16 Zombie Experience Cards 16

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Zombie Experience Card 16

For the first few days after Tian Yi captured Zhao Su and Zhen Qian and tossed them aside, he acquired a new daily routine.

Every day, he would make time to “pick up” Zhao Su.

There was no other reason. Tian Yi simply wanted to see how cruelly this young man could treat himself.

Though Zhao Su was covered in wounds, whenever he left the room without Tian Yi’s permission, he would be attacked by the cockleburs.

—Of course, they never beat him to death.

Zhao Su continued challenging the cockleburs’ limits.

In just a few days, his injuries had piled upon one another, and his condition naturally grew worse and worse.

Whenever Zhen Qian saw him like that, all he could do was sigh.

He had tried to persuade Zhao Su a few times, but the boy simply refused to listen.

At first, Zhao Su would respond with a few words whenever he felt slightly better. Later, he became completely silent, a stubborn fool who charged ahead without a thought.

As for challenging the limits of the cockleburs’ offense and defense, Zhao Su had not made no progress at all.

At the very least, through his own efforts, he had depleted the number of burs on the cockleburs nearest to him.

It took the cockleburs some time to grow a fresh covering of burs over their bodies.

However, this situation changed five days later.

After Tian Yi gave them clean, sweet water twice in succession…

…

After the apocalypse arrived, human civilization collapsed.

Food and water became scarce necessities.

Compared with the shortage of food, the scarcity of water was even more severe.

The apocalypse had not altered the global water cycle. The original water sources were still there, and it still rained when it was supposed to.

However, under the influence of mutated plants, animals, and high-level zombies, both the amount of rainfall in various regions and the substances contained in the water had changed slightly.

—This was also one reason Tian Yi had yet to see any rain since arriving here.

To explain it in detail, one would have to discuss the mutated plants and animals in the oceans, which had suffered the greatest impact.

Ever since the apocalypse, the ocean had become one of the regions humanity could scarcely set foot in.

These days, human beings obtained most of their water from sources on land and from rainfall.

Water was important to humans.

But it was important to other plants and animals as well.

Nearly every water source on land that humans could locate had become a gathering place for large numbers of mutated plants and animals.

The fact that Tian Yi had once found an abandoned well on the outskirts of an immature ivy’s territory—one that had not been claimed by any other mutated plant or animal—was entirely due to a combination of circumstances. He had simply gotten lucky.

Thus, obtaining water was a matter of life and death for human beings.

Some had considered digging wells.

Yet outside the safe zones, the moment a newly dug well contained water, it would quickly attract powerful mutated plants and animals from the surrounding area.

For ordinary people, defending such a well was extraordinarily difficult.

Only within a safe zone could a few wells be dug.

Even then, the matter required careful consideration and vigilant protection. Otherwise, the safe zone might suffer a major attack because of them.

Under such circumstances, keeping the many survivors within a safe zone alive with its limited supply of usable water was no easy task.

In other words, one could imagine how difficult it was for the living to drink a mouthful of clean, sweet water.

Before the apocalypse, water had been so common.

It had been as simple as turning on the tap at home.

…

Tian Yi did not provide water to Zhao Su and Zhen Qian very often.

Compared with the two of them, he would naturally give priority to “his own people.”

The ivy alone was a major consumer of water.

The little orange cat needed water as well.

Nana simply followed everyone else—she ate when it was time to eat and drank when it was time to drink.

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They could survive without food or water, but it was not as though they needed neither.

Then there were the bunnies, along with the cockleburs that the bunnies had spread everywhere.

Though cockleburs planted in the ground could be left unattended, no one knew when they might wither and die.

Once watered and properly cared for, however, the cockleburs grew far more vigorously, producing more burs and displaying greater attacking power.

Thus, Tian Yi’s own need for water was also considerable.

The fact that he could spare any for Zhao Su and Zhen Qian was a perfect demonstration of what it meant to possess a touching spirit of humanitarianism.

…

Against such an apocalyptic backdrop, one could imagine the shock Zhao Su and Zhen Qian felt when they first received “clear, sweet” water from Tian Yi.

It was so unbelievable that neither of them dared to use it lightly.

They even set the water aside, suspecting it might be part of Tian Yi’s scheme.

Perhaps it only looked like water. In truth, it might be some kind of liquid with a special effect, capable of controlling the two of them.

Of course, they merely thought this. They did not dare say it aloud.

Humans who had survived the apocalypse and gained enhanced physical abilities had also developed a greater tolerance for hunger and thirst.

But no matter how much they could endure, they still ultimately needed food and water.

In the end, they drank the water Tian Yi had provided. They were thrilled by its pure sweetness, yet their feelings were complicated.

It had been an extremely long time since they had tasted water so good.

If it truly was water, and not something else, they did not believe Tian Yi would give them a second serving.

Yet on the fifth day, Tian Yi gave them water again.

The same clear, sweet water.

“Even the big shots in the safe zones probably have trouble drinking water this good, right?” Zhen Qian exclaimed.

“Natural water, without any filtration or processing… It tastes wonderful…”

Zhen Qian sipped the water in tiny mouthfuls. Beside him, Zhao Su stared blankly at the portion he had been given.

According to his original plan, Zhao Su intended to charge out again today, stubbornly refusing to give up.

He had no better way to leave this place.

But after receiving such fine water from Tian Yi for the second time, a new thought arose in Zhao Su’s mind.

Perhaps… compared with the safe zone, this place might actually be better.

He knew perfectly well how insane the thought was.

But he also understood the terrible consequences that would befall him and his family if people discovered that their convoy was gone—and that Green Hair had died.

He had long since lost any way back.

There might not be anything worth clinging to in this wretched world, but…

He still had his mother.

He could not abandon her.

So he had to do something.

Zhao Su tipped his head back and poured his portion of water down his throat in one gulp.

The clear, sweet freshness seemed to wash through his entire body.

He could distinctly feel the path the water took as it flowed within him.

Then he stood up from the floor once more.

Zhen Qian noticed what he was doing and immediately wore an expression of utter exasperation. After thinking for a moment, he still tried to persuade him.

“You’re going to keep charging out there like an idiot? There’s really no need… If you go on like this, you’ll actually die…

“Doing this again and again… If that boss loses patience… Ah…

“If it really comes to that, wait another two days, will you? Once I’m feeling a little better, I’ll go with you.”

Zhen Qian felt as though he was turning into a nagging old man.

Though he had grown accustomed to life and death in the apocalypse, the purpose behind Zhao Su’s stubborn recklessness still moved him deeply. He could not stop himself from trying to dissuade him, again and again.

Every time Zhao Su was injured and thrown back, it was Zhen Qian who took care of him.

Zhen Qian had assumed that this attempt at “persuasion” would, like all the others, receive no response.

But this time was different.

Zhao Su looked at him and said softly, “…You don’t have to come with me. I’m not running anymore.”

Zhen Qian: “…What?”

Zhen Qian stopped nagging and stared at Zhao Su in disbelief, as if someone had impersonated him.

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Zhao Su ignored Zhen Qian’s gaze and moved slowly toward the window.

Outside the house, the cockleburs remained lush and verdant.

When Zhao Su leaned out, the bodies of several cockleburs near the house twisted slightly, as though they were “watching” the stubborn fool.

But today, Zhao Su did not run outside.

He glanced at the sun overhead, then looked toward the roadside.

The exceptionally powerful bunnies followed a very regular routine.

Around this time, they would usually appear nearby.

Zhao Su leaned against the window for a while before Zhen Qian brought over a chair for him to sit in.

Today, Zhao Su truly was different from before. He actually sat down.

Zhen Qian found this remarkable and went to stand by the window as well, looking outside.

Before long, the bunnies led by Muscle Rabbit appeared on the street.

The bunnies were clearly not very large, and each one was covered in soft fur. Yet under Muscle Rabbit’s leadership, they displayed an unmistakable sense of power.

They never took ordinary roads. Instead, they bounded back and forth between the buildings on either side.

Every bunny moved in perfect unison. Not one fell behind.

Having been beaten by these bunnies, Zhao Su and Zhen Qian knew their true strength all too well.

Back then, when Tian Yi had asked them grimly why the bunnies’ fur had been singed, both Zhao Su and Zhen Qian had found themselves utterly speechless.

Had they deliberately set fire to the rabbits?

Hell no.

Their vehicle had exploded, and a whole group of ordinary zombies had caught fire.

Amid the widespread flames, these bunnies had appeared out of nowhere without the slightest fear, hopping back and forth through the fire.

And when they beat people up, they hurt like hell…

As for the matter of the bunnies’ singed fur, Zhao Su and Zhen Qian truly felt unjustly blamed.

Now that they saw the bunnies again, most of their fur had grown back.

A few still bore patches of fur the color of charred wool.

Zhen Qian instinctively took two steps backward. He did not want the rabbits to see him, and he was even preparing to drag Zhao Su’s chair away.

But then he saw Zhao Su stand up and wave at the approaching rabbits.

He even began to shout.

“Bunnies, help me out! Bunnies—”

Because of his injuries, Zhao Su’s voice was not particularly loud. But after calling out repeatedly, the bunnies still heard him.

The first to stop was Muscle Rabbit, followed by Muscle Rabbit’s black shadow, and then the smaller rabbits behind them.

Once every bunny had come to a halt, they all turned their heads and stared at Zhao Su with their red eyes.

Being silently watched by so many mutated rabbits was a truly dreadful feeling.

Even Zhao Su, the stubborn fool who normally feared nothing, recalled the pain of being beaten by them.

But he did not retreat. Instead, he opened his mouth somewhat stiffly.

“Um… I want to see your leader. That boss…”

Zhao Su said every word he could think of that the rabbits might possibly understand.

He even raised a hand and laboriously gestured several times.

Whether the rabbits understood him or not, they soon ran off.

They maintained the same formation they had arrived in.

…

Only after the rabbits vanished from sight did Zhen Qian, who had been tense for so long, finally speak.

“Are you insane?!”

Zhao Su was hardly in better shape than Zhen Qian, but with cold sweat covering his face, he forced a grin.

“I want to see that boss.”

“What do you want to see him for?!”

Zhao Su said, “…Didn’t he say he wanted things of value? The most valuable thing we have is that, right?”

Zhen Qian seemed to realize what he meant. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He swallowed every word he had wanted to say and let out a deep sigh.

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