Chapter 17: The Hunt

March 26, 2029, the third day of the apocalypse.

As the first ray of sunlight spilled through the window, turning the pitch-black mist outside into a blood-red haze once again, Li Ye opened his eyes as expected.

To his surprise, Lu Xuening, who was sleeping nearby, rose almost simultaneously.

Noticing Li Ye’s gaze, a delicate blush tinted her lovely face.

“What are you looking at?”

She instinctively adjusted the sleeve that revealed her snow-white shoulder.

She had long since changed out of the red dress, now dressed in clothing suited for running.

“Why are you up so early today?”

Li Ye walked over to open the window, speaking softly.

Xuening's eyes held determination as she replied, “I don’t want to become a burden to you.”

Li Ye was momentarily taken aback. ‘This girl is still as strong-willed as ever.’

Standing in the open space near the warehouse, Li Ye habitually began his daily stance training and fist practice.

The yard wasn’t large, but it was enough for him to fully stretch out.

Listening to the howling wind, Lu Xuening stared blankly at Li Ye’s flowing, dragon-like figure.

‘Since when did I become so dependent on Xiao Ye?’

Since three years ago, the ‘Xiao Ye’ she once knew seemed to have suddenly transformed.

He had become more mature and steady—so much so that it bordered on excessive.

When to sleep, how long to sleep... even the meals were scheduled and measured precisely.

Yet, as a strong-willed woman herself, Lu Xuening found herself liking this changed Li Ye even more.

Aunt Lu and Suo Hao soon awoke as well, remembering that today was the day for hunting.

Just as they were about to put on their shoes and get up, Li Ye stopped his practice and said,

“Take off your shoes and socks. We’ll be going barefoot.”

Li Ye was the first to kick off his shoes and toss them aside.

“Ah, why do we need to go barefoot?”

After a brief hesitation, Suo Hao and the others quickly removed their shoes and socks, feeling the intimate contact of their feet with the ground. The icy coldness traveled from their soles straight to their hearts.

“Today’s hunt isn’t for the usual chickens or rabbits from before the apocalypse.”

Li Ye opened the warehouse’s iron door and called them out, continuing,

“The red mist has caused all creatures to ‘evolve’ in some way, including those once insignificant little things.”

“For example, cats, dogs, and rats living in every corner of the city—after being enhanced by the red mist, their hearing is now about twenty times more sensitive than that of humans.”

Suo Hao grumbled in frustration, unable to hold back,

“That’s just not fair.”

Li Ye rolled his eyes at Suo Hao. “Not fair? Don’t you feel your own body changing?”

Suo Hao was taken aback, “What changes? I just get hungrier.”

Li Ye smiled wryly, rubbing his forehead.

“Really. But I feel like the calluses on my feet have thickened; I hardly feel the ground when I step.”

Aunt Lu and Lu Xuening followed closely behind Li Ye, covering their mouths to stifle their laughter.

“Yeah, I think your skin’s gotten thicker too.”

Li Ye suddenly regretted bringing chubby Suo Hao along for the hunt.

As they approached the factory gates, the usually quiet Aunt Lu asked curiously,

“Xiao Ye, don’t we need some weapons for hunting today?”

Suo Hao echoed anxiously,

“Yeah, didn’t they say that if humans have cold weapons, they can defeat eighty percent of creatures in nature? Why don’t we grab some handy weapons from the factory?”

Li Ye didn’t stop, opening the gate and leading them outside with a ghostly smile.

“Today’s hunt forbids the use of man-made weapons.”

“Whatever we catch, we eat. No returning to the warehouse.”

“And, good luck.”

With that, Li Ye’s figure vanished from their sight in an instant, and the factory gates slammed shut with a thunderous crash.

“Damn it, Yezi, what are you doing? Don’t scare us like that!”

Suo Hao shouted instinctively, and even the usually composed Aunt Lu felt a wave of tension after Li Ye disappeared.

The oppressive feeling of the red mist settled heavily over their hearts again.

Li Ye stood far from the three, orchestrating this to see whether, when the only light vanished before their eyes, they would remember to light the ‘torch’ in their hands—or sink into darkness forever...

...

Among the three, only Lu Xuening calmly surveyed the red mist shrouding their surroundings. She kept her steps cautious, leading Aunt Lu and Suo Hao as they groped their way forward.

“Mom, you brought bandages and such, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Aunt Lu nodded softly, patting the small bag on her back.

Lu Xuening exhaled deeply and pressed on leading the others forward.

The outside world was far more lush than they had imagined, and what was most uncomfortable wasn’t the broken chunks of cement, but the grass and shrubs that had sprouted countless tiny prickles.

“Xuening, why are you pulling at those plants?”

Aunt Lu walked behind her, curious.

“Our human scent is too strong.”

As she spoke, Lu Xuening picked up a stone from the ground and crushed the wild grass into a green paste, then decisively smeared it over her skin without hesitation.

The pungent smell of bitter grass enveloped her, causing the two behind her to shake their heads in discomfort.

“The senses of sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing—most animals’ sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than humans’. Yet Xiao Ye never mentioned this. Given his meticulous nature, he would never overlook such a crucial detail.”

“The only possibility is that he’s testing us.”

Suo Hao and Aunt Lu stared at Lu Xuening in surprise, then without hesitation imitated her, stripping the grass around their feet clean.

Walking and smearing the paste, the three groped forward for quite some time.

No zombies passed by, nor did any mutated creatures surround them.

Until the vague sun hanging above the red mist reached directly overhead.

Lu Xuening, still leading, suddenly stopped, startling Suo Hao and Aunt Lu.

“What’s wrong, Xuening? Did you see some monsters?” Suo Hao whispered.

Lu Xuening didn’t answer, instead scanning her surroundings oddly and asked,

“Do you guys feel... the mist is thinner?”

Suo Hao narrowed his eyes, surveying around. His already small eyes became mere slits.

“No, it’s not thinner. It looks the same as before.”

Aunt Lu nodded in agreement, unable to perceive any thinning in the mist.

“Oh?”

Lu Xuening straightened, turning her gaze to the right, toward the suburban villa area.

The nearest house was about fifteen meters away.

All of it was vividly clear to Lu Xuening’s eyes.

She continued to look around, thoughts flashing through her mind.

Indeed, it was unlikely the mist had lessened, but her field of vision had expanded several times over.

Trying to analyze like Li Ye, she could only reach one conclusion—her eyesight had improved unknowingly.

“So this is what Xiao Ye called—evolution?”