The river water seemed to boil instantly, with gurgling bubbles bursting on the surface. Wang Lan immediately jumped ashore.

Old Zhang looked on in astonishment, "Holy crap, Wang Lan, you've been poisoned?"

He vaguely remembered seeing it in an ancient book: poisonous substances would bubble continuously when they came into contact with water, just like the situation he was in now.

"Get out!" Wang Lan snatched the Vajra Umbrella and pressed Old Zhang's head down.

The umbrella leaves then opened with a "bang".

Old Zhang then heard a series of "plop plop plop" sounds, as if something had burst out of the river and hit the umbrella leaf, which lasted for more than ten seconds before finally stopping.

Wang Lan put away the Vajra Umbrella and stood up.

Old Zhang also got up and looked back.

Lying on the ground were rows of river fish, each about the size of a palm. Their white eyes were so large that the pupils were not visible, and their teeth were like saw blades. Although they were not dead, they seemed to have been stunned and were now weakly slapping their tails.

Old Zhang was dumbfounded. "Even the fish are infected?"

Wang Lan's expression was solemn as he raised the Vajra Umbrella and plunged it towards the fish's head.

"Pfft!"

The fish head was smashed open.

Old Zhang sighed with regret, "What a waste, what a pity!"

"Hmm?" Wang Lan said upon hearing this, "If you're not afraid of dying, you're welcome to eat these fish. I won't stop you."

Old Zhang's lips twitched as he recalled what human infected people looked like. He shook his head vigorously, "Forget it, there's always a way. Let me think if there's anything else to eat."

Wang Lan rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and continued shoveling fish.

After finishing off all the fish, he cleaned the tip of his umbrella by sticking it into the soil. Then he turned to look at a cave at the foot of the mountain and said, "I've used up a lot of energy and need to rest for a while. Calculate the time and wake me up in about an hour, then we'll go back."

In fact, Wang Lan felt his head was about to start hurting again, but he had forgotten to bring his medicine when he went out today, so he could only relieve the pain by sleeping.

Old Zhang nodded behind him, but he was still shaken. "Wang Lan, are you...are you sure you haven't been infected?"

Wang Lan paused, then walked into the cave, planting the Vajra Umbrella in the ground. He said, "It's precisely because I'm not sure that I need to wait. But just in case, I'll leave the Vajra Umbrella here. If I do anything unusual, you must kill me immediately!"

Old Zhang looked at Wang Lan and gave a wry smile.

Although the two had only recently formed an alliance, they had shared hardships together. The sudden mention of the word "kill" was bound to cause some reluctance, but Old Zhang also knew it was a desperate measure. He sighed, gripped the Vajra Umbrella, and exclaimed, "Holy crap? It's so heavy! I can't lift it!"

Wang Lan: "..."

He pointed outside the cave and said, "There are infected animals and infected people outside now, so it's dangerous everywhere. And inside this cave, if I'm unfortunately infected, you'll be the first one bitten to death!"

"I understand!" Old Zhang was startled. "The infection will always have a process of change. If you change, I will kill you without hesitation! Until then, rest well. It doesn't matter if you fall asleep. If you are alright in an hour, we will go back."

"hehe…"

Wang Lan sneered and closed her eyes.

However, this cold laugh sent chills down Old Zhang's spine...

Although the battle had exhausted him and left him feeling extremely tired, he simply closed his eyes to rest and dared not fall asleep, while simultaneously activating the system.

After all, every headache was accompanied by some shady things happening with the system, and he needed to check it out promptly.

Furthermore, during the battle just now, as Wang Lan continued to kill animals, a series of notification sounds rang in his mind.

Physical Attack Power: 110 (+80)

Defense: 86 (+50)

Movement Speed: 345 (+185)

While attack power, defense, and movement speed have increased, the improvement is not significant.

Regarding the completion rate of skills.

[Skill: Berserk]

Status: Learning

[Learning objective achieved: +45]

Overall goal completion rate: 46/200

…

[Skill: Bloodthirst]

Status: Learning

[Learning objective achieved: +19.25]

Overall goal completion rate: 29.75/1000

Regarding the newly unlocked Berserk skill, Wang Lan recalled the situation at the time and realized that the number of animals killed was basically the same. It seems that the Berserk skill treats everyone equally, adding +1 to everything.

But the target count for blood drinking is quite confusing...

19.25?!

The division is so precise that even 0.25 was found.

Wang Lan felt both annoyed and amused, and shut down the system.

Everything is normal, and no problems have occurred.

It seems this time it's just a simple headache.

But just as he relaxed, he suddenly heard a rumble of thunder outside, which startled him so much that his heart started racing and he couldn't rest any longer. He then opened his eyes.

But then they discovered that Old Zhang was snoring against the umbrella!

Outside the cave, the sky was dark and it was about to get dark.

Wang Lan was furious and stood up to remove the Vajra Umbrella.

Old Zhang stumbled and fell, but immediately bounced up. He was about to curse when he saw Wang Lan's angry face. Looking at the sky outside the cave, he smiled awkwardly, "I...I think it's not too late to leave now."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!