Chapter 200: January, Improved Abilities

Bian Changxi just listened to her chatter with a smile. When she noticed the person she was talking to wasn’t around, she asked Aunt Zhao, “Where is everyone?”

Aunt Zhao replied, “Deputy Captain Qiu just got back, so Captain Gu called him out to the yard to talk.” As she wiped the table, she added with some concern, “I saw both of them looking pretty serious. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

Bian Changxi paused, spoon halfway to her mouth, then just kept drinking her soup without responding.

She had no idea what Gu Xu said to Qiu Feng, or how he said it. All she knew was that for the next few days, she barely saw Qiu Feng around. Even when she did catch a glimpse of him at the villa, he acted completely normal. After thinking it over for a bit, she decided not to overthink it. She had her own things to do—what, was he going to eat her or something?

Time flew by like this. Bian Changxi’s life was very regular: every other day or so, she’d go to the hospital, swing by the lab and the water plant, and spend the rest of her time either tending vegetables and fruit in the villa or working hard out at the farm. Every few days, Gu Xu would lead a team out, and she’d tag along. Sometimes, if he didn’t go, she’d just join another group and head out herself. Once she was in the wild, she basically did her own thing—apart from her two bodyguards, Lin He and Zhao An’an, who always stuck with her, she was free to move as she pleased.

The weather was getting colder by the day. The temperature kept dropping like a slide, and everyone at the base was on high alert, guessing that this winter was going to be tough. More and more people were heading out to hunt and scavenge for supplies, hoping to stock up while they still could—otherwise, when the real cold set in, they might starve.

Today was one of the days Gu Xu was leading a team out. A hundred people, all from the Jiangcheng Hunting Group—the elite of the elite. Their goal was to reach a dock and secure the piles of oil and coal stored on the ships, and maybe hunt some beasts along the way for extra spoils.

Taking the main road to the dock was risky since it meant passing through the city, so they decided to cross a low mountain instead.

Bian Changxi, dressed in a thick black tracksuit, strolled leisurely along the mountain path. The air was dry, and a cold wind howled. The ground was hard as rock, with barely any green in sight—just some withered grass and bare trees. The branches reminded her of a metaphor she’d read in a book once: like beggars crawling on the ground, reaching out to the sky for alms.

Not that she was feeling particularly poetic—she was busy chopping wood.

In her right hand was a massive blade, a meter and a half long, with a one-meter handle and a half-meter straight, thin blade. It looked a bit like Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade—pretty intimidating. Two days ago, she’d gone with a group to a food processing plant on the outskirts of the city, where she’d had the bad luck to run into a third-tier enhanced zombie. She’d managed to take it down, but her Tang sword got chipped in several places and had to be sent off for repairs.

Left without a weapon, she rummaged through her own warehouse for something handy and found this blade. Gu Xu had gotten it from a batch of military supplies—turns out, there were cold weapons mixed in with the guns. The moment she saw it, she thought it looked perfect: big, heavy, sharp—great for chopping zombies or monsters. As long as they weren’t super agile, it was basically one swing, one kill. She didn’t hesitate to claim it for herself.

She still remembered Gu Xu’s look of shock and helplessness at the time—probably couldn’t believe a girl would wield such a massive blade.

Now, she was skillfully chopping down dead trees with it. Partly to get a feel for the weapon, and partly because the hills were full of dry, perfect firewood—would’ve been a waste not to chop it. With so many people desperate for warmth, firewood was in high demand. Whether she used it to make charcoal or sold it, it was as good as money.

Tree after tree fell with a single swing. Once she’d accumulated a pile, she’d use her vines to gather them up in bundles—her efficiency was off the charts. Lin He and Zhao An’an were chopping away alongside her. Lin He was already at tier three, Zhao An’an was close—one a tier-three wind user, the other a tier-two ice user. The three of them left no tree standing wherever they went.

Even so, they didn’t fall too far behind the main group.

Suddenly, shouts came from up ahead: “Catch it!” “Surround them!” “Don’t let them get away!”

Bian Changxi quickly bundled up the fallen trees and waved to her two companions. “Come on!”

As she ran, she dragged a short vine along the ground. Invisible currents of energy flowed from the vine into the soil, and every branch and twig in her path seemed to move aside for her automatically. If other wood-type—or, really, any other ability users—had seen this, they’d have been shocked speechless. If you didn’t understand the principle, it looked downright magical—trees moving out of the way for a person?

Lin He and Zhao An’an were stunned. The last time they’d seen Bian Changxi was two days ago, and back then, she didn’t have this ability. If she stayed inside the base, they didn’t even need to follow her. But now, after just two days…

They exchanged glances, both a bit shaken. Being able to control plants was already impressive, but to do this? Bian Changxi’s rapid progress was astonishing—she’d already surpassed the usual understanding of wood-type powers.

When they reached the source of the commotion, they saw the hunting group had formed a loose circle among the trees. In the center, a dozen or so half-human-sized monkeys with long brown fur were restlessly leaping from tree to tree, clearly trying to escape. But every time one tried to break out of the circle, it was herded back in.

Bian Changxi immediately recognized them—they were a popular new species lately. These monkeys had escaped from a zoo and quickly mutated and multiplied. They were about half the size of an adult human, with especially long forearms, perfect for swinging through trees. Their long, shiny brown fur was prized for making coats. Like a certain kind of pig, they’d even been given a new name: “Long-haired Golden Monkeys.”

Yeah, not the most creative name.

By the time Bian Changxi’s group arrived, the circle was complete, and people started using their abilities—not to attack the monkeys, but to knock down the trees.

Tree after tree crashed to the ground, sending the monkeys scrambling to the next one—only for that tree to be felled as well. Soon, the monkeys had nowhere left to jump, forced to leap frantically among the fallen branches, squeaking in panic.

Bian Changxi sent out three vines at once. The slender vines whipped through the air, twisting and weaving themselves into nets that dropped over the monkeys’ heads. Two nets each caught a monkey, and one caught two at once. Once the green nets closed around them, they tightened, trapping the monkeys securely no matter how much they struggled or bit.

A few other wood-type users in the crowd joined in. They couldn’t control their vines as skillfully as Bian Changxi, but they weren’t just healers—they could fight, too, and used their vines to bind the monkeys. Water users lashed out with water whips, and some people even threw nylon nets. Clearly, everyone had come prepared.

In the blink of an eye, all the monkeys were captured.

Despite being mutant beasts, these monkeys weren’t much of a threat—especially against the elite hunting group. They barely had time to react.

Immediately, more than a dozen people rushed forward, each knocking out a monkey. Some pulled out huge scissors from their spatial storage, others just used their knives, and they began shearing off the fur.

Other than their fur, these monkeys weren’t good for much—their hides weren’t tough or thick, their meat wasn’t tasty, and their bones and organs weren’t valuable for research. So all anyone wanted was the fur, which would regrow thickly in about two weeks.

Some people specialized in catching these monkeys alive to raise them and sell the fur. If they didn’t have a mission today, they might have taken these dozen monkeys back to breed. But for now, they just sheared them.

Bian Changxi took care of gathering up the fallen trees for her farm.

Gu Xu checked their direction with a compass. As Bian Changxi walked over, he said, “We’re almost there.”

She nodded, understanding that she’d need to save her strength—there would definitely be a lot of zombies at the dock, and who knew what might be lurking in the water.

She glanced at Chen Guanqing, who was steadying a large box behind Gu Xu. The box was strapped to a modified, compact mountain trike with wide, thick tires and a powerful motor—great for rough terrain.

After more than twenty days of, well, “training,” Ge Jianhua’s zombie son had apparently calmed down—he no longer tried to bite people just from smelling them, and could now accept food from a few specific people. After many attempts, Chen Guanqing said this was as good as it was going to get, so Ge Jianhua brought him back. For the past few days, he’d been joining the hunting group on their outings. His abilities—controlling zombies and mutant fire powers—could be incredibly powerful if trained well, so Gu Xu had given him plenty of tasks. Now, with all his needs taken care of, it was clear he was being groomed as a key asset.

Bian Changxi had once asked Gu Xu if he wasn’t worried about raising a traitor, since he barely knew Chen Guanqing.

Gu Xu just smiled. “With you here, he has no reason to jump ship.”

It took Bian Changxi a while to realize what he meant—she’d been the one to suggest training Xiao Ai, and besides her, hardly anyone believed zombies could be controlled. She’d even painted a rosy picture of Xiao Ai fully recovering his human appearance, so of course Chen Guanqing would stick close to her.

Still, Gu Xu really was confident.

With Chen Guanqing around, even if there were a lot of zombies ahead, they wouldn’t be completely on the defensive.

Chen Guanqing noticed her looking and nodded slightly.

Within two minutes, the shearing was done. Gu Xu announced that everyone should conserve their strength and pick up the pace. The group responded in unison—warm-up was over, and the relaxed, winter-outing mood vanished. From then on, no matter what long-haired monkeys or rabbits they came across, they ignored them and sped up.

Thanks to soi for a pink ticket!

Thanks to cuiying80 for two pink tickets! l3l4"