After calming down a bit, Zhao Lian let go of him and anxiously said, "I just saw a mutant beast, it might be its territory here. Let's go back, pack up, and leave here immediately!"
Mutant beasts are well-known in the apocalypse, and although they are not numerous, they are extremely intimidating to humans. Zhao Lian had heard some rumors about the habits of mutant beasts, and the most often heard was that they had developed some intelligence, had a strong territorial awareness, and that if anyone dared to enter their territory, it would end in a fight to the death.
When she saw that mutant cheetah, she suddenly realized - no wonder there were no other large beasts in this area. She had thought it was just her luck to find a relatively rich and safe place, but the real reason was probably that this area had long been occupied by the mutant cheetah!
It was precisely because of this that other fierce beasts did not dare to set foot here. Seeing Zhao Lian about to run towards the main house with a worried expression, Zhou Quchuan grabbed her and, with a serious look, said, "Don't be in a hurry, come with me."
Seeing his serious expression, Zhao Lian suppressed her anxiety and followed him towards the riverbank. Before they reached the riverbank, they heard a clear sound of swallowing, as if some wild animal was eating by the river. Zhao Lian's face changed drastically because what she saw was the mutant cheetah eating fish on the shore.
In that moment of extreme tension, she inexplicably had a strange question - so cheetahs eat fish too?
When the cheetah saw the two approaching, it just glanced up, shook its tail, and continued to eat the fish. Zhao Lian tightly held Zhou Quchuan's hand, pulling him back, and whispered, "Let's go, let's go!"
However, Zhou Quchuan was not moved and instead hugged her shoulder with one hand, whispering in her ear, "Don't worry, this mutant beast is not unintelligent. It can understand what I say. It doesn't like to touch water, as long as we catch fish for it to eat, it won't harm us."
It seems to confirm his words, the mutated cheetah picked up the last fish and swallowed it, extending its tongue with fine spines to lick around its lips, then glanced at the two people, slowly approached in Zhao Lian's vigilance, and snorted at them.
This mutated cheetah felt bigger than a regular Siberian tiger, and for humans, its size alone was intimidating.
Zhao Lian felt a tingling sensation on her scalp. Seeing that the mutated cheetah didn't seem to want to hurt them, she couldn't help but ask in a low voice to Zhou Quchuan, "What do we do now?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the mutated cheetah let out a low "roar," a sound that was more cat-like than that of a wild beast.
Seeing the two people's lack of response, the mutated cheetah approached, lowered its head, and lightly bumped Zhou Quchuan's hand.
Seeing the fierce beast so close, Zhao Lian couldn't help but swallow hard. She then saw Zhou Quchuan suddenly walking towards the river, with the mutated cheetah following behind.
Then he pulled the fishing net out of the water, grabbed the large river fish that were still alive inside, and threw them one by one in front of the mutated cheetah.
Seeing this, Zhao Lian finally believed what Zhou Quchuan had just said - the mutated cheetah seemed to dislike getting wet, so that's why Zhou Quchuan caught the fish out for it to eat.
She hadn't expected Zhou Quchuan to be so courageous, to remain calm in the face of such a ferocious beast.
While the cheetah was focused on eating the fish, Zhou Quchuan came back to Zhao Lian, seemingly knowing her doubts, and quietly explained, "Last night, after I led those pursuers away, I jumped into the river to avoid the tracking hounds. I hid underwater using a reed to breathe. I don't know how this mutated beast appeared, but when I noticed something was off, it had already killed all those people and then ran to our fishing net here, wanting to catch fish to eat.
"I noticed it seemed to dislike touching water. Every time its paws got a little bit wet, it immediately lifted them up to shake it off and didn't catch any fish inside. So I surfaced, helped it catch the fish from the net, and threw them on the shore for it to eat.
"After eating the fish, it seemed to become quite affectionate towards me. Its intelligence is very advanced. Once I reached a tentative agreement with it, I immediately came to find you."
Although this was very unbelievable, it had actually happened right in front of Zhao Lian, so she couldn't help but believe it. After what had happened the previous night, her impression of Zhou Quchuan had completely changed. She now felt he had transformed from a reserved and taciturn young man into a dependable partner.
She whispered, "Once it leaves, we'll pack up and leave here quickly. I guess those people yesterday must have driven here, I don't know where they parked their car. We'll look for it later."
Although this mutated cheetah was temporarily friendly to them, it was still a wild animal, and no one knew when it might suddenly turn on them. The people from yesterday must have had a lot of supplies, perhaps even guns. If they could find the car they had hidden, they could immediately set off for the "Xinchuan Base."
Zhou Quchuan glanced at her but didn't say anything, seeming to consent to what she said.
But for some reason, the mutated cheetah seemed to have taken a liking to them. After eating the fish, it leisurely walked over to the two of them and lay down, starting to groom its fur, appearing completely unsuspicious of them.
Zhao Lian and Zhou Quchuan exchanged a glance and saw the look of helplessness in each other's eyes. She forced a smile and said, "Let's go back and pack up first, then we'll look around nearby, see if there's a car."
As they slowly walked back, they saw that the mutated cheetah paid no attention to them and continued to groom itself in place, allowing them to quicken their pace and leave.
But as soon as they finished packing, they saw the mutated cheetah lying in the center of the yard, lazily basking in the sun.
Zhao Lian hesitated for a moment and whispered to Zhou Quchuan, "Let's go, we should search for the bodies of those people from last night. They had guns on them."
Even in the post-apocalyptic world, firearms like these weren't easy for ordinary people to acquire. Since they had the opportunity, it would be a waste not to take them.
The two of them hurriedly left the house. As they did, the mutated cheetah lifted its head and lazily stood up, shook its fur, and stretched before following them.
Wherever they went, the mutated cheetah followed them as if it were a pet they were raising, even obeying Zhou Quchuan's command to carry all of the bodies deep into the woods and dispose of them.
Initially, Zhao Lian had wanted to quickly find a vehicle and leave when the cheetah was away. However, its speed was unimaginable. It had only just dragged away the bodies when it suddenly reappeared by their side.
In the end, Zhao Lian felt hopeless but also resigned to the situation, so she just let it follow along.
While searching the bodies of those people, Zhao Lian discovered that they were not bandits, but members of the "Harvest Base" convoy, as they had the base and convoy-specific tokens on them.
The place was quite far from the Harvest Base and also far from towns with a large number of supplies, so she couldn't understand why these people had ventured so far off the main road and ended up here. They had even depleted their car's fuel.
At least five of them were armed, with four handguns and a submachine gun. Though it was minimal, their armament was actually quite impressive. From what she knew, a convoy equipped with firearms was considered to be at a medium to high level within the base.
So why had they ended up in this remote farmhouse? After thinking for a while and failing to understand, Zhao Lian shrugged off the issue. Perhaps these people had simply gotten lost and ended up here by chance.
After inspecting the five firearms, she found that there wasn't much ammunition. Zhao Lian wasn't unfamiliar with guns, although she wasn't very skilled, she still knew how to handle them.
Seeing Zhou Quchuan loading the gun, unlocking the safety, and aiming, she asked, "Do you know how to use it?"
"Well, maybe I learned in the past." Zhou Quchuan nodded, looking at the gun in his hand with some confusion.
Even though he couldn't remember his past, the muscle memory was still there, which was quite normal. After all, a person didn't regress into a baby just from losing their memory.
Zhao Lian didn't doubt him and handed the submachine gun and two other handguns to Zhou Quchuan, saying, "Let's go, we'll find the car."
After searching for a while, as she had expected, they found a freight pickup truck that had run out of fuel in a nearby grove not far from the farmhouse.
Gathering gasoline would require going to a highway where there were more blocked vehicles, or going to a town at least twenty kilometers away. Both options were too dangerous.
Sighing, Zhao Lian realized that it seemed like fate didn't want them to leave the farmhouse so easily.
Just then, a "bang" caught her attention. Turning to look, she saw the mutated cheetah playing around the pickup truck, as if it had found something interesting. It was jumping around the back of the truck, sniffing and pawing at it.
Its weight was pressing down on the truck, causing it to creak and groan under the strain. Despite its size, it seemed to be just like a pet cat playing with a toy.
As the mutated cheetah continued to play, it seemed to become addicted and began jumping on and off the truck, as if using the pickup truck as a trampoline.
Helplessly, Zhao Lian and Zhou Quchuan exchanged a glance. Just then, a long wolf howl suddenly came from the distant woods!