CHAPTER 7

Shen Tian entered the forest again, but this time in a different direction from where he first entered. Since he knows that the area from earlier do not have any zombie within the "safe distance" he considers outside of the safe zone, then it is only natural that he went to another area to hunt.

Of course, the new area should still be within the running distance of the safe zone's gate.

It wasn't long when he reached his destination. Just like earlier, he treaded carefully. It wasn't even a few steps into the forest though when a lone zombie came into view.

Seeing the zombie, Shen Tian got excited. The zombie was wearing mountaineering clothes, although the clothes were ripped and bloodied here and there. What made Shen Tian excited, though, was the mountaineering bag that was firmly strapped on the zombie's back. There might be some goodies in the bag that may be useful for him.

With his earlier experience, Shen Tian managed to quickly run up to the zombie and swung at its head. Much to his surprise, the knife was sharper and stronger than what he initially thought. With just one swing, the zombie's head was horizontally cut in half. Without putting up any fight, the zombie fell down and no longer moved.

"What the?", the baffled Shen Tian can't help but exclaim.

"This knife is way too durable!"

[[ Notification: The knife that the host is using is an item crafted by the system, which makes it more durable than ordinary kitchen knife. If used as a weapon, it can defeat ordinary zombies without any problems. ]]

"I can feel a bit of smugness in your message, system.", Shen Tian teased.

The system didn't answer anymore. However, that didn't dampen Shen Tian's mood. At this stage, he only needs to defeat ordinary zombies to get ordinary crystal cores. With the knife and if he makes sure that the zombies don't notice him until the last minute, then hunting for the remaining crystal cores should be easy peasy.

Shen Tian bent down and first collected the crystal core from the zombie's half of a head. He then proceeded to unstrap the bag from the zombie's body. Weighing it in his hand, Shen Tian was pleased that it weighed a bit heavily, which means that this bag should have supplies. What supplies there are remains to be seen, though.

Right as he was strapping the bag, Shen Tian heard a rustling noise. However, before he could brace himself and pick up the makeshift spear that he had temporarily placed on the ground, a big, furry creature jumped onto him, which made him stumble over.

"Fuck!"

Shen Tian closed his eyes, dreading in his heart that he may die here and fail his mission. He braced himself for the pain. However, the pain he expected for being bitten or something didn't come. Instead, he can only feel the pain in his bum from falling over. Immediately after, he felt the creature's tongue fervently licking his face.

"Stop!"

He exclaimed while trying to avoid the onslaught of the creature's fervent kisses.

Shen Tian managed to push the creature away. He then took a good look at this "attacker".

He gasped when he realized that the creature was a big German Shepherd!

"A dog?", Shen Tian asked in disbelief. "What's a dog like you doing in this forest?"

As if the dog understood him, it bit his sleeves and tried to pull him forward.

"Wait, wait!"

The dog didn't let go and continued to pull him forward.

"What great strength!"

Shen Tian wasn't able to break his sleeves free from the dog's bite. Instead, it felt like he'll be dragged forward if he can't control the dog.

"I said wait!", he exclaimed loudly this time.

The dog whined, but it did stop pull him. However, it didn't let go of his sleeves.

"Do you want me to follow you somewhere?"

This time, the dog let go of his sleeves and barked.

"Okay, I understand," he stood up and strapped the bag properly. He then picked up his weapon and turned to the dog again. "I will follow you, but we'll have to go there slowly and carefully. I don't want to encounter any zombies."

The dog barked again and run ahead. It then turned toward him and barked again, as if trying to say to hurry and follow.

Shen Tian didn't run, but moved forward more cautiously. Although the dog looked like it's friendly to him, that doesn't mean that it isn't dangerous. What if it's a trap or what if they encounter zombies and the zombies ignore the dog and go straight at him? One can never be too careful.

After walking a certain distance without encountering any zombies, the dog stopped in front of a big tree. It barked once while looking up at the tree and then turned to look at Shen Tian and barked again.

After this, the dog climbed up the tree, breaking Shen Tian's current knowledge of dogs.

"Are you a monkey?"

Shen Tian can't help but ask, seeing how skillfully the dog climbed up.

As soon as it reached the second big branch, it went out of Shen Tian's sight. Shen Tian waited for a bit before it reappeared and threw a rope with knots down. It then barked at Shen Tian.

"Are you telling me to climb up?"

As if saying yes, the dog barked.

Shen Tian looked around, feeling a bit apprehensive about climbing up. Truthfully, he's a bit away from the "safe distance" he originally set up for himself outside of the safe zone. In fact, he can't even see the safe zone gate - or the mesh wire fencing - from where he is.

However, this is the first creature that he was able to "communicate" with in this world. He can't help but be curious as to why it wanted him to follow. It might be in need of his help. He has to check just in case.

Making up his mind, Shen Tian put his weapon on his mouth. He originally wanted to strap it in between his body and his bag, but that way, the weapon won't be easy to pull out in case of emergencies.

He then climbed up the rope, using the knots to stabilize his body as he climbed up.

Upon reaching the second branch, Shen Tian was able to see the area more clearly. Right by the branch, there was a hole on the tree and the dog was right at the mouth of the hole. He inched closer to check on what was inside.

[[ Notification: First human contact. Side quest triggered. ]]