75 The Car By the Roadside

While Lin Qiao was fighting the giant snake, the ears of Junjun, who was waiting by the roadside, suddenly moved. She heard a faint sound of a car, so she turned her head to look at the other side of the road. 

She didn't forget that she had already become a zombie, and hence was instinctively vigilant against human beings. 

Soon afterward, she went down to the vegetable field from behind Lin Qiao's car, then ran away with large steps in the direction which Lin Qiao took earlier on. She couldn't run smoothly, stumbling all the way because her legs weren't flexible enough. But fortunately, she was still able to run, just not as fast as she wanted. 

A few minutes later, a military off-road car showed up at the end of the road behind, and soon came to where Lin Qiao's car was parked. 

The car was parked next to Lin Qiao's car. Then, Wu Chengyue, Meng Yue, and the soldier who had been driving the car came out of it. They surrounded Lin Qiao's car and spent a short while observing it, then turned to the farm by the roadside. 

"So, there are some crops and an orchard. Hasn't anyone come to this area before?" Meng Yue looked at the disordered vegetables in the filed in surprise and said. While speaking, she let out the tiny grass in her palm again, then reached her hand toward the field and closed her eyes to feel something. 

Wu Chengyue glanced at Lin Qiao's car, then looked at the vegetable field and the orchard on the hill at a distance, remaining silent. 

The soldier beside him gazed at the orchard and said, "Why did the owner of this car park here? To search for food in this farm? But, the crops here are clearly infected and inedible. And, that orchard is a very dangerous place. How dare they go in there? Aren't they afraid that they may not have a chance to come back alive?"

Wu Chengyue stared at the orchard for a while as well, then said, "Some things are fighting in there… Should be mutant animals."

Speaking of mutant animals, all three of them wore a serious look. 

Meng Yue nodded and said, "I felt it. A Level-four mutant beast, highly dangerous. But, it's no match for you. And, it's normal for mutant beasts to exist here, as this place is near a mountain area."

They were currently located on the edge of Sea City. If they kept moving for a short distance, they would enter Zhe Province. Therefore, this area was surrounded by mountains, and so was the small town that they passed by earlier. 

Wu Chengyue nodded in response. Mutant beasts weren't the only dangerous creatures in mountain areas. The most dangerous things in mountains and woods areas were those unpredictable mutant plants. 

Meng Yue glanced at the grass in her palm and then said, "All plants in this area are infected already, and none is edible. If the people who own this car have entered that orchard, I doubt they can find any food. And, apart from mutant beasts, I think a high-level zombie is also in the orchard."

She knitted her brows, as the orchard had been giving her a strong sense of danger, making her feel a little uneasy. 

She understood that that feeling was given to her by the mutant plants and animals in that area. 

She possessed botanical power, but her power couldn't be used for launching fierce attacks. Instead, her power enabled her to be extra sensitive to the plants around her, and grow plants fast. She was also an excellent tracker. 

Fortunately, she herself had some fighting capacity; adding her sensitiveness to her surrounding environments, she wasn't weak at all. Otherwise, she wouldn't be carrying missions together with Wu Chengyue and the other soldiers all the time. 

Suddenly, she fixed her eyes on the grass in her palm, and then the look in her face turned serious. After that, she raised her head to stare at the part of the orchard which had been giving her that strong sense of danger, trying to feel something very carefully. 

Discovering her move, Wu Chengyue focused his attention on her face. 

"What? Is anything happening in there?" He asked. 

Wu Chengyue wasn't going to enter that orchard, because that place was way too dangerous. As he needed to catch up with his daughter as quickly as possible, he didn't want to waste his time in this place. However, when he saw Lin Qiao's car, his judgment made him stop. 

He believed that if the people who owned the car had entered the orchard not long ago, they should have run out in a panic by now. Otherwise, the two creatures in the orchard wouldn't be so concentrating on fighting each other, and would try catching the preys first. 

Meng Yue opened her eyes and said with a serious look, "I felt it! Ling Ling is in the orchard! If I guessed right, the weird female zombie should be there as well."

While speaking, she raised her hand to point at where Lin Qiao was. 

Hearing her words, the look in Wu Chengyue's face changed slightly. He stared at that direction expressionlessly and asked, "Are you sure?"

Meng Yue nodded affirmatively and responded with, "My feelings can't be wrong! Let's go in and take a look first. I think it might be the one which is fighting that mutant beast now!" 

Wu Chengyue darted out from beside Mengyue and went down into the field without waiting for her to finish her words. Within a blink, he had crossed the field and rushed into the orchard. 

"Licheng, you wait here," Meng Yue hurriedly gave an order to the soldier, then nimbly leaped into the vegetable field and followed Wu Chengyue into the orchard. 

"Yue, be careful!" The soldier whose name was Xiao Licheng shouted at Meng Yue, as he was a little worried about her. 

Wu Chengyue was powerful, but unlike him, Meng Yue wasn't a strong fighter. So, it was still too dangerous for her to run into the orchard now. But fortunately, because of her botanical power, the mutant plants wouldn't attack her.

…

Lin Qiao watched the giant snake coil up and felt that it looked like a giant pile of poo… or, like an iron tower. It was posing for both offense and defense, as it was now able to defend itself easily, or reach out its head to attack the enemy.

Lin Qiao stood about five meters away from the snake in a lunge position, legs bent slightly and claws before her chest, preparing to attack. 

After watching the snake recover quickly from the pain, she understood that she now needed to focus all her attention in dealing with it. 

The snake had its head buried in its coiled body for a while, then slowly raised it, staring at Lin Qiao coldly. The wounds on its head had stopped bleeding already. 

Lin Qiao again sensed the scent of the snake's blood. It was a mixture of a fishy smell and a thick sweet aroma, and was making her feel more and more hungry.

When the snake slowly raised its head, Lin Qiao narrowed her eyes. She fixed those pitch-dark eyes on the triangular snakehead which was as big as the head of a human baby. 

Suddenly, the snake lunged its head at Lin Qiao and uncoiled its body momentarily. It moved incredibly fast, pouncing on her along with a gust of fishy-smelled wind. 

Lin Qiao squatted immediately. She didn't step back, but rushed directly at the snake.

Snakes weren't able to move in a straight line, but could only wriggle. Therefore, the prey might have relatively larger chance of survival if they fled in a straight route.