Xia Leng gave a self-mocking smile. Since when did he become so nostalgic? Shaking his head, he decided not to dwell on those nearly forgotten memories.
He pulled himself together and sat up. After consuming the beetle's blood, his stomach, which had been so shrunken that it ached, began to feel somewhat relieved.
Xia Leng picked up the small bone knife again. While he still had some strength left, he prepared to dismember the giant beetle in front of him.
Despite the beetle's hard shell and weight of over ten kilograms, the edible meat he could carve out would amount to no more than two kilograms. Most of the beetle's body was composed of its shell and mutated extra bones.
With practiced skill, he used the bone knife to cut off the beetle's head, which he had already drained of its brain fluid. He reached into its skull and pulled out a small black crystal about the size of a fingernail, which he casually placed into his pocket.
These crystals were typically found in the brains of all mutated creatures, including various zombies and the "Purified."
The size and quality of the crystals varied depending on the type of creature and its strength.
Xia Leng had spent a good amount of time researching these crystals but had found no practical use for them.
He had even tried swallowing one of these stones, but aside from making it difficult to relieve himself the next day, there was no enhancement of his powers, contrary to what novels he had read might suggest.
However, while these stones might be useless to him, they were considered treasures by the managers of certain advanced fortresses, and they were in high demand.
Although he had no idea what they wanted these stones for, and they certainly weren't about to tell a survivor like him, they were willing to trade scarce resources for them.
As a result, these mutated creature brain crystals became the standard currency among surviving humans in the post-apocalyptic world.
Naturally, the value of the crystals depended on their rarity, which determined the resources they could be traded for.
The black crystal in Xia Leng's hand was worth just about enough to exchange for a small piece of edible meat or a pair of worn-out socks.
Just as he was about to continue dismembering the beetle's other body parts, he suddenly heard the sound of chaotic footsteps coming from the quiet street ruins outside!
This made Xia Leng immediately stop what he was doing and lay down cautiously on the dirty floor.
In this world, besides the threat of mutated beasts, there was the even greater danger posed by other humans.
This was why Xia Leng preferred to struggle for survival alone in the hazardous ruins rather than cooperating with others in temporary camps.
Perhaps in a camp, people could take care of each other, and the success rate of hunting would increase significantly when they were in a group.
But that only lasted as long as there was enough food to go around.
Once all the creatures around the camp had been hunted, and the food supplies ran out, you could become the prey of your former partners.
Don't ask how he knew so much about it—Xia Leng had once been a member of such a camp.
The terrifying scar, nearly ten centimeters long, on his back had completely shattered his trust in others.
Of course, the guy who gave Xia Leng that scar didn't fare much better. The bone knife Xia Leng now wielded was made from that traitor's leg bone…
He lay on the ground, holding his breath, focusing intently on the approaching footsteps outside.
It was clearly a chase between a hunter and their prey.
The footsteps in front were urgent, and it sounded like whoever was running stumbled, possibly tripping over a broken piece of rebar in the rubble, emitting a cry of pain as they fell.
Judging by the voice, it sounded like a girl.
"Hmph, stupid bitch! How dare you run away? As your master, don't I have the right to control you?!"
The voices behind caught up quickly, accompanied by a series of vile curses.
Hearing this, Xia Leng quickly understood the situation. It seemed that a slave from a nearby camp had finally had enough of her suffering and managed to escape from her master.
The law of the jungle applies to every era, but in this post-apocalyptic world, it's even more primal and brutal.
Whoever has the most power, the hardest fist, and the strongest equipment has the authority. They no longer have to worry about legal consequences or societal condemnation.
Xia Leng quietly approached the window, blending into the darkness as he observed what was happening in the street below.
Don't they fear attracting the night demons with all that shouting?
Ever since that black rain five years ago, even the sky has been acting strangely.
The sun no longer rises from the east as it should. Sometimes it hangs in the sky for weeks on end, scorching the earth with temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Other times, it shyly dips below the horizon less than an hour after rising, and won't come back up for half a month…
The last time the sun rose was about 60 hours ago.
Now, the crimson moon in the night sky bathed the wasteland in an eerie light, creating a scene straight out of hell.
But under this eerie moonlight, Xia Leng could at least see a bit in the dangerous night.
Down on the street, five men dressed in the skins of mutated beasts were surrounding a woman who lay collapsed on the ground, her body barely covered.
Each of the men had a menacing look, some tall, some short, some fat, some thin. The leader was the only one with a somewhat normal, muscular build.
As for the skeletal woman on the ground, she had been starved and tortured to the point where she was just skin and bones.
Even from a distance, Xia Leng could see the horrifying wounds on her body. Managing to escape this far must have been her last ounce of strength.
He guessed these men were from a small, temporary camp within about a 10-kilometer radius.
Naturally, after catching up to the woman, they beat her severely. To prevent her cries from attracting creatures they couldn't handle, they stuffed a piece of rag into her mouth, allowing only muffled whimpers of pain to escape.
"Boss, we should probably head back now. Running out here at night is risky enough as it is. We should take her back quickly," said a short man, barely 1.6 meters tall, nervously to the leader as he looked at the barely-conscious woman on the ground.
"Hmph, fine. But this is the third time she's tried to escape. No more chances. Break her legs and throw her in the storage room—she can be our backup food."
…
Hearing the leader's terrifying command, Xia Leng's brow involuntarily twitched.
He then watched as they used crude clubs to break the slave woman's already skeletal legs…
Xia Leng observed the entire scene without a flicker of emotion. There was no heroic urge to save her—such notions were absurd in this world.
Here, being able to live better than others made you a hero, someone to be admired.
As he saw them hoist the unconscious woman onto their shoulders and prepare to leave, Xia Leng breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned back to continue dismembering his prey.
But as soon as he turned around, he found himself face to face with a ghastly white visage, appearing out of nowhere, causing his eyes to widen in shock.