Chapter 32 Let's call the level 2 zombie Tian Manman.
"Where are you taking us?" Tian Qiao followed along the dark path, rubbing her arms and trying to rub against Cheng Zhiyu for some warmth.
There's no moonlight tonight, it's so dark.
Cheng Zhiyu took out a flashlight, and the road became much brighter instantly.
Xiao Hei stretched out its paw and nudged Tian Qiao, who was leaning against Cheng Zhiyu's shoulder. Tian Qiao moved away a little and turned to look at Xiao Hei: "Brother Hei, do you have to be so childish?"
Xiao Hei nudged Cheng Zhiyu and asked, "Am I childish?"
Cheng Zhiyu felt the furry thing next to his face, his heart fluttering. He said righteously, "Where is it childish? It's not childish at all, okay?"
Tian Qiao: "..."
He then said, "Orange, why didn't you take out the flashlight just now?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "I forgot."
Tian Qiao: "...Okay."
Looking at the dark figure ahead, he realized that the two of them were walking too slowly, and the other person was getting impatient but didn't dare to urge them on, so he could only stomp his feet in frustration.
That's kind of funny.
The two quickened their pace.
After walking for more than an hour, they still hadn't arrived. Tian Qiao muttered, "Where are you taking us? Why is it so far?"
The shadowy figure seemed somewhat displeased: "You... wait."
Tian Qiao raised an eyebrow: "Hey, you're criticizing us now? We've been moving fast enough, haven't we?"
I don't know how the shadowy figure ran so fast. Could it be a speed-type ability user? That's probably the only explanation.
Cheng Zhiyu laughed, feeling that the shadowy figure had become much more cheerful. He asked, "Tell us where you're going."
The shadowy figure: "We've arrived... I know."
You'll find out when you get there; why all the secrecy?
They could only suppress their curiosity and follow the other party.
Finally, they spotted something in the distance. Cheng Zhiyu shone his flashlight on it and said, "It looks like... a chicken farm."
Tian Qiao was pleasantly surprised: "A chicken farm? Does that mean there are chickens?"
He quickened his pace and followed the shadowy figure inside.
The owner of the chicken farm must have passed away. The place was a mess, with things scattered everywhere. But when Tian Qiao went inside, she was relieved to find that there were a few chickens there.
They guessed that the chickens the shadowy figure had brought them earlier were caught here.
It's just that since the chicken farm was neglected, these chickens were probably hungry, and there was a big hole in the corner, so they probably all escaped.
The remaining few... are probably just a bit slow.
There was some scattered feed on the ground, which I guessed the dark figure had fed it when it came in.
There are five chickens left. They are probably used to being fed by people and are not afraid of people at all. They slowly eat the feed on the ground and go back to their nest to sleep when they are full.
"Goodness, you guys are having a good time." Tian Qiao muttered.
"Here...here you go," the shadowy figure said.
Tian Qiao chuckled, "Don't give them to us. There are only five in total. Keep them for yourself."
"No, no..." The dark figure shook his head violently, pointing to rows of chicken coops not far away.
Cheng Zhiyu shone the flashlight inside and was pleasantly surprised to see what was inside: "An egg?"
Tian Qiao exclaimed, "Wow, so many eggs!"
The chicken farm mainly made a living by selling eggs. It had hundreds of chickens and laid eggs almost every day. In the first few days after the apocalypse, they were still dutiful. But later, they were probably too hungry and ran away through the broken hole.
Even so, there were still quite a few eggs inside.
"This...this must be over a thousand, right?" Tian Qiao's mouth was big enough to fit an egg.
Cheng Zhiyu was also surprised and nodded: "I've got it."
"Hey, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and collect the eggs!" Tian Qiao was as happy as a bountiful old farmer, and began to collect the eggs with great joy: "Hurry up and collect them, the eggs will go bad in this weather."
Cheng Zhiyu looked at the shadowy figure and asked again, "For us?"
The shadowy figure nodded: "We...we can't finish it all."
Cheng Zhiyu said thank you sincerely before starting to collect the eggs, which he then stored in his storage space.
There was chicken droppings on the ground, which Xiao Hei found extremely disgusting. He wrapped himself in water, and even then, he still helped pick up the eggs.
The shadowy figure also bent down to help.
There were thousands of eggs, quite a lot. It took them a while to collect them all. Then the shadowy figure led them to the warehouse. Good heavens, this must have been collected by the original owner of the chicken farm; there were rows and rows of eggs.
Tian Qiao counted them; there were 30 eggs in each egg dish, and there were 300 egg dishes in total, which meant 900 eggs.
Adding to the thousands they had collected before, even if they ate one a day, they wouldn't be able to finish them all in a year.
It's truly... a sweet burden.
However, these eggs will spoil if left here for too long, so let's just put them away together.
Turning his head, the dark figure herded five chickens over: "Here... are you."
Tian Qiao was dumbfounded: "If you don't leave some for yourself, what will you eat?"
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at Tian Qiao, who seemed somewhat puzzled.
Tian Qiao: "What's wrong? Shouldn't we leave some for him? Do you want me to save some eggs for you? Do your five chickens lay eggs?"
The shadowy figure lowered its head, its voice becoming much muffled: "...Next."
Tian Qiao: "Then..."
Before he could speak, Cheng Zhiyu looked at the shadowy figure and asked, "Do you want to come with us?"
Tian Qiao blinked, somewhat confused. Didn't Chengzi say before that the shadowy figure didn't like interacting with people? Would he agree to that?
The dark figure suddenly looked up, and the two realized that the eyes were exceptionally innocent and clear. However, the figure quickly lowered its head again and stammered, "I... want to."
Tian Qiao suddenly realized why the shadowy figure wanted to give them everything; it turned out he wanted to go with them: "Oh, why didn't you say so earlier? It would be great if you were willing to come with us. Look how fast you run, even Chengzi and I can't keep up!"
The shadowy figure seemed somewhat pleased.
Since he was willing to come along, that would be the best outcome. However, Cheng Zhiyu still made it clear to him beforehand that they were going to a very far place and the journey would not be entirely peaceful.
The shadowy figure said, "I...am not afraid."
Cheng Zhiyu smiled and extended his hand, saying, "Welcome to join us."
The shadowy figure looked down at its dirty hands and flinched.
Cheng Zhiyu assumed the other person didn't like interacting with people, so he didn't force it: "In that case, come back with us."
They also wanted to bring five chickens, but unfortunately, they didn't have the facilities to raise them...
When they got back to their lodgings, it was almost dawn. The dark figure muttered something to himself, and Tian Qiao quickly said, "Brother Hei, quickly give him a shower. He said he wants to take a shower."
Xiao Hei yawned, his eyes widening into semi-circles: What did he take him for? A showerhead?
Cheng Zhiyu patted his head: "Please take care of Xiao Hei."
Xiao Hei: Never mind, he doesn't want a dirty person on the team either.
It was already daylight and the temperature had risen, so there was no fear of catching a cold from rinsing with water directly. Xiao Hei rinsed himself with water.
However, although it looked cleaner, it was still filthy.
A shadowy figure: huddled up in a ball, looking insecure. (jpg)
Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly: "He might need a scrub."
A moment later, a large bathtub filled with steaming hot water appeared. Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao, each wearing a bath towel, vigorously scrubbed the dark figure in the tub.
"Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch—" The shadowy figure uttered the smoothest sound he had ever heard since they met.
Cheng Zhiyu looked at Tian Qiao, who coughed lightly and said, "Sorry, I mistook this birthmark for something dirty."
On the back of the dark figure, there was a black birthmark.
Cheng Zhiyu shook his head, squeezed another large dollop of shower gel onto the dark figure, and continued to scrub.
When the water in the bathtub was changed for the third time, it was finally clean, and the two of them saw the shadowy figure's face clearly for the first time.
The other person looked quite young, around twenty years old. Perhaps because they didn't get much sun exposure, their skin had an unhealthy pale color.
Tian Qiao clicked his tongue and said, "I didn't realize you were so handsome."
The figure in the shadows was indeed quite handsome.
The other person looked down uncomfortably, trying to cover his face with his long hair. But when he looked down and there was no hair to cover his face, he remembered that Cheng Zhiyu and the others had cut his hair because he couldn't comb it properly when he washed it.
Now she has a neat short haircut.
He changed into the clean clothes provided by Tian Qiao, but he felt a little uncomfortable and subconsciously wanted to shrink himself away.
"Dinner's ready," Cheng Zhiyu called out from the other end of the line.
The shadowy figure immediately forgot to hide and hurried over, stammering, "Coming...coming."
A seat had been reserved for him next to Tian Qiao. He sat down carefully and awkwardly gripped the chopsticks.
Because we harvested a lot of eggs today, several dishes on the table were made with eggs.
Steamed egg custard in a clay pot is especially good with rice. There's also a cold dish made from steamed eggs, and then there's tiger-skin eggs.
Of course, it couldn't all be eggs; he also made stewed chicken and steamed fish.
The shadowy figure took a bite, its eyes lighting up repeatedly. It completely forgot its nervousness and was too busy eating to pay attention to its food.
The casserole-cooked egg custard was unexpectedly popular. It tasted better than plain steamed egg custard and was especially good with rice. Xiao Hei loved it.
After dinner, they sat together and chatted, mainly discussing their next steps.
"Hey? Right, you haven't told me your name yet?" Tian Qiao suddenly remembered and turned to look at the shadowy figure.
The shadowy figure was still not used to being stared at, and lowered his head: "Mongrel..."
Hey... why are you swearing? Tian Qiao subconsciously thought of this, then realized something and looked at Cheng Zhiyu, who was indeed frowning.
It's hard to imagine what kind of person would call a child a "bastard".
Cheng Zhiyu could tell that the shadowy figure was different from ordinary people, and this change obviously could not have happened after the apocalypse, since the apocalypse had only been going on for a short time.
The other party probably lived in a pre-apocalyptic world, and their living environment was far from optimistic.
When Cheng Zhiyu suggested that the other party go to his place of residence and take away the important things, his idea was proven correct.
The shadowy figure led them to a farmhouse on the edge of the village. At first, the two thought he lived there, but when he entered the yard, he didn't go into the house. Instead, he went to a cellar at the back of the yard.
Tian Qiao looked at him incredulously, as if trying to confirm that she had guessed wrong: "You live here?"
The shadowy figure nodded slowly.
Both fell silent. After the shadowy figure descended into the cellar, Tian Qiao lowered her voice and cursed, "Damn beast!"
Cheng Zhiyu sighed, walked to the cellar entrance, and asked the shadowy figure, "Can I go down and take a look?"
The shadowy figure remained silent for a long time. Just when Cheng Zhiyu thought the other party wouldn't speak, a voice came from below: "Okay...so."
Cheng Zhiyu lifted Xiao Hei off his shoulder, carried him in his arms, and walked into the cellar. Tian Qiao grumbled and cursed for a while, then followed him down.
After going down there, the two grown men almost burst into tears. Was this even a place for humans to live?
This cellar must have been a place to store food. In Cheng Zhiyu's village, some people also use this kind of cellar. They usually put things like sweet potatoes and apples in it so they don't spoil easily.
Because it wasn't specifically designed for human habitation, the space below is extremely cramped; you can't even lie down comfortably. It's a mystery how the shadowy figure has managed to survive here for so many years.
Clearly, the other person must have lived here for a long time.
The dark figure rummaged through a small box to the side, taking out a tattered blanket that was unrecognizable, and several other similarly worn-out clothes.
Tian Qiao wiped his face: "Listen to me, let's forget about these, I'll find you something new."
The shadowy figure hesitated for a moment, and just when Tian Qiao thought he was being sentimental and reluctant to part with it, the other person threw away what he was holding without hesitation.
The shadowy figure also thought these things were dirty, tattered, and not good at all.
However, he looked around blankly and said, "Nothing... is left."
He had nothing left to take with him.
Cheng Zhiyu sighed silently and gave a gentle smile: "Let's go. If there's anything you're missing, we'll find it for you."
“Yes.” Tian Qiao said, gently patting the dark figure’s shoulder, not daring to make any more contact, afraid that the other party would feel uncomfortable: “Let’s go, let’s go.”
The shadowy figure nodded with bright eyes. They left the cellar and finally felt much better breathing. They had only stayed there for a short while before feeling uncomfortable, and they didn't know how the shadowy figure had gotten through it.
Cheng Zhiyu's feelings were mixed. He looked at the shadowy figure and said, "Since this is a new beginning, how about I give you a new name?"
The shadowy figure nodded somewhat happily. He disliked the name "bastard" at all. Every time people called him that, they did so with a mocking expression. He knew it was definitely not a good word.
He nodded, and Cheng Zhiyu, who was terrible at naming things, found himself in a dilemma, given his skill in naming plants...
He exchanged a glance with Xiao Hei, who seemed to remember the name Cheng Zhiyu had given him, and his eyes turned into fierce semicircles.
Cheng Zhiyu sadly covered his eyes: "Okay, I know I'm terrible at naming things."
He tried to ask the shadowy figure, "Do you have your own ideas?"
The shadowy figure shook its head, unsurprised.
After thinking for a moment, Tian Qiao said very reliably, "Wait, I'll go back and look it up in the dictionary."
Cheng Zhiyu: "...Then I'll leave it to you."
There's no way around it, it's painful to be bad at naming things.
After returning home, Tian Qiao indeed buried herself in the dictionary.
As usual, they lived in the treehouse. Cheng Zhiyu and Xiao Hei lived in the downstairs bedroom, while Tian Qiao and Hei Ying lived upstairs.
They planned to leave after dark, and since it was noon, they decided to take a nap.
Xiao Hei still remembered the name and pressed its paw against Cheng Zhiyu's face: "Do you want to change my name?"
Xiao Hei, it really sounds like a dog's name, even though he's a member of the Winged Clan...
Cheng Zhiyu yawned, respecting Xiao Hei's idea, and thought for a moment: "Should I call him Xiao Bai?"
Little Black's raised tail drooped slightly.
Cheng Zhiyu also felt that this wasn't quite right, and thought harder: "Health? Peace? Fortune? Happiness? Joy?"
With each word he spoke, Little Black's tail drooped a little lower, until finally, the other person lay down with his back to him: "Alright, stop thinking about it."
Perhaps the name "Xiao Hei" is not bad; after all, I've used it for so long and gotten used to it.
Cheng Zhiyu coaxed the puppy: "Little Black, sweetie~, I really can't think of anything, why don't you think of one yourself?"
Little Black's tail swayed, the tip trembling slightly. He was still not used to Cheng Zhiyu's occasional mushy displays, and rested his head in the other's hand: "This is fine, I... I'm used to it."
Cheng Zhiyu smiled, gave Xiao Hei a quick kiss, and before the other could react, he yawned: "I'm sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night. I really need to sleep. Go to sleep, Xiao Hei."
By the end, his voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. Xiao Hei wanted to say something more, but then he saw that Cheng Zhiyu had already closed his eyes and was breathing steadily, clearly asleep.
Little Black couldn't sleep, so it stretched out its paw and pressed it against Cheng Zhiyu's face. The sleeping man felt the familiar presence but didn't react.
Cheng Zhiyu was quite handsome, with heavy dark eyelids, and he closed his eyes like that.
As it was getting dark, they got up and had a meal. Tian Qiao then announced, "I've already thought of a name for him."
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at the dark figure, somewhat curious: "What's your name?"
"Tian Manman!" Tian Qiao said the name she had been thinking about all afternoon with a strong and clear voice.
Cheng Zhiyu: "..." It seems that Tian Qiao is also terrible at naming things.
He looked at the shadowy figure: "What do you think?"
The shadowy figure nodded happily. Tian Qiao explained the meaning of the name to him, and he liked it very much.
Tian Qiao then said to Cheng Zhiyu, "Look, the name Tian Manman sounds really good. The character 'Man' is very nice. Tian Manman means full fields, no worries about food and clothing, what a great life! And he even has my surname, so he'll be my little brother from now on, hehe."
Tian Qiao is an only child. He used to envy others who had younger brothers and sisters, because they had someone to help them when they got into fights. He never expected that he would have a younger brother when he was over twenty years old.
After hearing the name, Cheng Zhiyu thought it was indeed quite good, and that he had been too conventional. He poured himself a glass of water, raised it, and said, "Then let's use water instead of wine to wish Manman a happy new life."
Tian Qiao immediately raised her water glass, and Tian Manman, who was next to her, followed suit and raised her water glass as well.
Xiao Hei also held a water cup in its hand and touched it with theirs.
After dinner, they set off.
Cheng Zhiyu rode his motorcycle with Xiao Hei on the back, while Tian Qiao carried Tian Manman on the back, traveling by the moonlight.
Along the way, they encountered scattered zombies, but Xiao Er took care of them without them even having to lift a finger.
Judging from Xiao Er's appearance, Cheng Zhiyu estimated that it wouldn't be long before he would be able to level up.
They decided to go to the furniture market first. With a motorcycle, they could get there much faster and quickly arrived at a furniture store.
There weren't many zombies here. After dealing with the wandering zombies, they began looking for suitable furniture.
The most important thing was to find a bed. The treehouse was quite spacious, so Cheng Zhiyu found a double bed. Apart from the size, he didn't care much about the style of the bed. He found a wooden bed that matched the color of the treehouse and put it inside.
As for Tian Qiao, after carefully selecting for a long time, she finally settled on a bed.
Seeing that he had taken so long to choose, Cheng Zhiyu asked curiously, "Is there anything special about this bed?"
Tian Qiao's answer was quite simple: "It's expensive! You wouldn't believe it, I saw this model before the apocalypse, it cost 200,000!"
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at the unremarkable bed and couldn't see what made it worth 200,000 yuan, but it didn't matter, since it was all purchased for free.
Besides the bed, the most important thing was the light. They found another light nearby and installed it in the treehouse, so they could use it once they found the generator.
As for air conditioning, a standing type was found.
Next up were the dining table and sofa in the living room. Finding these didn't take much time, and they were set up quickly.
Just then, Cheng Zhiyu suddenly frowned, feeling uneasy. A ball of fire suddenly attacked, and he immediately dodged it, calling out Xiao Tie.
Xiao Hei narrowed his eyes when he saw a zombie appearing not far away. A bolt of lightning as thick as a finger struck out, and the zombie, unable to dodge, instantly fell to the ground.
Cheng Zhiyu walked over and dug out the crystal core from the other person's head.
Tian Qiao patted his chest as he walked over, still somewhat shaken: "Where did this zombie come from? It's so cunning!"
He can handle level one zombies without any problems now, but when one suddenly appears, it's really hard to guard against.
As he spoke, he looked at Xiao Hei with admiration: "Brother Hei, thanks to you, you're awesome!"
Tian Manman watched from the side, and Tian Qiao said to him, "Next time you see this thing, just run, you hear me?"
If Tian Manman were to run, most zombies would have no chance of catching her.
After he finished speaking, he saw that Cheng Zhiyu and Xiao Hei both looked serious and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Cheng Zhiyu frowned: "This is just a level one fire-type zombie."
Tian Qiao: "I know, what's the problem?"
Cheng Zhiyu looked at him: "When have you ever seen a Level 1 zombie act alone?"
Level 1 zombies already possess intelligence; aren't they always surrounded by layers upon layers of newly recruited ordinary zombies? This is the first time one has recklessly come to its death like this.
Tian Qiao scratched his head: "Um...maybe this zombie doesn't have any subordinates?"
Even Xiao Hei couldn't help but look at him like he was an idiot. Zombies aren't human, and the other party can directly control ordinary zombies. Unless there are no zombies nearby, it's impossible.
Cheng Zhiyu thought, "This zombie seems to be... a vanguard."
Tian Qiao's expression turned serious: "You mean..."
Cheng Zhiyu: "An even more powerful zombie has appeared."
As if to verify his words, a group of zombies suddenly appeared not far away. There were about a dozen of them. The number was not large, but what was terrifying was that these were clearly not ordinary zombies. Their speed and combat power were far superior to those of ordinary zombies.
They are all level one superpowered zombies, and a level one zombie can directly control hundreds of ordinary zombies.
This number is terrifying just to think about.
Cheng Zhiyu frowned, and an arrow instantly blew a zombie's head off. Next to that zombie, another zombie was struck dead by lightning. Tian Qiao's ice arrow also took down a zombie.
To their surprise, Tian Manman swiftly smashed the head of a zombie before the zombie could even react.
Not to mention zombies, they didn't expect Tian Manman to be so powerful. That was the head of a superpowered zombie. How could it be so easy to smash it?
However, things didn't get so simple after that. The zombies probably realized they were difficult to deal with, so they controlled a group of ordinary zombies to block their way, while the zombies themselves blended in with the ordinary zombies, making them difficult to distinguish for a moment.
If that were all, it would be fine; they just need to deal with the level one zombies among the ordinary zombies.
The problem is, behind these level one zombies, there is another zombie controlling them, which is probably... level two.
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