Thick moss was like a tangible plague, infecting everything within sight.
The mountains, stone steps, and even the iron chains on the cliff edges were covered in bluish-black moss.
The humid climate of the south provided the most favorable conditions for their growth and spread. Mutated, they were almost everywhere.
In the cracks of the rocks, small grasses grew tenaciously. In just over ten days, they had grown taller than a person by half.
Everything was green and lush. From the initial shock to the current numbness, Yun Hai had become accustomed to these sights and walked down the mountain along the stone steps without surprise.
He had had enough of the dark cave life, even though he could see as clearly as in daylight with his alien vision.
Therefore, for this operation to capture the mutated green python, Yun Hai did not proceed from the cave, but chose to go directly down the mountain to find it.
At first, he walked slowly. But when Yun Hai's gaze fell on the tiger beetle alien climbing on the left cliff wall, which had to stop and wait for him from time to time, he couldn't help but speed up and run.
Unable to confirm which insect the host was, but because it looked more like a tiger beetle, Yun Hai ultimately ordered the first insect alien to be named "Tiger Beetle."
It was aptly named.
Like all other aliens, the skull was a smooth bone cap, but the Tiger Beetle alien's skull looked more solid.
Under the skull bone cap, the constantly trembling giant mandibles were completely different.
A pair of sickle-like mandibles protruded from the left and right sides, with more closely arranged small mandibles on them and around the giant mandibles. They were completely metalized, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
The most significant feature was the black carapace covering the originally exposed bones on the back of the Tiger Beetle alien.
The streamlined carapace was full of texture, like a metal structure.
With a pair of limbs more than other aliens, the Tiger Beetle alien, which was better and more accustomed to climbing, flashed its six limbs alternately, running like a gust of wind.
The powerful tailbone still existed, and this would not change no matter what host the alien parasitized.
Yun Hai couldn't determine how strong the attack was without verification, but just with that pair of nearly half-meter-long mandibles, he believed that the Tiger Beetle alien could easily cut through even a steel plate.
The defense was surprisingly strong, which Yun Hai had already tested.
The spikes ejected by the porcupine alien could completely pierce hard rocks, and their power was even stronger than Yun Hai's crossbow arrows.
However, when its spikes fiercely shot onto the back of the Tiger Beetle alien, they were bounced off. Not to mention leaving any wounds, there wasn't even a mark.
And the tail tip, when the porcupine alien tried its best to stab with its tail tip, sparks flew, as if it had stabbed a steel plate.
Only a shallow dent was left, and the Tiger Beetle alien's carapace remained undamaged.
Envious of such a powerful defense, Yun Hai tried to connect through the creep, but also estimated that due to his physical condition, he could not modulate it onto himself.
However, he still gained power, incredibly powerful power.
The power of insects is known to be formidable.
Some ants can move objects weighing a hundred times their own weight.
The Hercules beetle can even move objects exceeding eight hundred times its own weight.
Of course, the mutation of insects leads to an increase in size. Considering gravity, Yun Hai didn't know for the time being whether they could still possess such abnormal power.
After extracting the power gene of the Tiger Beetle alien, Yun Hai's power also reached an exaggerated level.
He could smash thick stone slabs with one punch without breaking his skin.
He could completely turn hard stones into powder with a slight exertion in his palm.
It could be said that apart from not having an alienized body, Yun Hai now believed that he was no different from a humanoid alien.
Agility, speed, and strength were all amazing.
It was because of this that the ecstatic Yun Hai decided to hunt the mutated green python.
The agile lynx alien, the ranged-attack porcupine alien, plus the fiercely attacking and abnormally defensive Tiger Beetle alien, and Yun Hai himself with his immense strength, including thirty messenger aliens.
With such a lineup, Yun Hai thought it wouldn't be a problem to deal with a mutated green python about fifteen meters long.
Releasing his speed and rushing down the mountain, the Tiger Beetle alien rapidly scurried along the left cliff wall, with the lynx and porcupine aliens behind him, neither too close nor too far, neither too fast nor too slow.
More messengers quickly followed from the mountain road, the cliff wall, and even the protective chains on the right cliff edge.
"A Thread of Sky!"
Soon he reached the mountainside. Yun Hai looked at the broken mountain road ahead and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
A gap of more than thirty meters. A strip-shaped meteorite broke the only stone road leading down the mountain, slanting down, with half of it embedded in the mountain.
If "A Thread of Sky" had not been broken, no matter what the outside world had become, the sixty or so people who survived the virus outbreak on the mountaintop could at least have safely left Yangshan in the beginning.
First, he observed the black meteorite with his alien vision. There was nothing abnormal in his perception. Yun Hai looked at the broken mountain road, took a breath, and suddenly jumped towards the meteorite embedded in the mountain more than twenty meters below.
Like a cannonball out of the barrel, Yun Hai's body drew a beautiful parabola in the air. His toes landed on the meteorite, and his knees bent to cushion the gravity.
"Whoosh!"
The muscle fibers in his legs were like an engine, instantly generating enormous energy. Yun Hai bent his legs and suddenly leaped, his body rising and shooting towards the mountain road above.
He grabbed the iron chain hanging from the break, his body swayed in the air, and he landed lightly on the mountain road.
The aliens naturally didn't need Yun Hai to worry about them.
Most of the messengers climbed up the left cliff, and even if the stone wall was as smooth as a mirror, it would not affect their speed.
The lynx and some messengers also chose the same method as Yun Hai, landing lightly on the meteorite and quickly bouncing up, rushing forward behind him.
The distance was very far, of course, this was only for the former Yun Hai.
Now his speed, the world record for the 100 meters was a joke in front of him. Running at full speed, he was like the wind and lightning. Ordinary people would be dazzled.
Before long, he reached the foot of the mountain. Yun Hai was not in a hurry to go to Nanshan, but ran towards the outside of the mountain.
The narrow road was almost obscured by the grass on both sides, and weeds grew in the cracks of the cement pavement.
There were also some road surfaces that were slightly raised. Obviously, the seeds that had been in the soil below for an unknown amount of time had sprouted and grown violently and rudely.
The virus that killed countless humans was a magical evolutionary agent for more plants, animals, and even insects. Even an inconspicuous weed could now grow to several meters or even higher, which was not uncommon.
One by one, small insects of different shapes and colors were startled by Yun Hai and the alien army, and either flew or ran, quickly disappearing on the road.
Many cars were parked by the roadside, most of which were submerged by the weeds and shrubs growing out of the soil on the side of the road, a scene of decline.
In the parking lot to the south, there was a mess.
Many cars had already left, and more cars were parked in it, as if a giant had vented inside. The vehicles were overturned and scattered everywhere, and even a few cars had been split apart.
Not ignoring the tire tracks freshly pressed on the moss on the ground, and looking at many car fuel tank caps thrown on the ground, Yun Hai felt a little relieved, guessing that Datou and others had collected gasoline and left in a certain car.
Slowly walking into the mountain villa opposite the parking lot, the more Yun Hai walked, the colder he felt.
On the cement floor, on the dirty tiles, including on the walls, there were traces of dried, blackened blood everywhere.
Clear Water Villa, empty.
Yangshan Hotel, empty.
The huge mountain scenic area, without a single living person.
There wasn't even a corpse left, only tattered clothes stained with blood appearing on the ground from time to time.
Whether it was people who died during the virus outbreak, or survivors who did not leave in time, they were either eaten by mutated animals, or decomposed by mutated insects along with their bones.
The huge mountain scenic area was deathly silent. Even the original insect chirping and bird calls were quieted down by the arrival of Yun Hai and the aliens.
It was so quiet that it was almost maddening. Yun Hai could even hear the sound of blood flowing in his blood vessels.
In the alien vision, apart from the tiny life light and shadows representing insects, there was no other life.
His gaze fell on the Tiger Beetle alien in front of him, and Yun Hai's expression was a little confused.
The host of the Tiger Beetle alien was found by the lynx and porcupine aliens in this area, and the battle took place in the parking lot just now.
"Are there more mutated and evolved insects like it that have left here? Or is it that among its race, there are not many that have evolved and mutated at all?"
"The aliens only found one of it. Is it territorial awareness? Or is it for some other reason?"
A little unwilling to believe it, Yun Hai took the alien army and ran thousands of meters outward with the highway as the center, and had almost reached the village on the side of the mountain, but found nothing unusual.
The village appeared in sight, and the closer he got to home, the colder Yun Hai's heart became.
All the aliens ran into the dense grass on both sides of the road. Yun Hai walked slowly, and in the grass, one alien after another moved silently.
There were many things thrown on the ground at the entrance of the village: bags, backpacks, suitcases...
The black bloodstains on the cement road were extremely glaring. Yun Hai walked towards a white car on the side of the road.
The car door was half open, blood was splashed on the glass, and the car plunged into the drainage ditch on the side of the road. The steering wheel and the back of the chair were covered with blood.
Looking around blankly, even though he had been prepared in his heart, Yun Hai still couldn't believe it.
The mountain scenic area was conservatively estimated to have five or six hundred people.
His hometown, Yang Village, not to mention the tourists enjoying "farmhouse fun," had a permanent population of six hundred alone.
But all the people had disappeared, leaving only a mess and bloodstains.
Yun Hai looked around in the familiar and unfamiliar village, feeling as if he was the only human being left in the world, and an uncontrollable fear arose spontaneously.
After a long while, Yun Hai raised his foot and walked towards his home.
The little girl next door who liked him the most didn't show her cute dimples as usual, reaching out and calling Uncle Hai to hug her.
Aunt Liu next door, who loved to nag, didn't come out today to arrange a date for him again.
Under the willow tree not far away, Xiao Min, who often fiddled with her braids and smiled at Yun Hai with her big, bright eyes, didn't appear today.
The elders who were used to smoking and chatting under the willow tree at the entrance of the village were nowhere to be seen.
Everything had ceased to exist.
Scenes of swarms of mosquitoes covering the sky, strange insects covering the ground, and a mighty rat tide appeared in his mind.
Those honest and simple villagers were bitten, struggled, bled, and even torn into pieces by the ferocious mutated creatures.
"They must still be alive. It's impossible for everyone to be dead. They must have run to a safer city!"
His tightly closed lips drew blood. When he reached the door, Yun Hai remembered that he didn't bring his key.
After thinking about it, he still jumped more than two meters high on the spot and jumped over the low courtyard wall.
This was his only home, and even if it was empty at this time, it carried too many good memories. He didn't want to destroy anything here.
In this apocalypse, there were not many good things left.
After entering the yard, he took out the key from the brick seam in front of the door, and Yun Hai opened the door and walked in.
Several small rats quickly escaped from the holes in the wall, and countless small insects quickly hid under the bed, in the closet, in the window seams...
He no longer had the intention of taking a piece of clothing. Yun Hai picked up the mirror frame on the table and smashed it, took out a photo of his family of four, carefully wiped it, and put it in his arms.
He looked around the simple house with complicated eyes. After a long while, Yun Hai turned around and quickly left.