"I was scared half to death. I couldn't keep following it." Little Monkey looked at Zhao Yin sheepishly.

This was the first time he'd failed to complete a task his master had given him.

Zhao Yin tossed a few chestnuts into the fire, then reached over and patted Little Monkey's head. "Not your fault. Finish eating these, then get some rest."

Little Monkey was stunned-he never expected his master to actually share food with him. His face lit up with eager devotion. "Master, next time I see that ox, I'll kill it for you. We can have beef!"

Zhao Yin frowned. That thing was a maddened ox.

If capturing it proved impossible, killing it for meat would be the only option.

"Eat." Zhao Yin raked the half-cooked chestnuts from the fire, rolling them one by one toward Little Monkey.

The monkey snatched them up and wolfed them down.

Minutes later, they were gone. His sunken belly was round and full again.

"Go to sleep. Two hours until dawn." Zhao Yin glanced up at the sky.

"Master, I can keep watch too," Little Monkey said through their mental link.

For a mutated beast bound by a Contract Soul, protecting its master was pure instinct.

"Sleep. Don't argue," Zhao Yin ordered.

Little Monkey still needed rest to recover from his injuries. Once dawn broke, Zhao Yin would resume hunting zombies, and the monkey would be his main combat force.

With only one contracted beast, Zhao Yin couldn't afford to handle every dangerous task himself. That burden fell on this monkey.

Little Monkey's eyes welled with tears at the concern. He crawled into the tent, and within seconds, snoring filled the air.

The high-intensity fighting had worn him out too.

Hearing the snores, Zhao Yin ducked into the tent and swiftly stripped the fishnet stockings off Little Monkey's legs.

Life-saving gear belonged on him. Obviously.

As he left the tent, Zhao Yin glanced at Song Xiaodao. Strange-the bruises and swelling on her face, which should have taken days to fade, had already vanished.

Her features now closely resembled how she'd looked in his past life. Just younger. More immature.

"Wuwu... big brother... don't leave me behind...!"

She must have been dreaming of her brother again. She clung tightly to one of Little Monkey's legs, crystalline tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.

Zhao Yin took one look, then stepped out of the tent. He sat by the fire and closed his eyes to rest.

Every sound within a one-kilometer radius flowed into his ears. The village was clear of zombies now, though a few stragglers wandered the distant fields. The firelight wouldn't draw them in.

The sky slowly brightened.

Zhao Yin returned to the ancient well and retrieved over twenty empty purified water barrels from his Spatial Ring.

Each barrel held roughly twenty liters. Filled completely, they'd last a good while if used only for drinking.

Once the water was stored, Zhao Yin hauled more up to the rooftop in a wooden bucket from the kitchen and set it to boil. Half went toward washing his face with hot water. The other half got a pinch of salt and a handful of chestnuts tossed in to cook.

Soon, the rich aroma of boiling chestnuts drifted through the air.

Zhao Yin was about to wake Song Xiaodao and Little Monkey when heavy footsteps reached his ears.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He rushed to the rooftop's edge. There, at the limit of his vision, last night's water buffalo appeared.

Its pitch-black hide, once sleek and glossy, was now torn and curled back in dozens of places. The wounds were gruesome. One eyelid hung limp, blood coating the eyeball beneath.

The water buffalo charged forward and soon arrived at the villa. It stood there panting for a moment, then lowered its massive head and began devouring the chestnut tree leaves scattered on the ground from the night before.

There weren't many leaves left. The buffalo finished them quickly, then curled its thick tongue around thumb-sized branches and crunched them down.

Then something miraculous happened.

The wounds across the buffalo's body visibly stopped bleeding. The torn flesh began knitting itself back together.

Zhao Yin's eyes went wide.

He knew some mutated plants possessed healing properties-but he'd had no idea the leaves of this chestnut tree carried such power.

In his past life, plenty of people knew about the chestnuts. No one knew the leaves were the real treasure.

Everything clicked into place.

No wonder the buffalo had come for the leaves last night.

No wonder Song Xiaodao's injuries had healed so fast. That greedy girl must have snuck some leaves when he wasn't looking.

He couldn't blame himself for missing it until now. In seven years of his previous life, he'd never once heard of a mutated plant that produced two different effects.

This chestnut tree defied everything he knew about mutated flora-across both lifetimes.

Zhao Yin pulled out a chestnut and activated True Sight.

[Chestnut: F-grade mutated plant fruit. Rich in nutrients.]

[Leaf: F-grade medicinal-attribute mutated crop. Rapidly heals injuries upon consumption.]

A mutated plant that yielded two distinct effects. It actually existed.

Zhao Yin's heart bled.

Last night, Little Monkey had knocked down at least several hundred jin of leaves.

And this damn ox had devoured them all.

Below, the buffalo finished the last of the fallen branches. It circled the chestnut tree, craning its neck upward, eyes filled with longing as it stared at the canopy above.

Unfortunately, the tree stood over thirty meters tall.

And oxen couldn't climb.

The buffalo lowered its head and charged straight into the trunk.

BOOM!

The massive tree shuddered violently. Leaves rained down in scattered clumps.

The buffalo let out an excited low and wagged its tail, hurrying to scoop them up.

Zhao Yin's breath caught.

Those were his leaves. How could he let this beast keep eating them?

With these chestnut leaves, he'd never have to worry about Little Monkey's injuries again. Once he tamed more contracted beasts in the future, the leaves could save countless lives.

Star Crystals producing healing items was pure luck. Right now, these leaves were invaluable.

There were still several thousand jin of leaves on that tree. How many wounds could that heal?

Zhao Yin made his decision instantly.

No matter what, he had to protect this tree.

The buffalo rammed the trunk again. Another cascade of leaves shook loose.

Zhao Yin couldn't hold back any longer.

He pulled the sniper rifle from his Spatial Ring. No time to worry about conserving ammunition. He chambered a round and took aim.

BANG!

He squeezed the trigger without hesitation.

He didn't expect to kill an E-grade mutated beast with an iron armor ability. He just needed to drive it off.

The buffalo reacted instantly, jerking its head aside. The armor-piercing round-capable of punching through tank plating-struck its horn and sent sparks flying.

The bullet shattered on impact.

The horn was untouched.

The buffalo's remaining eye locked onto him. Its temper flared. A furious bellow tore from its throat, and it charged toward the villa on thundering hooves.

Zhao Yin fired again.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He abandoned the head shots. Instead, he targeted the neck-the weakest point on its body. The first round punched through, spraying blood.

But that level of damage was nowhere near enough to bring down an E-grade beast.

The pain only enraged it further.

In the next instant, scale-like armor plates erupted across its hide, spreading in a wave until they covered every inch of its body.

Ability: Iron Armor!

Its already massive muscles swelled grotesquely. The beast's enormous frame expanded several times over, every fiber radiating terrifying explosive power.

Ability: Super Strength!

Now Zhao Yin's bullets could barely tear through the outer armor. They lodged uselessly in the hide beneath.

BOOM!

The buffalo slammed headfirst into the villa wall.

The entire wall collapsed in an instant.

The rooftop beneath Zhao Yin's feet lurched violently.