Chapter 17: Mutation and Mutation

Translator: Law  Editor: Hitesh_

Lin Qiao was speechless.

After being thrown onto the grassland, the rabbit sprung to life immediately. It turned around and darted away, disappearing into the grass.

Wu Yueling was standing at a distance, watching Lin Qiao’s every move.

At first, she thought that this zombie was going to eat the cute baby rabbit, and hence was quite nervous for the latter. But then, she slowly realized that things were not as she had thought. She also saw that the zombie was holding a strawberry-like fruit.

Then, she watched the strange zombie feed the strawberry to the rabbit.

Her dad had told her that all the plants out here were mutant and poisonous, and only the plants at the base were edible. She also knew that normal strawberries were red, and were much smaller than the one she was seeing right now.

The color of the strawberry held in this zombie’s hand was just too weird! Her dad had said that the mutations in plants mainly affected their shapes and colors, and therefore, she was quite sure that this strawberry must be mutant.

She was shocked that the zombie would feed this poisonous, mutated strawberry to the little rabbit. Would the little rabbit die now?

The rabbit didn’t seem like it wanted to touch the strawberry, but the zombie had stuffed a small piece into its mouth.

Wu Yueling suddenly became frightened of the zombie once again.

Therefore, when Lin Qiao saw Wu Yueling, the latter took her blanket and quickly withdrew to over twenty meters away.

Lin Qiao was speechless again.

‘Why did you come so close if you are afraid of me?’

She rolled her eyes in her heart. A zombie could never understand what a child was thinking.

After seeing the rabbit hop away briskly, Lin Qiao decided to check on it in half an hour. She took the mutant strawberry which now had a little hole on it, then stood up and walked to the lake to wash it in the water.

After washing it, she held it to her face and examined it. She was about to take a bite, but suddenly paused when her teeth touched the strawberry.

She snapped her mouth close and held the strawberry to her nose to sniff it, then found something strange.

The rotten smell of the strawberry had disappeared, leaving behind only that faint sweet aroma.

‘Eh? Where has the stench gone?’

Confused, Lin Qiao sniffed it again and confirmed that the strong stink had really disappeared.

How did it disappear?

She was perplexed, but delighted at the same time. After all, without the stink, the strawberry had become much more acceptable than before.

With this thought, she immediately put the strawberry into her mouth and took a bite.

As a zombie, she surely couldn’t taste any flavor, but the texture was still there. The strawberry was tender, juicy, soft, and refreshing. It tasted like a normal strawberry, just meatier and juicier.

Lin Qiao sighed with disappointment, feeling a little sorry for herself as her tongue could not taste anything now.

As for the strawberry being poisonous or not, she wasn’t concerned as she was a zombie herself and the strawberry wouldn’t kill her even if it were poisonous. She was infected by the virus already, so the virus in fruits could no longer harm her.

However, she was concerned about the altered smell of the strawberry. She would have a clearer indication after she had checked on the rabbit’s condition again.

Although the rabbit was also a mutant, it was different from the mutant plants. Mutant animals didn’t carry any virus, and only the animals which had turned into zombie animals would carry it within their bodies.

Living mutant animals with flesh and blood like this little rabbit were similar to superpowered human beings. Some parts of them had changed, but the physiological functions of their bodies remained unchanged.

Therefore, the flesh and blood of living mutant animals remained the same as before. The only difference in them was that their mutation had given them upgraded powers.

Wu Yueling fixed her eyes on Lin Qiao, watching this zombie actually eat the mutant strawberry. She surely knew that this zombie wouldn’t be harmed by the virus, but she still felt weird about it.

‘As a zombie, shouldn’t you eat and bite human beings? Shouldn’t you pounce on every living human being you see?’

She was young, but she wasn’t stupid. She grew up in the post-apocalyptic world, and her dad had taught her lots of things. Therefore, she was quite familiar with this world.

Was the zombie hungry as well? Why would this hungry zombie eat a strawberry instead of her?

Even as a smart child, Wu Yueling struggled to comprehend Lin Qiao’s behavior with her five-year-old mind.

To be honest, she thought that even an adult would be confused by this zombie’s behavior! Who had ever seen a zombie leave a live human being alone and eat a strawberry? Even if she was an intelligent zombie, she couldn’t possibly change her instinctive urge to eat human beings, could she? What on earth was this strawberry-eating zombie?

While Wu Yueling was staring at Lin Qiao in confusion, Lin Qiao had also been observing the former with suspicion.

Due to the occupation that she had before she came back to life, her observation would always happen unwittingly. Before she realized that she was doing it, she would often find that she had unconsciously observed the environment around her and had every detail imprinted in her brain. Therefore, once she had scanned the area again to compare it with what was already in her head, she would be able to identify the differences.

Right now, Lin Qiao realized that something was not quite right with Wu Yueling.

Earlier on, this child looked faint and weak from hunger, yet she now looked nothing like someone who hadn’t eaten for days, despite the fact that she was just a little child!

At that moment, Wu Yuling was standing seven or eight meters away from Lin Qiao, but the latter could still see her face clearly.

Her face was still pale, but her eyes were luminous again. Even though her gaze toward Lin Qiao remained vigilant, there was also confusion and some curiosity there. The weakness and dimness in her eyes were already gone, along with the desperation and all the other negative emotions.

Lin Qiao knew that children tended to change as quickly and suddenly as the weather. They were unpredictable, and would laugh or cry without any warning.

Earlier on, this little one had been so terrified of Lin Qiao, but now, her curiosity allowed her to get closer.

Lin Qiao didn’t know what had happened to this little one. Earlier on, she had been worried that the girl might die, but now, this child was standing right in front of her, seeming to be quite fine.

‘You have already taken my grass dragonfly. Why are you still hiding from me?’

Lin Qiao could tell that this kid was pretty smart. She was able to differentiate the good people from the bad ones, and she wouldn’t believe every word that the others said.

Based on Lu Tianyu’s memories, Wu Yueling loathed her. When she was tricked by the former, she had refused to believe her at first. However, the former had uncovered some secrets about Wu Chengyue with Yang Chao’s help, and armed with those, she managed to lure Wu Yueling away. Wu Yueling was still filled with suspicion back then, and soon had realized that things weren’t right. So, although she turned around and ran, how could she outrun Lu Tianyu? As a result, she was directly knocked out.

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