Finally, Wen Ruchu pushed a large cart full of snacks to the checkout line. The line was very long, and she patiently waited. From behind, she heard an older woman say, “Young Girl, food is scarce now. If you have money, you should buy more grains to store, or it’ll be hard to get later.”
Wen Ruchu knew the woman meant well. She thanked her politely and said nothing else, continuing to wait in line. Her not buying grains was also an act of goodwill…
After about forty or fifty minutes, it was Wen Ruchu’s turn. Before the apocalypse, a cart like this might have cost a few hundred yuan; now, this entire cart of snacks came to eight thousand! Ordinary families couldn’t afford this—it was equivalent to a month or two of wages. Only Wen Ruchu had no shortage of money.
The cashier was also taken aback by the sheer amount of snacks. Before the apocalypse, such a purchase would have been normal, even ordinary. But now, with scarce food and soaring prices, buying this much at once could only be described as “impressive class.”
Wen Ruchu paid and carried two large bags of snacks out of the supermarket. Not long after she started driving, she noticed a silver-gray van following her. Hmm? Were they planning a robbery?
Perfect. She was bored anyway. She decided to play along. Wen Ruchu drove the car toward the outskirts, deliberately slowing down, taking it as leisurely as walking a dog. At her car’s speed, no ordinary vehicle could catch up otherwise.
Finally, in a remote, deserted area, Wen Ruchu stopped the car. The van behind her also stopped. Seven or eight men got out, all holding sticks, surrounding Wen Ruchu’s car.
“People inside, come out and hand over your food, and we’ll spare your life.” The leader even tapped on the driver’s window with his stick.
Tsk. This was her car, a birthday gift from her father back in the day. She felt a flash of anger. What to do… she felt like killing.
Wen Ruchu opened the car door and stepped out. The leader took a step back when he saw the person who got out: a tall, strikingly beautiful young girl.
“So it’s a little sister. Little sister, why don’t you come with us? It’s so chaotic now. Stay with big brother, and I’ll protect you.”
Lustful laughter erupted around him. Wen Ruchu suddenly smiled, her voice hoarse as she said, “Sure, big brother.”
The leader laughed loudly. “That’s right. Little sister, you really know the situation…”
Before he could finish, a sudden warmth spread across his throat. A streak of blood appeared. The leader had just had his throat slashed by Wen Ruchu’s dagger.
The others froze in panic. They intended to rob, not kill. Who was this young girl?
Yet a few daring ones shouted, “Brothers, go! There are so many of us. Are we afraid of just one? Catch her and avenge our boss!”
Perhaps they thought Wen Ruchu was just a young girl with a simple dagger—what could she do? The remaining seven advanced with their sticks raised.
Wen Ruchu, hardened by her past life of crawling through hardships and strengthened by her recent Lingquan water regimen, had changed physically. She moved ruthlessly, stabbing without hesitation. These people were a danger to the world, and she would deliver justice in their place.
Before long, all of them were down. Wen Ruchu squatted methodically, wiping the blood from the nearest body with her dagger until it was clean.
She walked to the van. Inside were five 50-kg bags of rice, all open and clearly stolen from many people, twelve cans of food, a case of bottled water, five or six packs of cigarettes, two boxes of alcohol, and a large bag of gold jewelry. That large bag of gold… how many people had they robbed to get it?
Wen Ruchu accepted it all without hesitation. She weighed the small gold in her hand—about five or six jin. Her Dimensional Space would now hold more.
After looting, she smashed the dashcam and drove off. She didn’t even want to collect the bodies. In the wilderness, by the time anyone found them, they’d already rot. With society on the brink of collapse, there wouldn’t be police to handle it anyway. They might even thank her for removing the threat.
“Wow, did you see that? That’s Miss, right? She took them all down so fast!”
A man in the middle watched Wen Ruchu drive off, deep in thought.
“We have the weapons. Let’s head back. In the coming days, we’ll continue collecting supplies, especially items for warmth. Rain is coming, and temperatures will drop. Collect as much as you can while you still can.”
When Wen Ruchu returned home, she was drenched in sweat, her hair soaked through. Egg Tart saw her come back and leapt forward, but the smell of her sweat made him stop mid-step, all four little legs frozen.
Wen Ruchu laughed. “Why are you rejecting me now?”
She ignored him, scooped Egg Tart up, and petted him roughly a few times before heading to the bathroom for a shower, in a very good mood.
Egg Tart was left standing, bewildered. I’m dirty now!
After showering and washing her hair, Wen Ruchu sat on the sofa and sensed her Dimensional Space. Indeed, the gold had been absorbed. But the Dimensional Space didn’t seem to have changed much.
Looking closer, she noticed that the Lingquan water volume, which had originally been equivalent to two bottles of mineral water, now amounted to roughly three bottles.
Tsk. The Dimensional Space had grown greedy, it seemed. That large bag of gold only produced so little? But Wen Ruchu didn’t mind—she continued collecting the Lingquan water. Over the past month, she had been gathering it daily and had amassed quite a bit.
She also discovered something surprising: if she was injured, drinking Lingquan water and washing the wound with it sped up healing dramatically. This was a major advantage in the apocalypse.
Even after being injured, her recovery was faster than an ordinary person’s.
Looking at the fruit trees in the yard, once tiny saplings, they had now grown lush leaves. Soon, they might bear fruit. Her Dimensional Space truly was a treasure.
The vegetable patch was still empty. Wen Ruchu wasn’t in the mood for exercise today, so she decided to enter the Dimensional Space and plant vegetables.
She took Egg Tart with her. Living creatures could enter her Dimensional Space, but only if they came with her. If she left, the creatures inside would leave as well.
Egg Tart had been inside before, so it wasn’t unfamiliar. It ran around wildly in the yard, but Wen Ruchu hadn’t brought it in to play. She wanted it to dig holes. The little dog dug holes.