Chapter 25: The Instinct to Claim More Territory
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She instinctively became wary, thinking they were under attack by a plant.
Qin Baisong clutched his backside and turned to point at the iron pot. “Wife, it pinched me!”
The iron pot acted as though it had not heard him and continued pecking at the papaya.
In scarcely any time at all, the five-pound papaya had been reduced to a tiny remnant. At the same time, the pot’s chest swelled once more.
An Xian glanced at the iron pot, then at her husband, rolled her eyes, and continued walking out.
Qin Xiaoyu ignored him as well.
In the courtyard, Old Qin directed his eldest son to move the large vat into the abandoned brick house, fill it with some sand and soil, and then gather a few other useful things.
The old house was rather dark, making it suitable for incubating snake eggs.
Fan Zhenzhen held the snake eggs in her hands and watched anxiously, unable to help in the slightest—and she had no idea what she was doing, either.
As soon as she had returned, she had asked the system how to incubate snake eggs.
The system had answered her like this:
[Host, Sixth is an AI with an extremely limited storage capacity. It is only responsible for issuing missions and providing rewards. Normally, it does not support answering questions. However, as a friendly reminder, you could ask the people around you. You might make an unexpected discovery.]
What AI? It was practically artificial idiocy!
She had thought it was some kind of futuristic high technology and had imagined all sorts of things at first. Now, her illusions had been thoroughly shattered.
With no other choice, she had to ask the Qin family. The first person she approached was Grandma Qin, who looked extremely kind. Grandma Qin promptly went to fetch Grandpa Qin.
As it turned out, Grandpa Qin really did know what to do, giving his instructions in a clear and orderly fashion.
Once the snake eggs had been placed in the large vat and covered with weeds, the task was complete.
“I wonder how long it will take them to hatch.” Fan Zhenzhen was somewhat anxious. The moment she thought of the contract rune, she wanted it terribly.
According to the idiot Sixth, once a person contracted a pet beast, the two could communicate with each other with ease.
The eggs had only just begun incubating, yet she was already pondering what kind of pet beast she should contract in the future.
A dog? A cat? A fox? A bird?
Her peripheral vision happened to catch sight of the large vat. She immediately shuddered.
Absolutely not a snake.
An Xian assumed she had remembered the arm-thick king cobra and had been frightened into trembling. She patted her shoulder consolingly.
“Now that the snake eggs have been settled, why don’t you take a bath and wash the snake’s scent off yourself? That way, even if the snake comes looking for you, it’ll only find the vat instead of quietly crawling onto your bed in the middle of the night.”
Fan Zhenzhen: …
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Sob, could they please stop frightening her?
She began trembling even more violently. Even her eyes turned red. She opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say, and hurriedly turned and ran into the house.
She was running so fast that she tripped over a vine and nearly fell.
Wait—a vine?
Qin Xiaoyu lowered her head to look, then stepped on it.
The vine recoiled, leaving behind a broken length of stem before slowly retracting.
“Xiaoyu, this vine…” An Xian frowned.
Looking across the entire courtyard, apart from the garden, everything had been covered with thick cement and stone. There was no need to worry about aberrant plants invading in the short term.
Still, this gourd vine was far from reassuring. After all, it could continue extending without limit.
“It’s fine. It just instinctively wants to claim more territory.” Qin Xiaoyu thought for a moment, then leaned closer and whispered, “Mom, actually, I can hear the thoughts of aberrant plants.”
An Xian: …
Qin Xiaoyu glanced at the gourd vine. “It says the garden is too small. If it stretches out and gets carried away, there won’t be any room for the other plants to grow, so it wanted to climb onto the roof of the old house.”
An Xian: …
She was somewhat astonished, but not particularly surprised.
Perhaps there had simply been too many surprises already. After hearing enough unexpected things, nothing seemed unexpected anymore.
She looked at the old house. Its walls were made of good brick, but the roof was covered in red tiles. Because the tiles were thick and heavy enough, they had not been fastened with cement and could shift out of place.
If they let the gourd vine climb up there, wouldn’t it make a complete mess?
“Tell it to climb along the courtyard wall. If that won’t work, we’ll build it a trellis,” An Xian said.
Qin Xiaoyu stepped on the vine again and asked, “Did you hear that?”
[I heard.]
The voice sounded somewhat old, but it was better than when she had first heard it—not as hoarse or unpleasant.
Since she had given her word, An Xian intended to keep it. She glanced at her hands, then went straight off to find someone.
They chose a spot along the wall and began constructing a trellis.
Grandma Qin had originally planned to pick vegetables from the garden. When she went into the kitchen to get a basket, she noticed the remaining half of the papaya and simply took it with her.
The panda cub was growing larger by the day. Huihui was only a rabbit, and feeding the cub until it was full was becoming far too difficult.
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“I wonder who nearby keeps sheep or cattle. We’ll have to buy one and bring it back. Otherwise, in a few more days, this little fellow won’t have enough to eat.”
She encountered An Xian as she came out of the kitchen and voiced her concern.
An Xian furrowed her brows at that. For a moment, she truly could not think of anyone.
These days, whether people farmed crops or worked the land, they generally relied on machinery. Other than livestock farms, it was genuinely difficult to find cattle.
Sheep were no easier to locate. She had not seen anyone nearby raising them.
“I’ll go ask next door later,” An Xian said.
That afternoon, just after the men of the household had finished building the gourd trellis, loudspeakers blared throughout the village. After a lengthy, rising and falling melody, the village chief’s voice came through the speakers.
“Attention, everyone. Attention, everyone. Important announcement, important announcement. At four o’clock this afternoon, everyone is to gather at the central square for a meeting. At four o’clock this afternoon, everyone is to gather at the central square for a meeting. Please notify your fellow villagers. Please notify your fellow villagers.”
“Attention, everyone…”
“Attention, everyone…”
It was clear that this was an extremely important meeting. The village chief repeated the same announcement many times, apparently afraid someone might not hear it.
No one found it surprising. Anyone with eyes could see the changes in the plants, and the authorities were certain to issue some kind of notice.
It was only a little after two. With time to spare, the men simply took their weapons and brought Qin Xiaoyu outside, beginning a sweep centered around their home.
Wherever Qin Xiaoyu pointed, they struck. Anything that emitted a red glow was cut down and uprooted completely.
Although they could not see the red glow themselves, that did not matter. They examined every plant carefully. They believed that once they had seen enough of them, they would eventually recognize aberrant plants without needing to be told.
An Xian and Gu Suyun went from house to house, asking around, and finally found out who raised sheep.
Two villages away, a family surnamed Peng in Stone Slope Village kept more than a dozen sheep.
It was not a large flock, and at this time they did not even know whether any of the sheep were currently producing milk. If not, they would have to continue searching.
At four in the afternoon, nearly everyone still living in the village had gathered at the central square.
The crowd surged in all directions, yet the elderly and children clearly outnumbered the others, followed by the women. According to the household registry, the village had nearly four thousand people, but only around two thousand were present. The rest were either working or studying elsewhere.
Some had managed to return before the apocalypse, but many had been stranded on the roads.
From learning of the apocalypse, to confirming it, to its actual arrival, they had been given far too little time to react.
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