The group hit the road noisily and walked without stopping until noon.
When it was finally time for a break, Lu Shiyu felt like her legs were trembling uncontrollably.
She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt as though her backpack had grown heavier, making the walk increasingly difficult.
“Phew, I’m exhausted.”
Lu Shiyu put down her backpack and began rummaging through it for water.
Several of them found a tree and sat down to rest in the shade. An occasional breeze drifted by, easing some of their fatigue.
Shao Xingyang suddenly said he had to go to the bathroom and would be right back; after speaking, he ran behind a nearby thicket.
Tang Zeyu took out a map to reconfirm the route. Curiously, Lu Shiyu leaned in, getting close enough to Tang Zeyu’s cheek to clearly see the map in his hand.
The map only roughly depicted the terrain, landmarks, rivers, and lakes. Overall, it was not very detailed and contained many strange markings. Lu Shiyu felt completely confused looking at it; this was likely an internal map for the exploration team.
“See anything?” Tang Zeyu asked.
“Um, there’s a river here!”
Tang Zeyu was silent for two seconds. “That’s a canyon.”
Lu Shiyu scratched her head sheepishly. “I guessed wrong. But why do you use this kind of map? I remember there are navigation devices, right? The base wouldn’t be so stingy as to withhold those, would they?”
“The base does have them, but they aren’t very useful to us.” Tang Zeyu pointed to the canyon. “Starting from here, signal reception becomes difficult. It might be intermittent or error-prone. The interference is too strong, so we just don’t use them.”
“As for this area, the exploration team has searched it thoroughly many times. It’s too familiar; we don’t need a navigator.”
Tang Zeyu straightened the map. “Maps only serve as a general guide for direction. For the specifics, we have to take it one step at a time.”
Lu Shiyu recalled something and asked, “But I’ve seen very detailed maps before.”
“Those are for the areas around the base. Further away, this is the only level of precision available.” Tang Zeyu carefully put away the map. “Besides, those maps were recorded bit by bit by explorers. Familiarizing ourselves with and recording terrain is one of the exploration team’s tasks, though the Flying Eagle squad doesn’t participate in such low-difficulty, high-consumption missions.”
“I see,” Lu Shiyu nodded.
Lu Shiyu thought she heard the sound of something heavy falling, followed by a scream that pierced through the bushes. The members of the Flying Eagle squad immediately went on alert. They saw Shao Xingyang running out in a panic, gripping his pants tightly with both hands.
“Help!”
Seeing it was Shao Xingyang, they were all slightly stunned. They realized something seemed to be chasing him out of the bushes and looked behind him.
A creature resembling a rabbit hopped out from the thicket. Unlike a normal rabbit, however, its size was abnormal—it was as large as a medium-sized dog. Secondly, it had a long horn on its head. Upon closer inspection, its teeth were also long and sharp. It ran on all fours after Shao Xingyang, its four long legs clearly visible.
Yan Hong, who was about to draw her blade, put it back. Watching Shao Xingyang being chased, her eyes twitched.
“Seriously, being afraid of bugs is one thing—I’ll count that as excusable—but how can he even be afraid of a rabbit?”
Chen Yunliang pushed up his glasses. “No, I remember he’s dealt with rabbits before. He didn’t seem afraid of them then.”
Seeing the others unmoved, Shao Xingyang was almost in tears. “What are you standing there for! Save me!”
Tang Zeyu drew his long blade, but his eyes clearly revealed his disbelief. He said, “Shao Xingyang, you’re actually afraid of rabbits?”
Shao Xingyang finally snapped, shouting, “I’m not afraid of any damn rabbit! There’s something wrong with this one! If it gores me once, I’m dead meat right here!”
Lu Shiyu looked at the rabbit’s eyes. Influenced by Shao Xingyang’s words or not, she felt the rabbit’s gaze truly held killing intent.
Since Shao Xingyang had said so, the others immediately stepped forward to save him. But the rabbit was extremely agile, managing to dodge most attacks; the few that landed only left minor scratches. Only after actually engaging did the others realize how troublesome this rabbit was.
Tang Zeyu didn’t want to delay and prepared to decapitate the rabbit with one blow. But just as his blade was about to hit its neck, the rabbit suddenly turned its head. The blade collided with the sharp horn on its head. To everyone’s surprise, the horn wasn’t severed; it only left a notch. The rabbit shook its head, seemingly numbed by the impact.
“It’s actually this hard.”
Yan Hong grit her teeth. No wonder Shao Xingyang was so terrified. Even Tang Zeyu couldn’t cut through it in one blow, let alone Shao Xingyang. Wait, didn’t Shao Xingyang bring a weapon?
Yan Hong looked back at Shao Xingyang, who had finally managed to escape the chase. He was busy pulling up his pants, leaving no hand free to use a weapon to fight back.
Yan Hong: “…”
After Tang Zeyu’s strike, the rabbit’s target shifted from Shao Xingyang to Tang Zeyu. Man and rabbit faced off. The rabbit kicked the dirt and growled, ready to attack at any moment. Tang Zeyu watched every slight movement, predicting its next move.
Finally, the rabbit lost its patience and charged at extreme speed. Tang Zeyu didn’t choose a direct defense; he ran to the side as it lunged. The leaping rabbit missed, turned, and attacked Tang Zeyu again.
The rabbit followed closely, running in circles. The two targets were so entangled that the others found it hard to intervene.
Tang Zeyu planned to play a game of endurance. Humans can recover stamina while moving, but rabbits cannot. After a while, the rabbit would tire itself out.
Sure enough, the rabbit’s speed began to slow. But then it suddenly stopped. Tang Zeyu didn’t think it had run out of energy.
The next second, the rabbit turned its head toward Lu Shiyu, who was resting under the tree.
“Oh no!”
The rabbit abandoned the hard-to-catch prey and targeted the weakest person. It burst out with its last bit of strength and charged at her.
Just as Lu Shiyu realized and tried to run, the rabbit was already upon her. Just as she thought she couldn’t escape, she felt someone grab her collar. She was hoisted into the air, and a loud crash echoed beside her. Opening her eyes, Lu Shiyu saw that the person who had saved her was Yan Hong. The rabbit, unable to stop, had crashed head-first into the tree. Half its horn was embedded in the trunk, and it lay motionless.
Lu Shiyu patted her chest with lingering fear.
“That scared me to death. I thought I was a goner.”
Yan Hong let go, and Lu Shiyu plopped onto the ground, clutching her sore bottom.
“Are you okay?” Tang Zeyu walked over quickly, his voice full of concern.
“I’m fine. Luckily Yan Hong was fast, or else…” Lu Shiyu looked at the rabbit with its horn still stuck in the tree. “I probably would have been impaled.”
Just as they thought it was over, the tree the rabbit hit suddenly made a strange sound. Cracks spread from where the rabbit hit, and then, due to the uneven center of gravity, it snapped and fell, leaving a jagged stump.
“I take back what I said,” Lu Shiyu swallowed hard. “That would’ve been more than just being impaled.”
Tang Zeyu stepped forward, grabbed the rabbit by the scruff, and lifted it. Even while unconscious, the rabbit’s legs were kicking reflexively.
Shao Xingyang leaned in, amazed. “It’s still not dead? This rabbit’s head is way too hard.”
Tang Zeyu held the rabbit in front of Lu Shiyu and asked, “Can you cook rabbit meat? How about we eat this tonight?”
Lu Shiyu squeezed the rabbit; it was rock hard.
“I can, but I’m afraid it’ll be tough. How about braising it?”
“Braised rabbit! Great!” Shao Xingyang perked up at the mention of food.
“Should we process it now or wait until dinner?”
“Drain the blood first, then deal with it tonight.”
Lu Shiyu had Tang Zeyu hold it down to prevent it from struggling if it woke up. She found a clear spot and sliced its neck with a kitchen knife to drain the blood. Once finished, she gave it a quick rinse, leaving the rest for later.
“I’ll carry it.”
Shao Xingyang took the task of carrying the meat. Lu Shiyu didn’t object. She handed him the rabbit and prepared to put her knife back in her bag.
Suddenly, Lu Shiyu felt something move inside her backpack. She opened the bag and lifted a pot at the bottom. Inside, a tiny, just-awakened baby rabbit was lying comfortably. Seeing Lu Shiyu, it showed no fear and even began washing its face with its paws.
Lu Shiyu looked at the tiny horn on the tiny rabbit’s head and froze.
Chen Yunliang, seeing her lack of movement, asked what was wrong.
“I think I know why that rabbit was chasing us…”
Lu Shiyu smiled awkwardly. Under everyone’s gaze, she pulled out the tiny rabbit. It sat steadily on her hand, looking around with its black-bean-like eyes.
Shao Xingyang’s harvest-like smile vanished. He silently hid the adult rabbit behind his back.
Yan Hong poked the soft bunny. It just made two soft squeaks.
“Awoo, awoo.”
Yan Hong saw rice grains stuck to its belly and paws. Her expression became complicated.
“Could it be that this little guy stole the cookies last night and hid in your bag? And then its mom realized it was missing today and tracked us all the way here?”
“I think that’s very likely.”
Shao Xingyang was silent. Shao Xingyang was broken.
“Damn it! Then why chase me?! I’m the one wrongly accused of stealing food, and I’m the one being chased!”
He had just finished shouting when Chen Yunliang slapped him on the back of the head.
“Stop yelling. If you attract more mutated creatures, I’ll throw you out to distract them.”
Ultimately, they had to release the baby rabbit where they were. They couldn’t turn back, and they couldn’t eat it like the mother. It had to fend for itself. If it was eaten before it could protect itself, that was just bad luck. The death rate for motherless young was high.
The bunny rolled happily in the grass, unaware of its fate. Lu Shiyu felt a pang of guilt.
“Don’t look,” Tang Zeyu turned away. “In the old days of irregular explorers, it would be sold as a pet. When it grew up and became aggressive, it would be ‘neutralized.’ Maybe it will survive better in the wild.”
“Captain Tang, do you think it’s pitiful?”
“In this mutated apocalypse, everyone is pitiful.”