Huo Mian stared at the swirling ball of wind, unable to hide the envy in her eyes.
If this little whirlwind could turn into a tornado, what would she have to fear from zombies? One zombie, and she could blow it away. Two zombies, and she could send both flying. They wouldn’t even have a chance to get close.
Xia Yan caught the envy in Huo Mian’s eyes, and a hint of pride rose in his heart. The corners of his lips lifted into a confident smile.
Then he thought that Huo Mian’s awakened ability might be relatively ordinary, and perhaps showing off like this wasn’t very considerate.
So he withdrew his ability and said softly, “Actually, there’s no such thing as a superior or inferior ability. It all depends on how well you make use of it.”
Huo Mian nodded deeply in agreement.
She had initially complained that her healing ability couldn’t kill zombies, but after using it to heal the huge bump on her forehead, she had come around.
Her ability could heal injuries and even save her life at a critical moment. It was still useful.
Huo Mian looked at Xia Yan, her tone becoming gentler.
“I awakened a healing ability.”
Xia Yan was slightly stunned. A trace of surprise flashed behind his glasses. He hadn’t expected Huo Mian’s ability to be so special.
There were more than 120 people in the cafeteria, but only eight had awakened abilities. Some of the abilities were even duplicates, yet none of them possessed a healing ability.
Xia Yan stared at Huo Mian with undisguised admiration.
Not only did the name Huo Mian give off a soft and gentle impression, but her personality was also mild and docile. Even her awakened ability was more suited to support. She seemed gentle and harmless in every way.
Thinking this, the smile on Xia Yan’s face grew wider as he wrote down Huo Mian’s ability type in his notebook.
After finishing, he slipped the notebook back into his pocket.
“Junior Huo, I’ll introduce you to the other ability users. They’re in the kitchen.”
Huo Mian nodded slightly and smiled.
“Okay, Senior Xia. Thank you.”
Xia Yan chuckled.
“Don’t mention it. It’s my responsibility. Let’s go.”
Huo Mian hummed in acknowledgment and followed Xia Yan toward the cafeteria kitchen.
The two made their way through the crowd. People occasionally cast curious glances at them, lowering their voices to whisper among themselves. Still, no one dared to step forward and say anything.
It wasn’t until the two of them disappeared from sight that everyone relaxed a little and began discussing them in hushed voices.
A male student asked, “Hey, who’s the girl walking with Xia Yan? Anyone know?”
“She might be an ability user. All the ability users are gathered in the kitchen.”
Someone sighed wistfully. “If that’s really the case, she’s practically on par with Goddess Bai. If I had to choose between the two of them as a girlfriend, I’d definitely pick that girl. Goddess Bai is way too aloof. If you’re looking for a girlfriend, of course you want someone gentle and considerate.”
Someone snorted.
“It’s broad daylight, and you’re already daydreaming. Why don’t you take a look in the mirror? With a face like yours, you actually think you have a chance with her?”
A long-haired girl overheard the boys and said coldly, “Hmph. She thinks she can get away with everything just because she’s pretty. Throwing herself at any man she sees—she has no self-respect at all!”
The round-faced girl beside her rolled her eyes.
“Chen Yiqian, don’t be bitter just because you can’t have what you want. You’ve been chasing Xia Yan for years, but he doesn’t even like you.”
Chen Yiqian’s secret had been exposed, and she angrily hissed, “Lu Yuanyuan, mind your own business.”
Lu Yuanyuan’s temper flared.
“You think I want to meddle in your business? If my mom hadn’t told me to look out for you, do you really think I’d care about you?”
Someone nearby tried to mediate.
“Forget it, Yuanyuan. Don’t bother arguing with her. Let her be.”
Seeing that Chen Yiqian was still hopelessly stubborn, Lu Yuanyuan gave a soft snort and turned to walk away with her companions.
Inside the cafeteria kitchen.
The moment Huo Mian stepped inside, she saw two girls and four boys sitting on small stools, seemingly discussing something.
They appeared to notice the movement at the doorway and all turned their eyes toward Huo Mian.
Their expressions varied—some were puzzled, some surprised, some curious, while others remained calm.
Huo Mian’s gaze instinctively fell on Bai Ningrong.
Bai Ningrong was wearing a simple white dress, her hair neatly tied into a ponytail. Her delicate oval face looked as though it had been carefully painted, and her almond-shaped eyes regarded Huo Mian calmly. An unmistakably cool and aloof aura surrounded her.
Xia Yan cleared his throat and smiled warmly.
Seeing that everyone was looking over, he introduced her.
“This is Huo Mian, a second-year student from the Chinese Department. She awakened a healing ability, so I brought her over to meet everyone.”
Huo Mian looked at everyone and gave them a friendly smile.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Huo Mian.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, drifting gently into everyone’s ears and making them unconsciously lower their guard around her.
The moment Huo Mian finished speaking, everyone formed a preliminary impression of her.
This girl is such a gentle, soft-spoken sweetheart!
Bai Ningrong’s eyes flickered. After thinking for a moment, she stood up and walked over to Huo Mian with a faint smile.
“Hello, Junior Huo. I’m Bai Ningrong, a third-year student from the Economics and Management Department.”
Seeing Bai Ningrong take the initiative to greet her, Huo Mian’s eyes immediately lit up, and her voice carried a hint of cheerfulness.
“Hello, Senior Bai. It’s nice to meet you. I hope you’ll look after me in the future.”
Looking into Huo Mian’s sparkling eyes, Bai Ningrong suddenly had the impression that Huo Mian was trying to curry favor with her.
She shook off the random thoughts in her mind and continued, “You’re too polite, Junior Huo. We’ll look after each other. By the way, do you live off campus?”
Huo Mian nodded and answered softly, “Yes. My companion and I just came here from home.”
Remembering that Xu Mingfan would eventually join the male protagonist’s team, she immediately added, “Oh, by the way, my companion awakened a metal-type ability.”
She would establish some goodwill in advance and strengthen their relationship. Later, she could find an appropriate opportunity to ask to join their team.
Out of courtesy, they probably wouldn’t refuse, right?
Huo Mian wasn’t entirely sure.
Upon hearing this, Bai Ningrong turned her head toward Xia Yan. She saw him freeze slightly, apparently surprised that Huo Mian’s companion was also an ability user.
Xia Yan noticed Bai Ningrong’s gaze, pushed up his glasses, and explained seriously.
“That Mr. Xu is Xu Wanluo’s older brother. They just reunited, so they need some time to deal with family matters.”
After saying that, he noticed Bai Ningrong was still staring at him, a probing look in her eyes.
Xia Yan felt slightly uncomfortable and quickly avoided her gaze.
“Well… they’ve probably finished dealing with their family matters by now. I’ll go get him.”
With that, he hurriedly turned and left, somehow giving the impression that he was fleeing.
Bai Ningrong and Xia Yan were both members of the Student Union’s Organization Department, so they knew each other fairly well.
Seeing Xia Yan’s reaction, Bai Ningrong’s gaze instinctively shifted to Huo Mian’s beautiful face.
She immediately understood.
Spring was a season of restlessness…
After Xia Yan left, Bai Ningrong carefully introduced Huo Mian to the other ability users present.
Among the six ability users, aside from Bai Ningrong, there was a pretty, delicate-looking girl named Su Yan, who had awakened a water-type ability.
Of the four boys, Zhao Weiguang and Ye Shinan had awakened earth-type abilities, Luo Lixin had awakened a fire-type ability, and Zhong Zhenye, like Xu Mingfan, had awakened a metal-type ability.
After everyone introduced themselves, Bai Ningrong pulled Huo Mian onto a stool and asked about the situation outside.
Huo Mian’s expression turned solemn as she described everything she had seen and experienced on the way there.
When everyone learned that zombies were also running rampant outside the school and that all order had collapsed, their expressions grew grim, worry filling their eyes.
A short while later, Xia Yan entered the kitchen with Xu Mingfan.
Everyone introduced themselves again, then took their seats and continued discussing their plans.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Bai Ningrong’s dark almond-shaped eyes were as cool and aloof as ever.
“The food here is only enough to last us one day. I already suggested moving the supplies from the convenience store here. What do you all think?”
Everyone reacted differently. They exchanged glances, their eyes darting between one another as though trying to read each other’s thoughts from their expressions.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Xia Yan pushed up his glasses and said calmly, “I agree with Ningrong’s plan.”
Zhao Weiguang scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat simple and honest.
“I think it’s a good idea. The sooner we move the supplies back, the more at ease we’ll feel.”
Ye Shinan frowned.
“But how should we arrange the people to move the supplies? If everyone goes, there’ll be too much noise and it’ll be easy to attract zombies. But if only some people go, won’t that cause conflict among those who stay behind?”
Xu Mingfan immediately replied, “If you’re worried about conflict, why not have everyone go? With more people, we can move the supplies faster, and it’ll also greatly reduce the risk.”
Xia Yan frowned slightly, looking troubled.
“That makes sense, but I’m just worried something will go wrong when the time comes.”
After saying this, he turned his gaze toward Huo Mian.
Seeing how calm she looked, he asked, “Junior Huo, what do you think?”