TNAB Ch 33

By the stream, the four people were either standing or squatting, and no one made a sound.

The drinking sheep raised its head at some point and stared at them, with a look so inexplicable it sent chills down their spines.

After Zhao Linong’s hushing, the only sounds left on the vast grassland were the wind and a few distant sheep. Suddenly, they all felt they could faintly hear the sound of bones being dislocated.

“Did you hear something?” Wei Li whispered.

Tong Tong didn’t dare speak but nodded, indicating she had heard it too. The sound was eerie, leaving everyone bewildered.

He Yuesheng looked at the white sheep and frowned, speaking just as softly, “Is it… getting bigger?”
The sheep upstream had visibly grown fatter, especially around the belly.

“Run!”
Zhao Linong abruptly turned and yelled to Tong Tong and Wei Li, who were still crouching by the stream.
Her shout was like a signal, and the four of them turned and bolted.
Wei Li glanced back curiously. The sheep had turned its head, still staring at them without moving. She was about to feel relieved when suddenly the wool stretched out rapidly, heading straight toward them.

“Its wool is growing!”
The white sheep’s wool was extending all over its body, expanding to twice its size. If one looked closely, something seemed to be moving faintly beneath the surface of its wool.

Wei Li’s fear made her hair stand on end. She felt her bad luck was striking again. If she didn’t run, something terrible would happen for sure. So, she sprinted even faster, dragging Tong Tong toward the dog hole.
But Tong Tong couldn’t keep up, and Wei Li ended up pulling her to the ground.

Wei Li immediately stopped and turned back, reaching out to help Tong Tong up. This pause gave the long wool an opportunity. A strand instantly wrapped around Tong Tong’s feet, dragging her toward the stream.

“Grab me!” Wei Li frantically extended her hand, clutching Tong Tong tightly.
Tong Tong fell onto the grass, being dragged and scraped along, while Wei Li staggered, almost falling as well.
Tong Tong gritted her teeth and suddenly let go of Wei Li’s hand, causing the latter to lose her balance as Tong Tong was pulled back a considerable distance by the wool.

Just then, Zhao Linong rushed over from behind and grabbed Tong Tong. Together, they shared the weight, temporarily slowing the wool’s pulling force. Zhao Linong grabbed the wool wrapped around Tong Tong’s feet with both hands and yanked it with all her strength. Wei Li returned to hold Tong Tong’s upper body, trying to pull her free.

They forgot there was more than one strand of wool on the sheep.
At that moment, the wool around the stream unfurled like a dense net, instantly enveloping them.
The wool that had initially bound Tong Tong’s feet thickened and split into two. One strand suddenly wrapped around Zhao Linong’s waist, and before He Yuesheng could get to her, it dragged her toward the sheep. The speed was much faster this time.

Zhao Linong had already thrown herself over Tong Tong, and without realizing it, she was dragged five meters down the slope. Her arms and knees scraped along the grass. She tried to grab onto something, but could only futilely grip the green grass, which ripped from the ground in seconds.

“Zhao Linong!”
He Yuesheng saw her sliding and supported himself on the grass with one hand, sliding directly down after her. Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist, and with a dagger in his other hand, he slashed at the wool around her waist.

“Get up!” He Yuesheng stood up first and pulled Zhao Linong to her feet.
The two of them sprinted up the slope with all their might.

At this point, the overwhelming wool was nearly blocking their path, even sweeping away other sheep caught by the mutated white sheep.
“It’s eating its kind!” Wei Li gasped, half dragging and half carrying Tong Tong.

He Yuesheng returned and crouched down, using the dagger to sever the wool binding Tong Tong’s feet.
Zhao Linong, now covered in mud mixed with dead yellow grass, looked down at the severed wool oozing green juice. It was still writhing and regenerating slowly, like a mutated plant. She touched her waist and found a streak of green juice there too. She raised her hand to smell it—a watery, grassy odor from the ram wool.

Startled, Zhao Linong quickly turned to look at the mutated sheep.
The mutated sheep had caught another ram, lowered its head, and was biting into its neck, chewing through its flesh and blood. As it ate, its body grew larger, and it continued devouring the ram while keeping its gaze fixed on the group. The wool formed a net around them, closing in to shrink their escape route, forcing them closer and closer to the creature’s mouth.

Zhao Linong clenched her fists. She had known that animals could mutate, but she had never imagined how unsettling it would be to see one in person.

Tong Tong was helped to her feet, and in a panic, she activated her light brain: “We need to contact the guards. There’s a mutated animal here.”
“It’s too late,” He Yuesheng said grimly, watching as the wool cage closed in around them.

They had no way out, surrounded by long, swaying strands of wool.

“Bang! Bang!”

Several gunshots rang out from the slope, hitting the head of the mutated sheep. The bullets pierced its body, and all the long, waving wool collapsed instantly. Like a mutated plant, it lost all vitality once shot.

The three were stunned, turning their heads to see where the shots had come from. There stood Wei Li, holding a pocket pistol, the muzzle still smoking faintly.

The gun was loaded with bullets, designed to kill mutant plants below level A instantly. It had been a gift from Shan Yun to Wei Li during her coming-of-age ceremony.
“Is it dead?” Wei Li fired three more shots before lowering her pistol.

“Probably,” Zhao Linong responded, though still curious about the mutated sheep. But she quickly turned around without lingering. “Let’s get out of here.”
The four of them didn’t dare stay and hurried away.

Meanwhile, something green and snake-like slithered beneath the body of the fallen mutated sheep, disappearing silently into the stream.
The golden sunlight sparkled on the water, and the plants at the stream’s bottom swayed gently. Everything seemed to have returned to its peaceful state, except for the deformed and lifeless mutated sheep by the stream.

After crawling out of the dog hole, Wei Li instantly felt a rush of relief at the sight of the high wall. She braced her hands on her knees, gasping for air, and glanced up. Zhao Linong and Tong Tong stood beside her, both disheveled. Embarrassed, she said, “I didn’t expect sheep would mutate. Dean Zhou’s had them for five or six years. I thought they were safe. I shouldn’t have pushed you to come.”

Zhao Linong, still picking dead grass from her hair, turned to Wei Li. “Are the bullets in your gun the same as the Guardian ones?”

“Uh?” Wei Li blinked, a little confused. “They should be. My mom got them from the Central Base Army.”

Zhao Linong frowned. “I remember those bullets only work on mutated plants.”

Wei Li waved it off. “That’s because I hit a vital spot on the mutant Aries. Even with the contents altered, a bullet’s still a bullet. Headshot usually does the trick.”

Zhao Linong didn’t reply. Her mind replayed what she had seen. Wei Li’s first shot had only grazed the sheep’s chin—hardly a fatal blow. But with the second shot, the creature’s wool had fallen away, lifeless.

Before she could puzzle it out further, a shout came from behind.

“What are you doing here?!”

The guards, drawn by the gunfire, swarmed toward them. In seconds, their rifles aimed squarely at the four.

Wei Li’s hands shot up. “We’re students! We just wanted to see Dean Zhou’s sheep! Dean Zhou knows my mother!”

He Yuesheng sighed, lifting his hands too, rolling his eyes at her blatant name-dropping.

The leader of the guards didn’t budge. “Who cares who your mother is?” He reached to take Wei Li’s gun.

Zhao Linong spoke up sharply, “There’s a mutated sheep inside.”

The guard leader paused but then still confiscated the weapon. He signaled his men. “Take them in.”

As they were led away, the leader sent a message into his wrist’s light brain, “Requesting backup, a potential mutation in the East District’s white wall.”

Soon, the entire ninth agricultural base buzzed with gossip: Dean Zhou’s sheep had mutated and was gunned down—by a student.

“Where did the student get a gun?”

“How’d they even get into Dean Zhou’s place?”

“They crawled in through a dog hole.”

“Oh, it’s Wei Li. Makes sense.”

In the interrogation room, Zhao Linong didn’t hold back, describing everything in detail, down to the strange green juice leaking from the Aries’ wool. She insisted they investigate the small grassland thoroughly.

“Green juice?” The interrogator raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhao Linong’s dirt-covered clothes. “You sure you didn’t just roll in the grass?”

“I didn’t.” She shot a glance at the one-way glass behind them. “Did you examine the sheep?”

“It’s not your concern what we examine,” the interrogator replied coldly, then softened, remembering her status as a student. “The sheep seemed fine. When an animal mutates, anything can happen.”

*Anything can happen,* she thought, replaying the chaotic events. She had never seen a mutation up close, but plants and animals in this world didn’t follow the usual rules.

The interrogation soon turned routine. Shengchen from the base hospital arrived to collect Wei Li, smoothing the process. Finally, they left together.

“You’re always running around,” Shengchen scolded Wei Li as they stepped outside. “This time you nearly got yourself and others hurt. Wei Li, you’re getting reckless.”

Wei Li dropped her head, taking the lecture. “I messed up.”

Tong Tong, eager to defend her friend, chimed in. “But she shot the mutant Aries. That saved us.”

Shengchen handed the gun back to Wei Li with a stern look. “Reload it. And don’t ever let it out of your sight again.” He sighed, “I’ll talk to Dean Zhou. Next time, take a guard team with you if you insist on playing around.”

“I will,” Wei Li said quickly.

As soon as Shengchen left, Wei Li perked up. “It’s on me next time. Dinner’s on me!” she grinned.

“No thanks.” He Yuesheng shot her a flat look. “Last time we ate together, we ran into a mutated Mint. Now a mutated sheep. I’d rather stay alive, thanks.”

Wei Li’s smile faltered. “Fine, I’ll deliver food to your dorm then.”

As they exited the round building, Zhao Linong glanced at He Yuesheng. “Where’d you get that dagger?”

He blinked, then shrugged. “After the cafeteria incident, I bought it. Mutated plants, animals—you never know. I couldn’t get a gun, but a good dagger? That’s doable.”

He motioned to Wei Li. “It was pricey, though.”

Zhao Linong nodded thoughtfully. “Let me know when you find another. I’ll take one too.”

“Will do.” He Yuesheng grinned. “Just have your money ready.”