The man grew increasingly enraged at the girl’s determined struggle. He waved his hand, sending another wind blade toward her right hand. This time, the wind blade was much more vicious than the first two.
Quan Xiaoyu took a big step forward and jumped behind the girl. He swung his samurai sword, creating a gust of sword wind that collided with the wind blade the man had released, instantly neutralizing the attack.
By now, Quan Xiaoyu had recognized them. They were the couple he had encountered at the hotel two months ago. At the time, the man had been unconscious, and it was the girl who had begged Quan Xiaoyu to take them out of the hotel. Before they left, the girl had even thanked him gratefully.
Back then, Quan Xiaoyu had already noticed that the girl’s boyfriend was about to awaken his ability. He had even reminded the girl to head north and leave the city with the government army.
He hadn’t expected to encounter them here, and even less had he expected to meet them again under these circumstances, in such a manner.
As soon as Quan Xiaoyu made his move, the other ability users in the team also quietly came over, ready to provide reinforcements at any time.
There had already been people in the team who couldn’t stand watching this. They had mainly been moved by the girl’s tenacity, but without Xiao Ziran and the others’ orders, no one had dared to intervene on their own. Quan Xiaoyu had made the first move, which happened to be exactly what everyone wanted.
Ma Jingjing and Lu Jie stepped forward and helped the girl up. Lu Zhongxia also walked over and gently placed his hand on the girl’s injured right hand.
The girl was startled by Lu Zhongxia’s action and shrank back slightly. But she soon noticed that her wound was covered by a layer of white light, and then it immediately began to heal until it disappeared completely.
She looked up at Lu Zhongxia, her eyes filled with astonishment.
Over on the other side, the moment Quan Xiaoyu made his move, he immediately enraged the young man.
“Fuck, are you sticking your nose into other people’s business?!”
With an angry shout, more than a dozen men suddenly gathered behind him. They were holding all kinds of homemade knives and clubs, all looking murderous.
Quan Xiaoyu paid no attention to his profanity. He raised his hand and sent a fireball straight toward the man’s face.
The man was immediately shocked. When he had seen Quan Xiaoyu make his move earlier, he had assumed he was a strength-type ability user and had been full of disdain. He hadn’t expected Quan Xiaoyu to turn around and throw a fireball at him without even bothering with half a word of nonsense.
The man released a wind blade to block it while dodging to the side. The fireball was deflected by the wind blade.
The man barely managed to avoid it, but the fireball crashed into the group of people behind him. It exploded, sparks flying everywhere and burning through their skin.
The crowd immediately descended into chaos, screaming and howling as they stumbled around, instantly revealing themselves for what they truly were: a disorganized mob of ordinary people.
An ice-type ability user from Ouyang Jing’s team immediately released a row of ice arrows. Each one landed precisely at their feet, frightening the mob into silence. The weapons in their hands also fell all over the ground, leaving them in a thoroughly pathetic state.
In truth, neither Quan Xiaoyu’s fireball nor the ice-type ability user’s ice arrows had any intention of killing. They were meant to intimidate.
They were meant to intimidate the young man and his group, as well as the other people who were still watching this side covetously and secretly observing them.
Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the two powerful abilities made the gazes that had been watching them immediately withdraw and disappear.
The more than a dozen people behind the young man who had originally been brandishing their weapons aggressively now stood rooted to the spot, not daring to make a sound.
The young man, however, knew when to yield. Seeing that his opponents were powerful, he immediately put on a fawning expression.
“Ah, ah, experts! It’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! If you all like that woman, that’s her good fortune, her good fortune! Hahaha… Everyone, please show some mercy. It’s my fault for failing to recognize true greatness. My fault, my fault…”
As he spoke, he even raised his hand and slapped himself twice across the face. The slaps rang out loudly, and he truly showed himself no mercy.
He was nothing more than a minor character, and Quan Xiaoyu couldn’t be bothered to waste time arguing with him. He simply said one word:
“Scram.”
Those people were quite sensible. They immediately climbed back into their vehicles and disappeared.
Only then did the team members relax and return to their positions, occasionally casting curious glances at the girl.
When Quan Xiaoyu turned back to look at her, her wounds had already completely healed. By then, Ma Jingjing had also recognized the girl and was telling her about what had happened at the hotel.
The girl had been staring fixedly in the direction the young man had left, her eyes filled with anger and hatred. It wasn’t until Ma Jingjing mentioned the hotel that she turned around in surprise and carefully examined Ma Jingjing.
“You are?”
It was no wonder she hadn’t recognized Ma Jingjing. Back then, Ma Jingjing had been heavily made up and covered in vulgarity, practically wearing the words “mistress” across her face. Compared with the fresh, clean, and capable woman she was now, they looked like two completely different people.
Ma Jingjing awkwardly explained what had happened back then. Only then did the girl suddenly understand.
Then, she finally got a good look at Quan Xiaoyu. She stared for a moment before her face lit up with surprise.
“It’s you!”
Quan Xiaoyu nodded at her and casually handed her some water and food.
The girl accepted them somewhat awkwardly. Only then did she realize that her own disheveled appearance and their neat, orderly state made it seem as though they came from two completely different worlds.
So two months was enough to turn an entire world upside down.
Still, she didn’t put on any airs. She carefully held the food Quan Xiaoyu had given her against her chest.
Food—the most precious thing in the apocalypse.
“Eat something and rest for a while first,” Quan Xiaoyu said to her.
Seeing how she looked now, so completely different from the girl he had first met two months ago, he couldn’t help feeling a little heartbroken.
Quan Xiaoyu had a very good impression of this girl. If the others in the team had no objections, he was willing to take her in.
Seeing this, Chu Tian smiled and gestured to the two women in the team, indicating that they should take the girl to rest for a while and help her clean herself up.
He himself pulled Quan Xiaoyu aside and asked about what had happened.
Quan Xiaoyu recounted everything that had happened at the hotel that day. Xiao Ziran and Ouyang Jing were there listening as well.
After hearing Quan Xiaoyu’s story, Xiao Ziran made the decision.
“Keep an eye on her for a while. If there’s nothing wrong with this girl, let her stay with the team.”
Chu Tian and Ouyang Jing had no objections, while Quan Xiaoyu looked quite happy.
“I’m guessing Mu Jiu won’t be coming out that quickly. Xiaoyu, you’re familiar with that girl. While you have some free time, go ask her about the situation in J City.”
Chu Tian couldn’t help rubbing Quan Xiaoyu’s head.
It was obvious that Quan Xiaoyu was in a pretty good mood now. Chu Tian always thought that he looked especially cute like this.
Quan Xiaoyu nodded at his words and quickly went over.
Ouyang Jing couldn’t help sighing inwardly. This kid was really obedient and well-behaved in front of Chu Tian.
Ouyang Jing kept the thought to himself, but Xiao Ziran wasn’t nearly as polite.
“You’re showing off your affection all day long, but in the end, you still haven’t gotten him into bed. What are you showing off for?”
There was a distinctly sour tone to his voice.
“It’s only a matter of time. Unlike you, who’s all alone.”
Chu Tian immediately fired back.
“Come talk to me after you’ve actually gotten him into bed.”
Xiao Ziran rolled his eyes. He leaned over the steering wheel and spoke to Chu Tian, who was standing outside the car through the window, looking as though he could fall asleep at any moment.
“Hey, are you okay? You’ve looked half-dead ever since earlier.”
Chu Tian frowned. He had never seen this doctor looking so listless before.
“Relax. I’m just a little exhausted. I won’t be handling things for the next couple of days. You and Captain Ouyang can take care of things.”
“You’d better recover quickly. J City is not a peaceful place.”
Chu Tian warned him.
“Got it. You’re so damn naggy!”
Meanwhile, Quan Xiaoyu’s conversation with the girl was going extremely smoothly.
After all, they had already gone through life and death together at the hotel, so the girl still trusted Quan Xiaoyu quite a bit. Quan Xiaoyu also had a very good impression of her, and their conversation quickly became more in-depth.
From the girl, Quan Xiaoyu learned what had happened to her after they separated, as well as the basic situation in J City now.
The girl was named Lin Wenxue, and her boyfriend was named Fang Jin. After leaving the hotel that day, Lin Wenxue followed Quan Xiaoyu’s advice and headed north.
They had originally come from another place for a trip. Their home was too far away, and Lin Wenxue knew very well that there was no way she could get back home. At the time, although the roads were congested, there weren’t many zombies. When she reached the northern outskirts of the city, she indeed encountered a large convoy leaving the city, so she followed them all the way out.
Lin Wenxue’s boyfriend, Fang Jin, woke up on the second day after they left S City. After waking up, he awakened a wind-type ability.
At first, neither of them knew what it was. They only felt that they had gained superpowers, making it much easier to kill zombies.
At that time, Fang Jin was still very touched by Lin Wenxue’s refusal to abandon him. The two of them traveled with the convoy, occasionally getting out together to search for food and kill zombies. They had also gotten into conflicts with other people, and back then, Fang Jin would still protect Lin Wenxue.
But as the apocalypse progressed, the zombies evolved and became increasingly powerful, while food became scarcer and scarcer. Even drinking water gradually became a problem.
Slowly, a group of ability users gathered together. Taking advantage of their abilities, they were always able to obtain the most supplies in the shortest amount of time.
The status and gap between ordinary people and ability users gradually widened.
And so, conflicts began to emerge.
Fang Jin gradually became one of the main combat forces among the ability users and was able to receive a share of the supplies. Meanwhile, after the zombies became stronger, Lin Wenxue could only hide behind Fang Jin and completely depend on his protection. She couldn’t even search for food on her own. Everything had to rely on Fang Jin.
Fang Jin’s ego gradually swelled.
He increasingly looked down on the useless Lin Wenxue and instead became involved with a female water-type ability user.
He was already fairly handsome, and he was also one of the team’s main fighters. Naturally, the water-type ability user was interested in him as well. After going back and forth for a while, the two hooked up.
Compared with Lin Wenxue, who was dirty every day, the water-type ability user, who possessed a water ability that allowed her to keep herself clean and tidy every day, was naturally much more attractive.
And so, things began developing in an extremely cliché direction.
Author’s Note: I noticed that a few little angels who often leave comments have disappeared these past couple of days. Did you drop the novel? My heart hurts…