Chapter 8
Before we could come to a conclusion on what song to play with the system, the Border Collie stopped driving.
They arrived at their destination.
Looking up, I saw a sea of flowers.
The sight of flowers covering the hills was like stepping into a dreamland, a magnificent sight of boundless beauty. The evening breeze blew, and the colorful flowers swayed gracefully, as if welcoming their arrival. The faint fragrance of the flowers enveloped them, refreshing their hearts and soothing their fatigue from the journey.
Driving along the road, I noticed the plants around me and wondered why I hadn't seen any flowers blooming during this era of plant resurgence. I had a slight regret, but now I've made up for it.
She couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
The Border Collie turned his head and looked up at Xu Zhoujiao, his eyes full of anticipation.
The system automatically translated for it: "It said, 'How is this place?' It was found by its owner."
"Thank you for bringing me here," Xu Zhou squatted down, stroked Bian Mu's head, and answered seriously: "This place is great. Your master and you are also very capable to find this place."
The Border Collie sensed Xu Zhou's mood and was also very happy. Its tail wagged rapidly, it barked at her a few times, and turned to run towards the sea of flowers.
Xu Zhou stood up, a smile in his eyes.
Xunchun was stunned the moment he arrived at the sea of flowers. In that moment, he felt many scenes floating through his mind. He wanted to see them clearly, so he looked hard, but could only see blurry blocks of color.
The sea of flowers and the blurry scene overlapped and intertwined. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, blinked and rubbed his eyes again, but nothing changed.
Not knowing what to do to get out of this predicament, he subconsciously clenched his fists.
Xu Zhou turned and looked at him.
There was confusion in his eyes.
Something seems to be wrong with him.
"Ahh." He said softly.
Xu Zhou took his hand and asked with a smile, "Don't you want to go play for a while? Have you had enough fun today?"
The heat source was transmitted to Xunchun's nerves, he came to his senses and stared at Xuzhou.
Xu Zhou was smiling, waiting for his answer.
It seemed like an eternity, or perhaps just the blink of an eye, as the sea of flowers and the blurry scene shattered one by one, revealing the continued daylight before his eyes. The orange sunlight shone through her hair, softening her features. In the flickering light and shadow, she stood there, step by step, unwaveringly approaching him.
The confusion will eventually dissipate.
He returned to reality.
"Ahh." He found his voice and nodded and shook his head.
"Go." Xu Zhou let go of his hand.
Xunchun walked into the sea of flowers, looking back every three steps. Every time he looked back, Xu Zhou was waving to him.
His steps became faster and faster, and finally he was running in the sea of flowers.
The afterglow spread to the earth and fell on them, and even their shadows had happy shapes.
Xu Zhou felt a sense of peace of mind.
"Aren't you going to play?" asked the system.
"Of course I'll go," she answered quickly and firmly. She walked into the sea of flowers, the dancing ends of her hair revealing her thoughts.
The system silently took a photo.
Well, it's not that it wants to take pictures, it's mainly because the system task log requires it, and every time it goes on a mission, it needs to record the pictures. That's right, it does this for the mission.
It warned itself silently and put the photo away.
Under the sea of flowers at sunset, there is a more lively atmosphere than usual.
Xu Zhou made five wreaths.
She wore one on her head, one for Xunchun, and one around Bian Mu's neck. Of the last two, she kept one for the Bian Mu's owner.
She also put the remaining one on her head.
"System, I've put it on you too." Xu Zhou said.
"It's just so-so. When I get a physical copy, it will definitely look better when I wear it myself."
Looking at Xu Zhou with two wreaths on his head, the system couldn't help but hum a few times, with the corners of its mouth raised high, and took a photo with its backhand.
"Okay, I'll wait for you." Hearing the awkwardness in the system's tone, Xu Zhou said with a smile.
The grass was soft, and she chose a sloping spot to sit down.
As the evening breeze blew by, she thought of the story of the Border Collie's owner.
In the story just now, the Border Collie said that its owner loves flowers, which is exactly the same as Xunchun. That day, the Border Collie and its owner were chatting by the sea of flowers. The owner cried, and she made a wreath for the Border Collie to wear.
She hugged the Border Collie and repeated over and over again, blessing it to be safe and sound.
Only then did Xu Zhou come up with the idea of making a wreath.
She hopes everyone is safe.
"You think so?" She looked up, and the stars twinkled.
"Yes." The system replied.
"That's good."
-
The next day, Xu Zhou was awakened by being pressed down. She opened her eyes and saw the Border Collie lying on top of her, pressing against her upper body, making her feel warm, even a little hot, and a little breathless.
She opened her eyes and looked at the roof of the tent, her mind blank.
Blink.
Didn’t she close the tent door yesterday? How did it get in?
That’s right—
Her tent had been torn in pieces by Xunchun before.
She turned to see that the small hole had been torn open, leaving a hole. It was obvious that the Border Collie had done this. She had been using the tent because she thought it was still good enough, but now it was broken and it really needed a replacement.
Thinking of this, she raised her hand and rubbed the dog's head.
"You, you owe me a tent."
The Border Collie barked, slapped the ground with its tail a few times, and ignored him.
There were two wreaths placed next to each other on the small hillock.
When Xu Zhou came out of the tent, he saw Xunchun sitting next to the small hill. He looked through the wreath that belonged to him over and over again, wanting to take it off but hesitant, and finally just held it in his hands and turned it around.
She walked to the car, took out her wreath from the back seat and handed it to Xunchun.
"I'll take this off for you," she took back Xunchun's and put it on his head, speaking slowly to give him time to understand, "we'll keep yours."
She admired her work with satisfaction.
Just in the tent, she completed today's reward task. Now Xunchun's skin color is close to his original skin color, and the wreath on his head has a unique flavor.
She'd thought before, with his looks, if he wore a garland, wouldn't he be a pretty boy? But she'd never succeeded, so now, while he was still unconscious, she'd strike first. Sure enough, good-looking people look good as zombies, too.
Watching it last night was no more impactful than watching it during the day.
It would be nice if I had a cell phone to record it.
She felt a little regretful, but it was no big deal, as she had already feasted her eyes.
“Ahhh.”
Between breaths, Xunchun waved his hands, imitating Xuzhou's movements, and put her wreath on her head - yes, put it on her head, because he didn't know the importance of it at all.
The seriousness on his face didn't seem fake.
Xu Zhou accepted this heartfelt gift with tears in his eyes.
It was noon and they had to continue on their journey.
After playing with the Border Collie for half the morning, Xu Zhou got into the driving seat again. This time, Xun Chun didn't sit in the back seat. He opened the passenger door and got in.
On the back seat, three garlands sat in a row.
The car drove onto the national highway.
Xu Zhou lowered the car window and saw that the Border Collie was standing straight on the small hill, with its tail swaying rhythmically behind it.
The loyal guards were bidding them farewell.
She stopped the car and waved to the guards.
The roar of the car started again, and the exhaust fumes raised a cloud of dust that drifted away into the distance.
Xu Zhou suddenly thought of the answer to the question he had asked in the morning.
In the morning, the system said mysteriously, "Do you want to change the reward target today? You can reward the Border Collie. According to my analysis, it will definitely return to normal."
"It recovered, and then what?" she asked the system.
"Don't you want to see it restored?"
“Why should I want to see it restored?”
"It must be so uncomfortable for it to be infected by the virus. Once it recovers, it won't be in pain anymore. You are saving it."
"I don't think so."
"Why?"
Yes, why? She didn't explain why at the time, but just gave the reward to Xunchun.
The system tried to persuade her to no avail, and did not continue to speak. It just passed the time by flipping through the database in its mind.
She didn't know how painful it would be to be infected by the virus. She had never experienced it, so she just kept this painful premise in mind and assumed that the Border Collie was in pain.
Through the Border Collie's behavior and her observation of it, she found that the Border Collie was very energetic, just as she saw it at first glance, in a state of vitality and positive emotions. After the owner left, it maintained this state at the end of the day, and she didn't think it was in pain.
On the contrary, she felt that it had always been the motivation to persevere.
It is not a weak person asking them for help.
It was clever, and wouldn't blindly face an enemy alone. For example, during yesterday's encounter, it was cautious, knowing it was facing two people, capable of attacking and coordinating, and also having a car to ram. In this situation, it wasn't appropriate to charge forward. Furthermore, she had spotted it quickly, making a successful ambush impossible. Xunchun's zombie-like intimidation was also significant, making it even more unlikely that it could be sure that a proactive attack would secure its control.
She never thought animals were stupid.
The sound it made was a communication signal. How each side interpreted this signal was uncertain. In short, they understood it as a peaceful signal, thanks entirely to the system's dog-language translation.
After that, it didn't feel threatened by them. It lay down boldly beside the small mound, and then tried to pounce on her again to see her reaction - she could feel its body tense at that time. If she attacked at the beginning, it would probably bite off a large piece of her flesh.
Next, we went to the sea of flowers, and it was really a surprise to hear the story of it and its owner on the way.
It had been moving around the small dirt slopes, and was familiar with the terrain. Using a sea of flowers would be more than enough to counterattack. Each attempt was to ensure its own safety, and it always maintained the necessary vigilance.
But attitudes are relative. From its perspective, it will respond to their attitudes. She believes this is also due to the efforts of its owner.
Although it is painful to be infected with the virus and become a mutated animal, fortune and misfortune are interdependent. She believes that its eyes also have special functions, otherwise humans would not have fallen into the hands of mutated animals so many times in the early days.
The reason it can survive on its own for so long is that, firstly, it is very powerful, and secondly, the infection of the virus has brought it convenience.
So, she didn't think it would be better if it returned to normal, nor did she think that any random action she took was saving it.
The fact that it did not ask for help or choose to follow them is a good proof.
It must stay there, for its master and for its own survival.
She didn't want to think so, but -
"Besides, what do you think would happen to a normal, solitary, harmless dog on the verge of starvation?" Xu Zhou asked in his mind. "System, what do you think?"
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