Chapter 391: Chapter 391
They were partly jealous that Jing Shu could eat so well under all circumstances, and partly unconvinced because they felt she always seemed a bit arrogant. Jing Shu strode towards Monkey and said faintly, "I really am quite something. In these mountains thrust into the apocalypse, I truly have the greatest say because I possess far more survival experience than any of you. I can see dangers you’re blind to, understand the habits and weaknesses of unknown creatures you have no clue about, and even possess methods of killing enemies that you lack, not to mention a rich store of food. If we were to get lost in these mountains for weeks without food or supplies, facing various life-threatening dangers, I would be the only one to walk out unscathed. You, however... would not make it out."
"Don’t be unconvinced. If you don’t believe it, then go ahead and walk forward yourself." Jing Shu departed from her usual low profile. She didn’t want to rescue that silly person one moment and then have to vote on which path to take the next. Since she excelled in this area, she didn’t want to waste any more time. She had already given sincere advice twice. Since that was the case, she would decide the course of action from now on!
Jing Shu wasn’t a dominant person, but after her rebirth, an uncontrollable irritability and a desire to control everything always simmered in her blood.
Monkey hesitated. Tan Ke scratched his head and stepped forward, saying, "Actually, I’m just the temporary leader. If Mirror is right and truly has more experience in this situation, then I’ll listen to her from now on."
Tan Ke wasn’t suited to be a leader; he lacked decisiveness and authority.
In the dim light, Monkey saw Jing Shu’s mocking, not-quite-a-smile expression. He gritted his teeth and walked on with Little Black. He crouched, using small stones to probe the path ahead. He and Ah Huang advanced in a Z-pattern, carefully moving along the mountainside to avoid the central gap and potential danger.
The flashlight beam revealed a flat gap between the two mountains, seemingly with nothing to worry about. Monkey had walked several tens of meters when, just as everyone thought it was safe, the flat gap suddenly began to collapse piece by piece. It turned into a quagmire of Black Water, with about a hundred pools spreading across the entire gap and even halfway up the mountainside! It looked like the spots on a Dalmatian! These were black creatures that could camouflage themselves and moved slowly!
Monkey accidentally stepped into a pool of Black Water and let out a horrifying scream. Almost half of his foot was engulfed, and he couldn’t pull it out no matter how hard he tried. He drew his weapon and hacked fiercely at the pool of Black Water. However, it was like striking soft candy; he couldn’t tear his weapon free despite several attempts. Instead, it became more tightly ensnared, on the verge of being swallowed completely! Monkey looked as if he were about to be submerged in a swamp.
"Something’s eating my foot! AHH!!"
The surrounding ’Black Water’ creatures seemed to have smelled the blood and began ’crawling’ towards Monkey. The space around Monkey shrank as the scattered spots slowly merged into a large, dense black mass. Monkey was gradually being surrounded by the moving pools of Black Water!
Tan Ke was about to rush forward in a panic, but Jing Shu pulled him back. "That’s useless."
"Then what do we do? Do you have any ideas?"
Jing Shu took out a bag of salt and tossed it over. "50 Contribution Points. Sprinkle this on them. It’ll work, but only for a dozen or so seconds."
"Okay." Tan Ke ran, scattering salt as he went. The ’Black Water’ creatures it touched convulsed and stiffened in place.
Tan Ke poured the remaining salt onto the Black Water engulfing Monkey’s feet, causing it to immediately shrink. He pulled hard to free Monkey and his weapon. Only then did he see that a large part of Monkey’s lower leg was a bloody mess, bitten down to the bone! The leg was covered in wounds the size of fingernails, as if thousands of crabs had viciously torn off small pieces of flesh, leaving it pitted and gruesome. Blood flowed freely, attracting other ’Black Water’ creatures. Half of Monkey’s weapon had been bitten off, illustrating just how formidable these creatures were. Even the stones in the area were pitted and sunken; these creatures didn’t even spare rocks.
Before long, even the Black Water that had been doused with salt regained its vitality and began to slowly move towards the blood. Salt was only a temporary paralytic for them. It was unrealistic to think they could cross a gap at least a kilometer wide using salt alone. Besides, salt was too precious to be used so casually.
Later, people identified these Black Water creatures as an evolved hybrid of slime mold and the Zombie virus. They had no value and were extremely troublesome. It was best to avoid them. They liked to grow in crevices, enjoyed burrowing, and were adept at camouflage.
Monkey, who had been pulled up, was pale and his lips trembled. Jing Shu first sprayed alcohol on the wound, then applied hemostatic medicine and a bandage. She said indifferently, "One dressing change per day, 100 Contribution Points each time. Plus 50 Contribution Points for the salt just now."
Ah Huang whined and wagged its tail beside them. Monkey, eyes closed against the immense pain, said nothing more. Not only did his flesh throb with pain, but his heart ached too.
"Let’s climb the mountain. Of course, if anyone wants to try going through the gap, that’s fine too," Jing Shu said, picking up three large bags of luggage and starting to climb.
"This is getting more and more interesting," Snake Spirit said to Little Tai Ban, then followed.
The teammates exchanged glances and unanimously chose to detour over the mountain. They didn’t want to end up like Monkey and have to spend an extra 100 Contribution Points each day.
Tan Ke gave some of his weapons to Snake Spirit and helped the injured Monkey. Their pace was undoubtedly much slower.
After climbing over the mountain, they thought they would reach the exit. To their surprise, a series of undulating mountains still lay ahead. They encountered more gaps between mountains, all infested with the same Black Water-like creatures. Bullets fired into them merely caused a splash before disappearing. If a knife was stabbed in, it would get stuck and become impossible to pull out. When undisturbed and illuminated, their color matched that of the mountain rock.
"Damn it! How can there be so many strange creatures? Where do they all come from?"
The darkness had accelerated the evolution of species by thousands of times. It had been three years since the apocalypse. Many creatures had to adapt to the new environment to survive, a clear demonstration of survival of the fittest.
"Boss, shouldn’t we find a place to sleep?" Little Black had already accepted Jing Shu as his boss. He was exhausted and now regretted not siding with her earlier. These mountains really are a trap.
"This isn’t a good place to sleep. We need to find a specific location; it’s the only safe place in these mountains." Jing Shu had been searching for it since they entered the mountains but hadn’t found it yet. She kept sending out her Bees to scout, but unfortunately, they were always eaten by some unknown creatures. Helpless, she could only send out cannibal insects to scout. On the ground, these insects had yet to meet their match, though they were much slower than the Bees. Little Black didn’t know what special place they were searching for and didn’t dare to ask. Fınd the newest release on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱