She Raised Zombies in the Apocalypse - Chapter 29
In the small courtyard, San Wu brought the Lord Zombie and the black panther inside. Once the Lord Zombie entered, he caught a whiff of a strong aroma.
It was the scent of energy, even more fragrant than the blood of those with abilities.
The aroma of purified water was the strongest, followed by the crops grown in the soil. Even the chickens and ducks were slightly inferior, but when fed with water by San Wu, and occasionally mixed with some vegetables, the zombies could eat them.
The Lord Zombie dashed straight to the well and reached out to scoop up some water to drink.
“No!” San Wu grabbed him.
Unlike Xiao San and San Yi, who were obedient, the Lord Zombie had higher abilities but was clearly more willful.
When he was stopped, he made a threatening sound from his mouth.
“If you want to have a continuous supply of good food in the future, you’ll have to listen to me!” San Wu felt uncertain inside, but she had to put on a strong front.
If she didn’t establish the rules this time, and if the Lord Zombie didn’t listen to her in the future, it would be better not to have him around.
The Lord Zombie glared at her, but after a moment of consideration, he silently lowered his hand.
He conceded, and San Wu felt a great sense of relief, finally feeling in control of the situation.
She smiled a little, took a ladle, and scooped a spoonful of water for him. “Drink up.”
The Lord Zombie drank it in small sips. Although his face showed no expression, his feet tapped rhythmically, indicating that he was in a good mood.
“This isn’t the best-tasting thing. If you listen to me, I’ll cook you something even better.”
San Wu wasn’t sure if high-level zombies had a sense of taste, as they used to only drink blood. However, Xiao San had mentioned that cooked food tasted better than plain water, so she figured the Lord Zombie would feel the same way.
The fresh meat Jiang Tian and Chen Yibi had brought over was already gone, and there were no more reserves, so it looked like they needed to start digging a cellar quickly with everyone’s help.
Although they had a lot of fish at home, San Wu was craving pork.
Domesticated pigs weren’t the chubby creatures they used to be. Now, they could bite through the hard shells of cicadas and some mutated insects with ease, and even the toughest roots and mush were eaten with relish.
To survive in these harsh times, the pigs had also been working hard to evolve.
“Xiao San, take the double-armored bugs we caught and exchange them for some fresh pork and three bags of salt.”
As more people joined, the household’s need for food and seasonings grew as well.
With this in mind, she walked over to the vegetable patch to pick some greens. The first wave of greens had grown to their largest size, and aside from those kept for seeds, the rest needed to be eaten quickly.
But…
San Wu squinted her eyes at the latest vegetable patch, noticing the robust bean sprouts and a few unidentified seedlings growing there.
“I remember not planting any soybeans here. This plot was left empty,” San Wu said slowly, glancing at Ji Lingbai.
Seeing the bean sprouts reminded her of the Eighteenth Fortress’ recruitment plan. Coupling that with the night’s fire and Ji Lingbai’s secretive leaving the place, she had no doubts about what had happened.
Ji Lingbai lay lazily in the little nest San Wu had made for him, giving her a low, casual sound. He thought, why did she care what he did? He even brought back a gift.
Noticing San Wu’s less-than-pleased expression, he wondered if she thought the gift was too small. True, the seeds he brought back were few, as most had burned.
“Xiao Bai, I can’t control what you do, and I even thank you for this time,” San Wu said, looking at him. “But since we live together, I hope you won’t bring trouble to me.”
Ji Lingbai immediately sneered.
Him? Bring trouble to her?
Unhappy, he turned away, presenting his tail to her, closing his eyes without a word.
San Wu ignored him and focused on her delight at seeing new vegetables. More importantly, soybeans were valuable.
Besides their various uses in food, soybeans could be used to make soy sauce, a great flavor enhancer. They also had a longer shelf life than vegetables, were seeds themselves, and had a high yield.
She had discovered that any seeds she handled, even those that couldn’t sprout before, had a chance to root and sprout as long as they weren’t completely rotten.
Xiao San soon returned, carrying two large pig trotters. The double-armored bugs were much more valuable than the mutated cicadas, and they had caught several on their way back, so they had a good number.
“One for braising, one for bean sprout soup,” San Wu said, her stomach rumbling at the sight of the pig trotters. She hoped the soybeans would grow quickly so she could make soy sauce. Braising without soy sauce just wouldn’t be the same.
When she was young, Ah Si would cook braised pork for her birthday every year, and she could still clearly remember the taste.
“And let’s each have a roasted fish.”
San Wu and her group had been starving after their outing.
“It would be great if we had some rice, but if not, we can use another staple.”
“Potatoes, sweet potatoes, something like that.”
However, such crops were only preserved in the labs of the large fortresses. Any left outside had long since been consumed.
San Wu was merely musing aloud, but Ji Lingbai took note.
Sweet potatoes? His fortress had stocks of those, even rice and wheat. The researchers had been trying to cultivate them in the wasteland but had yet to succeed.
He thought about taking some of San Wu’s purified soil and plants back to the fortress to see if it could help their research make a breakthrough. However, Ji Lingbai had no intention of having San Wu purify all the land. She didn’t have the capability, nor was it feasible.
Feeling lazy, he closed his eyes for a nap. After a short sleep, the delicious aroma woke him.
Grilled fish with chili powder filled the courtyard with a tantalizing scent.
San Wu prepared a new set of bowls and chopsticks for the Lord Zombie. The fish had grown fatter, almost overcrowding the pond.
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