Until a vulture swooped down and snatched her drone right from above her head, Yu Qingxian was frozen in shock.
She had even forgotten there were birds up in the sky!
But her drone was inedible, after all!
There was no use in snatching it away!
As Yu Qingxian's thought trailed off, the vulture with her drone in its grasp crashed into a rock on the mountain.
Yu Qingxian immediately leaned back into the sled seat.
That was the drone she had borrowed from someone else.
She had promised the owner she would take good care of it.
First, one drone was knocked down by a tiny sesame cookie, and now another was smashed against a rock by a vulture.
At this moment, Yu Qingxian could only rage impotently.
But evidently, her meager offense was negligible.
Vultures like to eat rotten flesh, and by the time Yu Qingxian realized this, she instinctively hugged herself.
Surely this vulture wouldn't try to eat her?
Although her body was dead, it hadn't started rotting yet!
She had no way of being a monk and cutting off her own flesh to feed the eagle.
Fortunately, after realizing the drone was inedible, the vulture circled overhead for a while before turning away and flying off.
Seeing the vulture leave, Yu Qingxian first heaved a sigh of relief.
It then dawned on her that this vulture wasn't a zombie vulture, but a living one!
That could be food for the T-Rex!
"T-Rex, chase! Whether we can have fresh meat tonight depends on you!" Yu Qingxian pointed at the departing vulture and slapped the T-Rex's rump hard.
The T-Rex naturally turned and set off at full speed, swiftly pulling the sled to keep up with the vulture.
One was flying, the other running.
Yet somehow, their speeds were neck and neck.
Still, Yu Qingxian felt the T-Rex had the upper hand.
After all, the T-Rex was pulling a two-hundred-pound load, yet could still run so rapidly.
So the T-Rex must be far superior.
As for Yu Qingxian seated in the sled, although the ride wasn't too bumpy, she still feared being flung out.
But the T-Rex ran so fast that despite the occasional tumble, she felt her blood start to boil with excitement.
In any case, she pointed the way, and the T-Rex pulled her along in pursuit.
Meanwhile, atop a small hill in the distance, two men were crouched.
They had recently ventured out to scavenge for supplies.
By following the vulture, they could find living things.
However, when they first reached this hilltop, the vulture had suddenly changed direction.
As they prepared to follow, the vulture came back their way.
Of course, the vulture wasn't their main focus now.
Rather, it was the large dog pulling a sled with a person sitting on it.
And that person and dog were chasing their target.
"Unbelievable, I just saw someone with a dog chasing a vulture across this icy, snowy wilderness. People sure are brave these days," said one of the men, bundled in a thick winter coat with a cotton cap on his head. His face was exposed to use the binoculars, which left it flushed red from the cold.
The other man took the binoculars and looked over as well.
Sure enough, he saw the person and the dog.
Now, a year into the apocalypse, even zombies had evolved greatly.
Regular people no longer ventured outside their bases.
Plus, Zombie Kings had evolved by now.
They would occasionally lead zombie hordes to attack bases on a whim.
Of course, humanity wasn't so easily vanquished either.
Over this past year, apart from a decline in food, clothing, and essentials compared to before, things were still passable.
Although their team of gifted fighters often went on missions and lost members, their quality of life hadn't dropped too severely.
In fact, they had grown accustomed to this lifestyle.
But this was the first time they'd seen someone living out in the wild alone.
"Should we go after them?" the first man asked his companion.
Another man walked up the slope toward them. "Did you spot the vulture's trail?"
"Found it, but someone intercepted it halfway. Captain, should we pursue?" The young man's eyes were sparkling as he looked eagerly at the man who had just approached, clearly itching to give chase.
He really wanted to go after them.
After all, for someone to dare chase a mutated vulture alone with just a dog showed some real skill.
"Is that so? Then let's check it out," the captain agreed.
At this point, Yu Qingxian was a bit single-minded in her pursuit.
Focused solely on chasing the vulture, she only noticed the approaching vehicles when their sounds grew closer.
Yu Qingxian turned to see two cars following about a mile behind them.
Although she had heard noises earlier from the sled's runners scraping the snow, she hadn't paid them much mind.
Seeing the rapidly closing vehicles, she immediately realized these two cars seemed to be after the vulture as well.
Yu Qingxian promptly ordered the T-Rex to abandon the vulture chase and change directions.
The T-Rex was perplexed, having pursued for half an hour and nearly caught up, only for its master to instruct a new path.
But when the T-Rex looked back and saw the two cars, it understood.
Zombies and humans were mortal enemies.
And its master was a zombie.
So those driving the cars must be human.
The T-Rex shifted course and headed the way Yu Qingxian pointed.
But as they turned, the cars behind them turned to follow as well.
It was clear these two cars were tailing them.
Yu Qingxian glanced at the departing vulture with disdain: Lucky you today!
Though she thought this, she still began rummaging through her backpack, finding no particularly lethal weapons.
Until she pulled out the two smoke grenades that Shi Xingyu had given her.
She had studied them later - these were press-activated smoke grenades.
Just press down on the top circular part, and the grenade would activate.
Yu Qingxian considered her options, having no suitable weapons to use against the two cars.
Judging by their vehicles, which seemed modified for rough terrain with high clearance, they were clearly rugged all-terrain models.
And the windshields were undoubtedly bulletproof and shatterproof.
So her little handgun would be useless against them.
Yu Qingxian pressed the button and tossed the grenade behind them.
And since these smoke grenades resembled regular grenades, their motion caused the two trailing cars to immediately swerve off to the side.
Seeing this reaction, Yu Qingxian quickly grabbed her phone and snapped a photo.
Getting out her camera would have been too much hassle.
After hitting the ground, the smoke grenade released a thick cloud that completely obscured Yu Qingxian's sled from view.
The two vehicles did not expect that the other side had not thrown a grenade, but a smoke bomb instead.
It was clear that the other side did not want them to follow.
The squad leader got out of the car and waited for the smoke bomb to stop before walking over and picking up the remaining smoke bomb shell.
He glanced at the emblem and saw that it was not from an official base.
It must have been a homemade smoke bomb.
"Captain, should we pursue?" The young man leaned against the passenger seat and asked, looking ahead at the person and dog who had disappeared from sight.
The man called Captain was probably in his early thirties, with a scar on his forehead and stubble on his face.
His gaze was fixed on the direction where Yu Qingxian had disappeared, and he waved his hand dismissively: "No need, forget about them."
Although that person did pique his interest, and he could even tell from the long hair peeking out from under her hat that she was probably a girl.
But for now, food was more important.
