Ch21 - Crystal Snowflakes

Chapter 21:

Standing in the ruins that have just been created by the earthquake, as long as you take a deep breath, your mouth and nose will be filled with a strong smell of damp mud, it seemed like it could rain anytime. 

After observing for a while, Wei Xuan found that there seemed to be no significant problems outside, and he should be able to walk back to the place where he had settled down before. He put away the binoculars and turned to look at Du Hang beside him: “Let’s go back and check the situation. Gather a few things, and then it will probably rain for at least two days… We have to find enough food for you before it rains. Otherwise, we will have to wait at least another week or so before the ground is completely dry again to dig out the snowflakes…”

Wei Xuan turned his head and looked at a place next to the rockery that should have been flat ground, but now… there has been a long and tragic ground crack in that place. Under the ground and in the depths of the upturned soil, you can vaguely see the reflection of the sun, like the reflections of fine glass, those are the snowflakes that he dug out for Du Hang.  

Zombies will eat snowflakes, but it is different from chasing human breath and wanting to eat human flesh. They will only take the initiative to pick up and eat those snowflakes when they are a certain short distance from them.

So even if these things appear in a park full of zombies, only the zombies that accidentally fall into the cracks will grab a handful of dirt and eat the things inside, other zombies will not take the initiative to go over and gather them.

What’s more, this kind of snowflake, like the crystal nucleus, has an upper limit for each person’s “digestion” every day, so no matter how many zombies fall into it, they cannot eat them all.

Wei Xuan, who had been prepared for a long time, observed the surrounding situation and confirmed that there would be no accidents for the time being. Then he took Du Hang out of the pavilion, bypassing the zombie wandering around tied with a rope around his waist, he seemed to be roaming close to the conspicuous big crack in the ground. 

After the earthquake, there were quite a few such cracks in T City. But unfortunately, although these snowflake-like things floated out after the ground cracked, once it rained, these things seemed to be melted by the rain and merged into the soil again, until someone deliberately dug deep to find them again. 

If Wei Xuan remembers correctly, it will rain for two days on the second night after the earthquake, so he is short on time and heavy on tasks, and must get enough snowflakes as a reserve as soon as possible before then. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Taking off the small shovel from his waist, and putting on a pair of white gloves for work, Wei Xuan squatted by the crack to dig out those crystal snowflakes.

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In just one morning, Wei Xuan gathered a few bags of snowflakes, which were enough for him and Du Hang to consume for several months, at least for now, there was no need to worry about not having enough of these things. 

After a few months, when all these snowflakes are used up, even if all the zombies in the city go to dig snowflakes together, they will not be able to eat all of them. After a certain amount of time, the weird snow will fall again and it will come quite regularly. 

At that time, he only needs to wait for the snow to melt and the ground to dry before digging, and he can gather more snowflakes. 

Back at the tent, Wei Xuan simply packed his things. He wasn’t planning to take everything back because he wasn’t sure if the house he lived in was safe yet. After packing up the things and hiding them in the corner of the park, he dragged Du Hang toward the gazebo.

This time, he simply scanned his surroundings and then turned his head to look at the two zombies in the gazebo. 

The younger of the two zombies stopped wandering around at this time and sat back next to the older zombie. The two zombies stood side by side, like friends or lovers watching the scenery together.

Wei Xuan walked a few steps towards them, took a small bag containing snowflakes from the arm of Du Hang who had been helping him to carry the bag, and handed it to the elder one. 

Because the distance was close enough, the older one could already feel the energy condensed in the snowflakes. So it raised its stiff hand and stretched out toward the bag in Wei Xuan’s hand.

Wei Xuan put the bag containing about half a bag of snowflakes into its hand, silently watching its movements. The zombie withdrew its hand first, then lowered its head to ‘look’ at the bag, as if smelling it. Then it stretched out its other hand, grabbed it with some effort, and there were about six or seven pieces in its hand. 

Just when Wei Xuan thought it would eat those snowflakes like Du Hang, he suddenly saw that the older zombie had already put his hand in front of the younger one.

Because of the distance, the young zombies did not feel the energy contained in the bag. But at this time, it suddenly found some kind of energy was in front of his face, he stretched out his head to get close to the hand of the older zombie, then opened his mouth, and directly ate about three pieces. 

The older one just sat there blankly, as if forgetting that he was still holding snowflakes in his hand, until the younger one ate the four pieces in his hand and stopped eating, then bowed his head and ate the leftovers. After that, he grabbed some from the bag for himself until he couldn’t eat anymore.

“…Each zombie consumes a different amount?” Wei Xuan first felt that the scene in front of him made him feel a little inexplicably moved, then he pulled Du Hang to leave. Regardless of the relationship between these two zombies before they were turned, aren’t they still together now? The current situation made him feel a little sad. 

However, it was precisely because of the appearance of these two zombies that he indirectly made up his mind to let go of his previous worry about “whether being too close to Du Hang might turn him into a zombie”—the rope now tied around his and Du Hang’s waist, he learned this from them. 

That’s why he gave them a small bag of snowflakes before leaving. 

Seeing their movements when they ate snowflakes just now made Wei Xuan realize that the ‘eating capacity’ of the zombies seems to be different. Some eat more, some eat less?

That younger zombie seems to be ‘full’ after eating four pieces. But the older one, just like Du Hang, needs to eat five pieces. 

And thinking about himself, because his abilities can work automatically without needing to activate them, just absorbing one piece a day is enough… But Du Hang obviously didn’t do anything, and although he will exert some strength on some days, even if he is idle for a whole day, his ‘appetite’ has never changed.

“But I need to eat, but Du Hang doesn’t need to at all, so in fact, zombies eat snowflakes just like humans eat food? and they need to replenish a sufficient amount of energy every day?” 

As for how much ability users can absorb if they insist on absorbing this thing every day? Wei Xuan really didn’t know. After all, what circulated in the base in the previous life has always been just zombie crystal nuclei, not these inconspicuous little crystal snowflakes. Even if someone finds it by chance, it will shatter if you squeeze it with a little force, and most people just regard them as the crystallization of something unknown-such as salt, and completely ignore it.

————————————————————— 

The earthquake caused a huge crack to appear in the park, and some not-so-strong walls also collapsed. The tragedy on the streets outside is not comparable to that when the end of the world first arrived. Those cars parked on the road in a mess at this time lost their original appearance because of the cracks in the ground. The streets became twisted and crooked.

At this time, not to mention that highly skilled drivers cannot get in and out with high-powered vehicles, even tanks need to spend a lot of time clearing the road. 

Wei Xuan carefully led Du Hang to go around many obstacles and avoid all suspicious objects that might cause danger. That’s right, there’s nothing wrong with that, ever since he and Du Hang were tied together with a rope, every time Wei Xuan took action, he was leading Du Hang in a real sense!

The loud noise caused by the earthquake, and the sound of houses cracking and collapsing, such sounds are not so attractive to zombies. It seems that although they are very interested in things that can make sounds, the zombies seem to be born able to distinguish the difference between the sounds caused by nature and the ones caused by humans. 

Wei Xuan, who was walking carefully, was even more surprised by the current situation on the street—except for some zombies who could not escape from the house when the earthquake happened, the number of zombies on the road at this time was actually more than before! These zombies seem to have all escaped from their original neighborhoods and houses!

Even if they are no longer human, even if they have forgotten all the memories of being human, the instincts of the body may still remain. For this sudden danger of natural disasters, the number of them at this time has proved their fast reaction speed and how powerful their ability to avoid danger is.