Chapter 53: Rogue

After a moment of contemplation, Fu Jingmo flicked his wrist, and a black crystal shot straight towards the roof.

From the roof, something soft fell—a piece of paper, faint yellow, with a hole pierced by the black crystal.

It was in the shape of a paper figure. Lin Mu glanced at the ground, recalling what Fu Jingmo had said about the mutant in the mining area.

“Ah.”

A sigh came from behind them. Someone walked forward, regretfully picking up the paper figure and tucking it back into their clothes.

Lin Mu looked up. The person in front of him wore a blue-gray silk shirt with white short sleeves, canvas shoes on their feet, and a small tuft of hair tied at the back of their head.

“Hello, my name is Lin Mu.”

The person nodded and spoke slowly, yet gently, “Hello, my name is Shen Rangchen.”

He brushed off some straw from his clothes, a flash of disdain passing through his eyes as he frowned.

“Since you’re a mutant, why didn’t you escape?”

Fu Jingmo leaned against the haystack, arms crossed, looking at Shen Rangchen coldly.

“Oh, I was waiting for you.”

His eyes were straightforward and unreserved, but then a troubled expression appeared.

“Gasoline is too heavy. I couldn’t carry much, and the motorcycle ran out of fuel, so I decided to wait for you.”

He glanced at the people on the ground. “Besides, I couldn’t save them on my own. There are two power mutants in this village.”

That made sense. In the early stages of the apocalypse, having physical strength as a mutant ability was more directly useful than strange abilities like theirs.

Enhanced strength naturally increased based on one’s original capacity, while other abilities required exploration and practice to master.

Shen Rangchen could have escaped alone, but it was clearly impossible for him to take four other people with him without harm.

“Oh? How did you know we would save people?”

Shen Rangchen looked at Fu Jingmo with clear eyes. “You are very powerful, and if you want to go to Wucheng, you must pass through here.”

“Why do you think we’re going to Wucheng?”

“If not Wucheng, then the other direction is Yichang. It’s a fifty-fifty chance, and I guessed right.”

Shen Rangchen’s expression hadn’t changed since he started speaking, maintaining a cold and indifferent demeanor.

Calling him smart seemed almost inadequate, as his words were so straightforward that it felt like he would earnestly answer any question asked.

Maybe instead of smart, it would be more accurate to call him simple? Naive?

Lin Mu pondered, realizing that when they had first entered the mine and felt someone watching them, it wasn’t a person but Shen Rangchen’s paper figure.

“What is your ability?”

Shen Rangchen seemed to have a good impression of Lin Mu, moving a bit closer, causing Fu Jingmo’s brow to twitch slightly.

“You have a very strange life force about you, very comforting.”

“…,” Lin Mu was momentarily speechless. Xiao Yuan had said something similar before.

“My ability is talisman crafting. Paper figures cut from talisman paper and enchanted with spells can obey my commands. Also, I know some minor Taoist techniques from my sect. Oh, I forgot to mention, I am the 56th head of the Xuyang Taoist Temple.”

He nodded slightly, with a serious demeanor that made Lin Mu feel like a crow flew over his head. A Taoist priest…

But in this apocalypse, nothing seemed more absurd than people turning into zombies.

“Genetic mutant.”

Fu Jingmo spoke coldly, enunciating each word.

“What the heck, what kind of place is this?” 

He Ze, still groggy, mumbled from the haystack. He shook his head and reached out to grab something, trying to get up from the ground. “Mumu, ugh, my head is spinning.”

He Ze, with his tall frame of 186 cm, suddenly stood up, pulling something hard, and then plopped back down again. “What the heck…”

…

The three of them stared at He Ze, his eyes still squinting, and his face full of confusion.

Sensing the awkward silence in the air, he looked up. Crap, who is this?

As he looked at Shen Rangchen, his first thought was, this guy looks good. His second thought was, oh crap, these are his pants.

Shen Rangchen’s face turned beet red. He yanked up his pants that He Ze had pulled down, pointing at him, lips trembling as he tried to scold but couldn’t find the words.

“You! You… really, rogue!”

“…”

He Ze finally came to his senses, glared at him, and straightened his back. “Hey, whatever you’ve got, I’ve got too, okay? And mine’s bigger. It wasn’t on purpose.”

Shen Rangchen gritted his teeth, completely different from his previously cool demeanor. His fingers clenched tightly, making cracking sounds.

“Alright, alright, I won’t argue with you. Sorry, okay?” He Ze patted his butt and got up from the ground, then looked at Lin Mu. “Mumu, what’s going on? Weren’t we eating cured meat?”

He smacked his lips, remembering how delicious the cured meat was.

Lin Mu glanced at him. “Yes, the food was drugged, and you were knocked out.”

“Seriously? Despicable, shameless, deceitful! How come you guys weren’t knocked out?”

“…The drug was in the soup. I saw you enjoying it, so I didn’t tell you.”

“…”

“Heh.”

Shen Rangchen chuckled softly, and thought to himself: what a bunch of clueless amateurs.