Chapter 5
Seeing Qian Hui's actions, Chili panicked and grabbed his sleeve.
What do you want to do? Become friends with those humans?
Putting aside the fact that Qianhui's appearance might lead to her being mistaken for a zombie and killed, if those people recognize her, they will definitely capture her and send her to the Sky Base.
Chili pepper was inexplicably angry. If she had known, she should have secretly left. Even if she was unable to move easily, she could have found a place to hide.
Qianhui thought it was worried about her, so she quietly reassured it, "I won't get too close... just take a look."
So it wasn't a suicide mission after all... Chili breathed a sigh of relief, and willingly slipped into Qian Hui's pocket, peeking out a small section of her head.
Seeing this, the cabbage perched on Qianhui's shoulder quickly jumped down and hid with her.
Qian Hui touched the soft vine that was quietly resting on her wrist and quietly followed the group ahead.
Collapsed buildings and ruins were everywhere, providing many places to hide. The group moved slowly, occasionally stopping to check their surroundings, but they did not find Qian Hui.
The shorter man walked at the front, his brow furrowed slightly: "Why is there always low energy around here? Are there so many mutated plants in this area?"
The instrument can detect energy fluctuations in zombies and mutated plants; the higher the energy, the higher the level.
Low-energy zombies are less intelligent and wouldn't be so quiet, so it can only be a mutated plant.
This area was once a cleaned-up abandoned area with very few resources. Apart from them and Liang Jie's team, no other ordinary humans or superhumans would come here.
"What's there to be afraid of with a few low-level plants?" his companion said nonchalantly. "Never mind, completing the mission is the most important thing."
There are woods nearby, so it seems normal to have more plants.
However, a while ago, a small base in the vicinity was captured, and I heard that many newly born zombies wandered over there. But now I haven't seen many of them. I wonder if they have evolved to a higher level and led the zombie horde to move elsewhere.
But in any case, they don't need to worry about the low energy levels nearby.
Another companion urged, "Let's search the outer perimeter again before dark."
Qian Hui, who was following behind, kept her distance and didn't hear what they were saying.
The group must have been very familiar with the area, or at least had a map. After leaving the edge of the woods, they walked around the ruins and through two streets.
Further on, the road became increasingly rugged, and Qianhui had to be very careful to avoid stepping on anything that would make a sound.
This slowed down his following speed.
As the distance between them widened, Qian Hui began to consider giving up.
He should hurry up and find a place to spend the night...
Just then, two loud "bangs" rang out in the distance, and Qian Hui was so frightened that she immediately hid.
When he came to his senses, he realized that the humans in front of him had encountered several zombies.
They seemed very powerful; I don't know what method they used, but they easily took down several zombies.
Qian Hui was somewhat frightened by what she saw, but was glad that she hadn't acted rashly.
Although he knew he was different from other zombies, he was not human either.
Those zombies had red eyes and their hair had degenerated to white; they weren't much different from him.
The thought of giving up grew stronger, and Qian Hui looked up at the sky, but still followed.
He couldn't hear what the humans were saying clearly; they were too far away, and he couldn't see their faces clearly either.
Even if the hope was slim, he still wanted to hear a voice similar to Nan Tingjin's, just to confirm that it wasn't him.
After the group cleared away the few zombies that had surrounded them and left, Qian Hui stepped over a section of collapsed wall to get around the ruins.
There were too many stones on the broken wall, and he slipped and fell because he wasn't paying attention.
The vines on his wrist reached out in time, hooked onto something next to Qian Hui, and pulled him up. The whole process didn't make much noise.
Qian Hui breathed a sigh of relief, touched the leaves of the vine, and said gratefully, "Thank you."
He continued forward, and when he reached the spot where the others had killed the zombies, the chili pepper in his pocket stirred.
Qian Hui turned her head and saw a zombie lying in the corner of the ruins to the side, its arm slightly raised, still breathing.
There were several zombie corpses nearby, all of which looked low-level and had not yet formed crystal cores, so the group casually knocked them down and left.
The zombie in the corner of the ruins was lucky; a twisted steel bar pierced its forehead, though the position was slightly off.
Qian Hui hesitated for a moment, then drew her dagger and stepped forward to kill the zombie completely.
[Congratulations on successfully killing a Level 1 zombie (1)! The reward has been sent to your account!]
Qian Hui's eyes lit up. She opened the game and glanced at her balance, which had increased by 1000.
So this counts as a kill... He quickly checked the remaining zombies, but unfortunately, apart from this one, the others were all dead.
Even so, the 1000 reward felt like free money.
Qian Hui happily put away the dagger and took out a biscuit to eat, replenishing her rapidly depleted energy.
He continued on his way, catching up with the group ahead.
After secretly following them for over half an hour, the human team ventured deeper into the abandoned city and encountered two more waves of low-level zombies, neither of them numerous.
Qianhui prayed that the same situation would happen again, but they seemed to be in a hurry to leave and actually forgot one again.
The zombie was pinned under a pile of rocks, almost unable to move, and was killed by Qian Hui with a dagger.
Another 1000 reward has been credited to my account, bringing my balance to 3600.
After that, the human team crossed a sign that read "Danger Zone (Area 2)" and entered a badly damaged high-rise building.
Qianhui saw the sign, recognized the words on it, and didn't go any further.
Furthermore, the environment inside the building is unknown, making it difficult to continue tracking.
With darkness approaching, finding a hiding place was the most important thing.
Although I didn't get the information I wanted, I still gained a lot.
Qianhui searched for a place to hide nearby, intending to turn back the way she came.
It had already taken some time for the human team to enter the building and for him to catch up. Now, before he had gone far, those people came out.
Chili peppers promptly warned them, and vines pulled Qianhui behind some ruins.
It was too late to get away now. Qian Hui bent down and hid herself, gripping the dagger tightly in her hand.
The little cabbage slowly peeked out from the pocket, its black bean eyes fixed on the direction from which the footsteps were coming from.
The lower plant wasn't stupid at all; it knew there might be danger, and if anything happened, it would hide and lure the humans over...
The sound of hurried footsteps approached, and four people arrived—the same team from before.
"It's not over there either, where could it possibly be hiding..."
The game's sound suddenly rang out, and Qianhui almost dropped the dagger in her hand.
[Congratulations! You successfully approached non-friendly factions three times without being detected! You have earned the title of "Beginner Scout"! The reward has been credited to your account.]
[Triggering a plot point grants access to the original ending for the Superior Plant Carnivorous Flower.]
Qian Hui's attention was focused on the few humans not far away, but the game interface automatically popped up a second message, along with a few lines of small text.
[Man-eating flower, a top-tier mutated plant, origin and age unknown. It is ferocious and violent, indiscriminately attacking all humans and zombies within its field of vision. It typically roams the medium-danger zone. Later, injured and unable to withstand the attack, it was captured alive by a human with supernatural abilities and died mysteriously en route to the base.]
Qian Hui's eyelashes trembled, and her breathing became slightly disordered.
He hurriedly clicked on the game interface, hoping to see more information, but apart from these few lines of text, there was no further explanation, and the plot points were not explained.
At this moment, the shorter man, holding the instruments, said impatiently, "Why are there plants here again?"
The low energy indicator was almost constant, which didn't affect their search for the man-eating plant, but the lack of progress throughout the day was inevitably frustrating.
He looked up and glanced around, his gaze slowly sweeping over all the objects in his field of vision.
There are too many ruins; small plants can easily hide in them.
His companion, looking down at the messages, said, "There's no progress on Liang Jie's end either."
After they parted ways yesterday, they switched to a different communication channel, but were still able to receive some residual messages.
What are they looking for?
"A mutated chili pepper that escaped; I heard its abilities are quite unusual..."
If someone is caught and then escapes, they will most likely leave a mark on their body, but they still haven't been found. The short man felt much better after hearing this.
The group walked quickly away until their footsteps disappeared completely.
Qian Hui slowly sat down on the ground, her expression confused and worried.
Qianhui also heard about the "man-eating flower," "being captured alive," "dying mysteriously," and the "mutant chili pepper" that the team mentioned at the end.
Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, he was at a loss and didn't know what to do.
The chili pepper in the pocket looked up and met Qian Hui's gaze.
It calmly looked away, trying to pretend it wasn't itself.
Qian Hui didn't say anything, patted Chili's head, and stood up.
The human team had already gone far away and disappeared from sight.
Their conversation triggered a plot point... So, they were the ones who captured the man-eating plant?
But they still have no trace of the man-eating flower, which may be the only good news for now.
If I could find the man-eating flower before them, could I change the outcome?
But Qianhui didn't know where to look.
He bent down and squatted down again, his nose stinging with tears.
Back in the plant garden, the carnivorous plant sometimes had a bad temper and liked to fight with other plants, but it was very protective of Qianhui.
Just the night before last, the man-eating flower was still waiting for him to come home at the door, but when he woke up, it felt like a very long time had passed and many things had happened.
Qianhui tried hard to recall that in the past, when the man-eating flower was injured, it would go back to the giant tree in the backyard with Little Mushroom after each treatment...
He looked up and saw only broken walls and ruins, desolate and dilapidated.
Chili made two "whooshing" sounds as a warning, and a low-level zombie staggered over, smelling Qian Hui's scent.
Qian Hui calmly stood up and drew her dagger.
The zombie lunged forward, and I was hit in the shoulder by two chili seeds, which slowed my movement.
Qian Hui swung her dagger, the first strike only slashing the zombie's arm and cheek.
The vines hooked onto the ruins, pulling him back two steps in time.
The zombie missed its target, and the vines on Qian Hui's wrist broke free, quickly wrapping around its neck and pulling it towards the ground.
Taking advantage of the zombie being restrained, Qianhui swung her knife again, stabbing the zombie in the forehead, but because she didn't have enough strength, she couldn't kill it with one blow.
He drew his dagger, protecting the chili peppers and cabbage in his arms, dodged the zombie's hands, and forcefully stabbed into the previous wound.
[Congratulations on successfully killing a Level 1 zombie (1)! The reward has been sent to your account!]
The zombie finally collapsed, and Chili swallowed the chili seeds that had been brewing.
Qian Hui leaned against the wall behind him, panting slightly. It took him three attacks to completely kill this low-level zombie, with the help of the plants.
He must survive until he finds the man-eating plant.
Qianhui wiped her face, took the three plants, and left the place as quickly as possible.
On the way, he opened the game interface.
In the encyclopedia, once Soft Vine's loyalty reaches 50%, its skill slot will be unlocked.
[Variety]: Soft Vine
[Level]: Low-level (small and agile)
[Status]: Good
Loyalty: 50%
[Basic Skills]: Body Extension
[Advanced Skill]: Promote Branching (Quantity 1)
[Berserk Skill]: Unknown
[Preparation Details]: Unlocked at 80% loyalty.
[Suggested occupation]: Support
[Job Level]: Beginner
[Skill Point Allocation]: Attack 0, Defense 0, Speed 0 (No skill points available)
Including the title reward from not long ago and a low-level zombie, I still have 4700 left.
Qianhui bought another panacea, this time a medium-grade one, and fed it to Chili.
The dagger was still usable, so he browsed the entire store and decided to buy some plants that could be used.
Both chili peppers and soft vines helped him, and although the little cabbage was weaker, its loyalty had reached 70%.
So Qianhui bought 30 skill points in one go, spending 3000.
With the remaining 1300, we can only buy food and water, and use it sparingly.
He opened the skill point allocation panel again, looking hesitant.
Qianhui had never played the game before and didn't know if 30 skill points were a lot or how to use them.
He relied entirely on his intuition, adding 10 points to the chili pepper's attack, 10 points to the cabbage's defense, and 10 points to the soft vine's speed.
After all points are allocated, the game will display a confirmation prompt.
Qian Hui tapped her finger, and three pills with writing on them appeared in her hand. She had to feed them to the plants.
The little cabbage thought it was a snack and swallowed it in one bite, and the soft vine didn't object either.
Chili hesitated for two seconds, then ate it too.
Qianhui then checked the information of the three plants. The chili pepper seemed unchanged, the cabbage had an additional (unknown) advanced skill, and the soft vine's number of branches increased to 2.
In the combat strength estimate, the combat strength value is 20, and the battle win rate is 10%.
I'm not sure what standard is used to measure the win rate, but with so many skill points invested, it should be useful...
Qian Hui looked around in a daze, then turned off the game.
The little cabbage licked its lips, rolled around twice in the pocket, and closed its eyes.
The chili pepper looked down and discovered that a large new branch had sprouted from the broken part of its leg.
It remained silent, covering the new branches and leaves.
As darkness fell, Qian Hui pressed on, her path clear and unobstructed.
He noticed the direction the human team had left in earlier, and initially thought he had lost them, but when he climbed over a section of broken wall, he saw them again.
A few people stood at the edge of the ruins in the distance. Qian Hui quickly climbed down and hid on the side of the broken wall.
He peered cautiously; the group seemed to be talking to each other, perhaps planning to spend the night nearby.
At that moment, another figure appeared from another direction.
He approached the squad, removed the hood that was covering his face, and tossed the item in his hand over.
The two sides clearly knew each other. The human team caught the item and said something to each other.
Qian Hui looked closely at the person in the distance and found him increasingly familiar.
His heart began to race, and hope was rekindled.
Not long after, the human team set off again, but that person did not follow them; instead, he went in another direction alone.
Without hesitation, Qian Hui turned and followed.
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