Embark on the Road

by Tai Baiyang

  “Double the food supplies in just 7 days?”

  Wang Liang’s expression immediately changed when he heard what Zhang Mu said. Worried that Zhang Mu might go back on his words, he said hurriedly, “I will instantly prepare the rewards for them.”

  Zhang Mu shrugged helplessly. He looked around Wang Liang’s room and saw an opened notebook on his table. The notebook recorded all the inputs and outputs of the various security base.

  “This guy bluff me into thinking he is poor. Look at this, his gains today alone is already of a sizable amount. Tsk tsk tsk. He can open a supermarket with these supplies. Sigh. How can he agree with just double the supplies? Doesn’t he know that 7 days later, the era merchant’s shop will open and the value of the food supplies will drop drastically?”

  ...... In an open field at the survival base, a van suddenly drove in loudly. All the workers turned their heads and looked at the van. The search party had already come back once. Are they going out again? Doesn’t look like it. It seems as though the pickup was filled with bags of rice?

  Just when everyone was in a daze, a sonic evolver got out from the van. His eyes were filled with jealousy as he shouted, “Who is Jiang Wei? Boss Zhang Mu and Boss Wang have prepared your reward, please come and collect immediately.”

  The crowd was in an uproar. There really were rewards, and looking at the amount of bags in the van, the rewards were not little.

  A few seconds later, a man squeezed through the crowd and came to the front of the van. His face was covered with dirt and a piece of cloth hung from his neck. He looked as though he just came out of a pile of dirt.

  “I am here. I am Jiang Wei. Is there really food supplies?”

  The sonic evolver looked at him with disdain and jealousy, thinking why didn’t such a good opportunity land on him. He humphed at Jiang Wei and said, “do I look like I am kidding with you?”

  “I don’t dare to think this way. How much food supplies are there?” Jiang Wei thought that he wouldn’t be able to get much food supplies as the evolvers might take most of it. The sonic evolver saw through his thoughts and shouted at him, “Are you thinking that I would take your food supplies? Do I look like I lack them?”

  The sonic evolver forgot to control his voice and his voice sounded throughout the entire survival base. More and more people started to gather around the van. Jiang Wei waved his hands and said, “I do not mean it that way. I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

  “Let me tell you clearly, there are exactly 200kg of rice and 50L of drinking water here. Don’t worry, no one dares to take from you.”

  After he finished, everyone’s eyes had a fire in them.

  “The reward was actually doubled in value! Boss Zhang is really willing to give. To think that my few months worth of salary is all in the van.”

  “He might not be lacking in food supplies. I heard that he carried away a few granaries.”

  “What are you saying? I heard that the granary is opened by Boss Zhang.”

  “Wow, he is so rich?”

  The people in the field started muttering and gossiping within themselves. If Zhang Mu heard what they say, he would not know whether to laugh or cry. Someone actually said that he opened a granary.

  “Get in the van. Boss Wang has ordered us to send the rewards to your house.”

  The evolver driving the car patted the stunned Jiang Wei and said, “Why are you still frozen? Get in the van. I still have something on later.”

  “Yes yes, I will get in the van. I will get in the van.” Jiang Wei was stuttering as he struggled to get onto the van and directed the driver to his house. It was really not his fault for being in shock. He had undergone the pain of hunger and was traumatised by the experience. He never wanted to undergo the same experience ever again.

  When he reached the survival base, he didn’t have any abilities, not even an increase in strength or agility. He was just a normal person who works hard to feed himself. No wonder he was so surprised when he heard that he was getting the 200kg worth of food supplies. At first, Jiang Wei thought that his news might not be accurate as he just took a quick look before running away. Hence, he was a bit worried when he heard that those who gave false news might be chased out of the survival base.

  However, he has food now. It felt like a dream.

  Jiang Wei’s ‘home’ was a warehouse. When they arrived, he started unloading the bags along with the evolver. When he finished, the people from the field had also arrived at his house and were looking enviously at the rewards displayed on the floor.

  “What is there to see? Boss Wang has given his word. If anyone is able to provide Boss Zhang with accurate news, he will give at least 100kg of food supplies to the person.”

  A few people within the crowd probed, “really?”

  “Of course. If it isn’t for the fact that I have a mission on hand, I will go myself and find some news.” the evolver started to become agitated.

  “What are you all standing here for? The time can be better spent finding news. You might even be rewarded.”

  Hearing this, the crowd looked at each other and dispersed.

  Chapter 83: Without Stopping

  The enticement of food was too much for the people who experienced hunger before. On the night the announcement was made, many people wanted to go out and search for news. However, Wang Liang had already ordered the guards to stop anyone from leaving the survival base. He also made another announcement.

  “If you don’t want your life anymore and want to leave the base, go ahead. However, if I find out, the rewards for your news will be canceled too. Is food more important than your life?”

  This announcement woke everyone up. If the rewards were canceled, what’s the point of risking their lives?

  Zhang Mu supported this announcement. When he saw how many people actually went to pack their bags to leave the survival base, he knew that he had underestimated their desires. Even someone as powerful as him wouldn’t dare to go out at night. An evolver without night vision was no match for any mutated animals in the dark, much least these ordinary humans who haven’t undergone any mutation.

  Although Zhang Mu wanted to use these people, he couldn’t watch them seek their own deaths. Also, if they all died, who would go and help him collect news in the day?

  The next day, the sun just started to climb over the horizon when Zhang Mu woke up. He looked at the black cocoon, and after realising that it was still the same, went out and rode on his mutated wolfdog. After greeting the guards at the gate, he proceeded to the next location written on his notebook.

  After a whole morning and afternoon of rushing, Zhang Mu’s face was covered with dust. However, he was brimming with excitement. The locations which he thought had a smaller probability of mutated animals turned out to contain large groups of mutated animals which were easy to kill. Out of the four that were listed, three of them hit the jackpot.

  He gained one hundred and ten beast-cores from today’s mission. Most of it was earth-type and water-type beast cores, but there were a few surprises. He had found some mutated deer along a small stream which turned out to be ice-types. He had to use some effort, but in the end, managed to kill it. However, much to his disappointment, there were only ten of them.

  Zhang Mu immersed his mind into the ring and started examining the beast-cores he had collected. Looking at the huge amount of beast-cores, he became enchanted.

  It was such a waste that the human race’s foundation is still weak now. Three months later when all the survival bases are established, some of these beast-cores can be sold at a much higher margin.

  Zhang Mu sighed in dissatisfaction. He will have to stock these beast-cores up. That way, if he meets any evolvers that need help breaking through to Level 2, he can not only earn a lot from these materials, but also form alliances with those stronger evolvers and earn some friendships for future use.

  However, after a whole day of work, both Zhang Mu and the wolfdog started to feel tire
d. The wolfdog not only had to carry Zhang Mu around but also had to support Zhang Mu whenever he needed a helping hand in a battle. Zhang Mu told it that he was training its stamina and combat ability. The wolfdog gave a look of disdain at Zhang Mu. Left with no choice, Zhang Mu took out some earth-type beast-cores to feed the wolfdog and then ignored him.

  When Zhang Mu returned to the survival base that day, the entire base was in an uproar. Zhang Mu had brought back a big black bear that was just killed and he split half of it among the four people that offered him the news. For the other half, he distributed it among everyone at the survival base. On average, each person got about 2 pieces of meat. Looking at their hungry faces, a riot might have happened if there weren’t guards present to stop them.

  Seeing this scene, Wang Liang complained to Zhang Mu while they were alone in front of a campfire. He told Zhang Mu that if he continued to do this, his position as their leader would be shaken.

  Zhang Mu looked at him over a piece of the barbecued bear paw and said, “If you are not going to eat this, I shall not be polite and help myself.”

  Wang Liang helplessly took over a piece of bear paw and started munching on it. He said with his mouth full, “Brother Mu, what are your future plans?”

  Zhang Mu was enjoying the barbecued bear paw which was specially prepared for him and Wang Liang. Distracted, he replied Wang Liang, “what else can I do? Anyway, I realised that I do not need to borrow food supplies from you anymore. The people seem happier if I just gave them meat.”

  “Of course. In the survival base, 500g of meat is worth at least 10kg of rice, and that is cheap. Processed meat is worth more. The last time I had this kind of fresh meat was when that Era Merchant was fighting and I managed to sneak a few pieces for myself. I wanted to drag the rest of the meat away but the walking dead had already reached it.”

  Zhang Mu mysteriously blinked at Wang Liang and said, “So how do you feel after eating this meat? You do know that every mutated animal has a different type of energy and if that energy clash with yours, you might faint or worse, you might die.”

  Seeing Wang Liang’s face turned green, Zhang Mu casually continued eating his food and laughed, “I am just kidding. If eating the meat will cause problems, we will all be ill already. Even if I want to die, I won’t drag the whole survival base to die with me.”

  Hearing this, Wang Liang’s started to calm down. He was really frightened just now because he knew that Zhang Mu has more knowledge than him. Sometimes, he wondered whether Zhang Mu really was a human or was he saying the truth when they first met, that he was a merchant from another world.

  However, Zhang Mu’s face got serious as he continued eating. He told Wang Liang in a firm tone, “the flesh of a mutated animal is harmless. Not only can it fill our stomach, it can also strengthen our body. This effect is especially obvious in a normal human being. For evolvers, the effect isn’t as obvious. The more powerful the evolver is, the lesser the effects. However, you must remember this. We can eat the flesh of mutated animals, but we cannot anyhow consume the beast-cores. Once you have reached the level where you need to use them, I will teach you. You do not have to wonder about its uses now. If not, the warnings that I just gave will become reality.”

  “Yes, I will remember it.” Wang Liang chose to believe Zhang Mu because he knew that Zhang Mu had nothing to gain from lying to him.

  Zhang Mu looked at the people far away who were enjoying their meal. He felt emotional.

  “Once we have lost everything, we start to wish for the simplest things.”

  “However, these simple things require us to risk our lives for it.”

  Zhang Mu muttered the last sentence softly. Wang Liang didn’t catch what Zhang Mu was saying.

  “Paradise, Era, are they hell?”

  Chapter 84: The Smell Of Blood

  As dinner almost finished, Zhang Mu forced Wang Liang to open his bottle of five-grain alcohol, saying that he wanted to have a taste of it. Under the influence of alcohol, Zhang Mu fell into a deep sleep and forgot what happened after that.

  When Zhang Mu woke up, he realised that he was back in his house. Someone had carried him home. His throat was dry and burning from last night. Zhang Mu laughed at himself. His alcohol tolerance was really low.

  However, his body was only eighteen years old now and his master at the old Thieves Sect never let him touch alcohol. Hence, it was expected that he couldn’t drink much. This was his first time drinking alcohol after his rebirth. Wang Liang must have laughed at him yesterday.

  He remembered that a few years later, he would always drink when he was bored or cold. Thus, his alcohol tolerance increased. He would probably never experience this drunk feeling anymore.

  Putting his thought aside, Zhang Mu looked at the sky and realised it was still early. He predicted that Yuan Rui was still asleep and walked out of the house alone, not wanting to wake her up.

  Glancing at the empty streets, Zhang Mu walked towards Wang Liang’s place. When he saw Wang Liang, he was just preparing to go out with his search party to find a new source of supplies. However, the minute he saw Zhang Mu, Wang Liang looked as though he saw a ghost and couldn’t speak a word.

  After a long time, he finally managed to utter, “Brother, how are you still sober?”

  “What happened?”

  Zhang Mu looked at Wang Liang awkwardly, wondering if he did anything wrong or said anything bad yesterday. He was nervous and probed, “Liang, are you laughing at me because of my poor alcohol tolerance?”

  Wang Liang waved his hands bitterly and exclaimed, “Brother, have you forgotten what happened yesterday?”

  “I seemed to be drunk. I can’t remember anything that had happened,” Zhang Mu shrugged.

  Unexpectedly, Wang Liang said something surprising, “You finished my 20 bottles of alcohol all by yourself! If you say that your alcohol tolerance is low, no one will dare to claim that theirs is high anymore.”

  How is that possible? Did he drink 20 bottles of five-grain alcohol? He didn’t even drink so much in his past life.

  “Liang, are you drunk too? You made a mistake right? The 20 bottles were shared among a few people.” Zhang Mu looked at Wang Liang in doubt.

  Wang Liang immediately got agitated and couldn’t keep his composure anymore. He raised his voice at Zhang Mu, “Brother Mu, there was no one else present. I just wanted to show off my collection to you. Who knows that you would down all the 20 bottles yourself without even a blink of the eye? I didn’t even get a sip of my own alcohol. 10 minutes in and I am left with just 20 empty bottles.”

  20 bottles of pure spirit in 10 minutes without stopping? That is really very exaggerating.

  “I am now suspecting that your bladder is made of gold. To think that it didn’t explode from all your drinking.”

  Wang Liang’s muttering woke Zhang Mu up. If he really drank 20 bottles of spirits and his body has no reaction, this is not just purely an issue about alcohol tolerance.

  There is only one other possibility.

  Zhang Mu quickly turned his head and look at his left shoulder which showed no signs of abnormality. He immediately understood what had happened. He had been controlled by the Bloodvine Lotus yesterday. No wonder he felt his throat burning when he woke up.

  So, the Bloodvine Lotus loves alcohol so much? That was unexpected.

  Zhang Mu had no choice but to explain to Wang Liang, “It might be that my body has changed after the cataclysm.”

  Wang Liang had regained his composure and replied, “you can go and find your mutated animals now since you have recovered. I have to clear the walking dead at the North of the city. The survival base there still hasn’t dared to act even after you sold them the special equipment. Since they haven’t acted, I shall take over.”

  Seeing the determined look on Wang Liang’s face, Zhang Mu decided to keep quiet. Although entering other people’s territory seemed invasive, there was some sense in what Wang Liang said. If you don’t dare to act, l
et me do it.

  “Brother Mu, you drank too much yesterday so I helped to pick out news that seemed more accurate. If you think is okay, you can go to the places directly without filtering anymore.”

  “Thanks so much for the effort.” Zhang Mu smiled.

  “You can have a look first. I need to leave as there are quite a few areas with walking dead that need to be cleared out today.” After seeing Zhang Mu’s supportive gaze, Wang Liang nodded his head and passed the notebook in his hand to Zhang Mu before leaving the base.

  Watching the troop leave, Zhang decided to act too and went back to drag the half-asleep wolfdog out.

  ...

  Similar to yesterday, Zhang Mu went to the places filtered by Wang Liang and managed to gain close to a hundred beast cores. The success rate was about 60 percent, same as yesterday.

  What happened on the first day of his hunting must have been really due to bad luck.

  When Zhang Mu returned to the base after a day of work, he realised that the atmosphere was a bit off. He had a bad feeling. Immediately, he ordered the mutated wolfdog to increase its speed and leaped over the gates without waiting for the guards to open it. He didn’t stop when he entered the city but went straight to the residence of Wang Liang.

  However, Wang Liang was not there. Zhang Mu was puzzled. He should be here.

  At this moment, the wolfdog’s nose twitched and it gave a low howl to warn Zhang Mu, signaling him to follow it.

  Zhang Mu noticed that the wolfdog seemed to have picked up a smell and hurriedly got onto its back.

  The wolfdog brought him to a remote area at the far end of the base. It was an empty piece of land that used to be a man-made pool. The wolfdog was running at a fast speed. As they got nearer, Zhang Mu was able to distinguish the smell in the air.

  This familiar smell. There is no mistake. This is the smell of blood!

  Chapter 85: Power of North City

  The wolfdog sprinted over and leaped into the air. A scene immediately appeared before Zhang Mu’s eyes.