A Peaceful Life

The room fell silent, with only the gurgling sound of water boiling in the teapot.

Ye Xing Zhi could not fathom the surprise on Huo Ze's face, even if this emotion was likely feigned.

After all, in his eyes, feeding chickens was much simpler than cooking.

Thus, Ye Xing Zhi asked quite reasonably, "You've taken lives before, so what's wrong with making people feed chickens?"

"...Yes, I understand." Huo Ze swallowed subtly, nodding in agreement after a long pause.

The young man's voice was a little strange, tinged with apprehension and bewilderment.

While Ye Xing Zhi was still puzzled, Huo Ze had already shrewdly analyzed the key point in his words, his thoughts drifting further and further.

He believed that Ye Xing Zhi's intention was definitely not just to feed ordinary chicks. The animals in the valley had gradually begun to mutate, and the mutation speed of that rooster was particularly abnormal. Indeed, with his current strength, he couldn't even defeat a rooster.

Huo Ze didn't believe Ye Xing Zhi hadn't noticed this; he was almost certain that Ye Xing Zhi was intentionally raising Mutant Beasts! What did this person want to do, what was his ultimate goal?

How terrifying this matter was, at this moment, only Huo Ze understood it best in the entire world, because he had experienced too much.

Mutant Beasts were extremely dangerous, ferocious, intelligent creatures that also considered humans their most delicious food. As the Zombies gradually evolved, the Mutant Beast hordes also took advantage of humanity's chaos to rapidly develop, catching them off guard. They had long become too powerful to be underestimated.

They knew how to hibernate, excelled at cooperative hunting in packs, were truly too intelligent, yet were also cold-blooded, ruthless, and deadly predators. Mutant Beasts had left too heavy a shadow on the hearts of all humanity; by the mid-Apocalypse, they were even harder to deal with than Zombies.

Huo Ze still remembered, when he was young, he tried to save a family surrounded by a pack of earth dogs.

As everyone fought desperately with the earth dogs, when he plunged an iron rod into the heart of the alpha dog, that seemingly gentle and adorable earth dog, before dying, revealed a mocking smile very much like a human's.

At that moment, a chill suddenly ran down his spine. Just as he was about to turn around and do something, several fierce black crows suddenly burst through the windows from different angles, directly snatching the crying baby from that family and swiftly flying high into the sky.

That feeling of helplessness was truly etched into his memory; someone in the team had nightmares for a whole week because of it.

"Huo Ze, relax a little."

A calm voice interrupted his thoughts.

Huo Ze suddenly snapped back to reality, staring blankly at the small porcelain cup that had been refilled with tea in front of him. Thinking of how Ye Xing Zhi had called his name directly without asking... his expression grew even stiffer.

In truth, he was still very weak at the moment.

Ye Xing Zhi pointed to the bookshelf behind him, continuing in a calm tone, "Your gun is there, second shelf from the left."

The low-grade Spirit Tea had a slight invigorating effect on the mind; for a mortal like Huo Ze, it might be a bit strong.

He hadn't drunk much, but his head was already starting to spin. Ye Xing Zhi secretly regretted his impulsive actions tonight, pretending as if nothing had happened.

The thoughts in their minds were completely different. Huo Ze lowered his eyes, concealing the gloom in their depths, and smiled softly, "That gun was taken from poachers; it doesn't originally belong to me. You may take it, consider it part of the remuneration for taking me in."

He had no intention of retrieving the gun; his words were filled with gratitude, and his use of the phrase "taking me in" was quite meaningful.

Was he trying to show he had no ill intentions?

Hearing this, Ye Xing Zhi glanced at him, as if deep in thought, "I don't need it; you keep it."

After all, before an Ability User reached Level 2, ordinary Ability Users wouldn't have much resistance against bullets. If a gunfight between ordinary people was like slicing tofu with a knife, then for an Ability User, it was like slicing frozen tofu with a knife. There was truly no difference.

The unhealed wound on Huo Ze's abdomen was the clearest proof, so Ye Xing Zhi decisively rejected the offer.

"...Yes, thank you, Sir," Huo Ze smiled as if very grateful. Seeing that Ye Xing Zhi said nothing more, he proactively spoke, "The poachers had two SUVs; their performance is very good, and there's enough gas left to reach the nearest gas station. Do you need me to lead the way to check them out?"

Ye Xing Zhi frowned slightly, "I don't know how to drive." Nor did he want to leave this place.

"I can drive. If you need to buy more daily necessities, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, clothes, bedding, I can bring them all back for you."

Huo Ze very seriously made his offer.

He wanted to take advantage of having weapons (farming tools) and vehicles to quickly sweep through the gas station and supermarket, bringing back as many supplies as possible.

Of course, in Huo Ze's opinion, these supplies would all be handed over to Ye Xing Zhi to manage, as a form of repayment. His initial timid and apprehensive demeanor was gradually disappearing; instead, he was becoming increasingly proactive and decisive, even when running a fever, he was full of energy to act.

It seemed that simply eating, drinking tea, and chatting together had brought their relationship much closer.

Ye Xing Zhi found it interesting but still offered no opinion on Huo Ze's suggestion, showing no reaction.

It wasn't until his Divine Sense swept over Huo Ze's tightly clenched fist under the table, seeing the distinct knuckles on his pale fingers, that he slowly said, "Relax a little; I won't tie you up to feed the chickens."

After speaking, Ye Xing Zhi thought for a moment and then lightly tapped the table.

The sleeping Golden Retriever suddenly woke up, panting as it ran in from the courtyard, jumped up, rubbed against Huo Ze's knee, and happily rolled around, begging for pets.

Its fluffy tail wagged frantically, thumping against Huo Ze's arm with a rhythmic beat.

Huo Ze looked down; the little dog's big round eyes were bloodshot, and when it panted with its mouth open, two rows of sharp, dense fangs could be seen. It truly liked Huo Ze, sniffing his scent vigorously, saliva quickly drooling out.

Huo Ze: ... How could he relax?

He felt that Ye Xing Zhi's words and actions were utterly unpredictable, and moreover, he felt as if he was forcibly dragged into an evil Mutant Beast-rearing organization, unable to escape.

Everything in this valley was overtly strange!

He endured and endured, truly unable to bear it any longer. He looked up at Ye Xing Zhi for a long time, then opened his mouth with difficulty, "So, besides feeding the chickens, what else do you want me to do?"

It seemed the little dog was still more useful. Ye Xing Zhi raised an eyebrow and asked in return, "What else do you want to do?"

Huo Ze froze, seemingly genuinely speechless. A fleeting gloom crossed his face, and his answer was somewhat vague: "...Live peacefully."

Ye Xing Zhi highly approved of this answer, nodding meaningfully.

"I think so too," he sat up straight in his chair, looking at Huo Ze, slowly emphasizing each word, "But you, you've broken my peaceful life."

His deep eyes held no malice, yet they sent a chill through Huo Ze, who had just relaxed a little.

But Huo Ze was not one to easily crumble under pressure. He pursed his pale lips and softly ventured, "I apologize for disturbing you. I can leave now."

"No."

"...Yes, I will obey you."

Hearing this, Ye Xing Zhi searched a drawer for a small white porcelain flask, took out a black pill, and handed it to Huo Ze.

Huo Ze silently reached out to take it, his long eyelashes trembling slightly. He calmly glanced at Ye Xing Zhi, then swallowed the pill.

Seeing Huo Ze's battle-ready demeanor, Ye Xing Zhi decided to loosen his restrictions a little.

"If you truly want to go out and look, to stock up on supplies, then go," Ye Xing Zhi seriously put away the porcelain flask, "But don't even think about escaping; you won't get away."

He had no intention of threatening Huo Ze; he was merely stating the truth.

But Huo Ze clearly didn't think so. He lowered his eyes and nodded gently, saying nothing. His already bloodless face grew even paler; even the fever couldn't conceal it.

This left Ye Xing Zhi puzzled.

So, he said for the third time, "Huo Ze, relax a little."

Huo Ze nodded again, silently stroking the Golden Retriever, which was obediently undergoing its mutation, and slowly leaned back in his chair. His usually straight back was now visibly slumped, looking very pitiful.

The lamplight cast a faint mist into the depths of his eyes.

Ye Xing Zhi always felt something was off.

He clearly wanted to have a frank conversation with Huo Ze, but why was Huo Ze's state deteriorating?

Ye Xing Zhi didn't think too deeply, adding, "I won't harm you. Keeping you here is because you are very strange and need further study."

Further study...

These words made Huo Ze involuntarily take a deep breath.

He closed his eyes, his fingers unconsciously clenching the soft fat on the little dog's flank, and said in a low voice, "I think you are also very strange."

"Mm," Ye Xing Zhi nodded cheerfully, "It's good that you know."

Being clear would lead to fewer troubles.

Ye Xing Zhi had never conversed with anyone for so long.

But looking at Huo Ze's obedient and compliant demeanor, he felt very satisfied with the outcome of this conversation.