The Cat Who Farms in the Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland – CH98

Chapter 98 – University

In the wilderness, there were many ways to extract drinking water from plants, and Xia Lu Nong knew several of them.

For example, water could be collected from bamboo or wild banana plants.

Taking a big sip of his honey water, Xia Lu Nong said, “I’m not saying we have to grow bamboo, but my point is, my ability has many uses. We shouldn’t limit our thinking.”

Yan Xi Nian ruffled his hair. “Exactly. That’s the right mindset.”

They had spent most of the day fetching water. After all three teams had eaten dinner, it was already past ten. They arranged their shifts for the night watch, then retreated to their trucks to rest.

Xia Lu Nong slept next to his brother, with his brother on one side and Kong Zhi on the other.

Wrapped in his blanket, Xia Lu Nong couldn’t sleep and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Among the chorus of snores coming from the truck, he could clearly distinguish Kong Zhi’s breathing and even feel the warmth radiating from his body.

In the quiet of the night, Xia Lu Nong once again pondered his relationship with Kong Zhi. The more he thought about it, the harder it became to fall asleep.

“What are you thinking about?”

A voice suddenly sounded in Xia Lu Nong’s ear, startling him so much that he almost cried out. He grabbed his blanket and turned to see Kong Zhi looking at him.

“Nothing,” Xia Lu Nong whispered. “Why are you still awake?”

“I didn’t hear your steady breathing, so I was a bit worried.” Kong Zhi reached out and tucked the blanket around Xia Lu Nong. “Whatever it is, think about it tomorrow. We have a long journey ahead. Go to sleep.”

Xia Lu Nong had always been comfortable roughhousing with Kong Zhi—holding hands or putting an arm around each other was nothing unusual. Physical contact had never felt strange. But now that their relationship had subtly shifted, Xia Lu Nong suddenly became acutely aware of Kong Zhi’s hand, and every little movement made Xia Lu Nong hold his breath.

Kong Zhi’s hand was broad, with long fingers. He was slim, so his fingers were quite bony, giving them a somewhat elegant and attractive appearance. Before the great disaster, people who had a hand fetish would have been captivated by a pair of hands like his.

That hand gently tugged on Xia Lu Nong’s blanket. As the hand lightly pressed against Xia Lu Nong’s chest, an indescribable sensation spread through him, making him shiver slightly. His ears turned red in the darkness.

Kong Zhi’s hand was well-behaved. After tucking the blanket, he pulled it back and softly said, “Sleep.”

Xia Lu Nong buried his face in the blanket and whispered, “You too.”

On the other side, Xia Huo Qu turned over slightly. Worried about waking his brother, Xia Lu Nong quieted down.

Perhaps it was a case of “fighting poison with poison,” but the thoughts of Kong Zhi that had been flooding Xia Lu Nong’s mind were now completely cleared after that simple act of tucking in the blanket. He quickly drifted into sleep.

The next morning, everyone woke up and went about their tasks—some wandering around, others preparing breakfast. Each person was busy with their own chores.

A light morning mist clung to everything, making the air feel damp.

The happiest of all was the little pepper tree. After spending the night planted in the ground, it was full of life this morning, bouncing around behind Xia Lu Nong like a little follower, shaking its stiff leaves as it hopped along.

Ba Niu and the others watched the little pepper tree with a mix of amazement and envy.

Ba Niu glanced over and muttered, “Xia Hua Jiao is the perfect pet. It’s powerful, adorable, and doesn’t need much care.”

Xia Lu Nong gently patted the pepper tree, which had retracted its thorns, and corrected Ba Niu. “It’s not a pet; it’s a partner.”

Ba Niu, envious, replied, “Whatever you call it, you’ve got this lively little companion by your side. Speaking of which, there are plenty of moving plants out in the wild. Can we regular folks also have plant partners?”

Xia Lu Nong asked, “Can you communicate with Xia Hua Jiao?”

“Of course!” Ba Niu said. “Didn’t you say it can nod and shake its head in response? If it’s willing to interact with me, then we can definitely communicate.”

Xia Lu Nong shook his head. “It’s not necessarily that simple. Try it and you’ll see.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try,” Ba Niu replied, still skeptical. “Make sure to tell Xia Hua Jiao not to dismiss me. I want to have a conversation with it.”

Following Ba Niu’s request, Xia Lu Nong spoke to Xia Hua Jiao.

The little pepper tree turned its crown toward Ba Niu.

Ba Niu immediately leaned in and greeted the tree. “Hello, Xia Hua Jiao! Are you thirsty? Do you want me to water you?”

The little pepper tree shook its crown vigorously.

Ba Niu guessed, “Is it thirsty?”

But the tree didn’t move.

Ba Niu grabbed a small ladle of water from a nearby bucket and poured it at the base of the tree.

As soon as the water touched the ground, the little pepper tree jumped backward, avoiding it entirely.

Everyone around was amused by the spectacle.

Cong Lian commented, “It seems like Xia Hua Jiao is saying it’s not thirsty.”

“I think so too,” Old Liu chimed in. “Just look at its reaction; it’s clearly rejecting the water.”

Ba Niu wasn’t giving up. “Xia Hua Jiao, are you really not thirsty?”

The little pepper tree stood still, not responding.

Ba Niu, playfully adapting his tone as though addressing a confused traveler, elongated his words in a comical attempt to communicate with the tree.

The little pepper tree occasionally shook its crown, but otherwise showed no other reaction.

Frustrated, Ba Niu, now dry-mouthed, gulped down some water himself. “Why is it so hard to communicate? Does Xia Hua Jiao not like me?”

The tree shook its branches slightly.

Xia Lu Nong glanced at the tree. “No, it actually likes you.”

Ba Niu replied, “Come on, you’ve got to be honest. If it really liked me, would it ignore me like this?”

“It’s not ignoring you,” Xia Lu Nong explained. “Some things it didn’t understand at all, and some things it responded to, but you didn’t notice.”

“Huh?” Ba Niu’s eyes widened as he processed this. “Damn, it’s like we’re speaking different languages. Like chickens talking to ducks.”

Old Liu laughed nearby. “It’s harder than learning a foreign language. You’re trying to communicate across species.”

Ba Niu remained skeptical. “But that’s not right. Xia Lu Nong can talk to Xia Hua Jiao, and Captain Yan and Vice Captain Xia occasionally say a few things to it too, right?”

Yan Xi Nian spoke up, “We only say a few words, but that doesn’t mean it fully understands us, nor do we always get its responses. That’s not real communication. Except for Xia Lu Nong, no one here can have a proper conversation with Xia Hua Jiao.”

Ba Niu was disappointed. “So, does that mean our dream of having a plant partner is broken?”

“If you want to raise one, go ahead,” Xia Lu Nong said. “If you find a suitable plant that’s willing to come with you, you can raise it. Who knows, after a while, you might even improve communication.”

“I doubt that,” Ba Niu sighed as he looked at Xia Hua Jiao. “I thought we could start a new trend at the base, but I guess that’s your special skill.”

Old Liu added, “It’s obvious. If everyone could communicate with plants, the ones outside wouldn’t be so aggressive.”

Xiao Tang grinned and said, “Xiao Nong is like a level ten in plant language—he can understand and speak it fluently. The rest of us are beginners, barely able to imitate. We might even mess up and make the plants more aggressive instead.”

Xia Lu Nong corrected him, “That’s not entirely true. When we communicate, language is only part of it. My ability can secrete certain substances that convey my thoughts while also picking up on Xia Hua Jiao’s thoughts. Combined with words and gestures, it makes everything easier to understand.”

Ba Niu responded, “Well, that’s your specialty. We wouldn’t be able to raise one ourselves.”

Everyone’s expressions turned a bit disappointed after hearing this.

The little pepper tree was so cute, and its combat abilities were impressive. If they could raise one, it would make traveling much easier. Even staying at home, a plant would be a low-maintenance helper compared to an animal, with less investment required.

Ba Niu asked, “Xiao Nong, if we come across other suitable plants while we’re out, will you raise them?”

Xia Lu Nong said, “Sure. But it’s not that easy to find the right plant. Look at us, we’ve been going out for over half a year, and the only one we’ve really bonded with is this little pepper tree.”

The little pepper tree seemed to understand, raising its branches and brushing against him.

Xia Lu Nong rubbed it back and then added, “Even if we do find another plant, we’ll have to get Xia Hua Jiao’s approval first. If it doesn’t agree, we won’t raise a second one.”

The little pepper tree seemed to understand even this, happily rubbing its branches against Xia Lu Nong even more vigorously.

Xia Lu Nong reassured it, “Even if we do, you’ll always be our favorite.”

“Whoosh—” The little pepper tree suddenly shook its branches, and the wind passed through its leaves, making a strange sound as if it were speaking.

It paused for a moment and then made a series of joyful sounds, “Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Ba Niu was amazed. “It’s that easy to make it happy?”

The little pepper tree responded with another round of “whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Breakfast was soon ready, and everyone chatted as they ate. Once they were done, they packed up, loaded the truck, and drove along the route they had planned the day before.

They primarily followed the old concrete roads from before the great disaster.

Even though the roads were damaged, the concrete surface was still better to travel on. Their truck had been modified to handle such roads, though just barely.

That day, they passed by a gas station and, luckily, found fuel inside. After clearing out the mutant plants and animals lurking around the station, they managed to collect a significant amount of diesel and gasoline.

The fuel filled an entire truck, so Yan Xi Nian instructed Liao Quan Nan and Cong Lian to drive the truck back to base, with three more people from Old Liu’s team providing an escort.

The rest of the convoy, consisting of four vehicles, continued on their way to the city as planned.

By the evening of the third day, they reached the outskirts of the city, which had long since fallen into ruin. However, compared to the smaller towns, the city still had a few tall buildings standing.

Using binoculars, they spotted mutant rats and cats scurrying around the high-rises.

The sheer number of mutant cats and rats crawling all over the buildings was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl, like lice on a wall.

Ba Niu rubbed his arms in disgust. “Damn, this is why I hate coming into big cities for supply runs. These mutant rats are disgusting.”

Yan Xi Nian said, “You think this is bad? You haven’t faced a swarm of mutant cockroaches yet—that’s terrifying.”

“Captain Yan,” Ba Niu turned to him earnestly, “Please, no horror stories.”

Yan Xi Nian clapped him on the back, then picked up the radio and said to the rest of the convoy, “The situation in the city is too complicated. We won’t be entering today. Let’s head to N University outside the city to rest for the night.”

“Copy that!”

“Understood!”

“Roger!”

The three other vehicles confirmed the order.

The team of women in the last vehicle turned around first and headed toward the new destination.

Ba Niu waited for the lead vehicle to start moving, then took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it between his lips. “The mutant rats at the university might be just as bad as those in the city.”

“This trip isn’t just about avoiding the mutant rats,” Yan Xi Nian explained. “We’re here to gather supplies and scout the situation. The university has a strong research background. We might come across some interesting equipment or research data.”

Xia Lu Nong, sitting in the back of the truck, overheard this and quietly hoped they’d find some intriguing plants or seeds along the way.