Transmigrated In Ancient Times As a Hunter.

Above the tranquil and deserted forest, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. The figure was covered in blood, and with a loud "thud," it crashed onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Cheng Duo sat on the ground in a sorry state, clutching the withered leaves tightly in his hands, laughing maniacally, "Ha, hahaha…"

He was going to die, but it didn't matter. Before he died, he had risked his wretched life to inflict severe damage on his half-brother, who shared the same father but had a different mother. Thinking about the shocked expression on Cheng Zhao's face when he personally dug out his crystal nucleus, Cheng Duo felt it was worth it!

In the post-apocalyptic world, the abilities of the superhumans relied on the crystal nucleus within their Dantian. Without the crystal nucleus, Cheng Zhao, even if he barely managed to survive, would become useless. Wasn't it his father who despised his useless ability and couldn't wait to get rid of him once Cheng Zhao awakened? Now, that family of four had become ordinary people. He wondered how they would survive in the future.

Cheng Duo's fingers gradually tightened, turning white, as blood continued to flow from the wound on his head. His appearance of manic laughter was more like a wail than a laugh.

Cheng Duo didn't blame his father for kicking him out of the house, but he should never have, under the instigation of his kind stepmother and half-siblings, cruelly sold him to an underground research institute!

Wasn't he his father's biological son? And what about his half-siblings? Despite having different mothers, they were still connected by blood. Even after the outbreak of the zombie virus, he was the only one in the family who awakened extraordinary powers and, at the age of 16, took on the responsibility of supporting the whole family.

Cheng Duo felt it was necessary at the time: his father was getting old, and years of living comfortably had greatly weakened his physical strength. Moreover, his mentality couldn't adjust because he was too afraid to even step out of the city gates due to the fear of zombies. As for Cheng Zhao and Cheng Wei, they were still too young, with Cheng Zhao being only 13 years old at the time… What could he do? Was he just going to watch his family starve to death without doing anything?

Cheng Duo couldn't do that.

Unfortunately, the sacrifices he had made in the past decade hadn't earned him the gratitude of his family. Human greed is endless. When Cheng Zhao finally awakened his spatial abilities, Cheng Duo's mediocre power-based abilities became redundant.

In the apocalypse, zombies could level up, and the same applied to ability users. Initially, the spellcasters appeared weak, but by the time they reached the third level, they could easily crush a group of ordinary zombies. They even had some self-defense capabilities against zombies of the same level with their long-range attacks.

Only power-based ability users like them couldn't level up as fast as the zombies. Moreover, as the higher-level zombies became increasingly resistant, power-based ability users accustomed to close combat often couldn't break through their defenses, resulting in heavy casualties during each mission.

From being the main force in killing zombies in the early stages of the apocalypse to becoming expendable pawns for exploration, odd jobs, and even suicide missions in the later stages, power-based ability users found themselves in an awkward position. Additionally, due to the upgrade and tempering of ability users' physical condition, enhanced strength became a supplementary gift. As ordinary zombies disappeared in the later stages, power-based ability users fared slightly better than regular people.

If they were smart enough in the early stages of the apocalypse, and understood the need to quickly enhance their own power-based abilities, it would be fine. But someone like Cheng Duo, who hesitated to use crystal cores in order to support his large family, remained at the second level of power-based abilities even after ten years in the apocalypse. It was truly a chicken rib among chicken ribs.

The supplies he brought back became fewer and fewer. They probably had been despising him for a long time, right? Now, thinking about the seemingly comforting but actually provocative words from his stepmother and the envious glances from his younger siblings… It turns out he had deluded himself into thinking that they were a united and loving family. In reality, it was all wishful thinking!

As memories flooded back, Cheng Duo regretfully vomited a mouthful of blood. He lay on the ground, filled with self-abandonment, waiting for the chaotic surge of energy from devouring the crystal core to take him away, or perhaps… he wouldn't live long enough for that to happen.

Cheng Duo's ears twitched, catching the rustling sound carried by the wind. It was the sound of mutated beasts stepping on dry leaves. They must have smelled the scent of blood and come specifically to enjoy this feast.

Sure enough, soon there were four or five sets of footsteps belonging to beast-like creatures lingering nearby, accompanied by faint growls emanating from their throats. However, the anticipated attack never came.

Cheng Duo furrowed his brow. What's going on? Why are the mutated beasts so timid? And from the sound, their size doesn't seem to be that large either?

It's no wonder Cheng Duo was surprised. In the apocalypse, even mutated rats were as big as adult house cats, let alone other types of mutated beasts. Some animals that were already large in size before the apocalypse could grow to the height of a two-story building after mutation.

Moreover, mutated beasts were sensitive to the smell of blood. An ability user like Cheng Duo, heavily wounded and bleeding profusely, could instantly arouse their appetite.

Considering that he might suffer even more before his death, Cheng Duo finally opened his eyes. However, just before he opened his eyes, the wild beast on his left couldn't hold back any longer and launched the first attack—

Cheng Duo quickly raised his arm to block, but a pair of sharp teeth sank deeply into his arm, piercing his flesh with a sharp pain.

Yet, at that moment, he also saw clearly. The one biting him was a grey wolf. The other four that were lingering around were its companions, seeing the grey wolf succeed, they all pounced at Cheng Duo at once.

At this point, Cheng Duo didn't care whether he wanted to live or die. He fiercely punched the grey wolf's head. He had only intended to make a last-ditch counterattack, but unexpectedly, with just that one punch, the grey wolf fell silently to the ground.

Cheng Duo lowered his gaze and saw that its eyes were bulging, blood flowing from its mouth and nose. It was as dead as dead could be.

"Awuuu!" The grey wolf's companions were startled and quickly backed away. However, reluctant to give up their newfound food, they lingered nearby for a while before viciously surrounding Cheng Duo once again.

Cheng Duo bitterly smiled. It seemed that he couldn't escape his fate of being torn apart by the wolf pack. Who would have thought that after ten years in the apocalypse, there were still non-mutated wild wolves here?

He considered himself unlucky!

Just as Cheng Duo was about to collapse in exhaustion, a powerful tiger roar suddenly echoed from the nearby forest. The sound was majestic and resonated through the trees, exuding a strong sense of intimidation.

The wolf pack dared not fight anymore and fled with their tails between their legs.

Cheng Duo lay on the ground, his eyes blurred by the blood, gazing in the direction of the approaching footsteps. Soon, he slipped into unconsciousness…

***

Cheng Duo found himself back in that cold laboratory, with a lab coat figure approaching him step by step, holding a syringe and a surgical knife. He was powerless to resist, unable to even scream.

Cheng Duo panicked, but the more he panicked, the weaker his limbs became. He saw the surgical knife about to descend when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Didn't he escape?

Before he could make sense of it, the scene changed again. He found himself lying on an empty corridor, behind him the shrill alarms of the laboratory and the chaotic shouts of people, while ahead of him was the door leading to the outside world.

Without thinking, Cheng Duo desperately moved his limbs and crawled towards the door…

After what felt like an eternity, he vaguely felt someone approaching him. They cleaned his wounds and administered medication. The bitter taste of the medicine slid over his tongue, stimulating his sour stomach, bringing him a sense of reality.

He struggled to open his eyes and his fingers touched the fur coat worn by the person beside him…

"Ah!" The person was startled and quickly backed away.

Cheng Duo couldn't see the person clearly, and dizziness overwhelmed him. He fell back into a deep sleep. He slept in a daze, waking up each time either for a dressing change or to have a bitter medicine forced down his throat.

When he finally fully regained consciousness, it was already bright outside the cave. The chirping of birds came from a distance, along with the familiar smell of medicine wafting through the smoke… Everything was peacefully reminiscent of the time before the apocalypse.

Cheng Duo realized he was lying in a natural cave, and the medicinal scent was coming from the person sitting at the cave entrance. The person had their back to him, hands continuously rummaging on the ground.

"You, you're awake?"

The person noticed Cheng Duo waking up, hastily organized the things on the ground, stood up with their back to Cheng Duo, and said, "The medicine in the pottery jar is ready. Let it cool down and have it later. There are six more sets of medicine pouches in the cave, one in the morning and one at night, three cups of water boiled into one cup. I… I'm leaving."

After speaking, they picked up their belongings and ran without even looking back. Cheng Duo couldn't even see their face clearly because they were going against the light.

This time Cheng Duo was taken aback. In the apocalyptic world of the past decade, there was actually someone who had no desires or ambitions and purely wanted to help others?

Cheng Duo didn't believe it.

Sure enough, the footsteps quickly returned, and the person stood outside the cave without even showing their face. "Um… the silver coins I gave you in exchange for catching the medicine were obtained by killing that wolf. There's a little left, and you can freely take the food inside the cave."

It seemed like the person mustered up the courage to confess everything and quickly ran off again. Cheng Duo waited for a while, but this time he didn't return.

Cheng Duo lifted the animal fur blanket he had on him and sat up. It was apparent that this blanket was made from various scraps, and some fur showed signs of decay due to inadequate treatment. However, the person who sewed the fur had put great effort into it, gradually removing the rotten parts and stitching the remaining pieces together. Although the fur had varying shades, the stitches were fine, dense, and solid.

As Cheng Duo touched the blanket, he was filled with doubts. In the post-apocalyptic world, the most difficult things to obtain were undoubtedly zombie crystal cores, medicine, cigarettes, alcohol, and food. Everyday items like blankets were available in every household before the apocalypse, and there were even plenty of them in supermarkets that no one wanted. Was there a need for someone to sew fur by themselves?

Moreover, the person just mentioned that the silver coins exchanged for the wolf corpse were purely Chinese medicine, and this small cave had various miscellaneous items, but Cheng Duo didn't see a single modern manufactured product.

Could he have accidentally stumbled upon some hidden village?

Cheng Duo slowly moved outside the cave and saw a clay pot used for boiling medicine with a large piece missing, further confirming his suspicions.

In addition, there were scattered plant roots and stems on the ground, which the mysterious person had been organizing. These… were wild vegetables?

Suppressing his doubts, Cheng Duo drank the medicine. The thick medicinal juice tasted as bitter as his dreams. If it were before the apocalypse, Cheng Duo might have felt nauseous even after taking a sip. But compared to long-expired canned food in the post-apocalyptic world, this bowl of medicine was quite considerate.

After drinking the medicine, despite his various wounds still aching, Cheng Duo insisted on putting on his clothes and planned to go out and take a look.

Speaking of clothes, Cheng Duo noticed that the torn clothes from his injuries had also been patched up by the mysterious person. When he was recovering, he had taken off his tactical jacket and inner clothes and left them aside. The pants remained untouched, except for applying medicine to the torn areas and tying them with strips of cloth.

This set of clothes was the one Cheng Duo had stolen from someone's drying rack when he escaped from the laboratory in the base. Apart from what he was currently wearing, he could be considered penniless.

Cheng Duo found a wooden stick in the cave and held it in his hand, then limped out of the cave…