Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Analysis of the mutation...

Brother... Yuan?

There were many who called Jie Linyuan 'brother' along the way, mostly using the short and easy-to-call "Jie Ge". This elongated, melodious, and soft "Brother Yuan" obviously did not fall into that category.

"You like hearing that?"

Brother, brother...?

It didn't seem like a special nickname. Wu Yin repeated it silently a few times, finding it quite smooth, not awkward at all, wondering if he had used it frequently to address someone in the past.

However, this doesn't mean he was ready to fulfill Jie Linyuan's insidious request. As the orange sunset had not yet fully set, Wu Yin casually took out a bundle of dog leash from his pocket and began to unravel it.

As soon as the collar was placed, His Highness eagerly jumped over like a dog excited for a treat, the Border Collie biting the leash loop, strong in management, turned its head to put it on the Golden Retriever, Wu Yin then pulled slightly, crafting a brand-new two-headed hellish guide dog on the spot.

Jie Linyuan stood still, smiling as His Highness took up the task of guiding the blind master, excitedly straining the leash along the way, then unhesitatingly leading Wu Yin into the approaching horde of zombies. If not for Wu Yin still being able to see the road, they might have really ended up stuck here because of a dog.

The sound of the blade piercing through decaying flesh and skull resonated continuously. Wu Yin's dog leash was taken from his right hand, and the unwrapped bandage on his left hand was gently hooked by the little finger, being led to a cleaner and flatter area, with Jie Linyuan's deep and calm voice floating from ahead: "I really owe you."

They advanced along the supermarket's exterior, searching for an entrance. The nearby wanderers no longer approached the living; one by one, they swayed like dry, rotting branches on the empty land.

Observing the corpses and the wrecked supermarket trolleys at his feet, Jie Linyuan frowned, "Someone used to live here, or maybe they still do."

He pointed to a corner of the parking lot, Wu Yin squinted towards it, only seeing a dark slope like a giant tortoise, its shell covered in uneven barnacles.

"They cleaned the supermarket interior and surroundings, then used carts to transport the dead contaminant's bodies over there." Jie Linyuan activated his left eye's long-range function, enlarging the image: "...The outermost corpses are still fresh, loved by flies and maggots, but those behind them are only left with broken skeletons, indicating a long time has passed between their clean-ups, not done by the same group."

He no longer casually hooked fingers with Wu Yin to walk the dog as if on an autumn outing, giving this chaotic and desolate world some respect. He bent down to remove the leash from His Highness, softly instructed it to be wary of any suspicious figures nearby, then stood up and tightly held Wu Yin's right hand, seriously saying, "Stay close to me."

The supermarket's main entrance's three-meter-high glass doors were shattered, leaving only a few empty frames, behind which were solid, shut crash doors, covered in marks of scraping and collisions, leaving behind years of dirt and indentations.

"If someone has been living here for a long time, it's impossible that any baby formula would be left. Why are we still here?" Wu Yin asked.

"No formula? Then let's ask them where we can find some."

"If they knew where it was, why wouldn't they get it themselves instead of kindly telling us?"

"What if the formula is hidden in a very dangerous place, and only someone as skilled as I can retrieve it smoothly?"

“……”

Just as Wu Yin was about to argue, he suddenly felt something touch his cheek—cold and rough, caressing his face from side to side twice, then from his forehead all the way down to his chin.

"What are you doing?" Wu Yin frowned and dodged, but his hair got tousled unexpectedly. He belatedly touched his face, finding his hand covered in sticky mud.

"Shh, being too clean might raise suspicions. Just going through the motions." Xie Linyuan also smeared some dirt on his face and body. The application was indeed minimal; the bandages on Wu Yin's hands and neck, freshly changed at noon, remained spotlessly white and gleaming.

"This proves that your so-called forbidden secrets are not impenetrable fortresses. You should keep a lower profile in the future to avoid attracting the attention of people like Xue Yue."

After a moment of silence, Wu Yin grudgingly accepted this reasoning. He looked down at something on his fingertip, sniffed it despite his discomfort, and nearly vomited. "What did you smear on my face?"

"Just something I casually wiped off His Highness."

Wu Yin: "..."

Half a minute later, Xie Linyuan, with his hair in disarray, knocked on the supermarket's door politely yet with a disheveled appearance: "Is anyone there?"

His voice immediately provoked a fierce barking from behind the door. Soon, a narrow crack opened in the blast door, and a hoarse male voice, speaking in dialect, came through, asking, "Who are you?"

The door opened so smoothly that it surprised Jie Lin Yuan. Usually, a combination of two adult men and a dog would be shunned everywhere. They represented a formidable force, capable of murder and looting at any moment, a dangerous and feared presence in the post-apocalyptic world.

The man who opened the door noticed the surprise in Jie Lin Yuan's eyes. His silver hair and red pupils reminded the man of the playthings of the wealthy before the apocalypse, lowering his guard a bit more, and he opened the blast door wider.

The man, with dark circles under his eyes, looked haggard and weary. In his dialect-accented Mandarin, he slowly explained, "There's no food here. Don't think just because it's labeled a supermarket, it's some Eden where you can pick whatever you want for free. This place is empty, has been since we arrived three days ago, and it's even more dangerous than outside. If you're seeking refuge, I'd suggest you look elsewhere."

"Dangerous? What kind of danger?" Wu Yin, his eyes blinded, asked with interest.

"There's a—” the man began, then suddenly stepped back, his face changing color, staring fixedly at the ground, his lips trembling. From behind the door emerged a medium-sized dog with two heads, its four beastly eyes glowing green like ghostly flames. It cautiously approached Wu Yin, its head slightly lowered, body tense and ready to pounce with its strong forelimbs and hind legs.

—Even though it takes ten minutes for it to kill a contaminator.

"This, this..." the man pointed at the dog, asking in terror, "Is this mutant dog yours?"

"Yes," Jie Lin Yuan replied, like a gentle uncle walking his dog after dinner, "Don't worry, he doesn't bite."

"Is it strong?!” The man, suddenly excited for some reason, gestured for them to come in, calling to his companions inside to join them.

Soon, six men in their prime surrounded Jie Lin Yuan and Wu Yin, with a small, brown, curly-haired teddy dog at their feet. In the middle stood a solar-powered flashlight, its light dim from overuse but better than nothing.

The man who opened the door explained that they were six brothers, related or acquainted from the same town. After their homes were destroyed by the disaster, they first sought refuge in a nearby safe zone but soon found the confined life there dull. Before the apocalypse, they had hustled in their small village from dawn to dusk. Even after the apocalypse, they were stuck in one place, leading monotonous lives.

Thus, a group from the same village, in unison, decided to venture out together, wandering in search of a livelihood, living day by day, even if it meant dying on the road the next day.

Originally, their group was larger, at its peak numbering around twenty people of all ages and genders. Gradually, only these seven men remained, along with the sole surviving male dog.

"There's another brother, suffering from lung cancer for years, bedridden inside," the man said. "The doctors had given him only six months, but after the apocalypse, wandering with us in constant danger, he managed to hold on for two more years. These days, though, he's immobile; that's why we've reluctantly stayed here, to see him through his last journey."

“You mentioned this place is very dangerous?” Jie Lin Yuan looked around. It was a typical large supermarket entrance – a post-looting version, with shops on both sides of the road forcibly broken into, shattered display windows, and chaos, ruins, and dust everywhere.

"Yes," another man pointed behind him, "In the back, on the second floor of the supermarket, there’s a storage room for restocking, housing a mutant creature. It bangs against the walls all day, terrifyingly, only quieting down now."

"So, we wanted to ask about your mutant dog. Is it strong?” The youngest man lifted his chin, teasing the dog, “Can it kill the mutant creature? There might still be food and supplies in that warehouse. If you can get in, you can take what you want first, just leave us some scraps. But if there are targeted medicines, please, we beg you, save them for us."

"Dream on, as if there would be targeted medicines in a supermarket warehouse," a man chuckled, tapping his head, "Reserved by a fairy godmother for old Huang, right?"

"What if, by chance, it means Brother Huang gets to stay with us a few more years?"

"A few more years? In these harsh times, I almost wish to join him instead. And you're still talking about a few more years..."

Jie Linyuan quietly listened for a while to this helpless and bitter talk, veiled in jest and curses, then turned to Wu Yin: "Is it... powerful?"

"Powerful, extremely so," Wu Yin said unflinchingly. "Just a mere aberration, yet it takes them down one by one."

His Highness: "…?"

"Really?" "That's great!" "It looks so formidable!" "So awesome!"... Six simple countrymen believed Wu Yin's tall tales, smiling and laughing, all baring their big teeth in joy.

The experimental subject, untouched by worldly concerns, didn't understand their hardships or their resilience, blossoming even when ground into the dust. But he had his unique joys and minor troubles.

He leaned close to Jie Linyuan and whispered: "This aberration has been crashing into the wall for who knows how long without breaking through. It's probably a dud among aberrations. Just right for His Highness, the dud among mutant hounds. Now it's night, and it's even weaker. Let it practice a bit... I easily attract aberrations and can't see anything, so I won't go over. Follow it, and if it really can't handle the situation, then help."

After speaking, he bent down, crooked his finger, and waited for His Highness to willingly rest his chin in his palm. Not caring which head it was, he gripped firmly and threatened: "Perform well. Next time, if you encounter danger, just run, or I'll tear you apart to feed the aberration."

His Highness: "!!!"

"You're staying here alone?" Jie Linyuan frowned, not quite approving. "Aren't you afraid...?"

"Afraid of what?" Wu Yin asked as if it were obvious.

Jie Linyuan thought about it and agreed, "...You're right, I was overthinking." The only thing Wu Yin truly feared was the aberration upstairs. For the rest, even if they had ulterior motives, they could only stare helplessly in the face of Wu Yin's unstoppable parasitic power.

"Stay put and don't move around," Jie Linyuan advised Wu Yin as he led him to a clean bench to sit down.

It was only then that the other men realized that he was actually blind. Surviving the perilous post-apocalyptic world despite being visually impaired, though his face was grimy as if he hadn't bathed in a month, his cheeks showed no signs of malnourishment. It must be—

The credit of the mutant two-headed dog!

The men's gaze towards His Highness became even more fervent, seeing it as a miraculous dog, much to the irritation of the Teddy who kept barking, intimidated by the two-headed dog's presence.

Soon, the Teddy stayed behind to accompany Wu Yin. One man returned to care for their cancer-stricken companion, and the remaining five, armed with makeshift weapons like sticks with kitchen knives tied to them, followed Jie Linyuan and His Highness upstairs, ready to show their might.

Traversing the long-unused escalator and rows of spotless shelves, the men led Jie Linyuan to the warehouse door. A dim light shone on a tattered A4 paper on the wall beside the door, scrawled with a marker: Inside is an aberration, DO NOT open the door!!!

The word 'aberration' was emphasized, a warning left by the previous occupants.

Their initial enthusiasm and excitement waned before the three exclamation marks. The man who opened the door swallowed hard, fear and caution returning. Having learned Jie Linyuan's surname on the way up, he asked cautiously, "Brother Jie, are you sure your dog can handle it? If something goes wrong, we're all doomed here."

Jie Linyuan patted His Highness's back to steady its trembling legs. The dog looked up at him, shivering: "Woof, woof—"

Though Jie Linyuan didn't have Wu Yin's ability to communicate with mutant fauna, at that moment, he somehow understood His Highness's barks—

Save me! Save me! Save me!

Jie Linyuan chuckled, pulling out a Browning pistol from his waist: "Don't worry, with me here, there's nothing to be scared of."

Finally, His Highness bravely raised its tail, emboldened by human support: "Woof!!"

Seeing the gun in his hand, the other five men were even more excited than the dog, hurrying to grab the warehouse key from a nearby shelf. The youngest one bragged, "We've found guns on the road too, still with bullets. Just can't aim well, not as useful as a stick when facing zombies."

Jie Linyuan didn't respond to the comment. Inserting the key into the lock, he slowly turned it, the dull sound accompanying the retracting of each metal bolt of the heavy security door, which finally reopened, emitting a teeth-grating noise as the rusty door swung open.

His Highness stood assertively at the door, emitting fierce growls from its throat.

After waiting a bit and seeing His Highness only barking without moving, Jie Linyuan kicked it inside in resignation.