Chapter 57
The mountain near the reservoir wasn’t tall; this wasn’t a wild mountain, and people had often come here to fish and camp in the past . Therefore, it wasn’t dangerous .
More importantly, there were no zombies here yet .
Even the one regarded as the dark ability user who could control lower-level zombies in his last life, Qi Jingchen, didn’t like zombies . His dark energy was extremely pure, but the dark energy in zombies emitted a sort of nauseous, rotten smell…
Unfortunately, he had previously been in a major city and was surrounded by the scent of zombies . Even in B City secure base, he couldn’t avoid the chaotic, disgusting smell… But the green hills and clear waters couldn’t help but make him feel carefree and relaxed; even the throbbing in his head had lessened by a lot .
He didn’t know whether his state would have been better had he stayed in a verdant area during the beginning of the apocalypse…
This thought suddenly rose in his mind, but it was just a thought . His improving condition probably had to do with Nie Yi always raising him indulgently to eat and drink well, and not letting him get tired in any way .
In his last life, he hadn’t lived this well, so his ability hadn’t awakened for a long time . In the end, when zombies were suddenly drawn to wipe out W County secure base and he himself was in a critical state of being surrounded by zombies, only then did it violently erupt . In this life… His health had already become much better, and he only had a headache and a low fever at night . Maybe he’d awaken ahead of time?
Qi Jingchen followed Nie Yi and slowly walked up the mountain . On the journey, he took in the various plants around him .
As someone who had once worked in the farming fields and later always bought ingredients to cook for himself to save money, he could recognise all the common vegetables . However, there were too many plants in the world and so, he couldn’t recognise most of the plants in this forest, merely thinking that they looked familiar .
“Was it this hill where you discovered that mutated plant you ate in your last life?” Qi Jingchen touched the tree beside him, then looked at Nie Yi .
“It was in a small stream in the hills,” Nie Yi said . Even though it had been a long time since then, this place was too important to him, so he still remembered it very clearly . “I just don’t know if it’s already matured at this point . ”
Mutated plants needed time to mature . According to reason, if they came to search so early in advance, they definitely wouldn’t find anything . But now, many things had been shifted to an earlier date, so naturally, the ripening of mutated plants might have occurred in advance as well…
This time, Nie Yi had planned to come and take a look . If it had matured, he would pick it, but if it hadn’t, then he’d see if it could be transplanted— The vegetables they had grown had always been growing pretty well; maybe mutated plants could also be grown .
“We’ll see,” Qi Jingchen said, then suddenly pointed at a wildflower at the side . “This flower is very beautiful . Later, dig it out and bring it back . ”
Nie Yi promptly memorised this flower’s location .
After walking a while, Qi Jingchen recognised a small patch of kalimeris, and felt somewhat nostalgic . “That’s a kalimeris . It’s an edible wild herb, so dig it out later too . ”
It’s a wild herb? Nie Yi, who had often eaten wild herbs to taste what was in season but had no idea what wild herbs looked like, memorised the kalimeris’s appearance .
Seeing his behaviour, Qi Jingchen didn’t know why his mood suddenly improved .
Their pace wasn’t quick, but it wasn’t long before Qi Jingchen felt that his legs had weakened and couldn’t walk anymore— Even though his body had recovered quite a lot, he evidently wasn’t completely recovered .
In the past, he had always been selected as the partic.i.p.ant in long-distance running in school, and now he was actually like Lin Daiyu… But in any case, he was stronger than in the past, when he was like a patient with a terminal illness .
Nie Yi had long been waiting for this moment . He picked him up and rushed over .
Mutated plants had a unique characteristic, but weren’t easy to find because they would suppress their energy, and it was generally difficult for people with no affinity with them to find them .
And the so-called people with zero affinity with them were actually just people who couldn’t sense this type of ability at all . These people wouldn’t awaken to an ability even if they ate a mutated plant .
In fact, many people had a talent for becoming ability users, but mutated plants were too rare; there were very few who could awaken their ability through this method .
In his last life, Nie Yi was a fire ability user but had the potential to become a water ability user, so he could find that mutated plant . In this life, he had already awakened to his water ability, so naturally, it would be even easier to find the plant .
Nie Yi carried Qi Jingchen and soon arrived at the side of a small stream, then ran upstream .
He ran for a while and finally reached a pool . At the same time, he quickly sensed the existence of the mutated plant and his heart sank .
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The middle stage of the apocalypse was also three years . In those years, the animals and plants infected by the dark energy increased . The ubiquitous ordinary mosquitos had gradually become enshrouded in darkness, and a large number of regular people died . Humans built many airtight houses for safety, which was how regular people could survive . At this time, don’t even mention the water outside, even the water created by low-level water ability users couldn’t be drunk .
Finally, it was the late stage of the apocalypse . All of the ordinary people and low-level ability users had pa.s.sed away, and the high-level ability users also perished in succession . The entire world didn’t have a trace of fresh air…
Previously, Nie Yi had thought that after he and Qi Jingchen had been reborn, as long as he made proper preparations, they could live a fairly content life for three years, and barely get through the next three… But what should they do now?
Nie Yi’s face was completely darkened, while Qi Jingchen was very calm . Seeing Nie Yi’s complexion, he could already guess what Nie Yi was thinking, and he promptly said, “Let’s take advantage of the scenery being considerably good right now and experience it properly, to avoid regrets in our deaths . ”
In his last life, before he died, he regretted that he hadn’t taken a good look around this world in the past .
‘Death’ again… Nie Yi’s face darkened even more and he turned his head to look at the mutated plant .
“This aquatic plant looks pretty good,” Qi Jingchen said .
That’s right, the plant that turned Nie Yi into a dual ability user was an extremely common aquatic plant . Of course, this plant wasn’t so common anymore .
By the pool, a sparkling, translucent aquatic plant was mixed among the centre of the regular, green aquatic plants . If they hadn’t looked closely, they would have probably just thought that it was a droplet from an underbrush .
In his last life, Qi Jingchen had once seen a fire elemental plant; its entire body was red . This water elemental plant was transparent like water . The characteristic was indeed quite obvious, but it wasn’t easy to find in a vast mountain forest .
“It’s fine to directly pluck it off?” Qi Jingchen asked .
“Yes . ” In his last life, Nie Yi had learnt about the knowledge in this aspect, squatting down to carefully dig the aquatic plant out . After placing it in a gla.s.s bottle, he used his water ability to fill up the bottle and placed it in a bag to carry .
After this, Nie Yi turned to walk back . During the journey, he didn’t forget to condense an ice blade and peel out the section of ground with the kalimeris growing on it to take along . Then, he dug out the wildflower, also putting it in the bag to take away .
When they returned to camp, everyone had already made a fire and cooked a meal . Even though no one went into the water, someone did find a fishing net in one of the houses nearby, and so there was fish to eat .
Seeing Nie Yi carrying Qi Jingchen, and also bringing many things back, aside from those from W County secure base, n.o.body wondered at this strange sight . Of course, gossip about Qi Jingchen couldn’t be avoided . “Qi shao’s mood today is really good; he actually wanted to take a walk in the forest!”
“If I had someone like Nie shao to pamper me, I would also want them to carry me for a walk . ”
“Actually, don’t you guys think that Qi shao is very attractive? Nie shao had always been carrying him so I didn’t dare look, but today I took a couple of looks… How handsome…”
Right when that person’s voice fell, the surrounding people instantly backed away from him . When Zhang Zihai and the others had instructed them, they had said that it was fine to offend Nie shao, but they definitely couldn’t possess any intentions towards Qi Jingchen or offend him… Because Nie Yi would flip out .
Even though they were gossiping spiritedly, they held goodwill towards Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen . Nie Yi was too powerful, and the importance he attached to Qi Jingchen was even more obvious . A normal person definitely wouldn’t look down on Qi Jingchen under these circ.u.mstances .
However, this world had abnormal people .
“As expected, that Nie Yi is just like what that person from B City secure base said; bewitched by a man!” Among the few ability users from W County secure base, the leader was filled with indignance .
“His subordinates are really powerful, but can so few people wipe out the increasing numbers of zombies nearby?” Someone at the side frowned .
“Some hedonistic brat who created a team by relying on his daddy… If that mysterious fellow can kill this person off, maybe we can make use of this team . ”
“Speaking of that mysterious fellow, how on earth did he appear?”
…
Nie Yi didn’t know or care to know what W County secure base’s people were talking about . When he reached their lodgings, he put Qi Jingchen down and gave Mother Ping the kalimeris to handle .
Mother Ping took a pair of scissors and cut off the aged stems and leaves, then put the kalimeris aside to cook later . Seeing his mother bustling around, Ping Shengchao came over to help . When he entered, he suddenly said, “Boss, do you have something in the bag you’re carrying?” He had a strange feeling…
Nie Yi looked at Ping Shengchao . Seeing Ping Shengchao’s face filled with puzzlement, he felt rather pleased . Ping Shengchao had probably sensed the water elemental plant in his pocket, but Nie Yi didn’t know if the others could . “Gan Shuo, Zhou Xiaofeng, come here . ”
Hearing Nie Yi’s summon, Gan Shuo and Zhou Xiaofeng immediately went over .
“Do you sense anything different with me?” Nie Yi asked .
Gan Shuo and Zhou Xiaofeng looked at each other, confused, but still replied, “No . ”
Nie Yi thought about it and finally called Qi Yaoyao over begrudgingly . “Do you sense anything different with me?”
Qi Yaoyao had wanted to say that he looked particularly tacky while holding that bag, but didn’t really dare to say that aloud . “No . ”
“Seems like this thing is only suitable for Ping Shengchao . ” Nie Yi didn’t hide it either, straightforwardly taking out the gla.s.s bottle with the mutated plant and giving it to Ping Shengchao . “Eat ba . ”
Ping Shengchao took the bottle and suddenly thought of what Nie Yi had said when they had just met Qi Jingchen, his eyes filled with excitement .
“You can sense it, which means you have an innate gift to awaken as a water ability user . For the others, I’ll see if I can find other mutated plants,” Nie Yi said .
In his last life, the overall number of mutated plants that had appeared were over several thousands . Unfortunately, most wouldn’t divulge the location after finding them, whereas, in the vicinity of the major city, B City, there seemed to only be this one mutated plant .
Ping Shengchao quickly ate up the mutated plant; after he ate it, his body began to show symptoms of sickness .
“Go back and rest ba,” Nie Yi said .
Ping Shengchao nodded and returned to the tent where he and Zhang Zihai were staying . In the past, he had always stayed with Jiang Huai, but later, to keep watch over Zhang Zihai, he began to stay with Zhang Zihai . Jiang Huai now stayed together with another wind ability user .
“What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so pale?” When Zhang Zihai saw Ping Shengchao’s appearance, he questioned him frantically .
“I’m going to rest for a while,” Ping Shengchao said and fell headfirst onto the mattress . He had seen Nie Yi’s feverish appearance before he awakened to his water ability, and all his symptoms seemed to be much worse compared to Nie Yi’s .
“You have a fever?” Zhang Zihai supported Ping Shengchao, and suddenly discovered that Ping Shengchao’s body temperature seemed unusual . “I’ll go find someone to check up on you . ”
“I’m fine; I just need to rest for a moment…” Ping Shengchao stopped him . Seeing that Zhang Zihai didn’t plan on obeying, he recalled that Nie Yi didn’t intend to conceal it, and he wouldn’t be able to hide an ability after he awakened either, so he said, “I’m going to awaken to an ability . ”
“What?” Zhang Zihai lowered his voice .
“Boss gave me a mutated plant to eat, saying that it would let me awaken to a water ability,” Ping Shengchao said .
Zhang Zihai’s previous concern had completely turned into delight . Yesterday, he even wished for a water ability so that Ping Shengchao didn’t need to go outside to shower . In the blink of an eye, Ping Shengchao awakened to a water ability; it’s a perfect coincidence!
A fire and a water elemental, they’re really a perfect match!
Zhang Zihai went outside to request some water from a water ability user, then placed a moist towel on Ping Shengchao’s forehead, taking care of Ping Shengchao for the night .
The next day, Ping Shengchao had already recovered . At the same time, he transformed from an ordinary person to an ability user .
Gan Shuo and Zhou Xiaofeng were very jealous, yet also very excited— Nie Yi had told them the truth; he truly could turn them into ability users!
Ping Shengchao became an ability user, but they didn’t publicise this . The next day, the team continued onwards as usual .
It was just that… Qi Jingchen very interestedly asked to sit on the roof of the truck to look at the landscape…
Nie Yi shifted the plants on the car roof to create an empty s.p.a.ce, then carried Qi Jingchen up and sat down .
Even though the truck wasn’t driving fast, the wind on the roof was quite strong . The scenery really was good though; they could see very far and were even surrounded by a ring of flowers and plants .
Qi Jingchen looked at this and felt free from worries . “It would be nice if we could plant a circle of trees around us, and I can pick fruits to eat at any time!”
“…” Nie Yi envisioned a few large trees planted on the truck’s roof, fell silent for a moment, and then said, “In the future, I’ll bring back more plant ability users!”
Plant ability users had various specialisations, but there were still ability users who were skilled in planting and hastening the growth of plants . He would definitely find a way to for Qi Jingchen .
Right now, they most likely wouldn’t succeed in planting fruit trees in the truck, but it was different if a plant ability user was present…
After being blown by the wind for a while, Nie Yi was worried Qi Jingchen would catch a cold and unyieldingly brought Qi Jingchen back down, then gave Qi Jingchen a book .
He had conveniently plundered a bookstore in the past and obtained many books in various genres . In Qi Jingchen’s hands was an internationally popular book— Harry Potter .
When all was said and done, Qi Jingchen was adopted . Qi Yaoyao could ask the Yao parents for things unbridledly and even throw a tantrum when she couldn’t get them, but he couldn’t . Although he had heard of this book when he was a child, he didn’t have the money to buy it, so he had never read it before .
“It will be jerky inside the truck, and it’ll hurt your eyes reading like this… Do you want me to hold you while you read?” Nie Yi asked .
Qi Jingchen closed the book, looked at Nie Yi, then smiled . “Sure . ”
He had already decided to live life while following his heart, and now… He didn’t find it repulsive when Nie Yi held him; in fact, he rather liked it .
When he was young, he had seen other children being held by their parents, being able to sit on their fathers’ shoulders . His jealousy was off the charts, but no one would treat him that way… His foster parents may treat him very well, but he was a little older when he had gone to their home, so naturally, they wouldn’t hug or kiss him as they pleased .
Nie Yi didn’t know what Qi Jingchen was thinking and hurriedly gathered him into his embrace .
Their squad’s pace wasn’t very quick, but after a few days, they neared W County secure base .
The closer they got to W County secure base, the more zombies surrounded them…
There was a flourishing prefecture-level city near W County secure base, and it had been a traffic hub . There were many people who came and went, so it follows that there were many zombies as well . On top of that, more people fled to the secure base, bringing along the zombies who chased them, so there were more and more zombies that surrounded W County secure base .
In B City secure base, the military would go and clear out the zombies near the secure base, but in such a small secure base, everyone valued their lives . Who would be willing to go out?
Now, the W County secure base was surrounded by many zombies . While the zombies were not able to break through the secure base’s fortifications, no one in the secure base could go out in search of supplies either . If they insisted on going, they would have to use the long, winding mountain road from the back… That was too troublesome, and in this situation where they couldn’t drive a car, even if they went out, they wouldn’t be able to bring much back .
Seeing this, Nie Yi’s face revealed some scorn . In their last life, this secure base had developed so well and many strong ability users emerged; these ability users had even taken the lead to kill zombies . Wasn’t all of this based on Qi Jingchen’s existence?
With Qi Jingchen, they didn’t have to fear zombies at all, and they had the courage to fight valiantly, developing this place into a flourishing land . Without Qi Jingchen, this place became a piece of trash…
“We’re charging in!” Seeing the army of zombies nearby, Nie Yi shouted to the people behind him .