Peach added, "Yell those noises you made just now two more times. They only recognize the sound, not the person. I suspect these rotten snakes are from the same nest as that dead one, but since they didn't get the green energy stone, their evolution has been incredibly slow. They all rushed out because I heard Big Brother calling just now."

Thankfully, my capacity for acceptance had greatly increased during this time; otherwise, my brain would have completely collapsed. At Peach's insistent request, I tried to gather a current of air in my chest, just as before, and let out a long, sharp cry.

Outside the courtyard, the snakes writhed in chaos, only calming down after a long while. A sea of blue-patterned serpentine bodies lay sprawled outside the fence. Peach swaggered over, patting one, touching another, then made a series of gestures with her hands and feet. A massive leader snake flicked its tongue, and Peach nodded in satisfaction.

"The boss is settled. Your snake underlings have agreed to join our army of serpents and rodents. You are the Supreme Commander, I am the Commander, and we’ll select a Division Commander from among them…"

I cut her off, no longer bothering to humor Peach, and turned to ask Li Tieniu, "Li Ch… Village Head, what happened in Peach Blossom Village? How did it turn out like this?"

Li Tieniu had regained much of his composure. He told me, "I can’t explain it clearly either. After the flood, everyone seemed stimulated by something; they all lost their minds. Incidents of people harming each other kept occurring in the village. Cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks were all brutally slaughtered; even my large hunting dog didn't escape. This situation continued until yesterday evening, when the deranged villagers suddenly began hunting these giant rats from all directions. At first, the giant rats were at a disadvantage, and many were killed. But soon, rats swarmed in from every side. They all had razor-sharp teeth, and groups of ten or twenty surrounded a single villager. The villagers suffered heavy casualties. I had been hiding in my house the whole time, not participating in any faction's struggle, but once the giant rats gained the upper hand, they attacked all living things indiscriminately, including the children and the elderly hiding indoors. As a hunter, I naturally wouldn't let them be butchered. What happened next, you saw for yourself."

Peach explained to me, "Big Brother, the giant rats were acting under the direction of the Rat King. Besides, their primal instincts were aroused at that time; even if the Rat King wanted to stop them, it would have been impossible. This entire battle is ultimately the lingering aftereffect of the energy stones on Peach Blossom Village."

I nodded and communicated mentally with Peach, "We must control these mutated species. If they leak out of this mountainous region, who knows how much harm they will cause to humanity. Besides these snakes and rats, investigate if there are any other mutated animals. Control those we can; those we cannot control, we must eliminate without hesitation. Otherwise, the endless troubles will never cease."

Peach turned to discuss matters with the giant rats and giant snakes, while Li Tieniu and I began searching this village north of the valley. The scene was indeed gruesome—corpses of giant rats everywhere, interspersed with the torn bodies of humans. The bizarre, bloody smell was sickening beyond description.

The village wasn't large, and Li Tieniu and I finished our search quickly. We found no living creatures. The two of us sat down, crestfallen, on a relatively clean stone. Who was to blame for this war? The mutated giant rats? But they too were forced to revolt. The villagers? But ultimately, they were victims of the energy stones; reaching this point was not their wish either.

Finally, Li Tieniu broke the silence, "Little Zhao, let’s clean up and burn this place down. Don't let our folks rest uneasy in death."

I had intended to ask Li Tieniu about eating 'human' meat, but hearing him say that, I felt awkward bringing it up. Serious matters first. Letting so many corpses rot here indefinitely could certainly cause a plague; burning them was the most appropriate course of action.

A team of giant rats and giant snakes came to help. Soon, human and rat remains were gathered together. We found some door panels and firewood, and once lit, the soaring flames soon reddened the desolate night sky.

Not long after, Peach came to report, "Big Brother, based on my detailed questioning, investigation, and my observations gathered over the hundreds of years I've resided here, the villagers of Peach Blossom Village suffered the greatest radiation-induced mutation. Next are the higher-intelligence rats, followed by some snakes that live underground. As for some other mutated populations, they have become entirely extinct by today. Currently, there are one hundred and eight mutated giant rats, fifty-four giant snakes, and a total of four living individuals remaining in the world. Please advise, Big Brother."

The four individuals must refer to me, Li Tieniu, and the sisters Zhao Fen and Zhao Fang. I never imagined things would change so drastically overnight. What was to be done now?

I said to Peach, "Stop with the official formalities. In a while, we'll go to the South Village to clean up and set that on fire too. You disperse them, and we’ll all return to the capital. We never need to come back here; it’s too painful to look at."

A giant rat suddenly scurried over from the South Village, squeaking frantically. Peach reported to me, "There's a living person in the South Village! Let's hurry over and see."

The scene in the South Village was even more tragic. More people and rats had died here. Some had their intestines pulled out by giant rats; others had their eyes gnawed away, and some lay with exposed, gleaming white bone where half their bodies used to be.

"Here he is," Peach said.

Lying amidst a pile of intact rat corpses was a man whose bald forehead was particularly noticeable. Li Tieniu exclaimed, "It's Zhang Ersha! He has mental issues; he's been crazy and rambling all day."

As Li Tieniu spoke, he started to move toward Zhang Ersha to help him up, but a giant rat immediately shoved him aside and began squeaking. Peach listened for a moment and told me, "This fool carries a potent toxin that is instantly lethal upon ingestion. All these intact giant rats were poisoned by him."

"Heh heh, heh heh, peach blossoms fly everywhere, a huge pile of dead people, the world has turned over, the world has turned over!…" Zhang Ersha’s hazy voice drifted out from the pile of corpses.

Now, the dead weren't just a pile; they were stacked high. The world truly had turned over. What kind of person was this Zhang Ersha? Why did his words sound so mystical?

Li Tieniu had witnessed the communication between Peach and me, and between the snakes and rats. Although he couldn't hear the mental signals exchanged between Peach and me, he grasped the general situation. Now that a giant rat had pushed him away, he didn't retaliate but instead looked to me for an explanation.

"Zhang Ersha carries deadly poison. We must be careful not to be poisoned like these rats."

Although covered in blood, Zhang Ersha wasn't severely injured. He got up from the ground without needing us to lift him. He trusted the Village Head more than me, so after standing up, he stood beside the Village Head, chuckling foolishly, and said nothing more.

I instructed Peach, "Set this place on fire too. Let's all return to the small town."

Peach quickly organized the giant rats to collect the corpses and gather firewood. After setting the fires, everyone quickly retreated to the small river by the village entrance. I said to Li Tieniu, "Village Head, come with us. This place is no longer suitable for living. Moving to the town would offer you better conditions."

Li Tieniu nodded and followed silently behind me and Peach, with Zhang Ersha in tow. The giant rats and snakes had already vanished. I was too weary to bother managing them; with Peach, the super-cat, around, it was unlikely they'd cause any trouble.

Because of the addition of Zhang Ersha, our pace was slow. Along the way, I finally couldn't resist asking Li Tieniu, "Village Head, can you tell me your secret? What kind of meat was that wild game we ate at your house that day? And what is the deal with the skeleton in your east wing room?"

Li Tieniu was stunned by my questions, "You knew? Indeed, you are no ordinary person. It's a pity I only realized your abilities tonight. Brother Zhao can rest assured, that was definitely not human meat. Although I don't know its scientific name, based on my guess, it was either a bear or a monkey. Judging by the characteristics of the head, a monkey seems more likely. I hunted two of them years ago, and a few months ago, I hunted another one—the one we ate. Life in the mountains is too harsh, and game has been unusually scarce these past few years. After hunting it, I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I air-dried it and ate it as cured meat; it tasted quite good."

I stopped Li Tieniu, "Don't say another word. Just thinking about it makes me sick. I fear you might have eaten that entire family of three. Poor things. That jump you made onto the roof earlier looked like flying. How did you manage that?"

Li Tieniu gave a bitter smile, "If I hadn't eaten them, I might have starved to death. The low standard of living in Peach Blossom Village is something you cannot imagine. Survival of the fittest is the rule of this world; whoever doesn't abide by it will be eliminated. Whether I can fly, I don't know myself, but I discovered I have no weight. Two years ago, when I went to the township government for a meeting, I secretly used a scale to check; it was strange—my weight was almost zero. I don't know the reason, but it doesn't affect my normal life day-to-day, including heavy labor, which I can still do like any ordinary person."

A truly existing person cannot have zero weight unless they defy the law of universal gravitation. Good heavens, what exactly were those three energy stones? Why did they create these 'monsters'?

"Village Head, what are your plans for the future? If you wish to stay and live in the town, I have many household necessities I can give you entirely." Thinking back to how I used to call him Li Pervert and misunderstood him for feeding us human flesh, harboring resentment, I felt it best to compensate him now.

"What about you, Little Zhao?" the Village Head asked in return.

I thought for a moment, "There will certainly be no need for medicinal herb procurement agents here anymore. As soon as dawn breaks, we will return to the capital. I will find Zhao Fen and Zhao Fang, and the family will start a new, and the happiest, life."

Zhang Ersha beside us suddenly started laughing foolishly, "Lots of beauties, a monk chased by ghosts, suckling innocently… heh heh, heh heh."

The Village Head ignored Zhang Ersha’s 'silly' talk and said to me, "Little Zhao, can you take me with you to the capital? I have never left this mountain gully in my life and desperately want to see the outside world. Don't worry, I won't cause you trouble. If you don't mind, I could even serve you as a subordinate. I want to see the bustling city; it wouldn't be a wasted trip in this life."

Li Tieniu was quite pitiful. He had been a bachelor for so many years, and now that most of his villagers were dead, living alone in the mountains was too miserable. Someone as kind-hearted as me should help him if no one else will.

"Alright, Village Head. If you don't mind, we'll travel together, and we'll strive to make our way in the world."

Li Tieniu was overjoyed, "I’m just a mountain man; I don't understand anything. And you saved my life. From now on, I will do whatever you ask me to do."

The old man was being overly polite.

As we walked, I sent a message to Peach, "Peach, do you think you and I could fly like the Village Head? Also, why could the rats and snakes evolve to such enormous sizes, yet the pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep couldn't?"

Peach replied, "I'm considering this question too. Perhaps this level of evolution is directly proportional to the level of brain development of the evolutionary subject. Humans are the fastest evolving; you are the most typical example. Among non-human animals, rats have relatively high intelligence. As for snakes, I think it might be related to the green life stone you have. My evolution, however, has taken too long to accumulate, and it's not worth mentioning to you two here. Whether we can fly, I’m not sure either. Why don't we try? Let's find a high enough cliff later and jump off to see what happens."

"Deal, but you jump first."

…

We arrived back at the small town before dawn. First, we secretly found a place to clean our clothes and the bloodstains, and only then did we go to see Yi Xiaorou and Hua Qingqing. I told them that two friends and a cat wanted to return to the capital with us, and they both agreed.

Soon, the helicopter arrived to pick us up. When bidding farewell to Dean Wu, he quietly asked me, "Little Zhao, why is my large jar of Three-Penis Potency Wine missing?"

I was so shocked I nearly screamed. Three-Penis Potency Wine? Judging by the name, it couldn't be good stuff. No wonder I lost my virginity! Good heavens, Dean Wu, I truly thank you—otherwise, how would a great beauty like Yi Xiaorou have taken the initiative to secure me? But what was our relationship now? A one-night stand or a romance?

Unable to figure it out, I stopped thinking about it. I still needed to get past Dean Wu first. "No, I haven't touched it. Maybe the jar leaked, and it all seeped out. Tomorrow, you can ask someone to bring some wine back from the county seat to re-steep it."

Dean Wu nodded, "That could be it. Alright, you all set off now. Have a safe trip. If you have a chance, come back and see me."