Lin “Little White Flower” Xin’er tugged on Shangguan Qi’s shirt and started her whiny act again.
“Brother Qi, did Sister Ruirui misunderstand?”
Sang Jin could not stand listening to the little white flower’s whining anymore. Although what she was about to do might seem completely baffling to others, she exchanged a look with Su Rui, walked over to her, and began firing back at the little white flower.
“Hey, big sister, why do you keep calling him ‘Brother, Brother’? What are you, a hen laying eggs?”
“Do you live in Dunhuang? Why do you have so many murals?”
“His girlfriend is right here, yet you keep calling him ‘Brother Qi’ nonstop. What’s the matter, do you have a thing for men who already belong to someone else?”
“Baby, if something isn’t yours, stop deluding yourself.”
“Our Sister Rui doesn’t need a little sister like you.”
“You love calling him Brother Qi, huh? Then come on, call our Sister Rui ‘sister-in-law.'”
The little white flower was no amateur. Even after being insulted, she continued putting on her act.
“Waah, waah, I’m sorry, Sister Ruirui. Do you have some problem with me? But I’ve always called him Brother Qi.”
Sang Jin was rolling her eyes so much that they were practically stuck upward. She held down Su Rui’s hand, which was about to move, and continued her barrage.
“Don’t bother saying you’re sorry when you don’t mean it. The best apology you can give is to get lost.”
“They say gold will always shine, but you’re just a piece of broken glass reflecting light.”
“Honestly, some people really mistake a feather for an imperial edict.”
“What are you doing? Why do you keep targeting me? Besides, Brother Qi and her have already broken up.”
The little white flower finally could not keep up the act.
“Waah, waah, Brother Qi, look at her!”
But Shangguan Qi did not even look at her. After she released his shirt, he stepped forward and pulled Su Rui into a tight embrace.
“Ruirui, I’m not breaking up with you. I have nothing to do with her. It’s just that my parents asked me to take care of her.”
Shangguan Qi spoke carefully, almost pleadingly.
“What about the white moonlight?”
Su Rui had liked him for a long time and could not bear to break up with him, but she still needed to know the truth.
“White moonlight? Ruirui, I’ve always liked you. I’ve liked you since high school, and I’ve liked you so, so much. You’re the only white moonlight I’ve ever had.”
Shangguan Qi hurriedly explained everything.
After that, everything fell naturally into place.
The little white flower did not dare say another word. She was afraid they would settle the score with her, especially since things were different now. With zombies eyeing them hungrily outside, she did not dare run out either.
“Ding! Host, mission completed. Reward: one Heaven-Reliant Sword and Dragon-Slaying Saber, and one bottle of Ability Upgrade Water.”
“Hello, I’m Shangguan Qi.”
“I’m Tan Wei.”
The burly man standing beside Shangguan Qi introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Yin Wenzhuo.”
This was the other young man, who appeared to be relatively lively.
“Lin Xin’er.”
The little white flower introduced herself before returning to her silent act.
“Hello, I’m Wang Xuan. This is Su Rui, whom you all know, Sang Jin, and Liu Yiman.”
Wang Xuan enthusiastically introduced everyone.
“So, that’s the situation for now. In a little while, Tan Wei and I will go to the nearest parking lot to see if there’s a car we can drive. We’ll leave the school first thing tomorrow morning.”
It turned out that Shangguan Qi and Tan Wei had both awakened their abilities last night.
Shangguan Qi had awakened teleportation and a metal-type ability.
Tan Wei had awakened an earth-type ability.
“Ah Qi, be careful,” Su Rui reminded him.
Just look at that overwhelming stench of romance.
Sang Jin was not particularly worried. They had the protagonist aura, after all.
Shangguan Qi and Tan Wei took the kitchen knives they had grabbed from the cafeteria and left the supermarket, heading toward the parking lot.
“Xiao Rui, I’ll go rest in the corner for a while.”
After spending some time with Su Rui, Sang Jin felt that calling her Xiao Rui sounded more intimate. She walked toward the back of the shelves, where she had just spread out some cardboard, because she was eager to find out what the Ability Upgrade Water could do.
“Gugu, does Ability Upgrade Water mean exactly what it sounds like? Can it directly upgrade an ability?” Sang Jin called out to the system.
“That’s right. From now on, ability users will need to rely on crystal cores to level up, but Host doesn’t need to. Ability Upgrade Water has no side effects and provides painless upgrades. It’s a product of the system, so you deserve to have it.”
“Does that mean I’ll get one every time I complete a mission?”
“No! Ability Upgrade Water is random, so it won’t appear every time. However, Host can exchange crystal cores for it later,” the system explained.
Sang Jin drank the Ability Upgrade Water and upgraded her ice-type ability to Level Two. When she condensed an ice spike, it was already as thick as a child’s wrist, which was quite impressive.
The roar of an engine came from outside the supermarket. The two men had returned with two cars, one Bentley and one BMW. That made sense, considering there were eight people here, and an ordinary car would not have enough room for everyone.
The sound of the cars attracted the zombies, and soon a large number of them gathered around the supermarket. Shangguan Qi and Tan Wei had already gotten out and begun clearing them.
Sang Jin and Yin Wenzhuo also joined them in clearing the zombies. The other girls stayed inside. None of them had killed a zombie before, and there was no time to worry about them while they were outside.
Sang Jin tried piercing their heads with ice spikes. Although they did not kill every zombie in one strike, they greatly hindered the zombies’ movements, and both the number and speed of the ice spikes were clearly different from when her ability had been at Level One. Yin Wenzhuo stayed beside her and finished off the wounded zombies.
Before long, the four of them had cleared out all the zombies in the surrounding area.
They quickly returned to the supermarket and locked the door.
Yin Wenzhuo and Sang Jin walked behind the others.
“Sang Jin, you actually awakened an ice-type ability. That’s amazing.”
Shangguan Qi took out a map of A City and analyzed their route for the following day.
“Tomorrow, after we leave, we’ll head east toward the eastern suburbs. It’s sparsely populated there, and Ruirui has a house in that area.”
“Okay.”
“Sounds good.”
Sang Jin had no missions at the moment, so she felt it would be better to stay with the male and female leads. Along the way, she could collect some supplies, then find someone to accompany her to the neighboring city, Donglin City, to look for her parents.
“I’ll follow Brother Qi’s arrangements.”
The girls had already tidied up a corner of the supermarket. The girls stayed inside while the men stayed outside, and everyone gathered together to rest.
The next morning, everyone got up, packed their belongings, and loaded as many supplies as they could into the cars. The two vehicles were each stocked with food.
There were not many zombies wandering over during the night, so they were brought out for Su Rui and the other girls to practice on. Although it was difficult, they eventually managed to kill the zombies. Lin Xin’er, however, merely stood to the side without making the slightest attempt to fight.
This was practically the textbook definition of a cannon fodder character.
Everyone got into the cars. Yin Wenzhuo drove the first car, with Shangguan Qi in the passenger seat and Su Rui and Liu Yiman in the back.
Tan Wei drove the second car, with Sang Jin in the passenger seat and Wang Xuan and Lin Xin’er in the back.
Lin Xin’er wanted to ride with Shangguan Qi, but there was no way Sang Jin would let her disturb the couple. Although a little catalyst was necessary to develop a relationship, there was such a thing as too much.
The cars drove past the teaching buildings. People shouted at them along the way, but they never stopped. In the apocalypse, kindness was not exactly conducive to survival.
They sped forward, startling countless zombies. Those behind them could not catch up, while the ones ahead and to the sides were either crushed beneath the tires or hit by the cars.
They drove out of the school gates.
“Ah, our classmates from the past, the people we once knew so well, have all turned into this…”
Wang Xuan sighed.
Silence descended, and no one said anything.
Sang Jin suddenly felt that the future was shrouded in uncertainty. The apocalypse was so cruel. This was no longer something she had merely read about in a novel. She was actually living through it herself.
She did not know how she was supposed to move forward, nor did she even know how long she would be able to survive.
Even if she managed to find the original owner’s parents alive, what would she do after finding them? She had no idea.
Forget it. She would just take things one step at a time.
That was the only way Sang Jin could comfort herself.