The news anchor reported that a black bear at the zoo had become inexplicably agitated due to entering its mating season and attacked the feeding staff at six o’clock this afternoon, then escaped from its cage.
Not only that, on its way out, it broke open the cage of a group of Tibetan wolves nearby, and the wolves ran out as well.
The zoo is now mobilizing all efforts to capture them. Citizens are advised to stay safe and, if they spot any of the animals, to contact the zoo immediately.
The anchor also provided a list of emergency hotline numbers.
Watching this news, Ke Bei couldn’t help but recall the monkeys and birds she had seen that morning, and her unease grew even stronger.
She pulled out her phone and called Cheng Qian, telling him about the news and her worries, urging him to come back soon.
Cheng Qian chuckled on the phone: “Don’t worry. You don’t even know my skills yet. A few animals running out of the zoo won’t hurt me. I’ll head back as soon as I finish shopping.”
Ke Bei knew perfectly well that these animals couldn’t harm Cheng Qian; that wasn’t what she was worried about.
She simply realized that the apocalypse was drawing ever closer.
With that thought, Ke Bei hastened her movements, wanting to get as much prepared as possible in the limited time.
The food delivery she had ordered earlier had mostly arrived, and the boxes filled with various meals occupied a corner of the space.
Originally, she had wanted to spend even more and buy more items, but thinking about the delivery people’s safety, she decided against it.
Cheng Qian returned at two in the morning.
In the course of one night, he not only ran through all the city’s 24-hour pharmacies, but also went to a nearby town, buying as much as he could to stock up on everything he wanted.
He not only bought medicine but also filled several extra oil barrels, cramming the entire car full, there was no more room for anything else.
Seeing all these supplies, the tension in Cheng Qian’s heart finally eased a little.
He quietly pushed the door open and stepped inside. The house wasn’t as dark as he had expected; it was silent everywhere.
On the contrary, the kitchen light was still on, and he could even smell the enticing aroma of steamed buns!
Cheng Qian walked over in a few quick steps and pulled the door open. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Ke Bei, standing by the stove making dumplings, covered her mouth and yawned lightly before answering, “I’m just pre-cooking these frozen ones so it’ll be convenient to eat on the road later.”
After explaining, she murmured a little complaint, “Why did you come back so late? We have to get up early tomorrow, you should’ve come back sooner to rest.”
Cheng Qian smiled without replying and leaned over from behind her to peek into the pot. “When will these be done? I’m hungry.”
As he got closer, Ke Bei noticed the strong smell of sweat, and then saw that his T-shirt was coated with a thin layer of dried salt from sweat.
It went without saying that this was the result of getting wet, drying, and wet again repeatedly.
He had showered before leaving, so seeing him like this proved just how much he had been running around these past few hours.
Catching the look in his wife’s eyes, Cheng Qian realized he must smell awful.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, he stepped back a couple of paces. “I’ll go take a shower first.”
Ke Bei took a freshly steamed [1]Xiaolongbao, often called “soup dumplings,” is a type of Chinese steamed bun that originated in Jiangnan (especially around Shanghai). It is made with a thin wheat wrapper filled with seasoned … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1771311_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1771311_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });xiaolongbao from the storage space and popped it into his mouth, then nodded. “Go wash up. By the time you’re done, the dumplings will be ready to eat.”
Cheng Qian paused for a moment, chewing it instinctively.
The savory, fresh flavor of the three-flavor xiaolongbao instantly stimulated his taste buds and seemed to sweep away all his fatigue.
He opened his mouth again without thinking, and Ke Bei, exasperated, fed him another one. Then she poked his chest lightly and urged, “Hurry and wash up. By the time you’re done, the dumplings will be perfect to eat.”
Cheng Qian finally agreed and turned to leave, quietly rubbing his chest as he did so, a small smile creeping onto his lips.
The shower was quick, about ten minutes, and Cheng Qian not only cleaned himself but also washed the clothes he had changed out of.
When he went to hang the freshly washed clothes to dry, he realized that aside from the room they were using, the rest of the house was basically empty again.
He couldn’t even find a clothes rack.
Standing on the balcony, Cheng Qian chuckled softly. Too lazy to look further, he draped the clean clothes over the railing and headed back into the kitchen.
Inside, he saw a plate of steaming hot dumplings already on the table, with a dish of vinegar and a dish of chili oil placed beside them.
Ke Bei, standing by the stove, was already cooking another pot.
“Stop cooking. You should rest too. Tomorrow won’t be a calm day, we need to conserve energy,” Cheng Qian said, sitting down at the table.
Ke Bei froze mid-motion with the skimmer in her hand and turned to look at him. “Did you notice something?”
Cheng Qian didn’t expect her to be so perceptive, especially since he hadn’t said anything.
He didn’t try to hide it either. “After this pot, don’t cook anymore. Try to get some sleep. We’ll set off early tomorrow, six o’clock. The earlier we leave, the better. If we go later, I’m worried the road conditions outside will be worse.”
Since they were heading to a neighboring city, Cheng Qian planned to take the highway.
Everything seemed normal on the way there, but on the way back, he noticed something was off.
The Japanese aralia plants along the green belts on both sides of the road seemed to have grown a lot taller, and many of their leaves were already stretching onto the pavement.
He even felt the road had become bumpy; the surface hardening seemed to have been damaged.
“I thought something was off with the greenery, but I couldn’t stop to take a closer look at the time. Anyway, we’ll leave early tomorrow and handle everything at the airport,” he said.
Ever since receiving the mission, Cheng Qian had to prioritize completing it above all else.
Even if something seemed wrong, he had to stick to the plan and reach Zhoujia Town Airport first; everything else could wait.
“Should I wake Xiao Tian so we can leave now?” Ke Bei’s expression turned serious.
“No need. Spending the night outdoors would be even less safe, and we also need proper rest,” Cheng Qian replied.
He washed the plates and bowls they had finished and handed them to Ke Bei to store back in the space. Then he took the skimmer from her hand. “I’ll cook this pot. You go get some sleep.”
Glancing at his watch, he added, “We can still sleep for three more hours.”
Ke Bei didn’t argue. She handed him the skimmer and turned to clean the kitchen completely.
In an instant, everything except the pot on the stove, the dining table and chairs behind her, was gone, neatly stored away.
Afterwards, she went to the bathroom and took another shower herself. Then she stored all the unused items back into the space. When she returned, the dumplings were already cooked.
She scooped the dumplings out and put them away, washed and stored the pot and ladle, and only after confirming that nothing had been left behind in the house did Ke Bei come out of the kitchen with Cheng Qian.
Because the two of them worked so efficiently together, the entire process took less than half an hour, leaving plenty of time for everyone to rest.
The house, after Ke Bei’s tidying, now only had a bed with two blankets.
Xiao Tian lay sprawled in the very center of the bed, sleeping soundly.
Cheng Qian didn’t fuss; he nudged his son toward the middle and lay down beside him with Ke Bei.
He had never slept in the same bed with a young woman before and had expected that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.
But perhaps because his nerves had been tense all day, or because he was exhausted from running errands, lying there and feeling the gentle breathing of his wife and son beside him, Cheng Qian quickly fell asleep.
They were awakened by a sudden, piercing scream.
The sound was sharp and agonized, interspersed with the crashing of heavy objects hitting the ground and the choking noises of someone being strangled.
Startled, Cheng Qian leapt out of bed and ran a few steps to the window.
It was still before five o’clock, and the sky hadn’t brightened yet, leaving everything outside shrouded in darkness.
But he could tell that the scream was coming from a window directly below their building.
As Cheng Qian pushed the window open and prepared to look out, he suddenly noticed something like a rope lunging straight at him!
Instinctively, he reached out to block it, but Ke Bei, right behind him, grabbed his back and yanked him back.
“Don’t use your hands! Be careful, it could be poisonous!”
Ke Bei said as she tossed him a kitchen knife, while in her own hands, somehow, she already held a long-handled watermelon knife.
Before he could react further, she had already rushed to the window and started hacking at whatever was outside.
Cheng Qian quickly grabbed a knife as well and followed her, swinging in tandem.
It wasn’t until this moment that he realized the outside of the window had somehow already been covered with vines.
The vines were covered in living tendrils, each tipped with a small, tender green sphere about the size of a fingertip.
As Ke Bei pushed open the window, the tendrils seemed to come alive, swarming toward her as if drawn to blood.
The little green spheres at the ends of the tendrils instantly expanded, turning into suction cups that lunged at her face and head, while the exposed arms of the vines tried to latch onto her.
Ke Bei moved with lightning speed, dodging to the side and swinging her knife at them.
Her long-handled watermelon knife blurred with the force of her swings.
Stems snapped as the vines were hacked into pieces, shredded in an instant.
But there were far too many vines. One cut would only sprout countless new ones from the broken ends.
No matter how fast the couple moved, in the blink of an eye, the entire window was nearly overrun.
Several tendrils, as thick as fingers, had already wrapped around Ke Bei’s arm and were twisting toward her neck.
A sharp edge flashed across Cheng Qian’s face as he swung at the wrist-thick vines that had crept onto the windowsill.
His short-handled knife wasn’t particularly sharp, but his strike carried immense force, and with one swing the vine was cleaved in two.
The tendrils that had been coiling around Ke Bei’s arm wilted instantly.
Cheng Qian tore the remaining ones away with a few strong pulls, then yanked Ke Bei behind him and slammed the window shut.
The windows in their house were double-layered tempered glass, and the vines clearly weren’t strong enough to break through.
Still, they clung stubbornly to the glass, growing rapidly, covering the window entirely in no time.
Some tendrils even tried desperately to squeeze through the window cracks, attempting to crawl inside.
But Cheng Qian didn’t have time to focus on them anymore.
“How are you? Are you hurt?” he asked, gripping his wife’s arm, tearing off any remaining tendrils wrapped around her, and leaning in to check her.
The room was dark, with no lights on, and even up close, it was difficult to see clearly.
Feeling the heat of her husband’s breath and sensing his tension, Ke Bei gently touched his hand, which was clutching hers, and reassured him, “It’s nothing, just a wall-climbing vine that’s recently mutated. It hasn’t fully grown yet, so it’s not a big deal.”
Her voice was calm, clearly treating it as nothing serious.
Cheng Qian didn’t speak; he firmly reversed her hand in his grip, not allowing her to pull away, and then turned to switch on the light.
When the light came on, Cheng Qian saw that Ke Bei’s arm was covered in red marks from the vines’ constriction. Each mark was about the thickness of a finger and already swollen.
In addition to the red marks, there were several bruises caused by the suction cups, dense subcutaneous bleeding spots, many of which had turned a deep purple.
Her entire arm looked red and purple, pitifully battered, and just looking at it made one imagine the pain.
But Ke Bei seemed completely unfazed. She pulled her arm free from Cheng Qian, grabbed a bottle of medicinal oil, casually rubbed it over her arm, and didn’t look at it again.
“The plants are mutating faster now. We need to leave immediately, if we wait too long, we might not even get out of the neighborhood. I’ll pack up here with Xiao Tian; you check if there’s anything we missed.”
She spoke while moving toward the bed.
Cheng Qian glanced at her arm again, his eyes darkening.
He said nothing further and turned to open the wardrobe.
Ke Bei didn’t see what he was doing; in the blink of an eye, he pulled out a long wooden box from the wardrobe she had emptied earlier. Opening it, she saw a sharp combat knife inside.
The knife looked old but well-maintained, its cold gleam still visible as it came out of the box.
Noticing her surprise, Cheng Qian explained calmly, “This is an heirloom left by my father.”
Then he handed the combat knife to her. “Take it. For self-defense.”
Author’s Note:
Seeing some of you asking about the blood drawn from Xiao Tian, don’t worry! At this point, it’s not the apocalypse yet, so the general public wouldn’t have that sensitivity. Besides, there aren’t many mutations, so people can’t sense the blood’s special properties. Relax.
References[+]