Duan Juan was happy to find Lin Qiao and Wu Chengyue awake when she arrived at Lin Qiao's apartment. However, what made her happier was the report held in her hand.
"Look! Leng Xuantong said that this kind of catmint is highly effective against those creatures. He has run experiments with the catmint in different mutation degrees. According to the results, less mutated catmint is more effective. The uninfected catmint would definitely lead to a better result."
On hearing what she said, Lin Qiao quickly reached out and took over the report, then opened it and started reading carefully. Wu Chengyue walked to her and took Teng out of her arms, then stood by her side and lowered his head to read the report.
"So, the purer the catmint, the more effective it is? But, over ninety-nine percent of the plants out there have mutated after the second eruption of the virus. Where can we find uninfected catmint?" Wu Chengyue knitted his brows and asked.
That result was meaningless.
There was one thing he cared about though. "What's the best result of Leng Xuantong's experiments so far?"
At that point, Duan Juan dropped her eyes and gave a sigh, "He has run out of living test subjects. He's going to ask Chief to send a squad out to capture some of those creatures alive. So far, the best result is that the mixture of catmint and the strange root can cause a small-range paralysis."
"Paralysis?" Wu Chengyue heard her and then read the report again.
'It causes paralysis, but the efficacy is short. The juice of the current catmint can lead to about ten seconds of paralysis. The less infected catmint delivers a longer efficacy.' That was written in the report.
That was why Leng Xuantong believed uninfected catmint would probably be able to kill those creatures.
"Can't we purify it?" Lin Qiao furrowed her eyebrows slightly but soon relaxed them; it was good news anyway.
"Why don't we just go there and take a look now?" Xiao Licheng joined the conversation impatiently.
"Good idea!" Lin Qiao immediately stood up. She glanced at Wu Chengyue and Teng, then reached out and took Teng back from his father's arms. Putting a hand under the boy's little butt and the other on his back, she walked outside quickly while the others quickly followed her out.
Shui Mingjun arrived at Leng Xuantong's lab together with them; he was there to return the first diary. He heard about the catmint once he arrived.
"What? We need uninfected, fresh catmint? Where are we supposed to find that now?" Shui Mingjun looked at Leng Xuantong with confusion.
"But, only the scent of fresh catmint can keep them away. And only that is effective on those creatures when it's mixed together with the roots," said Leng Xuantong to him.
Shui Mingjun was a master of intelligence work. He might be slightly better at finding things than the others.
"All plants out there are infected. There is no way we can find uninfected catmint… They are not cats! Why is catmint effective on them?"
"They would be thrilled to smell catmint if they were cats. But in fact, they are afraid of catmint. You can't paralyze a cat by injecting it with catmint," Leng Xuantong said with a smile.
Shui Mingjun pondered upon his words and found them making sense. "You're right. But, I don't think it's possible for us to find uninfected catmint. We can try to find some less infected ones. This kind of plant existed in many areas. Let me think… The nearest place where that kind of plant grows is… Minnan Province."
At that moment, Qi Lansheng, who had been quiet all the time, abruptly turned and gave Leng Xuantong a deep roar, then pointed outside the door. Hearing her voice and watching her movement, Leng Xuantong figured out her meaning and quickly walked toward the door.
"What's wrong?" Shui Mingjun followed behind him confusedly. He didn't understand why the zombie lady gave a roar and pointed outside.
"Chief and some others are here," Leng Xuantong said. Then, he paused and said to Bao Xiaoying, "Xiaoying, go and get the most recent experiment report from my desk."
"Sure!"
Leng Xuantong and Shui Mingjun walked out of the lab and stood in the hallway, looking at the gate. Before long, a few people walked in.
"I have a few living underground creatures. Can you do an experiment with those and show us?" Lin Qiao said to Leng Xuantong at the sight of him.
"Oh, you have more? Great! That's exactly what I need," Leng Xuantong had his eyes glowing.
As Lin Qiao and the kids showed up, the people in the lab all curiously looked at Teng.
Leng Xuantong's zombie son hid behind his mother's legs and stuck his head out to curiously look at Wu Yueling. He looked at her, not because he sensed her aroma and that made him hungry. Instead, it was because he finally saw someone shorter than him.
There was always a magical attraction between the kids at about the same age.
Wu Yueling became even quieter than before when she saw the strangers. She followed closely behind Lin Qiao, even forgetting about her father.
On hearing Leng Xuantong's response, Lin Qiao handed her son to Wu Chengyue without saying a word. Teng would understand her meaning anyway.
"Take me where you kept them. I'll let them out," she said to Leng Xuantong, then walked toward the lab. She asked him to take her, but in fact, she had been there before and knew where it was.
The floor, ceiling, and walls of the room where the underground creatures were kept were all covered in the diluted juice of the fruits on the roots that Lin Qiao brought back from the cave. In the middle of the room was a large cage, which was covered with the diluted juice as well.
Those creatures would roar agitatedly when they were put in that cage, but they wouldn't dare to get near it. After spending some time roaring, they would force themselves to quiet down.
Lin Qiao walked to the cage side, and then entered the woods in her space to bring out an underground gorilla which was passed out with starvation, before throwing it into the cage.
"Roar…" The boar sized underground gorilla gave a weak roar when Lin Qiao brought it out of the space. But soon, it was irritated by the smell of the roots.
"Roar…" It was agitated, but it could barely stand. It shambled for a short while before it found a steady foothold.