Community Traversal: I Have a Daily Rescue Kit

32: The vegetable garden, the alluring sounds

Su Chen holstered his gun swiftly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

After killing the man, he didn't rush to search him. Instead, he hid himself first, fearing that the man might have accomplices.

After waiting a while and making sure there was no movement, he pulled the arrow out of his left arm with a "plop." Blood splattered out immediately, and the bloody hole in his arm looked quite frightening, with blood still flowing out.

He groaned, gritted his teeth, grabbed his shirt from his shoulder with his right hand, and ripped off a strip of cloth. In a few quick movements, he tightly wrapped it around the wound on his left arm. The action was swift and practiced, taking less than three seconds. The cloth tightened, and the bleeding quickly stopped, leaving only throbbing pain, though he could still move his arm.

Su Chen moved his arm and could feel the vigorous life force in his body working on the wound. It hadn't been long, and the wound had already started to itch, as if it were beginning to heal on its own.

—This is the body that has been injected with the enhancement drug; its recovery ability is beyond human comprehension.

He waited a while longer, but still no one came. He then crouched down and began examining the body on the ground. His fingers traced the still-warm body of the attacker, removing his belongings one by one.

The first one I received was a composite bow in excellent condition. The bowstring was taut, and the bow itself gleamed with a cold, hard sheen; it was clearly not a cheap one.

Next was the other person's backpack, which was quite heavy. Su Chen unzipped it and saw that there were so many things inside that it was almost dazzling: two unopened packs of compressed biscuits, a full bottle of water, a flint, a first-aid kit, rope, and even a small bag of salt.

This is just the outer layer. Open another compartment, and there's more inside.

This is clearly not right.

Su Chen touched the supplies in his backpack, his eyes darkening.

It would be difficult for a lone survivor to amass such wealth.

It was either stolen, or... it was obtained by killing teammates and taking everyone's belongings.

He remembered the corpses and supplies that had disappeared from the open space earlier, and his heart skipped a beat.

This person definitely has a problem.

He hadn't said everything. The man only said he didn't kill the people in the open area, but he didn't mention that he might have killed people from other groups.

The corpse's backpack was empty.

Could it be like this: the man stole the deceased's belongings first, and when discovered, shot him with a composite bow. The deceased, wounded, fled to that open space, and then...something ate his body?

After thinking it over, Su Chen felt that only this explanation made sense.

The body was most likely eaten.

Otherwise, how could it just disappear into thin air?

After packing up her model husband's backpack and bow and arrows, Su Chen carefully checked the surrounding area again.

There was no trace of the body being dragged away on the ground.

There was no mess left by monsters eating.

He returned to the open space and looked at the messy marks on the ground, pondering repeatedly: Besides being eaten, where else could the body have gone?

This unknown feeling sent a chill down his spine.

But then he remembered that the man might have been ambushed by his comrades before he died... and his heart sank even further.

The monsters lurking in this dark forest are terrifying, but we must also be wary of their "kindred spirits" who will do anything to survive.

Su Chen, lost in his novelistic train of thought, recalled a classic saying: "The human heart is more terrifying than ghosts and monsters."

Although it's not quite appropriate to use it here, we must be more cautious when dealing with similar situations in the future.

……

Su Chen shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and began to take stock of the supplies he had.

Compound bows are high-end products; you should bring one.

In the backpack, besides packaged food such as biscuits, eight-treasure porridge, milk, potato chips, and spicy strips, there were also some "local specialties" picked from the forest.

However, he frowned as he looked at the piles of brightly colored mushrooms and fruits—he dared not eat these things carelessly.

I spotted a few more wild berries that were dark in color and had pitted surfaces. I nodded; they looked alright. It's a pity they'd been sitting with the poisonous ones for so long; they might have gotten poisoned too.

Hmm, I'll keep it for now, wash it clean, and maybe I can trade it with Lin Yu for something later.

"Wow, that's a really good arrow."

Su Chen then noticed the remaining arrows. The shafts were made of carbon fiber, which was both light and tough, and the arrowheads were made of polished alloy steel. These were all products of the industrial age. Now that the factory had stopped production, each arrow used was one less available, and they simply couldn't be made again in a short period of time.

He walked back to the spot where he had been attacked and picked up the arrow that had fallen to the ground. He counted them; there were eleven in total.

Satisfied, he carefully put away the arrows, then finally found a hammer in the side pocket of his backpack. He picked it up and swung it around; it felt quite comfortable in his hand. That would do.

These are all good things.

The backpack was a bit heavy, weighing about 30 pounds, but it was nothing to Su Chen now.

He slung the red-tasseled spear diagonally across his back, loaded the pistol with bullets, and held a hammer in his hand...

After packing up, we continued deeper into the Black Forest.

He no longer intends to look for other survivors in the community.

Whether those people lived or died was none of his concern. His goal remained clear—to find the legendary Witcher's Lodge.

Su Chen gripped the hammer tightly, adjusted the red-tasseled spear on his shoulder, and turned to walk towards a darker part of the forest.

The light in the woods grew dimmer, and a thick layer of fallen leaves rustled underfoot.

Suddenly, several white shadows darted out from behind the tree. They were several adorable little white rabbits, all snow-white and round. But their eyes were an eerie scarlet, and their mouths were stained with dark red blood. Their fine, sharp teeth were gnawing on the remains of some unknown animal.

Su Chen accidentally stepped on a dry twig and snapped it with a "crack". His heart tightened, and he looked up. Sure enough, all the strange-looking rabbits turned their heads at once, their scarlet eyes fixed on him.

Susu!

The rabbit twitched its nose like a dog, seemingly trying to identify Su Chen's scent.

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat.

The next moment, the rabbits let out frantic screams, their faces contorted with rage, and charged toward him at incredible speed!

"Hehehe!!!"

The rabbit made a strange sound that was completely unlike a rabbit's squeak. It had an amazing jumping ability and suddenly leaped into the air, revealing three rows of sharp teeth in its mouth!

Su Chen then realized that the rabbit had no tongue and its mouth was full of dense, sharp spikes... It was extremely eerie.

Using a pistol in this situation is probably not feasible; given his marksmanship, it would take several magazines to hit him.

He first took off his red-tasseled spear and tried to poke the rabbit.

But these rabbits were exceptionally agile and unafraid of spears. They dodged fatal thrusts and could even use their feet to push off the spear shaft in mid-air, using the momentum to jump higher and faster, and then pounce on Su Chen's face!

Su Chen was startled. He immediately swung the hammer with his left hand and, relying on his enhanced strength, smashed it hard at the rabbit that pounced on him.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the rabbit's brains splattered open. The remaining rabbits froze, their movements halting.

Huh? You hit it?

Su Chen himself was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected the hammer to be so useful. He simply put away the red-tasseled spear and gripped the hammer tightly with both hands.

At this moment, the remaining rabbits seemed to smell the blood of their own kind. The skin above their eyes suddenly bulged with bluish-black veins, crisscrossing like a spider web, making them look even more ferocious.

Su Chen cheered up.

One blow at a time.

Bang bang bang bang!

Several rabbits collapsed to the ground one after another, no longer moving.

He flicked the blood off the hammer, weighed it in his hand, and couldn't help but grin: "This thing is more effective against rabbits than a red-tasseled spear!"

Simple, brutal, and highly lethal—perfect for dealing with something small and agile like this.

Not bad!

Su Chen was very satisfied with the hammer.

He glanced at the rabbit carcass on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then decided against it.

The blood from this dead rabbit could drive other rabbits mad, and this rabbit didn't look like a normal rabbit at all. Who knows if its meat might contain an unknown virus?

Su Chen had no intention of even skinning the animal and taking it back to trade with Lin Yu, fearing that he might accidentally get infected with the virus while processing it, which would be a huge loss.

Fortunately, we didn't encounter anything scary on the rest of the journey.

On the way, he found some strange trees with fist-sized "fruits" growing on their trunks. The skin was bumpy and looked like avocados. He picked a few, broke them open, and found that the flesh inside was very similar to potatoes!

What is this?

A potato that looks like an avocado?

After thinking for a moment, Su Chen decided to call it "Potato Fruit".

These fruit trees have an astonishing yield, densely laden with fruit; a single tree could probably produce several hundred kilograms.

too exaggerated!

Su Chen pinched the fruit flesh and pondered, "If this stuff is edible and can be grown, this yield would be amazing." He picked a few and stuffed them into his backpack before continuing on his way.

After walking for about half an hour, the woods ahead suddenly became sparse.

Su Chen looked up and was delighted—a small wooden house had indeed appeared not far away.

But the next second, he stopped and his brows furrowed tightly.

The wooden house was so clean and tidy.

The log walls were smooth and flat, the thatched roof was meticulously laid, and even the window frames looked exquisite, making them stand out from the surrounding gloomy and messy black forest.

Su Chen's vigilance instantly spiked. He tiptoed, bent down, and slowly approached the wooden house.

The closer he got, the stronger the inexplicable chill became, giving him goosebumps.

When Su Chen's gaze passed over the low fence in front of the wooden house and fell on the "vegetable garden" outside, his pupils suddenly contracted and his stomach churned.

That's not a vegetable garden at all.

What's "planted" in the ground are bloody arms, legs, and even internal organs!

These severed limbs were buried in the soil like seedlings, with some root-like things still attached to the broken ends, trembling slightly in the wind, as if they were still struggling.

Su Chen's gaze was fixed on one of the arms—a scorpion tattooed on the wrist, the mark of a thug in the neighborhood!

"They're from the neighborhood..."

His throat went dry, and he was too shocked to speak. Could these bloody remains belong to those people who had come to explore earlier?

Just then, a woman's singing voice suddenly came from the eerie little wooden house.

The singing was clear and melodious, like a mountain stream, with a touch of alluring tenderness, drifting leisurely through the desolate forest.

The sudden sound instantly alerted Su Chen.