So far,
Before the hundred-strong force could even split into squads, the Maolin's vines had scattered them. Where those people would end up, no one knew.
…
At the fork, no matter how others panicked, the nearly twenty with Lan Jin stood steady and unmoving.
Whenever a vine lashed in, everyone in Lan Jin's group, ability user or not, knocked it back. It created the illusion that there was not the slightest danger on their faces.
The vines weaving through the air did not keep moving forever. After dragging people off in every direction, they went still in an instant, as if a wind-up spring had run down.
Lan Jin frowned. "They stopped too neatly. Is someone directing them."
But—
Who could command mutated plants? Could plants really understand human speech?
Huang Jinghe laughed. "Maybe aliens are piloting them."
His joke drew every gaze. To be honest, that explanation didn't sound impossible at all.
In the apocalypse, aberrations were everywhere. If humans had not caused this, then aliens made a neat culprit.
There was another possibility too. Humans working with aliens.
Lan Jin still felt that one was unlikely.
No point thinking it to death. The more Lan Jin thought, the less certain she became.
…
Looking at how few were left around them, Zhou Zhi asked, "Captain Zhang, what do we do next."
Captain Zhang gave a bitter smile. What else could they do. People were scattered to the four winds. Rescue was out of reach. He sighed. "Anyone who made it this far has decent skills. And this… We cannot mount a rescue. We execute the mission first."
As long as they did not stumble into a giant mutant beast, plants alone should not be that terrifying.
Lao Gao chose that moment to remind them, "Captain Zhang, why are plants not terrifying. Back in H City, people were hurt by the plants here, then mutated, then awakened abilities. Even with plants, we cannot relax."
Especially in this Maolin. If mutations spread, and the uninjured were wounded, or worse, that would be bad.
But which way could they even chase. Saying it changed nothing.
Captain Zhang rubbed a hand down his face. "You think I need reminding. I know the consequences. Tell me where to search. Which direction."
Lao Gao turned his head aside and said nothing more.
Captain Zhang counted heads. Twenty remained. The same decision loomed.
Which path did they take.
"Count off and pick at random," Lao Gao said bluntly. Then, afraid Captain Zhang would scold him, Lao Gao defended himself, "Don't start on me. Can you choose any better."
He couldn't.
But gambling with lives was ugly.
Just as Captain Zhang was about to snap, something huge wriggled out of the leftmost passage of the three.
It was a many-legged bug, identical to the kind they had met near the H City base with the eye-like pattern on its back. Only here it was far, far bigger. One bug was as long as a grown man. With its sheer bulk, thicker and rounder than a man's torso.
No matter what, Lan Jin was truly terrified of that kind of insect. In a blink, Lan Jin let out a string of shrieks and staggered backward, trying to open as much distance as possible.
After two steps, Lan Jin bumped into Zhou Zhi. Lan Jin spun and hid behind Zhou Zhi like grabbing a life line, using Zhou Zhi's body to block every inch of sightline to the creature.
Lan Jin's reaction startled everyone nearby. Even the bug inching out of the fork seemed jolted by it.
The bug suddenly halted, then reared half its body upright. That only made it worse. All those legs that had been scuttling on the ground were now on display, with dozens of legs in the air scrabbling. Gooseflesh rose across the watchers.
Worse, the bug's belly bore a second eye-like pattern. Each scrape of those legs made that "eye" seem to wriggle and stare. A chill ran through the twenty onlookers.
Lan Jin kept screaming. It was pure fear of many-legged things. The team had other women afraid of bugs too. Pei Xin was one. The instant Pei Xin glimpsed the many-legged horror behind, Pei Xin bolted, sprinting and screaming, and in moments had run a long way, forgetting Pei Xin's fractured pelvis entirely.
When the bug finished flailing in the air, it dropped back to the ground. As its gaze fixed on the twenty at the fork, Captain Zhang panicked. "Lan Jin, lightning."
"Dear god, lightning what. I cannot. I cannot. I am most afraid of this bug. Too many legs. I am numb. I am numb."
Lan Jin was not exaggerating. "I am numb" was exactly true. Her legs had gone weak, her whole body numb. Could she cast lightning. Yes. But if Lan Jin could not look, how could Lan Jin aim.
Zhou Zhi had never seen Lan Jin like this. With Lan Jin glued to Zhou Zhi's back, Zhou Zhi did not know whether to laugh or how to react.
After a beat, Zhou Zhi said evenly, "Twelve o'clock."
Lan Jin stalled for two seconds, then understood. She hurled a bolt at twelve o'clock.
The bug, still dazed from the screaming, had no time to react before the lightning charred it inside and out.
Lan Jin still refused to look. Clutching Zhou Zhi's heatproof suit, Lan Jin would not budge. After the strike, Lan Jin asked, "Is it dead. Is it dead. Did it die."
"Dead. Dead as can be," Shen Zhiyan said helplessly. "How are you this afraid."
Shen Zhiyan had been startled too, but not like Lan Jin.
Hearing it was dead, Lan Jin blew out a breath. "I can't help it. Before the apocalypse I already feared these things, especially the ones with too many legs. And this one was so big. I am scared to death of it."
===
Didn't I just say yesterday that I found a bunch of new novels that caught my interest? Well… after a quick search, I already have 59 new novels on my list. Most of them are in the 15–200 chapter range, so not too crazy length-wise.
And yeah, like I mentioned before, for casual reading I usually rely on the Google Translate extension. I'm honestly too lazy to "think" when I'm reading—if I read raw Chinese, my brain has to actually work, but with English my brain just automatically processes the meaning without effort (￣▽￣).
But here's the thing… I've kinda gotten used to how bad MTL translations can be. If you've read enough MTL, you know exactly what I mean (lol). And since my eyes are now spoiled by my own translations, whenever I read raw MTL I'm like, "Hah? What's going on??" (－‸ლ). Basically, my comprehension for raw MTL has gotten worse.
Of course, I can still manage stuff that's not too messy—like modern settings, or maybe some xianxia. But when I tried reading 杀道侣后,修仙界恶女成魔门老祖 (After killing her Taoist partner, the evil woman in the world of immortal cultivation became the ancestor of the demon sect), I could follow along and understand the gist… but wow, it was painful to read (ಥ_ಥ).
So in the end, I decided to just pick it up for translation instead (After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor). Each chapter's word count is short, kinda like The Invincible Money-Grubbing Fairy or The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. Right now it's at 184 chapters and still serializing. Honestly, at my pace, I'll probably finish catching up with it in just 2 days.
And maybe after that, I'll add a couple more serialized novels from the batch I found yesterday during my novel hunt. Decisions, decisions…
Oh, and one more thing! From now on, I'll also try to make my novel covers as close as possible to the original ones. Of course, sometimes I might still make my own version too, but I'll do my best to stay faithful to the original designs (*≧▽≦).