Apocalypse Cockroach Chapter 42

Zhang Xiao Qiang laid silently on the ground, staring at the sky, his ragged breathing matching the rhythm of his rising and falling chest. His right hand was sore and painful, and the alternate numb and painful feeling came in waves, feeling as though it was being cooked slowly.

He ignored the pain, only gazing at the sky. His adrenaline was still pumping from the dangerous situation, and that short exchange had robbed him of a huge part of his stamina. He felt lazy to even move a finger until the mocking look of that lass entered his line of sight.

“Uncle, you’re weak, I just killed one with a smack, how come you had to tangle for so long just to kill it? Also, the one you killed seem to be smaller than the one I killed oh.”

Yang Ke’er squatted beside him, looking straight into his eyes, her face wearing a mischievous smile.

Zhang Xiao Qiang rolled his eyes: “Stand up and talk, otherwise your back’s gonna ache.” He then thought: “Maybe this lass has something about her, why did those 2 things come for me instead of her?”

Yang Ke’er helped to bandage his right hand, while he laid there like a dead fish, looking up at the dense foliage while pondering. “My luck truly is bad! Before meeting this girl it was already horrid, now, it seems to be always coming in abundance. Camping that night almost got me killed by the Mutant Beast, staying in the house almost got me strangled, drinking the rainwater almost caused me dysentery. Now, we’re just looking for shade and I was almost mauled.”

“Maybe this Yang Ke’er is a malignant star in my life?! If I continue to be with her, I’m truly doomed.” He scrutinized the lass who was concentrating on bandaging his arm.

She looked up to see him watching herself and immediately flashed an incredibly bright smile. Her face was flushed red from the heat, looking like a delicious apple. Her teeth that were revealed looked like the alluring crescent moon, while her eyes gleamed like a clear pond. With her smile, 2 little dimples appeared, and the current Yang Ke’er looked charmingly cute!

At that instant, that inner otaku of Zhang Xiao Qiang felt captivated and he had a strong possessive thought: “The lass is mine, no one can take her from me!” He swore upon his pride as an otaku!

“Hiss!! Be more gentle! Are you bandaging me or pulling the hairs from a pig?!” He moaned as the waves of pain came surging.

“Okay okay, I got it! You can’t blame me, I’ve never done this before, furthermore, who asked you to land yourself in such a state?! You don’t know how to treat yourself better!” Yang Ke’er became gentler, while grumbling, and it felt like a wife nagging at her husband.

Zhang Xiao Qiang actually felt warmed by her grumblings. Having lived alone for so many years, he had become lonely. With this lass by his side, it felt like his world had become a little more lively and colorful. She dressed his wounds clumsily while trying to be careful, applying medication and bandaging them.

He laid under the shade, enjoying the shade, even forgetting his pain for a moment. His mind turned blank, and he didn’t want to engage in any thoughts, just enjoying the serenity of the moment.

“Uncle, it’s done! Take a look, see if you’re satisfied!” Yang Ke’er’s voice sounded, drawing him out from the peaceful moment

“Oh? So fast?” Zhang Xiao Qiang opened his eyes in slight disbelief.

“En! Quick, check my handiwork out!” She urged him, with an expression of hope, obviously wishing to gain his approval.

How should this be described? His right hand was incredibly depressing to look at.

His entire right hand looked like a deformed pear, having various odd bulging areas and cavities. The bandage end was left hanging out, and it felt like Yang Ke’er had wrapped the parts that didn’t need to be wrapped while forgetting to wrap the parts that required aid. Then she must have decided just to wrap the entire thing further. Looking at the entire thing, his right hand felt like it became heavier by half a jin.

There were no knots, no lipstick marks, but that lass had pulled out a market from goodness knows where to scribble a “Product of Ke’er” on it. There was even a deformed heart drawn below it.

“I guess…it’s ok, don’t get complacent, and continue to work hard.” He forced down his laughter and put on a serious face as he replied.

“En! I got it!” She looked extremely pleased.

“But, but Uncle! We’re out of bandaging!” She turned around and said while looking at that huge dumpling on Zhang Xiao Qiang’s hand.

“En! I know, I’ll think of something!” He promised with a deadpan expression while sighing in his heart: “That was a whole roll of bandage!!”

After a long rest, and feeling rejuvenated, Zhang Xiao Qiang stood up. His left sleeve had been bitten through the cloth, and the beast hide within even had small dent marks. Seeing this, he sucked in a breath of cold air, this beast hide was resilient to even military-grade knives! If he had been bitten directly, neither his flesh nor bones would be able to withstand it.

He rejoiced silently on his decision to put the beast hide within his clothes. He came up to the corpse and inspected it, noting that it was the size of a village dog. It had an elongated body, while its limbs were short and stout. In fact, the ratio of its limbs lengths to its body was about 1:5, looking extremely strange.

One of the creatures had its head exploded from a single slap from Yang Ke’er, leaving only the lower jaw still connected to the neck. The other had been pummeled to death by Zhang Xiao Qiang, and its features were still roughly discernable. Its head was round, while the tail was long and thick, with a length of twice its body. It looked somewhat similar to an African ferret.

“Uncle, what’s that thing?” Yang Ke’er used her Beast Horn Spear to poke at the corpse, feeling a little curious.

“En! It looks familiar, it could be those weasels that like to steal chickens from the villages. Some places refer to them as the Great Immortal Wong.” He was reminded of a childhood memory where he saw the weasel hide hanging on the wall of his uncle’s home.

“Can it be eaten?” Yang Ke’er wanted to try eating it.

“Not sure… It should be possible?” He was uncertain, as he had never seen his father hunting weasels in the past.

“Do weasels bite? How come they were on top the tree? Do they know how to climb?” Yang Ke’er had long since treated Zhang Xiao Qiang as Mr 100,000 Whys*, asking without stop.

“……” He became sullen.

She held a knife which she found, before slicing the bodies up, not minding the stench.

Zhang Xiao Qiang’s hand was resting in a cast in front of him, and he watched the lass work with a little comfort in his heart. At the same time, he was extremely curious, how did this Yang Ke’er pull out so many weird things from nowhere, like a Doraemon? Does she usually hide them somewhere?

“Jiji” A sound came from the tree.

Both of them were immediately attracted by the sound, with Yang Ke’er readying her Beast Horn Spear, and Zhang Xiao Qiang hiding behind her with an ‘I’m not well’ look.

“Jiji” The chittering keep sounding, as though it was a little anxious?

Suddenly, 3 round little heads pop out, the baby weasels that looked slightly larger than a normal mouse appearing from the dense foliage. Their eyes gleamed brightly as they looked down.

“Wow! So cute!” Yang Ke’er squealed, and the 3 baby weasels were frightened as they scurried back.

“Did they attack us because we entered their territory?” Zhang Xiao Qiang seemed to have come to an understanding.

Chapter end