Chapter 396: Mutant Species of Cactus
Chapter 396: Mutant Species of Cactus
Liang Ziyu is already distributing blankets to the men in the yard. There aren’t many men in total. Including Yun Tao, Luo Feifan, Zhan Lian, and Liang Ziyu himself, there are only seven. The remaining three are from Liang Ziyu and Zhao Ru’s group.
Luo Feifan still sits at the table, using his expertise to call Yun Tao and the other three men his brothers. He says that now, since everyone is in trouble, they will no longer kill, set fires, or do anything that violates the great principles of humanity. From now on, they’re a team, sharing joys and sorrows together.
An Ran comes in holding a storage box. Zhan Lian has already coaxed Doll to sleep, so An Ran spreads the blanket on the bed. She turns around, ready to spread the blanket in Little Mint’s room, but finds that Little Mint is not there.
What is she doing? An Ran feels strange and runs out to look for her. She doesn’t find her outside the yard, but finds her in the field beyond the gate.
Little Mint stands in the field, holding a handful of crystal cores in one hand and a small bucket in the other, putting crystal cores into the bucket.
Hengheng also holds a small hoe in his hand, squatting on the ground, carefully searching for crystal cores in the moonlight, as if looking for crystal cores is the only game he can play now.
An Ran’s heart feels a bit heavy. These two children are strangely sensible. The scene is filled with both innocence and warmth, a rare moment of peace and beauty in the apocalypse. An Ran doesn’t disturb them and quietly returns to her room.
“Go take a bath. Luo Feifan has boiled a large tank of hot water.” Zhan Lian puts the sleeping Doll on the bed and lies down beside her. One hand gently pats Doll’s small body like a feather, then tells An Ran, clearly very devoted to putting his daughter to sleep, not wanting to get up and give the spot to her.
Seeing this, An Ran smiles and says, “I couldn’t take a bath for several months before, but now I’m forced to take several baths a day, and my skin is almost rubbed raw.”
Though she says this, An Ran still takes some fresh clothes and goes to the bathroom. The bathroom is the communal one in the house, with a large bathtub full of hot water and various containers all filled with water by Zhao Ru.
Looking at the clear water filling the room, An Ran feels it’s an incredible luxury. Others struggle to get even a single bucket of water, but in their group, thanks to Zhao Ru practicing her ability, there’s more water than they can use.
She reminds herself to be grateful and cherish these days of warm baths. The apocalypse is a hard road, and with a child to care for, An Ran treasures these rare peaceful moments. Lying in the hot water tub, she quietly scrubs her skin.
Unconsciously, she leans on the tub’s edge and comfortably closes her eyes.
Then, she seems to see a tender green seedling in the dark soil, swaying its weak body, struggling to push through the soil, eager to break free. A silver thorn grows at the center of the two green buds bent by the soil.
What species is this?
Because of her fear of the fur of mutant animals, An Ran pays special attention to plants that can grow thorns. She’s even planted cacti around the houses. This thorny plant looks like a mutant cactus.
She quickly mobilizes her abilities to focus on cultivating this thorny plant. Before long, the little thorn grows longer and just pierces into a nest of mutated ant eggs.