Chapter 22
The soft light, like sunlight, warmed even the darkest, unlit corners of the distance.
The sunflower stood in the middle of the iron cage, with several small plants huddled around it.
The small plants, each bearing wounds of varying degrees, slowly healed under the sunlight.
In the dead of night, the zombies in the basement were fast asleep when a small bamboo shoot quietly opened its eyes.
It rolled over, got up, and tore away a layer of camouflage; the wounds inside had already healed.
The little bamboo shoot approached the sunflower, carefully touched its leaves, and expressed its gratitude.
Then it went around to the front and struggled to pry open the bent steel bars, trying to create a bigger gap so that the sunflower could get out.
However, the steel bars had been reinforced by advanced zombies using their supernatural abilities, making them not only exceptionally hard but also corrosive.
The little bamboo shoot's hands were quickly burned, but a sunflower leaf reached out and pushed it away in time.
The sunflower's light intensified slightly, as if to heal the little bamboo shoot, and then pushed it back, as if urging it on.
The little bamboo shoot understood the sunflower's meaning, and its eyes showed great reluctance and worry.
But it still has things to do and can't afford to waste time.
The little bamboo shoot returned to its sleeping corner and pushed aside a tile.
Underneath the tiles was a hole that had been dug over several days, leading to the outside.
Unfortunately, its abilities are limited, and it has to be careful not to be detected by the zombies. The entrance to the cave is only so big, so it can't take the sunflower with it.
Without delay, the little bamboo shoot woke up the other plants, and they prepared to escape from the hole.
Including it, all four plants are relatively small and can squeeze into the hole smoothly. There is still one apple that cannot go in and is the most seriously injured. It would be better to treat it for another night.
The little bamboo shoot originally planned to wait until the apple was better before trying to dig the hole a little bigger.
But Apple was worried that it would be discovered if it lingered too long, so it let it take the other small plants and leave first.
Apple insisted, so the little bamboo shoot had no choice but to agree.
Before leaving, it came to the sunflower again, mustered up its courage, hugged the leaf, and rubbed against it.
The zombies were still dormant, and the little bamboo shoot dared not make a sound, but used its eyes to tell the sunflower that it would come back to save it.
Finally, the four plants crawled into the hole one by one, and the apple slowly pushed the tile over to cover it.
As night fell, the zombies in the basement gradually emerged from their dormancy and soon discovered the plants' escape.
Only sunflowers and apples remained in the cage. The advanced zombie was furious. It opened the iron cage, grabbed the apple, and used its claws to cut deep wounds on its body before throwing it back.
The zombies have been doing this every day for some time now, and the small plants that were locked up with the sunflower have been repeatedly injured, forcing the sunflower to treat them.
During the treatment, nearby zombies can also absorb a continuous stream of light and energy.
The apple, which had not yet fully recovered, was now severely injured and collapsed to the ground. The sunflower used its leaves to shield it from the sun.
Because of the sunflower's usefulness, the zombies wouldn't attack it. They growled fiercely a few times, ordering the other zombies to chase after it as soon as possible, or to catch a few new ones.
—
In the morning, Carrot caught a fish in the lake.
It climbed ashore, grabbed the fish, and ran off excitedly, ignoring the water hyacinth chasing after it, bubbling and gurgling all the while.
The water hyacinth was muttering angrily at it, saying that it was the one it had raised.
Carrot ignored him and went to find Qianhui with the fish, intending to cook it and eat it.
However, the game store doesn't sell cooking tools; the food is all things like cookies that are easy to preserve. Qianhui looked at the fish, unsure of what to do with it.
Several plants examined the fish for a while, then removed its internal organs and threw them away. The chili peppers contributed their seeds, and it took them quite a while to finally cook the fish.
A piece of the best-looking carrot was torn off and given to Qianhui. Qianhui took a small bite and thought it didn't taste good.
The rest was divided among a few plants, who didn't mind at all and even licked the fish bones clean.
The corn cob also contained a few fish bones, which it could stuff inside to serve as concealed weapons.
The water hyacinths on the bank were still gurgling, and Qian Hui, drawn by the noise, went over to check them out and fed them some breadcrumbs.
The water hyacinth ate the bread and immediately became quiet, slowly swimming towards the center of the lake.
After cleaning up the leftovers of the delicious fish and traces of their overnight stay, the plant team set off again.
The carnivorous plant didn't grow bigger in the forest. Qianhui walked around by herself, looking at the information in the game.
We were delayed in the safe zone earlier, which slowed down the progress of both the main and side quests.
The main quest is still missing three intermediate zombies, and the side quests are even further behind.
He needs to raise the loyalty of three high-level mutated plants to 40% and the loyalty of six mid-level mutated plants to 50%.
There are two intermediate-level plants missing, while the team only has one advanced-level plant, the Mimosa, and its loyalty is insufficient.
Qian Hui wondered if he should stay a little longer in the forest, where there were many mutated plants. As long as he fed them enough plants, there would always be some willing to follow him.
But the most difficult ones are those three advanced mutated plants. Advanced is only below special grade, and their numbers seem to be very small.
Since Qianhui awakened, most of the items lit up in the encyclopedia are low-level and mid-level, with only one high-level item, the Mimosa.
Advanced plants are probably the most vigilant and won't easily show themselves.
Qianhui deliberately slowed down her pace, stopping to check whenever there was a game prompt, feeding any plants she found nearby, and placing food in the grass if she couldn't find any.
Potato was a little unhappy when it saw this and wanted to secretly snatch it back, but Chili stopped it, grabbed it, and threw it to Qianhui.
Qianhui hugged the potato and gave it a piece of candy, which made it happy. It whined and rubbed against Qianhui's hand.
However, with two offensive Superior Evil Plants, the Man-Eating Flower and the Carrot, by his side, their auras were quite domineering, and many plants had already hidden themselves away when entering the new environment.
Carrot went ahead to scout the way, then sat bored on a tree branch, waiting for Qianhui to catch up.
At this rate, when will they be able to gather all the plants in the yard?
It seems kidnapping one leader isn't enough. How about we try completely conquering a human base and then fighting a zombie king...
Making a big commotion might attract the attention of other plants.
But... Carrot turned his head to look at the plants around Qianhui and shook his head inwardly.
Even with it and the man-eating plant, the chances of conquering a human base are slim; at best, they could sneak in and kidnap someone.
Carrot then turned its gaze to Nan Tingjin, stared at him for a while, and then looked away.
Around noon, the plant team stopped to rest in the woods.
After lunch, Qianhui would spend some time alone with Nantingjin as usual. The plants were used to it and wisely left her alone.
Nan Tingjin sat under the tree, massaging Qian Hui's hands.
Qianhui leaned against him, flipping through the newly lit plants in the plant encyclopedia from that morning, without taking a nap.
Nan Tingjin asked in a low voice, "Aren't you sleepy?"
Qian Hui gave a vague reply and closed the game interface.
He was indeed not sleepy today. He stared blankly for a while and noticed the wooden pinky ring on Nan Tingjin's hand.
Qian Hui touched the ring and said, "Next time... I'll make you a new one. This one's worn out and doesn't look good."
Nan Tingjin paused slightly: "Did you make this?"
Qian Hui had mentioned it once, but didn't say much about it.
Later, he wrote a letter to Nan Tingjin, and the character "茴" in the letter was almost identical to the one engraved on his pinky ring.
Qian Hui hummed in agreement and then said, "Make a new one and send it again... maybe then he'll remember."
Nan Tingjin remained silent, massaging Qian Hui's fingertips.
He didn't speak, and Qianhui thought he didn't believe her, so she tilted her head up slightly.
"I know you've been here a long time; your ring has even withered away..."
Qian Hui couldn't help but reach out and hug Nan Tingjin, whispering, "I will always be with you from now on, and I will never leave again."
“If…if you can’t remember, that’s okay,” Qian Hui continued, somewhat hesitantly, “just do everything you did before, and you can like me again…”
His thick, light-colored eyelashes trembled, his expression serious, yet somewhat apprehensive.
Qian Hui didn't know if his method would work, and he also wondered what would happen if Nan Tingjin couldn't remember.
Then, will he stop liking me?
Nan Tingjin looked down at him, answering a question that didn't seem to fit the question: "Am I your boyfriend?"
Qian Hui looked a little confused, then nodded: "Yes."
"When you're with your boyfriend," Nan Tingjin asked again, "is that all you do?"
Qian Hui was taken aback, then realized what Nan Tingjin meant, and nodded hesitantly, "Mm."
Nan Tingjin has been kidnapped for five days. Qian Hui initially said she would teach him about his past, but in the end she only taught him how to rub his hands.
Furthermore, Qianhui only allows him to listen to her, and she won't hug him for too long, otherwise Ruanteng will threaten him with its leaves.
After playing along for so long, Nan Tingjin's patience was gradually wearing thin.
He leaned closer and prompted again, "Have you kissed?"
Qian Hui nodded: "We kissed."
"How did you kiss?"
Qian Hui didn't hesitate for long and obediently kissed Nan Tingjin on the cheek.
Nan Tingjin remained silent for a moment, his expression unreadable: "That's it?"
Qian Hui hummed in agreement, not noticing anything amiss.
Nan Tingjin took his hand and said slowly, "With your boyfriend, there's more to it than just these things."
Qian Hui asked, bewildered, "What else?"
Nan Tingjin looked at him for a while, then tightened his grip and pulled Qian Hui into his arms.
His entire demeanor changed, and his movements became more assertive, completely different from the previous few days.
Qian Hui wasn't used to it and subconsciously turned her head away, but a heavy kiss landed on her cheek.
Immediately afterward, his chin was grabbed, and his extremely oppressive breath was inches away. Qian Hui was nervous and flustered, and reached out to push Nan Tingjin away: "You..."
Sensing Qian Hui's emotions, Ruan Teng immediately revealed its leaves and pressed them against Nan Tingjin's throat.
Nan Tingjin's gaze was deep as he patiently released Qian Hui.
He sat under the tree, concealing his aura, and resumed his seemingly gentle and harmless demeanor.
Qian Hui stared blankly for a while, as if she was startled, and touched her cheek where she had been kissed.
Just then, lunch break ended, and Corn ran over to urge us to get going.
Qian Hui regained her senses, picked up the corn, and stood up: "Hmm... let's go."
The team cleaned up the tracks and continued in the same direction they had come from.
On the other side, several modified cars were driving on the city streets.
There has been no news from Nan Tingjin for several days... The safe zone has not given up and has sent more people to search for him in various places.
However, the residual energy of the super-grade exotic plants could no longer be detected, and without any specific traces or directions, their search was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The longer it dragged on, the more anxious the people at the Black Ridge Mountain base became.
They were more worried that something had happened to Nan Tingjin. With that mutated chili pepper around, humans who had lost their powers would have no chance against the powerful mutated plant.
In the end, some other voices emerged within the base.
"Just in case, shouldn't we choose a new leader?"
"Do you want to die...? There's no definite news yet. The leader might be back tomorrow."
Although there aren't many kind-hearted people in the base, if it weren't for Nan Tingjin's terrifying strength suppressing them, the people below wouldn't be so obedient.
But choosing a new leader... it's too fast now, let's at least wait a little longer.
Everyone had their own thoughts, but on the surface they continued to search for Nan Tingjin's whereabouts.
—
In the afternoon, the plant team arrived at the edge of the forest, just before reaching the area of the city ruins.
Carrot suddenly yelled, and Corn and Chili ran over to take a look.
Traces of a battle remained at the edge of the woods; two human corpses lay on the ground, their bodies mangled beyond recognition and emitting a foul odor.
They appeared to have been attacked by zombies and were so badly injured that they died before they could turn into zombies, probably after five or six days.
As Qianhui approached, Carrot, not wanting him to see such a scene, hung from a tree branch intending to cover Qianhui's eyes.
But along the way, she had seen quite a few zombie corpses, and Qianhui's resilience had already increased considerably.
He glanced at them and saw that the two were dressed almost identically, with a symbol on their shoulders and cuffs.
However, it was stained with too much blood and was not easy to identify. Qian Hui took another step closer to examine it carefully. She felt that she had not seen it on the road signs of the safe zone, so it should not be someone from that side.
At this moment, Nan Tingjin stepped forward and said, "It's from Sky Base."
As if agreeing with him, Chili threw a stone at the corpse.
The carnivorous plant stepped forward, sniffed, and growled twice.
It didn't recognize the base's markings or remember the name, but it could smell the direction of the scent and knew that it was in the same group as Liang Jie from before.
The mimosa plant, hiding in the cuff, trembled and shrank back in fear.
It also recognized the sign; it had seen it many times on the wall when it was locked up with its companions.
Qian Hui frowned slightly and silently recited the words "Sky Base" in her mind.
However, since the person was already dead, there was no need to do anything more. The team continued forward, with Carrot leading the way, cautiously observing the surroundings.
Ordinary humans dare not go out now. Those two must be superhumans. Their corpses turned into that state, so they must have encountered a high-level zombie. This area may be very dangerous.
Thinking of the scent he smelled last night, Carrot became extremely alert and gripped a radish thorn tightly.
Having entered the streets of the city ruins, Qianhui didn't see any signs marking the area. She planned to try to find intermediate-level zombies to complete missions before dark, and then return to the woods to rest at night.
The plants had no objection and walked a little further when the carrot suddenly let out a low "woof".
It stood atop the highest point of some ruins and pointed in a direction.
Qianhui couldn't see it, so she asked, "Radish, is it a zombie?"
Carrot nodded and looked in that direction.
There were three zombies in total, all of intermediate level, moving quickly through the ruins, seemingly trying to escape.
Wait, it's not about running away...
Carrot squinted and examined it closely, catching a glimpse of tiny green flash by.
It was a mutated plant, only half the size of a palm, but it moved very fast.
It was the target of the three zombies, who were hot on its heels.
In the past, if Carrot had seen this, he might have hesitated to help.
Plants that are too weak and cannot hide can only be saved once, and their safety cannot be completely guaranteed. Plants also prefer to fight alone and are not used to having their own kind with them.
But things are different now. Qianhui likes all the mutated plants and can't bear to see them starving and injured.
The carrot made a quick decision, throwing out its spikes and gliding over.
Chili and the others who usually fought zombies with it followed closely behind without hesitation.
Qianhui, unaware of what was happening, climbed onto the back of the man-eating flower's neck and looked up.
In the distance, three mid-level zombies slowed their movements upon sensing the approaching unfamiliar presence.
When they saw the four mutated plants rushing towards them, two corn clumps with fish bones and a potato bomb fell from mid-air.
One of the zombies was close to being a high-level zombie and was directing its companions to take cover.
The carrot immediately recognized that it was the strongest, and turned to the other three plants to indicate that this one would be given to it alone.
For several days in a row, the plants cooperated more and more seamlessly. The potato then threw out a bomb with chili seeds stuck to it, which exploded and scattered a large number of hot fragments.
At this moment, the three zombies' attention was drawn to the mutated plant, and they abandoned it.
The little bamboo shoot in the corner took a breath, tore off a bit of its outer skin and stuck it to the wound to barely stop the bleeding, then gripped two bamboo knives tightly.
It escaped at night with a few small plants and carried them to a safer place.
It could have simply left, but the sunflower and apple were still locked in the basement, and it couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
So the little bamboo shoot secretly returned, wanting to try and help the sunflower escape while the zombies in the basement went out hunting.
However, the zombies guarding the low building didn't go far. They caught its scent and chased after it.
The little bamboo shoot fought back fiercely, killing two low-level zombies and one mid-level one, but there were too many zombies, and one was about to evolve into a high-level one.
It was no match for the wounded creature and was about to be captured—
The little bamboo shoots peeked out and looked around, observing the several unfamiliar plants.
Are they helping themselves?
Plants don't usually have much affection for each other; the little bamboo shoot only trusts the sunflower.
Seeing that the four plants were quite powerful and should be able to easily deal with the three zombies, it thought for a moment and decided to leave quietly.
The little bamboo shoot stuffed the bamboo knife into its back shell, covered its wound, turned around, and quickly ran away.
It didn't run far before it heard noises coming from the ruins.
The sound of human footsteps approached, and the little bamboo shoot, its eyes serious, quickly darted into the nearby clutter to hide.
"Is this the place?" Qian Hui walked slowly over, the mimosa on her sleeve leading the way.
The mimosa smelled an unfamiliar plant that was injured, which reminded it of when it first met Qianhui, so it couldn't help but want to help.
Following the leaf's guidance, Qianhui squatted down in front of a pile of miscellaneous items.
Sure enough, a notification popped up that there were unbonded plants nearby. He carefully reached out and removed the half brick.
A dirty green patch peeked out from under the brick, and it hurriedly shrank back inside.
“Don’t be afraid,” Qian Hui whispered, “I’m not a bad person…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Zhusun pushed aside the clutter and leaped up, wielding a bamboo knife as he slashed at Qian Hui.
It was tiny, with a small blade, and even injured, yet it possessed considerable power when it erupted.
A strong green gust of wind swept in, and the carnivorous plant just in time to stick its head out and swallowed Qian Hui whole.
The little bamboo shoot was taken aback when it saw another plant, which seemed to be of a very high level.
It was injured and knew it couldn't win a fight, so it quickly retreated, watching Qianhui and the man-eating flower warily.
Zombies... no, it doesn't seem like zombies, they're humans?
Being with plants?
The little bamboo shoot also saw a miniature cabbage, half of which peeked out from Qianhui's pocket, and curiously examined it.
"Are you injured?" Qian Hui tried to give a friendly smile. "I can help you treat it."
He took out a few pills, placed them on a clean brick, and slowly pushed them over.
As Qian Hui opened the illustration, she discovered that this bamboo shoot, which was about the size of a cabbage, was actually a high-grade bamboo shoot.
[Variety]: Dwarf bamboo shoots
[Level]: Advanced
[Status]: Still recovering from serious injury
Loyalty: 0%
Qian Hui scanned the information below and found that it was not only a high-level mutated plant, but also an output-type one.
He's just not in good condition and needs urgent treatment.
However, when Qian Hui offered him the pills, Xiao Zhusun didn't budge an inch, not even glancing at them.
Qianhui waited patiently for a while, then led the man-eating flower back a little distance.
Just then, the carrots and their companions successfully dealt with the three zombies and flew back together, hanging on the carrot thorns.
Qian Hui turned her head to look over, and taking advantage of his distraction, Xiao Zhusun kicked the brick containing the pills and quickly ran away.
The carrot caught a glimpse of the little bamboo shoot's retreating figure: "Huh?"
Qian Hui quickly picked up the pills, asking worriedly, "Where did it go?"
The mimosa on the cuff raised its leaves, pointing forward.
The little bamboo shoot was injured, and there might still be wandering zombies nearby. Qianhui was worried and decided to go and check on it, at least to deliver the pills.
But this is a highly mutated plant, so it must be even more vigilant.
So Qianhui bought another guide to find out its preferences and see if she could get it to trust her quickly.
[Dwarf Bamboo Shoots]: Advanced Mutant Plant
[Purchased Guide: Cautious and patient, bold and intelligent. Don't let its small size fool you; it's quite powerful, excelling in close combat and wielding a knife. Due to its excessive caution, it often conceals its strength, disguising itself as weak, and doesn't easily trust anyone. It enjoys tea and fitness, and admires the premium exotic plant, the sunflower.]
"Admiring...sunflowers?"
Upon reading the last paragraph, Qian Hui slowly opened her eyes wide.
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