Chapter 4
Qianhui huddled in the closet, leaning her head against the wooden board.
He fell silent, listening to the sound of the rain pouring outside.
When the humans passed by, they were not very close, and it was raining, so their voices were not very clear.
If it hadn't rained, he probably would have gone out.
Since he and the carnivorous plant are both here, then perhaps Nan Tingjin is too...
But what if he misheard?
Since waking up, and finally being safe, it's impossible not to be afraid when thinking about what happened along the way.
Revealing ourselves rashly might lead to danger.
In addition, it was raining outside, and getting wet would cause damage, so he also had two plants with him.
Qian Hui looked down at the chili peppers and cabbage in her arms.
In a completely unfamiliar place, it seemed that the only things he was willing to trust and interact with were the plants.
Moreover, if the chili peppers and cabbage were discovered, they would also be in danger.
One of them had both legs severely injured, and the other was small and clearly not very strong.
Qianhui remembered that the game's faction analysis said that the mutated plants had been hunted by humans and zombies in recent years, and their overall situation was not good.
Also, he encountered two human groups today, and both mentioned the man-eating plant.
Are they all looking for the man-eating flower and trying to catch it?
Thinking that the man-eating flower had been injured before it disappeared, Qian Hui became increasingly worried.
He also wanted to find the other person, who was one of his best friends.
And Nan Tingjin, I wish he were really here.
Qian Hui couldn't help but feel sad, her expression becoming increasingly confused and aggrieved.
He wanted to go back to the botanical garden; he didn't want to stay in this place.
The cabbage seemed to sense Qianhui's emotions, touched his palm with its leaf, and looked up at him.
Qianhui hugged the two plants tightly and closed her eyes to rest.
—
The rain gradually stopped at night.
A few low-level zombies passed by the ruins, but they did not find Qianhui hiding in the cabinet.
Qianhui didn't want to go out, so she took out the last fruit in the dark and shared it with the two plants.
He had a small appetite, yet seemed to get hungry very quickly; just a few hours later, his condition had changed to [dangerous] again.
After eating a third of the fruit, the condition returned to [barely good].
This time, the chili pepper obediently accepted the feeding and swallowed the pulp in a few bites.
The cabbage was flattered when Qian Hui handed it to her. She held it in her hands for a while before turning around and running to a corner to eat it.
After eating, the cabbage returned to Qian Hui's side and snuggled close to him affectionately.
After finishing "dinner", chili peppers remained loyal, while cabbage's loyalty jumped to 50%.
Qianhui opened the encyclopedia, and the skill bar had been updated.
[Variety]: Mini Cabbage
[Rank]: Low-level (Gentle and Cute)
[Status]: Good
Loyalty: 50%
[Basic Skill]: Stealth (lasts 50 seconds)
[Advanced Skill]: Invisibility (lasts 50 seconds)
[Berserk Skill]: Unknown
[Preparation Details]: Unlocked at 80% loyalty.
[Recommended Class]: Assassin/Support
[Job Level]: Beginner
[Skill Point Allocation]: Attack 0, Defense 0, Speed 0 (No skill points available)
Little Cabbage didn't know what Qian Hui was looking at, and curiously sized him up, her face looking completely harmless.
Qian Hui thought to herself, "It's so small, it even has trouble finding food on its own, it probably can't be an assassin..."
When he opened the online store again, he was truly astonished.
The store's interface is filled with rows and rows of products.
There are five categories: daily necessities, medicines, building materials and weapons, plant upgrades, and special items.
Qian Hui looked through them roughly. Among the daily necessities were various foods, water, and clothes.
There aren't many types of medicines, divided into mana restorers, health restorers, and panaceas. Each type has different grades, with higher-grade medicines being more expensive.
As the name suggests, the building materials and weapons section sells weapons of all sizes, as well as bricks, cement, and other materials for building bases.
Qianhui then opens the plant upgrade menu, which sells skill points.
The special items inventory only contains two items: Evolution Water and Revival Beans.
Qian Hui was almost dazzled by the sight. He then looked at the balance...
There are so many things, not many people can afford to buy them.
He only had 200 in his account. He searched the entire store and could only afford a small piece of bread or a basic panacea.
Having just eaten dinner, Qian Hui wasn't hungry, so she turned her attention to the panacea.
Chili pepper was still recovering from her injuries, and she coughed a few times while eating the fruit.
Its legs are still immobile, and it's uncertain whether the broken leaf on one side will grow back.
Compared to the small cabbage, the chili peppers were much more wary of Qian Hui, and their loyalty was only minimal.
Qianhui could guess that it was either a zombie or a human who injured it.
Even so, Chili still helped him in the woods, otherwise he would have been caught by zombies long ago.
Qianhui bought the panacea and handed it to Chili.
Chili pepper leaned closer to smell it, but didn't take it.
“This can heal wounds,” Qianhui whispered. “You took it when you were unconscious.”
Chili, unsure whether to believe it or not, stared at the pill for a long time.
It glanced at the cabbage nestled in Qian Hui's arms, almost asleep, and sneered inwardly.
They're feeding them and giving them medicine. Is this strange human or zombie trying to tame them?
No way!
Chili swallowed the pill in one gulp, turned over, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
It could smell that this wasn't poison; it should actually be able to heal the wound.
Given my current situation, staying by Qianhui's side for the time being is the best option.
Once its leg heals, it will sneak away...
Chili secretly made up her mind and felt the pill taking effect in her body.
It had eaten one before, and this one, taken together, was even more effective; the severely injured areas on its legs quickly began to itch.
Before leaving, why not catch two or three mid-level zombies, extract their crystal cores, and give them to him?
Two, three is too many.
Chili thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
After buying the medicine, Qianhui's account balance was reduced to zero.
He looked at the ways to earn the balance: task rewards, unlocking titles, and killing zombies.
Judging from the situation during the day, the first two methods of acquisition should be... easier, right?
Qianhui hadn't played many games, so she only had a vague understanding of many of their functions and uses, and relied entirely on intuition to operate them.
He then secured the wooden planks at the entrance and closed his eyes.
This was his first night away from the plant garden, and the first time he was without the company of familiar plants.
But he was lucky; he was neither injured nor starved to death on the way.
He also saw the man-eating flower and knew it was there too.
Qian Hui curled herself up into a ball, recalling the scene when the giant man-eating flower appeared, and the voice that sounded so much like Nan Tingjin's.
He gradually fell asleep, his faint breathing even and gentle.
Chili woke up once in the middle of the night.
It listened carefully to the sounds outside, and only closed its eyes again after confirming that it was safe.
—
The next day, Qianhui was woken up by game notifications.
He groggily opened his eyes, and messages kept popping up on the screen.
[Critical condition!][Critical condition!]
Qianhui quickly sat up and found that the chili pepper in her arms was gone, while the cabbage was quietly squatting to the side.
The wooden planks blocking the entrance showed signs of being moved, and a ray of light shone in from the outside.
Qian Hui quickly crawled out of the entrance, only to find Chili sitting on the stone in front of the cabinet, turning her head to look at her, her eyes seeming to say: Why did it take you so long to wake up.
Qianhui looked up at the sky; it seemed to be noon already.
He didn't feel much hunger, but his overall condition was poor, and he felt even more tired when he woke up.
Cabbage followed Qian Hui out and reached out to tightly grasp a piece of his trouser leg.
Qianhui opened the encyclopedia, and both the chili peppers and cabbage were in the "Hungry" state.
They need to find food as soon as possible.
With no zombies nearby, Qianhui turned off the game and picked up two plants.
The game provided new guidance, and he took the dagger and followed the direction.
However, after entering the forest, Qianhui walked for more than twenty minutes without finding any food or water along the way.
The destination in this direction is likely the stream from yesterday, but Qianhui left later and was chased by zombies, so she is already quite far away.
He would most likely not be able to make it back to that place.
Qian Hui felt dizzy and had to stop to rest twice.
The little cabbage was very worried about him, but didn't know what to do, and the chili peppers couldn't help much either.
There were no fruits left from yesterday. Qianhui opened the shop and looked at her empty balance.
He overestimated himself...
Yesterday went too smoothly, which made him misunderstand everything. In a post-apocalyptic environment, food and water are not so easy to obtain.
If he had known, he wouldn't have bought the medicine yesterday.
Qian Hui felt both regret and self-reproach. He squatted down, leaning against the tree trunk, and said to the two plants, "How about you two go first..."
Chili peppers have difficulty moving around, but they can hide first, so the little cabbage won't have to follow him anymore.
Having grasped Qian Hui's meaning, Chili turned and ran away.
It rolled over into the grass, propped itself up with its hands, and slid forward a short distance.
The little cabbage stayed close to Qianhui without moving, humming softly.
At that moment, the chili pepper that was struggling to roll suddenly stopped.
It raised its head, looking wary.
Each time it reacts in this way, it proves that there is unusual activity in the surroundings.
Qian Hui listened carefully and heard a faint sound coming from one direction, like a zombie.
His first reaction was to get away as quickly as possible, but as soon as he stood up, he hesitated.
Killing zombies will earn you a balance reward, which can be used to buy food and water in the shop.
How about... we give it a try?
Qianhui looked at the dagger in her hand, torn between fleeing elsewhere and trying to kill a zombie.
Just as he hesitated, the zombie's screams drew closer, sounding like it was in a rage.
Chili peppers were very sensible and rolled back with a "glug glug".
Qian Hui bent down again and crouched down, cautiously peeking out.
At the edge of the field of vision, a very familiar-looking zombie appeared in the forest.
The zombie had a burn scar on its face, but the rest of its features were distinct; it was the same one Qian Hui had encountered yesterday.
At this moment, it was grabbing a vine and struggling to tear it apart.
The vine also appears to be a mutated plant, its end tightly wrapped around the zombie's neck, intending to kill it.
However, the vines were not thick enough and could only barely support the zombies, preventing them from spitting out corrosive mucus.
The zombie was very strong and tore off the end of the vine in the blink of an eye.
The vine trembled, enduring the pain as it tried to climb a tree branch to escape, but was caught by the zombie again.
To zombies, even mutated plants that can move can fill their stomachs.
Furthermore, the vines had already enraged the zombie; if it hadn't wrapped around its neck and arms, it would have devoured the lowly plant long ago.
Qian Hui saw this scene and gripped her dagger, preparing to approach.
He didn't have time to think too much. Since the zombie was temporarily entangled by the vines, he had a greater chance of killing it.
The game warned her again that her status was extremely dangerous, and Qianhui barely managed to stay alert.
He hadn't found the man-eating flower or Nan Tingjin yet, and he didn't want to die, much less sit and wait for his demise.
Little cabbage followed closely beside her, and Qianhui picked it up and stuffed it into her pocket.
He looked at the chili pepper again and asked quietly, "Can you help me?"
Chili guessed what he was going to do, and silently placed a leaf on his outstretched hand.
Without delay, Qianhui stuffed the chili peppers into her pocket and quickly approached when the opportunity arose.
The vine was struggling to hold on; its body was being pulled and was about to break off.
The zombie's neck was strangled with a deep wound, but as long as the bones were intact, attacking the brain was the only way to kill it completely.
Just when the vines were in despair, they caught a glimpse of a figure appearing behind the zombie.
Qian Hui raised her dagger and, following the game's instructions, forcefully stabbed the zombie in the back of the head.
The zombie, in pain, roared and released the vines, then suddenly turned around.
The blade of the dagger got stuck in the skull and couldn't be pulled out. Qian Hui had no combat experience whatsoever and was knocked to the ground by the zombie's arm.
Ignoring the vines still wrapped around his neck, the zombie bent down and pounced on Qian Hui, intending to bite him to death.
Qian Hui managed to roll over and dodge, but her arm was still scratched by the zombie's sharp nails.
The vines froze for a moment, unsure of what was happening. Instinctively, they hooked onto the branches behind them, trying to keep the zombies away from Qianhui.
Chili peppers popped out of the pocket, jumped up, hugged the zombie's face, aimed at its forehead, and spat out the hot chili seeds they had prepared.
The dagger, combined with chili seeds, severely wounded the zombie's head, causing it to finally collapse to the ground.
With its last breath, it raised its hand to grab the chili pepper on its face, and the vines immediately wrapped around its hands.
Little Cabbage wanted to help, so she stealthily ran over and bumped the zombie's head a few times, killing it completely.
[Congratulations on successfully killing a level 2 zombie (1)! The reward has been sent to your account!]
Qian Hui sat up, clutching her injured arm, and looked around.
After confirming that no other zombies were coming, he immediately opened the store and bought a bottle of water and a pack of biscuits.
When the balance was deducted, he glanced at it and saw that there was 1600 left.
Qian Hui paused for a moment, then picked up the water and food that appeared beside her and went to the dead zombie.
Chili had already dug out the zombie's crystal core and placed it on the ground, pushing it toward Qianhui.
Qian Hui picked up the crystal core, looked at it, and then put it back.
The game reward arrived the moment the zombie died; as for the crystal core, he had no idea what it was.
Chili pepper assumed he didn't need it, so it broke the crystal core in half, ate one half itself, and threw the other half to the vines not far away.
As for the small cabbage, it didn't contribute much; it didn't separate.
The little cabbage didn't care about this and leaned closer to lick the broken pieces of the crystal core.
Qian Hui sat on the ground, drank several mouthfuls of water, and tore open the biscuit packaging.
The biscuits were hard, but they were filling. Qianhui also shared some with the chili peppers and cabbage.
His physical condition had finally recovered, and he turned to look at the tree not far away.
The vines from before hadn't left yet. It had eaten half a crystal core and seemed to want to get closer to Qian Hui, but was too afraid to.
Qianhui picked up a cookie and handed it over.
Half a minute later, the vines approached, snatched the biscuit from Qian Hui's hand, and rubbed it against him with their leaves.
It is not large in size; it is actually a thin and small vine with leaves about the size of a fingernail. Its eyes and mouth are not visible on the outside. It needs to dissolve its food using a few special leaves.
Chili watched Qianhui's every move and buried her head in eating a biscuit.
It will not object to any of Qianhui's actions, but will only take action when necessary. As for other plants, they have their own choices.
Anyway, it will leave once its leg heals.
The vines quickly ate the biscuits, getting closer to Qian Hui and loosely wrapping around his wrist.
The zombie corpses on the ground smelled terrible, and Qian Hui didn't have the energy to check their information for the time being. She got up, took the chili peppers and cabbage, and went to a place a little further away.
He had leftover cookies and water, and he wanted to buy a backpack from the mall and get new clothes, but he was worried that he wouldn't have enough food in the future.
In the end, Qianhui didn't buy anything, and used all the remaining balance for food storage.
The little vines were still wrapped around his wrist, and like cabbages, they were very close to Qian Hui in a short period of time.
Then, the game notification finally arrived, albeit belatedly.
[Successfully formed bonds with three or more plants! You can now form your plant team! Hurry and increase their loyalty!]
There's also a helpful tip: the lower the plant's loyalty, the higher the danger of participating in battle, because they may escape at any time or turn around and attack the host, and all previous cultivation efforts will be wasted.
Qian Hui opened the encyclopedia, and a new column for estimated combat power appeared on the side.
[Green Chili Pepper (Intermediate, Injured and Healing), Mini Cabbage (Low-level, Useless Skill), Soft Vine (Low-level, Low Combat Power).]
[Overall estimated combat power: 5, win rate: 6%. Enjoy the game!]
Qianhui silently closed the interface and finished the last bite of the cookie.
Anyway, there's still so much money left in the account. If we eat sparingly, it will last for several days.
If Little Soft Vine wants to come with him, then he'll take her along and go searching together...
Qian Hui pursed her lips, opened the illustrated guide again, and looked at the sign for the carnivorous plant.
He quickly composed himself, stuffed the biscuits and water into his pocket, and picked up the cabbage and chili peppers.
The dagger stuck in the back of the zombie's head has been removed, and the blood has been carefully wiped away.
The small vines coiled around Qian Hui's wrist several times, quietly following him as he left.
—
Qianhui continued her journey, stopping frequently, without encountering any more zombies.
The woods seemed safe, but without the game's guidance, he wandered aimlessly for a long time until he reached the edge of the city ruins.
The ruins were everywhere in his field of vision, and they all looked pretty much the same. He couldn't tell where he had first seen the giant man-eating flower.
As the afternoon sun faded, just as Qian Hui was preparing to find a place to stay for the night, Chili in her arms looked up ahead and whimpered softly.
Qian Hui quickly hid and observed from a distance.
Amidst the ruins, several human figures moved slowly forward, probing with the instruments in their hands.
Upon discovering that they were human again, Qian Hui's eyes lit up slightly as she tried to find a familiar face among them.
The group of people standing in front of the broken wall were the team from the Black Ridge Mountain base.
The short man turned and looked around, saying, "There are two places where the aura is strongest; it must be hiding nearby."
They searched back and forth along this area for a long time, confirming that the carnivorous plant had not left.
"Let's think of a way to lure it out. How about catching a few plants?"
"Regular ones won't work, but mushrooms might be worth a try..."
The group didn't notice Qian Hui hiding in the distance. One of the taller men lowered his voice and asked, "Where did the leader go again?"
The short man shook his head: "I don't know."
Qian Hui saw the group moving in another direction and followed them.
He wondered if these humans were the same ones he had encountered yesterday.
If so, following them might lead us to the man-eating flower, or... that human whose voice sounds a lot like Nan Tingjin's.
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