Chapter 23: Can We Communicate Properly?

"Perhaps it’s this snake egg; it has been sitting inside the rotting snake belly, so it might have been pickled in the juices."

At the mention of the snake egg, everyone suddenly recalled something and instinctively scanned their surroundings with vigilance. Sure enough, not far away, they spotted the King Cobra. Although it wasn't as thick as the one under the tree, it was still as thick as an adult woman's arm. Fan Zhenzhen followed their gaze and saw the cobra, instantly feeling as though she were being hunted; a chill ran down her spine.

"Was it staring at me just now?" Fan Zhenzhen asked in a low voice.

"Likely," Old Qin nodded, looking thoughtful. He added, unsure, "It should be a male. There's an eighty percent chance it’s the mate of that female."

Snakes usually don't have fixed partners, but once they grow to a certain size—like the ones they were seeing now—they might be forced into monogamy whether they like it or not. The mutation of animals after the rain hadn't happened that quickly, so this snake couldn't have grown to this size in just a few days. Even if it had, the female certainly hadn't. Since they were carnivorous, they would have had to consume many other mutated animals to undergo their own transformation, and the female had been dead for days, so she certainly wouldn't have had time to mutate.

[It is the father of the pet beast egg in your hand. It is suggested that you take it back and raise it together.]

Hearing the system's voice, Fan Zhenzhen’s eye twitched.

"No way!" Fan Zhenzhen rejected the idea with every fiber of her being, shaking her head vigorously. "It’s so venomous; I’m afraid it will bite me."

[The King Cobra is a very vengeful species. It can track scents for a hundred miles. Even if you don't take it back, it will find you, follow you, and keep an eye on you.]

"System, you absolute troll!" Fan Zhenzhen shouted in exasperation.

[Is "Troll" the name you have chosen for me? It sounds quite nice. Thank you, Host; from now on, I shall be called Troll.]

Fan Zhenzhen: ... Just stop talking. Let the world end.

The others turned to look at her with puzzled expressions.

Fan Zhenzhen said, feeling both angry and embarrassed, "The system—that troll—wants me to take that snake back to raise it. But that’s a King Cobra! One bite and it’s game over."

Besides, she was already being supported by the Qin family; how could she have the nerve to ask them to take in another snake? Not to mention that this snake ate meat, not vegetables. In this day and age, greens were plentiful, but meat had to be bought with money. Was money even still valid after the apocalypse?

When she had run away from home and taken the train, she had idly read an article on her phone. It said that after the apocalypse, plants were growing wildly, and animals—even the smallest bug—might develop intelligence and become humanity's combat partners. Eat meat? Would she feel guilty?

When the others heard this, and then looked at the King Cobra standing its ground, their expressions became very subtle.

They heard Fan Zhenzhen add, "The system also said this snake is vengeful. Even if I don't bring it back, it will follow us anyway. It can track scents; there isn't a place within a hundred miles it can't find."

Everyone: ...

Troll!

They took another look. And another.

Wait, was it injured? It seemed they weren't the only ones attacked by the green olives; the snake had been in the line of fire too. It looked a bit pathetic.

But they truly didn't want to bring such a venomous snake back home. Most people wouldn't, unless they were naturally fearless of snakes. And honestly, how many people aren't afraid of snakes?

The group was in a difficult position, but they never considered abandoning Fan Zhenzhen. Since they had agreed to take her in temporarily, they wouldn't say anything about driving her away. Someone living under another's roof is usually very sensitive; they couldn't bear to hear words like that.

"Let's head back first. Look at how incredibly wary it is right now. Even if you wanted to take it with you, it might not be willing to follow."

Humans and snakes looked at each other with mutual fear and disgust; usually, they would take a detour if they saw one. It was rare for them to get close. If things got tense, either the person would strike the snake, the snake would bite the person, or they would end up dying together.

That was exactly how it was.

The group checked their gear and headed down the mountain. This trip had clarified one thing: the number of mutated plants was not small, and ninety percent of them were aggressive—the ones that glowed with red light, as Little Yu called it. Mutated plants were territorial; under normal circumstances, two wouldn't appear within a certain range, or one would inevitably be injured or even dead.

On the way home, Shaobing was quiet, looking injured and pitiful. But as soon as they reached the courtyard gate, it suddenly turned and charged toward a patch of Dieffenbachia that had just sprouted.

An Xian turned her head instinctively and was stunned.

"Is this Dieffenbachia really that hard to kill?"

It was only half a mu of wild land. Just to be safe, she had used ten whole bottles of pesticide, and she had seen it wither in just half a day. Had the rain over the last few days brought it back to life?

[Rotten fertilizer, I need rotten fertilizer.]

The Dieffenbachia's voice was sharp and piercing. Its red glow was intensifying. Even though the others couldn't see or hear it, they could sense the deep malice.

The men looked at each other, picked up their shovels, and walked over. If the poison wouldn't kill it, they would just dig it up.

Woof!

Shaobing was swiped away by a leaf, scrambled back up, and barked frantically at a spot.

Qin Xiaoyu stood under the papaya tree, watching. There weren't many sprouts, and the true main body was right in front of Shaobing, so she wasn't worried they wouldn't find it.

[The melon is ripe. Want to eat?]

As she was watching, a voice suddenly came from the papaya tree beside her. She looked up instinctively and saw that the two large papayas hanging on the tree had turned yellow.

Tieguo stretched its neck, standing taller than Qin Xiaoyu. Its attention had been on her, so when it saw her look up, it followed her gaze.

"Quack!"

Such a ripe, large melon. It really wanted to eat.

The papaya tree shook suddenly, and both papayas fell at once. The human and the goose stepped back in unison.

Thud!

The melons landed just a foot away from where they had been standing.

"Quack!"

Tieguo looked at the melon, then at Qin Xiaoyu, its eyes full of longing.

"Don't be impatient. I'll cut half for you when we go back." Qin Xiaoyu picked one up; it was the size of a watermelon and weighed at least ten pounds.

Tieguo was getting smarter and smarter; it could already understand a little bit of human speech.

Qin Xiaoyu placed the melon on the ground, reached out to pat the papaya tree, and asked, "Are there any more ripe ones? Two isn't enough."

The papaya tree didn't respond. It was as if she could understand it, but it couldn't understand her language at all. She felt a little disappointed, but she wanted to try again, so she patted it once more.

"Are there any more melons?"

[The human child is so strong. With such strength, you might as well go shovel some fertilizer for me.]

Qin Xiaoyu pulled her hand back and turned to look toward the wild field. Her father and uncle had already shoveled the Dieffenbachia out of the soil and chopped its roots into several pieces. She could still hear it weakly cursing them.

Qin Xiaoyu walked over, crouched beside the roots, and poked it with her finger.

"Hey, can we communicate properly?"

[Vile human cub, when I am reborn, I will definitely bury you and use you as rotten fertilizer.]

"It seems we cannot communicate."

[Communicate what? Discussing how to turn you into rotten fertilizer?]

"..."