Chapter 73
A few days passed, and under Tiejin's careful feeding, although Jin Lili had not started to gain weight, her complexion was obviously much better.
While Tie Jin was not around, Tang Yu'an secretly took out milk to feed her.
After she had almost finished drinking, he put the box away. Just as he was about to touch the top of her head, he noticed that the braid Tiejin had tied for her was a little tight.
Tang Yu'an untied her hair tie.
After being untied, Jin Lili showed an expression of relief.
Although braids look good, they will hurt the scalp if worn for too long, especially since Tiejin has heavy hands and always braids her hair too tightly.
However, Jin Lili never said anything, so Tiejin didn’t know.
Tang Yu'an felt that this was not going to work, so she patiently guided her: "If you feel pain, you have to tell her. Your father treats you very well. He will listen if you tell him."
Jin Lili looked at him quietly.
She understood, but... she shook her head, then lowered her head and continued to play with her fingers.
Tang Yu'an looked at the little girl and couldn't help but think of A Lian.
The mother and daughter really look alike. As long as you see them both at the same time, you will never doubt their blood relationship.
According to Uncle Tiejin, Jin Lili should have been abandoned, but now he knows that this is not the case...
Tang Yu'an thought for a moment and then hesitated, "Lily, do you still remember your mother?"
The little girl, who had been playing with her fingers with her head down, suddenly raised her head and looked at him.
Seeing her reaction, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but feel happy, and then continued: "This time I went to the market town to see your mother. She didn't mean to abandon you, she..."
Before Tang Yu'an finished speaking, Jin Lili, who had been very quiet, suddenly burst into tears.
“Mom…Mom…”
She cried and called for her mother, crying very sadly.
Tang Yu'an was startled and looked at her helplessly. He picked her up and tried to comfort her clumsily, but still couldn't stop her crying.
Until Tiejin hurried over, skillfully held her in his arms, and let her lie on his shoulders.
Perhaps she was tired of crying, Jin Lili's crying gradually subsided, but in her sleep, she was still murmuring for her mother.
Tiejin heard it clearly and his face looked a little unhappy.
After Jin Lili calmed down completely, he placed his daughter on the cool little bed, carefully covered her belly, and then left quietly.
He looked at Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi and quietly gestured for them to go upstairs.
"So, what's going on?" Tie Jin asked in a deep voice after reaching the fifth floor.
The smile disappeared from his face and his expression became grim. When it came to the issue of his adopted daughter, Tiejin was obviously not so easy to talk to.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
He really didn't expect Jin Lili to react like this after hearing the news about A-Lian...
Zhou Qi patted his hand soothingly, then took the initiative to explain A Lian's situation to Tie Jin.
When Tiejin heard that when A-Lian encountered the mutant snake, she actually hid her daughter in the woods and took the initiative to lead the mutant snake away, he couldn't help but be moved.
But after listening to Zhou Qi's story, his expression relaxed, but his brows were still tightly furrowed.
"So what do you mean?"
He said, "Do you want me to take Lily back?"
Tiejin was naturally unwilling to do so. After spending so many days together, the more he gave to Jin Lili, the deeper his feelings for his adopted daughter became.
To be honest, he had completely treated Jin Lili as his daughter.
Want him to send his daughter back to suffer again? Dream on!
He knew very well how difficult it would be for a woman without special powers and anyone to rely on to survive in the wasteland, let alone raising such a young child.
"That's not what we meant." Zhou Qi shook his head.
Tiejin took a deep breath and whispered, "Then don't mention her in front of Lily anymore. You just saw her cry the moment her mother was mentioned."
"Uncle Tiejin, I just feel it's necessary to let Lily know that her mother hasn't abandoned her."
Tang Yu'an plucked up the courage and told Tie Jin his thoughts.
"Don't you think Lily is a little too obedient? Is she afraid of being abandoned again, so she behaves so well?"
Tiejin was stunned.
"She's still a little baby over one year old. It's normal for her to cry when she's hungry or in pain." Tang Yu'an looked at him and said, "Has Lily ever asked you for food or anything else these days?"
Tiejin recalled and found... it seemed that there really wasn't anything.
Just like Tang Yu'an said, she was really too obedient. No matter what he gave her, she would accept it silently. Only when he observed her carefully according to the method Zhou Qi taught him could he perceive her real needs.
But he is a new father after all, so he hasn't done it so well yet...
"That doesn't mean anything."
After a long silence, Tiejin spoke again: "We have been together for too short a time, it will get better slowly in the future."
Tang Yu'an wanted to say something else, but was stopped by Zhou Qi.
"Let's go eat." He changed the subject.
Tie Jin finally regained his smile. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes. Let's go eat!"
While eating, although Tie Jin was in a bad mood, he still praised Zhou Qi's cooking skills. However, he occasionally looked absent-minded while eating.
Obviously, he listened to what Tang Yu'an said to him.
After dinner, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi took a nap on the fourth floor.
Because of the lasting effect of the cooling fruit, Tang Yu'an still didn't feel hot, so even without an umbrella, he could withstand the high temperature.
He was obviously unhappy because of Jin Lili's matter.
Zhou Qi touched the top of his head comfortingly and said, "Give Uncle Jin some time. Lily is still young, and there's no need to rush this matter."
He was worried that pushing too hard would backfire. If Tiejin never took Lily to the market town again, Alian would never have the chance to see her daughter again.
Or if he really returns Lily to A-Lian, given A-Lian's current situation where she can't take care of herself, can she raise her daughter healthily?
No matter what, in such a post-apocalyptic wasteland, we should first strive to survive.
Tang Yu'an listened to his words and slowly figured it out.
Uncle Tiejin really needs time to accept it. No one did anything wrong in this matter. It can only be said that it was fate.
If everyone can have enough food and warm clothes, wouldn’t there be fewer tragedies like this?
Tang Yu'an was lost in thought and slowly fell asleep...
-
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, they left Tiejin's home.
Tang Yu'an gave Zhou Qi the light body technique, then opened the map and headed towards the red dot closest to them.
During the few days they were away, the dangerous creatures that had been cleared out reappeared.
On the map of the deserted city, as the customers moved, the fog was lifted to a larger area. Except for the center, there was still no progress in exploration.
Speaking of which, Chi Hao did not take the route that Old Li took them to go to Jufeng Town.
He took a shortcut, and on the map he looked like a sharp sword, stabbing almost straight towards Jufeng Town. He didn't know if he would encounter any danger on the way.
Soon, they came near the red dot of the first dangerous creature.
Tang Yu'an collected his thoughts, and Zhou Qi also slowed down, carefully approaching with Tang Yu'an.
The first one I encountered was another mutant dog.
Perhaps because this was a city before the disaster, there were more pet cats and dogs, so they had a greater chance of encountering mutant dogs and cats.
Zhou Qi easily dealt with the mutant dog.
Tang Yu'an's pet slot was already full, and there were too many pets at home, so after turning the mutant dog into a puppy, they did not linger, but continued on their way to the next red dot of a dangerous creature.
"Brother Xiaoqi, if these mutant creatures that have been transformed into kittens and puppies are not adopted as pets, can they transform back to their original forms on their own like Yuanbao and Black Pearl did?"
Tang Yu'an said with some concern.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, "Have the mutant pigs that were transformed into cats appeared on the map again?"
“It seems not…”
When they return to their original form after being attacked, they will reappear on the map as red dots.
Tang Yu'an can be sure of this.
Therefore, as long as the residents of the deserted city do not actively attack these cats and dogs, their safety can be guaranteed in theory... Of course, we cannot be completely sure, so we still have to wait and observe.
They set out again.
On the way, they encountered another mutant spider.
To be honest, even though he was mentally prepared, Tang Yu'an was still shocked when he saw the spider as big as a bathtub.
Although it is much smaller than the mutant dog, this terrifying-looking arthropod is really scary when it grows to a giant size!
Fortunately, Zhou Qi remained very calm.
Under the cover of the umbrella, he successfully approached the spider and threw the dog Frisbee from a safe distance, successfully turning the big spider that was preying on a bird into a black puppy.
So far, the dog Frisbee has never failed.
However, when facing monsters, Zhou Qi was very cautious, fearing that he would encounter a monster powerful enough to ignore the existence of the dog frisbee.
After turning the mutant spider into a puppy, they did not leave immediately this time.
At Zhou Qi's signal, Tang Yu'an played Happy Marbles and successfully hit the Spider dog, keeping it in place.
The amazing thing is that after being hit by the happy marbles, it did not turn back into its original form, but remained in the appearance of a puppy, and fell to the ground laughing wildly.
Tang Yu'an was a little puzzled, while Zhou Qi gave an explanation with a strange expression -
"After all, Happy Marbles is just trying to bring happiness to it. How can it be considered a malicious attack?"
Then he said uncertainly, "You say so?"
Tang Yu'an nodded vigorously.
This is definitely the correct answer!
Because... the next moment, he tested the sad marbles, and the puppy turned back into a big spider after he hit the marbles out.
It squeaked non-stop, and it was unclear whether it was crying or laughing.
After torturing the big spider for ten minutes, Zhou Qi turned it into a puppy again, and then Tang Yu'an used Happy Marbles to control it in place.
Under the protection of the umbrella, they came to the "puppy", and then Zhou Qi took out from his personal space...
Super Mousetrap.
This is the only special item that has not been used so far.
It looks very similar to a traditional mousetrap, slightly larger than an adult's palm, and is in the shape of a clamp. Pulling or stepping on the switch will close the clamp and can catch mice and other small animals.
Looking at the Spider brand little black dog rolling on the ground with laughter, Zhou Qi fell into deep thought.
The special items provided by the system cannot be used according to normal thinking, so...
Zhou Qi took the mousetrap, opened the clamp, and put it directly on the little black dog - as soon as he stretched out his hand, the little black dog's body began to change.
Obviously, his behavior was malicious, so the dog Frisbee began to lose its effectiveness.
However, thanks to the hard control effect of Happy Marbles, Zhou Qi did not panic. Instead, he quickened his movements and directly put the mousetrap on the leg of the little black dog before it could change back to its original form.
“Snap!”
With a crisp sound, the super mousetrap slipped out of Zhou Qi's hand, and Zhou Qi turned around and pulled Tang Yu'an away together.
They all jumped up, landed on a big tree nearby, and looked down.
On the ground, the black Spider dog, which was growing larger and uglier, had disappeared, and in its place was—
A giant rat with its hind legs caught in a mousetrap!
“Squeak—squeak—”
The big rat seemed unaware that its hind legs were clamped. It rolled on the ground holding its belly and making squeaking sounds similar to laughter.
The mousetrap's claws held it tightly. Even though it rolled around violently on the ground, the mousetrap didn't move at all, as if it was nailed firmly to the ground.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi couldn't help but look at each other, and they saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
So, after using other types of props, the effect of Happy Marbles will not be covered?
Happy Marbles, so scary!
Seeing that there was no danger, they jumped down from the tree again and came to the big rat. Zhou Qi stretched out his hand and carefully touched the super mousetrap, and put it back into the portable warehouse.
The rat on the ground had turned into a Spider brand rat, but after escaping the control of the mousetrap, it did not return to its original form.
It was still squeaking and squeak- ing like crazy.
It seems that the effect of the mousetrap is the same as that of the cat toy and the dog frisbee. After the animals are transformed into cats, dogs, and mice, they cannot immediately return to their original form. They should belong to the same series of props.
so……
Zhou Qi took out the mutated metal dagger that Tie Jin gave them. The sharp blade gleamed in the sunlight.
This spider isn't a metal-based one, so it should be able to pierce it, right?
Looking at the big rat squeaking on the ground, Zhou Qi felt no burden in his heart. When facing cats and dogs, he might still have some concerns, but it was different when facing rats.
There were often rats in the Tang family's grocery store, and both teenagers had killed rats before.
Zhou Qi's caution at this moment was mainly because he was worried that before his dagger pierced the mouse's body, it would turn back into a big spider and fight back against him.
So, he has to be fast enough.
He stared at the big rat's body, not knowing whether it was his illusion or his perception had really become stronger. He could vaguely feel where the rat's weakness was.
Not in the heart, but in the forehead.
As Zhou Qi thought about this, his attention became more focused, and he fell into a familiar and extremely mysterious state.
This state appeared once before when facing Granny Guo's attack -
He felt that everything around him was playing in slow motion, even the flow of the wind seemed to have slowed down, but he himself was the only one who was not affected at all.
Then, he raised the dagger and stabbed it into the weak spot he had identified!
The mysterious state was lifted, and the flow of time and objects returned to normal.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Just now, the mutated metal dagger stabbed at the big rat at a speed that was difficult for ordinary people to capture with their naked eyes. It easily broke through its skin, flesh and bones, penetrated deeply into its head, and pierced through it directly.
The big rat struggled in extreme pleasure and pain.
Dark green blood flowed out from its wound. Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi retreated again, staring at it warily to prevent the big spider from turning back into its original form and suddenly attacking and hurting people.
However, what they worried about did not happen.
The big rat squeaked on the ground, the sound becoming quieter and quieter, and the strength of its struggle becoming weaker and weaker.
Finally it lay on the ground and never moved again.
Under the gaze of Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi, the body of the big rat slowly changed, and finally turned into a spider the size of a bathtub. It lay on the ground motionless, having lost its breath of life.
"Is it dead?" Tang Yu'an asked uncertainly.
Zhou Qi looked at the spider and indeed he could no longer sense any vitality in it.
However, out of caution, he did not approach immediately. He waited for a while and found that the spider was indeed no longer moving before he walked over.
Just as he was about to reach out and pull out the mutated metal dagger, he was stopped by Tang Yu'an.
"Brother Xiaoqi, gloves!"
Zhou Qi took the plastic gloves, put them on, and then carefully avoided the dark green liquid that flowed all over the ground, and pulled the dagger out of the spider's body with force.
“Puff—”
Dark green blood gushed out and almost splashed on him, but fortunately he dodged it in time.
Tang Yu'an quickly took out another rag and handed it to him.
Zhou Qi took it and carefully wiped the spider blood off the dagger sheath to avoid getting it on his skin. The blood had a sour smell and it was unknown whether it was poisonous or not.
Tang Yu'an stared at the spider's corpse and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Xiaoqi, did you see that? Didn't it transform back to its original form just now?"
Zhou Qi recalled and nodded.
If it was transformed into a cat or dog by a cat toy or dog frisbee, it should have turned back to its original form when he showed his intention to attack and actually made a move.
Even if he was too fast to react, after the dagger pierced its body, it should have changed back to its original form while struggling, instead of staying in the form of a big rat the whole time and only changing back after it died.
Tang Yu'an tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said in surprise, "So after turning into a mouse, you can't turn back?"
In other words, the only way to change back is to die.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.
Because he had thought about turning Wangcai and the others into mice before, but because a mousetrap is a trap after all, it might destroy the relationship between him and his pets, so he finally gave up the idea.
But who would have thought that the Super Mousetrap is actually a prop full of malice!
"Does the maker of the props hate mice?" Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh.
"Maybe?" Zhou Qi said.
The Super Mousetrap not only transforms creatures into mice and prevents them from changing back even when attacked, but also traps them in place.
In comparison, cat teasers and dog frisbees can really be considered toys.
Tang Yu'an suddenly clapped his hands and said in a sudden realization, "The Super Mousetrap is given for completing the Watchdog mission, and the Watchdog title is used to enable all-round detection of dangerous creatures on the map. This makes sense!"
Once dangerous creatures are detected, they need to be dealt with or even eliminated, so the reward is a super mousetrap, which itself has this meaning.
This series of tasks is a progressive relationship.
Zhou Qi nodded, and said with a little relief: "Anyway, we now have another powerful tool."
Although the use of the super mousetrap is somewhat restricted, its effect is indeed very powerful, but... He glanced at the mutant metal dagger in his hand.
So, was it the giant spider's highly defensive body that the mutant metal dagger stabbed, or its fragile body after it turned into a mouse?
If it's the latter, then it would be even more interesting.
I'll try it again later.
Zhou Qi thought about it, then grabbed the dagger and scratched the big spider's shell a few times.
The spider's seemingly hard shell was easily broken, and more dark green liquid flowed out, revealing the white silk threads in the abdominal cavity that had not yet been spit out.
Therefore, the mutant metal dagger can still be used when dealing with mutant creatures.
Zhou Qi looked at the corpse of the giant spider and felt that it seemed a pity to just leave it there, but he didn't know what the specific function of this mutated giant spider was.
Looking at the dark green viscous liquid, the hairy spider shell, and the pair of green compound eyes, he really didn't want to take it back as food.
Although he had seen on TV's food programs that spiders could be eaten, they were not so hungry as to eat anything.
"Let me identify it!" Tang Yu'an said at this time.
As soon as he finished speaking, he used a basic identification skill on the corpse of the big spider - this spider was already dead, so it should not be considered an intelligent creature.
Soon, the system prompt popped up——
[Do you want to deduct 200 points and use the "Item Appraisal (Basic)" skill on this item?]
Hiss, so expensive!
Although the identification skill was successfully used, the identification fee exceeded Tang Yu'an's psychological expectations.
"Brother Xiaoqi, this big spider is worth 2,000 points. The appraisal fee is so expensive." Tang Yu'an said with a frown.
Zhou Qi pursed his lips slightly, he also felt that it was not worth it.
Although this mutant giant spider is very valuable, they currently lack customers willing to buy it. The only way to get it is to sell it on the plane market...
"Have the mutant lantern fruits been sold today?" he asked.
Tang Yu'an took a look and shook his head: "No."
Currently, his merchant level is still relatively low, and he can only list one item in the plane store at a time.
However, if the mutated lantern fruit is not sold by the evening, it will be automatically returned to his portable warehouse, and the space will be vacant.
Zhou Qi thought about it, took out a small plastic bag from his portable storage, and then carefully collected some of the dark green liquid that flowed out of the spider.
"Let's identify this," he said.
Tang Yu'an's eyes lit up slightly, and he quickly used his identification skills on the small bag of blood.
[Do you want to deduct 1 point and use the "Item Appraisal (Basic)" skill on this item?]
Wow, the appraisal fee has become 1 point!
The author has something to say:
System: Okay, okay, that’s how it’s done, right?
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