Old Cat Fishing

Even though it was quite agitated the first time it was thrown into the water.

But upon hearing "braised fish," its eyes lit up.

Looking at the fish on the ground, it felt there wasn't enough, and it wouldn't mind being thrown in again.

So, it circled its tail, picked up the rope from the ground, and gestured for Jiang You to tie it up and throw it into the water again.

"Meow!!!"

Come on, come on, do it again.

I'm not scared, throw me in again to catch some fish!

This little bit of fish isn't enough to eat!

Although this cat couldn't speak human language, for some reason, Jiang You understood its meaning.

"We'll talk about it when we get back. Let's go look around somewhere else first."

She struck the still-flapping fish on the ground dead with a single blow and put it into her space.

For some reason, all mutated plants and animals couldn't enter her space alive; only after killing them could she put them in.

But then again, perhaps it was due to the exclusivity of the space's rules.

After all, if mutated animals were taken in, they would directly disrupt the original ecological balance of the space.

Other ordinary creatures would be at their mercy.

After storing the last koi carp into her space, Jiang You turned and left with Da Zhuang.

All the koi carp in this Bibo Lake had mutated. Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle.

It was only because Da Zhuang had tough skin and thick flesh. If a person fell in, they'd probably be eaten clean, bones and all, in minutes.

However, since she dared to put Da Zhuang into the lake, she was completely confident it wouldn't be harmed.

After all, Da Zhuang had often helped her catch Tier 2 zombies during this period. She didn't know how many zombie brains it had eaten.

It had long since developed skin as tough as copper and bones as strong as iron.

Didn't you see that the koi that bit its head just now, besides slobbering all over it, didn't even leave a single tooth mark?

However, she didn't know what this mutated fish had eaten to grow to such a size.

It probably ate a lot of zombies. After all, with the rising water, these fish must have swum everywhere.

She should find a separate pot to stew it. In the future, she would use that pot exclusively for making food for Da Zhuang.

The entire park was lush and green. These trees hadn't withered. Whether it was Jiang You's imagination or not, she felt these flowers, plants, and trees seemed even more verdant than ordinary plants.

For example, the pine tree by the plaza adorned with red ribbons. She had passed by it when hoarding supplies before the apocalypse.

Back then, it didn't seem as big as it was now?

Could it be a mutated plant?

Jiang You approached the tree and placed her hand on the trunk. She didn't sense any energy.

It shouldn't be a mutated plant.

Mutated plants and animals would have special energy fluctuations, which could be sensed with careful attention.

She looked at Da Zhuang, "Da Zhuang, do you think this tree looks like a mutated plant?"

Mutated animals often had stronger senses than humans in certain aspects.

Da Zhuang climbed the tree in a few leaps, scurrying up and down, sniffing here and scratching there. Then, it jumped down and shook its head at Jiang You.

As it came down, it even plucked a handful of pine needles and chewed them in its mouth.

Jiang You sighed in disappointment.

Walking further along the path, the plants became less verdant the deeper she went. In fact, many plants had withered.

It seemed only the plants near the edge of Bibo Lake were growing the best.

Jiang You found the location of the botanical garden according to the map.

The botanical garden was easy to identify. Following the road signs, she soon saw a large area of glass reflecting light in the distance, and Jiang You knew she had reached the botanical garden.

This botanical garden was a large imitation of a tropical rainforest ecosystem. However, many of the glass panes of the sunroom were now shattered, and only the frame remained of the glass on the dome.

The ground was covered in shards of broken glass.

Before she even got close, she smelled a foul odor accompanied by a heatwave.

The closer she got to the botanical garden, the stronger the stench became, even stinging her eyes.

It was somewhat like the ammonia gas emitted after flesh putrefies, mixed with the smell of decaying fallen leaves and other unidentifiable scents.

She couldn't describe it, but it was disgusting.

Even Jiang You, who was accustomed to piles of corpses, felt a bit of physical discomfort.

"Ugh~"

Da Zhuang made a gagging motion and clung to the shelf by the entrance, refusing to go in.

"You wait for me by the door. I'll go in and take a look."

Jiang You put on a gas mask with a pig nose filter before stepping inside.

Better safe than sorry.

It smelled so uniquely foul in here; what if there were mutated plants?

Her shoes crunched on the broken glass shards, creating a "clatter" sound with every step.

The plants in this botanical garden hadn't completely withered. Some heat-resistant plants had grown even taller than before the apocalypse.

However, all the ponds inside had become foul-smelling. The ground was soaked with the stench of stagnant water, and with every step, her feet sank one to two centimeters deep.

All sorts of small insects, big and small, crawled around in the soil.

Centipedes, pill bugs, springtails, millipedes, and some unidentifiable soft-bodied insects.

Jiang You moved forward cautiously, wary of things like venomous snakes that might emerge from the shadows.

She remembered that this botanical garden originally housed pythons and venomous snakes. The display glass for the animals had all been destroyed, and the animals inside were nowhere to be found.

They might be dead, or they might be hiding in the shadows of a plant.

As she passed by, one might suddenly leap out and bite her.

Just then, her hand brushed against a broad leaf. The leaf swayed, and something green on it shifted slightly, revealing a golden vertical pupil.

The chameleon moved slightly, then blended back into the color of the leaf.

A palm-sized black scorpion crawled out from the rotten soil in front of Jiang You.

Jiang You shifted slightly, and it immediately changed direction, crawling towards her. The stinger on its tail glinted menacingly in the sunlight.

Jiang You directly thrust her Miao Saber into the ground.

"Pfft~~"

The scorpion was cut in half, its tail still twitching slightly.

Jiang You bent down, picked up the scorpion, and put it into her space.

This thing would be delicious fried. She'd bring it back for Da Zhuang as a snack.

It wasn't easy to find such a large scorpion.

After that, Jiang You searched the entire botanical garden but found no mutated plants.

She retreated directly, planning to search other parts of the park.

She walked through almost half the park. Apart from encountering one or two zombies from time to time, she didn't even see half a leaf of a mutated plant.

As she walked down a path, her way was suddenly blocked.

Several sightseeing cars were parked across the road, clearly placed there intentionally.

Just as Jiang You was about to climb over the rockery next to them.

A person emerged from behind the cars.

"Stop right there. The road ahead is blocked. Friend, please find another way."

The person who came out was a man in his thirties, of medium build, wearing a tank top and holding an old-fashioned hunting rifle.

He had an extremely ordinary appearance, the kind of person you couldn't find in a crowd.

But his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's; he was definitely not an ordinary person.

Then again, who would dare to stay in the city nowadays if they were ordinary?

The muzzle of the hunting rifle in his hand pointed directly at Jiang You.

It seemed as if he would pull the trigger without hesitation if she took another step forward.

As he spoke, two small figures peeked out from the gaps between the vehicles behind him.

A boy and a girl, they watched Jiang You defensively.

If she remembered correctly, further ahead in this direction should be two air-raid shelters.

These people had probably occupied the air-raid shelters and settled down.

This park was surrounded by a lake, a natural barrier, and very few zombies had wandered in.

There was also the lake, which could solve the problem of daily water supply. It was indeed very suitable as a shelter.

Just then, another man pulled the two small figures aside and walked out, holding a hunting rifle.

Seeing that Jiang You was alone, he first breathed a sigh of relief, then said.

"Friend, the two air-raid shelters ahead have already been occupied by us. If you're looking for a shelter, you can head that way."

The man pointed in a direction.

"There are a few more air-raid shelters over there."