Book 1 Chapter 13:Before Heading Out!
Upon the gla.s.s table was a bowl of steamingwater and a half-filled gla.s.s of strong alcohol. Beside it, was another bowlfilled with sliced mutagenic flesh.
Ye Chen was holding a sharp kitchen knife,focusing his gaze upon Bai Long"s wound. In a low voice, he said: "Endure it."
Confused, Bai Long could not even manage ananswer before a sudden impact rattled his skull causing him to loseconsciousness.
Ye Chen had him knocked out before starting theoperation with haste. First, he poured the steaming hot water upon thefestering wound. The wound had already worsened considerably causing thesurrounding muscle and blood to blacken, emitting a rancid odour.
How painful would it be to have scalding hotwater poured on top of a gaping wound?
However, Bai Long could not feel a thing. Underthe catalysis of the virus, his pain receptors have been gradually dampened.Even stabbing him with a knife would only feel like a mosquito"s sting.Additionally, he was unconscious, completely unaware of what was going on.
After cleansing the wound of black blood, YeChen began to slice away at the scalded flesh. The cut off pieces of flesh bledwith slightly darkened blood.
"Grind out the juices from the mutagenic flesh!"Ye Chen told his sister in a serious tone.
Ye Zhu was taken aback, yet she did notquestion him. Using a wooden handle as a pestle, she began to mince a dozenpieces of mutagenic flesh in a steel bowl.
At this point, Ye Chen took the gla.s.s of strongalcohol which was heated till it was on the verge of boiling and began pouringit atop Bai Long"s wound. Alcohol being an antiseptic substance could be usedas a disinfectant.
Ye Chen went into the kitchen to procure somepeeled garlic and a bottle of vinegar. After dumping a few cloves of garlic andhalf a bottle of vinegar into the steel bowl, he left Ye Zhu to grind themtogether with the minced mutagenic flesh.
In the meantime, Ye Chen continued to clean BaiLong"s wound with the alcohol. After the mixture of mutagenic flesh, vinegarand garlic were crushed and drained into two bowls; the resulting concoctionwas poured into Bai Long"s mouth.
"Will this really make him better?" Ye Zhuasked with worry.
Ye Chen shook his head saying: "It"ll depend onhis luck. Fortunately, we tended to him before the infection could get anyworse, or else it"d be impossible to cure."
Upon hearing his reply, Ye Zhu sunk intosilence.
Patting her shoulder, Ye Chen pointed at themutant dog"s corpse saying: "The flesh on this creature can be eaten; itactually contains high amounts of energy. Well, dog meat has always been consideredquite nutritious. However, if a person were to eat this entire mutated dog, I"destimate an increase of around five men"s worth of strength! As for its hideand fur, we"ll use those to make some clothes!"
The nutrients contained in the meat of animalsnaturally had their differences. The meat of a tiger was obviously morenutritious that that of a pig"s!
Furthermore, this mutant dog"s flesh is tentimes more valuable than that of a tiger"s!
Only at this point was Ye Zhu made aware of themutant dog. Astonished, she asked: "Was this the creature you were hunting?"
Ye Chen nodded.
Ye Zhu furrowed her brows saying: "Next timeyou do something so dangerous, I won"t blame you for not taking me with you,but at least inform me about it!"
With a bitter laugh, Ye Chen nodded again.
Ye Zhu walked towards the mutant dog"s corpseand squatted beside it to get a closer look. Intrigued, she asked: "Brother,did you say that this creature was edible? I thought only mutagenic flesh couldbe eaten, right?"
Ye Chen shook his head saying: "On zombies,only mutagenic flesh could be eaten; every other part is infested with viruses.That"s because zombies are considered failed products! This creature howeverhas successfully evolved. Getting bitten or sc.r.a.ped by it will not lead to aninfection."
"Mutagenic flesh could be surmised as a kind ofhigh grade meat. If I"m to make a comparison, rat meat and roach meat would beconsidered rank 1, Human meat rank 2 and tiger meat being rank 3. Mutagenicmeat would be rank 10!"
"Meat with a higher rank would containproportionally more energy and nutrition!"
"If a human composed of rank 2 flesh, were toconsume rank 3 tiger meat, it will lead to an increase in const.i.tution and thefortification of the body! Eating rank 10 mutagenic flesh naturally led to anincrease in strength as well as refining the basis of one"s body, resulting inan effect not too different from evolving…. This mutant dog has undergone ametamorphosis due to the virus, causing its flesh to increase up to rank 7. Youcan think of it as lower grade mutagenic flesh!"
Ye Chen continued in a steady tone, saying:"The virus is actually not supposed to be harmful; it"s more comparable to anutrient rich form of gas! These creatures could evolve because they were ableto absorb the virus into their bodies. The reason humans turn into a zombieswas precisely because their bodies could not handle the forced growth resultingfrom the concentrated nutrition in the virus."
"It"s like how an ant can never swallow anelephant whole; it just didn"t have the capacity. Forcibly doing so will onlytear it to pieces!"
With that, Ye Zhu had a clearer understandingof things, possessing a better picture of their current situation.
Afterwards, Ye Zhu picked up the fireman"s axeand dragged the mutant dog"s corpse into the kitchen. First, she took thecorpse apart, separating its internal organs and parts that were inedible.Next, she boiled some water before skinning and dissecting the corpse.
In the living room, Ye Chen sat on the sofapondering the things to come.
After a few hours, Ye Zhu managed to separatethe lion-sized corpse into many portions. She separately boiled each portionbefore cutting them into smaller pieces to be fried alongside some seasoning.
As for the mutant dog"s skin and fur, Ye Zhuwashed it thoroughly getting rid of its b.l.o.o.d.y odour. It would be left formaking clothes like her brother suggested.
During dinner time, two large portions of meatwere placed upon the table. With the appropriate seasoning, the meat waftedwith an appetizing aroma. Practicing her culinary skills over many days hasmade Ye Zhu proficient in cooking; she has now long surpa.s.sed her days ofcutting potato silk into potato slices.
Ye Chen nodded his head in satisfaction,saying: "We should prioritize on consuming this mutant dog meat. Keeping it fortoo long will cause its nutrients to deteriorate. We can skip with the rice andhave meat in its stead."
Hearing this caused Ye Zhu to chuckle.
After finishing his portion, Ye Chen could feelhis strength increase by a few dozen pounds. Overall, around half a man"s worthof strength. If the entire portion consisted of mutagenic flesh, he would havegained the strength of two men!
Even so, Ye Chen was not disappointed. Afterall, this entire corpse was quite sizable, enough to cover their meals for fourto five days to come. With three meals a day in mind, each meal would boosttheir strength by half a man"s worth. Adding up any mutagenic flesh they wouldfind during their daily hunts, the average gain in strength would amount to twoor even three men"s worth!
"You should retire to the bedroom, I"ll be herelooking after this guy." Ye Chen told his sister after their meal.
Ye Zhu hesitated for a moment before noddingher head.
During the night, Ye Chen slept in a state thatallowed partial consciousness. Doing so allowed him to recover his strengthwhile remaining on guard in case Bai Long turned into a zombie and suddenlyattacked.
However, it was calm throughout the night….
The next day, when Ye Chen woke up, he gave BaiLong a quick glance. It seems as though his skin has regained a healthy pigmentationand the area around his eyes were no longer dark. Only after being sure thatthere were no irregularities did Ye Chen relax his guard.
"Ugh, so dizzy…." Bai Long eventually began tostir. Feeling sore all over, he unconsciously sat up with a hand rubbing hisdrowsy head. At this point, a cheerful voice sounded saying: "You"re awake!"
Hearing the voice, Bai Long raised his head.What he saw was Ye Zhu standing before him wearing her usual battle attire. Notfar away, at the dinner table was a man with black hair unconcernedly eatingbreakfast.
With a jolt, Bai Long instantly regained hissenses. Looking at his hands, he found that his fingernails were normal. Heeven retained his consciousness; clearly it was because he avoided turning intoa zombie! His right shoulder was throbbing with pain. Upon inspection, it wasalready bandaged in white cloth.
"How come, I"m not a zombie?" Bai Long inquiredin disbelief.
Giggling in laughter, Ye Zhu pointed at herbrother at the table, saying: "It was my brother who tended to your wound; hehelped cure you of your infection."
Bai Long was shocked; he immediately glancedtowards the man sitting at the table. Suddenly, he recalled hearing that man"svoice right before he lost consciousness. The sudden realization caused anindescribable sense of grat.i.tude to rise within him. He immediately stood upand walked towards Ye Chen with a smile saying: "I thank you for everything youdid for me last night. If it weren"t for you, I"d be dead."
Ye Chen indifferently replied: "It"s nothing,hurry up and have breakfast. Afterwards, we"re going to hunt more zombies."
When Bai Long heard him mention breakfast, hewas going to reply with some pleasantries along the lines of "Thank you kindly,although I do feel reluctant on imposing further". However, when he heardmention of zombies, he immediately jumped in shock. Disbelieving his ears, heinquired: "You"re saying that the both of you are going zombie hunting, right?"
Ye Chen spoke in a matter-of-fact tone saying:"It"s not just us; you"re coming along as well!"
Bai Long instantly felt dizziness engulf hisconsciousness, even the skies outside seem to darken, he could no longer tellday from night. Eventually, he cautiously explained, saying: "I"m an injuredperson, what could I possibly be of use for? I"ll only be a burden for you outthere…."
Ye Chen"s eyes revealed a hint ofunderstanding, saying: "That"s true, you"re indeed useless. Alright, get out.You can also forget about breakfast."
Bai Long: "…."
"Still haven"t left?"
"That is…. What was I going to say? Right, Isuffer from short-term memory loss. What were you saying again?"
"Lil" sis, remind me where I placed my knife?"
"Urk…. That is, I think I suddenly remembered,I think it"s better for me to join you on your zombie hunt!"
Translator"s Notes:
A cure to zombification made of garlic andvinegar may sound hilarious, but garlic is supposed to be a natural form ofantibiotic and vinegar being antiseptic. Feels more like an immunity boost than a cure though.
Transient global amnesia more accuratelydescribes Bai Long "condition", but I used short-term memory loss because itgets the notion across better in my opinion. I figured he didn"t have to be technicallycorrect since he"s obviously full of it.