Chapter 40 - 38: I Am Still Too Kind

Chapter 40: Chapter 38: I Am Still Too Kind

The sky was already growing dark, and under the shroud of mist, it seemed even gloomier.

In an instant, the entire picking orchard lost its previous joy and tranquility, filled now with slaughter, chaos, gore, and fear—but not a single shred of resistance.

It was a completely one-sided massacre.

The strawberry greenhouse.

Before the mist descended, this was the most crowded area. After the mist, it became a living Hell.

A bloody handprint slammed against the plastic wall, followed by a face. The person was visibly struggling, thrashing wildly, before a sudden spray of blood dyed the surrounding plastic red.

The struggling stopped.

The body slowly slid to the ground.

One could sense the despair and terror of those within even from the outside; imagine what it was like for the people inside the greenhouse itself.

In just a few minutes.

The people here had either fled or been devoured by the Mutants.

The sole exception was a pretty young woman huddled in a corner, trembling and clutching her pet pit bull. She was scared witless, yet no Mutants approached her.

It was as if they hadn’t seen her at all.

"Don’t be scared, son. The monsters have all gone outside. It looks like they didn’t find us."

"Just don’t make a sound."

Her left hand was clapped over her own mouth, her right over her son’s, as she whispered words of comfort to the son in her arms, who was supposedly ’trembling with fear’.

As she spoke, she felt something licking her right hand.

’It’s my son.’

’He’s responding to me, and he’s not making a sound. What a good boy.’

’So smart.’

The woman relaxed and began to speak, "Mommy didn’t raise you for noth— HSS..."

Before she could finish, she realized something was wrong.

’Why isn’t the spot he’s licking wet and warm?’

’It doesn’t feel like a tongue. It’s more like...’

’...someone is scraping my skin with a wire brush!’

’It hurts.’

She couldn’t help but look down.

Her son was emaciated, completely transformed.

As she stared in shock, her son slowly raised his head.

Their eyes met.

Her son’s eyes were completely bloodshot, and reflecting the gore all around, they seemed to shimmer with a red glow.

"AHHH!"

"Monster!"

The woman screamed and, without hesitation, tried to fling the pit bull away.

However, the pit bull clamped down hard on the woman’s palm. Not only did she fail to throw it, but the motion tore at the wound, the intense pain nearly causing her to pass out.

The next moment, the woman wished she had passed out, because she had to watch as half her hand was bitten off. Blood gushed out like a sprinkler in the greenhouse.

Except a sprinkler sprays water.

Her hand was spraying blood.

The visual shock delivered a hundred-thousand-volt jolt to her psyche.

"Help me!"

The woman scrambled to her feet and ran, but she tripped and fell flat on her face. Pain shot through her again, but before she could even scream, she felt an immense crushing force on the back of her neck.

Her consciousness faded in an instant.

「Inside the house.」

Xia Yu’s gaze suddenly locked onto the strawberry greenhouse.

’All the Mutants came running out. How could there still be anyone alive in there?’

She sensed something was off.

But after watching carefully for a while, the angle prevented her from spotting any anomalies.

Suddenly, a chill shot through Xia Yu. The feeling of being watched by death itself made her instantly drop her facade and snap into a combat stance, her hand even reaching for the gun at her hip!

SWISH.

Her gaze shot toward the source of the danger.

The top of the courtyard wall was empty. What danger?

Her brow furrowed instantly.

’What was that?’

Far from relaxing, Xia Yu grew even more tense. Yet after waiting a moment, she still couldn’t perceive any danger.

’Was it my imagination?’

’Impossible!’

She had a vague suspicion. Gradually, she faded back into the shadows and vanished.

「A few minutes later.」

A figure emerged from the darkness.

It was the pit bull, now grown even more hideous. It first glanced warily at Xie Shaokun, its long black tongue darting out to lick its nose. Ultimately... its primal terror of the dangerous man made it choose to retreat for now, and it turned its head toward the courtyard.

From that direction came the cries of the weak, the alluring scent of blood, and the faint smell of people.

SWOOSH.

With a light leap, it landed on the courtyard wall.

Xie Chunlan was completely consumed by grief. Her hands were pressed tightly against the wound on her son’s neck, trying to stop him from bleeding to death, and she was utterly oblivious to the approaching danger.

She only felt a sudden, inexplicable chill.

"Don’t be afraid, son. You’re going to be okay."

"Mommy will save you."

"You have to hold on."

Seeing that her son wouldn’t make it if she just kept waiting, she hastily wiped away her streaming tears and scrambled to pick him up, intending to rush him to a hospital.

Just then, the pit bull leaped. It was even faster than a Mutant, easily clearing the nearly ten-meter distance and lunging for Xie Chunlan’s neck.

Just as tragedy was about to strike again...

SQUELCH.

The sound of teeth sinking into flesh.

Tragedy had truly struck.

Faced with such overwhelming power, Xie Chunlan was just an ordinary person with no way to fight back, especially since the pit bull had ambushed her.

Caught by surprise, even Xie Shaokun would have found it difficult to dodge.

What hope did she have?

"Mom!"

Xia Feng’s eyes flew open, his face a mask of terror. Though he had been on the verge of death, he now experienced a sudden burst of lucidity. But he didn’t have Xie Chunlan’s courage; instead, he began to frantically shove his own mother away.

"Let go of me!"

"Hurry!"

"I don’t want to die!"

He screamed.

At that moment, Xie Chunlan stared at her son, her expression unreadable, but she chose to let go.

THUD.

Xia Feng hit the ground and scrambled desperately toward the courtyard gate.

He didn’t look back.

"Live..."

Xie Chunlan whispered weakly, grabbing hold of the pit bull.

She summoned a great burst of strength from nowhere, allowing the pit bull to claw and tear at her face, but she refused to let go.

’An opening!’

Xia Yu’s figure shot forward. The Blood Butterfly in her hand plunged accurately and ruthlessly into the pit bull’s skull. With a sharp twist of her wrist...

...the sound of scraping bone echoed.

The immensely strong pit bull was like a robot that had lost power, instantly going still. However, its bite force had been so great that its teeth were buried deep in Xie Chunlan’s shoulder, leaving its body hanging from her.

Xia Yu deftly cut open the pit bull’s skull and found a Crystal Core.

"Not bad," she murmured.

She looked at the pit bull, unsurprised. "I saw someone bring a pet in earlier. I figured a Mutated Beast was bound to appear."

"And sure enough, one did."

Just like humans and plants, when faced with the sudden, massive influx of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power, animals also undergo various changes. They are broadly categorized as Mutated Beasts, Spirit Transformation Beasts, and Spiritual Ability Beasts.

Among these, over ninety percent of Mutated Beasts were formerly household pets or captive animals from zoos.

’So the danger I sensed earlier was from this thing?’

Xia Yu furrowed her delicate brow.

’I can’t be sure.’

’I’ll assume it wasn’t.’

’I can’t let my guard down.’

She turned to leave.

"Please... save Xia Feng..."

Xie Chunlan clearly never expected that this niece she had always bullied could be so powerful; it was hard to believe. She couldn’t process it all, simply reaching out to grab the corner of Xia Yu’s shirt.

Xia Yu took a quick step forward, her back still turned.

Xie Chunlan’s hand grabbed at empty air. She stumbled and fell to the ground, and the dead pit bull’s sharp claws just happened to pierce her chest over her heart.

"Urk."

Already running on fumes from her final burst of life, her death now accelerated.

Her vision blurred.

Even as she died, she never saw Xia Yu look back.

Before dying, she had only one thought: ’Why is Xia Yu so heartless? Doesn’t she have any regard for family at all?’

’If I’d known this would happen, I never would have taken pity on her.’

’As I thought.’

’I’m just too kind.’