Chapter 38 Mutant Cow
Jiang Ye hurriedly got up and crawled out of the tent, only to see Bai Chenzhu talking to Zhou Zhuohua.
Zhou Zhuohua glanced at him, lowered her eyebrows, and feigned anger, saying, "Have you properly apologized to the person?"
Bai Chenzhu looked at Jiang Ye with a half-smile and took the initiative to smooth things over. He called Tang Zhao over and gave the three of them a brief introduction, "This is a friend of mine, Tang Zhao, who is an esper. He is currently working with me."
Jiang Ye walked over and said, "Then let's act together."
He glanced at Bai Chenzhu's arm draped over Tang Zhao's shoulder, and it was an eyesore to look at.
Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow, dashing his hopes. "Little Tang, this time I'm going up the mountain with them to find the Zombie King. If you're scared, you can come down the mountain first, or find me somewhere. After this is all over, I..."
"No!" Tang Zhao immediately protested. "We agreed to go together, brother, how could you go back on your word? I want to go up the mountain with you too!"
Bai Chenzhu's words caught in his throat as he was interrupted. He looked at Tang Zhao and said seriously, "But it might be very dangerous up there."
“It’s dangerous up there, so I have to go protect Brother Bai!” Tang Zhao patted his chest.
"Tsk." Jiang Ye removed Bai Chenzhu's hand from Tang Zhao's shoulder and pulled Tang Zhao over. "Little brat, we're not going to play around."
"You don't look much older than me, if you can go, why can't I?" Tang Zhao interrupted him, puzzled.
Jiang Ye was itching to fight, but in the end Zhou Zhuohua explained the pros and cons, leaving Tang Zhao to make his own decision. Tang Zhao still chose to go up the mountain.
Afterwards, the group gave a brief introduction and then dispersed to pack their things.
——
Tang Zhao didn't have much stuff, and he finished packing it up early in the morning. He sneaked up to Bai Chenzhu and whispered, "Brother, I saw Bai Tao, whom you mentioned. So they were your old friends?"
Bai Chenzhu nodded.
"Oh! Isn't that like a superpowered squad that helps those in need and rids the world of evil? How cool!" Tang Zhao seemed to understand, but he scratched his head. "But why do we need to look for any fragments? If we think the Zombie King is dangerous, why not just kill it?"
Bai Chenzhu himself was unsure whether he would leave after this or settle down in any base, and he had no right to decide Tang Zhao's whereabouts.
Therefore, he didn't explain much, only vaguely saying, "This zombie aggression is very likely caused by that fragment, so fundamentally, we need to find that fragment..."
"Then destroy it!" Tang Zhao realized.
Bai Chenzhu had a headache. He said, "No, we can't destroy it. Give it to Jiang Ye, that guy who looks intimidating. He has a special way of dealing with it."
Tang Zhao glanced back at Jiang Ye, but was stung by Jiang Ye's piercing gaze, and quickly turned his head away. The tall, imposing man, with a handsome face, obediently said, "Okay, I understand."
“That older sister with glasses is a doctor. You can ask her for help if you get injured,” Bai Chenzhu introduced. “That girl with the high ponytail is Bai Tao. She’s about your age. Her special ability is quite unique. Remember to stay away when she uses her ability.”
"Why?" Tang Zhao asked, puzzled. He couldn't help but steal glances at Bai Tao a few more times, becoming interested in this tall and slender girl—after all, he rarely saw such a young girl with supernatural abilities in Fuguang City.
"Is her superpower really that strong?"
Bai Tao followed the source of the gaze and looked Tang Zhao up and down with curiosity. "Handsome, what are you looking at?"
Tang Zhao said frankly, "Brother Bai said your superpowers are very strong and we should avoid you, but I don't really believe it."
"Huh?" Bai Tao's eyes widened slightly. "You don't believe me?"
Her round face was delicate and innocent-looking. She was dressed in sportswear and wore an old silver bracelet on her wrist. She was the typical image of a first love goddess, just like the class beauty in Tang Zhao's class.
Flowers generally don't pose much of a threat.
Tang Zhao's confidence surged instantly, and he decided to demonstrate his strength, so he asked, "Are you very strong?"
Bai Tao chuckled mischievously. Instead of answering Tang Zhao's question, she raised her arm and asked him in a misleading manner, "Want to have a competition?"
With those thin arms, Tang Zhao quickly rolled up his sleeves, eager to try: "Okay!"
Bai Chenzhu made a pause gesture and quickly moved away from the battlefield with a blank expression.
Sure enough, when they got up the mountain, Tang Zhao looked half-dead.
He was pale, covering his ears and shaking his head, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right, but no matter what he did, he still had a dull ache in his head.
Bai Chenzhu walked alongside Jiang Ye in front, when Jiang Ye suddenly said, "So you figured it out?"
“You mean,” Bai Chenzhu said calmly, “Bai Tao can control her power now.”
"No, no." Jiang Ye shook his head. "In all the time you've been in Fuguang City, have you met another person with the same psychic abilities as you?"
Bai Chenzhu's expression changed slightly, but he remained silent.
Jiang Ye was fully aware of this. "I'm not lying to you. It's one in a hundred, or even one in ten thousand. Bai Tao uses her voice as the medium for her power, which is the most common method. Mental beings always use the five senses to influence a person's brain. But so far, I haven't discovered how your ability spreads."
These words left Bai Chenzhu stunned. He had never considered these things before; after all, in his eyes, what science could exist once superpowers appeared?
Jiang Ye exclaimed, "If it's through the air, then you're absolutely terrifying."
Bai Chenzhu punched him on the shoulder. "Is that a compliment?"
"Of course." Jiang Ye grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. Through the backpack, he suddenly put his arm around his shoulder.
"Tsk." Bai Chenzhu complained that the backpack was uncomfortable and struggled to get out from under his arm, but Jiang Ye held her back tightly.
Jiang Ye was very unhappy. "What? You can be good friends with Tang Zhao, but not with me?"
"What's wrong with you?" Bai Chenzhu asked, feeling both helpless and amused. She thought Jiang Ye was just like a kindergarten kid fighting over cookies.
Seeing Jiang Ye's sour face, he stopped trying to walk away. He sighed, "Fine, fine, whatever you want. If you don't mind the discomfort, I'll go with you."
Tang Zhao walked along the road, rubbing his forehead and holding the wild mint that Zhou Zhuohua had just shoved into his hand, sniffing it every now and then to refresh himself. He looked at the two people ahead of him, who were acting strangely, and asked, "What are they doing, bro?"
Bai Tao returned with the two flowers Zhou Zhuohua had picked for her, beaming with joy. Upon hearing this, she shrugged and said, "You'll get used to it. Our Boss Jiang is just not normal when he meets Brother Bai."
"How abnormal is it?" Tang Zhao felt a little uncomfortable thinking about the ambiguous words he had heard.
Before the apocalypse, a certain type of novel was very popular, especially among the girls in his class, and he had heard about it as well. Sometimes, when the boys were playing around, one would sit on the other's lap, and the girls would let out excited screams.
So maybe he's being too sensitive? Actually, Bai and the others are just like the other students who got into trouble without any sense of propriety?
Bai Tao couldn't quite put her finger on the strange feeling, and she mumbled, "Anyway, you'll find out later."
——
They set off a few hours late, and by the time they reached the mountain peak, they could already hear a cacophony of sounds—footsteps, screams, and other noises mixed together.
Just as Bai Chenzhu was about to turn around and remind Tang Zhao and the others, Jiang Ye pulled her aside.
On the mountain peak ahead, a terrifying number of zombies surrounded Chen Hao and his companions. Although they were slightly injured, none of them were missing. They fought with increasing ferocity and charged straight towards the mountaintop.
They even pulled out makeshift grenades, one of which blasted away countless zombies, leaving the ground riddled with craters.
Hand grenade? Jiang Ye's eyes lit up immediately.
Seeing his expression, Bai Chenzhu knew that this man had his eye on Chen Hao's backpack, so she had to pour cold water on his hopes, "They can only bring two people, so don't get your hopes up too high."
As the number of zombies dwindled, accompanied by the low growl of a wild beast, a mutated creature appeared on the mountaintop. Its appearance caused all the zombies to retreat and cower in fear.
It panted heavily and walked down towards Chen Hao and the others with an air of supreme authority.
Bai Chenzhu gasped, "You didn't tell me the Zombie King wasn't human!"
Jiang Ye said innocently, "I didn't say it was a person."
The mutant was a huge bull, its blood-stained body obscuring its original skin color, which was either black or yellow, and its left horn was missing.
Unlike the docile cows we usually see, it has fierce eyes, ears pressed back against its head, and pacing nervously on the ground, looking like it's ready to attack at any moment.
Bai Chenzhu sensed something was subtly wrong. The spiritual power emanating from this bull was far too immense, far beyond what an ordinary mutant could possess.
Is this the Zombie King?
"Stop looking." Jiang Ye tugged at Bai Chenzhu. "The zombie king has been lured out by Chen Hao and the others. Now hurry up and go to its lair to find something."
——
The cow had found a cave to hide in. In front of the cave was a long stone staircase, and there was a pavilion for people to rest. At the top was a crooked sign that read: Fuguang City Karst Cave Scenic Area, 20 yuan/person.
Bai Chenzhu straightened the sign and crawled into the hole behind Jiang Ye.
Upon entering, one sees dripping water flowing into a stone pool, milky white cave walls, and various naturally formed formations, all unadorned and breathtakingly beautiful.
The air was cool, effectively dispelling the summer's heat. Tang Zhao exclaimed in surprise from behind, muttering, "This bull really knows how to find its territory."
The cave was very long, but the mutated cattle only occupied the hall-sized area at the entrance. Once inside, you could see the messy withered grass and leftover food on the ground, which combined to create an unbearable stench.
The five people immediately scattered and began rummaging through the items.
Bai Chenzhu took a couple of steps and sensed something was wrong. He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings. Apart from them, there was nothing else emanating from the vast cavern.
"Something's not right," Bai Chenzhu said to the others. "The fragments are probably not here."
At first he was not sure, but after entering the cave, Bai Chenzhu compared the results and came to a conclusion.
He shared his guess: "It's most likely on that cow; I sensed the presence of fragments on it."
Jiang Ye had only intended to deceive Chen Hao, but he never expected that his words would come true. The thing that could attract zombies was indeed on the mutated cow. He stood there silently, quickly thinking of a solution.
What places could a cow possibly hide things on?
Bai Tao's expression suddenly changed. "You mean, we're going to fight that bull?!"
Everyone could see how massive that bull was. A silence fell over the crowd.
At this moment, Zhou Zhuohua looked left and right, "How about I see if I can put some medicine in its food?"
"As expected of Sister Zhuohua!" Bai Chenzhu's eyes lit up; she hadn't expected such a solution.
No matter how powerful a zombie is, it is still a mortal body. Even if it has no sense of pain, isn't it an effective way to make its body uncontrollable and unable to get up?
Zhou Zhuohua said to Bai Tao beside her, "Tao Tao, give me the flower."
Bai Tao was still holding the two flowers that Zhou Zhuohua had dug up for her along the way. She looked at Zhou Zhuohua with a puzzled expression and hid her flowers behind her back. "Why?"
The flowers were beautiful, with tiny purple buds growing at the top, their shape quite unique. Zhou Zhuohua was digging them up at the time, saying she planned to take them back, dry them, and use them as medicinal herbs.
Bai Tao thought it looked beautiful, so she snatched it and held it there, unable to put it down.
"That's aconite, it's deadly when it comes into contact with blood. Are you sure you still want to play with it?" Zhou Zhuohua said the frightening thing in a gentle tone.
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Bai Tao was startled, her hair standing on end, and she threw the flowers back at her.
This made Zhou Zhuohua laugh out loud. "Don't be afraid, you'll be fine if you hold it like this. Everyone come and help, break up its tuber and mix it into the food."
That cow ate a variety of things; besides grass, it even ate raw meat—it ate all sorts of things.
Time was of the essence, so they only had time to suppress their nausea and mix the medicine into the water and the bits of meat before hiding deep inside the cave to wait.
——
After an unknown amount of time, heavy hoofbeats echoed inside the cave, and the cow appeared, reeking of blood.
Its body was covered in bloody holes and mottled wounds from the explosion. It was impossible to tell whether the blood was its own or someone else's. As soon as it returned, it closed its eyes and curled up on the ground.
The group dared not make a sound, lest they awaken the mutant.
After a long while, the mutated cow opened its eyes and began to drink water voraciously from the pool in the cave.
After drinking the water, it lay back down to rest.
Jiang Ye stared at the cow with shining eyes, then, without thinking, tugged at Bai Chenzhu's hair and whispered, "Where is it?"
Bai Chenzhu winced in pain and stomped on his foot hard, causing Jiang Ye to grimace silently.
Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow at his funny face, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind.
A very bad idea stemming from revenge.
If I lied to him at this time...
In the blink of an eye, Bai Chenzhu regained his senses and said in a breathy voice, "In the stomach."
Jiang Ye nodded, believing him without any hesitation.
Bai Chenzhu's eyes flickered slightly as she couldn't help but look at Jiang Ye's expression, only to see him intently observing the profile of the mutated cow.
He clenched his fist, mocking his own despicable thoughts.
Bai Tao, unable to contain her impatience, asked, "Sister Zhuohua, how long will this take?"
Zhou Zhuohua whispered, "At least half an hour."
Half an hour later, the mutated cow's hooves began to twitch. It stood up, its eyes wide, its limbs tense, its tail pressed tightly against its body, and it bellowed restlessly. It paced back and forth in the cave and even started to run.
The group was observing, waiting for the moment it 'died'.
Unexpectedly, Chen Hao led a group of people rushing in from the cave entrance. Seeing that the zombie bull that had been chasing them was now finally showing signs of weakness, he laughed loudly, "Heaven is helping us! Charge!"
The crowd behind him reverted to their old ways and attacked the mutated bull.
"Idiot!" Jiang Ye couldn't help but curse.
The aconite's toxicity harms cattle, but before they die, the mutated cattle will inevitably retaliate. If Chen Hao disturbs it at this moment, what difference is there between him and rushing to his death?
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