Chapter 7: Those Not Of The Same Kin

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Bang!

Just when Lin Ming was about to shoot out his Razor Leaves and pull out his Bamboo Whip, suddenly there came the sound of a gunshot at a very close range!

Shot in the head, one of the porcupines fell to the ground!

Bang, bang!!

Two more gunshots came immediately afterward!

The other porcupine let out an agonized cry and collapsed heavily as well.

“Tsk, turns out it’s not what we wanted. What a waste of bullets!” A figure holding a shotgun emerged from a faraway bush and walked toward the porcupine.

“Big Brother Meng! Be careful, there may be…”

“Hao’zi, you’re such a coward. There are four of us, why should we be scared? Haha, no more spicy rabbit meat this time. Let Big Brother Gang here put on a show and cook up a porcupine feast!”

“You’re a bad*ass, Big Brother Gang! I heard that porcupine meat is like the ginseng of all meats and is extremely nutritious! Hehe!”

Holding their shotguns, the four of them watched their surroundings cautiously as they made their way quickly to the porcupine carcasses.

“By the way, who fired that extra shot just now? It completely missed!” Zhao Meng gripped his shotgun and looked around alertly.

“Hey, who cares. Although it’s not our target, these are still not too bad. We can sell these spines for a lot of money.” Li Gang took out a dagger and cut off the spines one by one.

Wang Hao was a little embarrassed as his bullet had hit the tree just now. “Uh, never mind that missed shot. By the way, these two porcupines are really huge.”

“Indeed, they used to be not much bigger than dogs, but now they’re almost the size of elephants. This mutation is insane. Big Brother Gang, we can take care of the spines later, let’s barbecue first!” Zhang Yu’s mouth watered. Since they could not have rabbits, they were not going to miss this porcupine meat.

Lin Ming quietly watched this group of humans who seemed to be “hunters”.

They seemed to be exactly the same as the humans that he knew. As for the “mutation” they spoke of, it should be referring to the mutations occurring among the animals and plants.

Staring at the shotguns in their hands, Lin Ming knew that the gunshots he had heard before were probably from this group of people.

Just now, these hunters had cleanly killed two mutated porcupines in three shots. Their marksmanship seemed rather excellent, and they also appeared to have come prepared.

Although he did not know what this “target” they spoke of was, he did not care as long as it had nothing to do with him.

There was no need to start a conflict with them.

As long as they did not provoke him.

“Big Brother Meng, don’t you think this bamboo’s… a bit strange?”

At this moment, Wang Hao pointed at the bamboo close to them and hurriedly called Zhao Meng.

“What about the bamboo? Bamboos are very common in this valley.” Zhao Meng put down his shotgun and said unconcernedly after a glance.

“No, there’s something wrong.” Wang Gang put down his dagger. “How come there’s bamboo in this Chinese fir forest? Besides, there are too many branches on this bamboo, and they are all curled up… Wait, what’s that up there?”

All of them looked up to the top of the bamboo. The branches there were clustered together, and there seemed to be some living creature moving within.

“No way, there’s something up there!” Zhao Meng immediately raised his gun, and the other three followed suit!

“Owoo!”

At this moment, one of the wolf pups on top of the bamboo branches suddenly let out a little whimper!

Lin Ming instantly wrapped a few slender branches around the wolf pup’s snout, but it was already too late.

“That’s the sound of a wolf pup!! There’s a wolf pup up there!” shouted Zhao Meng.

“You’re kidding me. How can there be a wolf pup on the bamboo?” Li Gang gripped his gun and glanced at his surroundings. “No way, it’s impossible for it to climb up there.”

“I heard it too, Big Brother Meng!” Wang Hao also yelled.

“Wolf pup meat is the most delicious, shoot it in the head!” Zhang Yu cried excitedly.

Just when all four of them aimed their guns at the top of the bamboo, they suddenly saw a small silvery-white creature inching its way down slowly.

“A snake? Wait, it seems to be an albino mutation, and it smells kinda nice?”

“Wait, I think that’s a bamboo viper! It’s highly venomous, kill it in one shot!”

Bang!!

A gunshot sounded as soon as they finished speaking, but instead of hitting the little white snake, it struck one of Lin Ming’s branches!

Lin Ming instantly exploded with murderous rage!

Dozens of Razor Leaves sliced the air, and in a split second, cut the shooter’s head into smithereens!

A bloody mist filled the air!

“Hao’zi!! I’ll f*cking kill you, monster!!”

“This b…bamboo is a mon…monster!! Destroy it!!”

“Kill it!!”

“Shoot!!”

Seeing their companion killed, the remaining few hurriedly raised their shotguns. However, before they had time to pull the trigger, Lin Ming whipped out the bamboo branches that he had already curled to the limit!

Pak! Pak! Pak!

A sonic boom followed the branches’ violent whipping movements, and the shouts of the three people immediately turned into screams!

In that instant, blood and brain juice sprayed everywhere!

A mountain breeze blew, ruffling Lin Ming’s bamboo leaves.

The commotion just now had already died down. Only the sonic boom of the bamboo branches echoed in the valley and gradually disappeared in the end. 

Lin Ming glanced at the four corpses on the ground.

He had just killed humans.

Strangely, there was no excitement or any other feeling in his heart.

He just felt that if he did not act first, the Adorable Little Snake, the wolf pups, and he would get hurt.

Instead of letting that happen, why not kill them?

Being too kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.

As a mutated bamboo, he was already different from his past self. Even if his soul was human, he no longer had anything to do with humans.

Get along peacefully? That was too difficult.

Those who were not of the same kin were sure to have different minds.

Lin Ming understood this truth, and in fact, he valued it greatly.

If the humans who appeared posed a threat to him, it would be best to kill them.

Trust them? Lin Ming was not that stupid.

In other words, there was no need for him to trust anyone, let alone expect anything of them.

Compared to human beings who were uncontrollable, either the Adorable Little Snake or the wolf pups were much better.

Plunging his taproots into the ground, Lin Ming controlled them to soften and loosen the soil, and after a while, several large pits appeared.

He wrapped his branches around the corpses and threw them into the pits along with their shotguns and other belongings, then buried them completely.

After that, he uprooted some nearby flourishing weeds and buried them on top.

In a few days, this place would be completely covered with weeds. Nobody would have thought that those people had died here.

Lin Ming did this not because he pitied their corpses but to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Since these people could come here to hunt, there must be someone else who knew their purpose.

If he did not handle the aftermath properly, and if someone came looking for them, found their bodies, and realized the cause of their deaths…

That would bring him a lot of trouble.

As a mutated bamboo, all Lin Ming wanted was to live his own life and guard his immediate vicinity.

As for troublesome matters, he wanted to stay away as far as possible from them.

After taking care of everything and confirming that he had not missed anything, Lin Ming glanced at his bloodstained and dirt-covered branches, then walked toward the stream once again.