Chapter 177 - 177 - Red Streak And Grey Dust

Fan Xui just stood there, frozen in shock. He could feel his cheeks heating up already. He cupped his face and turned around to avoid embarrassing himself even more.

"Fan Xui my boy.. are you blushing.." Qian happily poked his hands. "Come on, show your pink face. I just wish I had my phone. A photo would be a flawless memory of this,"

"Shut up," he mumbled ever so softly.

Liwei, who was watching all this, just blinked. 'What in the world.... that annoying guy, he needs to go. He needs to disappear now...' he bit his bottom lip, thinking of a plan.

The main door opened again, and the man walked back in at with same speed. "When are you guys are going to the barracks?"

Fan Xui instantly went to him and held his hand. "I'm already ready. Tell me when you are ready; we'll go together, okay?"

"Okay," he said with a slight glare on his face.

Zou Yue stomped his way back to his house. That did not feel as satisfying as he had thought. He knew that Liwei was known for being treacherous.

But that dumb Qian actually believed his lies and reprimanded him.

That's what pissed him off.

"That idiot, I'm going to complain to Peng Peng. Why is he even dating that stupid guy... gosh.." he stormed his way into their house grumbling and mumbling.

"You seem to be in a bad mood... is everything okay?" Tian, who was cuddling up with Juda, glanced at him worriedly.

"Nothing, I just feel like I stepped on shit." he walked over to the garden area to check on the birds. The night has passed. Any effects of the virus would have definitely shown by now.

He sat down comfortably and carefully took down the takeout boxes.

Two of the quails seemed to have the symptoms. Their eyes were fully blackened and popped out with some kind of black liquid pouring out.

"Tian, can you bring that iron bucket?" he called for her, worriedly holding the up. They both seem to have zombified. He had never seen a zombified animal before. They either die for the virus or mutate. But these two seem to have turned into zombies.

They ferociously jumped up high, trying to take a nip of his fingers.

Tian and Juda came over with the huge iron barrel. He had previously brought this to store rice but since the attic was more than enough, he never got to use it. Now it was used to start controlled fires in their house.

He hesitated, looking at them. "Maybe Qian can do research on them? I've really never seen a zombified animal," he whispered, unsure of what to do.

Killing it would be the best option, but if they could get valuable information out of them, it was best to preserve their lives.

He placed them inside the bucket. "I'll give it to Qian or Prisitsky. They will know what to do."

As for the other quails, two of them passed away, leaving only four of them. They all seem very active and healthy.

He carefully separated the dead quails, the zombified quails, and the healthy quails in order.

Next came the container that held Bakbak.

"Do you think she is okay?" Juda worriedly whispered as she glanced at the container.

"I hope so..." Yue solely removed the lid with a dagger in hand, ready to stab it if it attacked him.

But much to his surprise, Bakbak was sitting there calmly clucking at him.

"She is alive. That's great,"

He opened the box fully and let the chicken out.

Bakbak happily jumped out.

Only then did he notice a difference. However tail had a slight tinge of red to it. He pulled her close. She angrily bit his finger, but not hard enough to break the skin. "Why is your tail red? Is this mutation?"

Bakbak just glared at him and pecked him once again.

"Does she have any kind of powers now?" Juda excitedly held her hand out.

Bakbak happily jumped into her hand and nuzzled against it.

"I don't know... we have to keep her under observation."

Next, he released the healthy quails one by one. all of them had a small red feather on their back. It was definitely not a normal symptom.

"We might be missing something?" he hurriedly checked the boxes. There was grey dust inside. "How did it get in there?..."

There was no fighting it. That dust was none other than meteorite dust.

Zou Yue hurriedly glanced up. the duct tape stuck on the hole in the glass ceiling had opened up.

That explained a lot, the pea shoot also mutated before the meteor crashed. he was wondering about that a lot but it made sense now. it was all because of the fine dust of the meteor that was fluttering in. 

The ground seems to have a subtle layer of grey dust scattered on it.

"Shit..... I think the soil is contaminated now..."

He sighed loudly. "This land is useless now. Shit, I should have known. I didn't even check the ceiling yesterday,"

"Hey don't be hard on yourself. Shit happens. We will deal with it," Tian whispered, patting his back softly.

"Yes... yes, I think we have ore soil in the warehouse... maybe we can use that to grow things." He glanced at the quails which were happily running around with Bakbak.

"I can try to burn the ground. Maybe it might change it?"

"I guess so...."

He collected some of the dust into a takeout box to give to Qian for testing.

"What about Blackie?" Juda whispered as he was walking away.

Yue pulled Blackie's box from under the sofa. Somehow it felt heavier than before. "Tian, be ready," he opened the box slightly.

"Meow~" Blackie poked her head out. There was a huge streak of red fur on her forehead, running down the back of her lithe body.

Blackie jumped out of there with grace, starching cutely.

She had grown in size exponentially. She looked like a Lynx cat than a house cat.

Even her tail had grown longer with a small patch of red fur at the end.

"All of them have red in their features. I wonder why...."

"Where is your pet, rat?" Tian said, glancing around. "Did you keep her in a separate container?"

"No, she is already been exposed to the virus. There was no need for her to be contained. She is still there by the pond," he pointed to the pond. Trexa was still sitting there, unmoving. She occasionally moved an inch or so to eat from the food bowl he had left and take the same position. "I don't know what is up with her. She had been like that for a long time."

He walked over to her. "Trexa baby..."

She glanced up, squeaking happily.

"Are you okay? Does anything hurt? or...are you bored being in here? Why won't you leave this pond, baby?"

Trexa just pointed to the murky water. Even that a few specks of the grey dust floating around.

"Fuck the water is contaminated as well.... what the hell man..."

He lost his mood completely at this point. Taking a small sample of the water, he got ready to leave for the barracks.

The first thing he had to do was give away the samples to DR Prisitsky. Next, he planned to start his work on the construction of the wall. After it is finished, maybe he would find other jobs here.

Tian, Juda and Lui were waiting for him right outside the door. "Ready?"

Yue peered at them all... "Juda, Lui... I'm not sure if it's safe for you outside..."

"Oh I have these," he pulled out a pistol from her belt. I can shoot anyone I want. Plus, your mum was sweet enough to duplicate a lot of bullets. Don't worry, I will be safe."

"I'll be with her," Tian added.

"That's good,"

They said their goodbyes to his parents and waited in front of Fan Xui's house.

He and Qian came out in just a minute.

Yue looked behind them. That white lotus was standing there with a kind smile, waving goodbye at them. 'Fuck I hate this so much...'

Tian noticed his minute shift in expression. 'shall we kill him?" she whispered ever so softly.

"I wish I could. Stupid Qian here is on good terms with him," he mumbled.

"I heard someone call me stupid," Qian glanced at all of them.

"Stupid," Yue growled and stormed away.

"Fan.... I think I'm being hated by your boyfriend," he clung to Fan's hand with a pitiful face.

Fan Xui just shook him off. "He must have his reason,"

"I just reprimanded him because he hit Liwei. That guy is small and helpless."

Fan Xui raised a brow. "As much as you are a genius in the field of medicine, you are really dumb in real-life situations. Let me enlighten you. What is Yue's ability?"

"Strength,"

"So you think Liwei's cheeks would be still intact if Yue hit him, just think about it," Fan Xui shrugged and walked up to Yue.

Qian stood there in shock for a few seconds. Glancing back, he saw that Liwei was still smiling and waving at them. "he must have hit him softly...I think...."

A small seed was doubt appeared in his mind.

Even so, he decided to believe their twenty-year friendship.