After tidying up the sparrows, Xiao Shu sprayed water to help wash the sparrow meat. Yue Zheng efficiently used the salt he had collected from City S, repeatedly applying it to the sparrows and hanging them on the branches of the little tree to dry. The remaining one was drained of blood, wrapped in mud directly, and prepared to be dealt with directly with the method of beggar chicken.
The mutated sparrows were incredibly plump and delicious. As long as you didn’t dwell on what they usually ate, one could happily satisfy their hunger with them.
Mo Tiancheng sat on a piece of raised asphalt by the roadside, took out a few seeds from his pocket, and started planting. Before long, the seeds sprouted, took root, bloomed, and produced seeds.
Mo Tianyou helped him use a small shovel to dig up the plant’s roots and tubers, and several round and plump potatoes rolled out.
“Roasted potatoes! Roasted potatoes!” The two little fellows joyfully ran to Yue Zheng’s side, holding potatoes that were three or four times the size of their fists, eagerly waiting for him to cook.
Yue Zheng was in charge of all the cooking in the team, which made sense. The two children were too young and had never had any contact with the kitchen before.
Xu Song could cook instant noodles, but that was about it. Occasionally, when he was at home, he might fry an egg, but he would often burn it.
Yue Zheng had strong wilderness survival skills, and although his cooking skills were ordinary, at least he could cook food properly. Therefore, he naturally took on the role of the team’s cook.
The delicious roasted potatoes, the fat and delicious roasted sparrows, and the bursts of aroma made the four of them unable to stop eating.
Xiao Shu twisted and extended its roots, rubbing against them, then burrowed into the soil closer to them, waiting for them to finish eating, dig a hole, bury the sparrow bones and potato skins in the soil, and prepare for a good meal later.
After several days of research and observation by the group, Xiao Shu had developed a new skill, which was to rapidly decompose food and absorb it afterward…
…
Previously, Xiao Shu could only absorb watery substances, at most using blood as nutrients. Since the strange snowfall, it had gained the ability to rapidly decay corpses and food, then absorb them. It has developed a new skill in the field of gourmet cuisine.
Xu Song firmly believed that this skill must be related to the mushroom it had secretly eaten last time.
Blowing on the cooled potato, Xu Song took a bite, squinted his eyes, chewed, swallowed, and then ate a piece of sparrow meat.
“These potatoes taste much better than before.” Xu Song mumbled with food in his mouth, gesturing towards the remaining potatoes in his hand.
Yue Zheng nodded, “The sparrow meat is also tastier than before the mutation.” He had eaten various kinds of food during his wilderness survival experience, and even before the mutation, when he was extremely hungry, he had eaten quite a few sparrows.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“It seems that this energy not only gives animals and plants superpowers but also improves the taste.” Xu Song sighed. He didn’t mind the food becoming more delicious, but in this world…
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But now, the mashed potatoes had a tempting aroma and, although still a bit plain, it no longer felt like a lump in their throats.
“Let’s make some porridge with rice tonight and steam some vegetables to go with it.” Eating only meat for a long time was unbearable for anyone, let alone with two children?
Fortunately, Mo Tiancheng’s planting ability was extraordinary. As long as they had a seed, they wouldn’t starve. Besides, they had collected so many plant seeds on their journey.
Yue Zheng nodded, “Let’s travel a bit more this afternoon and set up camp earlier tonight. We’re getting close to Longshan, so we need to be fully prepared.”
After lunch, the four of them cleaned up the mess, buried the leftover food scraps in the soil, and saw Xiao Shu happily twisting its body. Its roots extended directly from the soil towards the remnants, decaying and absorbing it.
When Xiao Shu finished its extra meal, the four of them finished packing, each pushing their carts, ready to set off. Xu Song bent down and put the smaller tree into his pocket, got on his bicycle, and rode north again.
Now they could faintly see the undulating mountains in the north, but there was still a long way to go. They didn’t rush and proceeded leisurely towards the direction of the mountains.
Around four o’clock in the afternoon, as they were preparing to ride a little longer and find a place to camp, Mo Tianyou suddenly stopped his bike and pointed ahead, saying, “There are people coming, three individuals with abilities, but they are weaker than us.”
Xu Song looked at Yue Zheng, and the two children also stopped their bikes, waiting for the adults’ decision. Encounters with pedestrians on the road had caused quite a bit of trouble in the past few days, so whenever they encountered such situations, they would avoid them in advance.
“They are traveling together or scattered?” Yue Zheng stood on one foot, took out the map, and studied the route. After entering Province L, they found a detailed local map in a small newsstand along the road. Although most of the roads were in poor condition, the overall road distribution should not have any major errors.
“They are quite close.” Mo Tianyou frowned and sensed it for a moment.
“Toward the west there is a secondary road nearby with a town, but it’s probably already destroyed. Going east, there are no major roads, and the only one is along the canal.” Yue Zheng looked at Xu Song, “The town is probably not safe either, and the secondary road’s condition is likely worse than here.”
“Then should we continue forward?” Xu Song understood his meaning. In the current cities, most of them were probably occupied by unknown mutated creatures. Even if there were no mutated creatures there, there would still be human communities, and it was likely that trouble wouldn’t be in short supply. They were in a hurry to go north and didn’t want to attract unnecessary trouble on the road.
“They are coming from the north!” Mo Tianyou suddenly exclaimed, “And they’re moving fast, just like us!”
Do those people have cars?
The two of them exchanged glances. Although they could hide their figures among the mutated plants on both sides of the road, they had discovered in the past few days that even the worms and ants in the soil had become extremely aggressive. Therefore, they tried to avoid walking on muddy ground as much as possible.
Moreover…
“If we encounter them, we encounter them. We can’t keep avoiding people,” Yue Zheng made a decisive decision. If they could avoid trouble, they naturally wouldn’t intentionally provoke it, but if they couldn’t evade it, there was no need to keep dodging.
The four of them mounted their bicycles again and continued heading north. It didn’t take long before they saw the figures of those people in the distance.
“A total of seven… Looks like a team of three mutants and four ordinary people,” Xu Song, who was concentrating on investigating, discovered the specific situation of the other side.
His ability was indeed as Yue Zheng had guessed, he could even perceive ordinary people. However, he couldn’t distinguish who was a mutant and who was an ordinary person, which was where Mo Tianyou’s ability complemented his.
Seeing the situation of those people, Yue Zheng raised his eyebrows and exchanged surprised glances with Xu Song, they were actually driving a car?
The group was driving a camper van. The camper van was large in size, so they could see its roof from afar. Yue Zheng saw two people sitting in the front through the windshield, and the rest of the people were probably in the cabin.
It had been almost two months since the apocalypse, and their vehicles had consumed a lot of fuel. They must have visited many gas stations to collect gasoline.
The chassis of the car was high, so although it was still very bumpy on the current road surface, it was better off than regular vehicles.
The car continued for a while before they noticed the approaching bicycle team. The driver of the car opened his mouth in surprise, and the person in the passenger seat exclaimed, “Boss! There are people ahead! Riding bicycles!”
“Bicycles?!”
Several people in the cabin walked to the front in surprise and looked ahead. Sure enough, in the distance, there were four people riding bicycles heading north.
This was truly a surprising scene.
This is a highway. Even before the apocalypse, no one could ride bicycles on the highway, let alone now. Moreover, both sides of the road are filled with various mutated plants and animals. Unlike cars, bicycles have no side protection. What if they encounter an attack?
“Could it be… skilled individuals?” the man driving the car hesitated.
“Maybe they are from the village and just came out now?” the person in the passenger seat gave him a sideways glance, then turned to the man behind him and asked, “Boss, what should we do?”
The man in the back frowned and stroked his chin, “Let’s stop the car and ask about the situation before deciding.”
Before they escaped from the city, they robbed a car dealership and took this vehicle. They also looted two gas stations to keep the car going until now. The supplies in the car were running low, especially food. There were a few people who were originally with them, but they had died or scattered along the way. Now that they have encountered people…
As the four figures became clearer and clearer, a gleam flashed in the eyes of the “boss.” He said, “Lao Wu, Lao Liu, get ready to fight.”
The people in the back compartment excitedly responded when they heard this.
Yue Zheng pursed his lips and said, “We’re in trouble. Stay alert.”
“Not again,” Xu Song couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
Mo Tiancheng sighed like a little adult, “Sigh, such a hassle!”
“Yeah, they really don’t let us relax!” Mo Tianyou vigorously nodded.
The camper van parked on the side of the road, and the man in the passenger seat got out of the car with a smiling face, empty-handed, showing that he had nothing in his hands. “Hello, where are you all from?” he asked.
“We’re from City S,” Yue Zheng got off the bicycle and lowered the ladder, then walked over to greet him. The three others, of different sizes, also parked their bicycles, there might be a fight later, so they had to secure their belongings before proceeding.
Xu Song discreetly took out a small tree and, while Yue Zheng was blocking the view, bent down to put it down, whispering, “Watch the car!”
The small tree’s crown nodded reluctantly. Compared to watching the car, it really wanted to charge to the front lines! It had seen Mo Tiancheng control the vines and beat the mutated animals before. It was itching to try using its roots as well!
Mo Tiancheng lowered his head and took out a small iron box used for storing sugar. He shook it a couple of times, but all the candies had been eaten, and now it was filled with seeds from the previously mutated vine. This was the weapon he was currently relying on.
Mo Tianyou obediently stood next to Xu Song, tugging at his sleeve. When Xu Song bent down, Mo Tianyou whispered in his ear, “The person speaking right now, the third and fifth person who got out of the car.”
Xu Song understood that Mo Tianyou was referring to the mutants. Moreover, no matter how low Mo Tianyou’s voice was, Yue Zheng in front could hear it clearly. The group had an idea and focused most of their attention on those three individuals.
Of course, they didn’t underestimate the remaining two. Ordinary people might still have combat abilities. For example, Yue Zheng before the mutation. His skills were beyond what an ordinary person could handle.
Translator’s Note –
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THANNNKKKKK YOOUUUUU for the chapter!!
Trying looting them because they look easy with kids?😏
We gotta tree for taking out the trash—and eating your rotting corpse cuz nutrients ya know—and kiddos to send some vines of greeting! Where’d our fearless cricket scamper to? Hahahahaha…
Haha, the cricket is just a salted fish
Lil cricket, the nameless shadow,king of the “grapevine”.🤭
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🦗🌳
Thanks for the update
I really like the story.❤️
Thank you for the hard work.
It is by your grace that we can enjoy this through this excellent translation 🙏🏻❤️❤️.