Chapter 14
The days that followed grew colder day by day. Apart from occasionally going to the bushes to deliver some food, Jiang Zihan spent most of his remaining time taking care of the war beasts around him.
Zhuifeng's distortion value is very stable, just like a large base of weight loss, after reaching the plateau period, the weight loss will be slower. Jiang Zihan was a little anxious, but looking at the big cat lazily lying at the door to bask in the sun, he thought that it was aware of its own body, and was actually a little infected, and its upper and lower eyelids began to droop.
In comparison, Zhizhi's situation is more objective. It may be because her level is low, so it is not that difficult to break through.
One night, Jiang Zihan was sound asleep when suddenly a long reminder sound came from his head: "Ding————"
She was frightened and jumped up from the haystack in an instant. She looked around in panic, and after she came to her senses, she opened the system interface with a resentful look. It was usually very quiet, but it was good at scaring people in the middle of the night.
But when she saw the pop-up window on the interface clearly, her eyes widened instantly.
Without saying a word, he glanced towards the head of the bed, and saw a furry ball sleeping on its back in the little nest he had woven for Zhizhi, with its belly bulging and looking completely defenseless.
It no longer has the alertness it had when we first met. Even thunder probably wouldn't wake it up now.
Jiang Zihan glanced at the rat, then back at her own interface. So, had it evolved successfully in her sleep? She was beginning to doubt the truth about how difficult it was to raise a war beast. This didn't seem that difficult after all.
Click on the detailed attributes in the cultivation list——
Primary training of war beast 1:
Species: Big-eared mouse
Age: 2 years old
Level: B (upgradable)
Physical fitness: C+ (upgradable)
Skill: Claw Combo (Upgradable)
Distortion value: 49
Current status: Mild malnutrition
Jiang Zihan breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had recovered some of the energy, and the distortion value had dropped by 50. His condition was getting better and better.
Looking down, she saw a gift box icon constantly jumping. She couldn't help but click it, and a progress bar appeared in front of her, "War Beast Upgrade Reward (1/2 Completed)", and the reward that followed was actually a war beast cub!
Now she has motivation.
After being busy for several days, chasing the chicks to feed and exercise them, she finally heard another "ding" when she was about to collapse from exhaustion.
Jiang Zihan happily pressed the "Receive" button, but after waiting and waiting, there was still nothing in front of her. She couldn't help rubbing her eyes, but the button was already gray, and a ball of fire suddenly appeared in her chest.
How dare this broken system swallow her reward?!
Jiang Zihan clenched her fists and got angry. She couldn't hit the computer, and she couldn't uninstall it. She rolled her eyes and looked up at the sky, and could only blame her bad luck.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Su Su rolled up her sleeves, wearing disposable gloves, and said excitedly, "We're going to prepare pickles. Doctor Jiang, do you want to join us?"
Jiang Zihan quickly got up from the ground: "Yes, yes, yes."
A batch of vegetables in the experimental field had already matured. In order to ripen them faster, they mixed culture solution into the water used for watering without telling others. They only told others that this was the first batch of optimized seeds, so they grew faster.
In the gathering place without surveillance cameras, the others didn't know much about this and just believed it. Now all they had to do was pickle these vegetables to help everyone survive this harsh winter.
The late autumn sun shines through the treetops, casting mottled shadows on the ground. As I approach the drying yard in front, I hear the voice of a mature male giving orders from afar.
"You need to peel off all the outer leaves." He was sitting around a few young people, who were demonstrating without looking up. "Keep the inner leaves, so that the pickled vegetables won't spoil easily."
This man was called Kui Feng. He was about 1.9 meters tall and had a sturdy build. He didn't look like someone who was good at doing this kind of delicate work at all, but he happened to be in charge of all the boilers and food in the gathering place.
His eyes were determined, as if pickling vegetables for the winter was the top priority in this desolate valley.
Ye Sheng was squatting nearby, peeling off the already yellowed leaves, mumbling with sorrow, "Winter seems to have arrived exceptionally early this year. I wonder how long it will last."
Lu Renshuang was more open-minded. She patted the pile of processed cabbages beside her and said, "These should be enough for us to eat for a while, and there are still new vegetables in the greenhouse. I believe we can get through this winter safely."
The open space suddenly became quiet. Jiang Zihan rolled up his sleeves and joined in silently. The only sound around him was the rustling of leaves being peeled off.
The crowd dispersed, and there were several large ceramic jars placed around them. These were the treasures that Kui Feng had painstakingly brought back from an abandoned factory several kilometers away after he knew that they were preparing to pickle vegetables.
"The salt is here!" Qiu Shi was pushing a simple cart, which made a squeaking sound all the way. On the cart were neatly stacked several bulging sacks filled with previously dried sea salt.
Some people were busy boiling water, while others were busy preparing the salt. After the salt water was boiled, it was placed in a bucket to cool. The cabbage on the other side was cut in half, and sea salt was evenly sprinkled between each layer of leaves.
Kui Feng's fingers moved nimbly among the leaves, his movements so skillful that it seemed as if he had done it countless times.
Jiang Zihan nudged Lu Renshuang with his shoulder out of curiosity: "What did he do before?" After all, he looked too much like a defensive warrior, and it really looked a bit strange that he was rubbing the cabbage so gently.
"Brother Kui used to work in logistics." Lu Renshuang smiled. "If he hadn't been deformed, he would have retired and become a chef. After all, that was his only hobby."
Jiang Zihan glanced at him as he dragged his less flexible leg and put the pickles into the ceramic jar bit by bit, and was speechless for a moment.
His deformity was stiffness, and his entire right leg had become woody during the rage. She peeled off the bark bit by bit to pick out the weakly beating nerves inside. It took several days just to remove the impurities.
She lowered her eyes and thought deeply. The medical manual given by the system was still very useful. Moreover, with the medical buff, she had extra help when performing these difficult cleanups.
"Doctor Jiang." A low voice came from behind. Lu Chenyuan frowned slightly, and his tall figure became a little stiff.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Zihan glanced behind him and saw Zhuifeng looking outside vigilantly, pacing back and forth in a somewhat impatient manner.
Lu Chenyuan lowered his voice and said, "The activities of those evil beasts in the north are becoming more and more frequent."
Jiang Zihan glanced at the people who were busy pickling vegetables. This work didn't take much time. They had originally agreed to explore farther places. Although they now had cotton, they still lacked cloth and medicine.
If they go out as well, and the gathering place is attacked, can the remaining people really stop it?
Kui Feng suddenly looked up. "Once these are pickled, I'll take you to the cellar. We've already reinforced the defenses there. If anything happens, you can hide in there first."
In this case, it is equivalent to giving up the house on the ground.
"As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood." Su Su consoled him, "If it weren't for the difficulty of digging a cellar and the limited space, I would have built my entire house underground."
Suddenly he remembered something, cried out "Ah" loudly, then quickly took off his gloves and ran to the cellar.
Jiang Zihan ran over in a daze. A few minutes later, he came back again in high spirits, holding several cloth bags in his hands.
"Brother Kui, Brother Kui! We still have some preserved spices here! Come and see if you can still use them!"
Kui Feng carefully opened the cloth bag, revealing shrunken chilies, garlic, and ginger slices. His eyes lit up instantly: "Where did you find these?"
Su Su patted his head and said, "Just a while ago, we went to explore the abandoned residential area and found several vacuum bags. I picked them up and brought them back. But then everything got out of control and the houses were expanded, so I forgot about them."
Jiang Zihan's sense of smell was much stronger than before. Before he got close, he smelled a spicy scent, and his nose felt numb.
Kui Feng left happily.
More than half an hour later, the aroma of salt water and vegetables suddenly wafted through the open space. He neatly arranged the drained vegetables in a basin, mixed them with chili powder, minced garlic, and ginger, and added a small amount of salt water to make a paste. Then he spread the special chili sauce layer by layer on the leaves.
Jiang Zihan's eyes lit up. They were making kimchi. It seemed that there was still hope for a better quality of life this winter.
At this moment, there was a deafening roar from outside, and everyone stopped what they were doing at the same time.
"Plop." Su Su's face turned pale, and the cabbage in her hand instantly fell back into the basin.
Lu Chenyuan just glanced at them and rushed out without saying a word.
"It should be a vicious beast." Kui Feng immediately picked up the long knife placed aside and rushed out.
In a few breaths, there was no one left in the open space.
Jiang Zihan looked at the outside worriedly. Soon, a series of shrill howling sounds came from outside. She looked from afar and could only see five or six creatures shaped like dogs and wolves rushing out.
If they can be considered evil beasts, judging from their appearance, it is estimated that the mutation has not been going on for long.
She quickly moved the ladder and climbed onto the roof. With a wider field of vision, she could see farther. She saw Ye Sheng's outstretched melon vines shooting straight into the eyes of the evil beast. Kui Feng swung his shoulders forcefully, and the long knife accurately chopped the side of the beast.
Jiang Zihan felt a toothache watching this, but the movements of the evil beasts were not affected. This is what makes them so scary.
The weapons of the gathering team flashed coldly under the sun. Without the trouble of high distortion, their attacks became more and more decisive.
Lu Chenyuan's expression was solemn. The number of these evil beasts was increasing, and they were getting closer and closer.
Several high-ranking warriors went out together and returned with unhappy expressions: "Not only evil beasts, we also found some footprints."
Lu Chenyuan glanced at Jiang Zihan and said, "It's a human."
Jiang Zihan's heart tightened: "Are there other survivors?"
But this is not surprising. After all, she is not the only anchor on an island. If that were the case, she would be flattered.
This news is actually more disturbing than an attack by evil beasts. When resources are scarce, the danger is not the evil beasts, but the equally hungry humans.
"Let's move all the pickled vegetables to the cellar," Jiang Zihan mused, "to prevent them from being stolen in the middle of the night."
Everyone was vigilant like this for several days, and after repelling several groups of thieves in the middle of the night, the temperature finally cooled down.
When the first snow fell, Jiang Zihan went to the greenhouse to check as usual. When he looked down, he saw the Phantom Cat squatting at the door with its eyes wide open.
Snowflakes covered its silver-gray fur, and its emerald green cat eyes contained not only arrogance but also a hint of anticipation.
Jiang Zihan looked at the three fur balls at its feet, and her eyes twitched a few times: "You are actually... pregnant?"
There was another "ding" sound in her ears, but this time she felt it was a bit harsh.
"Crappy system!" Jiang Zihan stamped his feet in anger. Wasn't it too much of a relief for this little kid to get the reward without doing anything?
She hurriedly carried the three fur balls into the house. The Phantom Cat mother shook off the snowflakes on her body, walked in with her head slightly raised, leaving a string of small plum blossoms on the floor.
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