Chapter 67: Friends?
The people inside the vehicle were already half full when they turned around and saw someone standing behind Li Qiong, who was traveling with them.
“Hey, who are you?” The woman, with a hard piece of bread stuffed in her mouth, thudded down from the vehicle.
Li Qiong desperately tried to signal her, but she didn’t notice. She raised her hand and grabbed Li Qiong’s arm, pulling him over. The vine that had latched onto the back of Li Qiong’s neck was instantly yanked along, suspended in midair.
The woman stared at the scene, her scream stuck in her throat. She could only look at the figure in front of her with eyes full of disbelief and fear.
Wu Heng retracted the vines and slipped both hands into the sleeves of his coat. “This vehicle belongs to us.”
“Yours?” The woman croaked.
Several men still inside the vehicle clutched their piles of food and drinks and ran out, their faces red with anger. “Who are you? You can’t just claim something is yours! This bus is parked out here in the wilderness—what gives you the right to say it belongs to you?”
Actually, they already had a rough idea of who the vehicle belonged to. Otherwise, a bus full of supplies appearing out in the middle of nowhere would have been highly suspicious. But the reasons they came up with to justify themselves weren’t exactly solid either.
“Put everything back.” A few snowflakes landed on Wu Heng’s eyelashes. His mood had clearly soured.
One man stepped forward half a pace. Li Qiong subtly tugged at him, whispering to stop him. “Zhou Bo, you—”
Zhou Bo turned and shoved Li Qiong aside with force. “Useless.”
With that, the ground beneath Zhou Bo’s palm trembled. Snow melted into ice, and several sharp ice spikes shot toward the young man opposite him.
The spikes were few, thin, and carried little energy. Wu Heng hardly needed to make a big move. He merely glanced up, and several vines shot out from behind him, smashing the ice spikes in midair in a few swift strikes. Then, with a couple of quick flicks, the vines lashed toward the man’s face.
Zhou Bo stared at the restless vines hovering in front of him. “W-what… what kind of ability is this?”
Among their group, only Zhou Bo and one other person were ability users, and Zhou Bo was considerably stronger than the other. His ice spikes had helped him kill plenty of zombies and fend off both those who raided them and those they raided themselves. Even when he had provoked someone stronger, he could at least trade blows a few times. But a situation like today—where not a single attack of his landed—was unprecedented.
Li Qiong realized they had run into a brick wall. He quickly scrambled to his feet, breathing heavily. “Brother Bo, apologize—right now.”
Anyone who could maintain a healthy complexion in a wasteland full of mutated plants and animals, and still wear fur clothing, was clearly not someone they could provoke!
“Get lost!” Zhou Bo’s eyes reddened. He raised his hand and grabbed the vines in front of him, which wriggled gently in response.
“What kind of monster dares act tough in front of me!” Controlling the slippery vines, Zhou Bo swung his hand, forming more ice spikes that rained down like meteors on the spot where the young man stood.
Wu Heng tilted his head back and narrowed his eyes.
He didn’t move at all, appearing as if he were stunned.
At least, that’s what Zhou Bo and his friends thought.
But then, more vines shot up from the ground beneath Wu Heng’s feet, twisting and turning like dragons in midair, smashing the ice spikes into pieces. Shards flew toward the few people nearby. Before anyone could even cry out in pain, Zhou Bo, who was at the front, suddenly disappeared from their sight.
Zhou Bo, gripped around the waist, was dragged into the air. Seeing the plant not only grow but multiply, a flicker of fear finally appeared in his eyes.
This… could be some kind of mutant plant! A plant taking human form—a mountain spirit of this mountain! A mountain ghost!
Just as the man opened his mouth to scream, a thick vine shot straight into it. The people at his feet stared blankly upward, only to see that it was as if a blue-green python had slithered into Zhou Bo’s mouth. The “python” twisted its body, as if trying to burrow even deeper.
The drops of warm, fresh blood fell right into their open mouths.
Blood ran from the man’s nose as he glared down at the figure before him, twisting his body and whimpering incoherently.
Meanwhile, the tip of the vine had already burrowed inside him.
After a few seconds, his expression twisted into inexplicable agony. His bones creaked as he struggled, yet a thin green vine sprouted from his waist, followed by two more, then three, shooting out from various parts of his body.
Zhou Bo became like a pot of nutrient-rich soil. The creeping vines branched and spread within him, countless tendrils erupting from every part of his body, until there was no place on him that looked intact. His tattered, bloodstained clothes fell to the ground, leaving only scattered pools of blood—soon licked clean by the plant sweeping the battlefield.
It was as if Zhou Bo had never existed.
The vines retracted back into Wu Heng’s body. He looked at the trembling figures before him and said, “I already told you—this vehicle belongs to us.”
Li Qiong stared at the young boy speaking. He looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, yet he had just killed someone—and remained so calm, so composed.
And… what exactly was he? Why could he command plants?
His thoughts were a chaotic mess, when suddenly a bird’s cry rang out, starting distant and growing louder. From the forest came a series of increasingly intense, heavy sounds.
A massive black shadow appeared above the treetops. Its outstretched wings were like sharp blades, cutting clean through anything taller than its span as it swept across the canopy. Its red eyes scanned its surroundings, then without hesitation, it dove toward the humans below.
“Ah! What is that?!”
“Why is it flying toward us?!”
X’s figure grew smaller as it approached the humans. When it reached very close to Wu Heng, it shrank to normal size and landed on his shoulder.
“A’Heng… I’m hungry.”
Wu Heng ignored the fear and shock of those in front of him and slightly tilted his head.
“Mengzhi didn’t give you anything to eat?”
X muttered a curse under its breath and fell silent, but it turned its gaze toward the strangers in front of them, noticing the shattered windows of the vehicle.
It seemed to realize something. Its eyes suddenly grew fierce, and it spread its wings, letting out a sharp, piercing screech at the people before it.
The group stumbled backward in fright.
“It’s a mutant bird… I’ve seen one before,” the woman said, her lips trembling. “But mutant birds usually don’t accept a master. They’re much harder to tame than cats or dogs—and this… this seems to be a parrot…”
“Who exactly are you?” Zhang Jinnan, standing next to Li Qiong, tried to suppress his fear, speaking slowly and carefully. “The strong ability users nearby have mostly gone to Nansu. Why are you alone out here in the wild?”
Wu Heng didn’t answer their questions. He bent down, picked up a pack of instant noodles at his feet, glanced at it, and handed it to Li Qiong. “Eat.”
Looking into his dark, icy gaze, Li Qiong was more inclined to think he was saying, “Die.” Surely he must have misheard.
Li Qiong shook his head. “Thanks… I’m not hungry.”
X snatched the instant noodles from its master’s hand, executed a flying kick, and slammed the pack straight into Li Qiong’s face.
“Eat.” It commanded arrogantly.
Li Qiong picked it up, but didn’t eat. The gruesome deaths of his companions played over and over in his mind—Zhou Bo’s body had been completely obliterated. Grief welled up inside him, and tears streamed down his face.
“You’ve killed someone.”
Zhang Jinnan and the others glared at Li Qiong as if to say, “If you’re looking to die, don’t take us with you.”
Wu Heng tilted his head, confused. “He started it.”
“But… he doesn’t deserve to die.”
Wu Heng’s expression showed a hint of concern. “Are you going to call the authorities?”
Something inside Li Qiong snapped. He stared at Wu Heng in stunned silence, unable to form a single word.
“Yohoo~~~~~~~~”
A joyful cheer rose from the foot of the mountain in the distance. Lin Mengzhi was sitting on a piece of freshly dug wooden board, sliding straight down the slope to the bottom. The grasses and shrubs in his path were incinerated by flames before he even arrived.
Behind him, the remnants of fire trailed like a shadow, and the snow melted in his wake as if a heavy downpour had fallen.
Behind him, Dou Lu also slid down—but not sitting on a board. She could ski, so she didn’t need to clear a path. Twisting and turning through the dense forest at incredible speed, she flew right over Lin Mengzhi’s head.
The two of them simultaneously intercepted from Wu Heng’s left and right.
Lin Mengzhi, sitting on the board, was sweating from excitement. “We dug up a whole big bag of wild vegetables! They’re half-frozen, but still edible. Even if they weren’t, I’d eat them anyway. Meat every day is making me constipated!”
Dou Lu grinned. “I can now radiate a magnetic field over ten kilometers!”
“We also fought X and a bunch of field mice!”
“We encountered a white fox—a female—with her cubs. We gave the field mice to them.”
“X stole some food.”
After rattling off her report to Wu Heng, Lin Mengzhi finally asked, “Who are those people?”
Wu Heng’s expression remained emotionless. “Thieves.”
“Thieves? Thieves…” Dou Lu pondered the word, and then noticed two windows on the bus were already missing. She gasped. “You stole stuff! And you smashed our bus?!”
Lin Mengzhi stopped his playful grin, stood holding the wooden board, his face cold as ice. “Looking to die.”
“N-no… we thought it was just an abandoned vehicle,” Zhang Jinya said, raising her hands. “We didn’t know it was yours! We’re sorry! Really, really sorry!”
She was still in shock, unable to hide it. She believed the other three must be just as stunned. How could three ability users appear at the same time in such a godforsaken place?!
Dou Lu’s frustration finally released a bit. “…Fine, whatever.”
She bent down and began picking up the scattered supplies. “And you guys just took everything while eating too?”
Lin Mengzhi carried the wooden board and a bag of limp wild vegetables. “Let Shen Ping’an drive the bus to where we’re staying later.”
Wu Heng’s expression was icy. “We’re going back.”
X seemed to agree wholeheartedly. It flapped its wings and landed on Lin Mengzhi’s head, settling into its warm little nest.
Dou Lu tossed all the scattered supplies back onto the bus, gripped the door, and turned to glare coldly at the uneasy group. “If you dare touch our vehicle again, you’re dead!”
She stepped away from the bus, closed the door, and followed Wu Heng and Lin Mengzhi a few steps. Then, as if she’d thought of something, she suddenly ran back. The group was so startled by her sudden return that they stumbled backward.
Dou Lu’s smile was all eyes and no warmth. She tossed aside her shoddily made snowboard, planted her hands firmly, and the bus shuddered. The engine roared to life.
Hearing the engine, Wu Heng paused and looked back.
Dou Lu shouted, “I’ve got it! I can use magnetic force to pull the bus to where we’re staying!”
Before the words even left her mouth, the bus lunged forward. The group scrambled in panic, but the front of the bus didn’t hit them—it sped onto the bridge instead.
Dou Lu leaped onto the railing of the bridge and landed on the roof of the bus, which carried her forward at high speed. “I’ll go ahead first!”
Meanwhile, Li Qiong and the others left behind in the endless snow were too shocked to think. They had encountered many people along the way, but they had never seen anyone—or anything—move like this.
Watching the plant-controlling boy and the little fiery bird disappear into the distance, Zhang Jinnan grabbed Zhang Jinya and hurried after them without hesitation.
Li Qiong and the remaining companion gritted their teeth and had no choice but to follow as well.
“Friends?”
“Hello, friends!”
Lin Mengzhi turned his head at the call, looking ferocious. “Scram!”
Zhang Jinya hunched her shoulders. Zhang Jinnan shoved her forward.
She trembled as she stepped up and hurriedly pleaded while walking behind them, “Um—where do you live? Could you let us stay for two days? It’s too cold right now—we’re starving and freezing.”
“Please, for the sake of fellow humans, help us. I’m begging you.”
“I can do the laundry, and I can cook, I—”
Only then did Wu Heng stop. He tilted his head slightly, lowered his eyes, and said indifferently, “What kind of food can you cook?”
———————————————————————————
Author’s note:
Passerby: I can do laundry.
Wu Heng: …
Passerby: I am very pretty.
Wu Heng: …
Xie Chongyi: Want to die?
Passerby: I am handsome.
Wu Heng: …
Xie Chongyi: You die too.
Passerby: I can cook.
Wu Heng: Start work tomorrow.
love these kids