Chapter 51: Mutant Mad Deer

Charles led the two girls around in a wide arc, carefully adjusting their position until they reached the downwind side of the herd before continuing their approach.

The three of them slowed to a crawl, advancing one cautious step at a time, deliberately avoiding dry branches and fallen leaves beneath their feet so they wouldn't make any unnecessary noise.

As the distance closed, the heavy stench of blood drifted toward them.

Looking toward the center of the herd, Xia Jiuwei saw several long-rotted human corpses scattered across the ground. Broken skeletons and decaying flesh lay exposed to the air while the mutated deer lowered their heads and fed upon them.

Charles led them behind a dense patch of bushes, neither too close nor too far from the herd.

He raised a hand, signaling them to crouch.

Now all they had to do was wait patiently. As long as a lone deer wandered away from the herd, they could hunt it with minimal risk.

Minute after minute passed.

Roughly twenty minutes later, a smaller young deer wandered to the creek for a drink.

After finishing, it didn't immediately return to the herd. Instead, it slowly drifted toward the bushes.

Finally, it stopped nearby and began nibbling on the tender leaves.

A faint gleam flashed through Charles's eyes.

This was his chance.

Once he confirmed the young deer had created enough distance from the herd, he gestured toward Lu Nian'an.

The next second, the equipment that had previously disappeared emerged once more from the black shadows, settling neatly into his hands.

Charles pulled on a pair of gloves before carefully uncapping one of the small bottles and dripping the clear liquid inside into the groove carved into the arrowhead.

While preparing the bolt, he lowered his voice to explain.

"This is a neurotoxin extracted from mutated mushrooms. It quickly incapacitates mutated deer."

"And because it doesn't cause overwhelming pain, they won't scream loudly, making it much less likely to alert the rest of the herd."

Once finished, he loaded the bolt into the crossbow and slowly drew back the string.

His breathing steadied.

His hands remained perfectly still.

The trigger clicked.

Thump.

The bolt struck the mutated deer cleanly in its foreleg.

The deer jerked its head up, immediately scanning its surroundings.

Charles's heart sank.

Not good... the toxin's acting slower than expected.

Moments later, the deer spotted the bushes where they were hiding.

Its crimson eyes locked directly onto them.

Lowering its head, it aimed its massive antlers straight at the three of them before charging.

Cold sweat broke out across Charles's back.

Yet when he instinctively turned to warn the two girls, the scene that greeted him was nothing like he'd expected.

Xia Jiuwei was holding up her phone, enthusiastically recording the charging mutated deer while whispering excitedly,

"Wow! So this is how fierce a mutated deer really is!"

Charles suddenly felt mentally exhausted.

Just before the deer crashed into the bushes, its body suddenly staggered.

Its forelegs gave way.

The enormous animal collapsed heavily onto the ground, sliding to a stop in front of the bushes before finally coming to a stop directly in front of the bushes.

It seemed the neurotoxin had finally taken effect.

Charles let out a long breath, the weight on his chest finally lifting.

But when he glanced at the two girls beside him—who still looked completely relaxed—a strange sense of frustration inexplicably welled up inside him.

"We need to move the deer back to the truck as quickly as possible."

The words left his mouth almost automatically, but halfway through the sentence, he stopped.

He looked at Lu Nian'an.

Then at the enormous mutated deer.

Finally...

He fell silent.

Originally, he'd wanted to ask Lu Nian'an to store the entire deer away.

But after thinking about it, he realized he wasn't really in any position to ask someone like her for a favor.

At that moment, Lu Nian'an spoke calmly.

"Then let's head back."

The moment she finished speaking, the shadows on the ground rapidly spread outward, engulfing the entire mutated deer.

As the darkness receded, the deer had vanished without a trace.

Putting away her phone, Xia Jiuwei looked delighted as she quietly cheered.

"Let's go! let's go!"

So the three of them retraced their steps, slowly making their way back toward the highway.

The return trip went remarkably smoothly.

In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived back where the off-road vehicle was parked.

Making it back without alerting the herd left Charles breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

"The next step is to butcher the deer here."

Hearing that, Lu Nian'an casually released the deer from the Inner World.

Turning toward Xia Jiuwei, who was still standing nearby, she asked,

"Are you sure you want to watch?"

Lu Nian'an frowned slightly.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Jiuwei replied with a question of her own.

"Are you going to watch?"

Lu Nian'an nodded.

"Then why can't I?"

"It might get a little bloody."

"..."

"Come on, let me watch. I'm not a little kid."

Lu Nian'an remained silent for a moment before finally giving in.

"...Fine."

Charles retrieved a length of rope from the truck, secured the deer, and hoisted it onto a nearby tree.

He then took out several knives from the rear compartment, each designed for a different purpose.

He first removed the four legs, placing them into a large insulated cooler already prepared in the back of the off-road vehicle.

Ice filled the bottom of the cooler, with a drainage rack installed above it.

After neatly arranging the legs, Charles immediately returned to the carcass, treating every second as precious.

Picking up a broad, slightly curved knife, he drew a straight incision down the center of the deer's back, starting from the neck and continuing all the way to the tail.

After peeling the hide back to both sides, he switched to a narrower knife.

Following the spine, he carefully cut downward until the blade reached the ribs.

He then turned the knife sideways and pushed it along the surface of the rib cage.

As the tip severed connective tissue and membranes, his other hand steadily lifted the entire muscle away.

Before long, two complete loins, each nearly a meter long, had been removed intact.

Charles quickly wrapped the meat in breathable cloth before placing it on the very top layer of the cooler and immediately closing the lid.

After briefly organizing his tools, he looked into the distance.

Brown figures had begun appearing between the trees.

The herd was coming.

"Get in the truck."

Charles's tone had noticeably become more urgent.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an wasted no time climbing inside.

Meanwhile, Charles sprinted back toward the hanging carcass.

He quickly located the soft section of the abdomen between the last rib and the hind leg before making a careful incision through the skin and abdominal wall.

Reaching inside, he followed the inner side of the spine until his fingers found two slender, exceptionally tender muscles pressed tightly against the bone.

With practiced movements, he separated them by hand before using the knife to sever the connective tissue at both ends, carefully removing the two palm-sized strips of meat.

Charles swiftly wrapped them in cloth before retrieving the hanging rope and sprinting back toward the off-road vehicle without looking back.

Drawn by the overwhelming scent of fresh blood, the deer herd was closing in fast.

Charles yanked open the driver's door and jumped inside, placing the two precious tenderloins onto the front passenger seat.

The next instant, he slammed the accelerator.

Powered by its electric motor, the off-road vehicle surged forward swiftly and almost silently.

Looking through the rear window, Xia Jiuwei watched the herd behind them.

The deer didn't pursue them for long.

After only a few seconds, they stopped running altogether before gathering around their fallen companion.

One bite after another, they began devouring what remained of its body.

Xia Jiuwei stared wide-eyed at Lu Nian'an in disbelief.

From the front seat, Charles noticed her reaction through the rearview mirror.

He simply chuckled.

"Deer have always been omnivores."

"After mutating, they just developed a much stronger preference for meat."

"Eating their own kind isn't really that unusual anymore."

He patted the package containing the precious meat on the passenger seat.

"When we get back to my place, I'll treat you to the deer's finest cut—its tenderloin."

The sun gradually dipped below the horizon.

Lavender twilight stretched across the empty highway.

The off-road vehicle continued along the winding road toward Charles's home.

More than two hours later, darkness had completely fallen.

On the pitch-black highway, only the vehicle's headlights illuminated the road ahead.

After driving for a while longer, the silhouette of a building gradually emerged in the distance.

About five hundred meters away stood a roadside sign.

DO NOT PROCEED.

Xia Jiuwei pointed toward it.

"It says 'No Entry.' Has that sign been abandoned?"

"Oh, that?"

Charles glanced at it and smiled.

"I put it there myself."

He continued driving until they were less than fifty meters from the house before pulling over at the roadside.

After confirming there was nothing unusual nearby, he led Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an out of the vehicle.

Leaving the road, the three walked across an open patch of ground.

Charles skillfully searched through the grass and scattered stones.

A moment later, he grabbed an iron ring hidden in the ground and pulled upward with force.

What had looked like solid ground lifted open, revealing a concealed underground passage.

"Let's go."

Charles descended first.

Below was a straight concrete corridor lined with bright white lights that illuminated the entire passage.

Leading the two girls to the end of the corridor, he stopped before a massive steel door.

Walking forward, he knocked lightly.

"It's me. Open the door."

Almost immediately, the sound of machinery echoed from within.

The heavy steel door slowly swung open.

Two little heads peeked out from behind it.

"Dad!"

The moment they saw Charles, both children called out happily before running toward him on their tiny legs.

But halfway there, they noticed the two unfamiliar girls standing behind him.

They immediately froze.

Their excited expressions instantly shifted to nervousness and caution.

Silently, the two children retreated behind the door, peeking out with only half their faces visible as they cautiously observed Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an like two frightened little animals.