Chapter 81
Yu Qingxian watched the train slowly passing under the bridge, unaware of who was on board.
But she could be certain they were people she couldn't afford to provoke.
Yu Qingxian paid no more attention to the train, instead urging her Tyrannosaurus Rex to keep walking.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex naturally obeyed.
Seeing it so obedient, Yu Qingxian wondered if it could actually understand her words.
Truly remarkable.
Originally, she had planned to release the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
In this world, a Tyrannosaurus Rex this formidable would certainly face no threat to its life.
But earlier, she had told a zombie that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was her dog.
Having said those words, it would be awkward to take them back now.
And in the Tyrannosaurus Rex's heart, if she were to abandon it, it might feel that she had deserted it.
Yu Qingxian could easily discard a person, abandoning friendship or love.
Yet she found it difficult to part with little dogs or cats.
Meanwhile, on the train...
"Captain, I think I saw someone on the bridge we just passed, but I'm not sure if it was a human or a zombie," a young man said to a man sitting at the bar, drinking.
Next to him sat a very beautiful woman, Elder Brother Xin's girlfriend.
The young man didn't look at the two of them, keeping his eyes on the carpet.
"You couldn't tell if it was a human or a zombie? These days, who would dare to wander alone? If there really was someone, I'd love to meet this person," the man said, slamming his glass down on the table with a loud thud.
The impact caused a few drops of liquor to splash out onto the table.
The woman named Rou, seeing that Elder Brother Xin wanted to meet this person, reached out and touched his arm.
"You want someone else to join us as a brother again? Leave others be, not everyone wants to board our train," she said in her sweet voice.
After saying this, she instructed the young man to stop the train and check it out.
So the young man immediately brought the train to a halt.
Seeing his girlfriend's reaction, Elder Brother Xin couldn't help but remark, "Rou, you don't understand. In this world, we need to gather manpower. Our train may have been modified, but with so many people on board, we consume a lot of food and supplies. Anyone who can walk alone in this apocalypse must be a formidable person."
"But if they're formidable, why would they work under you? Brother Xin, we need to be cautious," Rou shook her head. Although what Elder Brother Xin said was true, not only their train had superhumans.
Elder Brother Xin's supernatural ability was already considered high-level, but what if they encountered an even stronger superhuman?
Especially after they received information from the Northeast Base that a mutated zombie had appeared.
According to official assessments, it would take a Level 4 superhuman to battle that zombie.
But four days ago, that zombie died.
A zombie that even a Level 4 superhuman could barely kill, died!
And Elder Brother Xin was only Level 3, though he could ascend at any time, he hadn't yet.
If that zombie had set its sights on their train, all fifty-plus people would have perished.
But over the past six months, Elder Brother Xin had indeed upheld the train and kept those fifty-plus lives safe.
"I know, I just wanted to stop the train and take a look," Elder Brother Xin smiled reassuringly at Rou.
No matter what, Rou was his most important person.
Elder Brother Xin and his men got off the train and circled up to the bridge but found no one there.
However, one of them noticed markings on the ground.
Due to the cold air and recent heavy rain, any water on the ground would freeze into a layer of ice about three centimeters thick.
If someone had walked there, they would have left footprints on the ice.
But on this stretch of ground, there were only animal paw prints and two hand-breadth-wide trails.
No human footprints at all.
It seemed the person must have been seated on some kind of sled.
"Judging from these prints, it was likely a wolf, tiger, or other such animal - probably a mutated one. And the prints are quite large, so it must have been a mid- or large-sized mutated dog," the man crouched down, carefully examining the markings.
Such large paw prints could only belong to a medium or large breed of dog that had mutated.
Mutated dogs tend to be wild and might even attack humans.
So nowadays, anyone wanting to keep a pet had to register it at a base, and even then, sedatives had to be administered at the base.
Animals with a beastly nature posed a potential threat.
In general, only mutated animals raised from a young age and deeply bonded with their owners could be controlled by humans.
But even then, cases of mutated pets attacking their owners when their beastly nature took over were commonplace.
"Forget it, let's go. If someone dares to wander alone, they must not need to cooperate with others," Elder Brother Xin said, turning to leave after examining the tracks.
The shoes they wore were slip-resistant, allowing them to walk on the frozen ground without slipping.
Unlike Yu Qingxian, who took three steps forward and two steps back, like doing the "Xian Ge" dance.
Yu Qingxian was unaware that the train had stopped. After crossing the bridge, she started descending down the slope.
After walking about a kilometer parallel to the railroad tracks, Yu Qingxian began to wonder why she couldn't hear the train anymore.
But she didn't bother stopping the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The highway and railroad were separated by ten-plus meters and a tall iron fence, erected many years ago after someone had committed suicide on those tracks by lying on the rails.
Surveillance cameras also monitored this stretch of road.
Yu Qingxian didn't dare open her suitcase to retrieve her camera, as she had warmed it using a fire and wrapped it in insulating foil before covering it with a down jacket.
Of course, she didn't know if the camera would withstand the cold.
As for her phone, Yu Qingxian found it was quite cold-resistant, able to run smoothly even in subzero temperatures.
It made her feel that the phone repair shop owner had some skills, and giving him just two boxes of medicine had shortchanged him.
She should have given him at least a whole case's worth.
As Yu Qingxian pondered this, she heard the train's sound again, approaching from behind her at a distance of less than two kilometers.
In just a few seconds, it caught up to her.
While the people on the train couldn't make out Yu Qingxian clearly, she had a clear view of a man and woman through the window, exchanging glances with them for a moment.
Of course, it might have been just Yu Qingxian glancing at them unilaterally.
Fearing they would stop the train again, Yu Qingxian urged the Tyrannosaurus Rex to speed up.
A few kilometers ahead, the highway and railroad would diverge.
Heeding Yu Qingxian's command, the Tyrannosaurus Rex broke into an exuberant run.
Its speed felt no slower than a small car traveling on the highway.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was indeed swift.
Elder Brother Xin and Rou on the train were intrigued by the fleeting glimpse of the large white dog and sled.
"I think I just made eye contact with the person on the sled," Rou remarked.
Though the distance was great, she felt the other person had met her gaze.
"I had that feeling too. Seems like a formidable one," Elder Brother Xin raised an eyebrow, realizing the other party must not be worried about zombies at all.
And that large white dog was a superhuman beast.
"Chief, should we stop the train again?" the young man approached again.
"No need. Let's go. If that person really wanted a ride, they would have flagged us down. But clearly, they didn't," Elder Brother Xin heeded Rou's words.
Especially after that powerful mutated zombie died, he had become more wary.
Just who was this person, capable of killing such a formidable zombie?