Apocalyptic Gratitude Duck - Chapter 17

Her fingers tightened around Qin Dafei’s neck. Behind her came the sound of a trigger being pulled. The still scalding bullet, having just been fired, inexplicably reversed course and shot back through the barrel, piercing Steel Cannon’s heart.

Qin Dafei watched Steel Cannon collapse. A vein pulsed at his temple, but his lips suddenly curled into a mocking smile.

Behind him, the severed vine had plunged into the artery of his right wrist, sucking desperately like a newborn. The severed end had fused together with a hard, gray-white mass, reuniting the vine.

Qiao Yanyu felt Qin Dafei’s skin stiffening. Alarmed, she snatched the Mutated Beast Crystal from him, kicked his body away, and retreated swiftly.

Qin Dafei’s body was only kicked a few meters before dark brown vines, thick as a giant’s arms, lifted him into the air and tightly bound his limbs.

Sawtooth leaves sliced through every inch of his skin, latching on firmly. Blood-red veins within the vines thickened as they absorbed his blood. The vines grotesquely transformed from dark brown to crimson, swelling into large, round, blood-red bulges as if inflated by his life force.

Only when every drop of blood had been drained from Qin Dafei’s body did the vine’s feeding slow.

His body, now emaciated, his cheeks sunken, his once-smiling eyes burning with frenzied, bloodthirsty madness, he cackled wildly, “Hahaha! Success! My vine and I are finally one!”

His gaze, cold and venomous like a snake’s, locked onto Qiao Yanyu.

“Vine, kill her!”

The mutated vine writhed menacingly in the deluge, lunging toward Qiao Yanyu like a slithering python.

After evading the vine’s relentless onslaught, Qiao Yanyu’s stamina was severely depleted, her Space Ability now limited to a single use.

The shattered rocks and withered branches on the ground coalesced, hurtling forward with superluminal force. They sliced through the torrential rain, striking the vine with devastating impact. Deep holes were punched into the swollen red masses, crimson blood gushing from the wounds.

Deprived of blood, the mutated vine faltered momentarily.

“Hurry up and attack!” Qin Dafei leaned forward, bellowing orders as he watched Qiao Yanyu teeter on the brink of collapse.

The mutated vine finally sprang into action, its branches and leaves moving with accelerated ferocity. Instead of attacking Qiao Yanyu, it coiled tightly around Qin Dafei’s body, squeezing him like a wrung-out cloth to extract his last drop of blood.

“Ah! No!” Qin Dafei weakly thrashed his head, letting out a desperate scream.

With a sickening crack, his head separated from his body and was flung aside by the mutated vine.

The next moment, freed of its burden, the vine surged with renewed vitality. Whipping all its tendrils, it lunged at Qiao Yanyu once more!

The mutated vine’s strikes rained down faster than drumbeats, tearing open her already lacerated wounds. Qiao Yanyu curled into a fetal position, thrashing in the muddy puddle. The rain washed the coppery blood into the water, dyeing the entire pool crimson.

Weakened by blood loss, Qiao Yanyu’s vision blurred in waves of dizziness. Squinting through narrowed eyes, she saw the vine bearing down on her again. She had no strength left to resist.

Instinctively protecting Kexin in her arms, she desperately threw herself to the right. A sharp sting grazed her left leg, leaving a searing pain in its wake.

With a thunderous crash, a massive vine smashed into the nearby puddle, sending bloodied mud splattering across Qiao Yanyu’s body. Her once-pale cheeks were now unrecognizable under the grime. In the dim light, only the glint of determination in her light brown eyes remained visible.

The mutated vine’s assault suddenly ceased.

The fresh blood mixed with the mud, creating the perfect nutrient for its growth.

The vine immediately retracted its thick tendrils, pulling out its deeply embedded roots. Three black tubers, each roughly the size of a human head, eagerly spun and burrowed into the bloody mire.

Qiao Yanyu’s body burned with pain, yet she couldn’t stand straight. She knew she couldn’t escape this place; she had to destroy the vine to survive.

Taking a deep breath, she mustered all her strength, raised her axe, and swung it down with all her might onto the vine’s tuber. White sap erupted from the tuber, splattering across her.

One tuber crashed to the ground, and half of the vine’s tendrils wilted lifelessly.

Caught off guard by the injury to its root system while intoxicated by the blood’s scent, the mutated vine reacted violently. Its tendrils convulsed, whipping Qiao Yanyu into the air and hurling her away.

Qiao Yanyu plummeted from the sky, cradling Kexin in her arms. She crashed into a haystack, shattering countless bones. Relieved to find Kexin unharmed, she looked up and realized she had been thrown out of the park, and the mutated vine had vanished.

Remembering that the vine had tasted her blood and might track her by scent, she endured the excruciating pain to strip off her torn sportswear. She carefully removed Kexin from her arms, wrapped her tightly in the clothes, and set her aside.

Rolling in the muddy water to mask her blood-soaked scent, Qiao Yanyu then strapped Kexin to her back and crawled forward with all her remaining strength.

The torrential rain made the concrete road treacherous. Qiao Yanyu barely managed to crawl to the nearest underground parking garage, driven solely by sheer willpower.

She didn’t know if the parking garage contained zombies. With both of them severely injured, even a single ordinary zombie could kill them.

Fortunately, luck was on their side. Upon entering, Qiao Yanyu found the garage completely empty, devoid of any zombies.

Drops of rain dripped from her hair. Her lips were frozen purple. Gathering all her strength, she sat against a wall corner and carefully unwrapped the small Kexin from the bundle on her back, cradling her in her arms.

Kexin’s duck-like beak remained tightly shut, her small chest trembling slightly as her breathing grew increasingly shallow.

Qiao Yanyu’s eyes were bloodshot, her heart clenching as if someone were squeezing it. She gently stroked Kexin’s head, her voice trembling as she repeated over and over, “It’s okay, it’s okay…” as if trying to comfort both herself and the injured creature.

With trembling hands, she retrieved a warm yellow crystal from her pocket, crushed it into fine fragments, and carefully cradled Kexin’s head in her palm. Gently prying open the duck’s beak, she fed the crystalline powder into her mouth.

The moment the warm crystal touched Kexin’s tongue, it dissolved into a nourishing liquid that flowed down her throat, coursing through her veins to heal her damaged tissues.

A warm, comforting sensation spread through Kexin’s body, as if she were being held in her Master’s embrace. When she opened her eyes, she found her Master truly standing before her.

Kexin let out a weak quack: “Quack~”

She missed her Master so much.

In the dream, everything had been dark, and she’d been searching desperately for an exit, unable to find one. When a warm light shone down from above, she had stumbled toward it, the pain in her body vanishing as she ran.

When their eyes met, tears streamed down her Master’s face, yet her smile remained as gentle as ever.

Kexin opened her beak, accidentally tasting a drop of the salty liquid.

The Master’s tears tasted just like hers.

Could it be because her injuries are too severe? Kexin thought, remembering the Golden Pomelo Fruit she had stored in her Space. With a thought, she retrieved it.

The alluring aroma wafted through the air again, making her mouth water.

Qiao Yanyu, however, wasn’t as overjoyed as she’d expected to be upon obtaining the fruit. She sighed inwardly, hoping Kexin could safely overcome this crisis.

She gently scored the fruit’s skin with a sharp knife, revealing pale pink flesh that glistened like crystal. When it fell into her palm, it carried a refreshing coolness that seeped into her very being, exuding a mysterious aura.

The flesh’s fragrance wasn’t as rich as the skin’s, but carried a light, sweet aroma instead.

Qiao Yanyu instructed Kexin to save the skin first. Her slender fingers meticulously peeled away the thin membrane surrounding the flesh, the pink fruit clinging to her pale fingers and adding a seductive blush to their fair skin.

Kexin couldn’t decide which was more tempting: the fruit or her Master’s fingers.

What should she do if she wanted to eat both?

Kexin looked up at her Master. When Qiao Yanyu was focused, her aura softened, making even the simplest actions seem thoughtful and deliberate, like when she prepared Kexin’s nutritional meals.

Kexin’s expression froze. Master is glowing again.

When the pink fruit flesh lay in the palm of Qiao Yanyu’s hand, Kexin sniffed, opened her small duck-like mouth, and bit down, catching both the fruit and her Master’s finger.

The bite didn’t hurt, but Kexin’s adorable expression made Qiao Yanyu smile despite herself.

Qiao Yanyu shook her head helplessly, gently tapped Kexin’s small head, and scolded playfully, “Greedy.”

Kexin tilted her head, puzzled. Why isn’t Master sweet, even though she’s pink too?

The moment Kexin’s duck-like mouth loosened slightly, Qiao Yanyu pushed the fruit into her mouth.

Kexin swallowed with a soft gulp, her eyes wide. She used her small duck-like mouth to scoop up the peeled fruit flesh from Qiao Yanyu’s palm and stubbornly pushed it back towards her.

“Quack!” Master have some too.

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