Three hours later.
Ye Huizhou opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his teammates sitting in a neat row on the floor.
Xu Wen’s head was tilted back, his mouth hanging open as thunderous snores echoed through the room. A suspicious trail of drool glistened at the corner of his lips.
Ye Huizhou looked away in disgust.
Gu Zhuoye was leaning against the wall with one knee bent, his eyes closed. A girl was asleep in his arms, resting against his shoulder, her breathing long and steady.
The moment Ye Huizhou recognized who was in Gu Zhuoye’s embrace, his expression darkened and he stepped forward.
Only then did he realize that his entire body had gone stiff. His legs refused to obey him.
He stumbled, his knee hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Su Nian, who had merely been resting with her eyes closed rather than sleeping, immediately opened them.
Gu Zhuoye woke up as well.
“Brother Ye?”
Su Nian hurried over and helped Ye Huizhou to his feet.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Using her support, Ye Huizhou stood up. “I’ve just been sitting too long.”
Hearing the commotion, Ye Xihe woke up as well. She scrambled to her feet and rushed over in a few quick steps.
“Big Brother! How do you feel?”
Gu Zhuoye suddenly found his arms empty.
Watching the girl hurry over to Ye Huizhou with concern written all over her face, he slowly curled his half-open hand into a fist, his dark eyes deepening.
Seeing the worry in his sister’s eyes, Ye Huizhou’s heart softened. He reached out and ruffled her hair.
“Your brother is fine.”
As he spoke, he flipped his wrist and a lightning blade appeared in his hand.
Previously, to maximize attack power, Ye Huizhou had concentrated most of his lightning energy into the blade’s edge, while the back of the blade remained a purple phantom. Now, however, the entire blade had solidified. Purple energy flowed across it like shimmering silk.
Before, he had merely controlled power.
Now, he had achieved complete unity with the blade.
Ye Xihe’s eyes lit up.
“Your ability got stronger again!”
Ye Huizhou nodded.
“The crystal contained an enormous amount of energy. Absorbing it greatly increased my power. And that was only from a C-rank Zombie. If we encounter A-rank zombies or even stronger ones, the crystals inside them will contain even more energy.”
“We should start collecting these crystals whenever it’s safe to do so.”
Ye Xihe immediately added,
“More and more people will discover their usefulness. In the future, they’ll probably become an important resource.”
Xu Wen grinned excitedly.
“If we kill a metal-type zombie, won’t I be able to soar?”
“Since everything’s fine now, why don’t we look around?” Ye Xihe suggested. “It doesn’t seem like there are any survivors left here.”
Then she turned toward the floor.
“Get up, Brother Zhuoye.”
Gu Zhuoye remained lazily leaning against the wall, staring at her.
“My legs are numb. Can’t get up.”
Remembering how she had fallen asleep in his arms earlier, a faint blush spread across Ye Xihe’s cheeks.
Gu Zhuoye raised an eyebrow and extended a hand toward her.
“Give me a hand?”
Ye Xihe took his hand.
His palm was broad and warm, carrying a dry heat. He enclosed her cool, soft hand within his own and gently tugged.
Caught off guard, the girl let out a startled cry as she stumbled toward him.
Behind her, Ye Huizhou’s face instantly darkened. He grabbed her other arm and steadied her before she could fall forward.
Gu Zhuoye patted the dust off his pants and stood up.
Ye Huizhou glared at him.
Lowering his gaze, Gu Zhuoye concealed the emotion in his eyes.
What a pity.
He had almost gotten the little girl back into his arms.
Ye Xihe shifted her attention to Su Nian, who had remained silent the entire time.
Su Nian was staring blankly at the floor.
Her hands were clasped behind her back while her foot unconsciously rubbed against the ground.
Ever since they had encountered the C-rank Zombie, she had been blaming herself.
Her teammates were such good people, yet they had been dragged into danger because of her.
A heavy weight sat in her chest.
Suddenly, she found herself wrapped in a soft embrace.
She froze. It was Ye Xihe.
The younger girl was slightly shorter than her, and from where Su Nian stood, she could clearly see the soft baby hairs along Ye Xihe’s forehead.
“Sister Su Nian, it’s alright.”
The girl hugged her gently, patting her back.
Warmth surged through Su Nian’s heart.
She raised her arms and hugged Ye Xihe back.
Ye Xihe looked up at her.
“Let’s go take a look around, okay?”
Su Nian nodded. “Okay.”
The group headed outside, only to discover that the man who had warned them about the zombie’s self-destruction earlier was still there.
Hearing movement, the man rose from the stairway where he had been squatting and stamped his numb legs.
“Hello.”
He extended a hand toward Ye Xihe, who stood in the middle of the group.
“My name is Cheng Jiayang.”
Without drawing attention to it, Ye Huizhou stepped in front of Ye Xihe and shook Cheng Jiayang’s hand instead.
“Ye Huizhou.”
His gaze settled on Cheng Jiayang with unmistakable pressure.
“What do you want?”
The handshake lasted only a moment before Cheng Jiayang withdrew his hand.
Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his glasses and once again looked toward Ye Xihe.
In a serious voice, he said, “I would like to ask a healing-type ability user to save a child.”
After speaking, he stepped back and bowed to Ye Xihe.
How did he know she was a healing-type ability user?
Ye Xihe stiffened.
“Why should we help you?” Gu Zhuoye asked coldly. Flames flickered at his fingertips, and a trace of killing intent appeared in his eyes.
The man had directly revealed Ye Xihe’s healing ability. For all they knew, this could be a threat.
Cheng Jiayang immediately raised both hands.
“I have no intention whatsoever of threatening or harming this young lady. I only want to save a child.”
“I’m a water-type ability user, and I specialize in mechanical modifications. I can upgrade your vehicle to military-grade blast resistance, modify your weapons free of charge until you’re satisfied, or meet any other request within my capabilities.”
Ye Huizhou narrowed his eyes.
The amount of detail Cheng Jiayang knew meant he had been observing them since the day they arrived.
Cheng Jiayang continued, “We can also give you all the supplies we’ve stockpiled. We only ask that you save the child. And I guarantee that the matter of the healing-type ability user will never be revealed to anyone else.”
Ye Huizhou wanted to refuse.
But ultimately, the decision belonged to Ye Xihe.
Turning slightly, he asked, “Xihe, what do you think?”
Ye Xihe looked at Cheng Jiayang.
There was pleading in his eyes.
She was still worried about Su Nian’s family, so she glanced back at Su Nian.
Seeing her hesitation, Cheng Jiayang grew more anxious.
“You’re looking for someone, right? We can help with that too. I lived in this city before the Apocalypse, so I’m far more familiar with this area than you are.”
“If you’re worried that I’m lying, you can tie me up. You can untie me after you’ve confirmed I’m telling the truth.”
“The child is still young. He just wants a chance to live.”
Hearing those final words, Ye Xihe felt her resolve weaken.
“Alright! We’ll go take a look.”
Cheng Jiayang let out a relieved breath and immediately extended both hands, prepared to be tied up.
“Thank you. The place isn’t far from here. I’ll lead everyone there.”
However, Ye Huizhou showed no intention of restraining him.
Instead, he made a courteous gesture.
“Lead the way.”
Cheng Jiayang had clearly not expected them to trust him enough not to tie him up. He froze for a moment before quickly moving to the front of the group and guiding Ye Xihe and the others onward.