After returning home, Su Yue tossed the firewood into the yard and put her satchel and other belongings inside the house.
After locking the door, she went next door to pick up Su Xing from Song Zhizhi’s house.
Knock, knock, knock.
Less than a minute after she knocked, Su Xing came running to open the door.
After being cared for by Su Yue for half a month, Su Xing was finally looking healthier. Although their meals weren’t particularly good, she no longer had to endure constant hunger like before. Her little cheeks had filled out slightly.
She now wore a cotton-padded jacket and cloth shoes embroidered with reed flowers. Compared to the skinny little bean sprout she used to be, her life had improved tremendously.
Ever since spending time with Xu Chunwan and Song Taotao, she had visibly become more cheerful.
She was no longer as resistant to interacting with others.
Everything was moving in a better direction, and life was steadily improving.
“Aunt Xu, I’m taking Xingxing home now. Thank you for looking after her these past few days.”
A fire burned in the Song family’s living room as dinner cooked over it. Beside the flames, Song Zhizhi sat mending an old cotton jacket by the firelight.
“It’s no trouble at all. Having little Xing here has brought more liveliness into my days. Seeing her every day makes me so much happier.”
Leaning against a new quilt, Xu Chunwan coughed weakly from time to time. The quilt had been a gift from Su Yue as thanks for caring for Su Xing.
Xu Chunwan had firmly refused to accept money, and Su Yue didn’t want her help to go unrewarded, so she occasionally brought over useful items instead.
Song Taotao waved goodbye to Su Xing reluctantly.
His mental development had remained at the level of a young child, which made him a perfect playmate for Su Xing.
“Su Yue, don’t leave just yet. Stay for dinner! Why are you back so late today? Nothing happened, did it?”
Song Zhizhi came over and tried to pull Su Yue inside.
The sudden tug aggravated Su Yue’s internal injuries.
She frowned ever so slightly, unwilling to make Song Zhizhi worry.
Fortunately, it was dark outside and the firelight inside the house was dim. Song Zhizhi didn’t notice anything unusual.
“It’s nothing. I won’t stay for dinner tonight. I just walked a little slower coming down the mountain and gathered some extra firewood.”
The Song family already had enough fuel for the winter. They had made charcoal and stored half a courtyard’s worth, so Song Zhizhi had spent the last few days gathering food instead.
Su Yue, on the other hand, had used collecting firewood as an excuse to avoid scavenging together with Song Zhizhi.
“Don’t go tomorrow. There’s enough charcoal for both our families. If it comes to it, we can even stay together during the winter. It’s almost here—you should be stockpiling food instead.”
“Winter’s cold, and we need fuel for cooking and boiling water. The more charcoal, the better. Don’t worry, I won’t push myself too hard.”
Song Zhizhi nodded and patted Su Xing’s head.
“It’s cold outside. Don’t stand by the door. I’ll head back now. Take good care of Aunt Xu.”
Su Yue needed to return home quickly to rest, heal her injuries, and absorb the crystal cores.
After saying goodbye to Song Zhizhi, she left.
“Goodbye, Sister Zhizhi. Goodbye, Aunt Xu. Goodbye, Brother Taotao.”
Su Xing bid each of them farewell politely.
Back at home, Su Yue sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall.
She was utterly exhausted.
Her healing ability had been working continuously, and carrying a load of firewood down the mountain had further drained her already battered body.
Su Xing brought her a bowl of cool water.
“Big Sister, are you tired? Drink some water first. I’ll make dinner!”
Little Su Xing had already learned how to prepare a few simple meals by herself.
Su Yue nodded with satisfaction.
After taking off her cotton jacket, she found that the bloodstains inside had already dried and hardened. Without laundry detergent or soap, she wasn’t sure if they could ever be washed out.
She changed into another jacket, drew the blackout curtains shut, and weighed down the edges with bricks and stones. She stuffed cloth strips into the gaps around the door.
She had to make sure no light escaped outside.
Then she lit the oil lamp.
The pitch-black room immediately brightened. It was still dim, but at least she could see.
The warm orange glow spread through the darkness, adding a touch of warmth to the cold night.
Carefully removing the wooden splints from her ankle, Su Yue examined the wound by lamplight.
The gruesome bite marks on the surface had already improved considerably. Fresh pink flesh had grown back.
But the bones underneath hadn’t healed yet, and she still couldn’t put weight on her left foot.
Her internal organs still ached faintly.
She wasn’t sure whether they would recover by morning.
Fortunately, injuries didn’t interfere with leveling up her abilities.
Dinner was simple.
All they had to do was boil water, crumble a biscuit into the pot, sprinkle in a nutrient capsule, and it was ready.
Su Xing carefully ladled out two bowls of porridge.
“Big Sister, dinner’s ready.”
Su Yue took out the wild eggplant berries they had found earlier. The fruits were dark purple and full of juice, sweet when eaten.
“Wow, Big Sister, can we eat these today?”
Su Xing had been eyeing them for days.
Su Yue nodded.
The sisters split the berries between them and slowly sipped their porridge.
The porridge was tasty enough, but eating it every day wasn’t sustainable.
They needed to find some cooking oil when they had the chance—even animal fat would do.
Su Yue desperately missed stir-fried dishes.
There were still two large mutant rats at home. Thanks to the cold weather, she didn’t have to worry about the meat spoiling.
She decided they would eat them tomorrow as a reward for themselves and to give Su Xing a proper meal.
After dinner, Su Xing quickly fell asleep in her little bed.
Su Yue, meanwhile, prepared to absorb the crystal cores.
She had thirteen mutant rat crystal cores and one mutant tiger crystal core.
She decided to start with the rat cores.
Judging by their size, each one would take about an hour to absorb.
Tonight, she planned to absorb three or four of them first and see if she could upgrade her healing ability.
She lay down quietly, focused her mind, and concentrated on the flow of energy within her body.
Four hours passed.
It was already eleven o’clock at night.
The four crystal cores in her hand had crumbled into dust.
Yet her healing ability still hadn’t advanced.
The more powerful an ability was, the harder it became to upgrade. Likewise, the higher its level, the more energy it required to progress further.
In the zombie apocalypse, healing abilities were considered among the rarest and most powerful.
Only spatial abilities and mutated elemental abilities like ice, lightning, and wind could rival them.
As for Su Yue’s wood ability, it was merely one of the basic five elemental abilities, so it advanced much more quickly.
She picked up a few more crystal cores and continued.
Two more hours passed.
Two more crystal cores turned to dust.
As she absorbed the seventh core—about halfway through—she suddenly felt a wave of comfort wash over her.
Energy surged through her body in a complete cycle, as though some invisible barrier had shattered.
She had finally leveled up.
It seemed that upgrading her healing ability required roughly twice as much energy as upgrading her wood ability.
By the time she finished, it was already one in the morning.
After such an exhausting day, she quietly celebrated for a moment before drifting off to sleep.
Her newly upgraded healing ability worked even more efficiently, tirelessly repairing her body as she slept.
The next morning, Su Yue slept in for the first time since arriving in this world.
When she woke up, it was already nine o’clock.
Su Xing had left breakfast for her and was outside in the yard playing with the chicks and baby mice.
Su Yue got out of bed and stretched.
To her surprise, she discovered that both her left ankle and her internal injuries had completely healed.
Her eyes lit up.
If a level-two healing ability was already this effective, then what about level five? Level ten?
Would it be able to regenerate severed limbs, cure radiation sickness, or perhaps even bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones?
In her previous life, Su Yue had survived the apocalypse for only three years.
She had heard of a famous healing ability user who reached level four and single-handedly cured a major base leader’s brain cancer, shocking the entire world.
Before she could learn what happened afterward, she had died and arrived in this world.
Now that she possessed a healing ability herself, perhaps one day she really could cure radiation sickness.