her look weird even though it was quick. Song Yan sat in another corner of the room. When he heard Li Muran's movement, he just lifted his eyelids and glanced at it, then closed his eyes again. He did not squeeze onto the kang, firstly because he did not like places that were too hot, and secondly because he did not dare to get too close to Li Muran. He had already lost control in the afternoon, and he did not want to really turn into a beast. However, after all, they were in the same room, and his sense of smell was extremely sensitive at this time.

The smell of the opposite sex emanating from Li Muran still had a great impact on him, making him suffer. Of course, he could have chosen another room to stay in to resist the temptation, but then he would not be able to protect Li Muran at the first moment of danger. After weighing the two, he could only choose to torture himself, just as a way to exercise his self-control. Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, after breakfast, Li Muran, who originally planned to stay on the second floor for a day, was chased back to Sanjia Village by Song Yan without any excuse, and Song Yan himself went to check the previous yard. Discovering the danger but ignoring it was not his style, not to mention that this incident was very strange. Obviously, he didn't doubt that it was Li Muran's illusion.

He knew very well that this girl was not timid except when facing him, and would not be frightened by the slightest disturbance. And the facts proved that he was right. Although there was no unusual smell left at the original place, or it might have dissipated after too long, he still found traces on the roof. The snow on the roof was almost impossible to be damaged by human beings, so most of the traces left on it could be preserved. Carefully peeling off the newly covered snow powder last night, he saw the footprints of strange objects crawling under the snow layer.

The imprint was very strange. It was not the common animal paw prints, but two rows of fist-sized round dots. Song Yan studied it for a long time, but couldn't figure out what it was. But it can be imagined that if Li Muran had hesitated yesterday, the outcome would probably not be optimistic. Thinking of this, Song Yan's eyes suddenly became violent, and he suddenly stood up and followed the traces. ——Sanjia Village was very quiet, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were practicing in the yard. As long as there are no special circumstances, no matter how busy or tired he is, Zhang Yi will find a way to take time out to practice swinging a knife, chopping wood, or sparring with other people in the team. In short, he will never let himself slack off. Except for the two of them, most of the team members got up and used various methods to hone their abilities in a targeted manner. Of course, there are also a few people who seize this rare opportunity to relax and sleep in.

Several children did not sleep in. They got up early and followed the children in the village after exercising for a while like the adults. In fact, not only the team, but also in the courtyards where people live in Sanjia Village and on the fields at the entrance of the village, you can hear the sound of shouting and practicing boxing. Shen Chichen ran for a walk and sighed when he came back. "It turns out that everyone in this village practices martial arts. No wonder they are so confident." This also explains how the village survived the two world-destroying disasters and still had so many people alive.

It also explains why they dared to accept the people in the team. Strong strength is the foundation. "Did you have sex with them?"

The man in the building came out of the house with a bowl of noodles in his hand, squatting under the eaves while eating and asking. "What? No, no, how could I do such a thing, it's so rude." Shen Chi said righteously. Of course, if he hadn't denied it so quickly and firmly, it might have been more convincing.

Then, without waiting for others to ask, he rushed into the house like the wind: "Oh, I'm so hungry, do you have any noodles? Give me a bowl?"

Lou Nan sneered and buried his head in eating noodles. Knowing each other too well is also troublesome, just like he knew that Shen Chi would definitely challenge him, and if he lost, if he won, given his character, even if he didn't show off in front of him, he would still mention it half-hiddenly from time to time. And if he had never fought... with that sanctimonious look on his face, it is impossible that he had never fought.

Perhaps because he was very interested in Shen Chi's words, Leng Fengchen, who had no sense of existence in the team, did his own thing, and even got his own food, actually went to the village for a rare walk, but when he came back, there was a hint of disdain on his face, obviously he didn't take the so-called martial arts in this village seriously.

Yuan Jinshu also went out for a walk, and when he came back, he was bored because he still couldn't find a way to escape the control of the sick ghost.

After breakfast, the people who were used to being on the road every day finally felt a little uncomfortable after the initial relaxation. They didn't know what to do. They didn't know whether to sit or stand. Finally, Qiao Yong took some people who volunteered to follow the people from Sanjia Village to clean up the mutant plants outside.

Zhang Yi was about to go to the village with Nan Shao when Jin Mantang came over.

"We plan to stay here." Jin Mantang said.

Zhang Yi was a little surprised, but not that surprised. It was not surprising because when they decided to stay here for a day or two, they were going to see the situation here, whether they could leave some people behind, or to see if anyone wanted to stay here. After all, they were going to the northwest for something, not to build a base, and it was inconvenient to bring so many people. The surprise was that Jin Mantang was the first to make the decision, and so quickly.

"Still thinking about revenge?" After a little thought, he understood.

Hearing his words, Jin Mantang's eyes showed a painful look, and she nodded without hesitation, "I can't forget it." Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the scene where Jiang Hang used his body to form a mud wall to block the pursuers for them. He was like a bastard in his daily life, but he died like a man. The

night before he went to rescue people, he didn't know if he had a premonition, and he told her that she was not his type. He didn't like her now, and he wouldn't like her in the future, and he didn't want to owe her anything, so if he died, she didn't need to avenge him, and she could live a good life. She knew what he said was true. He liked Tang Tang. Although he acted absurdly, he was serious about his feelings for Tang Tang. It was a pity that he didn't end up well. But these had nothing to do with her. She only did what she thought she should do. She wouldn't commit suicide for him. That would be unfair to her parents and herself, but she had to avenge him. She knew he would definitely be willing to see Tang Bowen die.

Not only her, but also those who escaped with her, saw their comrades and relatives die in front of their eyes, how could they not hate, and how could they forget?

"Okay, I'll go and tell Master Liu Qi." Everyone has their own aspirations, and Zhang Yi couldn't persuade them too much, so he sighed and said. Jin Mantang has healing abilities, so she will never be worried about not being wanted, and the dozen people who escaped with her also have good skills, so Master Liu Qi will probably not refuse.

Jin Mantang didn't thank them, but just bowed deeply to the two of them. They parted ways this time, and I'm afraid they won't meet again in the future, so she didn't even mention the words of gratitude.

Chapter 293: The Beast Transformed into a Human (9)

Zhang Yi had not expected her to do this. He was embarrassed and could not avoid it. He slightly turned aside and said softly, "You don't have to do this. We can't help you much, and we can't guarantee that Master Liu Qi will teach you kung fu." Chinese martial arts have many rules for accepting disciples and passing on skills. It is unknown whether this has changed after the end of the world. "

We will find a way ourselves." Jin Mantang replied, obviously thinking about this problem in his mind. With only a dozen people, they naturally cannot overthrow the entire Bowei base, but if they narrow the target to only the most important few people, plan carefully, and strengthen their own abilities, there is still a certain chance of doing it. Therefore, after learning that almost everyone in Sanjia Village knows martial arts and is very powerful, she and her companions immediately had a brief discussion and then decided to stay here decisively. It was not to drag the people of Sanjia Village into the water and help them take revenge, but to learn something useful here.

Zhang Yi did not say anything more, but before leaving, he still said, "No matter how good your kung fu is, you can't withstand guns and cannons."

Jin Mantang remained silent.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao, who were walking on the street, did not speak for a long time until they met Zhang Ruiyang, who was playing in the snow outside with a few children. The little guy ran over, but only stayed on his father's legs for two seconds, and then ran away quickly with a few friends who were standing there stupidly.

Zhang Yi finally smiled. Before the end of the world, his son was isolated by children of the same age because he was in prison. He could only be with his old mother. After the end of the world, he was exhausted. Not to mention that most young children died in the disaster, even if he occasionally met one or two, how could they have the opportunity to play freely like now? So seeing his son happy at this time, his mood also unconsciously improved a lot.

Looking at the child running away, Nan Shao suddenly said: "If Mu Ran sends me to Bowei, I am 99% sure to kill Tang Bowen." The remaining one point is left for unpredictable accidents.

Zhang Yi turned his head, his eyes stayed on Nan Shao's face for a moment, and then slowly shook his head.

"She knew about Muran's ability, but she didn't ask us for help. She just didn't want us to intervene." He whispered, his body swaying slightly, and he continued to move forward.

Nan Shao hurriedly followed. He and Jiang Hang were not on good terms, so of course he didn't have to help him get revenge. Even with Jin Mantang, their relationship was not so close that he had to help. The reason he took the initiative to ask for help was that he didn't want Zhang Yi to worry too much about it. Now that Zhang Yi said he didn't need it, he wouldn't have to find something for himself to do. After all, he and Tang Bowen didn't really have a deep hatred to the point of wanting each other to die.

"Besides, having a goal to work hard for in the end times is not a bad thing for them who have lost their relatives and friends." Zhang Yi added.

Nan Shao hummed, and couldn't help but reach out and grab Zhang Yi's hand, because he remembered that Zhang Yi was seriously injured and could not be saved in order to save him. He didn't dare to think about how he could survive if Zhang Yi died, because apart from himself, he didn't even have anyone to take revenge on.

As if sensing his panic and fear, Zhang Yi comforted him by holding his hand back with a firm grip, giving him a sense of firmness.

"Are you going to find Master Liu Qi now?" Nan Shao came back to his senses and asked.

"No, let's talk about it in the evening." Zhang Yi replied. Because he felt that it was probably not just Jin Mantang who wanted to stay here.

But they did not go to find Master Liu Qi, but Master Liu Qi took the initiative to send someone to find them.

As soon as they stepped into the yard of Master Liu Qi's house, Master Liu Qi had already come up to them, holding their hands one by one, and pulled them into the house in a very affectionate manner.

The two of them exchanged glances secretly, secretly saying that something was strange. They would not think that just having a drink together would make this old man who valued dignity so much become so attentive and eager, unless they had something to ask for.

"Come, sit! Sit by the stove!" While pushing the two people onto the bench by the stove, Master Liu Qi called the young man who had just been sent to call people to make tea. Before the tea was brewed, he raised his voice and shouted to the room inside: "There are still peanuts. There are still some peanuts from last year. Bring out a handful." Then, he took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, sat on a small stool, and fell silent while puffing.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao looked at each other and smiled bitterly. The old man clearly had something to say, but he looked like he had a hard time speaking. If they had met by chance and had nothing to do with each other in the future, they would just have to play dumb, but now he had something to ask the other party, so he couldn't do this. So Zhang Yi had to take the initiative to ask.

"Seventh Master, do you have something to ask us?"

Liu Qiye coughed twice, opened his mouth, but said nothing, sighed, and went back to puffing.

Zhang Yi was stunned for a moment, thinking that the matter might not be simple, but he couldn't ignore it, so he could only say helplessly: "Seventh Master, please tell me if you have something to say. If we can do it, we will definitely not refuse." This was a promise, and saying this was also to pave the way for their own affairs. If you want to get something, you must pay. This is an eternal truth.

Liu Qiye paused in his smoking, lowered his head and said nothing, then silently took two deep puffs of his cigarette, and then seemed to have made a very important decision, knocked his pipe on the leg of the bench, and stood up.

"You guys follow me."

Zhang Yi and the others were confused and followed him.

"Hey, tea! I haven't had the tea yet..." The young man who was walking out with two cups of steaming hot tea couldn't help but shout anxiously.

"What tea? You silly kid, go cook, the two little brothers will eat here at noon!" Before Zhang Yi could respond, Liu Qiye, who was walking in front, turned around and yelled at him.

The young man said depressedly, put the tea on the stove, but turned around and went out to find someone else to cook. Are you kidding? Let him cook, can the food he cooks be eaten? The old man was really confused.

Liu Qiye took Zhang Yi and the others and did not go out, but entered the door in the middle connected to the living room. It was a small compartment of more than ten square meters, with some sundries piled in it, and there was another door opposite. At this time, the door was open, and you could see that there was actually a yard behind. There was a low bungalow in the yard, and no one knew what it was used for.

The door of the bungalow was made of cast iron, exuding a chill in the snow. A big iron lock locked the door, and even the windows were welded with steel bars, as if some monsters were locked inside.

Liu Qiye walked over, took out the key from his body, and opened the iron lock. Nan Shao suddenly stepped forward and blocked Zhang Yi behind him, as if there was an aura in the house that made him afraid.

Liu Qiye looked back and shook his head, not knowing whether it was because he felt that the two were suspicious or because Zhang Yi still needed Nan Shao's protection.

Zhang Yi's expression did not change, just pretending not to know, and did not push Nan Shao away because of this. Not to mention that his strength is indeed weaker than Nan Shao, even if he is stronger than Nan Shao, he does not mind being protected by the other party as a weak person, because this is Nan Shao's sincere intention.

Fortunately, Liu Qiye did not say anything, and directly invited the two into the house.

After entering, they found a staircase leading down. Zhang Yi frowned, but he was not afraid. He just reached back and touched the machete on his waist to make sure he could pull it out as soon as possible.

When going downstairs, Nan Shao walked in front of Zhang Yi and followed the old man closely.

With the light from the sky, only half of the stairs could be seen. Going down, it was dark. When Liu Qiye walked to the bottom of the stairs, he paused for a moment. There was a sound of a lighter, and then the light came on, gradually increasing from weak to strong, and slowly expanded into the not-so-wide underground space, lighting up the candle in the niche on the wall. When

he saw the structure of the basement clearly, even Nan Shao, who had never been interested in anything, was a little surprised.

It turned out that there was a metal wall about two meters away from the stairs. There were windows on the wall, but they were separated by thumb-thick steel bars, leaving only a narrow space for air convection inside and outside. And the strangest thing was that there was no door.

This was clearly a cage!

"Qiangzi, grandpa has brought guests to see you, come to the window." Liu Qiye waved his hand to signal the two not to get close, and then turned around and shouted at the iron window.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Yi's heart was relieved, but he became curious. According to the old man, the person inside should be his grandson. I wonder why he was locked up inside?

Nan Shao stared at the window coldly, as if he knew what was inside.

After Liu Qiye finished speaking, the iron window was still quiet, as if there was no one there, until he shouted twice again, there was no movement. It was the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground, very heavy iron chains.

A minute later, a figure appeared in the range of light. Zhang Yi looked over Nan Shao's shoulder and was surprised. At the same time, he also felt that Nan Shao's shoulders were tense, obviously thinking that the person inside would pose a threat to them.

The man had horns on his head and was covered with black hair, like a large cat with a human face. A pair of green eyes were like two burning ghost fires, eerie and chilling, making people shudder.

However, after just one glance, the man disappeared into the darkness again, and Liu Qiye took them back upstairs. Zhang Yi's mood had not yet calmed down until he sat back by the stove again. He never thought that he would see a person transformed into an alien beast here.

"The thing you saw that was neither human nor ghost was my grandson. He was a soldier. He was selected into the special forces because of his good skills. He was rarely seen once a year. After the disaster, we couldn't contact him. We all thought he was dead outside, but he suddenly ran back two months ago. At that time, he was still mostly human and conscious. It was he who asked to lock him there. Even the thickness of the iron chain, the basement walls, doors and windows were all made according to his requirements." This time, before the two asked, Liu Qiye had already started talking about the origin of the person in the basement.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao did not interrupt, waiting for him to tell his purpose.

"His condition has been getting worse, and he has less and less time to keep his sanity. If this continues, I'm afraid he will turn into a beast." Liu Qiye's expression could not hide his worry. At this point, he suddenly looked up at Nan Shao and said, "I know you have a way. I don't ask for perfection. As long as he can live like a normal person, I will agree to any conditions you have."

Zhang Yi finally understood why he was willing to let the team come in and stay overnight. He was afraid that he saw Nan Shao's beast transformation at the first sight and wanted to find the answer from them to make his grandson return to normal. This was the real reason.

However, the matter of beast transformation does not need to be kept strictly confidential. Of course, the premise is that there are more than two cases of beast transformation in the world, such as Nan Shao and Song Yan. When the third, fourth, or even more beast transformations appear, the surviving humans need to have a correct understanding of the beast transformations to avoid too many deaths or ignorant rejection.

Chapter 294: The Beast Transformed into a Human (10)

"Don't kill people, and don't eat people." Nan Shao said calmly, his answer was simple and clear.

Liu Qiye was stunned, not knowing how to react. Killing people was fine, he had seen his grandson's violent behavior with his own eyes, if he was not locked up, he might really kill people, but eating people, as long as they were not perverted, who would do this? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but show anger on his face.

"Self-control, he means to be able to control yourself." Zhang Yi hurriedly explained, feeling helpless. Nan Shao is becoming less and less talkative now. I still remember that when they first met, he was not so taciturn. He would tease Yang Yang, joke with Muran, and even bully Routa Chen. When did he become like this?

"Self-control?" Liu Qiye's gray and white eyebrows stood up, obviously he had not let it go, waiting for Zhang Yi to give a statement that would calm him down.

"Yes, control the murderous intent, anger and other negative emotions in your heart." Zhang Yi nodded. Although they were still trying to figure out the situation of people turning into beasts, they knew a little bit about it, since Song Yan and Nan Shao had turned into beasts, and with the knowledge of the sick ghost, they still knew a little bit.

At that moment, he told the old man what he had learned from the sick ghost about the beast-turned people, and also briefly mentioned the things about Nan Shao and Song Yan, hoping that it would be helpful to him and his grandson.

"When human nature prevails, beasts turn into humans; when beast nature prevails, humans turn into beasts... Since ancient times, how can people not be like this!" After listening to this, Liu Qiye was silent for a long time, and finally sighed deeply, as if he was disappointed that there was no completely safe way to make his grandson return to normal, and seemed to be relieved that he finally had a clue.

Out of gratitude, he revealed a piece of news that shocked the two.

In the Taiping period, there was a national secret research institute in the uninhabited area in the north of the deserted continent. After the end of the world, this institution received many survivors, and among them, the majority were the remnants of the army and government departments in the northwest region, and there were also some ordinary people rescued by the army.

The deserted land is vast and sparsely populated, and the uninhabited area is even more sparsely populated. In addition to the army responsible for patrolling, there are people who come here for exploration or archaeological research. And these few people scattered into the vast desert Gobi, just like throwing a few stones into the sea, and they disappeared in a blink of an eye. So in the early days of the apocalypse, there were almost no zombies here. Compared with other places, it was like a pure land.

However, when the heavy rain came, the desert was occupied by dense clumps of mutant plants, so the shelter transformed from the research institute was also trapped in it. But this problem is actually not big, because the shelter has people and weapons, and it will not be defeated by this change. It only takes some manpower to let them understand the characteristics of mutant plants and animals, and then find corresponding means to deal with them.

So, in general, this shelter is much safer than an ordinary base, and has a stronger ability to resist disasters. If a large number of researchers had not survived the shelter, or if the leaders of these researchers had not reached a consensus with the military and government leaders to start researching how to implant the genes of mutants into the human body to create mutants, perhaps this base could have existed for a long time, and even slowly become powerful, becoming a pure land that all the survivors in China yearn for.

Unfortunately, everything is just a hypothesis. This shelter was originally a secret biological research base. Before the end of the world, it was researching some unknown biochemical projects. It had equipment and manpower. After the end of the world, new species emerged in an endless stream, and human power was at a disadvantage. For them, it was undoubtedly the best time to carry out various research projects. They could not give up this opportunity.

Therefore, the best group of people in the army were sent to the institute, and some people with superpowers were sent to the institute. The elderly, children, men, women, ordinary people of different ages

and genders were also selected by sampling and entered the institute. Most people were unable to come out, and the rest became monsters. The purpose of the research was to find a way to awaken superpowers in ordinary people and to create superhumans whose strength could rival mutants. But what they created was something that had human wisdom, great power, but lost its humanity.

More than two months ago, these deformed monsters rioted, the shelter was destroyed, and the survivors suffered heavy casualties. Liu Wuqiang escaped from there.

In other words, there is a nest of alienated people in the desert. This alienated person not only refers to the alien beast, but also includes alien plant, and even some things that are neither corpse nor human.

This is definitely not good news, but it is timely news. Zhang Yi asked a few more questions, and then said goodbye to Nan Shao and left, and did not really stay for dinner. As for Jin Mantang and others wanting to settle in Sanjia Village, they did not mention it for the time being. It was

still early for lunch, and the two of them were not idle after returning to the yard. They greeted Shen Chi and went out hunting. The environment was like this, and they could not afford to slack off at all. As for the matter of the alienated people in the desert, it was natural to wait until everyone was there before talking about it, so as to avoid saying it over and over again.

However, there were probably people cleaning around the village frequently, so they did not encounter any mutant beasts. When they returned at noon, they only brought two bundles of edible mutant plants.

Qiao Yong and others who followed the villagers to hunt did not return until the afternoon. However, before Zhang Yi gathered everyone and talked about the matter of the deserted island, he and Shi Pengsan came first.

"You want to stay here?" Zhang Yi was a little surprised when he understood their intention.

Qiao Yong nodded, "The people here are good, suitable for settling down." He did not explain the extra things.

But his silence did not mean that Zhang Yi did not understand. There was no shortage of old, weak, sick and disabled people in Ronghe, and there were also some ordinary people who had not awakened their superpowers. These people were not suitable to follow the team all the time. They were a burden to the team and unsafe for themselves. It was the best choice to find a proper place to settle down as soon as possible.

Nowadays, it is difficult to find a base for survivors. They came from Zhafeng. Within thousands of kilometers, they only encountered a base of Bowei, which was a base that regarded ordinary survivors as pigs and dog slaves. In comparison, Sanjia Village was much better. No one knows where the next survivor base is, and no one can guarantee that the next base will not be the same as the Bowei base. That's why Qiao Yong made this decision resolutely, and following the people of Sanjia Village to hunt is just to observe people further.

He and Shi Pengsan are both experienced people. They can tell from the subtle expressions and movements of a person whether he is pretending or not, and naturally they can also tell whether the harmonious atmosphere of these villagers, which is different from other places, is just a superficial phenomenon. Obviously, the answer did not disappoint them.

For Qiao Yong himself, he would rather follow Zhang Yi and others to continue traveling west, but since he has taken the responsibility for Ronghe, he can't let go before the old, weak, sick, disabled, women and children in the team are properly settled. As for

Shi Pengsan, he followed Nan Shao and others to leave Hulugou this time to find Qiao Yong, so he will naturally advance and retreat with Qiao Yong at this time.

"Okay." Zhang Yi did not persuade him again, because of Liu Qiye's news, he knew that there might be more dangers on the road ahead, and it would be better for Qiao Yong to stay here with others.

Wei Dong heard this and after a little hesitation, he also decided to stay with his people. He had thought about joining the team, but now that Qiao Yong and the others had stayed, he couldn't be too unconscious. Of course, the most important thing was that he and all the people who came out of the gymnasium and wanted to find a stable place to live a good life felt indescribable hardship, fatigue, and fear for the endless journey. Now that they had a day of relaxation in Sanjia Village, they didn't want to leave anymore. And he had another small consideration. Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan were still here, and Zhang Yi and the others would definitely return. If he was more tactful now, he might be able to leave a good impression on them. During this period, he could build a good relationship with Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan. With two people helping to speak for him, it would be easier for him to be accepted by the team in the future.

It must be said that Wei Dong's approach did save Zhang Yi and his team a lot of trouble. You have to know that although there are many survivors from the gymnasium, they have been isolated from the outside world for more than half a year. Even if they have stepped up their skills during this period, they are still too weak. If they want to build a base, there is no such a large number of people. As long as they are provided with enough time and conditions, most of these people will eventually grow into the main combat force of the base. However, they are now going to the northwest for something, and it would be a burden to bring these people with them.

However, since they have rescued people, they must have a beginning and an end. There was no way before, and there was no suitable place. The current Sanjia Village is actually not the best choice, because the people in the gymnasium have formed their own unique way of survival during the time they were imprisoned by half a person. If they live together, there may be conflicts. However,

since the other party took the initiative to ask for it, and Qiao Yong and Shi Pengsan were watching, and the people in Sanjia Village were not easy to mess with, Zhang Yi, who was originally a little worried, thought about it and felt relieved.

So while everyone was there, he told everyone about the beast-like human being imprisoned in Sanjia Village and the refuge in the deserted island, so that everyone would have a rough idea of ​​what was going on, so as not to be caught off guard.

After hearing the news, Weidong couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and then he was particularly glad that he had made the right choice.

"You don't want to go to the deserted island, do you?" Qiao Yong also gasped and asked. The power of the beast-like human can be seen from Nan Shao. If what Liu Qiye said was true, it is not difficult to know how dangerous the deserted island is now. According to him, he did not recommend Zhang Yi and his team to continue traveling west.

"It is not certain yet." Zhang Yi smiled bitterly. The sick ghost was not here, so he did not have too many concerns when talking about this matter. At first, they decided to accompany them to the northwest, just because they were worried about Li Muran, a girl, traveling thousands of miles with a tuberculosis patient at such a time, and on the other hand, they also wanted to report back to the sick ghost. As the sick ghost revealed more and more things, their ideas changed accordingly. This trip was no longer just for various personal reasons, but had to go.

They must know what the sick ghost is looking for, so as to determine whether what he said is imaginary or true, which will also determine how they will face the end of the world. No matter how weak the ant is, it still has to swing its ant claws before being crushed to death, let alone a human.

Qiao Yong frowned, but did not persuade him. He only knew a little about the reason why Zhang Yi and others went to the northwest, but no one, including Shi Pengsan, had mentioned the content related to the end of the world that the sick ghost said. It sounds absurd, but it is secondary. The most important thing is that even if it is said, it will not be of any use except to make one more person worried and desperate.

Qiao Yong knew nothing about this, but he believed that Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were not young and energetic boys. At this time, they knew that the road ahead was dangerous, but they still wanted to go. Naturally, there was a reason why they had to go, so why bother to say more.

So, Zhang Yi and Nan Shao went to Liu Qiye's house for dinner and told him that most of the people in the team wanted to stay in Sanjia Village.

Liu Qiye readily agreed to this. The truth of the beastman transformation could not be verified in a short period of time. He was originally unsure, but the presence of Qiao Yong and others immediately dispelled his doubts.

Chapter 295: The Beast Transformed into a Human (11)

The next day, Zhang Yi and his companions finished their short rest and left Sanjia Village. There were more than a hundred people when they came, but only a few were left when they left.

When they left, many people came to see them off, but most of them were speechless. They had said everything they needed to say last night. What else was there to say except taking care? Only Master Liu Qi held Zhang Yi's hand and kept repeating along the way, asking them to come back to Sanjia Village after they finished their business, and it would be best if they could settle down here. His attitude was so intimate that it was completely different from the day they first came.

Perhaps it was because Zhang Yi's gentleness and steadiness were always more popular in the eyes of older people. At least when it came to Nan Shao, Master Liu Qi's attitude was much colder.

"Are you really not going with us?" Shen Chi looked at Shi Pengsan and asked. After all, they came from Longren together, and their friendship was deeper than others, so he asked this question.

"No." Shi Pengsan shook his head, his words were as concise as ever. There is no weakling on Zhang Yi's side. Even the little guy Zhang Ruiyang is smarter and more ferocious than ordinary adults. It doesn't matter if he is missing. But it's different in Sanjia Village. Here, people from three parties are combined. They are still in the process of getting used to each other. If they are not careful, there may be trouble, or even conflicts with local people. He can help Qiao Yong suppress it by staying here.

Shen Chi is a free and easy person. He didn't persuade them much. He waved his hand and got in the car first.

Shi Pengsan turned his head to look at Zhang Yi and the others, "Let me know if there is confirmed news." He was referring to what the sick ghost said.

Zhang Yi nodded. With Li Muran here, it is still very convenient to pass on the news.

"Muran, come visit often." Qiao Yong said to Li Muran with a smile.

Everyone smiled, and the atmosphere that was originally a little dull because of the separation suddenly relaxed. Li Muran felt that there was no problem at all, and agreed repeatedly. His parting sentiment was not as strong as others.

Nan Shao was about to get on the bus, but he accidentally glanced at Nan Wei standing behind the crowd. He paused and stood up straight again.

"Nan Wei." He called.

Nan Wei was stunned and hesitated. He didn't know whether he should go forward, but the crowd who reacted to the shout had already made a way in front of him, so he couldn't insist on standing there.

"Brother...be careful." He walked closer, stammered, looked at the ground, and said in a low voice.

Looking at this young man who no longer had the arrogance of the past, his delicate facial features seemed to have dimmed. Nan Shao's heart was calm, and he just said lightly: "You can choose one of the things I taught you to practice. If you want to live, you have to become stronger yourself." He was referring to the two skills taught by the sick ghost. They didn't keep it secret. Whether it was the people of Ronghe or the people in the gym, or even the people of Jin Mantang who joined later, they were all popularized. As for whether to believe it or not, it's up to the individual.

"Yeah." Nan Wei nodded heavily, his eyes red. He knew that Nan Shao should have forgiven him, but the two brothers could never go back to the way they were before. He couldn't tell whether this was what he wanted, but he felt very uncomfortable and reluctant. But he was no longer as reckless as before, showing his emotions on his face, and he learned to keep all these in his heart.

Nan Shao reached out and patted the boy's shoulder heavily, said no more, and turned away. But his actions clearly told the others who stayed in Sanjia Village that he still recognized this brother, and for his sake, they would still take care of Nan Wei, who had low martial arts value. Of course, everything still depends on himself in the end. After all, if he doesn't show up here for a long time, his face will not last long.

Nan Wei still lowered his head, but there were drops of water falling on his face, falling on the muddy snow.

Zhang Yi looked at this scene and didn't say anything. He just said goodbye to everyone, stuffed Zhang Ruiyang into the back seat of the car, and sat in the passenger seat.

After leaving the house, Zhang Ruiyang had been trying hard to find his two friends in the crowd, but he didn't see Ge Ayi and Huo Rui until he was taken into the car. Only the children from Sanjia Village came and crowded there to wave goodbye to him. The little guy was a little disappointed. After getting on the car, he still turned around unwillingly and knelt on the back seat to look out.

"Why didn't Ge Ayi and Huo Rui come?" He muttered. He really couldn't call the small Ge Ayi brother, and calling him brother would make him angry, so he just called his name directly. "Dad, I want to say goodbye to Ge Ayi and Huo Rui."

Zhang Yi glanced outside and keenly caught the two children hiding behind the coal pile not far away and peeking at this side quietly. He sighed silently, shook his head and said, "There is no time, we have to hurry." Obviously, the two boys didn't want to come, so there was no need to force them.

"Oh." Zhang Ruiyang was unhappy, still kneeling on the back of the chair. After thinking for a while, he turned around and asked, "Dad, will we come back?"

Zhang Yi was silent for a moment before answering, "I don't know." This matter is indeed uncertain. Maybe they will return along the same route, or maybe something else will happen, causing them to have to go in another direction.

Zhang Ruiyang calmed down, but just refused to sit down. The car started, and slowly drove out of the open gate under the farewell gaze of everyone.

When the gate of the base was closed again, people dispersed, and the two children, one tall and one short, who were hiding behind the coal pile, retracted their heads and sat down on the snow with their heads down.

"Why don't you go and send them off?" Huo Rui asked.

"What do you care! What are you following me for?" Ge Ayi asked back in a bad mood.

Huo Rui pouted and said nothing.

"Damn it, he left without telling me, and I played with him for nothing." Ge Ayi couldn't help but scold.

Huo Rui was speechless.

——After

meeting up with the people waiting outside the village, they left the two trucks carrying supplies and the tanker truck in place and set out on their journey again. As for the two trucks, Qiao Yong and others would come to pick them up later, as agreed last night.

They only brought enough supplies for two or three days and filled a few barrels of gasoline, and they would just search while walking. There was no large survivor base in this area, and with Li Muran there, it was not difficult to find supplies.

With a hundred fewer people, the pace of progress was much slower, but everyone no longer had to take care of the weak in the team all the time, and they felt a lot more relaxed.

Sanjia Village was already the border of Qinzhou. Under normal circumstances, it would take another four or five hours to go west and enter Baixia Province. But now the mutant plant forest blocked the road, and the snow was thick, not to mention the mutant beasts and zombies that popped up from time to time, so the time spent on the journey increased by more than ten times.

While they were on their way, Song Yan seemed to be busy with something. He met with Li Muran every evening, stayed for a while, and then drove him back to the convoy. Li Muran was a little confused and a little worried. It was not until the third day that he asked her to remind the convoy that something was following them.

It had been following the convoy since they left Sanjia Village.

"The time when you felt dangerous. It was that guy." When Li Muran asked what it was, he only gave this sentence and then said nothing.

Li Muran just thought that he was impatient to say it, but he didn't know that he had been tracking it for a few days and didn't see any trace of that thing at all. Naturally, there was nothing to say. At the same time, he felt embarrassed and didn't want to talk about it.

But in the next few days, nothing happened, except that the frequency of mutant beasts appeared was higher than that of the road before Sanjia Village. However, it was only slightly higher and not enough to pose a threat to them. Li Muran used his mental power to explore from time to time, but also found nothing. But since Song Yan issued a warning, everyone still dared not be careless.

Baixia is in sight. The terrain of the mountains and rivers has gradually changed from the thick and simple east of Qinzhou to the rugged and majestic. The types of mutant plants have also changed greatly. The tall and towering mutant plants are decreasing, and there are more low plants like shrubs. In the empty space without these shrubs, there are black mosses close to the ground. These mosses secrete highly corrosive mucus and are not afraid of fire, which has a great impact on driving. Fortunately, covering them with soil can isolate their corrosion, otherwise it would take a lot of effort to dig them out bit by bit.

At noon that day, the convoy stopped.

In front of it is a large canyon, with a huge suspension bridge spanning it, connecting the two sides of the continuous and majestic black mountains. Under the bridge is a frozen river, and the shape of the ice waves can still make people feel its former surging and roaring momentum.

Qinzhou and Baixia are separated here, but the reason why the convoy stopped is not this, but because there are two completely different climates separated by a bridge. One side was covered with snow and overgrown plants, but the other side had no trace of snow. It was still the same as before the end of the world, desolate and dry, and even the mutant plants were sparse.

This was something that everyone had not heard from Liu Qiye, so when they saw it for the first time, they were a little surprised. Even the sick ghost who always cared about nothing got out of the car, looked at the other side of the canyon, and his fingers were quickly calculating something.

However, they did not stay for long. No matter who encountered such a strange phenomenon, they would not miss it and would definitely go over to find out what was going on. Besides, they were going to cross the bridge anyway.

The suspension bridge was about four or five hundred meters long. There were some crooked and rusty cars on the bridge, but there were not many of them and it did not affect traffic. The mutant plants did not invade this place, and it was a little unusual to see it without any obstruction. There was

still snow on the bridge, but after crossing the bridge, the temperature rose sharply, and everyone had to take off their thick coats.

"There is no sun either, how could this be?" More than one person had this question in mind, and at the same time, they could not help but hope that the sun could be seen here, but it was blocked by the dark clouds. If this is the case, then perhaps the human base will move here.

"Before the apocalypse, this place was very hot, with little rain and frequent droughts. It was the poorest province in the country. Now the temperature is higher than other places, so it should be normal." Lou Nan, who had been to Baixia more than once, said, but his tone was not so sure. After all, they have traveled to many places after the apocalypse, from the imperial capital through several provinces to Yunzhou, and then from Yunzhou to Qinzhou. No matter what the climate was like before the apocalypse, it is now covered with heavy snow and can freeze people to death. Only Baixia is different. Although the temperature cannot be compared with that before the apocalypse, it is at least more than ten degrees.

No one answered, because no one was sure what the situation in Baixia was.

If it was in peacetime, such a situation would only make people feel novel and interesting, and increase people's desire to explore, but in the apocalypse, any abnormality would make people feel uneasy, even if it seemed to be harmless at first glance, and it might even be a good thing.

After entering the territory of Baixia, the speed of the car obviously increased. One reason is that there is no snow blocking the road, the other is that there are not many mutant plants, and another reason is that there are almost no abandoned vehicles on the road, only some broken tires, seat decorations and other items are occasionally seen scattered around. Because of the different climates, the first two phenomena are barely justifiable, but the last one is a bit puzzling. With the rapid development of the country, even if Baixia is poor, the number of vehicles on the road cannot be counted on one's fingers, not to mention that the province was vigorously developing tourism before the end of the world, and it is also a must-go province to go to the deserted continent, so there must be a lot of cars. So where did they go? Could it be that the survivor base of Baixia recycled all these cars? But the workload is too much.

Chapter 296: The Transformation of Beasts into Humans (12)

With such doubts in mind, the convoy did not blindly speed up just because the road was easy to travel, but instead, they moved at a normal speed with a cautious attitude. However, even so, it was not as good as the stop-and-go road they had been in before. Although

Baixia was remote, one could still see some scattered zombies wandering on the road from time to time, which did not affect driving. Only this road, where no living people could be seen, could make everyone feel that they were still in the end of the world.

They passed two small towns along the way. There were not many zombies, but they were in a very dilapidated state. Not only were there no traces of cars, but the houses looked like they had been dismantled. Most of the doors and windows were gone, like a big black hole, and the sound of a few rags and flags fluttering in the wind was as creepy as it could be.

"This place is too clean," Shen Chi sighed, feeling indescribably weird. After all, it was too rare to see a single living person in a place with few zombies and mutant creatures. "Is there a shelter nearby?" Apart from this answer, he couldn't think of any other reason to explain what they saw.

"I haven't seen it yet." Li Muran shook her head and replied. The search range of her mental power was very wide. If she didn't see it, then it probably didn't exist.

"Did you find anything unusual?" Shen Chi asked again. There didn't seem to be many mutant beasts in Baixia. He hadn't encountered any since he crossed the bridge.

"Most places are similar to what we saw on the way here." In fact, without his reminder, Li Muran had already scanned all the places she could explore. "But not all towns have been cleaned up so cleanly. There are still many zombies and vehicles in some places."

Hearing her say this, everyone felt a little relieved. They guessed that these two towns were located near the main traffic artery, and there were many survivors passing by, so they became like this. However, even so, they didn't plan to stay in the city overnight. When walking in the end of the world, any abnormality cannot be ignored. This is a lesson learned at the cost of life.

More than 20 kilometers out of the city, there were no houses on both sides of the road, and the land was filled with yellow earth mixed with red and white gravel. The wind-eroded gullies stretched across the land like wrinkles on an old man's face. The strong winds filled the sky with dust, and before long, a layer of loess covered the windshield.

When huge earth mountains of various shapes appeared on both sides of the road, everyone who had never been to Baixia was shocked. Even though Li Muran had detected it with his mental power before, the shock he felt when he was there was different.

The smallest of these earthen hills has a diameter of 20 to 30 meters, while the largest ones are hundreds of meters. Some are like a single person, with a desolate figure, as if lamenting the cruelty of heaven and earth, and the destruction of his country and his family; some are like Bodhi trees sitting on lotus, with kind eyes and compassion for all living beings; some are like standing elephants, some are like walking camels, some are like roaring wolves, and some are like lying sculptures on platforms; and some are just a huge square mound, hundreds of meters long, hundreds of meters wide, and hundreds of meters high, with layer upon layer of mixed colors. If the sun shines on it, it will be dazzling.

"This is the most famous group of Yadans in Baixia. This one covers an area of ​​about 60 square kilometers. In Baixia, Yadans can be seen everywhere. The largest group of Yadans is in Nubai City, covering an area of ​​more than 300 square kilometers. The shapes of the Yadans are similar, and it is easy to get lost. In addition, when the wind blows, it is like a group of ghosts crying, so it is called the city of a hundred ghosts." Lou Nan introduced casually, and at the end he couldn't help but sighed: "Even though I have seen it more than once, I still want to praise God now. This is a masterpiece of nature, this momentum, it really makes people want to roar!"

His words were rough, but everyone in the car felt the same. In the big bus behind, except for the sick ghost who was always calm and still closed his eyes and had no reaction, even Leng Fengchen showed surprise in his eyes, not to mention Zhang Ruiyang who was curious about everything. The little guy almost put his face on the glass of the car window, staring outside with wide eyes, exclaiming from time to time, and occasionally stretched out his short hands to pull Zhang Yi without looking back, sharing the various animal shapes he saw.

However, it was getting dark, and finding a place that was easy to defend and evacuate to spend the night became a top priority. Except for Zhang Ruiyang, who didn't have to worry about anything, everyone else quickly put away their travel mood. However, before they found a suitable place, Li Muran issued a warning.

"There is a mutant zombie approaching us. At our current speed, we will hit it in two minutes." She frowned slightly because she couldn't judge the direction of the zombie's mutation.

"Don't stop, just hit it." Shen Chi made a decision quickly, and leaned out of the window to remind the car behind to pay attention to the situation.

Although the people in the car were on guard, they were generally in a relaxed mood. After all, their strength was there. If a mutant zombie made them panic, then there was no need to go on the road behind. It would be better to find a pit to bury themselves first.

However, just after they collided with the mutant zombie that was rushing straight at them, Li Muran sent warnings one after another.

"There is a mutant bull beast running towards us about three kilometers to the left. Five kilometers behind, there are more than a dozen mutant wolves chasing us. There is a mutant leopard on the right..." They seemed to be surrounded. A trace of doubt appeared in Li Muran's eyes. It was not that she had not discovered these mutant beasts before, but that these mutant beasts were originally wandering aimlessly for food. Because they were far away, they did not pose a threat to the convoy, so she did not notify others. Who knew that just now, they seemed to suddenly realize the existence of the convoy at the same time and began to chase us. This scene was weird no matter how you look at it.

Bang! With a muffled sound, the mutant zombie was not knocked away as expected, but instead lay on the roof like a spider, and at the same time, there was a series of bubbles bursting. Li Muran's words stopped abruptly.

"Fuck! Follow me from the third, and make a quick decision!" Shen Chi cursed and roared, then took the lead in opening the car window and prepared to climb onto the roof. It was almost dark at this time, and everyone knew how troublesome it would be if they were entangled.

"Why don't I just take everyone to move." Li Muran suggested. Faintly, she always had a bad feeling.

"It's not necessary for the time being. You can first see where there is a place suitable for defense and overnight stay, and then keep an eye on the surrounding situation." Shen Chi answered in a slightly hurried tone. Li Muran's ability can save lives, and it is limited in the number of times. Generally, they are reluctant to use it easily unless they have to, so as not to be unable to use it when they really need it.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw a turbid liquid like pus and blood sliding down from the roof of the car, and a foul smell rushed into his nose, and his mind couldn't help but be dazed.

Squeak - the wheels rubbed against the ground with a harsh sound. The people in the car were not prepared for this accident, and they were thrown forward one by one, either hitting the windshield or being thrown onto the back of the front seat, falling into a ball.

"Fuck..." Shen Chi had already stood up, and he was the one who fell the hardest, and there was blood on his face. He wanted to scold the driver for driving, but after uttering a word, he found that the muscles controlling his throat seemed to be out of control. His face changed slightly and he was about to stand up, but he was forced to give up the plan the next moment. His muscles were loose and weak. Not to mention standing, even moving his fingers was difficult. He didn't even know when and how he was hit. This time he was caught in an inexplicable way.

In fact, it was not just him. Cong San, Lou Nan, Li Muran and the driver in the car all had the same problem. What was even more desperate was that when Li Muran planned to ignore everything and take everyone away first, he found that he couldn't gather his superpowers and couldn't use them at all. Everyone in the car couldn't use their superpowers.

It's bad! At that moment, everyone couldn't help but have this thought in their minds.

As soon as this thought came up, a head with a sunken left cheek and white bones appeared upside down outside the open car window. Shen Chi, who was closest to the window, felt his neck tighten and his upper body was pulled out. A big, smelly mouth dripping with pus bit him. Everyone in the car was horrified, but they could do nothing.

Shen Chi closed his eyes helplessly. He was not too scared, but he felt a little regretful. He regretted that he could not see the blue sky again before he died.

However, after waiting for a while, the expected pain did not come, but a sticky and thick liquid dripped on his face, causing bursts of burning pain like sulfuric acid. He opened his eyes, and the disgusting and terrifying zombie head was gone, leaving only a stump-like neck, dripping with dark brown and rancid liquid.

Shen Chi breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously, and before he had time to feel sick, he felt a force that was neither light nor heavy hit his back, and his body flew up and returned to the car again. But the angle was wrong, and he couldn't even turn his head. He didn't know who did it until a low curse came into his ears. After

Yuan Jinshu dealt with the mutant zombie and kicked Shen Chi into the car, he was about to turn around and leave, but he felt his feet go soft and knew that he was also hit.

In fact, when Shen Chi and his car were attacked by mutant zombies and rushed out of the road, several people in the armored vehicle behind jumped down and chased after them, trying to rescue them. Who knew that before they got close, they fell down inexplicably. The sick ghost sitting on the bus glanced at Yuan Jinshu, and Yuan Jinshu had to take action to save Shen Chi in time.

Yuan Jinshu was not stupid. After seeing the people in front of him get into trouble for no reason, he knew that the zombie might have some special abilities. According to his heart, he definitely didn't want to take risks for these people who had nothing to do with him, but unfortunately he had no choice. So, when he went, he not only used his fastest body skills to kill the mutant zombies and save people in the shortest time, but also held his breath tightly to prevent possible toxic substances in the air.

To his surprise, the mutant zombie was not tricky, had weak attack power, and was quite easy to kill. But it was also unexpected that even if he paid more attention, he was still caught. You know, when killing zombies, except for the sword, he didn't let himself have any contact with the zombies, including being touched by the body fluids splashed out. He didn't feel any mental impact.

So what was the reason? Before falling, he was still thinking about this question.

Anyone who approached Shen Chi's car was annihilated. Even Yuan Jinshu, who had chased Song Yan and others and made them flee in panic, could not escape. Everyone who had just gotten out of the car and was rushing over there could not help but stop, not daring to approach rashly without knowing the situation. There were only more than 50 of them in total, and the number of people who fell in front of them was enough to break their bones, not to mention that there was a greater danger approaching.

"You stay here, I'll go over and take a look." At this time, Nan Shao took the initiative to stand up and said.

No one objected. Everyone knew that in this strange situation, if there was anyone present who could get through it, apart from the unpredictable sick ghost, it would probably be Nan Shao. If even Nan Shao couldn't handle it, then the others who went over would probably be dead.

Chapter 297: The Beast Transformed into a Human (13)

Zhang Yi was about to speak, but finally just grabbed Nan Shao's hand and squeezed it gently, saying nothing. Time was running out, and there was no room for hesitation.

Nan Shao did not go over immediately, but first concentrated his supernatural power on his eyes, and after confirming that the mutant zombie was dead and there was no other danger around, he took a step and slowly walked over there. As he walked, he paid attention to the changes in the surrounding environment, the smell of the air, and the feeling of his body.

When he was about two meters in front of the first fallen soldier, the hair on his body suddenly stood up, and it seemed that something was invading his respiratory tract and exposed skin. He hurriedly took two steps back, but the feeling did not disappear. Instead, it was like a thorn in his flesh, and his supernatural power could not stop it from invading.

"Don't come over, it's poisonous!" Nan Shao quickly spit out these words before he could speak, and then slowly sat down on the spot.

Zhang Yi's face changed slightly. He clenched his fists and forcibly restrained the urge to move forward. He tried to calm himself down, thinking quickly, and thinking about solutions. Time is running out. As Li Muran said, there are several waves of mutant beasts coming soon. They can't just leave the poisoned people alone and leave. So detoxification is secondary. The most important thing right now is to find a way to take the people away, or protect them from harm.

However, if you can't get close, how can you take them away and protect them?

Just when everyone was at a loss, the sick ghost separated the crowd and walked out.

"Don't go over there, it's poisonous." Zhang Yi noticed and shouted subconsciously.

Not only him, but several others also reminded him at the same time.

Unexpectedly, the sick ghost turned a deaf ear to him and walked straight to Nan Shao, who was already a little impatient. He stretched out his hand to grab his shoulder, stood there for a moment, as if sensing something, and then turned back to say to everyone: "It's not poisonous, just a smell that paralyzes the whole body... It's contagious, don't come over." Having said that, he rested for a while, coughed twice, and then continued in the anxious and concerned eyes of everyone: "It's not fatal, it will get better after a while." Hearing

this, everyone else couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but then a sense of urgency surged in their hearts again, because there were mutant beasts approaching from the other three sides. They couldn't just let Nan Shao and others lie there like this, right? Now the only one they can count on seems to be the sick ghost in front of them, but looking at his frail body, they all felt a little reluctant to ask.

The sick ghost obviously knew this. He looked up at the sky and said calmly, "We can't go on. You... ahem... decide on a place to camp. I'll send the people over." With this delay, according to Li Muran's previous observations, the mutant beasts from the other three parties should have caught up with them. They couldn't travel at night, especially after losing Li Muran's "eyes". So the sooner they set up camp and built defense facilities, the better it would be for them.

"Let's go over there." A man pointed to the wind-eroded mound they had just marveled at not far away and said.

There were intricate gullies between the huge mounds of strange shapes. The narrow part was only wide enough for people to pass through, and the wide part was like a road. The place the man pointed to was not in the gully, but on the leeward side of a fortress-like mound, which was an irregular concave shape. If defenses were set up there, at least two sides would not have to worry about being attacked. The most important thing was that there was a narrow gap deep into the mound, which could allow Shen Chi and others who currently needed protection but had to stay at a distance to stay there.

The sick ghost probably thought that place was good too. Without waiting for others to respond, he picked up Nan Shao and the soldier closest to him and walked towards Shen Chi and his car. What made people feel uncomfortable was that he looked weak, but he was carrying two big men with an average weight of no less than 70 kilograms without any effort. Except for occasionally stopping to cough, he was just as lazy and careless as when he had nothing in his hands. No one else present could do this.

As everyone was stunned, a strange cry suddenly came into their ears, scaring them. They turned around subconsciously and saw that the big donkey, which seemed to not eat like its owner but looked sleek and shiny, had come to the back without knowing when.

Da Qing pushed aside the people in front of him, and before everyone could react, he chased after the sick ghost. When he passed by two soldiers that the sick ghost could not take care of for the time being, he bit their clothes with his big white teeth, and threw his head handsomely, throwing them onto his back twice, and then turned back and grinned, glancing at the stupid people standing there like a sneer, and then continued to follow the sick ghost.

Everyone smiled bitterly. Not only the sick ghost, but even a donkey was stronger than them. What a big deal. Although they thought so, they were still glad. No matter what, the situation in front of them was not unsolvable, and they didn't have to sacrifice more people.

At this time, the sick ghost, who had already walked to the side of the accident car, put Nan Shao and the other two on the ground, and began to pick up the corpses of the zombies still lying on the roof of the car, as well as the head that Yuan Jinshu had cut off and fell to the ground. Others did not dare to delay any longer, and hurried back to the car and drove to the designated location first. However, they did not drive near the accident vehicle, but made a circle to avoid accident again.

Leng Fengchen, who had never gotten out of the car, looked at the corpse of the mutant zombie that was set on fire by the sick ghost from a distance. He had the urge to go up and study it, but he finally held back. He was sure that if something happened to him, the sick ghost and the cunning donkey would either ignore him or use it as a reward for his bringing Daqing back, and then they would be even. He probably couldn't follow them closely in the future. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally suppressed his overly strong curiosity and stayed in the car honestly.

Zhang Yi was a little worried about Nan Shao, but he couldn't do anything, so he could only try not to make trouble. Zhang Ruiyang roughly understood what happened, and didn't ask any questions. He just pulled Zhang Yi's clothes nervously and kept looking back at Nan Shao.

What comforted everyone's uneasy hearts was that the sick ghost quickly dealt with the corpse of the mutant zombie, stuffed all the collapsed people into the car, and put them on the roof of the car if there was no room in the car, and then drove to catch up. Daqing ran after him.

He could actually drive! After a while, everyone suddenly realized this and instantly felt an indescribable strange feeling. Perhaps the words and deeds of the sick ghost had subconsciously made people think of him as an ancient person, a Taoist monk, or a person from another world, so they were surprised that he could drive. But if you think about it carefully, you will find that if he is really as he said, he is of the same status as the "god" who treats the earth as a toy, then it is not surprising that he can learn to drive in a short time with his ability.

However, these are minor details and there is no need to waste energy on them. In a blink of an eye, the scheduled camping site is approaching, and people can gradually see the specific situation inside the crack that divides the castle-like mound into two.

The entrance is the widest, with enough space for two people to pass side by side. It becomes narrower and narrower as you go in. It is more than 50 meters long and deep. It does not run through the entire mound, and there is no fork, so it is just a one-way exit.

There were the most earth-type superpowers in the team, so no one needed to arrange them. After a brief discussion, the twenty or so people gathered together and divided into three teams. Two teams built earth walls on both sides of the crack, leaving only the one facing the crack, and then closed it after the sick ghost drove the car in. The other team erected half-human-high earth spikes within a hundred meters outside the defense wall, not to stop the enemy, but to reduce the speed of the upcoming mutant bull beast. Without the powerful momentum generated by the speed, the danger of the mutant bull beast would directly drop by one level.

However, before they could build the defense facilities, the huge figure of the mutant bull beast had already appeared in everyone's sight.

"Retreat to the protective wall and prepare for battle!" The person who replaced Shen Chi and others to exercise the command function was a man named Zhou Hui. In order to prevent the chaotic situation of no leader and each doing their own thing under unexpected circumstances, their department had a provision that in special circumstances, the leader could be determined according to level and length of service. That is, when the first person in charge is unable to exercise command responsibilities due to death, disappearance or other reasons, the person with the highest rank on the scene will take over the command, and so on. If the rank is equal, the one with the longest service will be the leader. Until the last person.

So after Shen Chi fell from the three men on the third floor, Zhou Hui, who had the highest rank on the scene, took over the baton very consciously. Although Shen Chi would discuss many things with Nan Shao and Zhang Yi when he was there, they were outsiders after all and did not have the qualifications to directly command the people from Ruzhou.

One mutant bull beast was not enough to threaten the entire convoy, even if the team had lost more than ten people. But if there were more than a dozen mutant wolves that were good at group attacks and a mutant leopard that would quietly peek in the dark and wait for an opportunity to attack, even if they could handle it, they had to be careful. Therefore, if possible, the best way was to deal with the mutant bull beast before the mutant wolves and mutant leopards arrived.

Zhou Hui also thought so, so after all the people were called back, he began to make arrangements.

"The mutant bull is not difficult to deal with. What we need to guard against is that it may have superpowers. It is too late to make assumptions now. Everyone, please be careful." Seeing the mutant bull rushing towards this side without any pause, he quickly explained, and then decisively directed: "Earth-type superpowers are divided into groups of two, responsible for slowing down its sprint speed. If there is spare power, try to trap it. Remember to work in groups and relay, and don't waste superpowers." As

soon as the voice fell, the earth-type superpowers in the team began to automatically form teams. And the mutant bull was also running towards them with a rumble.

Zhou Hui hurriedly made arrangements: "Once the mutant bull is trapped, Li Shi, you will immediately attack with flames to test the attack. If it works, other fire-type superpowers will attack at the same time, and make sure to succeed in one strike. If the effect is not obvious, Long Zhan, you will attack again!" Long Zhan is the only thunder-type superpower in the team, and can attack from a distance like the fire-type superpowers.

As he spoke, the mutant bull had already rushed within a hundred meters, and because of the earth spikes that were laid before, the speed was slightly slowed down. The earth-type psychics are already prepared, and will attack immediately once it enters the attack range.

"After Long Zhan makes his move, Bai Fei, you take Xue Bin over immediately. No matter if the bull lives or dies, you must chop off its head!" Bai Fei is a wind-type psychic, and Xue Bin is a gold-type psychic. One is swift and erratic, and the other is sharp and unstoppable. The two of them rarely fail as a team.

Even so, in order to prevent any problems, Zhou Hui made some other arrangements. On the surface, it seems to be a well-planned plan, but from another perspective, it reveals his uneasiness.

The author has something to say: half of Chapter 295 and all of Chapter 296, starting from the time they left Sanjia Village, have been rewritten. Friends who are still waiting can go back and read it to avoid missing the connection.

Chapter 298: The Beast Transforms into a Human (14)

Yes, it was uneasy. Zhou Hui clenched his weapon tightly and looked at the mutant bull beast that was constantly blocked by the earth wall and pillars, constantly breaking through the wall and pillars, and constantly being blocked, thus becoming more and more irritable. In his heart, he was carefully thinking about what happened today. For some reason, he felt that there seemed to be a hand controlling everything in the dark.

In fact, it was not only him, but Zhang Yi also had this feeling. However, everyone had already made all the preparations that could be made, so he did not say his worries to add trouble. He just brought his son to his side and tried to get closer to the crack where Nan Shao and the others were.

The sky was full of sand and dust. Even if the terrifying impact force of the mutant bull beast was limited, it was still not easy for the earth-type mutants to deal with. Even though the earth wall and pillars in front of it were broken and regenerated, it was still approaching everyone step by step.

Li Shi did not dare to wait for it to be completely trapped. A concentrated high-temperature white fireball flew out, which did not lose its accuracy across the earth wall and landed right on the back of the mutant bull.

A shrill howl went straight into the sky, causing the mutant wolves and leopards rushing over to this side to pause. As for the people nearby, their eardrums were rumbling and their heads were dizzy. It was obvious that the fireball caused a lot of damage. The fire-type psychics who had already prepared for the attack did not delay at all. They attacked in no particular order, and more than a dozen fireballs were smashed out at the same time, forming a sea of ​​fire.

The mutant bull beast was destroyed and burned into a pool of ashes, leaving no bones behind. It was easier than expected.

Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but they didn't relax. Considering that Li Muran's intelligence also included a group of mutant wolves and a mutant leopard, these two creatures were known for their flexibility and good at hiding, so Zhou Hui asked the earth-type psychics to continue to improve the defense wall and flatten the remaining earth pillars to avoid blind spots in sight and being taken advantage of by them.

Not long after, the mutant wolves appeared between the huge yardangs, but they did not approach recklessly like the mutant cattle beasts. Instead, they scattered between the yardangs and on the gravel beach, watching from afar. As for the mutant leopard, there was no sign of it.

The more this happened, the more nervous everyone became. The mutant beasts were obviously evolving. From the beginning, they lost their minds and pounced on humans like zombies without caring about anything when they smelled human scent, to now they have a certain amount of wisdom and know how to judge the situation. Some of their pre-mutation habits even show signs of awakening, just like the wolf pack in front of them. In comparison, human evolution is still too slow.

"Continue to thicken the defense wall, and the water and ice ability users will pour ice on the wall." The defense wall has been completely closed. Zhou Hui stood on a high place, looked out for a moment, and turned back to shout.

With the number of mutant wolves, even if they don't build a defense wall, they can handle it with the current manpower. But if these wolves don't get close, they will have no choice. They can't chase them out to kill them. That was too risky. Without Li Muran's ability to detect, who knows if there are other mutant beasts targeting them besides the mutant wolves and mutant leopards. The strongest group of people in the team had already fallen before, and Zhou Hui, who was temporarily promoted to commander, had to be more cautious.

And the facts seemed to prove that his caution was very correct. Just as the ice-type mutant complained to him that the temperature in this place was too high and the newly condensed ice was melting, he heard thunder from the horizon. With the rolling sound of faint thunder, a dark cloud floated over from the distant sky that had begun to darken. The cloud was so low that it even touched the top of the Yadan group that had weathered into a strange shape.

"Fuck! What is that?" Someone exclaimed.

And a long howl came from the wolf pack that had begun to approach tentatively, and more than a dozen mutant wolves that were as strong as adult bulls turned their heads and ran away with their tails between their legs without warning. On the other side of the earthen mound that Zhang Yi and the others could not see, the mutant leopard, which was silently climbing up with its claws embedded in the soil, looked in the direction where the clouds were floating, and suddenly turned over and jumped, landing on the ground and quickly fled.

The dark cloud was very fast. It took only one or two minutes from being discovered to approaching so that the naked eye could barely distinguish the components inside it. It was too late to make any preparations at this time. Zhou Hui could only let everyone get as close to the wall of the mound as possible and shrink the defense range. At the same time, let the earth-type mutants hurry to dig holes in the wall of the mound. They were not used for the time being, but when the situation was critical, they could not guarantee that they would be effective.

During this period, the sick ghost came out of the crack and asked Zhang Yi to take custody of Zhang Ruiyang. Zhang Yi hesitated for a moment and let go. This was not the first time he had seen the magical power of the sick ghost. He knew very well that it would be safer for his son to follow the sick ghost than to follow himself.

Zhang Ruiyang was still young after all, and he didn't feel the impending danger that was about to happen. He followed the sick ghost into the rift in a daze, and then, without exception, he was affected by the breath of the people in the rift, and his whole body was paralyzed and limp. The sick ghost picked him up and put him next to Nan Shao.

Nan Shao couldn't even open his eyelids at this time, and could only feel someone approaching. His senses were still very sharp. He immediately determined that it was Zhang Ruiyang by the size of the body. He was immediately anxious, not knowing what happened to the little guy, and was even more worried about Zhang Yi's situation. But he couldn't even ask with his eyes, let alone say a word, and he was almost crazy. The

sick ghost noticed the rapidly trembling eyeballs under his eyelids, but he didn't say anything. He sat cross-legged next to him and waited quietly for things to develop.

"What the hell is that thing?" After finally seeing the nature of the dark cloud, someone lost his voice, with a hint of uncontrollable horror in his voice.

No one answered him, but everyone's expression was solemn. The earth-type superpowers only looked up once, then turned back to digging holes, but worked harder than before. Because they knew that they might be in trouble this time. They would live as long as they could.

The dark cloud was made up of thousands of mutant flying beasts, each of which was not small in size. The flesh wings were gray-brown with blood-colored lines, and were more than two meters wide when spread out. When flying, it seemed like lightning flashed in them. Under the flesh wings was an ugly body with many tentacles like an octopus. The head grew in the middle of the tentacles. It was very small and pointed, very similar to the head of a bird, but it had a pair of particularly large ears like trumpets.

The people had never encountered such a deformed flying beast before, and they had no idea about its habits. There were so many of them, so they could imagine the situation they were about to face.

However, what was coming would eventually come. In a blink of an eye, the group of strange birds and beasts had reached the top. With a flapping sound like wind and waves blowing through the treetops, they all turned and pounced down.

This time, the earth-type mutants were surrounded in the innermost part. They would not stop digging holes during the battle. As long as they could get through to the rift, some people would survive. As for the people in the rift, as long as the people outside were not all dead, they would never let a mutant flying beast break in from the exit. As for going from above, it was not easy considering the size of the mutant flying beast, and even if they got in, they had to consider the effect of the anesthetic smell left on Shen Chi and others. It was just unknown whether this smell had a big impact on the mutant beast.

In general, the people inside were much safer. So Zhang Yi completely let go. He knew very well that today's situation would either be everyone's death, or he would die and Nan Shao Yangyang would live, so he only needed to work hard to stop the mutant flying beast and keep himself alive.

The thoughts of the others were roughly the same. Because most people no longer had relatives in this world, and they had been wandering on the edge of life and death for a long time, in general, although the atmosphere was very tense at this time, there were not many emotions such as fear.

The war was about to break out, but surprisingly, the first batch of mutant birds did not attack humans, but directly pounced on the vehicles parked in the outer circle. Before everyone had time to be surprised by this sudden turn of events, after all the vehicles were covered by mutant birds, the remaining birds with nowhere to land finally pounced on them. Pounced on

the weapons in their hands!

By the time the first people who fought the mutant birds reacted, it was too late. The blades they had just swung out were like slashing at a tough metal material. Not only did they not cause any damage, but they were completely wrapped by the tentacles of the monster birds, and even their wrists were entangled, so they had to let go of their hands and give up their weapons.

There was also a gold-type psychic who used his superpowers at the beginning, and was directly targeted by several mutant birds, who wrapped him tightly from head to toe. Fortunately, Zhang Yi, who happened to be standing next to him, reacted quickly and grabbed the head of the mutant bird that was wrapped around his head and pulled it off, saving him from suffocation. People nearby also hurried to help. After all the mutant birds were pulled off his body, the gold-type psychic's body had become bumpy and bloody, and he could only be dragged to the back and handed over to the healing psychic.

"These things like metal, gold-type people should not use their superpowers." Zhang Yi warned in a hurry. The knife in his hand had also been taken away, and at this time he could only fight the mutant birds with his bare hands.

In fact, it was not just him. Many people discovered this problem, so the way of fighting changed all of a sudden. Of course, they had to change. The weapons in everyone's hands were all made of metal. When they were taken away, they could not find anything else to replace them. There was nothing else they could do except fight with bare hands.

What was even more chilling was that the fire of the fire mutants had very limited damage to these mutant birds. The same was true for the water and wood mutants. As for the wind and speed mutants, they could not show their advantages in such a large-scale group attack. In the end, only the power mutants and ice and lightning mutants played the biggest role. However, there were very few such people in the entire team, and they could be counted on one hand.

The only thing that could be said to be lucky was that this mutant bird was not poisonous and its attack was very simple, which was to use those tentacles to entangle. Although the suction cups on the tentacles would secrete some liquid, the damage to people was limited and it would not kill people in a short time, so people could tear it apart directly and compete with it in strength. Unfortunately, they could only pull it off their bodies. It was not easy to kill it, not to mention that there were so many of them.

So for a while, no one died, but everyone didn't feel relieved at all. No one cared about anyone else, and even the earth-type supernaturalists who were still digging holes were implicated. At this time, it was not entirely a problem of lack of manpower, but this thing was simply a dog-skin plaster. Once it was stuck, it couldn't be shaken off. It was thick and didn't hurt or kill it. It was simply impossible to start. Just when

everyone was getting tired, there was a clang, and a car completely fell apart, and non-metallic objects such as tires, glass, and seat leather were all scattered on the ground. They finally understood why there were no cars on the road, but they could see some tire waste from time to time. However, this was just the beginning, and several more cars were reduced to rubble. The mutant birds that lost their adsorbents flew into the air one after another, circling around the periphery, as if waiting for an opportunity to rush towards the people who were being entangled. Some even started to rush towards the cracks, but fell to the ground halfway through the flight, which showed how powerful the anesthetic breath of the mutant zombies was.

However, the situation was even worse for the already helpless crowd. Apart from not suffocating themselves to death, they had no effective countermeasures. If this continued, they would either have their bones broken, or be suffocated to death, or be slowly corroded and rotted by the secretions, which were not very effective on the human body but still had an effect.

The largest bus finally couldn't hold out for too long, and it collapsed and broke into pieces. So Dudu, who had been sleeping on it and no one cared about, fell straight to the ground with several mutant birds attached to his body.

Bang! Dust flew, and the mutant birds were still tightly attached to Dudu, without any looseness.

I don't know if it was woken up by the fall or it was really annoying, but Dudu, who was shrunk like a stone, finally moved. The long thin legs stretched out, the head raised, the antennae moved, and the wings spread... well, they didn't spread.

Try harder! Still no response.

The big bug staggered a few steps and became irritable. It suddenly raised its head and let out a very piercing shriek.

At that moment, the entire battlefield fell silent. People's eardrums seemed to be hit by a sledgehammer, buzzing. They felt dizzy and almost unable to stand, as if they were drunk. Even worse were those mutant birds, which fell down like dumplings. Dudu

shook his back, and the strange birds clinging to him fell to the ground one after another. He finally spread his wings. However, one side of the wings was shining with golden light, while the other side seemed a little dim and tender, and seemed to be trembling slightly.

Dudu flew crookedly twice, and when he passed the gap, he glanced inside twice. Seeing the sick ghost sitting with his eyes closed, he couldn't help but shiver, and quickly flew away slyly, and began to torment the strange birds that caused him to wake up early.

The strange birds had already fallen down, and when they finally recovered, they managed to fly upside down and immediately fled in panic. Those who ran too late were immediately knocked to the ground by Dudu, who had already flown well.

It was true that there was always someone who could defeat someone else. Seeing this scene, the people who gradually recovered and thought about the difficult battle before could not help but smile bitterly at each other. But they had to be thankful that Dudu was there, otherwise they would have been wiped out today. However, when they began to count the casualties, cold sweats suddenly flowed down.

Everyone was injured to varying degrees, which was expected. It was nothing. As long as they were still alive, they could survive with their current physical condition, not to mention the healing psychic. What frightened them was that five people were missing, including Zhang Yi.

Countless possibilities flashed through their minds for a while, and in the end the only thing they could be sure of was that the five people should not have been eaten by the mutant strange birds. After all, they had just dealt with them before, and they knew that those birds were obviously not interested in anything other than metal objects. As for the fact that they would attack humans, it was probably because of the inherent evil intentions and malice towards humans in the mutant beasts.

So where did the humans go?

Chapter 299: The Beast Transformed into a Human (15)

It was dark.

The danger had passed, and the defense wall that had been built earlier was not damaged. The earth-type psychic continued to expand the hole in the wall of the mound, while the others collected the tires, chair leather and cushions, and travel supplies that had rolled everywhere, and used them for the night.

Fortunately, the loss of supplies was not large this time, so there was no need to worry about going hungry. However, no one was happy.

Five people were missing, and their lives and deaths were unknown. Even though the wind-type psychic in the team had searched the surrounding area before it was completely dark, no trace was found. Now they could only hope that Li Muran would provide some clues after the poison wore off.

Dinner was tasteless, but they had to eat it, after all, no one knew if there would be more danger. The waiting time was extremely painful, but for them, the most correct thing to do at the moment was to wait, rather than breaking up the team and diving into the darkness to search aimlessly.

This matter made people shudder when they thought about it. It can be speculated that the time when the few people disappeared was when the entire team was attacked by the mutant bird. But being able to do it so cleanly, leaving no clues afterwards, and avoiding the attack of the strange bird, this is not something that ordinary mutants or zombies can do.

Everyone couldn't help but think of the warning that Song Yan brought to them through Li Muran's mouth, and naturally linked the two together. If it was done by something that even Li Muran couldn't detect and Song Yan couldn't catch, then it would make sense, but it was not good news, because it meant that it might not be so easy to find the missing person.

At almost eight o'clock, when some people who were not on night duty had already crawled into the earth cave to prepare for sleep, someone finally came out of the cracks in the mound.

Nan Shao.

Seeing that it was him, everyone didn't feel relieved, but instead felt a tightness in their hearts and their scalps began to numb. Even the previously majestic Dudu shrank his neck, burrowed into the earth cave, and quickly hid himself.

Nan Shao moved his somewhat stiff body while casually scanning the crowd. Not finding the person he was looking for, he paused and scanned again carefully.

Indeed, there was no one. He pursed his lips slightly, but since some people were not there, he did not think too badly. He noticed the earth hole on the wall of the pier, but did not think of asking others, but planned to go into the hole to take a look.

"Nan Shao." Zhou Hui finally couldn't help but called him. "Zhang Yi is missing. Not only him, but also..."

Nan Shao only heard the first sentence, and the rest became meaningless notes. A trace of confusion appeared on his face, as if he had heard an extremely absurd topic.

"What did you say?" He asked softly, with real confusion in his eyes, and no other emotions.

The more he did this, the more nervous everyone felt. Zhou Hui gritted his teeth and narrated what had happened before. It seemed that he was afraid that he could not hear clearly, and seemed to be afraid that he was too excited, so he deliberately slowed down his speech and pronounced each word clearly.

"Don't say it, look..." Before Zhou Hui finished speaking, someone next to him secretly pulled his clothes and said in a low voice.

Zhou Hui looked at Nan Shao's hand in the direction of his eyes, and found that it had turned into two dark ant feet with serrations at some point, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Others noticed it, too. The scene was suddenly so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Only the wind blowing through the Yadan group could carry the sound of ghosts and gods howling.

The cloth was torn, and another pair of ant legs pushed open the clothes to reveal, followed by antennae, ant claws, and a black body with a metallic texture...

Everyone had known that Nan Shao had transformed into an animal, but this was the first time they had seen it with their own eyes. For a moment, they were both curious and frightened, and they all stood up and took a defensive posture.

Under the ground, the wings on Nan Shao's back also pushed open his clothes and spread out. When he was completely transformed into an ant, his eyes had turned from blank to cold as he swept over everyone, and his coldness revealed a strong bloodthirstiness.

Everyone's nerves were stretched to a string, as if they could be broken by just a slight attack.

"Nan Shao..." Zhou Hui swallowed his saliva and spoke in a hoarse voice. However, he only shouted these two words, but he didn't know what to say, so the atmosphere became stagnant again.

However, Nan Shao ignored him and the others. He slowly retracted his murderous eyes, flapped his wings, flew into the air, and disappeared into the darkness. He seemed to have forgotten Zhang Ruiyang who was still lying in the crack.

Everyone looked at each other, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, they had hope that Nan Shao, who had turned into an ant, could find the missing person. However, due to the huge sense of danger emanating from him, they did not dare to let the wind-type mutant follow him.

At the exit of the crack, the sick ghost watched the scene calmly without any reaction.

Two or three kilometers away from the camp of the convoy, Song Yan, who was carefully looking for something, seemed to have sensed something, looked over here, and then suddenly chased in the direction of Nan Shao's flight.

Thirty-five kilometers away, there was a small town lying on a vast sandy beach. The city was dark and dark, and the depressed roars of zombies could be heard from time to time. Like other places in Baixia that they had seen along the way, there were few mutant plants here. Similarly, there were almost no vehicles and other objects.

"Hehe... Hehe... Hehe..." A series of strange laughters like ghost howls sounded in the silence, which made people feel terrified.

Zhang Yi moved, but his whole body, including his face, was tied up tightly. Not to mention breaking free, he couldn't even see what was going on. Fortunately, his ears could still hear.

In fact, he still didn't figure out what happened. He was clearly fighting, but suddenly he was tightly entangled by something that seemed to be silk threads at a very fast speed. He didn't even have time to sound a warning, and was pulled away from the battlefield. He flew like a cloud for about half an hour, then landed, dragged, and hung up again.

He could feel that he was hanging in the air, because his feet were empty, and if he struggled a little, his whole body would sway.

The laughter continued, as if it was very happy, making people a little unsure whether the sound was made by a person or a monster. He calmed down and thought about what might happen next and how to get out.

The knife had long been destroyed by the mutant bird. Now he was unarmed and entangled, unable to move. It was very difficult to break free, but it was not his character to sit there and wait for death. He

had no idea about escaping. The laughter had turned into a whimpering cry, a sad howl, an angry roar... Even though Zhang Yi was calm enough, he couldn't help but feel terrified and his heartbeat accelerated. After

an unknown amount of time, all the sounds finally disappeared and the surroundings became quiet. However, he did not feel relieved, but became more nervous. Sometimes, no sound can drive people crazy more than the sound of terror.

Fortunately, this state did not last long.

"Five... Only five! I'm so angry. I followed them for so long and spent so much effort to get five... It's all because of that damn bug..." A hoarse and gloomy voice sounded, the pronunciation was a little unclear, but it was still possible to make out what he was saying.

Zhang Yi couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. It was good to be able to speak. If he could speak, he could communicate. As long as he was given a chance... Then he realized that he might not be the only one who was caught. There should be four others. In this case, if they cooperated properly, it was possible to save themselves.

"Damn it! Damn it! If I had known it would be like this, I might as well have kept an eye on Sanjia Village. I don't know how the people there are raised. They taste more energetic than those in other places. It's a pity that we can't get more. The people in Baixia are far worse. They are useless and difficult to deal with..." The voice was muttering to itself, but what it said was frightening.

Zhang Yi, who had been holding out for a bit of luck, was also worried when he heard this. He doubted whether this person could communicate, but he couldn't just give up without trying, so he tried to shake his body and groaned, indicating to the other party that he wanted to talk to him.

His actions seemed to have attracted the man's attention, and his mumbling stopped. After a moment, it started again.

"You must be curious about who I am? Are you curious about why I caught you? Hehe... Don't worry, I will tell you everything..."

"I have followed you for a long time, hehe, starting from Qinzhou Sanjia Village. Oops, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Long Taigu. You can call me God, the great Spider God!" When the man mentioned his identity, his voice suddenly became high-spirited, and he was obviously proud of it.

Pig God? Zhang Yi was stunned. He couldn't imagine what kind of person would call himself the Pig God, or was the other party a mysterious religious worshiper?

"Actually, I'm not that interested in you. Sanjia Village is so nice, with a large number of people and good food. Unfortunately, there is Liu Er here. If we get a few more, he will come out. Although I'm not afraid of him, we are all comrades after all. It won't look good if we fall out." The man began to chatter unconsciously, as if he hadn't talked to anyone for a long time. Once he started talking, he couldn't stop. As he talked, he inexplicably deviated from the topic and turned to the things he and Liu Er had done in the army. From then on, he involved other comrades, squad leaders, company commanders, instructors, where they came from, local customs and food, some social events with bad influence, etc., making people have no idea what he wanted to express.

At first, Zhang Yi listened attentively, trying to understand this person and all kinds of information about him, such as his expertise, personality and habits. But later he found that it was useless. This person talked in a crazy and rambling way, as if he was full of nostalgia for the past, but also seemed to be full of resentment. Apart from knowing that he was once a sniper, he got nothing else.

The silk wrapped around him was very tight, and there was not enough air. After listening for a long time, he felt a little drowsy. At this moment, he heard a sizzling sound, like a piece of cloth being torn. After several times, he didn't react. He felt the pain of his hair being pulled, and his face suddenly relaxed. A lot of air poured in, and his mind became clear. He opened his eyes reflexively and finally saw the person who had captured them. His pupils shrank and his heart skipped a beat.

Can it be called a human? It should be a very large spider. Of course, this size is relative to normal spiders. If it is measured by human size, it is just slightly larger than an ordinary person.

Its whole body is gray-brown like mud, with some cracks and patches like dead branches and leaves. If it lies on the ground and doesn't move, it is difficult for people to distinguish it. If that's all, it's just a spider that's a size larger, a spider that can talk, and it's not that scary.

However, when it talks excitedly, it will stand up, so Zhang Yi sees that it is holding a person on its chest and abdomen. It is not accurate to say that they are hugging each other. It should be said that they are growing together, or even coexisting, because the back of a person is the chest of a spider. The hands and feet of a person have shrunk, but they have not completely disappeared. They look as small as a child. The head grows together with the head of the spider. When speaking, the mouth of the spider and the mouth of a person open and close at the same time, but only one sound is made, so it sounds not only strange , but also a little unclear

. This person has no hair at all. His head is as soft and smooth as a peeled egg. He has no eyebrows, a low nose bridge, and his whole face is as flat as a pancake. It is not known whether it is born like this or a change caused by the mutation. This is already very ugly. He also has a pair of slender eyes. Sometimes fierce light flashes in the slits of his eyes, sometimes cold and sober, and sometimes crazy and violent, which makes people a little frightened. Just like most people would rather meet a rational murderer than a madman. Even

if he has become like this, this person seems to still have some human habits. He even hangs a few pieces of rags on key parts of his body, which is quite shameful.

Zhang Yi was a little unsure whether this person was a beast like Nan Shao and Song Yan, or some other mutation, but he finally knew that they were bound by spider silk, no wonder it always felt sticky. He also finally understood that this spider god was not the pig god.

"The quality of your team is quite good, almost all of them have awakened..." Long Taigu praised, his expression was quite proud of his good eyesight. But he soon glared at Zhang Yi and spit, "What bad luck! Obviously we can catch them all in one fell swoop, but I didn't expect that the person sleeping on the roof of the car would be such a monster! It's so hard to snatch a few people, but there's one who is not awakened. Bah! Bad luck! Bad luck!" The more he talked, the angrier he got, and then he started to roar uncontrollably again.

Zhang Yi had become somewhat accustomed to his mood swings, and took the opportunity to look around the environment he was in, to see who else had been brought in, and their situation.

It should be night now, but it is not dark. Although not as bright as during the day, it is bright enough for people to see everything around.

Chapter 300: The Beast Transformed into a Human (16)

This was a large, almost completely enclosed space. There was only a crude wooden door made of several wooden boards nailed together in a small corner on the side of Zhang Yi. The door was half-closed and only wide enough for one person to pass through by bending over. The walls, ceiling and floor of the space were all made of the same stone, which was grayish white and had no gaps, as if a hole had been dug out of a whole block of stone.

The light was emitted from these stones. It was unknown what mineral components they were rich in to have such a strange effect. What was even more bizarre was that the stone surface was covered with mysterious reddish-brown runes, even on the top and the ground, giving people a very depressing feeling.

In the middle of the entire stone cave floor, there was a small, crudely shaped round platform that looked a bit like an altar used in some mysterious religious rituals, but there was nothing else on the altar except the runes. It was covered in dust, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

In addition, there were many spider webs and bones in the stone cave. Obviously, this was the lair of the spider man Long Taigu. But apart from Long Taigu, there were no signs of other creatures, so they probably lived alone.

And like Zhang Yi, there were indeed four objects wrapped like cocoons hanging in the air. The top part of the cocoon was torn open, revealing several familiar faces. The eyes of several people met, and they couldn't help but smile bitterly at each other.

"How did you do it?" Zhang Yi suddenly asked, wanting to ask how Long Taigu avoided Song Yan's tracking and Li Muran's detection. He knew that just blending in with the surrounding environment in appearance was not enough to avoid the perception of these two people.

After getting the response, Long Taigu seemed particularly excited, but perhaps Zhang Yi didn't express it clearly, it began to talk enthusiastically, and the content was its own ideas for designing all this and the process of putting it into action.

"Originally, I just wanted to test your strength, but I didn't expect God to help me, and I actually met those ugly birds that eat stones..."

It turned out that Long Taigu had always been very cautious in his actions. Not only did he follow the team for such a long time, carefully observing the habits and abilities of everyone in the team, but he also wanted to test their overall strength and adaptability, and only took action after he was sure. The action location was not set in the Yadan forest, but in the first city encountered after passing the Yadan group. It was the place where its lair was located.

That's right, the mutant zombie, the mutant cattle beast, the mutant wolf pack, and the mutant leopard were all driven by him, and before that, there were constant mutant creatures along the way, and he also played a role in this. It's not that it can enslave these mutant creatures, but it can affect their perception to a certain extent, making them think that there is prey in a certain direction, and then chase it, which is not too difficult for it. If classified, this should also be a kind of mental ability.

Zhang Yi didn't know whether it relied on this ability to avoid Song Yan and Li Muran's tracking, but thinking that the whole team fell into its hands, he couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable. You know, Song Yan had warned them a long time ago. It's not that they were not vigilant enough, but no one thought that they would encounter such a special ability and cautious almost perverted beast-like person.

Feeling that Long Taigu was particularly eager to communicate with people, Zhang Yi and the others would chat with him from time to time, one to relax the atmosphere, and the other to understand some things.

However, Long Taigu was confused, sometimes he would follow their guidance and talk, and sometimes he would talk to himself, which made it very difficult to communicate. Fortunately, they were not afraid of delaying time, but they were afraid that it would suddenly remember the purpose of catching them. If they didn't come up with a plan to escape by then, they would be finished.

"I'm so lonely, really so lonely... Woo woo..." I don't know which sentence poked Long Taigu, and it started to go crazy again, "You humans are all trash, trash! What else can you do besides being used as food? And those stupid corpses, half-crippled and not fully evolved, can't even speak! No one talks to me, no one talks to me, ah——"

Zhang Yi and the others were so irritated by its shrill roar that their faces turned pale. A warrior named Meng Yuan couldn't help but said loudly: "Yes, I'll talk to you." In an attempt to calm its emotions.

It was unknown whether Long Taigu had heard his words or not, but his howling suddenly stopped, and the cave returned to silence, but Zhang Yi and the others' eardrums were still buzzing, and their hearts were beating.

"What did you say? Are you willing to talk to me?" It quickly crawled along the silk screen to Meng Yuan's front, approached him and asked, and its slender eyes seemed full of expectation.

Everyone else held their breath, wanting to see how things would develop. Meng Yuan was very courageous, but he was still frightened by Long Taigu's face in front of him and wanted to retreat, but he was afraid that such a rejection behavior would cause dissatisfaction to the other party, so he forced himself to hold back and tried to make his voice softer: "Well, I will talk to you."

Long Taigu laughed when he heard this, and looked up and down at Meng Yuan with a pair of narrow eyes, wondering if he was evaluating his sincerity or thinking about something. Meng Yuan's scalp was numb from being stared at, and he was about to say something to ease the atmosphere and distract his attention, but suddenly his eyes blurred and his body seemed to be pulled. Before he could react, Long Taigu had already slowly retreated a distance.

The shoulder seemed to be covered with something cold, severe pain, and the screams of Zhang Yi and others came a step later. Meng Yuan saw Long Taigu standing with a huge spider body, and two deformed and shrunken hands were holding a piece of something and stuffing it into his mouth, and then he saw that its teeth were as sharp as saw teeth.

"Okay, okay! You keep me company and I will eat you slowly, in two days, three days, no... five days, and then I will eat you up, and finally gnaw your head, so that you can keep me company and fill my stomach at the same time. Hehe, this is a great idea, you guys should do the same, right, you should do this!" Long Taigu was holding an arm with sleeves still hanging on it, biting his face with blood, and he didn't forget to plan for the future.

Meng Yuan realized belatedly that his right arm was gone, and the broken end of his shoulder was tightly wrapped in a layer of spider web, and no blood flowed out. However, when Long Taigu gnawed his arm, he felt a heart-wrenching pain, just like the feeling of the arm still on his body. He was shocked, angry, hurt, and sad. He threw all his scruples behind him, roared, and struggled hard.

"Beast! Beast!"

"You are worse than pigs and dogs. When I get out of here, I will chop you into seven or eight pieces and stuff them all into your mouth!"

"Asshole, come at me if you can!"

The comrades were also anxious. Some advised Meng Yuan to calm down and not to provoke Long Taigu again, while others cursed at Long Taigu, trying to divert his attention to themselves.

The curses were endless, but Long Taigu was not angry. He gnawed Meng Yuan's arm with relish and watched the angry reactions of the crowd with interest. Compared with Meng Yuan's previous gentleness, he obviously liked the current atmosphere more.

"You were a soldier, and so were they. Don't you feel guilty for doing this to them, to those people you once vowed to protect?" Zhang Yi did not curse with others because he knew it was useless. He just questioned in a calm tone. He didn't know whether such words would draw the other party's anger to himself, nor did he know what consequences would result. He just wanted to ask. And asking doesn't necessarily mean getting an answer, but he can get a glimpse of whether the other party still has conscience in his heart from his reaction.

Long Taigu's hearing was obviously very good. He actually caught Zhang Yi's voice in the noise. His body swayed slightly and swung over from Menggu along the spider silk. It didn't look angry, but with Menggu's previous experience, Zhang Yi didn't feel relieved.

"Guilt... Guilt? Hehe, what's there to feel guilty about? Survival of the fittest, the weak are the prey of the strong. I am a god now, a god! I can kill anyone I want, and I can eat anyone I want, haha..." Long Taigu waved his arms, which had been bitten to reveal a piece of white bones, and his two shrunken calves kicked excitedly, "This is something I never dared to think about before. Who made you stupid? Since you can't stand up, don't blame me who has already stood up for you as blood food!"

At this point, he didn't know what he was thinking about, and glared at Zhang Yi again, saying unhappily: "You. That's you! You are the one who should be ashamed of yourself. You haven't evolved at all! I was busy catching people at the time and didn't pay attention. Otherwise, who would have taken my place for nothing?" It turned out that it was standing on the top of the mound that the convoy leaned on and attacked everyone. It caught the people closest to the wall of the mound. Zhang Yi was unfortunately one of them. The others were all earth-type supernaturalists digging holes over there. It can only take five people at a time, so it complained.

"No. This won't work!" Its eyes rolled around in its narrow slits, and it began to talk to itself again. Finally, it seemed to have made a very interesting decision. It suddenly raised its head and stared at Zhang Yi with a smile, "You have to evolve. If you don't evolve, you are worse than trash. It's not delicious. It's not delicious. It's better to give it to those stupid corpses." Zhang Yi's

heart tightened, knowing that it was going to be bad. The next moment, Long Taigu grabbed the silk cocoon that wrapped him and ran towards the only exit of the stone cave - the small wooden door. Not knowing what it was going to do, he tried to calm down his nervous mood. He was not too afraid of the unknown encounter he was about to face. Instead, he felt a little fortunate that he could buy some time for Meng Yuan and others . Now he just hoped that they could get out of this time and not waste it.

Seeing that Zhang Yi became the second unlucky person, the rest of the people spoke out, using foul language, trying to provoke Long Taigu to let Zhang Yi go. Who knew that Long Taigu completely ignored him and disappeared with Zhang Yi in a blink of an eye. Then, just like changing faces, the original anger and hatred turned into calmness, and the cave suddenly became quiet. Even Meng Yuan, who had lost his arm, was no longer immersed in grief and anger. They knew how difficult it was to get this short opportunity because of Zhang Yi. If they didn't seize it, they would be sorry for Zhang Yi and themselves.

Zhang Yi was taken out of the cave by Long Taigu, only to find that there was a cellar connected to the cave. The cellar was full of sundries. Because of the poor light, it was impossible to tell what they were.

"What is this place?" He had already put his life and death aside, and he didn't worry about Long Taigu's reaction, so he asked directly.

Unexpectedly, Long Taigu became easy to talk to again. He avoided obstacles as if he had night vision, and replied: "Longkou City, my home."

Zhang Yi thought it was referring to the current place as its home, but who knew that what he heard later broke this guess.

"I was from Longkou before I joined the army, and this is my home. Hehe, back then, my father secretly dug a cellar, and he didn't expect to dig through that stone cave. There... hehe..." At this point, Long Taigu suddenly stopped talking. Obviously there was something special in that cave, and this special thing was something it didn't want to say.

At this time, it had dragged Zhang Yi up the stairs leading to the upper level. Zhang Yi couldn't see in the dark, so he could only guess the route he was walking by feeling his body.

"Those lowly humans in Baixia Base actually wanted to catch me and dream of their Spring and Autumn Period!" After a while, Long Taigu obviously couldn't suppress the desire to talk in his heart, and began to take the initiative to bring up the topic again.

Bang! Zhang Yi felt a door being pushed open, and a cool night breeze mixed with the unique stench of zombies rushed towards him.

"Baixia Base? Where is it? Is it far from here?" He suppressed his doubts about the cave and his guess about Long Taigu's purpose, and asked it.

"Far? Hehe, far what? It's more than a hundred kilometers away from here. I heard that it was built by a stupid woman at the beginning, and then it was robbed by one of her lovers."

It took Zhang Yi to the roof and then ran on it at a high speed. Zhang Yi could already vaguely hear the roar of zombies. Speaking of the base built by a woman, he subconsciously thought of the girl he met in Ziyun County. He wondered if it was her.

"But those lowly humans in Baixia Base are afraid and jealous of me and my kind. They even came up with a plan to kill us and encourage everyone in the base to hunt us down when they see us. It's really hateful! There are two in your team. Even if they don't fall into my hands, they won't have a good life when they arrive at Baixia Base." It turns out that Long Taigu and Liu Qiye's grandson Liu Qiang are not only comrades-in-arms, but also sent to the institute for transformation in the same batch. The difference is that Liu Qiang's beast transformation was restrained because of his kind heart, while Long Taigu ate people and killed many people during the chaos in the institute. It is not ashamed of its abnormal appearance, but proud of its ability far beyond ordinary people.

As for calling itself a god, it is obviously mentally abnormal.

Zhang Yi got a lot of information from its words, but before he had time to sort it out, he felt his body loosen up and his body fell sharply. He didn't have time to think too much. As soon as his feet touched the hard place, he rolled over, unloading most of the force and avoiding the tragedy of breaking bones. Fortunately, even though he couldn't see it, no bad accidents happened during the whole process.

Zhang Yi didn't stand up immediately after the rolling stopped. Instead, he supported himself with his hands, half-knelt and half-crouched, ready to dodge at any time. He couldn't see the situation around him clearly, and he didn't think Long Taigu would be kind enough to let him go, so the meaning of this sudden release might not be so good.

Sure enough, Long Taigu's words came from above in a moment.

"There is a kind of medicine that can awaken people in Baixia Base, but it's a pity that it's hard to get. And the meat of the superpowers awakened by the medicine is far inferior to those awakened naturally. It's a waste to keep you anyway, so why not try to help you awaken your superpowers. If you die here, you can only blame yourself for being useless. If you can't die, I'm not afraid to keep you for a while longer." The cold tone revealed the pride of controlling the fate of others, and it was obvious that it enjoyed this feeling.

Mixed with its voice were countless footsteps, hoarse and excited roars, and an increasingly strong stench. Zhang Yi knew that he should be surrounded by zombies. If you want to survive, you have to fight.