“You like it that much?” Bai Zhuo couldn’t help asking.
Xue Yanhen nodded hard. Fresh off a serious illness, she expressed her fondness through action.
She put on a whole saber routine for Bai Zhuo right then and there.
Bai Zhuo watched, jaw dropping. Wow, what had this girl been up to these past few years? She’d picked up a gorgeous set of blade skills.
Xue Yanhen stopped, panting for breath. Her face was pale and her heart was pounding, but her eyes were shining.
Bai Zhuo smiled. Well, that made the modao money well spent.
After a short rest, Xue Yanhen took the saber and headed out to look for supplies and scout the surroundings.
The room fell abruptly silent. Bai Zhuo absently rubbed her fingertips together and called out to the system.
【I’m here, host.】
After summoning the system, Bai Zhuo didn’t speak right away, but sank into thought.
She remembered the squad she’d run into on the road to Ning City. Their conversation had mentioned a weather monitoring station, could it be that extreme weather was about to break out?
【Are there supplies in the loot boxes for dealing with extreme weather?】
【There are.】
Getting the system’s reply, Bai Zhuo relaxed slightly. Good.
Xue Yanhen was gone about two hours, and came back with some medicine.
“There’s a community health center nearby. When I went, there were no zombies. I found these meds scattered on the floor of one of the pharmacies, still within their expiration dates, so they might come in handy later.”
Bai Zhuo nodded. She didn’t have much medicine on hand either, otherwise, back when Xue Yanhen was running a fever, she wouldn’t have forced her way into the hospital, gotten chased by zombies, and been spotted by those three.
Clenching her fist, Bai Zhuo decided she’d better lay off the frying pan for a while, that thing had already become her signature.
“Did you find anyone else?”
At that, Xue Yanhen’s expression turned serious and she shook her head. “No. It seems like we’re the only ones around here.”
Bai Zhuo frowned. Could everyone have been killed by zombies, or turned into new zombies?
Thinking of that tier-two zombie, Bai Zhuo’s frown deepened. She wondered whether anyone else even knew about this.
Xue Yanhen was a little tired. Fresh from a serious illness, then out looking for supplies the very next day, she really couldn’t hold up much longer.
She took the blanket draped over the back of the sofa, wrapped herself up a bit, and curled into the couch, sinking into a deep sleep.
A blanket?
Bai Zhuo froze, then slowly clenched her fist.
She’d said she’d forgotten something, only now did it click. It was only August, and even though Ning City was somewhat to the north, no one should need a blanket to sleep at this time of year.
Bai Zhuo wrapped herself into a ball with a blanket too, though she didn’t sleep.
This house looked like it had been built only a few years ago, so insulation shouldn’t be an issue.
In a while she’d try to draw more insulation supplies, when the extreme cold hit, maybe they could ride it out.
The only problem was, once that happened she wouldn’t be able to go out for supplies, and her “space-type ability user” identity might just have to be exposed.
Bai Zhuo’s eyes curved and she gave a silent little laugh.
Space-type ability user, huh, it really was a great way to cover for a system.
Those real space-type ability users? Their personal storage spaces might not even be as big as her system warehouse.
No, they probably couldn’t even match her system inventory.
Bai Zhuo had guessed the extreme cold would come, but she didn’t expect it this fast.
Almost the moment she woke the next day, she noticed the temperature had plunged.
They were both in long sleeves and long pants and wrapped in blankets, yet they still felt a little cold.
Xue Yanhen exhaled a puff of frosty breath. “So cold. If the temperature keeps dropping like this, how are we going to get by afterward?”
Bai Zhuo pinched a corner of the blanket, then flung it open in one motion. “Wait right here! I’m going to grab something!”
“Xiao Bai!”
【System, put the stuff in the trunk of the car.】
By the time Bai Zhuo ran outside, her teeth were already chattering from the cold. She threw open the car’s trunk and took out the cotton quilts the system had just placed inside.
By the time she ran back, she saw Xue Yanhen looking at her with a grim expression.
Bai Zhuo gave her a smile. “It’s fine, I just went to grab something. I brought over the cotton quilts from before, perfect timing to use them.”
Xue Yanhen pressed her lips together, took the quilts with a stern face, and then wrapped Bai Zhuo up snug and tight, leaving only her two eyes blinking out from the bundle.
Seeing Bai Zhuo like that, Xue Yanhen helplessly patted her head and said nothing.
The extreme cold came too fast, it was around zero in the morning, and by night it had already dropped to minus ten.
Bai Zhuo sniffled and clamored for the system in her mind.
【Quick, quick, quick, hurry and pull some insulation supplies, or your kid here’s going to freeze to death!】
On the semi-transparent light screen no one else could see, the results of this round of loot boxes were displayed.
Reinforced insulation material?
What was that?
【The material reinforces the insulation of the host’s current environment, improving heat retention.】
Bai Zhuo’s eyes lit up at once. What was she waiting for! Put it to use, quick!
Just as Xue Yanhen was mentally calculating how to get through the extreme cold, she suddenly felt a bit of warmth on her body. Her first instinct was that it was a hallucination before freezing to death, but after a while she realized it seemed to really be getting a little warm.
Xue Yanhen’s first reaction was to look at Bai Zhuo, who had already set the quilts aside.
Sensing her gaze, Bai Zhuo smiled at her, eyes curving. “Want something to eat? I’m starving.”
Xue Yanhen looked at her steadily, then couldn’t help a wry laugh. “Sure.”
She wouldn’t say it, she wouldn’t ask, as long as they both understood each other, that was enough.
After all, who doesn’t have a few secrets?
In a situation like this, nothing beat the comfort of a few packs of instant noodles.
If only she could pull out other ingredients right now, Bai Zhuo would absolutely have thrown together a hotpot.
They had pots, bowls, ladles, and dishes. Xue Yanhen watched calmly as she fished all sorts of things out of that half-a-person-tall hiking pack.
The canned gas cartridges she’d drawn while looking for gasoline came in handy now. The two of them huddled around the coffee table, breathing in the long-missed aroma of instant noodles, and both let out a contented sigh.
Bitter wind gusted outside, but inside it was warm and cozy.
Cupping the finished noodles, Xue Yanhen glanced outside with a hint of worry, afraid the smell of the noodles might draw people or zombies.
Bai Zhuo signaled her to eat in peace, once they finished, they’d just destroy all the evidence.
Full and satisfied, Xue Yanhen went to deal with the pots and bowls, while Bai Zhuo, rubbing her belly, pulled up the system panel to check the supplies in the warehouse.
Even without completing the missions the system issued, there was more than enough to keep the two of them going for a long time.
【System, how long will the extreme cold last?】
【By the system’s data calculations, the extreme cold will last around 7 to 12 days, with temperatures dropping to nearly minus one hundred degrees.】
Hissss—
Bai Zhuo sucked in a cold breath. Nearly minus one hundred degrees!
Even someone like her, holding a system and armed with reinforced insulation material, felt the road ahead was bleak.
Could humanity really survive this?