Chapter 25 Waiting
Chang and Jing walked all the way towards the north. The military base was at the south of the city, so if they went further south, they would reach the uninhabited land.
There were very few people living in the area before the red fog, and now it was even more dangerous.
Therefore, Chang chose to go in the direction of the city center which was relatively safe compared to the south. However, Jing felt something unusual when they had just taken a few steps.
“Two 0.8 level organisms are approaching us.”
“0.8?” Chang squatted on his heels with Jing after he heard her and they hid in nearby bushes. “It seems we’re pretty lucky.”
Clenching the scalpels tightly, Chang carefully observed the surrounding through the grass.
“Are they right in front of us?” Chang pointed to the front with caution.
“Here, they’re moving slowly towards us.”
“Okay, thanks.” Chang nodded and held his breath.
Chang knew that even the slightest breath could reveal himself to animals that had acute senses. As a hunter, lurking was always an important skill.
Time passed by and Chang coped with his nervousness before the hunt by counting his own heartbeats.
When he reached a hundred, Chang saw the grass at the far front slightly shake, and then two figures showed up.
“Damn.” When Chang saw them, he swore with a low voice and stood up from the grass. “Jing, we don’t need to hide in the grass; they’re two humans.”
“Really?” Jing also stood up as she heard Chang, “Are they two girls?”
“Yes.” Chang looked at them in the distance. They looked like they were seventeen or eighteen years old. Chang’s voice scared them, but since they could only see within three meters, they didn’t know where Chang was.
“Who is it? Is someone there?” It was scarier for them when they could see nothing but the fog, they stood rooted and shouted.
“We are just passing by, don’t worry,” Chang responded.
“Let’s go.” Chang patted on Jing‘s head after he replied. He didn’t even pay attention to what they said afterwards. He left with Jing to look for a new prey.
However, the hunt didn’t go as smoothly as they thought it would be; they had still not found any suitable prey even after three hours of searching.
Within the 3 hours, they had encountered other humans 17 times, detected organisms above level 5 15 times and had also managed to avoid large groups of insects three times. Unfortunately, they just didn’t run into any prey they desired.
“It’s passed noon, yet we still have nothing,” Chang sighed. They sat on the curb and leaned on two-meter-high bushes.
“Tired?” He rubbed Jing’s hair and asked.
“Yes, but I can bear with it.” She nodded; the cut on the face had formed a scab. “Are you hungry, Mr. Liu?”
“Hahaha, don’t call me that. I’m not that old for you to call me mister; I just graduated from high school.” Chang laughed when he heard Jing. “I don’t look that old, do I? Just call me Chang. And to answer your question, I’m very hungry!”
“I see… Fortunately, I hid a piece of food in my pocket.” She took out a piece of the cracker from her shirt. “I didn’t eat all the food I got; I have a piece leftover. You can have it, since you definitely need more strength to fight the animals.”
“Hahaha…” Looking at the cracker, Chang laughed again. “I’m very surprised that you actually saved a small piece from that half pack of hardtack. I don’t believe that you were full from just eating that little. You have it yourself!”
“Uh…” Jing stared at Chang blankly as if she didn’t expect his answer. Her eyes revealed a look of astonishment, but her hands were still raised up stubbornly.
“Well, since this is from your kindness, I might as well take it.” Seeing her face, Chang couldn’t help but laugh. He took the cracker and stuffed it in his mouth.
The unique taste of hardtack filled his mouth.
“It tastes so good; I guess everything tastes good when you’re hungry.” He took a sip from the water bottle to moisturize his mouth. Chang stood up, “Let’s go, since I got a piece of cracker from you, I’ll make a return to you tonight with a piece of meat!”
“I’d love to have that.” Jing smiled happily at Chang.
In the afternoon, they’re bad luck gave them a hard time, but now their luck started to kick in.
They wandered around for 10 minutes and walked past a group of humans when they found their target – a stray dog.
It was a large dog that happened to be alone. Though it looked like it had evolved due to the red fog, it didn’t change as much as the other animals they encountered.
Level 1.5 was the information that Jing gave to Chang. That meant that the dog wasn’t much stronger than an adult male. But due to its instinct, it was harder to deal with compared to humans.
Hence, Chang quickly and gently squatted down without saying anything – he knew how sensitive a dog’s hearing was.
In the bushes, Chang waved and gestured at Jing to stay away. Then, he held his breath and took advantage of the tall grass as he slowly approached the dog.
However, things never went like he planned. Although he was extremely cautious, a slight creaking sound was made when he gently stepped on the grass.
This caused the dog to be alerted.
Its sensitive hearing immediately told it where Chang was at. A pair of scarlet eyes scanned around and finally locked onto Chang who was three meters away from it.
Its face distorted to show its fangs, and its throat surged and threated Chang with a unique sound.
However, Chang was no longer that kid he was a few days ago. As one of the few humans who had undergone an evolution, though he didn’t have a significant physical improvement, he wasn’t someone who was scared of a dog either.
Chang stood still and confronted the dog with his hands clenched. He didn’t want to move first because he knew it was difficult to achieve the desired results due to how humans usually stood and moved.
Human were taller than dogs, but dogs were more flexible since they ran with four limbs. If he were to attack first, he needed to do many things, such as taking out his scalpels. These movements would cost his balance, and if the first strike wasn’t successful, he would be gnawed by the dog.
In such circumstances, he wanted to wait for his opponent to attack first. With an animal’s instinct, the dog would most likely attack his neck to choke Chang of damage his arteries. Even though it didn’t want to attack Chang’s neck, its instinct would still drive it to do so.
Chang believed in the dog’s natural animal instinct.
Therefore, he was patiently waiting!