Epoch of Twilight

Wang Xiaguang slowly woke up after a long night’s sleep. She wondered where that strange place that she was staying in was. It looked totally different from the room she used to stay in. She felt strange. She remembered that she has been starving for a few days and she was supposed to be feeling weak. However, she felt good. She was even able to clench her fists.

Suddenly, she heard a very familiar voice from outside. She could not recall who it was, even though she tried extremely hard to. She put on the jacket she found on her headrest and tried to twist the doorknob. She was surprised when the door opened. A natural ray of light entered her room, and she realized that she was out of the underground base.

She was getting more curious as she quickly sped up her footsteps. She was stunned for a moment when she saw a woman mopping the floor in the living room. Huang Jiahui smiled at her and said, “Hi, I’m Huang Jiahui. Are you looking for Luo Yuan? He’s outside.”

“Hi, I’m Wang Xiaguang,” Wang Xiaguang introduced herself as well.

“Luo Yuan told me your name. Don’t be afraid. I heard that you’ve been starved for days. I’ve made you some porridge.” Huang Jiahui was trying to be nice to her, but at the same time, she was also marking her territory.

Unfortunately, Wang Xiaguang did not seem to hear her as she quickly walked out of the house.

Everyone had gathered outside to listen to Luo Yuan’s lecture on knife skills. Luo Yuan nodded as he saw all of them paying attention to him.

They had a variety of knives that they had collected from the district. Luo Yuan helped them modify their knives to a level powerful enough for them to kill blue level mutated beasts.

He performed a demonstration before concluding, “You must complete all three styles in one second. You will only pass when you’re able to react appropriately, no matter what animal you are facing. There’s not much time left, we’re leaving tomorrow. You have one last day to practice. I believe all of you understand that the journey will not be easy, and I hope you will each be able to protect yourselves.”

Wang Xiaguang was looking at him from the doorway. She had never imagined that Luo Yuan would know martial arts. Luo Yuan sensed that someone was staring at him and he turned around. He was stunned for a second before he smiled. “You’re up. Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”

Wang Xiaguang shook her head, but remained silent.

“You’re still weak. Go back into the house,” Luo Yuan said.

“I’m fine, I haven’t had any fresh air in a very long time. I heard that you’re leaving tomorrow. Did you mean that you’re leaving this place?” Wang Xiaguang asked in a very soft tone.

Luo Yuan nodded with a serious expression. “This place is getting more dangerous. We heard that the government is migrating to the West as well, so we decided to follow.”

“But there are so many mutated beasts outside!” Wang Xiaguang said anxiously. She was not aware of his superpowers.

Suddenly, she heard a puffing sound and saw a gigantic beast emerge from the bushes. She was beyond shocked. She had never seen such a big beast before. She looked so pale, she almost fainted. However, a warm hand quickly grabbed hers before she could faint and said, “It’s alright, that’s my battle beast.”

She felt better when she realized that everyone seemed perfectly fine with it. “That’s... that’s your pet?” she asked.

She had not seen Luo Yuan in almost 6 months and she now realized that he had become a different person. He was stronger and less friendly than he used to be, and she felt more insecure next to him. Luo Yuan nodded, but he did not say anything. He kept looking at the sky. He had noticed that there was a tiny spot there lingering for a long time. The lizard kept roaring while its body got bigger and its scales became darker. It was probably going to evolve soon.

The tiny spot was getting closer to the Earth, forming a huge shadow on the ground. It was a giant red bird with a long glowing tail. It was aiming for the lizard. Luo Yuan quickly ran outside and looked at it. Everyone followed him. They felt like running when they looked up at the sky.

Luo Yuan was very tense. He knew that the giant bird had to be starving. Otherwise, it would not have taken the risk to attack a huge mutated beast like the lizard. It was too overwhelming a prey for the bird.

The sky became dark as the bird flew lower and lower toward the ground. A strong wind was blowing like a tornado. The scales of the lizard began to crack as it kept roaring towards the sky.

“Should I fire?” Huang Jiahui had heard the chaos and quickly run out with her handgun.

“Hold it!” Luo Yuan said with a serious expression. He knew it was difficult to aim at moving objects. If she did not shoot at the bird’s weakest point, then it might go crazy and attack them. He realized he needed a weapon that would allow him to attack from a distance.

The two beasts were roaring at each other, but half an hour later, the giant bird had still not attacked. It attempted to attack the lizard once, but the lizard’s response was very fast. The bird hesitated before finally giving up. It flew away in a flash, pooping on the ground as it left.

Everyone felt relieved to see it go. Suddenly, a bunch of biochemical bombs dropped from the sky. Most of them landed on the bushes where the lizard used to rest, but several also landed around the villa. Lin Xiaoji thought things had subsided and became less alert. Suddenly, he was buried under a biochemical bomb. Luo Yuan’s face twitched as he watched, and everyone became very quiet for a second.

Suddenly, Lin Xiaoji screamed and struggled to crawl out of the feces. He wanted to talk, but he started puking instead. It smelled awful. Luo Yuan could smell it too even though he was standing far away from him. Influenced by Lin Xiaoji, everyone else started vomiting as well.

Lin Xiaoji washed his body more than ten times that morning. He finished a whole bottle of shower gel, yet he still smelled, The bird’s feces were corrosive and several parts of his skin had begun to rot. He had a lot of blisters, and his skin soon broke. Yellowish liquid flowed out of the blisters, looking particularly disgusting. Fortunately, he had a speedy recovery power.

During lunch, Huang Jiahui had to pinch her nose closed. She looked at Lin Xiaoji like she wanted to say something, but she kept silent. A moment later, she suddenly said, “Why don’t you eat in the corridor?”

Li Xiaoji smiled and started to retch. He immediately ran out of the house and vomited outside.

Wang Shishi quickly covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. The rest also started puking. Even Luo Yuan lost his appetite. After lunch, he checked the food stock once again. It would be a long, dangerous journey, so he had to plan properly what they would bring as well as the quantity of food they would have to pack. However, water was the most important thing. They would have to carry some, just in case they could not find any in the forest.

They would only bring some food, clothes, salt and medicine. In the end, he added a few bars of gold to his list, as well as a few stacks of money and several credit cards. He believed they might get the chance to use the money and the gold along the way.

Luo Yuan modified the camping tents by using the skin of the haunted tree. It would be enough to protect them from mutated insects. He also made a few spears from the haunted tree, each weighing about 25 kg.

He tried to throw a spear and it flew about 100 meters away and penetrated the ground. He did not feel tired at all as he has upgraded his Physique to 16 points already. However, the spears were not powerful enough to kill dark blue mutated beasts yet.

He had not thought of that earlier, when the giant bird had attacked the lizard. Shooting skills took too long to master and they required a lot of bullets, which were very difficult to acquire. Spears were the best weapon to attack flying animals with as they were quite powerful and easy to use.