The warehouse of the hardware store was not large, only about thirty square meters.
The locals had already searched this place as well, and the weapons they had taken were long gone, leaving almost nothing behind. However, Lin Yun’s main reason for coming to the hardware store was to find a generator.
After searching the warehouse, Lin Yun quickly spotted something on a shelf in the corner.
It was a solar generator.
However, upon closer inspection, she realized that it was actually an integrated solar-powered lithium battery unit equipped with three solar panels.
Having found what she needed for today’s task, Lin Yun left the hardware store.
Just as she was about to head toward the flower market, a commotion came from the alley beside the hardware store.
[Youyou! It’s rats again! They’re chasing two humans!]
The moment Ghost Vine realized that there were rats, it became excited.
It hadn’t forgotten that rats could be exchanged for points—one rat for one point—which was far more valuable than bones.
The footsteps grew louder.
Lin Yun quickly ducked behind an abandoned car. A moment later, two girls came running out of the alley in a panic.
One of them looked somewhat familiar.
Wasn’t she the girl with the single ponytail and the cleaver whom she’d met at the department store?
How had she ended up being chased by a swarm of rats?
Chen Anna grabbed the other girl and ran forward in terror. Behind them, a dense swarm of rats chased relentlessly, their shrill squeaks sending chills down the spine.
Ghost Vine eagerly urged Lin Yun:
[Youyou, let’s go! So many rats! So many points!]
Lin Yun hesitated for a moment.
After all, she’d only met Chen Anna once.
Just then, a rat suddenly leaped toward Chen Anna’s feet and opened its mouth to bite her leg.
Chen Anna screamed in fright.
Lin Yun clicked her tongue, swung her backpack around, grabbed her stalk stick, and rushed forward. She swung the stick at the rat closest to Chen Anna.
Ghost Vine also dropped to the ground, its tendrils shooting out and quickly wrapping around several rats. Its sharp vines pierced straight into their heads.
The rats struggled for a few moments before going still.
Seeing this, Chen Anna and the other girl finally regained their composure. They raised their weapons and turned around to fight the rats as well.
With everyone’s combined efforts, the swarm was gradually wiped out.
Chen Anna panted heavily as she looked at Lin Yun gratefully.
"Thank you. If it weren’t for you, Yao An’an and I would definitely have been eaten by those rats."
Lin Yun nodded.
"Let’s get out of here quickly. There are more rats than just these in this town."
With that, she submitted her spoils to the system.
There were 21 rats in total, earning her 21 points.
Just as Lin Yun was about to leave, Chen Anna quickly called out to her.
"You submitted all those rats, right? You saved us, so the points should belong to you."
Yao An’an nodded as well.
Compared with their lives, a few points were nothing. Besides, the girl in front of them clearly wasn’t ordinary. She had a powerful mutated vine accompanying her, so befriending her could only benefit them.
Lin Yun glanced at the two girls but didn’t refuse. She submitted the rats and received the points.
Including the previous 18 points, she now had 26 points.
"By the way, I found some corn somewhere nearby. Do you want to come with us tomorrow and pick some?"
Chen Anna extended another invitation.
Since they had already met again, she naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to get closer to Lin Yun.
Lin Yun raised an eyebrow.
She didn’t understand Chen Anna’s intentions. They had only met by chance, and she had merely helped them deal with the rats. Why would Chen Anna be willing to take her to a place where she’d found food?
Seeing that Lin Yun remained silent, Chen Anna hurriedly explained, "I don’t mean anything by it. I just thought... it’s not easy for us girls in this world. Since we’ve met twice, it must be fate. It would be nice if we could help each other."
That was how Yao An’an had ended up with her.
After leaving the department store, Chen Anna had soon encountered Yao An’an, who was being attacked by rats. Seeing her in such a disheveled state, Chen Anna couldn’t bring herself to ignore her and had gone over to help.
Neither of them had expected the number of rats to increase so dramatically. The two girls had been forced to flee, eventually leading them to Lin Yun once again.
Lin Yun thought for a moment, glanced at the time, and shook her head.
"Not today. I still have other things to do."
"How about tomorrow? We can meet at the same department store as before."
"Okay."
Lin Yun agreed.
It was corn, after all.
Only a fool would refuse free food.
After the three girls parted ways, Yao An’an quietly asked, "Do you know her?"
"I don’t know her. I’ve only met her once before."
Yao An’an didn’t ask anything else. It was someone else’s private matter, after all.
"Oh."
She said nothing more.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun quickly headed toward the flower market.
It was getting late, and after finding what she needed, she had to hurry back to the mountain. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be safe once darkness fell.
The small clinic mentioned by the camphor tree was located right in front of the flower market.
As expected, almost all the medicine inside had already been taken. The clinic was empty, with various items scattered messily across the floor.
As usual, Lin Yun went inside to see if anything had been overlooked.
Fortunately, she found several bottles of allergy medicine inside a smashed cabinet.
However, she didn’t know what year it was in this world and couldn’t determine whether the medicine had expired.
It wasn’t a big problem. She could keep it for now and ask the system later.
At worst, she could spend some points to have the system check it.
The small clinic carried both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.
Lin Yun checked the traditional Chinese medicine section as well.
Perhaps because preparing traditional medicine was more troublesome in the apocalypse, many people had simply left after seeing that it was a Chinese medicine pharmacy. As a result, this section remained relatively untouched.
Lin Yun opened several small drawers in the medicine cabinet and looked inside.
Most of the herbs were still there, although some had already become moldy and were unusable.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know much about traditional Chinese medicine. She only knew the names and general effects of some herbs, but she didn’t know how to combine them or prepare them properly.
After searching the other sections of the clinic, Lin Yun left with some regret.
By then, it was already getting late.
If she entered the flower market now, she probably wouldn’t have enough time to return to the mountain before dark.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Yun ultimately gave up on entering the flower market.
There could be other mutated plants inside, and if she delayed too long, she really might not make it back in time.
After checking her direction, Lin Yun hurried toward the shelter.
Fortunately, they encountered no further trouble along the way.
Soon, she arrived near Ghost Vine’s territory.
The moment she entered the territory, Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief. The tension she’d been carrying all day finally began to fade.
[You go back first! I’m going hunting!]
Ghost Vine climbed down from Lin Yun’s shoulder.
It had been hungry all day. No animals had passed through its territory, so it hadn’t eaten anything.
"Okay. Come back early, and be careful."
[Okay, okay!]
Ghost Vine quickly disappeared into the surrounding vegetation.
Lin Yun returned to the shelter.
She took a shower, changed into clean clothes, washed the clothes she’d been wearing, and hung them outside on the vines to dry.