Chapter 23: Zombie Rabbit
Yu Xian's physical capabilities and five senses were improving daily. Even without using Silver Blood to enhance his sense of smell, he could now easily distinguish many different scents, especially anything related to blood, to which he was extremely, extremely sensitive.
Seemingly noticing Yu Xian’s gaze, the female student quickened her steps, disappearing into the academy building in an instant.
Chen Ling had seen Yu Xian staring at the girl downstairs. "She's Wang Qian, a wiccan specialized in curses, so don't you two even think about trying to flirt with her."
Zhang Shou was shocked. "Chen Ling, are you really not a supernatural being? How come there's nothing you don't seem to know?"
With an enigmatic expression, Chen Ling patted him on the shoulder with a deeply meaningful look. "Doggy, you've changed. You don't even call me 'Your Majesty' anymore." [1]
Zhang Shou smiled ingratiatingly. "Then, Your Majesty, are you a supernatural being?"
Chen Ling smiled mysteriously. "Take a guess."
She was actually just someone who loved gossip and had joined many student group chats.
Yu Xian could tell whether someone was a supernatural being by scent alone. He simply smiled at his friends' conversation while quietly observing the students below.
At that moment, a girl with a pure yet alluring appearance suddenly looked up and greeted Yu Xian, "Hey, handsome!"
She had short wine-red hair, and there was even a tail-like appendage beneath her skirt.
Yu Xian merely gave her a slight nod. This girl was one of the targets Jin Sheng had asked him and Zhang Shou to keep an eye on: Hu Tu'er.
Hu Tu'er hailed from the lineage of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and her family ran a bathhouse. Her father, Hu Weijie, was a well-known cleaner in the underworld. If anyone was most likely to cause trouble, he would definitely be one of the prime suspects.
Hu Tu'er's scent didn't seem to show any abnormalities today. If her father had truly done something behind the scenes, then as long as he had contact with Hu Tu'er, Yu Xian could probably detect clues through her scent.
Right up until the class bell rang, none of the other students showed any abnormalities. The only one who seemed suspicious was Wang Qian.
***
That night, Zhang Shou drove, while Yu Xian sat in the passenger seat, knitting a sweater.
With a tap of his phone, Zhang Shou checked in through the Public Security Bureau's patrol app. "It's 7:30 PM right now. Salted Fish and Death Medic, commencing patrol now."
He focused his attention back on the road. The route along Silver City's outer walls had little traffic. The sidewalks on both sides were empty, not a single person in sight.
After an hour of driving along the patrol route, they hadn't seen a single ordinary animal, let alone a supernatural animal. Bored, Zhang Shou yawned. Seeing that Yu Xian was still focused on knitting, he complained, "I thought night patrol would be exciting, but it's actually so boring. At this rate, I'll fall asleep."
Yu Xian smiled. "It's fine. When you do fall asleep, I'll just shoot you. You haven't died today yet, right?"
If Zhang Shou's state reset, his day-night cycle would flip. Since his passive ability had recorded his condition in the morning, after revival, he would effectively wake up as if from a full sleep, feeling refreshed again. Of course, if he made it all the way to the next morning, he would probably end up sleeping through the entire day.
Zhang Shou feigned horror after hearing that utterly inhuman remark. "Wow, Salted Fish, since when did you become so vicious?"
Yu Xian was about to reply when his ear twitched. The next instant, he flicked his fingers while still knitting, and a strand of silver thread shot straight out of the car window. "Stop the car."
Zhang Shou quickly brought the vehicle to a halt. The two got out of the car and walked to the right side of the road. In the grass by the roadside, a two-meter-long poisonous snake with a drill-shaped horn on its head lay on the ground in two halves. Its lower body was still writhing.
Yu Xian took a photo of the snake with his phone, then retrieved a collection bag from the back seat. Using a clamp, he placed the snake into the bag. "One merit point secured."
Zhang Shou shone a high-powered flashlight into the grass. He held a gun in his other hand, ready to fire at any moment.
Yu Xian laughed at his actions. "No need to worry. There's only this one snake here. No idea how it got into the city, though."
That was indeed strange. Silver City had fifteen-meter-high defensive walls on its outskirts, and there were also military bases outside the walls. Logically, these animals should have been completely unable to bypass both defenses and enter the city. Yet, animals kept appearing from nowhere, as if they were materializing out of thin air.
Then again, it wasn't entirely surprising. It was like how many people lived in high-rise buildings dozens of floors up, yet cockroaches still somehow found their way into them. No one ever knew where they came from. Perhaps animals always found their own way to survive.
The two got back into the car and continued driving. About half an hour later, a black shadow suddenly shot out from the grass, and Zhang Shou slammed on the brakes. He and Yu Xian rushed out of the car at the same time and chased after the shadow.
"A rabbit. Possibly Insect rank. I'm going ahead!" Yu Xian immediately accelerated and left Zhang Shou behind.
After running alone for a while, Zhang Shou finally stopped, gasping for breath. "When we get back, I'm eating rabbit meat!"
Before he could even catch his breath, another black shadow flashed past him. His eyes widened as he turned around. "Another one?"
On the other side of the road was a stretch of grass. Beyond the grass lay a river, and across the river was a forest. Further beyond that stood the city wall.
As he walked back, Zhang Shou muttered, "Where the hell did this rabbit come from?"
He was determined to check it out, figuring that there might be a burrow somewhere in the grass.
Meanwhile, the rabbit Yu Xian chased was extremely fast, but Yu Xian was even faster. The distance between them kept closing. A trace of Blood Energy appeared in Yu Xian's hand. With a flick of his finger, a silver thread wrapped in Blood Energy shot forward. In the blink of an eye, it pierced straight through the rabbit and twisted rapidly, shredding its bones, muscles, and tendons from within.
Blood Energy had many uses, and Yu Xian had been continuously studying it. Just now, he had used it to enhance the kinetic force of his silver thread, increasing both its speed and power.
Yu Xian looked at the still-twitching rabbit and frowned. "That feeling just now... Something is off."
He slowly walked over to the rabbit and used the silver thread to turn it over for a closer look. The rabbit had two protruding fangs and was emitting a dense aura of corpse miasma.
A Zombie Rabbit! Yu Xian froze for a moment, then quickly used the silver thread to bind it more tightly. If this thing bit an ordinary human, it would be troublesome.
Yu Xian carried the rabbit back toward the road. When he reached the roadside, he saw Zhang Shou rummaging through the grass and stepped forward. "What are you looking for?"
"Rabbit burrow." Seeing the rabbit in Yu Xian's hand, Zhang Shou asked, "Huh? Why is there only one? I clearly saw another one run past behind it just now. Didn't you run into it?"
Yu Xian froze. Another one?
He quickly walked back to the car, pulled a talisman-covered body bag from the back seat, and stuffed the Zombie Rabbit inside. After tying it up, he immediately turned and ran back.
Normally, he did not like using Silver Blood to enhance his sense of smell. The world was filled with countless odors, and he simply couldn't tolerate the overwhelming stench of the mortal world. But he had no choice right now. If a Zombie Rabbit bit someone, it would become a serious problem, especially because even after being bitten, some people would not seek medical attention immediately. Instead, they would cling to hope, thinking they could handle it themselves, only to end up harming both themselves and others, causing a major disaster.
1. 狗子 (Gǒuzi) literally means "puppy" or "doggy," but in Chinese slang and close friendships, it is often used as a teasing or affectionate nickname. Depending on context, it can sound playful, joking, or mildly mocking, similar to calling someone "bro" or "dude" in English. ☜