After the snowfall, the air grew even colder. Wen Xian wore a thick thermal shirt, a sweater over it, and a black, hip-length down coat, yet she still felt chilled. All she wanted was to find a large supermarket quickly and stock up on winter supplies.
Fortunately, she was lucky. Perhaps because this area was on the outskirts of the city, with many mutated plants and animals and few humans, she spotted a shopping mall selling textiles just across the street from the construction materials factory.
However, the mall was already surrounded by a dense patch of cacti and succulents. The once-cute succulents had grown into trees. Wen Xian recognized varieties like Peach’s Egg, Fire Festival, and Rainbow Jade. The tallest were over five meters, spreading into a large cluster and firmly occupying the plaza in front of the mall.
Inside were cactus pillars about three meters high, each roughly as thick as Wen Xian. They stood like guards, protecting the central cacti.
There were only about ten of these central cacti, each between one and two meters tall, but they were massive. The largest one in the middle was so wide that even two people holding hands might not be able to encircle its body. And it completely blocked the mall’s entrance.
Although the cactus pillars and central cacti were dusted with snow, their finger-length spines still glinted coldly.
Wen Xian hesitated, should she go in? What if these things were aggressive…
“Shhh, shhh—”
“Awooo!!”
Suddenly, Da Bai’s distressed scream rang out. Wen Xian quickly looked over. Sure enough, the wolf had boldly charged forward, only to trigger the previously motionless cactus pillars into a frenzy. The spines whipped violently, piercing Da Bai. The wolf leapt into the air in pain.
“Da Bai, come back!”
Wen Xian shouted. Da Bai ran back, whimpering pitifully. Its gray eyes misted over, its black nose twitched, both hurt and embarrassed. It raised a paw, tentatively trying to swipe the spines off its face.
Wen Xian felt both worried and amused. She quickly stopped it and plucked out the few spines. Blood welled from the puncture wounds, this time it really hurt her to see. Fortunately, Da Bai had drunk her blood before, which enhanced its healing ability. The injuries weren’t serious.
Still, she couldn’t help scolding: “You’re way too reckless. Look at you now, paying the price.”
Da Bai whimpered, its small voice whining: “Sister… it hurts.”
Wen Xian said sharply: “Good, now you know it hurts. Let this be a lesson, don’t just rush forward blindly next time.”
“Wuu… wuu…”
Although she scolded Da Bai, Wen Xian was also angry at the cactus pillars for stabbing the wolf without warning, after all, Da Bai had been three or four meters away.
She formed two tree shields to block in front of her, after her power upgrade, the shields could now cover her entire body, and stepped forward, addressing the cactus pillars: “If you don’t want anyone coming in, just give a warning! Why poke it directly? Don’t you know it hurts?”
As she spoke, the cactus pillars shook violently again. Wen Xian jumped in surprise, raising the tree shields just in time. But this time, no spines flew toward her; instead, she heard soft chirps and coos nearby.
Feeling a friendly presence, she relaxed. She stepped up to the cactus pillars and tentatively placed her hand on one. It shook happily in response, making no sound, so its mutation level wasn’t high.
The next moment, all the cactus pillars leaned to the sides, revealing a path to the largest central cactus. Wen Xian thought for a moment, told Da Bai to wait behind, and walked in.
When her hand touched the massive central cactus, she suddenly heard a strong, excited, slightly trembling elderly voice: “Honored King, I, the Old Cactus, extend my most sincere welcome to your arrival!”
Wen Xian: …
This cactus must have watched too many supermarket ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
After some “conversation,” she learned that these cacti and succulents were originally decorative plants from the mall’s flowerbeds. After a month of continuous rain, all those that hadn’t died from the water had mutated. In their gigantic, unconscious expansion, they claimed the plaza.
The central cactus was the oldest, and therefore the wisest, naturally becoming the leader.
It then tearfully recounted its hardships: “King, you know how hard it is for us plants to awaken intelligence. Now, finally, we hit the jackpot, and yet someone is making our life hard for us! King, you have to help us!”
Wen Xian couldn’t help smiling: “You’re afraid of someone too? You weren’t so gentle when attacking Da Bai.”
The cactus hurriedly explained: “No, King, not humans, animals.”
Wen Xian raised an eyebrow: “Animals? You’re not even afraid of Da Bai, could these animals be scarier than him?”
The cactus didn’t catch her implication and quickly said: “Yes, yes! They’re even more fearsome than your Da Bai. They’re incredibly fast, with extremely sharp teeth. They not only invade our home but also harm us, many of our kind have died in their mouths!”
Wen Xian frowned. The description of these animals sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it immediately. She said, “Fine. Let us in so we can collect supplies first. Once I finish my task, I’ll help you with your problem.”
“Oh, thank you so much! You’re like a goddess descended from the heavens. My respect for you is like the endless torrent of a river, continuous as…”
Wen Xian: …
“Who taught you to talk like that?”
“Hi! Isn’t this something? When human females come to buy things, their male companions always like to sit on our flowerbeds and play with their phones. Oh, phones are really amazing, everything’s in there! I like watching movies the most, and that’s where I learned these lines. You’ve seen A Chinese Odyssey, right? You know, the one with [1]Zixia and Wukong are the two main characters from A Chinese Odyssey, a popular Chinese film that combines comedy, romance, and fantasy elements. Wukong is the Monkey King, a legendary trickster hero … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1829105_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1829105_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Zixia and Wukong. I really don’t like short videos, those females either wiggle around or scream ‘brother’ at the top of their lungs, totally unoriginal. I already know all that. King, do you want me, the Old Cactus, to show you a performance?” The central cactus was extremely enthusiastic.
Wen Xian’s face twitched. She quickly called Da Bai and passed through the path cleared by the cactus pillars and succulent trees to enter the mall. Along the way, in the middle of the cactus pillars, she vaguely saw a few patches of gray fur flash by.
The mall’s main doors were locked, but with a few swipes of Da Bai’s claws, the tempered glass shattered.
Once inside, she was immediately captivated by the dazzling array of bedding and home textiles.
She felt a twinge of guilt at “looting” these items, but the thrill of taking them without spending a dime was undeniable, especially with so many mid- to high-end products.
She had previously run a pottery café; her living standard was decent, so she could have bought high-end brands, but paying for them versus taking them for free… hehe~
She started with beds and mattresses, ranging from 1.2-meter single beds to 2-meter large beds. Almost every store had display racks, so she found some easy-to-dismantle ones and stacked the comforters and pillows on them, then collected everything into her space, neat and space-saving.
Choosing duvet covers and sheets was especially exciting. The beautiful patterns and various textures triggered her dopamine in full force. She grabbed complete sets of classic style, girly style, aristocratic style, and natural style. She also picked up plenty of blankets, rugs, and floor mats.
She hadn’t noticed where Da Bai had gone until, after she was almost done, she saw him running toward her with something gray and fuzzy in his mouth.
A shrill squeal echoed through the empty mall as he took a few steps in, scaring him into stopping, a puzzled look on his face.
“You… you… you bit a rat?”
From a distance, Wen Xian had thought it was a gray rabbit, but rabbits don’t have long, thick, shiny tails like that!!!
She wasn’t scared of many animals, but rats were definitely high on her list. Especially mutant rats, the disgusting and frightening traits were amplified. Even though this one was already dead from Da Bai’s bite, Wen Xian still got goosebumps.
Da Bai sensed her fear, dropped the mouse, and walked over to her, looking puzzled: “Sister, my food.”
Weren’t you the one who told me to store food for the winter?
Wen Xian shook her head vigorously: “No, no, no! I absolutely don’t want to touch that kind of thing. Absolutely not letting it into my space!” The thought of touching a rat made her shiver.
Da Bai looked a little disappointed but obediently left the rat behind, though his eyes were full of reluctance.
Feeling a bit guilty, Wen Xian quickly changed the subject: “Where did you find the rat?” Malls usually take strict precautions against such things.
Da Bai led her to a warehouse corner, where a large hole was surrounded by nests of rat-chewed comforters, cotton, and even down feathers.
Da Bai walked over and pawed aside the pile of torn comforters, instantly revealing a dozen already dead adult rats, along with dozens of hairless rat pups. The pups clearly posed no threat to Da Bai, so they were still alive, squirming happily with their eyes still closed.
Wen Xian: !!!
Baby rats are the worst!!!
Her face went pale, and she spun around to run.
In her panic, she crashed into a glass door. The pain brought her senses back, and as she rubbed her forehead and scanned the room, her eyes suddenly lit up. Inside were glass display cases everywhere, filled not only with electronics but also cosmetics, jewelry, and more, it was clearly a department store!
So the home textile mall was connected to the department store!
She had just scored a huge bargain!
…
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Lishi Base.
A thunderous rumble grew louder from afar as a black motorcycle was followed by two four-wheel mountain off-road vehicles, barreling to the gate. They slammed on the brakes, the screeching friction drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Three dark-yellow-skinned men pulled out their keys, unloaded several large bags tied to the vehicles, and approached. The two gate guards hurried forward to take the bags, smiling cautiously: “Boss Ba, Brother Yu, Brother Bai, you’re back.”
The man in front was Ba Hai, lean, with prominent cheekbones, thick black eyebrows nearly forming a line, inverted triangular eyes, and a cold, piercing gaze that sent chills down the spine.
The two men behind him were both muscular. The dark-skinned one was Bai Zhisheng, the square-faced one was Yu Xiang.
All three wore dark green work uniforms. Bai Zhisheng carried an M134 rapid-fire machine gun, Yu Xiang an M60 machine gun, while Ba Hai was the most relaxed, carrying only two pistols on his waist.
Ignoring the guards’ flattery, the three tossed their bags aside. Yu Xiang instructed, “These are the medicines Boss Wen asked for, deliver them to him.”
Now that all industries had shut down, medicines were in extremely short supply. The price of a single box of fever medicine had long exceeded that of gold, yet here they had three huge bags, casually tossed to the gate guards.
The two guards didn’t dare be careless, they hurriedly caught the bags, holding them like precious treasures, repeatedly assuring: “Don’t worry, sirs, we’ll deliver them immediately.”
The three men didn’t care at all about their attitude and walked straight into the hotel. As soon as they entered, Ba Hai’s triangular eyes flicked briefly, scanning Ding Wei standing at the door, then passed over her as if she were air.
This made Ding Wei, already tense, stiffen even more.
She glanced nervously at the weapons they carried, gritted her teeth, and stepped forward, speaking up: “Boss Ba, I have a deal I’d like to make with you.”
Ba Hai didn’t slow his steps and remained unmoved. Yu Xiang, however, turned around, his square face curling into a lewd grin. He gave her a once-over, then focused on her face and shook his head with mock regret: “Sorry, our big brother doesn’t do ugly women~ As for me, I don’t mind. After the lights go out, beauty or ugliness makes no difference, hahaha…”
His brazen laughter echoed throughout the hotel lobby. Several middle-aged men and women cleaning nearby didn’t dare look over.
Ding Wei trembled with rage, her eyes bloodshot. Her hand reached into her pocket to grip her wooden branch tightly, but after a few breaths, she didn’t take it out.
Seeing that the three were about to enter the elevator, Ding Wei hurried a few steps, but when she got about three meters behind them, Bai Zhisheng turned his head, giving her a warning glance.
She stopped and lowered her voice, speaking quickly: “Boss Ba, I know you have high standards and wouldn’t look at me, but I have a real beauty here, the college girl you like most. Just graduated, extremely pure.” She fixed her gaze on Ba Hai’s back.
Two or three seconds later, Ba Hai slowly turned his head, grinning, but there was no warmth in the smile. His brows furrowed together in a continuous line, giving off a chilling aura.
His hoarse voice grated like two rusted iron sheets scraping together, with a metallic tang: “Do you know what happens to those who lie to me?”
Ding Wei exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, pulled out her phone, and smiled as she stepped forward: “How could I dare lie to you? Don’t believe me? See for yourself, she’s not only pure, but…”
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