After reaching an agreement with the others, Lin Qiao walked outside, pointing at those divided potatoes as she said, "These are ready to be planted, and these can be stored for a long time, or Lin Feng and his people can eat them. The pumpkin seeds are in the little box on that cabinet over there, soaking in the water."
"Eh? You soaked the pumpkin seeds in the water? Won't they be spoilt?" Qiu Lili asked.
Lin Qiao shook her head and said, "No. They're absorbing the energy in the lake water. So, I think there's only a small possibility for them to mutate after being planted out there. But still, we have to wait and see how the first batch of crops turns out."
The others nodded in agreement.
Lin Qiao then walked to the strawberry field and called out the two level-four water-powered zombies among the group, also picking an earth-powered one who was turning up the soil aside. She said to those three zombies, "From now on, you'll be following their orders. When I'm not here, you can only stay in that field, and are not allowed to go anywhere else. If I found you leaving without permission when I got back, you'll be dead."
While speaking, Lin Qiao raised a hand and released a stream of dark mist to threaten those zombies.
"Don't worry. I won't let them run away, unless they want me to crush their heads," said Yun Meng. Once she started talking, those zombies quickly took a few steps toward Lin Qiao, then looked at Yun Meng with fear.
Lin Qiao turned to Yun Meng and said, "I guess they don't dare to run. You've scared their courage away."
Yun Meng shrugged and responded with a faint simile, "I didn't mean it. I'm just at a higher level."
That afternoon, Lin Qiao sent Xie Dong, Shen Yujen, Yun Meng, and the three level-four zombies out of her space.
As she returned to the space, she heard a series of excited howls from the woods. That was clearly the sound of the zombie dog which had been running around in the woods.
It seemed that the dog was playing with the snake. The weird thing was that the snake had been keeping a distance from the lake all this time, and Lin Qiao couldn't tell why.
The snake had stayed in her space for quite a few days. It hadn't been eating or drinking, and only hiding in that woods, being harassed by the zombie dog from time to time.
She knew that snakes could survive for a long time over one meal. However, she also wondered how much food this huge king cobra have to eat to fulfill its stomach.
Not to mention the fact that it was injured… Would it be tortured to death by the zombie dog?
Qiu Lili didn't exit the space, but went up to the roof. She spread a blanket on the stage by the edge of the roof and lied down on her stomach. She then raised her shanks and rested her chin on her palms while looking at the other zombies in Lin Qiao's space. Hearing the noises from the woods, she asked, "You brought the snake in when you captured Tang He. Aren't you gonna eat it? Or, are you going to keep it as stored food?"
Lin Qiao looked at her and responded, "I might do what you said if it were a fierce dog. But, I don't think it's fierce, so I don't plan to eat it. I want to send it out, but it wouldn't let me get close."
"Why did you send your dog to torture it every day then?" Qiu Lili was confused.
Lin Qiao shrugged and said, "I didn't send the dog. Bowwow is bored in here too. I guess that's why he went to play with the snake. I've told it to not kill the snake, so they're only playing."
Qiu Lili looked at her and said helplessly, "Look at you. You could have a normal, living pet, yet you chose a dead dog. Now, you're finally keeping a living animal, but it turns out to be such an enormous snake! Are you gonna make it your mount?"
Lin Qiao laughed, "Mount? It's still too small for that. It has to be larger to be my mount. It's only as thick as my waist now."
Qiu Lili replied, "You can keep it for a few years and it'll probably grow larger. It's mutated after all. Mutated animals can grow limitlessly."
Lin Qiao scratched her chin and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea! Maybe it'll grow into a huge and fat snake in a few years, and I'll be able to mount it."
Qiu Lili paused for a second, then looked at Lin Qiao and responded confusedly, "Eh? Are you really gonna do that?"
Lin Qiao looked back at her and said, "I heard what you said and I think it'll work. But before that, I need to figure out a way to communicate with it."
While speaking, she excitedly headed toward the woods, leaving Qiu Lili gazing at her back without knowing what to do. "Will that snake hate me when it finds out that this is my idea?" she murmured.
On the other side, Lin Qiao entered the woods and walked further in. She piled all the rice and flour in the middle of the woods, along with many other supplies.
Every time when she collected some new supplies, she would only give a part of them to Lin Wenwen, because the latter's space wasn't large enough to store it all.
At that time, a twenty-meter-long snake and a hairless zombie dog were circling around her supplies.
Lin Qiao flashed onto the piles of bagged rice and yelled at the zombie dog, "You two, don't play in here! I'll kill you if you break one of these bags!"
She then raised a hand and sent a stream of dark mist out. The mist turned into a dark dragon, baring its teeth and brandishing its claws while flying at the dog and the snake.
The two animals which were playing quite happily immediately turned and ran away.
The zombie dog stopped chasing the snake and ran out of the woods while barking.
Lin Qiao took back the dark mist as she gave the dog a glance and then followed behind the snake.
Soon, she blocked the snake's way, staring at it.
Seeing her, the snake quickly turned and attempted to run in another direction. However, Lin Qiao flashed across the air and blocked its road again.
After that, the black snake gave up on running. It coiled its body into a small hill and rested its head on it as it looked at Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao stood in front of it, without saying a word. The two of them simply stared at each other.
Gradually, the king cobra drew its head backward, and at last, it buried its head in its coiled body.
Lin Qiao stayed silent.
She observed the snake's condition and found that its injuries were still bad. Although those injuries were showing no signs of recovering, it was already good enough that they weren't getting any worse.
At least, the snake wouldn't die from those injuries.
The snake had its own energy, but earlier on, it ran out of energy when running from Tang He. By now, it hadn't regained even one percent of its energy. Originally, it planned to take a good sleep to rest.
However, the zombie dog hunted it almost every day since it came into this space. To run from the dog, the snake used up its regained energy. Therefore, it's injuries never healed, and only stayed the way they were.
At this time, Lin Qiao found it tired, starving, and injured. Undoubtedly, it would not get better this way.