Chapter 92: Being Human All the Same

After clarifying this point, Liu Mu canceled "Beast Taming" and briefly explained the situation to Yang Pingxi.

"We cannot understand what happened in between, nor do we know the principle behind their connection, but one thing is certain: your sister cannot leave the Mountain Rat King for the time being."

"That rat must have killed her and then used her body as bait! Just like the tricks of those hunters in the natural world!"

It is impossible for anyone to accept a loved one turning into this state, and making the worst and most malicious guesses is reasonable; it is not surprising that Yang Pingxi would think this way.

It was just that Liu Mu frowned, "A-Qiong should still have consciousness; what do you intend to do now?"

Previously, Liu Mu thought the mountain rat pack had emerged from the burrow because they sensed the convoy was under attack, but thinking about it now, it was also highly likely that Yang Pingqiong, who was one with the Mountain Rat King, had sensed Yang Pingxi arriving nearby and wanted to see him.

"Do you want to talk to her? At least you can understand some of the situation, but I must remind you of one thing: if the rat pack cannot change its habits, they cannot return to the town to live. Everyone's safety comes first!"

If they were not business partners, Liu Mu would prefer to analyze the pros and cons clearly beforehand to avoid people around her holding her back.

This was also one of her experiences from struggling for twenty years in the apocalypse; after all, people are easily dominated by emotions and are fickle animals.

Yang Pingxi said he wanted to communicate with Yang Pingqiong first, but he would not force her to go back, "If she cannot face such things, I can stay and accompany her."

Liu Mu took the initiative to step back a certain distance; of course, this distance was within her hearing range.

What a joke, even if it wasn't to steal information, it wouldn't be excessive to gossip about such a bizarre matter. Besides, according to the debt relationship, the lives of these two people still belonged to her.

Skipping the emotional expressions of the siblings meeting, twenty minutes later, the two crying people finally got to the point.

The seemingly fierce and wretched Mountain Rat King had actually been wronged; the true face of the matter was that Yang Pingqiong went to the mountain for exercise as usual.

She hadn't intended to go very far, but today she saw a few familiar figures from afar—that's right, they were mountain rats.

Logically, she should have been afraid and fled back to the town, but the leading mountain rat had a tuft of white hair on its head, which was exactly the same as the physical characteristics of a litter of small mountain rats she had once saved in the mountains.

Not knowing what kind of mindset it was—at least an emotion that Liu Mu, this cold-blooded woman, didn't quite understand—Yang Pingqiong followed them. And those few mountain rats seemed to have come looking for her on purpose, walking and stopping, leading her to this vicinity.

Originally, the journey was quite peaceful, but the mountain rats' intelligence was, after all, lacking; they passed through a dangerous area without incident, but when Yang Pingqiong stepped on it, the rocks collapsed and buried her directly.

Although the mountain rats didn't quite understand why this happened, they still realized their benefactor was going to die, so they summoned their brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren to dig her out.

Seeing that the dying girl could not survive, the Mountain Rat King stood up—of course, it should have been crawled out. Using a certain power it possessed after its Mutation, it shared its life with Yang Pingqiong.

Hearing this, Liu Mu knew this should belong to one of the abilities of the "Beast Taming" Mutation power she had just acquired, only the tamed party was the dying Yang Pingqiong.

"A life-sharing bond?"

This was truly guessed correctly by Yang Pingxi; the natural world is indeed wondrous!

Liu Mu watched the two discuss for a long time, not knowing what to do in the future, and felt a bit anxious.

Through Yang Pingqiong's mouth, the Mountain Rat King strongly requested that she stay and live with the rat pack, as she could no longer survive independently now.

But Yang Pingxi's worry was obvious; he could not accept his sister living alone in the mountains again, and in a post-disaster world where she could encounter danger at any time.

If there really were danger, he wouldn't be able to help in time.

However, in Liu Mu's view, Yang Pingxi would at most be a hindrance in front of the Mountain Rat King and the rat pack.

"How about..."

Liu Mu raised her hand from afar, "Would the three of you like to hear a word from me?"

The Mountain Rat King and Yang Pingqiong looked over with the same golden-yellow eyes, vigilantly not answering.

Only Yang Pingxi admired this Boss from the bottom of his heart, so he took the initiative to persuade: "Why don't we listen to what the Boss has to say? It won't be too late to decide then."

Yang Pingqiong lowered her eyes, meeting the gaze of the Mountain Rat King, seemingly discussing, and after a while, they both nodded.

The whole process looked truly a bit eerie.

Liu Mu walked a few steps closer, but the fear of humans is engraved in the bones of wild animals; the Mountain Rat King retreated cautiously, seemingly ready to turn and run at any time.

The rat pack in the distance was also a bit restless; Liu Mu stopped her steps and sighed with great grievance,

"We are all human, why are you not afraid of him, but so afraid of me?"

If the Mountain Rat King could speak, it would probably ask, "Why is this King afraid of you? Don't you have any idea? You even wanted to tame this King just now!"

Liu Mu really didn't have any idea; she said: "The geology here is unstable; you should move your nest to the mountain near the town. I can let the town provide you with clean water sources, but you still have to find your own food. Of course, at the same time, you must also provide sentry duty and a certain level of security for the town. How about it, isn't that very cost-effective?"

This idea popped up the moment she saw Yang Pingqiong and the Mountain Rat King; sigh, I don't know if it's because of the bonus of the Merchant Path, or if she is just such a business genius.

She felt it should be the latter.

Over there, they discussed for a few minutes; of course, it was mainly Comrade Yang Pingxi actively persuading, and the Mountain Rat King agreed.

"There is one condition," Yang Pingqiong's voice was still a bit strange, but it was already much better than the "squeak squeak squeak" at the beginning, she said: "You cannot break into our habitat without our permission, and you cannot hunt our people—no, our family."

Liu Mu immediately followed up, "What about other mountain rat packs? For example, those coming from other hills that compete with you for territory?"

"They can be hunted, and we will also serve as a warning post," Yang Pingqiong tilted her head slightly, seemingly not quite understanding something, and after a while, she continued: "We will build a water storage tank on the mountain; we hope you can send clean water up regularly."

"That's no problem," Liu Mu said readily, "However, you cannot go to the town at will either, especially don't steal farmed poultry and grain and the like; after all, not everyone is as open-minded as I am, treating animal friends as warmly as spring."

"We don't like to eat human food; the food in the mountains is enough for us to live happily!" Yang Pingqiong seemed afraid of being framed as a thief and immediately emphasized, "If you go into the mountains to find food, we can also help lead the way, but you must absolutely not hurt the partners of our clan!"

Liu Mu understood a little; the reproductive ability of mountain rats should not be much lower than those common rats. This group of Mutated Rats might just be the descendants of that litter of small rats Yang Pingqiong saved a few years ago.

Tsk tsk, if humans had this reproductive ability, how could there be negative population growth before the apocalypse? They could also quickly recover their vitality after the apocalypse.

The conditions were reached; Liu Mu said she would draft a specific contract and bring it for them to sign tomorrow, and from then on, everyone would live together according to the agreement.

Just as she intended to go after the convoy first, Yang Pingqiong suddenly called out to her.