Chapter 118

Chapter 118

At night, after taking a bath, Shen Juanjuan rushed out of the bathroom with the equally wet Teddy Bear, jostling to get in front of Chu Ya, who dried them both with a towel.

While Chu Ya was putting a T-shirt on Shen Juanjuan, he heard several chirps from the courtyard, sounding like birds but unusually loud, making the window glass hum.

"Chen Hongliang's little trumpet is here," Shen Juanjuan said, covering his ears and frowning.

A silver-white dolphin swam past the window, gliding through the air and flipping over happily, its belly up and tail flapping.

"Chirp chirp!" it called again.

Although students who hadn't yet differentiated couldn't hear its calls, they could sense its presence. From a building, a senior student roared, "Whose quantum beast keeps calling every night? The water in my cup is jumping, and my head buzzes every now and then."

"It's that loud-voiced junior student's quantum beast, the one who broke through last week."

Chu Ya urged Teddy Bear and Black Wolf, "The little trumpet is calling you to play outside. Go quickly, don't let it keep calling."

The quantum beasts hurried out of the house, Wang Chengcai's Lightning leaping directly from the second-story window. Teddy Bear, without waiting for its fur to dry, pulled Black Wolf and rushed out the door.

The little dolphin was still calling its friends. Teddy Bear ran up to it and slapped it with a paw, "Roar!"

"Chirp?"

Teddy Bear clamped its mouth shut with one paw and pointed at it with the other, baring its teeth fiercely, "Roar roar!"

The little dolphin blinked innocently and nodded, and Teddy Bear released it.

The next day was Saturday. After waking up, Shen Juanjuan suddenly thought of his flowers and opened a scripture book. Chu Ya had placed the three flowers inside, which were now dried, but Shen Juanjuan still cherished them, carefully arranging the disheveled petals with his fingers.

Teddy Bear came out of the bathroom after brushing its teeth and washing its face, curiously peering over. It had long forgotten about the flowers, but anything others played with seemed the best, so it reached out a paw to grab them.

"What are you doing? These are my flowers."

Teddy Bear silently fought back.

"You didn't want them anymore, and brother made them into dried flowers, so they're mine... You pushed me? Right here, you pushed me! Alright, Chu Baolong, your name is Chu Baolong, right? My Bitao Tang isn't something you can mess with. Now you've provoked me."

Chu Ya returned to the room with breakfast and saw the human and the quantum beast already fighting, rolling on the floor. He quickly carried Shen Juanjuan away, while Black Wolf dragged Teddy Bear, which was still pulling Shen Juanjuan's hair, away.

"That stinky raccoon stole my flowers!" Shen Juanjuan, with messy hair, complained.

Teddy Bear pointed at the scripture book, "Roar!"

"That's mine!"

"Roar!"

"You didn't want it before, and brother put it in the book, so it's mine!"

"Roar roar roar roar roar!"

Seeing the two arguing fiercely, Chu Ya remembered the flowers he had planted in the cultivation area. He had been staying at the orphanage recently and asked the manager to take care of them. He wondered how they were doing now.

Gu Lin hadn't sent anyone these days, and the orphanage was relatively peaceful. He decided to take Shen Juanjuan to see the flowers. The child had been confined to the orphanage for too long and needed some fresh air. Besides, he himself was nearly an A-level sentinel, so he wasn't afraid even if something happened.

Chu Ya wanted to inform Yun Tuo, but he hadn't gotten up yet. Xiao Rui had stayed overnight and left early in the morning, likely because something happened at Bitao Tang. Bitao Tang was always in conflict with various forces, so Chu Ya didn't pay much attention. He took the phone Xiao Rui gave him, told Rong Chen, and left the orphanage with Shen Juanjuan.

"Where are we going?" Shen Juanjuan, who had been in the church for too long, was very excited as they boarded the bus.

"To the cultivation area."

"Are we digging for sweet potatoes?"

"Temporarily confidential, you'll know when we get there."

There weren't many people on the bus, and one of them seemed to be a thug from a certain force, constantly answering calls.

"Wait for me, I'll be there soon. This time, we have to teach that scum from Longhu Pond a lesson... By the way, why is Brother Zhao still here? He's supposed to go to Kalao Port today... What? All the ships at the dock are broken? What do you mean? Every ship's Jue Stone engine has been blown up?"

Chu Ya turned slightly to look, seeing the thug's angry face: "Who the hell did this? Blowing up the Jue Stone engines means we can't sail for a while. Jue Stone engines are only available in Cloud Peak, and it will take some time to repair them. Brother Zhao can't go to Kalao Port, and our cargo will be delayed..."

Hearing the thug's words, Chu Ya's heart stirred. Bitao Tang also had many ships, and Xiao Rui's early departure from the orphanage was likely to check the damage at the dock.

However, even if Jue Stone engines were only available in Cloud Peak, it wouldn't be a problem for Xiao Rui; it just meant the ships couldn't leave Linya City for a short period.

Chu Ya brought Shen Juanjuan to the cultivation area, passing through fields of sweet potatoes and corn, and finally stopped in front of a stone pillar.

"Stay here and wait for me," Chu Ya said.

"Okay," Shen Juanjuan immediately agreed.

Chu Ya walked around the stone pillar, then returned and covered Shen Juanjuan's eyes with one hand, carrying him to the flower field.

"If I uncover your eyes now, what do you think you'll see?" He was preparing to surprise Shen Juanjuan.

"I'll see flowers."

Chu Ya was taken aback, and Shen Juanjuan, excitedly, added, "Yellow flowers, there are so many, they're prettier than my dried flowers, hahaha, so many flowers."

Chu Ya turned his head and saw Teddy Bear and Black Wolf standing behind him.

Clearly, Teddy Bear had just shared what it saw through their mental link with Shen Juanjuan.

Chu Ya paused, then uncovered Shen Juanjuan's eyes.

The small plot of land was now filled with blooming flowers, clustered together, standing tall and graceful. Shen Juanjuan squatted beside the flower field, and Teddy Bear hurriedly squeezed forward, while Chu Ya and Black Wolf stood aside.

"So many flowers, they're so beautiful." The yellow flowers swayed into Shen Juanjuan's eyes, scattering a handful of starlight.

"Do you like it?" Chu Ya asked.

"Yes!" Shen Juanjuan nodded vigorously.

"Roar!" Teddy Bear also made a firm sound.

"Whose flowers are these? How can he have so many beautiful flowers? Can he give me one?" Shen Juanjuan asked again.

"Whose flowers are these..." Chu Ya smiled and teased, "Guess."

"Hey, you there! Yes, Chu Ya." Before Shen Juanjuan could respond, the caretaker's voice came from behind, "Chu Ya, look at your flowers, they're blooming so well. You came just in time; if you had come a few days later, they wouldn't have looked as good."

Shen Juanjuan was both surprised and delighted: "Shen Miaomiao, these are your flowers! Hahaha, Shen Miaomiao, these are your flowers! That means they're mine too!"

"That's right, these are our flowers."

After the caretaker left, Chu Ya stood quietly to the side, waiting until Shen Juanjuan and Teddy Bear had finished looking before carefully picking two flowers.

"Will they die if you pick them?" Shen Juanjuan asked, concerned.

"They would die anyway," Chu Ya replied, "Don't worry, they'll grow back."

"Like my hair?"

"Yes, just like your hair."

"But don't pick too many, just a little bit."

Chu Ya handed the picked flowers to Shen Juanjuan and Teddy Bear, then picked two more and tied them into Shen Juanjuan's small bun.

"I've become a flower too." Shen Juanjuan proudly showed Teddy Bear, shaking his head to show off. Teddy Bear barked anxiously, but its head only had short fur, so Chu Ya found two thin ropes, strung a flower on each, and hung them around Teddy Bear's and Black Wolf's necks as necklaces.

The bus in Linya City comes once an hour. Feeling the time was about right, Chu Ya took them away from the planting area to wait for the bus at the station.

The so-called station was just an iron signpost by the roadside with the station name written on it. About ten meters back was a steel building, the largest trading center in Linya City.

The trading center's doors were wide open, with people coming and going, and numerous stalls. Shen Juanjuan was clearly very interested in the trading center, even though they were waiting for the bus, he kept turning his head to look inside.

Knowing that he had never been to such a bustling market before, Chu Ya decided to take him inside the trading center to browse. Besides, he had money given by Yun Tuo and could check if there were any necessary daily items.

This trading center building belonged to Bitao Tang, but Bitao Tang only charged stall fees and did not take a cut or charge additional fees, so people from other neighborhoods also came here, making the entire trading center densely packed with stalls and crowded with people.

Chu Ya glanced around and found that the number of daily items on the stalls was pitifully few, mostly low-quality steel products.

He wasn't interested in these, but Shen Juanjuan and Teddy Bear stared intently, stopping at every stall.

It was surprising to see a child in the trading center, and the stall owners were taken aback. However, seeing the rare flowers on Shen Juanjuan's head and the one he held, they naturally assumed he was someone important.

Most people in the trading center were ordinary, unable to see Black Wolf and Teddy Bear, but they could see the flowers on their necks. They didn't think this child was a guide, but they knew he was accompanied by at least two sentinel guides, so their gazes fell on Chu Ya, sizing him up discreetly.

Having gone through the row of stalls without finding anything satisfactory, Chu Ya softly asked Shen Juanjuan if there was anything he wanted.

Shen Juanjuan nodded eagerly and pointed: "I want this, this, this, and this..."

Teddy Bear also pointed non-stop.

"That's a dagger for adults, you can't use it now. When you grow up, I'll make you a nice little knife... The axe is even less useful... Chu Baolong, what do you need an iron pot for?"

Chu Ya rejected each of Shen Juanjuan's and Teddy Bear's requests, finally buying two relatively safe spatulas, which calmed them down.

"This is my weapon, I can use it to kill Thickface." Shen Juanjuan waved the spatula, "This weapon is great, none of the other kids have it."

Teddy Bear turned the spatula to scratch its back, also showing satisfaction with the item.

While Chu Ya was paying, a sudden angry shout came from the other side of the trading center: "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you a dog? Biting people?" This was followed by the sound of punches and kicks.

Fights in the trading center were commonplace, and no one paid much attention, continuing to select their items. Moreover, this was Bitao Tang's territory, and no one dared to cause a fatal incident here.

Chu Ya turned to look and saw a man in a light gray T-shirt lying on the ground, while another man cursed and kicked him fiercely, but his hand hanging by his side was dripping with blood.

Shen Juanjuan also poked his head out to look, and Chu Ya blocked him, feeling that the trading center was too chaotic. He paid quickly and prepared to leave.

"Damn bad luck, got bitten by a mad dog as soon as I came in." The man in the light gray T-shirt lay motionless on the ground, while the other man tried to grab a nearby iron bar, but was stopped by a Bitao Tang underling who shouted, "Hey, that's enough, do you want to kill him?"

Reluctantly, the man put down the iron bar, cursing as he pushed through the crowd and left the trading center.

Chu Ya had already paid and was leading Shen Juanjuan out when a cart blocked their path. As he followed the cart, he inadvertently glanced at the man lying on the ground again.

The man's face was hidden, but something felt off to Chu Ya. His gaze fell on the man's hand, noticing the pale blue skin and long, black nails, as if wearing fake nail caps.

"Ahhh!!!"

A scream came from the right side of the trading center, accompanied by the sound of metal falling to the ground, causing a commotion among the crowd.

Chu Ya and everyone else turned to look, seeing someone pushing through the crowd and rushing towards the entrance. Chu Ya was some distance away, but he could see the person's hand covering his neck, with blood seeping through his fingers.

"What's happening? Who's causing trouble?" A Bitao Tang thug asked, but a howl suddenly erupted from the right.

This howl was clearly not from a wild animal, yet it didn't sound like a normal human. The Bitao Tang thug instantly fell silent, and others who were still shopping stopped what they were doing.

"Shen Miaomiao." Shen Juanjuan, who had been admiring his spatula, heard the howl and clung to the hem of Chu Ya's clothes, frightened.

Chu Ya's heart raced, and he quickly picked up Shen Juanjuan. He couldn't see what was happening over there, but everything felt too abnormal, urging him to leave as soon as possible.

He tried to squeeze past the cart, his gaze falling on the man lying on the ground, who was now standing up.

The man's movements were strange, like a wooden puppet with rusted joints. Trapped between the cart and a nearby stall, Chu Ya watched as the man slowly straightened up, lifted his head, and revealed his face.

It was no longer the face of a living person. The pale blue face was covered with deep black veins like a spider web, his eyes pitch black like ink, and there was a wound on his neck, the blood staining the white fabric black.

Chu Ya momentarily froze, his mind going blank for a brief moment. A word hovered at the edge of his consciousness, trying to surface but failing to do so.

Shen Juanjuan also saw the person and let out a startled "Ah!" He pointed at the figure, urging Chu Ya to look.

"Zombie!"

Someone suddenly screamed shrilly, and this scream brought Chu Ya back to his senses, reminding him that the word he had been trying to recall was indeed "zombie."

The man in the gray T-shirt lunged forward, opening his mouth to bite the person in front of him. Chu Ya quickly summoned his mental energy and struck the man's chest.

Reacting instinctively, Chu Ya's blow was powerful. The man in the gray T-shirt flew backward, crashing heavily into the stall behind him.

The stall collapsed under the impact, and a part of the man's chest caved in, clearly indicating broken ribs.

But he quickly got up and pounced forward again, baring his sharp, grotesque teeth.

Just as Chu Ya was about to strike again, a gunshot rang out. Several bullet holes appeared on the man's forehead, and he slowly fell to the ground, his hands still stretched out.

Several more gunshots and screams echoed through the exchange, but even more cries of agony and zombie growls rose up. Everyone was running toward the main door. Chu Ya held Shen Juanjuan with one arm, pulled out his gun from his waist with the other, kicked away the cart that was blocking him, and rushed toward the entrance with the two quantum beasts.

"Shen Miaomiao!" Shen Juanjuan clung to Chu Ya's neck in panic, dropping the flowers he was holding but still tightly gripping the spatula.

"Hold on tight, don't fall off."

The narrow passages between the stalls became even more crowded, but the people inside the exchange were not to be underestimated. Some leaped over the stalls to take shortcuts to the door, while others pushed those blocking their way to the side.

The Black Wolf and the Teddy Bear led the way, clearing the iron racks that had fallen in the passage. Seeing Chu Ya being jostled by the surging crowd, Shen Juanjuan leaned out from his shoulder and pushed the people away with all his might: "Watch where you're going, don't bump into him!"

Chu Ya suddenly stopped.

Beside a stall, someone lay on the ground, his legs twitching uncontrollably. Another person was bent over, tearing at the first person's neck like a bloodthirsty beast.

Although zombies were a thing of the past, everyone knew what they meant. In the short time it took, Chu Ya had adjusted his mindset, no longer seeing them as human. He turned Shen Juanjuan's head away and aimed at the zombie's head, pulling the trigger.

The zombie fell, but the person it had bitten was already a bloody mess, twitching in pain. Despite this, he was still conscious, his eyes filled with pleading as he looked at Chu Ya.

Chu Ya knew the man wouldn't survive and needed to die, but he couldn't bring himself to kill a living person. He watched the man, breathing heavily, until he saw the man's eyes cloud over with a dark mist. Only then did he turn away, but the mental energy he had suspended above the man's forehead suddenly pierced down.

More zombie growls filled the exchange, and more people were being knocked down, screaming in agony and convulsing on the ground.

Seeing the Black Wolf and the Teddy Bear hesitating, Chu Ya realized they were still adhering to the principle of not harming others and didn't understand that these were zombies, no longer human.

"Kill them. These aren't humans; they are mutants, human mutants." Chu Ya couldn't explain what zombies were in such a short time, so he called them mutants.

The Black Wolf and the Teddy Bear's eyes grew fierce. The Black Wolf immediately pounced on the nearest zombie, biting through its neck.

The zombie's head hung backward, but it still reached out to scratch. The Black Wolf recoiled in shock, swiping a claw and tearing the head from the body. The zombie staggered a few steps before collapsing.

Shen Juanjuan was already sobbing uncontrollably, but he continued to curse and swing his spatula at those who tried to push past.

"Shen Juanjuan, clear the way!" Chu Ya shouted.

"Okay!" Shen Juanjuan cried in response.

The exchange was in chaos, and it was difficult for Chu Ya to distinguish between the people still running and those who had been bitten and were about to mutate.

To avoid killing innocents, he could only target those showing clear signs of mutation. Even though he was an A-level sentinel, there was little he could do in this situation.