by Tai Baiyang
Yuan Rui knew that she shouldn't be defiant at a time like this. She nodded and found a clean area a distance away from the rock cave.
Zhang Mu rekindled those torches and put them in a circle as a fence. Seeing the corpses of the mutated monkeys all around, Zhang Mu thought that it would be a waste if he didn't make use of them. Little Black was picky while the Bloodvine Lotus ate anything. So Zhang Mu planned to collected monkeys' corpses to use as the Lotus' food and save some crystals.
Once he thought about this, Zhang Mu put all the corpses into his Merchant's Ring. Luckily, time doesn't pass in the ring or the corpses would become rancid fast.
After getting everything down, Zhang Mu threw Little Black that was sleeping on Yuan Rui's shoulder out and shouted, "Turn big and sleep. Wake me up if there is any danger. Understood?"
Having been woken up from its good dream, Little Black looked at Zhang Mu with anger, but when it found that Zhang Mu wasn't in a good mood, it tamely flew up and kept watch around their temporary camp.
Little Black knew that it would consume much of its energy to transform, but right now was not the time to save energy. It needed to be in its strongest state for the night watch.
Moreover, there was a strong smell of blood. Although the dead bodies of the mutated monkeys had been collected and put away by Zhang Mu, both zombies or mutated animals might come following the smell of blood.
Never take it lightly!
After having lost a lot of blood today and have his emotions go on a roller coaster ride, Zhang Mu was dead tired. He was afraid to fall asleep and not react quickly enough if something dangerous came close, so he ordered Little Black to keep watch with full attention.
Having given clear-cut orders, Zhang Mu took out two blankets and handed one to Yuan Rui. Then he put himself in the blanket and fell asleep.
Zhang Mu furrowed his brows and fell asleep. No one knew what he was concerned about. The future or the truth of the cataclysm? Only he knew.
With the light of the flickering fire, Yuan Rui stared at Zhang Mu’s unshaven face. All of a sudden, she felt sorry for him.
Yuan Rui was also very tired. She had never walked such a long distance not to mention that she was stricken with fear so many times. After wiping off the sweat on Zhang Mu's forehead with her sleeve, Yuan Rui laid beside Zhang Mu and fell asleep feeling safe.
Chapter 44: Forge ahead
Zhang Mu slept deeply and only woke up when he felt the warm sunshine. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Is it the fourth day already?" seeing the sun, Zhang Mu murmured.
"Uncle, Are you awake?"
Yuan Rui's voice came from behind him. Zhang Mu turned around and took the water and bread she handed him. It seemed that she had already eaten breakfast. He had certainly slept like a log.
Zhang Mu touched his left arm softly. Everything still felt so unbelievable, but the Bloodvine Lotus within his arm and the mental bond they shared showed that everything was real.
"Do I have an ability that only evolvers own now?" Zhang Mu laughed at himself for a while and stopped thinking about it. After all, external strength was also a strength. As long as it could be used by Zhang Mu, it was useful. It didn’t matter if it was a black cat or a white cat, any cat that could catch mice was a good cat.
"Eh? Where is Little Black? Yuan Rui, do you see Little Black? I asked it to keep watch at night. Is it being lazy again?"
Having not seen Little Black around or on Yuan Rui's shoulder, Zhang Mu got angry. He thought that it was time to punish Little Black as it hadn't kept what he said in mind. What would happen to them if something dangerous were to pass by?
"No, but you should look for yourself. I'm trying to ignore it." Yuan Rui pointed in a direction with a disgusted look.
Zhang Mu followed the direction of Yuan Rui's finger and found Little Black stuffing himself behind the stones.
Zhang Mu could feel its joy even from a distance.
When he saw clearly what Little Black was doing, he was speechless. As expected, even though its intelligence had improved, its hobby was still the same. Little Black was holding onto a mutated animal's head, sucking its brain matter happily.
"Why do you hide here to eat?"
Zhang Mu hugged himself and asked Little Black who was enjoying itself.
Actually, Little Black had known Zhang Mu’s coming, but it didn't respond. As for what it was doing, eating was the most important thing. However, since Zhang Mu asked, it should answer. Meanwhile, a sound echoed in Zhang Mu's mind.
"These are the mutated animals that were attracted by the smell of blood last night. I didn't wake you up and killed them by myself. I have eaten two last night. In the morning, I felt hungry and ate the last one. Yuan Rui saw and was repulsed by this. Since I can't upset her, I had to avoid her and came here. Do you think it is easy for me?"
Zhang Mu understood quickly. Little Black's table manners were disgusting and made Yuan Rui sick, so it ate here. Zhang Mu touched Little Black's back and said, "Thanks for your hard work, good job."
Little Black looked at Zhang Mu with disdain and continued eating, "Speak no more, use actions to thank me instead. How about you give me hundreds of crystals and let me have a sumptuous meal? I have eaten too much meat and got a little tired of it."
After hearing that, Zhang Mu quickly slapped Little Black's head and said, "Hundreds of crystals? A sumptuous meal? What a comfortable life! It seems that you have absorbed all the energy from the mutated King Kong as you are so confident."
Mentioning yesterday's King Kong, Zhang Mu began to take a closer look at Little Black's body and found something different indeed. Little Black's new claws were coated with granite and its carapace had lost its luster, becoming rough and durable. However, the lines on Little Black's forehead were still gold.
Zhang Mu let Little Black alone and asked Yuan Rui to help him pack up their stuff.
Zhang Mu sat down on the ground and began to plan a new route.
Since Zhang Mu had reached his goal, he must plan a new course. He carefully thought of the way from Longmen Grottoes to the Xi'an city, forming a path in his mind quickly.
As Zhang Mu had gained Bloodvine Lotus, Little Black's power had reached the top among all first rank mutated animals and all the creatures had been weakened, their safety was basically guaranteed no matter how many zombies and mutated animals they met. In that case, Zhang Mu decided to go in a straight line because the sooner he arrived, the sooner the transaction would take place and the more profit he would gain.
As this idea took root, Zhang Mu shouted towards Little Black, "Stop eating, let's go."
Little Black was almost stuffed, so it threw away the skull in its claws without hesitation and flew towards Yuan Rui, lying beside her tamely.
Little Black had cleverly wiped its mouth on the grass so that Yuan Rui would allow it near her. But Yuan Rui still warned it in a low voice, "If you eat like that again, I'll never play with you again, even when you become small!"
Little Black nodded, but nobody knew whether it kept her words in mind or not.
On the way to Xi'an City, Zhang Mu kept trying out the Bloodvine Lotus' power. In the beginning, Yuan Rui was not willing to stay close to Little Black, but when they were surrounded by hundreds of zombies, she quickly hid behind it and only dared to catch glimpses of the fight.
The Bloodvine Lotus suddenly covered Zhang Mu’s whole left arm and extended upwards, using ten separate vines to protect him. Zhang Mu easily broke through the siege and all the zombies were sucked dry by the Bloodvine Lotus.
Though the zombie's mobility wouldn't go down even after losing all their blood, they were all split in half when Bloodvine Lotus swept at them. Even worse, some zombies were broken into pieces.
The most important thing was that Bloodvine Lotus seemed to never get tired. The more blood it sucked, the higher spirit it was in. As the Bloodvine Lotus became more proactive, Zhang Mu got through the crowd as easily as if he was walking in his
own backyard. Hundreds of zombies were wiped out in an instant.
When the survivors saw Zhang Mu's strong power, some were too afraid of getting close to him while others begged him to take them along. But no matter how Yuan Rui pleaded with Zhang Mu on their behalf, Zhang Mu refused all of them. When someone continued pestering them, the Bloodvine Lotus was called out and these words were thrown out coldly, "If you want to become its food, you can stay."
After that, Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui left, leaving behind the terrified man.
Zhang Mu was no savior and he had no time to spend on these common people. To him, time was money and life and he didn't dare to waste it.
On the tenth day of their journey, Yuan Rui was so tired that she fell asleep on Little Black's back while Zhang Mu looked at the words “Xi'an City” on the gate tower. He took a deep breath with a smile on his tired face.
"Ten days. Finally, I've arrived at Xi'an."
Chapter 45: The Local Forces
Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui looked around while walking on a desolate street. The dilapidated signs scattered around showed that this was once a flourishing city.
"In my memory, Huimin Street was very lively. Why is it so deserted now?" Yuan Rui looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight, only various bloodstains here and there.
Zhang Mu smiled coldly, "This prosperous place is so empty, even the zombies aren't seen. Only silly girls like you don't know why."
Yuan Rui seemed to understand something and exclaimed, "You mean!?"
Zhang Mu pulled her behind himself and whispered, "That's right, all the zombies have been cleaned up and there are two possibilities. One, all the zombies have been eaten by mutated animals," Zhang Mu stopped in the middle of his sentence and flashed his iconic smile as lights flickered in his eyes, "Or a powerful evolver has appeared, dominating this place and wiping out all the first-ranked zombies at once."
Yuan Rui was very confused. She looked around uncomprehendingly and asked in a low voice, "Is there really such an evolver here? Is he as powerful as you?"
"It's hard to say who is more powerful, but there's no doubt that, with all the bloodstains here, the second reason being the truth is highly likely."
Zhang Mu looked towards the corner of the street and said slowly, "Who would've known that only ten days in, and there is already an evolver who can wipe out the crowd of zombies in Xi'an City."
Zhang Mu had never heard of this in his past life. Either the evolver hid deeply, either he was quickly overtaken.
"Where is the evolver who killed all the zombies?"
Yuan Rui was about to continue when Zhang Mu waved his hand and interrupted her. Zhang Mu looked towards the street corner with a serious look and said, "It seems that we don't need to look for them. They are coming."
When Yui Rui followed Zhang Mu's gaze, she heard the sound of trampling coming towards her from the distance.
All of a sudden, a group of people rushed out from the corner in a threatening manner with all kinds of weapons on hand. There were hammers, choppers, baseball bats, and even a door plank.
Although they all looked quite roughed up, none of them bored an emancipated look. The person who wiped out the zombies seemed to be a good leader.
Yuan Rui stepped backward, but Zhang Mu grasped her arm and stood in front of her. Zhang Mu said calmly, "Don't worried! See how I take care of them."
Soon, Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui were surrounded by dozens of people. However, Zhang Mu showed an indifferent look as he waited for their leader to show up.
Trying to scare me?
You guys are not up to par!
Seeing Zhang Mu so calm, whispers sounded from within the crowd. The survivors they had confronted before had all been frightened into silence and had joined them tamely, but they didn’t see any fear in Zhang Mu’s eyes.
Suddenly, the mass separated in two. A tall, big man with curly brown hair walked up. He was taller than Zhang Mu and had a voice that boomed like the clap of thunder.
"You are not a survivor of Xi'an? Where are you from? What are you doing here?"
He asked three questions, each louder than the previous, making people’s ears tingle. Even his subordinates couldn't stand it while Zhang Mu only stared at the man and said calmly, "I came from a nearby town and just wanted to rest in the city for a while."
Seeing Zhang Mu’s poised appearance, the man couldn't tell if Zhang Mu was lying. In terms of accent, Zhang Mu wasn't a local. It was possible that he came from a different town.
The man thought that Zhang Mu was from a nearby town, but in fact, the so-called “small town” was Luoyang City. Zhang Mu had to lie because if others knew that it only took him 10 days to cross 500 kilometers and reach Xi'an City, people would either not believe him or regard him as a monster.
Zhang Mu tried to avoid clashing with the local forces, so he told a white lie.
Thinking for a while, the man shouted, "Friend, you should know what had happened to the world. You said you're from a small town? Then you must have been lucky to not have met any powerful monsters on the way. It's better to join us. As survivors, we can look after each other. What do you think?"
The man couldn't see through Zhang Mu, but he understood that the people who faced danger fearlessly must have either extraordinary courage or absolute confidence. After all, he didn't think that Zhang Mu could defeat them, moreover, he was confident in the power he had just obtained.
Zhang Mu looked up at him and laughed, "No, thanks. I won’t be staying long here, so I won't join your team."
The leader only frowned, but the people behind him were offended. A man pointed his weapon at Zhang Mu's nose, "It's your luck that our leader, Brother Lin, is willing to accept you. You know nothing because you haven't encountered danger yet. Do you know-"
“Brother Lin” waved his hand and stopped the man. He stared at Zhang Mu's indifferent face carefully and said with a low voice, "My friend, I won't force you to join us against your will, but Huimin Street is under my control, you can't take anything from here. After all, we are the people who have cleaned the danger in this area and we need the resources here to survive."
The people around him tried to say something, but Lin Shui stopped them and pushed them to one side, giving way to Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui.
“Thanks.” Zhang Mu said to Lin Shui. He still looked cold and distant as they walked out from their encirclement.
The man who questioned Zhang Mu before asked Lin Shui unhappily, "Brother Lin, why were you so polite to him? He was just pretending to be calm! If you scare him with your ability, you can shock him easily."
Lin Shui answered with a loud, but grave voice, "He brings me the same sense of danger as ‘that man’."
Hearing what Lin Shui said, the crowd suddenly gasped, "Brother Lin, you mean ‘that man’?"
Lin Shui nodded lightly and the crowd was scared into silence. They did not even dare to say that man's name and just whispered with fear in their eyes.
Chapter 46: Start a Deal
At noon, after eating lunch with Yuan Rui, Zhang Mu walked towards the direction pointed by his Merchant's Ring. The branch of the Era store in Xi'an City was right here.
It had been enveloped by a light column during the debugging period, but after the three days were over, the Era store was hard to be seen by ordinary people. In that case, it was very likely that it wouldn't be found by anyone for a long time.
However, it wouldn’t actually happen because the Era store would attract people at random. Those people had the advantage since they had good luck.
To be a merchant, except for having excellent abilities and a talent for scheming, luck was the most indispensable factor.
In this case, in Zhang Mu’s past life, almost all the sub-merchants were evolvers whose ability had awakened early and had found the Era store by themselves. In his past life, as an ordinary person who had been drawn in by the Era store, he only became the fifth sub-merchant due to pure luck.
The Era sub-
merchants in the Luoyang City were all fabulously rich, Even Zhang Mu, as an ordinary merchant, had reached a level that was admired by most. Luoyang City was surely a land of treasures from where many great talents sprung up.
As Lin Shui showed great respect to him, Zhang Mu kept his words and didn't take anything from Huimin Street. On the one hand, Zhang Mu looked down the goods here and on the other hand, he didn't want trouble. After all, these resources were not important to Zhang Mu, but they were treasured food that Lin Shui and his fellows depended on for survival.
Lin Shui had great power and means, but he was a kind guy. Too kind to survive in this treacherous world.
In his past life, there were many kind people like Lin Shui once, but they gradually disappeared as they all died.
That was the reason why Zhang Mu didn't remember Lin Shui. It was normal for a person like Lin Shui to drowned in the dust of history.
“The good die young while evil lives forever.” This old saying made sense.
Zhang Mu thought for a while. As the trading prices would stay the same before midnight, he could go strike a deal in the last half an hour. That was to say, he had ten hours to collect more crystals in Xi’an City. If he was lucky, he may be able to hunt down some mutated animals.
Thinking of this, Zhang Mu didn't want to waste any more time, not even a second. He pulled up Yuan Rui sitting on the ground, threw out Little Black from his shoulder and said excitedly, “Lead the way. Go to places where we can find a large number of zombies. I'll give you a reward.”
Little Black turned around in the air and asked Zhang Mu in its mind with a sleepy look, “What’s the reward? I feel that nothing can inspire me now.”
“Really? If I tell you that it that can help you reach the second rank, will you feel more motivated?”