4

Panda Novel

Back in the MPV, Su Ze’s face was solemn as he said, “According to our investigation, the Ferals we’re targeting were animals living near the Changliushui scenic route, having slowly evolved into Ferals after the revival of qi.

“The local police have tried to contact the people managing the area but got no response. We fear the worst.”

The air in the vehicle changed dramatically at those words.

Jiang He frowned—he knew about Baitugang Village, which was just around twenty km away from Jinyintan Village.

And soon enough, their MPV reached the village council house of Baitugang Village, where several police officers were waiting.

One of them—a middle-aged man—quickly approached Jiang He and the others once they alighted. He shook Su Ze’s hand, saying, “You’re finally here, Mister Su.”

It was obvious that Su Ze was acquainted with the middle-aged policeman.

“Captain Zhang. You are familiar with the situation here, so please explain.”

The policeman nodded and said feebly, “The villagers are now panicking. They are panicking since no one knows what the things attacking the village are.”

1

“That said, we’ve gone up the mountain to see for ourselves in the afternoon.”

“However, we didn’t make it inside Changliushui before a wild dog attacked us. It was as large as a cow and very fierce, and bullets couldn’t pierce its fur from long distance. We only managed to scare it off and one of ours panicked and shot it in the eye.”

1

Su Ze appeared unsurprised, and said, “It should be a rank-one. If it was rank-two, none of you could have escaped that easily if it’s charging at you at full speed.”

Captain Zhang showed a pained smile. “We can’t handle those things at all, period. I have to entrust the safety of all Baitugang villagers to you, Mister Su.”

Su Ze nodded, while Captain Zhang turned to Jiang He and the others.

He couldn’t help doing a double-take when his eyes found Li Fei, and asked in surprise, “Aren’t you Xiao Li?”

“Uncle Zhang.” Li Fei smiled in return.

He was wearing layers of western clothing and had a pair of leather shoes on, not to mention that he had a pair of aviator sunglasses on in the middle of the night.

How flamboyant of him.

Nonetheless, since Baitugang Village wasn’t that far from Jinyintan Village, a young entrepreneur with some fame like Li Fei naturally would have connections with various departments. He was certainly acquainted with Captain Zhang who was somewhat surprised, but he nodded in envy after Li Fei introduced himself as an Awakened.

Being a policeman, he assuredly knew more than the average citizen.

He was aware that society would be reshuffled with the revival of Spirit Qi, and when that time came, superhumans would enter public consciousness just as they became the mainstay of the middle-tiers of society.

“Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang. You’re here too?”

Captain Zhang greeted Wang Siyu and Liu Xue then.

He clearly knew them as well, since they had worked together many times before.

Then, he merely glanced at Jiang He without asking any questions.

After a few more words, Su Ze then said, “It’s almost ten. We are going into the mountain right away to kill the Ferals and prevent any more incidents.”

“Liu Xue, you stay with Wang Siyu in the village just in case. Li Fei, Jiang He, you’re with me. We’re going up the mountain.”

“That’s not right, is it?” Wang Siyu promptly interjected. “Jiang He is just a beast tamer who can’t fight, and he’s not a part of the bureau. I’ve asked him here to help, and aren’t you putting him in danger by having him go up the mountain?”

Su Ze shot her a look before flatly saying, “I won’t stop him if he doesn’t have the guts to go. But since he had already awakened superpowers, he should be stepping forward bravely in such a time.”

1

Li Fei frowned and muttered, “That’s emotional blackmail, Su Ze!”

1

“Shut up!”

Su Zu promptly growled. “This is an operation and I’m the commander. As a part of the bureau, you just have to follow orders!”

2

Heh.

Jiang He was naturally amused.

Staring at Su Ze for several heartbeats, he couldn’t help sneering then. “It seems that the National Special Case Management Bureau is really short-handed. How could a special organization of the country not screen their recruits, and start taking in worms too?”

2

“Huh?!”

Su Ze wheeled around to face Jiang He. “The Bureau has nothing to do with an outsider like you,” he said coldly. “If you don’t want to risk yourself, Mister Jiang, I won’t stop you!”

“I repeat. Wang Siyu, Liu Xue, watch the village!”

“Li Fei, bring your weapon along. Come with me up the mountain!”

With that, Su Ze strode into the night.

Clenching his teeth, Li Fei eventually took out a metal stick from the trunk of the MPV and told Jiang He, “This is a weapon made from metal matrix composite (MMC) I’ve requested specially from the Bureau: a pole weighing a hundred and eight kilograms which is very suitable for Awakened with superstrength like us. Relax, with me guarding you, no Feral would get to touch you.”

Jiang He clapped him on his shoulder and said, “Just be careful later.”

He then turned to give Wang Siyu a ‘don’t worry’ look, just as he entered the night with Li Fei.

***

There was a giant ditch outside of Baitugang Village.

A path paved in gravel stretched out alongside the ditch, branching out at the junction ahead that directs straight towards a distant mountain.

Incidentally, the scenic route of Changliushui was atop that mountain.

Of course, while it was known as a scenic route, it was no different from a nature preserve or a rural tourist spot.

There was a spring on top of the mountain that branched out into several different creeks. Later, some people fork out some money to modify the mountaintop into fishing lakes, while also building some traditional-style huts and gardens where they planted flowers for recreation purposes.

1

At the moment, Su Ze was striding far ahead.

Being a rank two martial artist of the Eight Trigram School, he was moving rapidly with his Eight Trigram Steps.

Jiang He and Li Fei had to jog to catch up.

Be that as it may, they managed to cover over ten miles under a single breath, with a small hill now showing up before them beneath the colors of the moon.

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From afar, one could vaguely make out the buildings over the hills. There were no lights shining out of the entire mountain, however, and the oppressive silence was palpable.

That was when Su Ze stopped and told them quietly, “Follow me closely now and don’t go anywhere else. There are many traces and footprints of Ferals nearby. There might be more than two of them up the hill!”

Li Fei merely swung his metal stuff a few times and sneered. “Who cares how many there are? I’ll split their heads with one swing!”

Then, they advanced a few hundred meters, before Su Ze stopped once more and pointed straight ahead.

A dark shadow was nestled in the path up front.

Its eyes were oily green radiant as it stared curiously at Jiang He and the other two. It then rose slowly, turning left and right with its body arched, looking ready to lunge at them at any moment.

“Is that a… cat?”

Jiang He’s eyes tightened.

It was indeed a black cat, but it was a meter tall and two meters long, making it a match for an adult leopard in size alone!

“Rank one Ferals are evolved from normal cats and aren’t that powerful… Jiang He, you’re up. Try to communicate with it with your beast taming powers.” Su Ze turned towards him and whispered. “All feline creatures are quite tame before they evolved, and there should be no… Ah!”

1

Even as he spoke, an expanding fist appeared right before his eyes, streaking at him so rapidly that he couldn’t evade it despite his rank-two martial artist reflexes.

Thud!

A dull echo could be heard, but all Su Ze felt was a pain on the bridge of his nose, before he dropped to the ground, unconscious in the next split second.

“Dawg, you knew I’m a beast tamer who couldn’t fight, and you’d still have me risk myself? Did you really think I’m that easy to bully?”

“Wha…”

Li Fei was gaping at Jiang He who was flexing his knuckles.

“Why would you knock him out, Jiang He?!” He couldn’t help exclaiming.