Chapter 3 Encountering Robbery
Molly was filled with doubt and surprise.
In the original owner's memory, this world had never had "pollutants," and in the month since she transmigrated here, she had never heard of the word "pollutants."
She looked around and took a deep sniff, feeling quite certain that this was a world without any sources of pollution.
Therefore, she was the only one who mutated.
Molly was filled with mixed feelings. She hadn't expected that even in a different world, she would still be a contaminant, or perhaps a rational and clear-headed mutant with a low level of contamination.
She didn't know whether to be sad or happy. On the one hand, mutants had high combat strength and strong physique, and were almost never sick. On the other hand, she feared that those who were not of her kind would have different intentions, and she was afraid of becoming a monster in the eyes of others, being ostracized, or even being eliminated.
You must not let anyone notice anything unusual about yourself.
Molly lowered her rolled-up sleeves to cover the eerie blue color.
She wondered what kind of mutation she would undergo this time, and a faint sense of anticipation lingered in her heart.
Molly climbed over two mountains and found a few dandelions, a few mugwort plants, and a few plantain plants. These wild vegetables had one thing in common: they were very old because of the lack of water.
Even if you're old, don't worry, just chop some up and use it to make soup or pancakes.
After crossing another mountain, Molly arrived at a valley overgrown with thorns. This valley was lower in elevation and the vegetation was greener. However, the ground was covered with thorns, and there was nowhere to put her feet.
Molly glanced at it and walked around to the other side of the valley, where she found a cave.
The entrance to the cave was very narrow; she had to squeeze through sideways to get in.
Molly hadn't planned to go in, but the cool air emanating from the cave was incredibly appealing to her, who was drenched in sweat.
She decided to stay at the cave entrance for a while.
The cave was pitch black, and you couldn't see anything.
Molly stopped a meter or two inside the cave entrance, and a wave of damp, cool air hit her face. She couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh.
She leaned against the stone wall and vaguely heard the sound of flowing water.
No wonder it's so cool; there's water in the cave.
Molly's mouth was dry, but she didn't go any deeper into the cave. There was a severe drought outside, but here there was water, and there must be animals, though she didn't know what they were. Right now, she hadn't completed her mutation, and her body was so weak that she would collapse at the slightest push.
Having been given a second chance at life, Molly didn't want to gamble with her own life.
Instead of going in, she turned and walked out, afraid of becoming someone else's food.
But the instant she turned around, something in the darkness opened its eyes, its golden vertical pupils radiating a chilling light in the darkness.
Molly felt a sudden pang of fear, and her years of experience fighting on the brink of death made her instinctively turn and run.
But we were still a step too late.
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her thigh.
Molly looked down and saw a flat head with a pair of small golden eyes.
It's a snake!
The next second, a snake as thick as an ankle coiled around Molly's body.
The strangulation force must have been at least several hundred kilograms!
She had no chance to fight back at all!
Mutations!
Mutate quickly!
Molly endured the excruciating pain while praying anxiously.
Her vision blurred, and just when she thought she was going to die again, her deformed left arm suddenly became hot and burning, numb and itchy, as if something was trying to burst out of her body.
A second before she lost consciousness, Molly faintly saw a hint of pink.
The tentacles, as thin as hair and as soft as boneless, easily tore through the tough snake skin and pierced into the snake's body.
Something that looked like bodily fluids or blood entered Molly's body through the snake's filamentous tentacles, and her dry lips quickly became bright red and moist.
Molly didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she woke up, the snake wrapped around her had become limp and its smooth, shiny skin looked like it had lost moisture and had become somewhat wrinkled.
Dead!
Molly looked at her left palm, where three fingers were missing, and it was pink and tender. Apart from that, there was nothing else unusual.
I can't feel anything.
But she was certain that her body had already undergone some mutations.
Molly didn't investigate further and dragged the snake's body out of the cave.
The sun was already setting in the west, indicating that she had been unconscious for quite some time.
"It takes three mountains to get home from here, so we need to hurry."
Molly used a stone to cut open the snake's belly, removed its internal organs, and skinned it. Then she started a fire by rubbing sticks together, and once the fire was burning, she roasted the whole snake over it.
The snake's thickest part was thicker than her calf, and its thinnest part was as thick as her wrist. The snake was about three meters long. Molly coiled the snake around several times before she could position its entire body above the fire.
The fire was quite large, and soon the aroma of charred protein wafted from it.
Glug!
Molly swallowed hard. It smelled so good!
Before the snake meat was fully cooked, Molly tore off a piece and began to wolf it down while breathing on it.
This was the first time she had eaten meat since coming into this world. It was a bit dry, unsalted, and rather bland, but it tasted a thousand times better than wild vegetable pancakes. She ate two or three pounds of it before stopping.
Molly was so happy she wanted to cry after eating her fill for the first time.
She wants to eat her fill every day.
After the sun went down, Molly put out the fire, cut the snake meat into pieces, wrapped them in leaves, and placed them at the bottom of her basket, with the wild vegetables on top. The basket was full, weighing about twenty or thirty pounds.
As darkness fell, Molly quickened her pace, worried that her sister and brother would fret about her.
"stop!"
Three men suddenly sprang out of the bushes, dressed in rags and with sallow, emaciated faces.
Molly narrowed her eyes slightly. Had she encountered a robbery?
Sure enough, the next second one of them said, "Leave your basket behind."
Molly tightened her grip on the basket, quickly calculating her chances of escaping from the three men.
Not even half a percent!
This body is still too weak.
But she refused to give them the basket.
"Why waste so much breath talking to her? Just take it from her."
As he spoke, the man rushed forward to snatch it.
"stop!"
A cold shout rang out.
Molly looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bicycle speeding towards them. It braked suddenly and stopped ten meters away from them. The rider jumped off the bicycle and ran towards them, while the man sitting on the back put one foot on the ground and controlled the wobbly bicycle.
Her swift and agile movements startled the three men. The smallest of them shouted "Run!" and the other two turned and ran without a word.
The three were clearly very familiar with the terrain, disappearing into the bushes in a few seconds.
"Oh, it's you, little girl." Zhao Jian'an grinned at Molly, revealing a set of big white teeth.
Molly recognized the man in front of her; he was the man who had given her candy yesterday, named Zhao Jian'an.
"Thank you," Molly said sincerely.
Zhao Jian'an waved his hand, "Don't be so polite, it's all about serving the people."
"Cough cough—"
The man on the back of the bicycle coughed, his handsome, chiseled face expressionless. His deep, sharp eyes stared in the direction the three men had fled, and he said coldly, "Zhao Jian'an, your skills have declined. You can't even catch three petty thieves."
Zhao Jian'an's smile froze, and he said helplessly, "Brother, can I call you brother? Don't you know why I couldn't catch those three? I haven't eaten for days!"
Zhao Jian'an walked towards the man, picked up the handlebars of the bicycle again, and pushed the bicycle and himself toward Molly. "Little Molly, this is Ji Hefeng. You can call him Brother Ji."
The person who had a fever and fell into a coma yesterday was Ji Hefeng.
Molly's gaze fell on Ji Hefeng's most seriously injured leg, where a section of his trouser leg had been cut off, revealing white gauze stained with blood and medicine, which had a somewhat pungent smell.
“It’s not safe for a girl to be out in the mountains so late.” Ji Hefeng’s tone was as cold and hard as the person he gave off.
Zhao Jian'an: "It's not safe, little Molly. Why did you come to the mountains alone?"
Before the drought, there were wild animals in the mountains, and people would usually come in groups. But during the year or so of drought, the wild animals have run away, and there are fewer and fewer wild fruits and vegetables in the mountains. Coming in groups can actually damage relationships by fighting over a few wild vegetables, so it's better to separate.
Molly: "There was a little accident today, which delayed me a bit. I don't usually stay this late."
Zhao Jian'an: "It's not safe for a young girl to come to the mountains alone."
Molly remained silent. If she didn't go out to find food, her stepmother, Liu Ahua, would scold her from morning till night.
Zhao Jian'an only offered suggestions, but Molly didn't listen. He didn't insist and asked, "Where do you live? We'll take you home."
Molly pointed ahead, "It's just over this mountain."
The mountain in front wasn't high; the grass and trees were short and withered, offering no hiding place, and the summit was visible at a glance.
Zhao Jian'an: "Is your home very close to the foot of the mountain?"
Molly nodded. "Yes, it's very close. You don't need to take me there."
Zhao Jian'an: "Then we'll wait until you reach the top of the mountain before we leave."
You can see Mojia Village from the other side of the mountain; it will be safe once you get there.
Molly looked at Zhao Jian'an in surprise. Was this person naturally kind-hearted?
Glug—
Zhao Jian'an rubbed his stomach and smiled somewhat awkwardly, "It's not that I don't have money to buy food, it's just that the supply in town is limited, and I'm embarrassed to compete with others."
Molly didn't say whether she believed it or not. She put the basket on her back on the ground, rummaged inside, and pulled out two pieces of meat wrapped in leaves. The pieces of meat were about half an arm's length long and were tightly wrapped in several large leaves.
Zhao Jian'an: "What is this?"
Molly: "Things I found in the mountains today."
With that, Molly stuffed the two pieces of meat into Zhao Jian'an's hands, then turned and headed up the mountain.
Zhao Jian'an wasn't in a hurry to look at anything; he watched Molly climb to the top of the mountain and disappear on the other side.
"What do you think this girl gave us? Was it wild fruit or something?" Zhao Jian'an's mouth watered at the mention of food.
Ji Hefeng glanced at him sideways, "She's already having such a hard time, and you still want her things."
"I just saw that her basket was full, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to take a little," Zhao Jian'an said, feeling a bit guilty.
Ji Hefeng: "I will not take a single needle or thread from the masses."
Zhao Jian'an: "She's not a member of the public, she's my sister."
"Since I've already taken it, let me see what's inside."
Zhao Jian'an quickly split the leaves open, and the aroma of roasted meat wafted out.
"It's meat!"
Two pieces of meat, each weighing over a pound. The heat wasn't controlled very well when cooking, so it was a little burnt, but it was still very fragrant.
Zhao Jian'an: "You can't even find an insect in these mountains, where did she get snake meat from?"
Ji Hefeng: "This snake is quite large; even an adult man would avoid it."
How could a little girl like her subdue such a big snake?
Zhao Jian'an wiped the drool from his mouth. "Is it possible that this snake was already on its last legs? Forget it, let's not guess. We'll just ask her ourselves next time we meet. Do you want some of this meat? If not, give it all to me."
"eat!"
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