Chapter 1 The Isolated Town

"Pack your things. We're leaving Xichuan Town first!"

Zhang Ji said. Zhang Zhishan hesitated. He couldn't bear to leave the home where he had lived for decades.

But after looking at the bloodstains in the distance and listening to the chaotic cries and shouts on the street, he knew that Xichuan Town was no longer safe. With a sigh, he hurriedly packed his belongings.

The father and son only took a few changes of clothes and hurried out the door. But as soon as they stepped onto the street, they saw a group of people running wildly out of the distant fog, crying and shouting.

"There's no way out! The road out of town is gone!"

"The forest has surrounded our Xichuan Town. We can't get out!"

"Where are the police? Save us!"

The shouts were hysterical. There was blood everywhere in the town. Even though no one knew what had happened last night, everyone understood that Xichuan Town was no longer safe.

Everyone wanted to escape.

But now, they couldn't get out.

Zhang Ji gave the luggage to Zhang Zhishan and said, "Dad, you go home first. I'll go take a look!"

"Don't run around, and don't go looking for any Fangfang or Lili. Wait for me at home!"

Zhang Ji instructed, very seriously.

He knew that his father, Zhang Zhishan, had more than just Aunt Li as a sweetheart. The square dancing over the years hadn't been for nothing.

Zhang Zhishan blushed and muttered something as he walked back home, "What do you take me for?"

Zhang Ji rushed towards the distance and found that the road out of town was really gone, shrouded in thick fog. The once flat and wide asphalt road had turned into a lush forest.

Many people around were carrying bags, their faces full of confusion as they arrived here.

"Let's go straight. I remember the way. If we go straight for thirty *li*, we can leave Xichuan Town," a middle-aged man said. The crowd responded, and Zhang Ji thought it made sense as well.

How would they know if they didn't try?

However, they wandered around in the foggy forest for a long time and returned to the same spot, dizzy and disoriented.

They tried several times, but it was always the same.

Watching the fog surging in the forest, Zhang Ji's heart gradually sank. Some people around him broke down, squatting on the ground and crying with their heads in their hands.

"We really can't get out. What exactly is going on?"

"Damn fog! Where did it come from? What were those damned experts predicting!"

"Someone, save us! I don't want to be eaten by wild animals at night!"

Xichuan Town was full of animal remains and blood-stained fur. Everyone thought that a group of beasts had attacked the town under the cover of night.

They were shouting, but their phones couldn't get through. All kinds of monitoring and instruments malfunctioned, and the internet was inaccessible.

Finally, some police officers arrived, busy and exhausted, maintaining order and saying that they were also trying to find a solution. The other roads out of town were also covered by the forest. There was no hope in sight, and no outside support could be obtained.

Xichuan Town was isolated from the world.

It had become an isolated town shrouded in fog.

People had nowhere to escape.

"It's getting dark. I have to go back quickly." Zhang Ji got up, not wanting to waste time here.

Because he thought of another terrible situation, worried that last night's tragedy would repeat itself, afraid that people would once again turn into ferocious beasts and birds.

He returned home.

His father, Zhang Zhishan, was very obedient and stayed at home as instructed.

Moreover, he had prepared a table full of dishes, including corn and spareribs, stewed potatoes with beef, cold lamb...

"All meat dishes? Where did you get so much meat?" Zhang Ji asked curiously, sitting down and picking up his chopsticks.

Zhang Zhishan glared at him and said, "Are you stupid? Why are you asking that? There's so much animal meat on the street. I just picked up some casually and made a table full of delicacies."

"Alas, I was too late. The good meat was all picked up by those old ladies next door."

Zhang Ji was about to eat when he heard this and his eyes widened.

But Zhang Zhishan gave an awkward smile and said, "These spareribs are from the refrigerator, not picked up. Come on, son, try your dad's cooking."

He put a piece of spareribs on Zhang Ji's plate, and Zhang Ji ate it.

"Evolution points +1, accumulated evolution points 651/1000"

The metallic voice in his mind rang out, and Zhang Ji was shocked, a dazzling light rising in his eyes.

The meat in the refrigerator can also increase evolution points?

It seems that he doesn't necessarily have to devour the fierce beasts and birds transformed from humans to evolve. Eating farmed poultry and livestock is also possible.

Zhang Ji's mind suddenly opened up. He turned to look at Zhang Zhishan and asked anxiously:

"Dad, where is the nearest farm from our house?"

"Farm?... Going west for about ten *li* is the Niu Niu Le Farm. They have cows, pigs, sheep, everything. It's the largest farm in our Xichuan Town. Wasn't I working there before I retired? Have you forgotten?"

Zhang Zhishan muttered while eating a piece of beef.

"Niu Niu Le Farm..."

Zhang Ji savored the name, his eyes gradually lighting up. He looked at his watch. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon.

He wasn't sure if people would turn into ferocious beasts and birds again tonight, but he had to prepare in advance.

"Let's go, Dad. We're going to Niu Niu Le Farm now." Zhang Ji said, getting up and pulling Zhang Zhishan out.

Zhang Zhishan said helplessly and regretfully, "There's a table full of good food. Are you not going to eat it?"

"I'll treat you to a big meal tonight. I'll let you eat your fill!"

The two walked through the streets.

Sure enough, there were people on the street picking up meat in baskets.

Among them, an old lady was picking up the fastest, her movements swift and agile. She jumped over a fence more than a meter high with a whoosh, making Zhang Ji's eyelids twitch.

Zhang Zhishan said, "That's Old Lady Li. She's an old acquaintance of your grandfather. A few days ago, her son married a wife but kicked her out of the house. Now she's moved back to our old apartment building."

"She's a Rabbit, and she's... probably 75 years old this year. I didn't expect her to be getting stronger and healthier. It's like she's getting younger."

Zhang Zhishan marveled. When he saw Old Lady Li waving to him, he quickly smiled and responded.

Zhang Ji also politely greeted her.

Looking at Old Lady Li's swift movements, he understood that the Rabbit Old Lady Li who had transformed last night was definitely not an ordinary domestic rabbit or wild rabbit, but a very ferocious kind of rabbit.

That's why she survived, and she even evolved. That's what nourished her body, making her stronger and healthier at the age of 75.

"Humans turning into ferocious beasts and birds corresponding to their zodiac signs seems to be a good thing for those elderly or terminally ill people, like a reshuffling of fate."

The thought flashed through Zhang Ji's mind, and he also thought of his grandfather, Zhang Youfu.

Terminal lung cancer. Unfortunately, the old man's zodiac sign was Snake, and he turned into a grass snake. What bad luck!

Around the street, there were many people posting missing person notices. The utility poles, walls, and bus stop signs were all covered with them, densely packed.

"Why don't we post a few too? Maybe your grandfather will see them? And your Aunt Li!"

Zhang Zhishan looked at Zhang Ji with hope, his eyes slightly red.

Since he hadn't seen the body, he didn't believe they were dead and still had hope.

Zhang Ji sighed in his heart and said, "Okay, let's post a few!"

There was a printer at home, and Zhang Ji quickly printed a stack of notices and posted them with Zhang Zhishan in the streets and alleys.

But he knew in his heart that this was just doing his best and leaving the rest to fate, comforting his father. Those people on the missing person notices on the walls would probably never return.

Just like his grandfather, only a snakehead and snakeskin remained.

Xichuan Town was in chaos. The entrances of banks and supermarkets were crowded with people, queuing to withdraw money and hoard supplies, shouting and cursing.

Xichuan Town could not be left, and food and daily necessities had become the most scarce items.

Zhang Zhishan said, "Son, shouldn't we hoard some rice, flour, and oil? If we wait any longer, there probably won't be anything left."

He was a little worried.

Zhang Ji smiled and said, "Can't you just pick up meat on the street? It's free meat. Doesn't it taste good? Why do you have to go to the supermarket to buy it?"

Zhang Zhishan immediately realized, beaming with joy. "That's my son for you, so smart!" Then he worried that he might not be able to pick up meat tomorrow.

Zhang Ji looked at the fog rolling in the void and said faintly, "Maybe in the future, we can pick up meat every day, and it will be good meat!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhishan's eyes revealed a look of anticipation, and then he sighed, "It would be so good to eat meat every day. It's a pity that your grandfather can't be found, and your Aunt Li can't see it either!"

Zhang Ji was also saddened by this. He looked at his father, Zhang Zhishan, beside him, and the look in his eyes became firm.

His grandfather Zhang Youfu was gone. He had to protect his father, Zhang Zhishan.

Since Xichuan Town could not be left, and there was no way to escape, then he would take his father to evolve and become stronger together.

His father's zodiac sign was Tiger, so he would let his father be the fiercest tiger in Xichuan Town!

The father and son walked through the fog and strode towards the Niu Niu Le Farm in the west.

At the same moment.

In the underground morgue of Xichuan Town People's Hospital.

An old man with white hair was curled up at the door, shouting hoarsely, "Is there anyone? Help! I am Zhang Youfu!"

His face was full of helplessness and bitterness, locked in the morgue.

"Why am I so unlucky!"

He recalled that he was still lying in bed in the afternoon yesterday, chatting with a fellow patient with the zodiac sign Snake. But he never expected that after dawn, he would mysteriously appear in the morgue.

He didn't know how he came to this place.

The fellow patient with the zodiac sign Snake was also gone. He was locked in the morgue alone, and there was no signal on his phone. Behind him were hundreds of corpses.

One of the corpses looked like it had been gnawed by some animal, bloody and extremely terrifying, leaving only a hideous head.

Not far away, there was also a snakeskin, as large as five meters, seemingly shed by a venomous silver ringed snake.

But it was not clear where the snake had gone.

Zhang Youfu was trembling with fear, feeling that the big snake must be hiding somewhere in the morgue, watching him.

"Help—!"

"Good grandson Zhang Ji, good son Zhang Zhishan, where are you... There are venomous snakes here."

"This old man didn't die of lung cancer, but instead, he's going to be trapped and starved to death here. Why is my life so bitter!"

The hoarse shouts echoed in the morgue. The surrounding fog surged, and wisps of it fell on his body, silently seeping into his flesh and blood, disappearing without a trace.