Chapter 2 (Zeqi)

While Zhao Linong was stunned, He Yuesheng acted decisively, pulled her and turned to run towards the train.

When Zhao Linong turned around, she saw the thing that was propping up the carriage. It was a giant plant that was also growing quickly. A part of the stem had been damaged. It should have been full of vitality, but at this moment it only made people’s scalp tingling as a murderous intent was revealed.

"There must be railway police in the front car!" He Yuesheng looked at the front of the train. He was still able to think and said through gritted teeth, "They have weapons. Let's run over there. This place is not far from the Ninth Base. If we hold on for a while longer, we might have a chance to survive."

The two did not run in a straight line. He Yuesheng grabbed Zhao Linong's arm and kept running diagonally. It was obvious that he wanted to go around the giant plant before it completely pierced through the coach , but he was smart and did not run out of the gravel-paved railway track.

Someone caught up and ran in front of them, also trying to seek a chance of survival.

Zhao Linong looked at the people who kept overtaking them. Their faces were extremely pale, covered with cold sweat, and their pupils were constricted, but they were still gritting their teeth and running desperately.

This is a rare situation in real life, and even in movies and TV dramas, such realistic and terrifying scenes were rare.

Zhao Linong lowered her eyes and looked at her left hand. Because He Yuesheng had been holding it tightly, her sleeve was lifted, revealing her wrist. She could clearly see goose bumps slowly forming on her skin.

Zhao Linong wondered, why was her body reacting in her dreams?

Another person overtook them. Zhao Linong looked behind her and saw blood splattered everywhere over her shoulder. They should have been the group of people who were closest to the giant killer plant.

Having seen death, it’s no wonder that people were desperately running.

“That…” Zhao Linong discovered that the plant that had penetrated the coach had already stretched out its head, revealing swaying green leaves. It seemed as if it was given a booster to rapidly grow and differentiate. At the same time, the stem seemed to be alive and turned towards them. She thought for a moment, stretched out her other hand and poked He Yuesheng, who was running forward with his head down, “It’s coming here.”

The two of them stopped running, but it was too late. Without the obstruction of the coach, the plant's stem quickly stretched out and rushed towards them like a snake.

A snake does not have five heads, but this plant can instantly produce five leaves from its stem. In the blink of an eye, it rushed over.

It was like the sound of a water balloon being punctured and the water suddenly bursting out, but Zhao Linong also heard the sound of bones breaking. She stood on the gravel track and blinked slowly.

The man who was running in front of them just now was pierced by the green leaves. He probably still had some consciousness left, and his body was trying to run forward. After running about half a metre, he finally stopped moving and fell down.

After the umbrella leaf pierced his body, it quickly split into triangular, broad, round capsules, which were drinking the man's blood. The green capsule continued to expand, and turned into a faint blood-red colour. Only after sucking all the blood out of his body did it suddenly pull out its stems and leaves and continue to look for the next prey.

Zhao Linong raised her right hand, touched the corner of her eyes, lowered her head and looked through her blurred vision. There was scarlet blood on the back of her hand, which was the blood splattered from the person in front of her, and it was still warm.

...This bizarre dream was turning more real.

"Duck!" He Yuesheng glanced at Zhao Linong's and suddenly shouted in fear.

He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her down.

However, Zhao Linong was slow to react. She followed He Yuesheng's gaze and looked sideways.

The distance was too close, the murderous umbrella leaves almost touched Zhao Linong's eyes. She smelled a scent of grass mixed with blood, but she couldn't tell whether it was others blood or hers.

It seemed as if the plant knew that it was about to catch its prey, and excitedly began to differentiate into triangular capsule in advance.

The umbrella leaf that should have pierced her suddenly fell to the ground, the stem was cut off, and the capsule did not have time to form.

Zhao Linong looked at the stem of the umbrella leaf on the ground, and saw a milky white liquid flowing out from the broken stem, mixed with a hint of blood red.

Looking up, there was a young man holding a Tang sword in his left hand. He was wearing a black special police uniform and a black mask on his face, with only a pair of sharp and cold eyebrows showing through. His long legs, donned in military boots, were stepping on the broken stem.

The foot seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. The stem tried to swing wildly but could not break free.

It realised the situation, and the other four leaves stopped looking for prey and turned around to attack the man.

They were just four stems and leaves, but when they attacked together, they seemed to be able to cover the sky and the sun.

The young man suddenly loosened his grip on the broken stem, and as soon as he loosened his grip, the broken stem arched and tried to pierce his head.

However,the next moment the man jumped onto the broken stem, using the force to jump, holding the Tang sword in his left hand, he instantly cut off the other three stems and leaves that were rushing towards him. Without waiting for the umbrella leaf under his feet to react, he supported himself with his right elbow on the stem, slid straight down, landed on the ground, raised his gun, and shot at the root of the plant that was pushed out of the ground. At the same time, his left hand slashed horizontally, cutting off the last complete umbrella stem leaf that was chasing him.

White fluid mixed with blood scattered all over the sky like rain, and when the Tang sword slashed horizontally, the sunlight fell on the blade, reflecting a dazzling white light, which was caught in the eyes of Zhao Linong not far behind him.

But in an instant, the light disappeared.

After the young man cut off the umbrella stems and leaves, he put the knife back into the sheath without even looking at it.

Zhao Linong's eyes fell on the man's hand. He was wearing black half-finger tactical gloves, and his slender five fingers were holding a pistol.

After being shot, the broken stem seemed to lose its vitality, fell to the ground, and withered quickly.

Gunshots continued to be heard from the front and back. Someone jumped over from the other side of the train, stood directly on the roof, and fired with a rifle.

The young man turned sideways,even with the mask covering his face, the outline of his high nose could not be concealed. The sunlight shone on his face, and his long eyelashes were clearly visible.

He had a badge on his arm that originally should have said "SWAT," but now it said "Guardian."

"It's the guardian, we are saved." He Yuesheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Linong turned her head thoughtfully and met He Yuesheng's thoughtful eyes. They both paused and then spoke at the same time.

"Zeqi."

"Ye Changming!"

After they finished speaking, they both looked puzzled when they heard the other's answer.

Zhao Linong only knew that Zeqi was also known as Five Clouds, Cat's eye Grass, etc., but had never heard of the name from He Yuesheng.

Euphorbia helioscopia is an annual herbaceous plant of the Euphorbiaceae family. When the stem is broken, a milky white substance will ooze out. It is commonly seen on roadsides and wastelands. She had never seen such a giant euphorbia before. She just saw it up close and confirmed it after all the features matched.

He Yuesheng obviously didn't care about what Zhao Linong said. He let go of her arm, leaned his head towards her ear, and gossiped, "He has no rifle, but a Tang sword on his back. It must be Ye Changming. We're lucky this time to run into him."

Zhao Linong raised her eyes to look at the tall man leaving, then lowered her head and raised her hand to wipe her right eye.

"I heard..." He Yuesheng noticed Zhao Linong's actions, walked towards her and looked at her, and was immediately shocked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Her face was splattered with blood, which she had just wiped off, but now it was all smeared into streaks. There was a deep red spot on her right eye, which looked a bit scary.

"The blood splattered." Zhao Linong rubbed her eye, the tears that came out brought some blood out of the eyeball.

The slight pain in her eyes clearly reminded her that this was not a dream.

"Stop rubbing it. You need to rinse it with water. I'll find some water for you later." He Yuesheng looked around. There were guards in front and behind the train. With the sound of gunfire, the stems and leaves of the giant plants withered one after another.

The surroundings were in a mess. Many people came to their senses and gathered, as if this could help them find a sense of security.

There was intensive gunfire at the front of the train, followed by five heavy armoured off-road vehicles driving over quickly.

As the first heavy armoured off-road vehicle suddenly braked, the three vehicles behind it stopped on the left and right rear, surrounding the vehicle in the middle.

"It's Luo Fanxue!" He Yuesheng excitedly bumped Zhao Linong next to him.

Because of the discomfort in her eyes, Zhao Linong, who had just come to the new world, took a breath silently, trying to calm the boundless confusion in her heart, and looked up at the heavy armoured off-road vehicles.

People wearing black special police uniforms came out of several cars and protected the young girl who got out of the middle car.

The young girl had pretty features but a cold expression. She had long curly hair draped behind her. She wore a white windbreaker and a pair of camel-coloured hiking boots. She carried a black backpack and walked straight towards the withered giant plant. Before squatting down, she casually tied up her long curly hair, and a few strands of hair fell on the sides of her ears.

There were corpses scattered around, but she squatted there to inspect the giant plant. She was not affected by the corpses and was calm and neat.

The passengers, who were originally huddled aside in fear, all showed looks of envy, admiration and longing.

Luo Fanxue did not pay attention to the people around her. She took out a syringe, a knife, and gloves from her black backpack. Someone was recording her. She put on gloves, lowered her eyes, and used a syringe to extract the plant liquid. Then she used a knife to cut open the stem and umbrella leaves of the plant, and took samples and put them in a petri dish.

After doing all this, she stood up and walked towards the young man not far away who was talking to the conductor.

After they finished talking, Luo Fanxue looked at the young man and said, "It's Zeqi, a C-level mutant plant. Most plants enter the growth period in March, the base post road needs to start spraying more protective liquid."

Hearing this, the young man glanced at the crowd with the corners of his narrow eyes. His gaze fell on one person, but he instantly retracted his gaze. Luo Fanxue and the conductor who were standing next to him did not notice his movements.

Zhao Linong felt discomfort in her right eye, and she couldn't help but rub it with her head down, without realising that a glance had been cast over her.

"I've heard that Ye Changming will be Luo Fanxue's guardian." He Yuesheng's eyes were full of envy. "I wonder if we can become such researchers in the future."

Zhao Linong didn't understand what he was saying. In order not to be exposed, she didn't say anything in response and secretly noted down these terms.

She looked down at herself. She saw unfamiliar clothes and bracelets, and wondered if her body had changed as well.

Everything that she had just experienced forced Zhao Linong to clearly realise that she had probably travelled to a new world, and this new world had dangers that did not exist in her original world.

"Hey, which base are you from?" He Yuesheng next to her suddenly asked.

Zhao Linong asked calmly, "What about you?"

He Yuesheng winked and said, "Seventh Base, if you want to drink any tea or coffee in the future, you can buy it from me. I have connections."

The Ninth Base, the Seventh Base... In this world, bases should be called by numbers.

Although he had just experienced a life-and-death situation, the other party seemed to have completely recovered.

"Student Zhao, which base are you from?" He Yuesheng still hadn't forgotten the previous question.

"Central Base." Zhao Linong recalled the advertising towels on the high-speed train and made up a story, "I don't have access to seeds."

He Yuesheng glanced at her strangely and said, "The seeds of the central base are all in the hands of the Luo family and the Shan family. You definitely don't have any."

The Luo family and the Shan family... learned another piece of information.

The group of guards that suddenly appeared, disappeared quickly after dealing with the plants.

Five heavy armoured off-road vehicles started up, turned around with a roar, bypassed the train, and got back on the road, as if they had never appeared. Only the tracks left on the gravel road could prove that they had been there.

The conductor has already started to call everyone to line up.

"Freshmen, the rescue vehicle will be here soon. Please line up in two lines and wait." The conductor shouted through the loudspeaker.

　freshmen?

Zhao Linong turned her head and looked around. Sure enough, all the people getting off the train were young people. So she was a new student in another world ?

He Yuesheng raised his left hand and swiped the silver dial with his right thumb. A light blue screen popped up above it. "I'm unlucky this year. I actually ran into a mutant plant on the Yidao Railway. People died before school started. It's really dangerous to be an agricultural student."

Zhao Linong followed the crowd and lined up. When he heard He Yuesheng's last words, he turned to look at him and finally lost his composure: "Agricultural student?!"

He Yuesheng paused his fingers dancing on the screen, looked up and down at Zhao Linong: "Were you knocked unconscious by your parents and thrown to the Ninth Agricultural Base? Your reaction is so strong."

Agronomy base!

Zhao Linong felt a darkness before her eyes. Her parents wanted her to stay away from the countryside and even named her "Linong".

Now she knew that there was something wrong with the name and there shouldn't be too much water in it.

Because of my name, I have been destined to be a farmer in both of my lives!