“Speaking nicely—you’re sure you’d even understand?”
Questioning her intelligence? Li Ge gritted her teeth. “Are you asking for a fight?”
Xi Zhou shot her a disdainful glance. The girl looked like an angry, puffed-up cat—unable to even see the situation clearly, yet acting tough.
“That Tibetan Mastiff was strictly trained. After mutating, its strength surpassed that of a Level-1 zombie,” he explained as if doing her a favor. “Do I need to remind you there was a smell of blood in the villa?”
“Blood?” Li Ge frowned. “I thought it was the Mastiff’s blood, but its injury was over three days old. Logically, the smell shouldn’t be that strong.”
When the apocalypse began, there had only been one person and one dog in that villa—so where did the blood come from?
“What do you know?” Li Ge realized she might have overlooked something.
Xi Zhou gripped the steering wheel, not even lifting his eyelids.
“I told you—it was trained. Unless commanded, it wouldn’t bite anyone,” he said, a faint glint flashing in his eyes. “And Bai Rui’an wouldn’t shoot it over something uncertain. I know that much.”
“You’re trying to make me suspect Xiao Qi?”
“Doesn’t matter. We already got what we needed. The rest has nothing to do with me.”
Cold-hearted, as expected. Then again… she wasn’t much better.
As the car drove away, the boy in the yard dropped his fake smile. His young face now carried a chilling darkness far beyond his age.
He pushed open the tightly shut living room door and walked into a pitch-black basement, holding a candle.
A well-dressed man in a suit lay on the ground, bound hand and foot, looking disheveled. Beside him was a gentle-looking woman in her thirties—now equally twisted in expression.
Hearing footsteps, both froze and stopped cursing at each other.
“Xiao Qi, be good. Untie us. Daddy will buy you your favorite game console, okay?”
“Don’t listen to him, that heartless man! Mommy will cook you something delicious when we get out, okay?”
They tried everything, but the boy didn’t even glance at them. Under their horrified gaze, he shoved dirt into their mouths, silencing them.
“Mom and Dad… I’m your baby, right?”
“Mmm! Mm!” they nodded frantically, eyes wide.
“Then why did you abandon me?” Xiao Qi muttered hoarsely. “I don’t have a brother or sister. I only have you. Our family should stay together forever… never separate.”
They were the parents he loved most. So why divorce? Why suddenly give him siblings? Why abandon him?
A family should stay together forever, loving each other… shouldn’t it?
Now that it was confirmed Bai Sui had been taken to the Eastern Base, their goal was clear.
After leaving the villa district, the roads were jammed again with abandoned cars. Even their flashy sports car crawled along like a bicycle.
Without hesitation, Xi Zhou released the pressure of a high-level zombie. Under his command, the zombies began clearing the road.
Dozens of zombies smashed into cars, tirelessly pushing them aside, opening a path.
Afterward, Xi Zhou casually tossed out a fireball, burning them all to ashes.
Li Ge couldn’t help but stop him. “Zombie crystal cores are useful for both zombies and ability users to level up.” She pointed at the dazed zombies. “Why not dig them out first?”
She didn’t pity the zombies—but burning the cores was an outrageous waste.
Xi Zhou glanced at her strangely. “You seem to have a lot of secrets.”
“Want to know more? Trade me crystal cores,” Li Ge said, raising her chin slightly, earning a scoff.
He dug one out—a soybean-sized crystal, sparkling like a diamond. After examining it for two seconds, he tossed it away.
There was energy inside, sure—but if that energy was a drop of water, his own power was a pond. What could a drop do?
“You just threw it away? People would fight to the death over those,” Li Ge clicked her tongue. “And you treat them like trash.”
She had only managed to secretly collect a dozen or so.
The second wave of ability awakenings was coming soon—she needed to prepare.
She picked up the crystal cores and stuffed them into the pouch hanging around her neck, then moved on to the next zombie while Xi Zhou returned to the car.
“If you don’t want them, wait here for me. Don’t drop the pressure,” she said coldly, tapping the window.
There were over forty zombies—after digging them all out, her pouch was half full.
Wood-type abilities weren’t strong, but leveling required just as many cores. Once her ability awakened, she planned to immediately reach Level 1.
“Beep! Beep!”
The loud horn startled distant survivors and snapped Li Ge back to reality.
Xi Zhou was impatient—she had gotten so absorbed collecting cores she didn’t even notice being watched.
“Stop rushing! I just made you wait a bit—what’s the hurry?”
Before she could finish, Xi Zhou started the car. She hurried back, reluctant to leave.
The highway was blocked, so they took side roads, passing through many places. They were now near a village at the edge of the city.
Suddenly, a little girl ran out in front of the car. She tripped and fell, sitting in the road crying.
Xi Zhou jerked the wheel. The car swerved off the road and crashed into a roadside tree. Though they stopped safely, the car was totaled.
“Yuanyuan!”
A woman in her thirties rushed out, picked up the girl, checked her over, then hurried to the car.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she asked, knocking on the window. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t watch her carefully—it’s my fault your car got wrecked!”
With no usable cars nearby, Li Ge and Xi Zhou had no choice but to get out.
“This isn’t the old world anymore. You need to watch children carefully. Danger can come anytime.”
The little girl was still crying. It was already lucky she hadn’t been hit or attacked.
The woman noticed Li Ge’s clean clothes—completely unruffled—and felt even more guilty.
“I’m really sorry. She’s still young and doesn’t understand. It’s getting dark—traveling now isn’t safe. Why don’t you stay at my place tonight? I’ll cook a few dishes as an apology.”
Her house was a three-story building by the roadside.
Night was falling. A child suddenly appearing. A wrecked car.
Everything… was just a little too coincidental.