After the Sun couple rested for a bit, Xiyue helped them complete their check-in. Once the husband and wife topped up all their crystal cores into the system, they bought a few blind boxes and supported each other back to their room to rest. After two days of exhausting travel, Sun Mantian’s tense nerves finally relaxed, though extreme fatigue left him with dizziness, ringing ears, and weak limbs.
Xiyue marvelled at the fact that such a mutant plant actually existed and wondered what it looked like. She had originally assumed that any plant surviving in this cruel apocalypse would be as bloodthirsty and ruthless as the zombies. Since such a good mutant plant existed, she figured there ought to be beneficial mutant animals as well.
Sitting in a single sofa chair, Shen Yu slightly lowered his head, exposing his fair jawline. His long, slender fingers played with a fiery-red crystal core, his mind lost in unknown thoughts.
Inside a luxurious suite, the floor-to-ceiling window was already shattered. Charred bodies split by lightning and pools of rancid meat and blood were scattered across the carpet. The fiery-red crystal core turned to powder, and threads of energy fused into his body through his fingertips. As gusts of wind blew in a stench of decay, Shen Yu stood up, patted his hands, and stored the sofa into his spatial storage.
Walking over to the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, he looked down from above at the dilapidated, ruined city below, which felt as sickening as the apocalypse itself.
Glancing back at the foul-smelling room, he thought to himself that he would have to change accommodations again. He leaped downward, and the wind from all directions cradled him as he gently floated to the ground.
Ever since he arrived in City B two days ago, he had already changed residences six times. His high-level superpowers attracted wave after wave of zombies; greedy zombies possessed only a longing for energy and understood no fear whatsoever. Most of the high-level zombies in this city had been virtually wiped out by him within two days.
He strolled leisurely down the mottled streets. Behind him, wave after wave of zombie hordes were harvested by wind blades. The wind lifted his slightly long hair, revealing only a pair of icy eyes.
Early in the morning, Fang Guohua left the base to search for traces of zombies nearby. Because many people hunted for supplies in the vicinity, it was nearly impossible to find zombies anywhere around the outer perimeter of the base.
He expanded his search radius circle by circle, until he finally spotted a wandering zombie in front of a run-down residential house. Tightening his grip on the wooden stick in his hand, he edged forward step by step. The zombie seemed not to notice him, continuing to amble forward slowly. Moving up beside the zombie, he brought the stick down with a hard strike. Knocked to the ground, the zombie kept crawling forward. Stick after stick rained down until the zombie stopped moving, revealing a white crystal core inside its head.
Fang Guohua retrieved the crystal core, wiped it on his clothes, and sat on the ground, letting out a laugh. He then hurried back with his stick, intending to pick up his grandson and set off immediately.
Returning to the base, he entered the tent, shook his sleeping grandson awake, and packed a few pieces of clothing. Looking at the tent that had accompanied him for so long, he sighed; bulky items were hard to carry, so it was best left for someone else.
Holding his grandson and preparing to leave, nearby neighbors quickly came over to ask, “Old Fang, where are you going packing your bags like that? If you’ve found a good place, take me along!”
“I went out to search today and couldn’t find a thing, so I plan to go further out to look for supplies. I really have no other choice. I’m already old and can tough it out, but my grandson can’t. Leaving him here alone worries me, so I’m bringing him along.” Fang Guohua’s eyes reddened slightly, speaking from the bottom of his heart.
Looking at the child held in his arms—dressed in oversized clothes, limbs so thin they looked ready to snap at any moment, a sunken, sallow face, and innocent, confused eyes—everyone felt deeply moved. Not knowing what to say, they all dispersed. The moment he left, his former tent was carved up piece by piece by the others.
After collecting their daily potato and water rations first, he held his grandson and walked out of the base.
Only a few steps outside the base, he was called back: “Grandpa Fang, are you leaving too?”
The child before him was named Qian Lele. Previously, he and his father had set up a shelter right next to Fang Guohua’s. One day, after his father went out to hunt for supplies, he never returned. Those who came back said his father was gone. Seeing that he was the only child left, the people around drove him out and divided up all his belongings among themselves. From then on, he could only sleep on the bare ground; if he didn’t swallow his potato and water immediately upon receiving them, they would be snatched away. Consequently, as soon as he received his rations, he would instantly stuff them into his mouth and glare fiercely at anyone watching nearby.
Fang Guohua had once seen him shivering on the ground. Seeing a child about the same age as his own grandson, he gave Qian Lele a jacket, but nothing more. He had a child of his own to raise and simply didn’t have excess kindness to spare for others.
Who would have thought that from that single gesture, Qian Lele would greet him every time he saw him, and whenever Fang Guohua went out to forage, Qian Lele would step in to help if other kids picked on his grandson.
Looking at the child wearing the oversized jacket he had given him—so dirty it was starting to clump—wearing no pants, revealing dark, skinny legs, and trashy, ruined shoes on his feet, his hair stuck to his cheeks in matted locks, looking as skinny as a skeletal doll… Despite the lack of food and clothing, he had managed to survive in his own fierce, wild way, even though he was only six years old this year.
“Grandpa is taking Xiaojun somewhere else, and we’re not coming back,” Fang Guohua said, looking at him with unbearable pity.
“Grandpa, can you take me with you? I can do anything! I can fight zombies too! I’ll take care of myself! Grandpa, please take me with you! I’ll find my own food!” Qian Lele looked at Fang Guohua expectantly, the yearning in his eyes deeply touching.
“Grandpa, take big brother with us. Big brother is nice, Xiaojun wants to be with big brother,” Fang Xiaojun tugged at his grandfather’s arm.
Fang Guohua looked deeply at Qian Lele. “Grandpa is going to the center of City B, where there are many zombies. Grandpa doesn’t know what kind of place we’ll end up in, or even if we can survive. Do you still want to come along?”
“I do! Grandpa, please take me! I’ll definitely be obedient! I’ll take good care of myself and little brother Xiaojun! I can fight zombies too!” Qian Lele nodded heavily, looking tenaciously at Fang Guohua.
“Then you must stay glued to Grandpa’s side as we walk. No matter what you see, don’t be afraid, okay?” Fang Guohua freed a hand and took hold of Qian Lele’s hand, which was so thin it was just skin and bones, and walked toward City B.
Keeping Grandpa Fang’s words in mind, Qian Lele stayed pressed close to his side, matching his footsteps. Along the way, they brushed past zombies time and time again; although Qian Lele felt terrified, he didn’t dare slow his pace for a single second.
Passing by a children’s clothing store, Fang Guohua took the two children inside to gather a large bag of clothes, also picking out a comfortable pair of shoes for Qian Lele.
Walking along while staring at his new shoes, Qian Lele wanted to cry but didn’t dare to. He tightly gripped the hem of Fang Guohua’s clothes, vowing in his heart that he would be exceptionally good to Grandpa and Xiaojun!