This was likely why Lu Ning’s punch had landed solidly, yet the creature remained largely unaffected and was still able to move freely.
Just moments ago, Lu Ning had felt an exceptionally hard texture against her knuckles. Only now did she notice that the mutant’s long hair wrapped almost entirely around its body, leaving only a small gap in the front.
If she could find an opening to strike there, one punch would be enough.
However, the mutant was remarkably clever. Knowing its weakness lay in that exposed area, it kept its back arched in a defensive posture. Combined with its agility, neither Lu Ning nor Xie Yi managed to land another hit on it.
Whether it was driven by some lingering obsession or simply perceived the other two people in the room as weaker, the creature lunged toward the stairs every chance it got.
Big Black tried to intercept it once, but biting down yielded no reaction; instead, the dog nearly chipped its fangs.
Ye Mian directed Big Black to guard the entrance to prevent the mutant from escaping. Then, she decisively discarded her chipped and cracked wood-chopping knife, pulling out a different object and swinging it at the mutant as it lunged again.
With a sharp crack, the mutant seemed to freeze mid-air as if its movements had glitched. It fell flat on its back. Not wasting a second, Lu Ning seized the opportunity and slammed a punch into its chest.
Upon hearing a squelching sound, Chen Jia didn’t need to look to know what had happened. Even though she knew it was no longer her sister, she still bit her lip and looked away, unable to bear the sight.
“Huh?” Ye Mian stared at the black fishing rod in her hand with surprise, only after confirming that the mutant had completely lost its ability to move.
She had figured the fishing rod would be much sturdier than the knife and pulled it out as a temporary shield; she hadn’t expected it to be so effective.
Lu Ning also looked at the rod thoughtfully before dragging the mutant’s corpse outside.
Xie Yi followed behind her. “Leave it to me. We’ll burn them all together later.”
The group of people who had arrived with him hadn’t all left; a few had remained on guard in the distance. Seeing the situation resolved, they ran over. Lu Ning handed the body over to them and turned back into the house.
The mutant was dealt with, and since people were gathered in this village, it wasn’t a good idea to scavenge for tools here. There was only one thing left to do.
Glancing at Chen Jia, who was finally showing some emotional reaction on the stairs, Lu Ning walked toward Ye Mian. “It’s getting late. We should head to the mountain.”
The distant peaks looked close, but it would take some time to drive there, and searching for the so-called treasure would also be time-consuming.
“Yeah,” Ye Mian said, storing the fishing rod back into the system warehouse. She turned to Chen Jia. “Does your house have a wood-chopping knife?”
Chen Jia froze for a moment before nodding. “Yes, in the kitchen.” She pointed toward the back.
Ye Mian entered the kitchen and found a well-used, frequently sharpened machete next to a primitive earth stove. After giving it a few test swings, she took it for herself, quite satisfied.
“Ready to go?”
Chen Jia looked at Ye Mian emerging from the kitchen and then at Lu Ning, who was wiping her hands. Just as she hesitated to speak, Ye Mian let out a small “Ah.”
“It seems we’re out of room… do we need to find another car?”
“She’s young,” Lu Ning noted. “She probably doesn’t have a driver’s license yet.”
“Then…” Ye Mian shifted her gaze to Big Black at the door, but Chen Jia spoke up urgently.
“Um, I can squeeze into the trunk!”
“…”
“…”
Ye Mian rubbed her forehead and chuckled softly. “That won’t be necessary. Big Black can run alongside the car. It’s just that you won’t have a proper seat.”
She had originally removed the back seats to make room for Big Black because she feared encountering large groups of mutants near the town. Now that she knew the area was clear and they were heading into the mountains, she wasn’t as worried.
Chen Jia rubbed her hands awkwardly. “Oh… that’s fine.”
Since they had agreed to take her with them, Ye Mian placed some of the food she had taken out earlier onto the table. She then pulled a bottle of corn juice, which she had obtained from a blind box, and handed it to Chen Jia.
“We’re in a hurry. Drink this to tide you over, and you can eat something else on the road.”
Watching Ye Mian pull item after item out of thin air left Chen Jia dazed. Seeing Lu Ning heading out, she quickly took the bottle. “Thank you.”
Once settled in the car, Ye Mian remembered the treasure map and showed it to Chen Jia.
“By the way, can you help us with the directions?”
Chen Jia had just taken a sip of the corn juice and hadn’t yet felt its miraculous effects. She looked at the map blankly for a moment before recognizing the area. She quickly realized that the two were heading for the spot marked with a star.
She nodded. “I think so. I used to go up the mountain often to pick herbs and wild fruit when I was a kid.”
They really had picked up a treasure.
Ye Mian and Lu Ning exchanged a look and smiled. “Let’s head out.”
As Chen Jia leaned against the back of the passenger seat, watching her familiar home fade into the distance, she heard Ye Mian’s voice.
“Do you want to say goodbye to them?”
“…No need.”
Xie Yi and his men had just finished moving the corpse when they heard the engine start. By the time they ran over, they could only see the car’s taillights.
“They’re leaving already?”
“What were they even here for…?”
The men behind Xie Yi looked at each other, confused.
Xie Yi didn’t say anything. He pushed open the slightly ajar door to Chen Jia’s house. The interior was still a mess from the fight, but his eyes landed on some items placed on a table in the corner.
He paused when he saw the corn and sweet potatoes, which appeared to be freshly harvested.
Someone went upstairs to check and sounded surprised upon returning. “Chen Jia is gone too.”
“That kid… we tried so hard to convince her to come out, and yet she runs off with people she just met?”
“Yi…”
Seeing that Xie Yi wasn’t responding, the others gathered around and saw the food on the table.
Most of them were from farming backgrounds and had grown corn and sweet potatoes themselves. They could tell at a glance that these weren’t long-stored stockpiles; they had a freshness as if they were still covered in morning dew.
The group stood stunned for a long time, the same question echoing in their minds.
Not only did those two travel with a mutated beast, but they could also casually produce fresh crops. Who were they? Were they really just ordinary Evolvers like themselves?
“Take them back,” Xie Yi said, suppressing his curiosity. “This should be the compensation they left behind.”
Compensation?
The others were startled again, realizing the food was meant as an apology for their forced entry earlier.
Surprisingly, they were quite polite.
On the other side, Ye Mian’s group—and Big Black running alongside—had successfully reached the mountain road.
Perhaps because the area became more desolate the deeper they went, low-level mutated beasts continued to avoid Big Black, making the journey very peaceful.
However, once they officially entered the forest, the roadside foliage became unnaturally lush. Ye Mian began to feel a sense of being watched, as if something was waiting for an opportunity but remained wary.
Under these circumstances, driving too fast would make them prone to collisions.
Ye Mian signaled for Lu Ning to slow down and then gestured to Big Black, who was keeping up effortlessly, to stay close to the car.
After winding up the mountain for a while, they reached a fork in the road at the midway point. One path led up, the other down.
“This is…” Chen Jia leaned out the window to look around. “The road to the upper right leads to the logging camp. I’ve never been to the one on the lower left; it must be a new road built in the last two years.”
Ye Mian looked at the two paths. “What does the logging camp do?”
“Uh, they’re responsible for cutting and planting trees and collecting timber.”
Thinking of the lumber packs in her system warehouse, Ye Mian gestured toward the upper right path. “Let’s check that out first.”
But the logging camp wasn’t filled with timber as Ye Mian had imagined. It had been cleared out long ago, and after being raided by mutated beasts, it was a chaotic mess. There was no way a treasure could be hidden there.
However, remembering that Xue Kai had mentioned the farm lacked saws, Ye Mian picked up a few woodworking tools, including some handsaws.
Beyond that point, there were no intact roads suitable for a car. Faced with the choice of exploring further on foot or checking the lower left path, Ye Mian decisively chose the latter.
To their surprise, the lower left path turned out to be a private road leading directly to a three-story country villa.
In the clearing in front of the villa sat a white off-road vehicle. It was unexpectedly well-preserved, though covered in dead branches and leaves, suggesting it hadn’t been driven in a while.
Lu Ning had been thinking about switching cars while they were on the road, and now a perfect replacement had dropped from the sky.
It was a pickup truck with a flatbed cargo area. The side panels weren’t high, making it a comfortable place for Big Black to lie down, while also allowing him to jump out instantly in an emergency.
She instinctively walked over to check it and was delighted to find the doors unlocked, the keys still in the ignition, and the tank full.
“This car works.”
Not only that, the three-story villa seemed to have escaped the worst of the chaos. Although the door was slightly ajar, there were no signs of a forced entry from the outside. Instead, there were dents on the inside of the door—handprints that didn’t look human.
It looked as though a mutant had been trapped inside and had forced its way out.
Big Black, who was calmly sniffing around, confirmed that there were no Evolvers or mutants inside or outside the villa.
Having already searched two villages on their way here, Ye Mian and Lu Ning pushed the door open without hesitation.
Chen Jia, who had been isolated at home for days, still held onto some pre-mutation moral values. She hesitated for a moment before following them in.
The hall was empty, save for a few simple pieces of furniture. The three of them headed straight for the closed rooms inside. To their surprise, the very first door they opened yielded a discovery.