"You've been asleep for three days."
"If Zhou Yuan knows you're awake, he'll be very happy."
Song Yao's gaze fell on Lin Yebai's forehead, and he unconsciously looked a little longer.
In the three days Lin Yebai had been unconscious, there hadn't been much change, except for the silver characters that had appeared on his forehead—characters unlike any known language.
Song Yao had never seen such a change in anyone else.
Lin Yebai lightly touched his forehead, his fingers landing right where the characters were. The scene from his dream appeared again before his eyes.
A blood-red moon hung in the sky, and a throne floated in the air.
A cold wind, thick with the stench of blood, swept across the desolate wasteland, with grotesque monsters and severed limbs... everything felt too real, almost like a waking vision, not a dream.
In contrast, the clean, tidy room felt thin, insignificant.
"How are you feeling?" Song Yao asked.
"Alright." Lin Yebai glanced several times at the needle in his hand. Seeing that there was not much fluid left in the bottle, Song Yao motioned for someone to remove the needle.
A man with fluffy fox ears and a bushy fox tail entered, wearing a white lab coat. One hand was in his pocket, his expression serious. After meeting Lin Yebai's gaze, his cheeks flushed, and even the ends of his eyes turned pink, but he still kept a serious look, his tail swishing involuntarily.
"This is Xia Houyun. He used to be a surgeon."
Song Yao added casually, "He likes good-looking people. If you're good-looking, he'll act like this."
"Nice to meet you." Lin Yebai nodded in understanding.
Despite this, the doctor's tail was wagging a bit too fast.
"You have a very weak constitution... it's strange that you've survived this long."
Xia Houyun had once been a stern man, with no expression, his voice deep, and his tone almost imperceptibly alluring. After a pause, he asked seriously, "I heard from Song Yao that Mr. Lin can face intermediate mutated creatures head-on without falling behind?"
"Lucky." Lin Yebai found it hard to take his eyes off Xia Houyun's tail.
The tail was pure white, with no color variations, and looked extremely fluffy.
It kept swaying.
"Do you want to touch it?" Xia Houyun glanced at his disobedient tail.
"Can I?" Song Yao immediately reached out his hand.
"No." Xia Houyun's tail deftly dodged Song Yao's hand.
Song Yao had a lonely hand, surprised: "I thought you couldn't control your tail."
"I really can't..." Xia Houyun raised an eyebrow slightly.
Song Yao began to ponder.
After the needle was removed, Xia Houyun pressed a cotton swab to the injection site and looked at Lin Yebai.
"As your primary physician, I need to better understand your body."
Song Yao coughed lightly.
"Why are you still here?" Xia Houyun asked, somewhat surprised.
"Should I be under the bed?" Song Yao felt the need to keep an eye on Xia Houyun, lest this 'veteran' cause trouble for Lin Yebai.
"What's under the bed?" Zhou Yuan happened to walk in, curious.
"Lin Ge, you're awake!" He quickly swam to the bed, holding a fat old hen, proudly spinning it around before smiling, "This chicken is heavy, about fifty kilograms. I'll make chicken soup for Lin Ge tonight."
The old hen was several times larger than an ordinary chicken, about half a person's height, its backside dragging on the floor. It suddenly froze, then forcefully laid a giant egg.
[I am a little green dragon]: This survival instinct.
[Ordinary Me]: The list of targets has increased!
[Truth Above All]: No way, sir, even the chicken…?
[Ordinary Me]: I'm talking about the fox tail, of course, but hey, it wouldn't be bad either…
Lin Yebai had just woken up, and the livestream started automatically. Familiar viewers quickly appeared.
"Gok gok da! Gok gok da!" The hen clucked, looking quite proud of itself.
Zhou Yuan was deeply moved, gazing at the hen with affection. "This chicken can still lay eggs. Not bad, I'll keep it. We'll have eggs every day…"
"When you kill it, let me know. I can help debone it and also study if this old hen is any different from an ordinary chicken," Xia Houyun said, looking at the hen with sincerity and goodwill.
"Alright, if it stops laying eggs, we'll stew it. I don't think one pot will be enough," Zhou Yuan agreed with a smile. When Xia Houyun left, he rubbed his arms and quietly said to Lin Yebai, "I don't know why, but every time I see Doctor Xia, I feel a bit creepy."
Song Yao had other matters to attend to. The moment Xia Houyun left, he immediately followed, putting on a mask and sunglasses as he stepped outside.
"Lin Ge, you were asleep for so long, no matter how much we called, you wouldn't wake up. We were really worried, so we brought you here."
"Are you still tired?" Zhou Yuan asked.
Lin Yebai shook his head. After waking up, his senses and hearing had expanded several times, and the world felt clearer, closer to reality.
Just as Zhou Yuan had said, he too felt that Xia Houyun was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.
Xia Houyun's gaze not only contained appreciation but also an obsessive curiosity, which made people instinctively feel cautious.
"I can't tell what direction your mutation is going in, except for the mark…"
"Er Lang Zhen Jun is like that, maybe it's the Eye of Heaven."
Zhou Yuan's gaze fell on Lin Yebai's forehead, where the silver characters shimmered with light, adding a sense of authority.
Indeed, this mark suited Lin Yebai, his originally aloof and distant aura becoming more divine, like a god walking among mortals.
Lin Yebai also knew about Er Lang Zhen Jun. Perhaps both worlds had some shared myths and legends.
"Is Lao Wang not here?"
"He said he had something to do and couldn't come to the shelter. I haven't mentioned it to anyone else."
"I wonder what's going on with Lao Wang. He won't let me into his room."
"Could it be…"
Zhou Yuan gave a profound and wise look, resting his chin thoughtfully. "What's the real reason he won't let me in?"
"One way to find out." Lin Yebai tied his long hair up with a headband Zhou Yuan gave him and prepared to go back to the Tianxing Yuan neighborhood.
"Lin Ge, have you had any physical changes? Like increased strength? Or invulnerability? Or the ability to breathe fire or turn invisible?"
Zhou Yuan asked curiously, feeling that this mark wasn't simple.
"No." Lin Yebai picked up a bone knife, and Zhou Yuan immediately followed him. As they walked outside, they bumped into Xia Houyun.
He was holding a thick work journal, finishing the last line, but unable to find the cap for his pen, so he tucked the pen behind his fox ear. When he saw Lin Yebai, his eyes lit up as though he was looking at a rare treasure.
"All mutated individuals develop some animal features, more or less. You're the only exception."
"Currently, there are three possibilities."
"First, humans might have a new mutation direction, possibly related to the characters, though it's quite rare."
"Second, you haven't fully mutated yet, and you might end up like us."
"Third, did you notice the old hen? It's only the size that changed, nothing else. In animals, mutations are usually simpler and don't alter the original form…"
"Are you implying something?" Zhou Yuan furrowed his brows.
"Gok gok da! Gok gok da!" The old hen clucked twice, as if in agreement. Its throat seemed to be blocked by something, then it stretched its neck and shook its head, spitting out a flame.
"Gok gok da!" The old hen proudly puffed out its chest.
"Is that a rare fire-breathing chicken…?" Zhou Yuan reached out to stroke the hen's wings, amazed.
"…" Xia Houyun was speechless.
"Goodbye." Lin Yebai led Zhou Yuan out.
Zhou Yuan had originally planned to leave the old hen at the shelter, but now, due to its fire-breathing ability, he decided to bring it along, occasionally stroking it.
Would it be useful in a dangerous situation, spitting out a sea of fire?
Xia Houyun watched helplessly as the old hen was taken away, wanting to say something but hesitated.
"Mr. Song, we're going out for a walk."
Before leaving, Lin Yebai ran into Song Yao and spoke first.
"Be careful, don't go out at night. Stay where there's light."
"I hope Mr. Lin will join us and migrate together."
Song Yao still hadn't given up on keeping Lin Yebai.
Compared to Xia Houyun, Lin Yebai and Zhou Yuan were purer and more loyal.
"The terrain here isn't good, the sea level is rising, and this place might be submerged in water soon," Song Yao said seriously.
"Thank you. I'll think about it," Lin Yebai politely declined.
"Brother Song, I'll take this chicken back with me, and tomorrow I'll catch a few more to bring you some vegetables," said Zhou Yuan with a smile. The others were momentarily stunned. Among the many mutated beings in the shelter, both Summer Houyun and Zhou Yuan were the most handsome.
Houyun, wearing his white coat, always gave off an oppressive aura. Most people met him because they were injured, lying on the operating table while he cut and stitched them up. The anesthesia was never enough, and Houyun would operate without it, becoming the embodiment of a demon.
Zhou Yuan, on the other hand, was different. His personality was simple, bright, and cheerful, as if nothing could make him sad. His heart was clear, and in this environment, he shone like the sun.
Unfortunately, his hair was too shocking. Only Lin Yebai could get within three meters of him.
Zhou Yuan's driving skills had improved a lot. He turned on the car's radio, which was broadcasting an evacuation notice from the shelter:
"This city is no longer suitable for long-term residence. It's impossible to plant crops in large quantities, so the shelter cannot be self-sufficient. There will be heavy rains soon, and roads will be quickly destroyed by mutated plants and animals…"
"We've reached an agreement with the northern shelter to evacuate as soon as possible. We hope everything goes smoothly."
Hearing this, Zhou Yuan asked, "Lin Ge, do you think we should join the shelter and migrate together?"
"Let's observe for now," Lin Yebai replied. He wasn't familiar with the shelter.
"I think it's fine, especially if Lao Wang joins us too..." Zhou Yuan started talking about the past few days. He, Song Yao, and others had been searching the city for survivors, rescuing some people and bringing them back to the shelter.
However, his snake tail made it difficult for others to trust him, and it only terrified the already scared survivors more.
He had given up on rescue missions and decided to join the group collecting supplies.
The shelter wasn't far, less than an hour's drive.
The neighborhood was in even worse shape than before. After walking a few steps, you could see dried bloodstains. Most of the plants had withered, and only a few unusually tall plants remained, their roots and stems intertwined with twisted limbs and stark white bones. The leaves, once vibrant, were now covered in dark red and black patterns that looked like ghostly faces.
The building they lived in had its hallways completely sealed by spider webs.
"I wonder if Lao Wang is home?" Zhou Yuan used his snake tail to create a passage for them to enter. He let Lin Yebai go in first, then followed and sealed the gap as much as possible to minimize any open spaces.
"Lao Wang, look what I've brought back!" Zhou Yuan said, still holding the old hen.
Lao Wang wasn't home, and the door was locked.
Zhou Yuan squatted down and let a small snake crawl into the lockhole. After fiddling with it for a moment, the door opened.
["Gua Tian Li Fan Le Cuo"]: New lockpicking method unlocked!
["Hong Shao Pai Gu"]: Snake shock! Who knew it could be used like this?
A shadow crawled out from the door crack, and Zhou Yuan immediately pressed it down with his tail.