Part of it was jealousy. He hated that Jing Shu could still eat so damn well no matter the situation. But part of it was pride too; he just couldn't stand that she always seemed so high and mighty in the face of their struggle.
Jing Shu took a big step forward. Her eyes were steady as she looked at him. "Yeah, I really am that amazing. In this twisted mountain that looks like it's been shoved into the apocalypse itself, I have got the most authority to speak. I have survived more than any of you. I can see dangers you can't. I understand the habits and weaknesses of creatures you don't even know exist, and I have ways to kill that you can't even imagine.
My food reserves are enough to keep me alive for weeks. If we really end up lost in this mountain for days without food or supplies, facing constant danger, then I will be the only one who walks out alive. The rest of you won't make it."
She looked straight at Monkey's defiant face and said coolly, "Don't get all worked up. If you don't believe me, go ahead and walk on your own."
She had had enough of this nonsense. First she had to save that idiot, then they had to take a vote every time they hit a crossroads. Enough was enough. Since this was her area of expertise, she was done wasting time. She had already warned them twice.
From here on, she was taking command. Jing Shu wasn't a domineering person by nature, but ever since her rebirth, she had carried a quiet, simmering rage in her blood—a restless urge to take control of everything.
Monkey hesitated, his jaw tight. Tank scratched his head and stepped forward, his boots scuffing the gravel. "Look, I'm just the temporary captain. If Jing Shu is right, and she has got more experience dealing with this kind of situation, then I will follow her lead from now on."
Tank wasn't really captain material anyway. He didn't have the decisiveness or presence for it.
In the dim light, Monkey glanced at Jing Shu with a mocking grin. He gritted his teeth and called Xiao Hei to follow him. He crouched low, tossing small stones ahead to test the ground of the ravine. Ah Huang took a crisscrossing Z-pattern path beside him, keeping to the jagged mountainside and avoiding the center gap that might hide real danger.
Under their flashlights, the space between the two mountains looked flat and safe. The gray stone seemed solid. Nothing seemed wrong. Monkey had walked a few dozen meters when, all of a sudden, the ground began to collapse piece by piece. The "flat path" turned into pools of black sludge, spreading like ink spots across the ravine and up the slopes. There were hundreds of them. They looked like the spots on a dalmatian.
Except these spots were alive. They were black, wriggling creatures that could disguise themselves and move with a slow, rhythmic pulse.
Monkey accidentally stepped into one of the pools. A shrill scream tore through the air, echoing off the cliffs. Half his foot was swallowed by the black slime. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't break free. He yanked out his weapon and slashed at the mass, but it was like cutting into thick, cold jelly. His blade got stuck. When he tried to pull it back, the slime clung tighter and tighter, wrapping around his leg until even his weapon was about to be devoured.
He looked like a man sinking into cold, living quicksand.
"Something is eating my foot! Ahhh!"
The other pools of black water seemed to smell the blood and started squirming toward him. The space around Monkey shrank fast as the scattered pools merged into one giant, writhing mass. It surrounded him completely.
Tank was about to charge forward, his hand on his holster, but Jing Shu grabbed him by the arm. "That's useless."
"Then what do we do? You got a plan?"
She pulled out a small cloth bag and tossed it to him. "Salt. Fifty contribution points. Sprinkle it on them. It will only hold them off for a few seconds."
"Got it." Tank ran as he poured the white grains. Wherever the salt touched, the black water twitched violently and then froze stiff in place. He dumped the rest onto the pool holding Monkey. The slime shrank instantly, drawing back from the sharp minerals. Tank yanked hard and managed to pull Monkey free, weapon and all.
The sight made everyone's stomach turn. Half of Monkey's leg was shredded down to the bone. Hundreds of fingernail-sized holes pitted his flesh; it looked like a thousand tiny, invisible crabs had torn chunks out of him. Blood poured down his calf in thick, dark streams, soaking the ground and drawing more of the black water closer.
Even his weapon had been half-eaten, the metal pitted and worn. That was how strong these creatures were. Looking around, even the collapsed rocks were pitted with similar holes. The things could digest stone too.
Within moments, the salt's effect wore off. The black water twitched again, then started creeping back toward the scent of blood. Salt could only paralyze them temporarily. There was no way to use enough of it to cross a kilometer-wide ravine. And salt was far too precious to waste like that anyway.
Later on, people classified this kind of black sludge as a mutated hybrid of zombie virus and slug. It was completely worthless, but extremely hard to deal with. The best advice was to avoid them at all costs; they loved hiding in cracks and tunneling through stone.
Monkey was trembling all over, his lips pale and bloodless. Jing Shu sprayed alcohol on the wounds, the sharp scent cutting through the mountain air. She applied hemostatic medicine and wrapped his leg in clean bandages. "You will need medicine once a day," she said calmly. "That's 100 contribution points per dose, plus 50 for the salt earlier."
Ah Huang whimpered beside them, wagging his tail low to the ground. Monkey shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. He was in too much pain to speak.
"Let's climb the mountain. Unless someone still wants to try the gap." Jing Shu slung her three heavy bags over her shoulder and started up the slope.
Snake Spirit grinned, his tongue flicking. "Things are getting more interesting." He called for the little Thai python and followed her.
The others exchanged glances, then silently decided to climb too. None of them wanted to end up like Monkey, bleeding out and paying extra contribution points every day. Tank handed a few heavy weapons to Snake Spirit, then helped the injured Monkey along. Their pace slowed to a crawl.
When they finally crossed the mountain ridge, everyone thought they would see the exit. Instead, they were greeted by endless ridges stretching into the gray distance. Every mountain gap they came across was crawling with more of those black-water monsters. Bullets just splashed into them without effect, and blades got stuck inside, making them impossible to pull out. Unless they moved, their bodies blended perfectly with the dark color of the mountain.
"Damn it! What the hell are these things? Where did they come from?" Tank's voice was a low growl of frustration.
The darkness had accelerated evolution a thousandfold. Three years into the apocalypse, every surviving species had to adapt to new environments to live. It was nature's law: adapt or die.
"Boss, shouldn't we find a place to sleep?" Xiao Hei finally gave in and started calling Jing Shu 'boss.' He was exhausted, his shoulders sagging, and he regretted not siding with her earlier. This mountain was a nightmare.
"This isn't a good place to rest," Jing Shu said. "We need to find something special. In these mountains, there's only one kind of place that's truly safe."
She had been searching since they entered the range, but still hadn't found it. She kept releasing poison bees to scout, but their signals always vanished as they were eaten by unseen creatures. Helpless, she switched to using man-eating bugs instead. Those hadn't met any enemies yet, but they were far slower than the bees.
Xiao Hei didn't know what kind of "special place" she was talking about, and he didn't dare ask.