Chapter 16

: Mutated Strawberry
Translator: 
Law 
 Editor: 
Hitesh_
After half an hour of running, Lin Qiao’s speed had elevated to another level, although she still remained unaware of this. It was only as she stopped in a strawberry field that she felt a slight chest congestion, and even then, she didn’t know if it was because she had run too far or too fast.
However, the chest congestion didn’t seem to affect her body too much, so she quickly ignored it.
She stood on the edge of the strawberry field, with dense and lush strawberry plants under her feet.
As for why nobody else had discovered this place? It was probably because these strawberries were obviously mutant.
In the present post-apocalyptic world, sixty to seventy percent of all the plants on earth had been infected, and were either dead or mutant. Normally, mutant plants would become poisonous or man-eating.
Similar to mutant animals, many mutant plants became dreadful killers. That was the reason why the surviving human beings in this world would not go near areas of dense vegetation, such as parks, mountains, and woods.
The leaves and roots of the strawberries in front of Lin Qiao were three or four times larger than usual, covering the entire field. The strawberries in this field had a weird green color along with red speckles, and there was a strong rotting smell permeating the whole area.
Because of how these mutant strawberries looked, the survivors in this apocalyptic world would all avoid coming near the area by their mere sight. They would not dare to approach, let alone taste them.
Lin Qiao, as a matter of fact, was unable to see the color of these strawberries. However, judging from merely their shape, she knew that these strawberries weren’t normal. She was able to detect a faint strawberry aroma underneath the rotten smell, and was confused for a moment.
Looking at the appearance of these mutated strawberries, she knew that they shouldn’t be edible in theory. However, after she sensed the hidden aroma, some kind of intuition told her that these strawberries weren’t poisonous.
She was puzzled, but didn’t hesitate to go straight down into the strawberry field. The strawberry leaves reached her lower legs.
She bent down and picked a large, ripe strawberry, then brought it near her nose to sniff it.
The bad odor was still there, but so was the aroma. The mixture of the two scents smelled strange, and made her nose a little itchy.
She pulled the strawberry away and rubbed her nose with the other hand while wondering if it was truly edible. Suddenly, she thought of the baby rabbit and the nest of baby mice that she had put into her space earlier.
She clutched the pear-sized strawberry, then turned around and disappeared from where she was, as though no zombie had ever visited this strawberry field.
There was a flash before her eyes, and then came the familiar white light.
She subconsciously searched for the little one the moment she came back. As expected, the child was in the same spot, but had curled up, squatting on the ground.
‘She is still awake!’

Lin Qiao was a little surprised at this.
Wu Yueling was squatting sideways with her body wrapped in the blanket and her hands holding the grass dragonfly that Lin Qiao had given her. Therefore, Lin Qiao’s sudden appearance didn’s immediately attract her attention. She squatted there with her head lowered, playing with the grass dragonfly and looking like a chubby roll.
Lin Qiao didn’t disturb the child, but turned her head to look around, carefully observing the areas of lush grass and listening for any sound.
As expected, she soon heard a slight noise.
No wind existed in this space, and therefore, no grass blades would be rustled by any wind.
This was the reason why Wu Yueling had felt a little scared after Lin Qiao suddenly disappeared. This place was way too quiet and expansive.
Lin Qiao held her breath and quietly walked toward the noise.
As for holding her breath, that was actually her imagination as all of her bodily functions had stopped. However, as they said, ‘Old habits die hard’.
She walked silently over to a thick growth of grass. Her footsteps were completely soundless, and made no impact against the ground. Therefore, when she quietly reached the place where the noise came from, she saw a fist-sized rabbit squatting among the grass with its back to her, holding a fistful of grass and eating with vigor.
The rabbit was totally focused on eating, completely unaware of the zombie standing behind it.
Lin Qiao quietly moved closer. She held the strawberry with her left hand and reached out with her right hand, stooping as she slowly extended her hand to within about ten centimeters of the rabbit before thrusting her palm forward and grabbing it.
The baby rabbit was startled by the sudden grasp and began struggling, letting out panicked, shrill screams.
Lin Qiao lifted it up, watching it twist its body and struggle in her hand. The rabbit’s screams immediately attracted Wu Yueling’s attention.
The moment she turned her head, she saw the zombie who had fed her water standing in the grass. The grass reached the zombie’s knees, so she could only see the latter from the thighs up.
Wu Yueling couldn’t help but stand up when she saw Lin Qiao. Her eyes sparkled with a trace of surprise as she turned around and stared straight at her. She wasn’t afraid of Lin Qiao anymore, because this zombie didn’t want to eat or kill her.
Lin Qiao grasped the rabbit and walked away, not toward Wu Yueling but to a clean area by the lake. Then, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed.
She held the baby rabbit, letting it struggle in her hand. After a short while, the baby rabbit slowly calmed down as though it knew that its struggle was futile, or it might have gotten too tired.
After the rabbit had quieted down, Lin Qiao put the strawberry from her other hand close to the rabbit’s face in order to see its reaction. She didn’t know if the rabbit liked strawberries or not, and even if it didn’t agree to eat it, she intended to stick a piece of the strawberry into its mouth to see if there would be any toxic reaction.
Maybe because the smell of the strawberry made its nose twitch, the rabbit’s reaction was to draw back immediately, then turn its nose and mouth as far away from the strawberry as possible.
Lin Qiao patiently held the strawberry. She didn’t break off a piece to put into the rabbit’s mouth right away, but waited to see if it would sense its aroma.
However, the rabbit didn’t seem to sense the faint, fruity aroma. Quite a while had passed, but it still didn’t turn its head back.
Lin Qiao had no choice but to put the strawberry down and hold the rabbit on the ground to immobilize it. Next, she broke off a piece of the strawberry with her fingers and popped it directly into the rabbit’s mouth. Then, she pinched its mouth and thrust the strawberry piece straight down its throat.
As a result, the piece of strawberry was stuck in the rabbit’s throat. The rabbit was unable to cough it out, and had to swallow it.
After putting the strawberry piece into the rabbit’s throat, Lin Qiao lifted it and continued to observe it. When she forced it to eat the strawberry, it had kicked its hind legs strongly for a few times, but made no other reaction after that.
One second, two seconds, three seconds… A minute passed by. Lin Qiao shook the rabbit and found it to be still alive, without showing any sign of dying.
How long did chronic poisoning take? The rabbit was not displaying any adverse reaction yet, but would the poison attack later after making its way through the rabbit’s system?
As she was thinking about this, Lin Qiao abruptly swung her arm and threw the rabbit aside onto the grass. Then, she turned and saw Wu Yueling, who was standing silently behind her, less than three meters away.