Chapter 89: It's That Woman!

At breakfast the next day, Cai Zhenlong represented the others and snuck into the kitchen, deliberately asking the cook in charge of the communal meals to give Niu Boyi a bit more meat.

"Grandma, Uncle, most of these Mountain Rats were killed by Niu Ge. He has a big appetite, so cook a bit more meat for him. We'll have to rely on Niu Ge for protection later; one dog like him is worth dozens of grown men!"

With his flattery and pestering, Niu Boyi received three Mountain Rats and a number of bones for breakfast.

The taste was far worse than what Xu Xiaofeng made, but the dog still deigned to eat it.

Having had a full meal last night, he actually would have been fine not eating for three days, but the kid surnamed Cai was just too enthusiastic, and he—a dog—couldn't quite handle it.

The next day, the three mutated individuals began their second step—physical training.

The other youths bandaged their wounds and also took the initiative to follow the training, though the training volume was halved, it still approached the limits of human endurance.

Over the next two days, all traces of Mountain Rat activity suddenly vanished from the vicinity, as if they were just passing through, just like when they arrived.

On this day, Liu Mu calculated that Li Gang should be returning from his request for reinforcements, so after making a round of the Coal Mine in the morning, she took Niu Boyi to the road.

What they didn't know was that not long after they left, someone informed Yang Pingxi that his younger sister was missing.

But he didn't pay much attention to it, "The Boss told her to practice running in the mountains; she probably went into the mountains just like yesterday."

The person who came looked at him with some strangeness, as if asking how he could bear to let his sister go into the mountains alone.

Yang Pingxi was also helpless; that girl only listened to Liu Mu now, single-mindedly believing she could become the Boss's apprentice, to the point that even he, her brother, couldn't get through to her.

However, he still kept the matter in mind, and when he didn't see her at lunch, he started to get anxious.

Yang Shun, sitting at the same table, was the first to notice his abnormality and asked while holding his rice bowl, "Xi Zai, what's wrong with you? You're absent-minded even while eating."

Yang Pingxi didn't want his companion to worry, so he just said it was nothing, "My tongue is big, so I eat slowly."

This excuse was passable, and Yang Shun even helped him think of ways to use his big tongue to roll food into his throat.

Usually, Cai Zhenlong would be the one helping to come up with ideas at this time, but they looked over at the other table, and Cai Zhenlong was chatting with the other youths, not even glancing their way.

Ever since the Mutation, this former good brother of theirs seemed to have a rift with them; often, if they didn't take the initiative to find him, he wouldn't stay with them.

Regarding this point, after Yang Pingxi realized it, he even went to ask, and Cai Zhenlong's answer was that he had to help Liu Mu manage the Coal Mine personnel and was too busy.

Perhaps he really was too busy; after all, he was surrounded by people at all times now.

In the afternoon, Yang Pingxi said he had something to discuss with Cai Zhenlong, left Yang Shun and Yang Mang behind, and snuck into the mountains himself. He knew where his sister usually exercised, but she had never failed to return by mealtime before.

On the other side, Liu Mu was also waiting on a ridge, riding Niu Boyi.

While waiting to meet Li Gang, they also wanted to see where that group of Mountain Rats had gone, as they hadn't seen any traces for several days.

The strangest part was that they hadn't even smelled the scent of the Mountain Rats. Of course, it wasn't that their sense of smell was faulty; the most likely possibility was that these Mountain Rats had truly left the town, and were quite a distance away.

From far away, Liu Mu, sitting on the dog's back, put away her binoculars and patted Niu Boyi.

"They're back, let's go, let's go welcome them."

Who would have thought that just as she finished speaking, a muffled, massive boom came from that direction.

Liu Mu immediately realized something and urged Niu Boyi to rush toward the direction of the convoy.

Yang Pingxi, who had come out to look for his sister, also heard the sound at the same time.

He had crossed four hills in the rain and was already a considerable distance from the town. He thought he should have seen his sister, but who would have thought that instead of seeing her, he saw countless messy Mountain Rat footprints, as well as a small hill riddled with holes of all sizes.

Yang Pingxi saw a human footprint at the largest cave entrance, which looked very much like his sister's in terms of length.

Just as he was hesitating whether to go back for reinforcements or go in alone to take a look, a huge commotion erupted from behind the small hill.

Having grown up in a town that mined coal year-round, Yang Pingxi could tell at a single listen that it wasn't the sound of a Detonator exploding, but rather very similar to the Hand Grenade Liu Mu had used before.

Only this sound was much louder.

Yang Pingxi glanced into the cave, hurriedly left the small hill, and hid behind a rock with a good vantage point.

He not only saw the convoy, but also the swarm of rats coming out of the small hill, which he assumed had been startled by the commotion.

He didn't have the strength to save the convoy, so he thought that after the Mountain Rats left, he would just go save his sister.

Just as two large groups of rats left, he actually saw his sister. Unlike his worry that Yang Pingqiong had already been eaten or was severely injured, she was now...

Seeing his sister sitting on the shoulder of a giant rat over two meters long that was standing upright like a human, Yang Pingxi felt as if the world had become surreal.

From his distance, not only was his sister uninjured, but there was no fear in her expression; she even seemed quite... familiar with these Mountain Rats?

Yang Pingxi suddenly had an absurd thought: could this girl be a Mountain Rat spirit wearing his sister's skin?

Before the thought could be verified, the Mountain Rat swarm and his sister had already moved a great distance away, in the very direction the explosion had come from.

Fearing he would miss the chance to save his sister, Yang Pingxi also snuck along behind them.

Over there, Liu Mu arrived at the road the convoy was traveling on in just ten minutes, but both sides were currently in a firefight, with bullets flying everywhere; even with her high level of skill and boldness, she didn't dare to charge straight in.

Since she couldn't enter from the front, she could only take a detour, just like when she helped the army deal with the Mutant Rat Swarm last time.

After wading through a gully full of mud, she finally backstabbed the opponent.

The pattern of the Sky Viper was painted boldly on the vehicles and on the armbands of these people.

Estimating it, there were about thirty people on Li Gang's side, while the Sky Viper side only had a dozen or so; she didn't know if it was overconfidence that led them to intercept the convoy.

Liu Mu recalled the war movies she had watched before; reinforcements were always intercepted a few times. The Sky Viper didn't look like they were fighting to the death either; they were likely trying to block the reinforcements from returning.

This meant that Yang Family Town had already become their target, and they had a certain understanding of it.

Killing intent surged in Liu Mu's eyes; the Sky Viper dared to touch her things—they could not be left alive!

She had Niu Boyi crawl over from behind while she herself detoured to the flank, intending to pincer the opponent with the reinforcement team.

But just as they approached, the opponent seemed to have eyes in the back of their heads, discovering them from dozens of meters away.

A light machine gun swept over; Liu Mu knew she couldn't keep waiting, and with a whistle, she and Niu Boyi leaped out from different directions.

Niu Boyi's fur was now thick enough not to fear ordinary long-range fire, and Liu Mu's speed allowed her to dodge bullets; as long as they weren't aimed directly at her forehead or caught her off guard, this level of shooting could barely hurt her.

"It's that woman!"

Someone on the Sky Viper side actually recognized Liu Mu and shouted in a panic, "It's the bitch who killed the Captain, attack her with everything you've got!"