So many wild vegetables!
Cen Wu picked them with fierce determination, completely immersed in the task as she absentmindedly wandered more than ten meters ahead.
She only stopped when three pairs of feet appeared in front of her.
Looking up, she saw three children older than her standing there like a solid wall, blocking her path.
Cen Wu honestly wasn’t in the mood to play with them.
The burden of gathering food for the family rested on her and Older Brother’s shoulders.
Supporting a household wasn’t easy.
She tried to walk around them, only to realize that whichever direction she moved, the human wall shifted with her.
Cen Wu asked from the bottom of her heart, “Don’t you all have families to support?”
The dark-skinned boy blinked in confusion and pointed at himself.
“Me? You’re talking to me?”
The curly-haired boy in front smacked him on the back of the head.
“Why are you wasting time talking to her?!”
As he spoke, he reached for the basket of vegetables at Cen Wu’s feet.
It was pretty heavy.
Even if the three of them split it, there was enough food to last them two days.
Relying on the fact that he was taller than Cen Wu, the curly-haired boy looked down at her arrogantly and threatened,
“If you dare tell anyone, every time I see you outside the city, I’ll rob you again!”
The dark-skinned boy eagerly took the basket and rummaged through it, only to look disappointed.
“Why are they all leafy vegetables? It would’ve been great if there were potatoes. Those are what really fill your stomach.”
The bow tied to the basket had been carefully fastened by Mom.
Now it had been pulled into a mess by several filthy little hands.
Oh.
She was being robbed.
Cen Wu threw a punch at the curly-haired boy, sending him flying over five meters away.
Then she politely asked,
“May I have my basket back now?”
The dark-skinned boy froze again.
Terrified, he cried out and hurried behind the silent child who hadn’t spoken a single word the entire time.
“Xiao Hai! Sh-She has an ability!”
The child called Xiao Hai expressionlessly raised a hand.
The pebbles scattered around them suddenly floated into the air.
With a flick of his hand, all the stones shot toward Cen Wu like a rainstorm.
An Ability User?
She had run into someone formidable.
Although Cen Wu possessed enhanced strength, her body was still as fragile as any ordinary child’s.
With no time to react, she could only crouch down and cover her head.
Suddenly, warmth surrounded her back.
Someone pulled her protectively into an embrace.
A series of heavy thuds echoed as the stones slammed into flesh.
“Older Brother!”
Cen Wu cried out in alarm.
Cen Yuxing’s forehead had been split open, blood flowing down his face.
His vision swam as his strength gave out, and he started collapsing to the ground.
Cen Wu failed to support him in time.
Both of them fell together.
“Now you know how powerful Brother Hai is!”
The dark-skinned boy stood proudly with his hands on his hips before sneaking out from behind Xiao Hai again.
Taking advantage of the situation, he dragged over Cen Yuxing’s basket.
“Buy one, get one free!”
He chuckled smugly.
“We’ll gladly take this basket too.”
Cen Wu felt extremely irritated.
She could beat up Cen Yuxing herself if she wanted to.
But seeing someone else injure him…
Her fists immediately clenched.
Holding Cen Yuxing’s hand, she declared solemnly,
“Older Brother, if he injures even half your forehead, I’ll destroy his entire heaven!”
With that, she stood up.
Like a lone hero.
Step by step—almost in slow motion—she marched toward the two vegetable thieves with overwhelming momentum.
The dark-skinned boy suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body and instinctively rubbed his arm.
Xiao Hai didn’t underestimate her.
He raised his hand once more, causing the stones on the ground to float into the air again.
But Cen Wu’s fist moved faster.
Bang!
He flew even farther than the first boy.
Cen Wu dusted off her hands.
His only mistake was taking too long to charge up.
Her fists were much quicker.
Seeing both of his companions beaten one after another, the dark-skinned boy forced out an ingratiating laugh.
He quickly set the basket and backpack on the ground.
“We don’t want them anymore! Really, we don’t! Haha… since you’ve already beaten them, don’t beat me too!”
Cen Wu punched him anyway.
“That was just convenient.”
She slung the backpack over her shoulders and picked up the basket.
Together, they weighed over twenty pounds, yet they felt practically weightless to her.
“Older Brother, I’ll take you back to Dad first.”
Poor little glutinous rice cake.
She had plenty of strength.
At worst, she could simply come back and gather more later.
Forget a few children.
Even if adults showed up, she wasn’t afraid.
Having been protected by his younger sister, Cen Yuxing felt both touched and ashamed.
He was supposed to be the older brother…
Yet he had been so useless.
He shook his head, trying to clear the dizziness.
Instead, the world spun even harder, and he couldn’t even walk in a straight line.
Cen Wu realized this wouldn’t work.
She crouched slightly in front of him.
“Older Brother, let me carry you.”
Sob…
Younger Sister’s back felt so safe.
Cen Yuxing wrapped his arms around his younger sister’s neck while still holding the basket of vegetables.
The backpack, meanwhile, hung in front of Cen Wu’s chest.
He truly was the happiest older brother in the world.
Back at the camp…
The two adults were comfortably lying side by side inside their tent, enjoying a second round of sleep while softly snoring.
Hearing hurried footsteps outside, Cen Yi abruptly opened his eyes and sighed.
“Picking up our daughter really was a great idea. Now we get to enjoy a life of reaping without sowing much earlier.”
Xie Yuanchuan stretched lazily.
“Exactly. We don’t even have to look after our son anymore. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”
“Dad! Hurry and come out! Older Brother’s hurt!”
Cen Wu shouted anxiously between gasps, sounding as though Cen Yuxing was on the verge of dying.
Xie Yuanchuan immediately sat upright and yanked open the tent flap.
The moment he saw Cen Yuxing on Cen Wu’s back, his expression turned icy.
“Who did this?”
Cen Yi also came out and helped carry his son down.
After checking him from head to toe, he discovered that the only injury was a swollen bump on his forehead that was still bleeding.
Xie Yuanchuan fell silent.
“…”
Treating him almost seemed unnecessary.
“Xiao Wu, next time don’t scream like the sky’s falling. Your dad’s little heart can’t take it.”
Cen Wu was still worried.
Hidden behind Xie Yuanchuan’s back, she quietly tugged at his sleeve.
“But Older Brother lost so much blood.”
She didn’t want any member of her family to get hurt.
She wanted them all to stay healthy and remain by her side forever.
Seeing his daughter pouting with tears ready to spill at any moment, Xie Yuanchuan finally gave in.
He casually tapped Cen Yuxing once with his healing ability.
The swollen bump on his forehead quickly disappeared, leaving behind only dried blood.
Sitting cross-legged in front of the siblings, Cen Yi folded his hands together and rested them on his knees like an eldest sister listening to a story.
“So, who was bold enough to do this? Tell me everything.”
Cen Wu recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.
“According to the base’s rules, anyone who awakens an ability has to report to the base. They’re gathered together and assigned to collection teams. They aren’t supposed to remain with ordinary people.”
Leaning on one arm with his legs crossed, Xie Yuanchuan stared at the sky.
“Just a fish that slipped through the net.”
“If you run into an Ability User like that again, bring them back.”
“If they can be trained, send them to your eldest sister.”
“If they refuse to behave, throw them away.”
There were plenty of Ability Users in the apocalypse.
But there were even more ordinary people.
Every adult still alive today had clawed their way through countless bloody battles.
Xie Yuanchuan viewed Ability Users much the same way he viewed monsters.
Of course…
He considered himself one of them too.
But in his eyes, monsters also came in different ranks.
So far, only he and Cen Yi qualified as top-tier monsters.
A family made up of monsters…
Who had given birth to several little monsters…
And then picked up one more little monster along the way.
Bored, Xie Yuanchuan thought to himself…
It would be nice if the world just ended sooner.
Suddenly, the glasses on the bridge of his nose were taken away.
His eyes flew open.
He discovered that Cen Wu had put them on herself.
The little monster whom he had privately labeled as a “dummy” was now wearing his glasses and making silly faces, trying to make his silly wife and silly son laugh.
Watching the two of them laugh so hard they doubled over, Xie Yuanchuan observed them quietly for a while before closing his eyes again.
…Forget it.
It could end a little later instead.