Chapter 191: Tight Clothes, Finally Going Out

Although Bian Changxi’s original intention was to help Chen Yisha, she couldn’t disregard others and force Chen Yisha to take charge of everything. Fortunately, Chen Yisha didn’t want to rely on connections forever either, so Bian Changxi resumed guiding her, focusing on two main areas: maximizing energy efficiency with minimal waste, and controlling the flow of water—practicing the water whip.

Time flew by as they trained. The water plant was almost sorted out by the next day, and Gu Xu came back that night to give his approval. Bian Changxi and Chen Yisha personally went to the chosen storefront to oversee renovations and decorations, making sure everything was perfect.

After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the right moment.

Somehow, word got out about Zhuge Yunma’s zombie research project, and the rumors quickly spiraled out of control—people exaggerated the facts, painting the research as dark, bloody, inhumane, and threatening. For the first time, Zhuge Yunma’s reputation took a hit.

Then, news broke that Ge Jianhua had secretly been keeping his son—who’d turned into a zombie—hidden away. Some even claimed, with vivid detail, that someone could train zombies. The rumors became increasingly unsavory. But Ge Jianhua, unlike the Commander, was willing to humble himself; he publicly acted out the role of a grieving father, shedding tears over the loss of his son, and subtly hinted that all this was the result of political enemies scheming against him. As a result, Ge Jianhua’s image became much more positive and heroic.

Gu Xu and Qiu Feng were extremely busy, spending the entire day dealing with these matters, mobilizing most of their resources and firmly aligning themselves with Ge Jianhua. Meanwhile, with Zhu Yiming’s support, they reorganized nearly 100,000 of Jiangcheng’s best soldiers and formed a new formal armed force, which was immediately put to work on daily patrols and defense. One night, they were so busy they didn’t even come home.

The attention of both the upper and middle ranks was entirely focused on these events. Then, early one morning, the official water plant broke down and shut down operations.

People desperate for water crowded the streets, anxious and worried, discussing where they could find water to drink and use. Even though the water from the plant was expensive, it was still a reliable source. As a result, the prices charged by private water vendors on the streets and underground shot up. Water-type ability users were finally having their day!

…

When Gu Xu knocked on Bian Changxi’s door early in the morning to wake her up, she thought today must be the grand opening. Instead, Gu Xu handed her a bag and said, “Put this on. We’ll head out after breakfast.”

“Huh?”

He smiled slightly, looking refreshed and composed. “Don’t you want to leave the base?”

Bian Changxi was definitely one of the rare female support-type ability users who actually looked forward to going out of the base to train and challenge herself. At the mention of going out to work, her face lit up, all traces of sleepiness gone. She grabbed the bag from Gu Xu and slammed the door shut. “I’ll be quick!”

Before, she hadn’t thought much about leaving the base, but ever since Zhuge Yunma started keeping an eye on her, she hadn’t even been allowed to go out alone, let alone leave the base by herself. Today, she finally got her chance.

After washing up, she opened the bag to check what was inside—a set of gear.

A close-fitting vest, an outer jacket, two wrist guards, a pair of boots, and knee pads—all made from a soft, leather-like material that was tough as steel but flexible, crafted with remarkable precision. It seemed to be infused with some kind of potion or special materials, especially the outer jacket, which was partly made from another extremely durable fabric. The outfit was lightweight and flexible, not hindering movement at all, but provided solid protection for vital areas. Bian Changxi tested the material—it was resistant to blades and bullets, and even strong, sharp tugs couldn’t tear it easily.

She knew this was made by Liu Xiangjie from the hide of an iron-skinned dog. Besides physical defense, she wasn’t sure if it had any other special properties.

She put on a tight T-shirt first, then the vest, and finally the jacket. The knee and wrist guards were hidden under her clothes. To match the colors, she picked a pair of dark gray jeans—thin, soft, and extremely stretchy, fitting snugly but still flexible, so she didn’t have to worry about snagging on anything while walking. She quite liked them.

She tucked the cuffs into her boots—dark, metallic boots with striking silver accents that caught the light, giving them a cool vibe.

The whole outfit felt snug and secure, with only the jacket being a bit loose. The zipper at the chest was pulled tight, making her chest feel a little compressed, but it accentuated her graceful figure.

Bian Changxi checked herself in the mirror. Aside from her hair being a bit long—her bangs covering her eyebrows—and the chest area feeling a bit tight and awkward, she was pretty satisfied.

Actually, she wasn’t very tall—just over 1.6 meters, not even 1.65—but her frame was slender and delicate. Sometimes, with heeled shoes, she could give the illusion of being tall and willowy. This outfit made her look even more sleek and dashing.

Of course, that was only if she didn’t stand next to someone tall—like the guy next door.

Bian Changxi thought for a moment, but didn’t make a big show of grabbing weapons. She just headed out as she was, with Milk—the chubby, long-haired pet—trailing after her, wobbling along at her feet, its fur almost dragging on the ground. Bian Changxi couldn’t help but twitch at the sight.

Gu Xu had been busy lately, putting off the pet’s training again and again. She was genuinely worried that if this kept up, the little thing would end up with high blood pressure or something. She’d already been strict with its diet—only one bowl of fresh milk for breakfast, the rest was fish, shrimp, and vegetables; meat was completely off-limits.

Gu Xu was already downstairs, discussing something with a few others on the sofa: “…Qiu Feng and A’Pei will stay home, Qiu Yun comes with me. Lao Wu and Shadow, are you both ready? This time…”

Bian Changxi walked softly down the stairs. Everyone naturally turned to greet her, then went back to their conversation. They were all completely used to her presence by now. In the beginning, having a young woman under the same roof had felt a bit awkward.

Gu Xu’s gaze swept over her, pausing for half a second somewhere, then he said, “Let’s eat first. We’ll talk after breakfast.”

As they walked, Gu Xu asked, “How does the outfit feel?”

“Not bad, very comfortable. Is it made from iron-skinned dog?”

“Yeah, the whole set was made by Liu Xiangjie, custom-tailored as a thank-you for you. It’s just that…” In a certain area, the size seemed a bit small. Young General Gu looked away, trying to act natural, but feeling a bit awkward inside, wondering if he should have her change into something else.

“What?” Bian Changxi waited for him to finish, but he didn’t.

“Nothing.”

“Oh… So, where are we going? How many people?”

Gu Xu put on a serious face. “Eat first.”

It wasn’t until after breakfast that Bian Changxi understood why he’d insisted on eating first. As soon as they left the table, his first question was, “Have you ever heard of the Grass-Partner Flying Pig?”

Bian Changxi was taken aback—she hadn’t heard of it in this life, but she knew about it in her previous one.

The Grass-Partner Flying Pig, as the name suggests, is a mutated pig that lives with grass and can fly with wings.

Originally a wild boar, at some point during its mutation, it encountered a mutated plant—a type of grass. The grass wrapped around the pig’s body, its tip piercing into the pig’s fat, then emerging from its back to form a fan-shaped wing. Another end attached itself to the pig’s skull, just above the eyes, forming what looked like a stripe.

But actually, the most dangerous part of the flying pig isn’t the pig itself, but this mutated grass—whatever it’s called.

The pig is just strong and charges around, but the grass, once it touches a person, clings like a bone-deep nail, secreting a corrosive fluid that fuses with the skin. If you catch it early, you can save yourself, but if you’re late, you’ll have to cut away skin and flesh to survive. Any later, and the grass will burrow into your body just like it does with the pig, then emerge as a fan-shaped wing.

Bian Changxi felt a little queasy—thank goodness Gu Xu had the foresight to make sure they ate breakfast first, or she’d have lost her appetite.

In short, the grass is a kind of parasitic organism. Not only does it feed off the mutated wild boar, it also gets the boar’s full protection. It’s hard to say whether the boar is just dumb, or if nature is simply amazing.

The “fan” is actually a high-grade material for making weapons. The boar’s tusks, hide, and bones are all useful, and the grass itself is valuable for research and extraction. Plus, the pork is said to be delicious.

Said to be, because Bian Changxi had never tried it. Not because it was expensive—well, it was—but mainly because she found it gross. She’d eaten all sorts of things: raw meat, rotten mutant beasts, decayed wood and bugs from dead trees—she could handle all that. But parasitic products like this just made her sick. Unless she was starving, she’d never touch it.

In any case, the Grass-Partner Flying Pig was valuable all over, and very expensive. By now, people must have realized its worth, and the buying price was high.

She thought for a moment—these dumb pigs seemed to live on a certain mountain, which was filled with poisonous creatures, jagged rocks, tangled trees and shrubs, making it hard to traverse. But at every elevation, there were different mutated or non-mutated plants and animals—a great place for training and finding rare things.

The Grass-Partner Flying Pig sounded scary, but actually, because of its complicated mutation, its attack power wasn’t that high. As long as you were careful, hunting them was relatively easy. It was perfect for Wu Dalang and Shadow to practice on. The only real danger was the environment—if something else ambushed them, that would be a problem.

But that could be managed with enough people and proper defense.

As she pondered this, she listened to Gu Xu’s explanation, then asked, “You’re not planning to clear out the whole mountain, are you?”

Gu Xu replied calmly, “That mountain is mostly a one-way trip. A’Pei provided some easier hunting spots, so we just cleared the people out.”

Tsk tsk, Bian Changxi thought, when he acts, he goes big—clearing out a whole mountain. It gave their comrades a place to recover and train, while others could go hunting all over the mountain.

She also remembered that there were quite a few medicinal herbs on that mountain.

Yesterday, she’d helped transplant herbs into the greenhouse at the medicinal herb farm to protect them from sudden cold snaps. She’d noticed that the types of herbs being grown were pretty limited, and all were still seedlings—not ready for harvest anytime soon.

Next, Gu Xu handed out some five-colored grass powder, telling Bian Changxi to sprinkle it on her clothes at the foot of the mountain to ward off snakes, insects, and other poisons. Then, he led her, Wu Dalang, Shadow, and Qiu Yun out the door.