Fu Erdie barely grasped a clue when she quickly doused her own excitement with cold water.
She didn’t have a car. Even if she did, she couldn’t drive.
And if H City experienced widespread flooding, equipment like kayaks and rescue boats would be necessary. Where would she find such equipment?
Even if she had a car and a rescue boat tied to the roof, once she left the house and her plants, how would she protect herself along the way?
Sure, her body was much stronger than an ordinary person’s, thanks to the house’s nourishment. She had more strength. But could she really defeat everything that came her way, unstoppable like a god or a demon?
It was clearly impossible!
The person beside her did have such capabilities, but his destructive powers were entirely dependent on the house continuously repairing and healing him. Even if he were the kindest person in the world and willingly set out with her, every threat they encountered would take its toll, and he would likely end up dead on the road!
Just thinking about it made Fu Erdie’s scalp tingle with numbness.
Suppressing her worries, she followed her original plan and inspected the surrounding farmland.
Almost returning empty-handed, she finally spotted a small yellow chick near the edge of a field.
The little chick was dusty and grey, quietly chirping as if calling for its mother. It looked around cautiously, scratching up edible bits from the ground and stuffing them into its beak.
Sang Wenhao controlled a metal ball to trap it.
With their newly acquired “provision,” the two returned to Building 7.
The chick was panicked the whole way back, bouncing frantically and trying to pierce the metal ball. The ball remained unfazed, dutifully carrying it home and handing it over to Zhang Dongxuan.
The chick wasn’t ready to eat yet and had to be raised.
Zhang Dongxuan examined it and said it was a little hen. “Maybe she’ll meet her other half, lay chicks, or grow up and lay eggs every few days. Otherwise, she’ll just become a tasty dish.”
Fu Erdie gave a few instructions and then got to work.
She needed to figure out her abilities as soon as possible.
Or did she even have powers at all?
Taking out the seeds she had been experimenting with for days, she spread them out on a plate. She cut her finger and let her blood drip onto the seeds, ensuring each one was covered.
Holding the blood-stained seeds, she went to the succulents on the second floor and wiped her hand under their fleshy leaves.
The leaves absorbed the blood, but they didn’t heal her wound.
Previously, Fu Erdie had fed the succulents her blood. If they had already been mutated by her blood, it didn’t make sense that there was no healing effect.
What went wrong?
Blood didn’t work. Carrying seeds around didn’t work. What exactly would work?
Could she only promote the house’s mutation and not the plants’ directly? Did plants only mutate because of the house’s attributes?
Growing increasingly agitated, she smeared fresh blood on the doorframe of a random room on the second floor.
Nothing happened.
At some point, a circle of plants had gathered around her, “watching” their seemingly self-harming caretaker with concern. Not knowing what to do, they turned their gazes toward Green Ivy.
The leader, Green Ivy, simply watched Fu Erdie silently, waiting. When Fu Erdie eventually slumped to the floor after leaving blood stains on the door and walls, Green Ivy finally stepped forward. It wrapped its leaves around her wounded arm, cleaned off the residual dust, absorbed the blood, and healed her wound.
Watching this, Fu Erdie suddenly realized—her blood didn’t turn into white light this time.
She blinked slowly and remembered how Sang Wenhao had stopped her self-harming experiments that day. Inspiration struck.
“You can absorb my blood and mutate, but there’s a condition.” She looked at Green Ivy, speaking deliberately as she organized her thoughts. “The condition is that I must not intentionally harm myself with the purpose of feeding you, right?”
Green Ivy nodded quickly, relieved she finally understood!
These past days, seeing their caretaker so worried, it had wished it could grow a mouth and explain everything it sensed!
But it was too dumb. It couldn’t speak or recognize words.
It couldn’t do anything—just a small Green Ivy.
Green Ivy drooped its leaves, rubbing against Fu Erdie pitifully.
Fu Erdie finally saw the light.
Intentionally cutting her finger to feed plants—no good.
But the blood that accidentally fed plants when she scraped her arm on the outer wall to save Sang Wenhao—that worked.
This limited her ability to use her power to promote plant mutations, but it also protected her. It ensured no mutated plants, animals, or other ability users would rush over to kill her for her blood once they found out.
Calming down, Fu Erdie leaned against the wall, deep in thought.
Whether it was the house or the plants, their initial mutations weren’t for attacking but for protection.
Healing was protection. Stopping bleeding was protection. Providing ample water was protection. Clean air was protection. A comfortable air-conditioned environment was protection.
Everything was for protection.
Later, when the plants evolved to attack zombies, it could have been their choice, or perhaps it was just another way of protecting.
Through repeated battles and gradual cooperation, the plants grew to trust her more and more.
They weren’t her tools or servants but beings that had come together through trust—each one a mutated plant connected to her.
Together, they were like a kindergarten and a family.
Just like her parents protected her, she wanted to protect them. There were no harsh rules or obligations that forced anyone to care for another. It was simply because they were family. In the absence of any other reason, they naturally relied on each other.
Fu Erdie covered her face.
Her ability was to have these new “family members” when her real family wasn’t around.
It was happiness. It was luck.
But what was she supposed to do next with this protection-oriented ability?
The prerequisite for her blood to promote mutations was that she didn’t deliberately harm herself. So if she went to fight zombies, bled, and then used that blood to feed the plants, would that count as intentionally hurting herself?
No, those questions didn’t matter right now. The important thing was…
Fu Erdie buried her head in her arms, her hand unconsciously tugging at her hair.
The key issue was that her ability couldn’t help her find her parents. Unless this building—this house—could move like a car and take them along.
…
Wait!
Fu Erdie suddenly lifted her head.
If her ability allowed her blood to promote mutations after she was injured, what if she mutated a car? That way, the car would have the same protective functions as the house!
It was only midday. After lunch, she could head out again in the afternoon.
Fu Erdie decided to ask Sang Wenhao for help to escort her to find a functional car. Then, she would fight zombies near the vehicle.
To ensure her injuries wouldn’t be “deliberate,” she would do her best to fight the zombies head-on. Once injured, she’d get into the car, let her blood drip inside, and feel whether there was any energy change in her body or if the car would mutate.
Regardless of whether the car mutated immediately, Sang Wenhao could clear out the surrounding zombies and drive the car back to the community for further observation and use.
With her plan set, Fu Erdie quickly discussed it with Sang Wenhao.
Sang Wenhao agreed without hesitation, and after finishing lunch, they set off onto the road.
—
The road to Qingfan Town wasn’t overrun with zombies, but without Sang Wenhao’s help, Fu Erdie struggled to smash the heads of so many zombies with a single hammer.
Sang Wenhao paid attention to her situation while also searching for a functional vehicle.
With perfect control, his iron spikes flew around them, piercing through each zombie’s head, stirring their brains, and exiting cleanly through the same hole.
The zombies collapsed, lifeless.
He found a vehicle, and after exhausting herself, Fu Erdie successfully got injured—a deep scratch on her back, so deep the bone was visible.
Fu Erdie closed her eyes, focusing intently. She suddenly felt a faint yet strange energy moving within her body.
She tried to guide it, and the energy successfully flowed to her fingertips, touching the car seat.
However…
Fu Erdie frowned.
It felt like pouring water into a cup, except the cup wasn’t hollow but solid. The water couldn’t go in and just spilled out to the sides.
“Let’s head back,” Sang Wenhao started the car. “Sit tight.”
—
Back at the community, Fu Erdie didn’t continue studying the car’s mutation. She also refused Green Ivy’s healing and kept feeling the mysterious energy within her.
She moved her fingertip to the succulent’s leaves nearby. This time, the succulent wasn’t an “empty cup”; it felt like a vast ocean, ready to accept the “water flow.”
At the same time… Could she also draw the “water” back out?
She tested it, pulling a tiny bit of energy from the succulent. Instantly, the excruciating pain from the gruesome wound on her back disappeared.
“Sang Wenhao, is my back healed?”
She turned to Sang Wenhao, who gave a surprised but certain answer.
“Yes, it’s healed.”
Fu Erdie touched the succulent. “Do you feel uncomfortable?”
The succulent shook its leaves.
“Sorry, I want to test this further. If you feel any discomfort, let me know immediately.”
The succulent nodded.
This time, Fu Erdie gradually increased the amount of energy she drew.
It felt like drinking a nutrient solution; the exhaustion from the afternoon’s battles vanished, leaving her full of energy.
She asked the succulent how it felt. Was it uncomfortable?
The succulent shook its leaves again.
But oddly, Fu Erdie could sense that the succulent was a bit tired. It wasn’t in pain or distress, but it felt like someone who had played too long or overeaten and just wanted to sleep.
So Fu Erdie returned the energy she had drawn back to the succulent.
She guessed that this energy flowing between her and the succulent had powerful healing effects and could also restore her energy significantly.
After giving the energy back, she anticipated she’d feel exhausted again.
But surprisingly, even after returning the energy—and even pouring extra energy back into the succulent—she felt perfectly fine.
It wasn’t until she reached a certain critical point, as she’d vaguely expected, that everything changed. Suddenly, it felt like a filter overwhelmed by water pressure. There was a faint pop, and she was hit with an overwhelming fatigue.
She tried to stabilize herself and draw some energy back, but she found that her control over this mysterious energy had weakened.
Unable to sustain herself, she was carried upstairs by Sang Wenhao.
That day, Fu Erdie was completely drained, her limbs soft and powerless.
Leave a Reply