Chapter 26

After taking a look around, Zhou Yun said to Guan Yuanfeng, “There hasn’t been any damage for now. I don’t think anyone will come by for a while. The current property is useless, and there’s hardly any supplies left. Most of the stuff in the fridge is spoiled. We’ll clean it up when we have time.” The fridge, filled with so many expensive seafood and salmon, ended up making Guan Yuanfeng order takeout.
Guan Yuanfeng replied indifferently, “Alright.”

Zhou Yun replied, “The basement is actually quite useful, it can be used to store some supplies that are inconvenient to move upstairs.” The basement already had some rice, flour, oil, and daily necessities that Guan Yuanfeng had placed in advance, and Zhou Yun hadn’t touched them.

Guan Yuanfeng said, “You can just store the gasoline there.”

Zhou Yun looked out the window towards the back of the villa, which had a garden by the lake. Most people planted flowers there, but Guan Yuanfeng’s villa was new, and he had only laid some grass.

He said, “I was thinking of planting some low-maintenance crops here, like pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. The weather is too harsh to plant anything too delicate.”

Guan Yuanfeng said, “It’s up to you.”

Zhou Yun then asked, “Have you ever eaten date palms? They’re really delicious.”

Guan Yuanfeng paused. “What?”

Zhou Yun said enthusiastically, “I thought of a crop that’s perfect for this harsh weather—date palms! They’re heat-tolerant, drought-resistant, salt-tolerant, and cold-resistant. They’re high in sugar and nutrients, perfect for this environment!”

Guan Yuanfeng, who had been feeling a bit down, was now inspired by Zhou Yun’s excitement. “Will they take up a lot of space?”

Zhou Yun replied, “Not at all. We can try planting a batch by the lake. The ground is very dry right now, the water level is low.”

Guan Yuanfeng searched for date palms in the “Plant Encyclopedia” that Zhou Yun had downloaded onto the computer. He remembered that he had eaten them before—they were very sweet but quite fragrant.

He nodded and said, “Sure, take a look around the villa and see if there are any other things you need. Take them with you.”

Zhou Yun didn’t hesitate, “I see you have a high-end vacuum cleaner and floor cleaner. I’ll take those to use. And this big screen TV is great, the ultra-thin frameless one. The projector in the media room is also the latest model. Let’s bring it back so we can watch movies on the big screen in the living room.”

“Also, this rice cooker is nice, imported, and I’ve heard it makes rice smell amazing. This air fryer with a glass cover is much more convenient than mine for baking chicken wings and egg tarts… And this fully automatic bread machine, blender—these are all good stuff. I never bought them because they were too expensive.”

“What a pity the air conditioner is hard to dismantle, but these air circulation fans are good…”

Guan Yuanfeng listened to Zhou Yun chattering while watching the rooms through the drone. After he returned, he only briefly sat in the living room before being sent to the relocation house. This was his first time seeing this villa.

He hadn’t enjoyed it much before. He had chosen the villa because it was in a county-level city and in a relocation neighborhood where the land was cheap and it would be convenient to live with his parents. The villa was spacious, ideal for the whole family.

He had given his parents money to help with the renovation and buying appliances, planning to live with them. He remembered that they had chosen the best appliances.

Now, hearing Zhou Yun praise everything, he suddenly felt quite wealthy. The investments he’d made without expecting any return had finally become meaningful.

He couldn’t help but smile slightly and reminded Zhou Yun, “The elevator isn’t convenient, you’ll have to climb so many stairs. Don’t pick anything too bulky, in case you encounter zombies.”

Zhou Yun sighed regretfully, “We’ll have to wait. You could install solar panels on the roof here and connect them to a generator.”

“When we have a chance, we can go to the substation in the back of the neighborhood and bring over the backup generator, then hook it up to your house. That way, you can grow more things in the garden, and plant some beauty water lilies by the lake. When they bloom, they’re beautiful and can also purify the water. We can plant some cacti along the wall as well, for defense against zombies.”

Guan Yuanfeng felt lighter as Zhou Yun planned for the future. “You can arrange it. It’s getting late, and I’m worried the zombies will come out soon. Let’s head back.”

Zhou Yun agreed and packed a few small appliances into his backpack. He returned upstairs, and since the hallway doors were frozen, no new zombies had appeared yet.

Zhou Yun quickly ran to the roof, locked the iron gate again, and cleaned the area outside the door to prevent the zombies from smelling human flesh and coming near.

—–

After dinner, there was indeed a box of date palm dried fruit on the table. Zhou Yun eagerly recommended them to Guan Yuanfeng, “Try some, leave the pits for me, I’ll germinate them.”

Guan Yuanfeng laughed and asked, holding up one of the dates, “Why are you saving this?”

Zhou Yun replied, “These are great, desert bread, they have high fructose, and they taste nice with tea or coffee.”

Before the disaster, he had stocked up on a lot of dried fruits and nuts. He had bought a lot of date palms on sale, and now he brewed some Pu’er tea for Guan Yuanfeng.

Later, as Guan Yuanfeng used the new floor cleaner to clean the floor, he saw Zhou Yun soaking the sharp double-ended date palm seeds in water and asked, “Are you going to wait for them to sprout?”

Zhou Yun nodded. “Yeah, I also cut some good potato and sweet potato chunks, I’ll sprout them and take them to plant in your back garden. I’ll also sprinkle some other seeds.”

He seemed to be lost in thought. “Mallow flowers would be nice, they look great, and they’re easy to grow. Radishes should work too, although with this hot weather, I don’t think normal bugs can survive. Radish sprouts are edible. I’ll also plant some coriander and Artemisia. I’ll plant another batch of purslane too. It’s useful and grows well.”

Guan Yuanfeng looked at him and asked, “What’s purslane used for?”

Zhou Yun explained, “Do you know, purslane was also called ‘Five Elements Grass’ in ancient times? It has five different colors—green leaves, red stems, yellow flowers, white roots, and black seeds. According to the five elements, green is wood, red is fire, yellow is earth, white is metal, and black is water. That’s why it’s called Five Elements Grass.”

Guan Yuanfeng didn’t fully understand the details of his explanation but nodded. “It seems it can cure a lot of diseases?”

Zhou Yun replied, “Yes.” The significance of the Five Elements Grass was that it could detect the attributes of supernatural energy crystals, but he couldn’t reveal that to Guan Yuanfeng just yet.

He casually added, “I always feel like maybe ancient times had supernatural abilities, which is why they named it Five Elements Grass.”

Guan Yuanfeng tried to follow his line of thought. “Hmm… that’s possible.”

Zhou Yun was quite enthusiastic: “The Battle of Zhuolu, where Emperor Huang fought against Chiyou, involved both sides using divine powers. Chiyou sent the Wind God and Rain Master into battle, which, in modern terms, would be wind and water abilities. Emperor Huang sent the Heavenly Lady to face them, which seemed like fire abilities. Then there was the battle between Zhu Rong and Gonggong, which looked like a fire ability user versus a water ability user. Nüwa mending the sky could be seen as earth abilities.”

Guan Yuanfeng looked at him with clear eyes and asked, “Are you suggesting that there were abilities in ancient times too, and that the emergence of abilities now is a return to the ancient ways?”

Zhou Yun responded, “Maybe, or it could be like what novels often say, the revival of spiritual energy… In fact, many foreign myths also depict battles between gods, often showing abilities resembling elemental forces or phenomena.”

Guan Yuanfeng was silent.

Zhou Yun continued, “Our civilization hasn’t been completely broken, so those cultivation methods and practices in ancient texts might not be fake. It’s just that there was no spiritual energy before, but now that it’s here, we should try them out.”

Guan Yuanfeng couldn’t help but chuckle, “You make a good point.” He still tried to convince himself to practice those Ba Duan Jin exercises.

After dinner, Zhou Yun checked on Comet’s recovery. Half a month had passed, and with Guan Yuanfeng’s careful care, Comet was recovering quickly.

Zhou Yun removed the leg splints, and Comet walked around like a healthy creature. Its fur was shiny, its eyes dark, and its body seemed to have grown a little. After recovering, it was much closer to Zhou Yun, eagerly responding to his touch, its eyes sparkling.

Zhou Yun stroked its soft fur, guessing that the ability grafting had likely been successful. Comet instinctively sensed his wood-based healing power, which explained its closeness to him. It was time to test the effect.

He found a gray, attribute-less crystal core from the day’s collection and placed it in front of Comet.

Guan Yuanfeng was puzzled but didn’t stop him.

Comet lowered its head, licked the crystal core, and suddenly swallowed it whole.

Guan Yuanfeng stared: “Can it eat this?”

Zhou Yun said, “I’m not sure, but animals have instincts. I guess its abilities have awakened, and now it needs crystal cores.”

He picked up another gray crystal core and showed it to Guan Yuanfeng: “This is an attribute-less crystal core. In the early stages, it can be absorbed, but later on, it can’t be used for energy. For example, my water abilities now only work with water-based crystal cores. When abilities first emerge, you can absorb energy from any crystal, but after a certain level, only those that match your attribute work.”

“This follows the same logic that only the worst zombies have attribute-less crystals in their brains.”

“The better the crystal, the harder it is to obtain.”

Guan Yuanfeng, watching Comet getting drowsy, asked, “Is it slowly absorbing the ability energy now?”

Zhou Yun replied, “Maybe. Its physical signs are normal now. I still have the liver from the mutated eagle frozen. I’ll thaw it and steam it for it tomorrow to help its recovery.”

Animal livers are rich in nutrients, and in the past, even ability users favored mutated animal livers as a valuable source of restorative energy.

After confirming that Comet had settled down, Zhou Yun went up to the rooftop to tend to his plants.

Having fought many zombies and collected numerous crystal cores that day, he tossed one into the electric eel pond. Sure enough, the electric eel emerged, opened its mouth, and swallowed the crystal core, then lazily sank to the bottom of the pond to slowly absorb and digest the energy.

Mutated animals instinctively know what to eat for their benefit. It seemed Comet’s transformation had been successful.

With Comet guarding Guan Yuanfeng, and Guan Yuanfeng no longer helpless, Zhou Yun could now focus on fighting zombies. He felt confident enough to head downstairs.

He looked at the elevator power room on the roof—once the backup generator was connected, the elevator could briefly be used.

Being able to move freely between floors, cleaning up zombies and gathering supplies, would keep Guan Yuanfeng from feeling depressed.

Once his abilities reached near the fourth level, he would be ready to give it a try.

He stared at the electric eel. By then, the crystal core inside it would have upgraded to a good quality, and with the wind ability core from the mutated eagle, he would surely succeed in activating at least one ability for Guan Yuanfeng.

If that benevolent god was still watching over them, wind and thunder abilities would be perfect.

=====

The next day, there was a torrential downpour. After nearly half a month of drought, the rain came suddenly with thunder and lightning from midnight.

The outdoor heat quickly dropped, and the indoor temperature cooled, making it a bit uncomfortable.

Zhou Yun sighed, “I was planning to plant some seeds in your garden.”

Then he was relieved, “Good thing I didn’t plant them; the rain would have washed them away. It could be like last time, raining for half a month.”

He took the frozen mutated eagle liver from the freezer to thaw naturally.

Guan Yuanfeng smiled, “Didn’t you bring back a projector? We could watch a movie.”

Zhou Yun said, “It’s a boring rainy day. Why don’t we test Comet’s abilities? We can sweep the 29th floor to see if there are any lone zombies. We’ll go floor by floor, and when we’re tired, we can return and rest.”

Guan Yuanfeng’s eyes lit up, clearly interested: “Should I go too?”

Zhou Yun continued, “Sure, it’s like cleaning up the restaurant nearby. Each floor only has two units, we’ll clear one by one. If we sweep a few floors every day, the upstairs will be safer.”

Guān Yuánfēng agreed. He had always despised this feeling of helplessness, and now that he could go out to train and improve his survival skills, it was certainly the best option.

After breakfast and feeding the comet, they began preparing to go out. Zhou Yun brought a set of motorcycle protective gear for Guān Yuanfeng. Guan Yuanfeng was a bit surprised: “This might not fit me, and I already have camouflage combat gear that works fine.”

Zhou Yun replied, “This one is just too big. I thought I could alter it. I bought it a little larger because it’s better that way for protective gear, but I never returned it. Later, I bought a different brand that was better, so I kept this one.”

Guan Yuanfeng said, “…Alright, thank you.”

Zhou Yun left, and Guān Yuanfeng first wore the camouflage shirt, then put on the new motorcycle protective gear, and it fit perfectly.

He tightened his belt, grabbed a long knife and bow, and remembered how he used to check his clothes, weapons, and communication devices before every mission…

Suddenly, a long-forgotten passion burned inside him. He felt like a rookie soldier, eager for battle.

When he stepped out of the room, he saw that Zhou Yun had also dressed in protective gear and put on his helmet. He was attaching a protective cover to the military dog’s tactical training vest, smiling and saying, “So meticulous.”

Zhou Yun said, “This cover was taken off the old gear. I’m not sure if it has any special abilities, but if not, at least it can block any attacks, like the mutated eagle from the other day.”

The comet excitedly opened its mouth and wagged its tail.

They were both ready to go out. As Zhou Yun opened the iron gate, he recalled, “The couple on the floor below… I remember they were both teachers. It seems like they went back to their hometown with their children during the holiday. The house should be empty. The other unit has been vacant for a while and still hasn’t been rented out.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, “That should be quick. What about the 28th floor?”

Zhou Yun said, “The 28th floor is a gym, and it seems like they just renovated it. When it opened, they even put an advertisement on my door. The zombie outbreak happened at midnight, so there probably weren’t any customers. I think the 28th floor should be quick too.”

Guan Yuanfeng responded, “…Opening a gym here… that’s a losing business.”

Zhou Yun casually laughed and replied, “It is in a high-end villa area after all.”

They both left the iron gate and locked it. It was raining today, and the hallway became dark. Zhou Yun used a flashlight to check around the corner, then waved his hand upward.

Guan Yuanfeng knew it was safe, so he maneuvered his wheelchair slowly down the stairs. The electric wheelchair creaked with every step, making a heavy sound.

He also had a powerful flashlight attached to his body, which shook the stair railing with its light.

The comet followed closely behind, probably due to lack of exercise, running up and down excitedly.

The stairs were high, and the wheelchair was inconvenient. Even though it was electric, it took about ten minutes to reach the 29th floor.

They first went to the vacant unit. Zhou Yun used a broken lock and a power drill to open the door. They entered and found that it had only been minimally renovated, with no furniture, just empty space.

Zhou Yun said, “We can use this as our storage room, to stockpile supplies that we might need later.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded.

They then went to the unit across the hall, which indeed seemed to be a teacher’s home.

The walls were covered in bookshelves full of books, and there were children’s awards and drawings on the walls.

The fridge was naturally spoiled, leaking black water. Fortunately, both of them wore masks and helmets, so it wasn’t too bad.

They searched the house inside and out and didn’t find anything useful. Most of the items in the house were common household goods, but there were some rice and oil that could still be used, though they were close to their expiration date. The balcony had some green onions, garlic, and flowers, but they had all withered and died.

Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng collected some common medications from the medicine cabinet, then went to the next floor.

—–

On the 28th floor, two units had been combined and remodeled with glass doors. There was a large amount of bloodstains on the oak floor in the entrance hallway, and through the glass doors, they could see a carpeted room with full-length mirrors and various gym equipment.

There was a colorful giant poster on the wall, featuring a black deer-headed silhouette with muscular arms. The text read, “Mr. Deer Gym, Lazy People’s Gym / Personal Trainer / Pilates, New Gym Opening—Fitness / Small / White / Ecstasy!”

The poster was splattered with dark red blood.

A terrifying scream echoed, and a zombie lunged out from behind the door. Its eyes were hollow, its mouth wide open, with sharp fangs sticking out. It was wearing gym clothes, but it was covered in blood stains. Its arm muscles, though decayed, were still formidable, and it was wearing a sports watch on its wrist.

The foul odor immediately hit the hallway.

Zhou Yun cast an ice spell that froze the zombie’s heels, then stood at a distance, slowly shooting ice arrows.

Guāan Yuanfeng ordered the comet to attack in a deep voice. The comet rushed at the zombie, stopping behind it. Its black fur bristled, its bright eyes shone, and it opened its mouth to roar!

A golden-red flame erupted from its mouth, swirling toward the zombie!

Both Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng could feel the intense heat coming toward them.

The zombie was engulfed by the flames and let out a piercing, desperate scream before collapsing to the ground. The comet sprayed another burst of fire, and the zombie was completely still, its body charred.

Zhou Yun walked over and said with a smile, “Alright, comet, don’t waste your energy. Save some for later.”

He let out a long sigh, feeling relieved. He reached out and patted the comet’s head, then bent down to use a long knife to sever the zombie’s head, retrieving the crystal core from inside. He examined it and said, “No attributes. Not surprising. It probably hasn’t been out since the disaster, but it’s perfect for a little treat for the comet.”

He placed the crystal in a black leather pouch and attached it to the side of Guan Yuanfeng’s wheelchair. “The ability transfer was successful.”

Guan Yuanfeng’s eyes showed some excitement as he reached out to pat the comet’s head. “That’s great.” The comet proudly barked.

Seeing the expression on Guan Yuanfeng’s face, Zhou Yun knew he must be feeling invigorated as well. If the abilities could be successfully transferred to the dog, there was hope that one day they could be transferred to humans, even if the chances were slim. It was a glimmer of hope.

Zhou Yun examined the watch on the zombie’s strong, rotting arm: “What a pity, it’s burned out.”

Guan Yuanfeng laughed: “These sports watches are usually connected to a phone. With no signal or network now, it’s probably useless. It seems the oldest mechanical watches are the only ones still useful now.”

Zhou Yun said, “Maybe when human civilization is rebuilt, chips could become valuable. They can be repurposed for other things. After all, they monitor things like heart rate and blood pressure.” In the later stages of the apocalypse, such sports watches had been modified into zombie monitoring alarms, which worked quite well.

Guan Yuanfeng pondered for a moment. If humans gain new abilities and evolve in a different direction, with more survivors, it’s possible they could continue developing technological civilization. He felt inexplicably uplifted.

Zhou Yun entered the empty room. When the zombies had attacked, it had been nighttime, and there were no members, only a fitness coach who had turned into a zombie.

Zhou Yun said, “This is convenient. We can come here to train in the future. With some modifications, this place could be a great archery range. The distance is enough, and it would be easier for you to practice archery.” After all, the balcony was too far.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, “Right.”

On the 26th floor, a young couple had turned into zombies. With Zhou Yun’s ice ring freezing them, Guan Yuanfeng, accompanied by Comet, used a crossbow to take one out, while Zhou Yun focused on freezing the zombies’ feet, letting Guan Yuanfeng and Comet practice.

This rain had been falling for half a month, and every day Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng, with Comet, cleaned one floor at a time.

—–

In the meantime, Zhou Yun had taken the opportunity to add some gasoline to the backup generator in the building’s rooftop elevator power room, restarting it, which made it much easier to move useful supplies to an empty room on the 29th floor.

Over time, Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng collected bedding, clothes, heaters, household appliances, rice, flour, oil, cigarettes, tea, coffee, candy, snacks, bottled water, electrical wires, tools, and tissues, sorting them into piles in the empty rooms.

Since Zhou Yun knew a long, cold winter was ahead, he made sure to collect heating supplies like space heaters, electric blankets, and hot water bags while sweeping the floors.

There were also plenty of weapons, including baseball bats, drones, steak knives, and kitchen knives, as well as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, and first-aid bandages, which were all precious in the post-apocalypse. Zhou Yun carefully sorted and labeled them, sealing them in boxes for storage.

Among the supplies, the best find was a small camping gasoline generator. The previous owner was obviously a single camping enthusiast. Not only did the house contain all kinds of camping gear like tents, barbecue grills, carts, and sleeping bags, but there were also windproof torches, portable oxygen machines, and the generator—very practical items in the apocalypse.

The haul from clearing the floors gave them a sense of security for the long apocalypse ahead.

However, there were still emergencies. On the second floor, a very fast zombie suddenly leaped up from the underground parking garage’s fire escape door and pounced at Comet, but Zhou Yun quickly raised his hand to freeze it.

The zombie’s body below the head was solidly frozen in the ice, yet it kept howling in hunger, having not had fresh human flesh for a long time, its twisted body frozen in the ice.

Zhou Yun swiftly moved past the frozen zombie, then froze the door leading to the underground parking garage with an ice wall to prevent more zombies from coming up.

Guan Yuanfeng came back to his senses, raised an eyebrow at the creatively frozen zombie, and quickly realized this made it easier to decapitate the zombie and harvest its crystal core.

Such precise control over the ice… Is this how all ability users are, or is Zhou Yun particularly strong?

Guan Yuanfeng glanced at the sealed ice wall leading to the parking garage. With a swift motion, he chopped off the zombie’s head, which rolled away with a still gruesome expression, its rotten mouth open in a terrifying grin.

He looked up at Zhou Yun. It was true that combat could improve one’s abilities. Zhou Yun seemed to be increasingly proficient in controlling his power.

Zhou Yun walked around the room and came back out, saying, “There are no more zombies here. Next is the underground parking garage. There are two levels, and the terrain is complicated, with many cars. The parking garage is likely overrun with zombies, probably more than a hundred. Comet’s flame attack could easily ignite the cars, so it’s not suitable for us to fight freely.”

Guan Yuanfeng knew Zhou Yun was right, but he still felt a tinge of melancholy. “Mm.”

Zhou Yun looked at him, his expression serious as though about to say something important. Guan Yuanfeng’s heart started racing, a feeling of anticipation and excitement building in him. He could feel the blood rushing through his veins.

Zhou Yun finally spoke seriously, “Brother Guan, I want to… try to transplant an ability to you.”