Qiu Shi had seen very few animals in the wild, especially near Yuncheng, where many refugees gathered. Almost all the animals had been eaten. There were only rabbits, squirrels, wild boars, and wolves.
He knew bears from books, a photo album, and a pile of small plastic pieces that he had collected in the past, which were used by old-timers' children to learn to read. There were various animals on them.
Bear.
It is also marked below: xióng.
He knew that this thing was huge, much taller than a human when standing up. But judging from the reaction of Lin Sheng, a biological body who had theoretically seen a xiong bear, the bear in front of him was obviously much larger than normal.
The bear's blood-red eyes were almost identical to those of the infected, except that they were much larger, making it look like some kind of monster that lurked in the dark.
This is a bear that has been infected with a fungus and has mutated, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Xiong stood upright, looked down at Qiu who was standing in front of him, and let out a low growl from his throat.
The sound was not loud, but the vibration it caused seemed to be able to vibrate all the way into the body. Qiu Shi even felt that his heart was trembling along with it.
Then it swung its arms, and its paw easily smashed the trunk of a nearby tree. As the tree fell towards Qiu Shi, it leaned forward and raised its paw to hit Qiu Shi.
Qiu Shi could see that Xing Bi and Xiao Zuo were already on the trees on both sides. As long as the bear pounced forward, they could fall on its back.
"Come, little bear, come!" He shouted as he suddenly stepped back a distance, making a "slurping" sound.
The bear slapped the air with its palm and then lunged forward again.
Xing Bi and Xiao Zuo jumped onto the bear's back, one on the left and one on the right, and the knives in their hands stabbed into the back of the bear's neck at the same time.
The bear did not fall down, but it shook its body vigorously twice because of the pain and scratched its back with its claws.
Xing Bi and Xiao Zuo dodged the claws at the same time. Lin Sheng jumped onto the bear's back from behind. The third knife stabbed into the bear's body. The three knives were arranged in sequence, all the way down along the cervical vertebrae.
But none of the three cuts caused the bear to lose his athletic ability.
It let out a low, somewhat muffled roar, suddenly stood up, and hit the tree with its back.
The three people on his back jumped down and avoided the impact.
Qiu Shi pulled out the knife, leaned forward suddenly, and swung the knife out, stabbing it into the bear's throat.
The bear suddenly became manic, waving its claws wildly in all directions, breaking trees and falling down, and several people had to step back.
But the bear seemed to be particularly interested in Qiu Shi, who had a human body. After knocking down a tree, it pounced on Qiu Shi again.
The claws swung over brought up a sharp wind.
Qiu Shi retreated between two trees and avoided the attack.
Then Xing Bi rushed over from behind him: "Stand still."
"Fuck your ancestors." Qiu Shi didn't have time to think and his foot took a wrong step.
Just as he stood firm against a rock, Xing Bi had already stepped on his shoulder, and using the force to leap up, he pounced on the bear's head head-on, smashing his knee on the bear's nose and stabbing the bear's eyes with the knives in both hands at the same time.
As the bear was struggling wildly, he grabbed the bear's ears and rolled over on its back, then punched the bear's neck from behind, burying his entire forearm in it.
Qiu Shi could hear the sound of flesh being torn, as well as a series of muffled but crisp "crackling" sounds of bones breaking.
While the bear's body was slightly frozen by the attack, Lin Sheng and Xiao Zuo grabbed the bear's long hair and jumped onto its shoulders. In the same way as Xing Bi, they punched deeply into the bear's neck.
After the bear was punched through the neck three times in succession, it stayed where it was for more than ten seconds before it finally leaned forward slowly and fell to the ground with a bang.
When it fell to the ground, the snow was rolled up very high.
For the next few seconds, none of the four members of the group said anything.
They looked at the bear on the ground together.
"Is he dead?" Qiu Shi walked over.
"Dead." Xing Bi said.
"Fuck," Qiu Shi breathed a sigh of relief, "There are still animals that make it so difficult for biological organisms to kill them."
“It’s almost impossible to find the bones,” Lin Sheng said. “The skin, flesh and fat are too thick.”
"Could this thing have been created by those symbiotes?" Qiu Shi asked, "Is there a main body controlling it?"
"No," Xing Bi replied, "but it's unlikely that it would become like this naturally. Animals are much more sensitive to fungi than humans, so they will avoid them."
"You made this thing, and you have no control over it," Qiu Shi frowned, "Why? Can't you control it?"
"Go on," Xing Bi rubbed his arm on the snow and wiped the blood off his arm, "There must be a nest ahead."
"Will we be able to use a gun if we have this thing again?" Qiu Shi said.
I didn't use a gun because I didn't want to alert other symbiotes, but this thing is really too difficult to kill without a gun.
"It's better to keep quiet." Xing Bi said.
"One is okay, but if there are two..." Qiu Shi was a little worried.
"Then run." Xing Bi said.
“…That makes sense.” Qiu Shi said.
"What's the situation with Group 1?" A voice from the command room came through the headset.
"We encountered a mutated bear," Xing Bi said, "We have dealt with it. Now we will continue to go deeper."
"Is it safe?" the command center asked. "Team Two has arrived at the target location and is investigating. If there is no abnormality, they will go to your side."
"It's safe now." Xing Bi said, "Team Two can come over at normal speed."
"Received." The command room replied.
"Let's go," Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi, "Qiu Shi."
"Hmm?" Qiu Shi responded.
"You suck on a dog when you tease it." Xing Bi said, "You suck on such a big bear too."
"But it still came over anyway," Qiu Shi said. "I suck on everything."
"He calls that thing 'little bear', so it's normal to suck it." Lin Sheng said.
"Fuck," Qiu Shi laughed, "I don't know what to call it, Bear Bear? Big Bear? Giant Bear? None of them sound as affectionate as the little bear. What if I call it too unfamiliarly and it ignores me... Have you noticed that it keeps trying to attack me?"
"You must be hungry," Xing Bi said. "Your meat is edible and clean without any fungus contamination."
"His ancestors." said Qiu Shi.
This nest may not be a nest. The nests discovered before, including the northwest nest, were not as big as this one, with wire mesh all the way around it.
"Would you like to try to go over it?" After walking for a while, Qiu Shi looked above the wire mesh and seemed to see no traps or mechanisms.
"Where there is below, there must be above," Xing Bi said, "Our main task is to explore, not to fight."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
After walking for another twenty minutes, the pine forest around us became sparse, and the rocks underfoot began to increase, and many of them were loose.
Qiu Shi saw a blank spot on the map.
"Wait a minute," he stopped, "the front is empty."
"Rifaction Valley?" Lin Sheng asked.
"It's possible." Xing Bi continued to walk forward and gestured to Qiu Shi and the others to stay where they were. "I'll go over and take a look."
After walking less than 30 meters, Xing Bi stopped and said, "It's a rift valley."
Several people followed, and the blank space on the map gradually became larger and wider, until finally half of the map became blank.
It was a very wide crack. They stood on the edge, as if they were standing on the edge of a cliff, with no visible bottom below.
The wire mesh also turned at this location and went west along the rift.
"There must be something around the other side," Xing Bi said, leaning out to look at the bottom of the cliff, "Let's go around along this cliff."
According to the map, this section is more than 300 meters, because the map currently does not show what is to the west of the pine forest.
"Is Qiu Shi okay?" Lin Sheng asked.
"He can do it." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi originally wanted to say that he didn’t know if it would work, but he could give it a try. If he really couldn’t get through, he could hang on the cliff and wait for them to come back.
But Xing Bi blew the bluff for him, so he could only nod.
The wind today was not too strong, but after they climbed down the rocks into the rift valley, the normal north wind suddenly turned into a howling gale.
Qiu Shi looked down and felt a little cramp in his calves. He had been climbing on the rock walls outside the city since he was a child, but he had never climbed such a rift or cliff where he couldn't see the bottom at a glance.
There are many rock cracks on the cliff, and it is easy to climb as long as you don't look down. Lin Sheng is in the front, followed by Xing Bi, then Qiu Shi, and behind him is Xiao Zuo.
The route was explored by Lin Sheng in front, and the people behind only needed to follow his position to find suitable points for climbing and footing.
"What is that?" When Qiu Shi looked up, he saw a metal object in front of him, higher than both ends of them.
Xing Bi climbed onto a rock, leaned back, and looked up.
This posture made Qiu Shi panic: "Don't be so f*cking aggressive, you'll fall down if you hit a piece of weathered rock!"
"I know what's going on." Xing Bi said.
"My old man once taught me that those who drown are those who can swim," said Qiu Shi.
"That's a rock nail." Lin Sheng said.
"Huh?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
"You asked what that is," Lin Sheng said, "It's a rock spike."
Qiu Shi came back to his senses and asked: "What are rock pitons?"
"It's for rock climbing," Xing Bi said. "As you climb up, you can hammer in the rock bolts and hang the protection rope on it."
"Someone came up from below?" Qiu Shi was a little surprised.
"Well, this rock nail is old," Xing Bi said. "Someone climbed up from below one or two hundred years ago. The other nails are probably gone. This is the only one left."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. He looked at the rock nail and suddenly felt the reality of time.
The rift they risked exploring for the sake of a war was a place used for entertainment by humans long, long ago. They probably never imagined that one or two hundred years later, someone would pass by the last rock nail they drove because of a war.
And this rock nail is about to disappear in time.
So fucking small, humans.
This rift runs east-west and slowly turns northwest.
After moving about a hundred meters toward that direction against the strong wind, a deep black area appeared on the edge of the map in front of Qiu Shi, on the other side of the pine forest.
"The nest," he whispered.
As they continued to climb forward, the black area continued to expand, and a few scattered infected people appeared in the pine forest.
But the location of this nest is a bit confusing. They are still in the rift valley. Is the large nest in front of them on the cliff, or...
Lin Sheng, who was at the front, stopped and said, "Xing Bi, this seems..."
Xing Bi climbed up the cracks in the rocks and jumped ahead of Lin Sheng in a few leaps. Qiu Shi's fingers felt numb from watching this, especially when he jumped over Lin Sheng from behind. Qiu Shi was worried that he would grab Lin Sheng's legs and they would both fall down.
"This is not a nest," Xing Bi's voice brought him back, "This is one of their camps."
"Fuck?" Qiu Shi immediately climbed forward quickly and even jumped like Xing Bi.
Lin Sheng was startled and turned to look at him.
Qiu Shi, who was about to make a joke, fell silent when he saw the scene over there.
After turning to the northwest, the rift suddenly becomes wide like a trumpet mouth, and over there is a huge deep pit two or three hundred meters below the ground.
Except for one side of the deep pit which is a high cliff, after passing through the crack, the terrain of that half of the cliff gradually becomes lower, like a broken bowl.
It would be difficult for them to attack from this side, but it would be relatively easy for the people in the camp to retreat.
"Can we go further?" Qiu Shi asked, "If we go a little further, we can collect more information on the map."
"It's dangerous," Lin Sheng stopped him, "They will be on guard."
"Go back," Xing Bi said, "some people may understand this place."
Qiu Shi paused: "Those black-blooded people?"
"Yes," Xing Bi responded, "They have been searching for fungi for a long time, and they have gathered more than 200 people in this area. They must be familiar with the conditions in these places."
Li Feng wanted to unite everyone he could, and the advantage of this idea was reflected in this matter.
"Let's go back to find the old man," Qiu Shi followed Xiao Zuo and moved back, "He should be able to contact Deng Yeye and her dying team member." Returning to the location where the giant bear was killed before, Ji Sui and Sang Fan's second team had already arrived and were standing beside the bear's body, watching in silence.
"Is this their new weapon?" Ji Sui said.
"I don't know," Xing Bi said, "It's too big to bring back..."
Before she could finish her words, Sang Fan beside her had already pulled out the axe from her waist and chopped it hard on the bear's neck. There were three holes in the bear's neck, and she only chopped off the bear's head with a few strokes of the axe.
"Take this head back?" Sang Fan looked at Xing Bi.
“…Okay.” Xing Bi said.
Sang Fan held the bear's ears, poked the bear's head against the front of the car, stepped onto the car, and tilted his head to Xiao You: "Get in the car."
Xiao You went over and got into her car.
Everyone got on the bus, and after notifying Xu Jie's three groups to return directly to Xima Town, they also started their return journey.
After driving for a while, Qiu Shicai said in the group chat: "Sang Fan is quite violent."
"Well," Xing Bi smiled, "If you don't know, you'd think her teacher is you."
"Bullshit," Qiu Shi said, "Am I that violent?"
"Yes." Xing Bi said.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi cursed, then laughed after thinking about it.
He did like to solve problems with violence in the past. For him, everything in life outside the city could and in most cases needed to be solved with violence.
But now, he feels that he has calmed down a lot.
Although this peace comes more from being powerless about too many things.
After returning to Xima Town, the command center had already summarized the information of this operation and sent it to Li Feng.
Qiu Shi met with Captain Yang and briefly told him about today's situation.
"The things we bring back today need to be frozen and sent back to Yuncheng overnight," said Qiu Shi.
"We're already making arrangements," Captain Yang said. "Hu Xiaoling will take two people back."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi raised his eyebrows. This group of people started to integrate into the life of Xima Town so quickly.
"This... terrain we found today," Captain Yang frowned, "whether we attack directly or attack from the other side, it is very difficult."
"The news is only reported to Team Leader Li now," Qiu Shi said, "I need a detailed report on the soldiers in the garrison. Apart from the newly recruited ones, I want those who have been trained before."
"Okay, I understand." Captain Yang nodded.
On the way to find the old man, Li Feng called.
"Are you sure it's a camp and not a nest?" he asked.
"It's certain," Qiu Shi said, "There has never been a nest that needed traps installed outside. All the infected people were killed outside. Where's your brain?"
Li Feng laughed: "I didn't expect that there would be a day when you would say that to me."
"I'm going to look for the old man now to see if I can get in touch with the believers," Qiu Shi said. "They have been active in this area for a long time, so they may be familiar with the terrain there."
"Yes," Li Feng responded, "Tell me immediately when you have determined what weapons are needed. It will take time to transport them from Yuncheng."
"knew."
The old man still lives in the small secret room underground. He is a very strange man. He used to live in the small house on the second floor of Dayan for twenty years, and now he lives in this small house for several months. It seems that he can continue to live there for another ten or eight years, just like a plant, without having to move.
"If we can get in touch with them," the old man said, "they'll be here before daybreak. Wait here."
Qiu Shi sat on the ground, picked up a bag of supplements from the box next to him, looked at it, and put it down again.
"Eat it," the old man said, "it replenishes faster than canned food."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. Although he didn't shy away from strengthening this matter, he still preferred to eat canned meat and canned vegetables like an ordinary human being.
Xing Bi took out two cans from his pocket and placed them next to him.
"Where did it come from?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
"That's what you're asking," Xing Bi said. "It was rationed. I stole it."
Qiu Shi laughed: "I mean, how did you come up with this?"
"Because I was hungry just now," Xing Bi said, "I thought you were hungry too, so I brought it over."
"Thank you." Qiu Shi opened the can and ate the canned vegetables in a few bites. Then he picked up the canned meat, tasted it first, and then ate the canned meat in a few more bites.
After rubbing his fingers on Xing Bi's pants, he looked at the old man and asked, "Do you know Deng Yeye's accomplice?"
"Yeah." The old man nodded.
"Who is he?" Qiu Shi asked, "Can you trust him?"
"He is..." the old man said hesitantly, "I can trust him, but he is..."
"He's your father." Qiu Shi sighed, "Is it so hard to tell who he is? You owe him money."
"He's a first-generation bio," the old man said, "a dying bio."
"What?" Qiu Shi was stunned. He looked at Xing Bi, then turned to look at the old man. "Is it really a biochemical body? How can a biochemical body age? Is it really because it is unstable?"
"Instability is a factor," the old man sighed, "He destroyed the system himself, and the biochemical reactions will gradually become slow, and the body and organs will gradually fail, and eventually die."
"Why?" Qiu Shi asked.
"The power of love." The old man's voice suddenly became a little excited.
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi was shocked and looked at Xing Bi again.
"Love." Xing Bi said.
"I know he's talking about love!" Qiu Shi said, "I want to ask him why he would do this for love?"
"He wants to grow old and die with his lover," said Xing Bi.
"What a pity," the old man sighed again, "Even if the biochemical body has begun to decay, the process of death is still very long. His lover died many, many years before him."
Qiu Shi had an indescribable feeling, moved, shocked, and a strong sense of loneliness and powerlessness.
He looked at Xing Bi again.
Xing Bi pursed his lips and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "What?"
"No." said Qiu Shi.
Deng Yeye and the others arrived more than an hour later. Xing Bi went out and brought them in through the main gate of Xima Town.
The benefits of being an official were reflected. In the past, if they wanted to bring people in, they would probably have to secretly bring them in from the woods in the southeast corner.
When the person came in, Qiu Shi took a look. He was a white-haired old man who looked quite vigorous. Deng Yeye pushed him in in a wheelchair. If he had not known it in advance, he would never have imagined that this was a biological being.
Qiu Shi stood up.
"Sit down," said the old man.
Qiu Shi sat back down.
"Let's get down to business," the old man said. "I don't have much time."
"It looks okay." said the old man.
"The organs have already started to die," the old man said, "it will be soon."
"What's your name?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Don't worry about the name," the old man said, "just call me grandpa. I like it."
"Well, Grandpa," Qiu Shi didn't ask any more questions, "My name is Qiu Shi, and we need to know some information now."
"Is it the big pit in the south?" asked the old man.
"Yes," Qiu Shi nodded, "It's now the symbiote's camp. The whole pit is full of fungi. We want to know if there is any other way besides going down the cliff of the rift valley."
"Of course," the old man said, "otherwise how would they get out to attack Cloud City."
Qiu Shi threw out his pet and projected the topographic map made by Lin Sheng onto the wall next to him: "Where is it?"
The old man pointed to the woodland in the north and said, "There is a road here, the road used to discharge floodwaters."
"Can vehicles and heavy weapons pass through?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's not easy to walk," the old man said, "It's all big pebbles and cracks washed out by the water. Only people can walk. Symbiotes can walk easily, but it's difficult for humans."
"This road takes a long detour," Xing Bi looked at the map, "and we'll be discovered before we even get there."
"Yes." The old man nodded.
"Then how do we attack?" Qiu Shi asked, "Just bomb it?"
"It's not that we have no solution," Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi, "We have actually tried."
"Huh?" Qiu Shi was stunned for a moment, and after two seconds he suddenly reacted, "Fuck!"
The terrain, the height difference, and the wind speed in this valley.
"Fly down?" Qiu Shi said.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.
I haven't had time to check for typos or anything like that. If you see any, tell me and I'll fix them later.