“What is this?” Yu Beiyan reached out, took it, and smelled it. It seemed to smell a bit better than the biscuits, but still not as good as the scent on the person in front of him.
“You’ve never had this before?” Wei Xicheng widened his eyes slightly. Based on his observations over the past few days, he knew that Yu Beiyan was a bit blunt but not stupid. But if he didn’t even recognize a sausage, what kind of background did Yu Beiyan have?
“Never seen it.” Yu Beiyan tossed the sausage back into Wei Xicheng’s arms and turned around, his back to him. He had never eaten compressed biscuits either, he had just seen the lab coat people complain about them frequently. He had no interest in trying them.
“Pfft.” Wei Xicheng chuckled, tore open the sausage packaging, and waved it in front of the man who was focused on the scenery. “Try it? It’s really good.”
Yu Beiyan looked at the smiling person standing next to him, frowned, and took a bite from Wei Xicheng’s hand. He swallowed it hastily, clicked his tongue, and said in a dismissive tone, “It’s okay, average.”
It looked like he wouldn’t be eating a second bite.
No matter how many times he warned himself, Wei Xicheng really couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this person. His smile grew wider, and in the end, he couldn’t resist throwing the bite of sausage that had been bitten into into his own mouth. He chewed it a couple of times before swallowing. As he opened his mouth, a strong ham flavor filled the air. He deliberately exhaled while standing in front of Yu Beiyan, “Then what do you think tastes better?”
“Come with me.”
Wei Xicheng was curious about what kind of game this blunt person was playing. He raised his foot to follow his steps, and behind him, he heard Lin Huan’s voice.
“Mu Shuyang, where are you going? We’ll be leaving soon.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Xicheng turned around and gestured, signaling that they would be back soon. Lin Huan was then reassured and began organizing their things. With Mu Shuyang and the others, their team’s strength had been greatly improved, and their journey had been much smoother.
However, what Lin Huan didn’t know was that in the original storyline, although they had faced a life-and-death situation in the end, they had dealt with the previous dangers and difficulties themselves. This time, with experts accompanying them, there were fewer dangers, and they hadn’t improved at all. This situation was clearly more dangerous in the apocalypse.
“I’m asking you, where are you going?” Wei Xicheng patted the person in front of him on the shoulder. Not receiving a response, he heard rustling noises coming from the bushes ahead.
Wei Xicheng quickly grabbed the person in front of him and pulled him behind a tree, his body on alert. Lowering his voice, he said, “Listen.”
Two or three zombies staggered out of the bushes, no more than twenty meters away from their camp. Wei Xicheng glanced at Lin Huan, who was still packing up, and was about to shout to them to get ready, when a hand covered his mouth.
He looked at Yu Beiyan in confusion.
“I can handle it. Don’t make a sound. Didn’t you want to see what I like to eat?” Yu Beiyan said.
“Two or three, you can handle it, but what about a whole group? Who cares about eating right now? People’s lives are at stake, you fool!”
No matter how complicated Wei Xicheng’s thoughts were, his eyes couldn’t convey all that emotion. The zombies were getting closer, and Yu Beiyan finally removed his hand.
Before Wei Xicheng could turn to call out to Lin Huan, he saw Yu Beiyan disappear, leaving only a blur of motion. The two or three zombies fell to the ground immediately. Yu Beiyan stood next to the zombies and waved, signaling him to come over.
“What are you doing?”
Yu Beiyan took out the small knife Lin Lei had given him and made a small incision on the zombies’ skulls. Contrary to what one would expect, there was no brain matter or blood splattering. Instead, Yu Beiyan pulled out three transparent crystal stones from their skulls, which gleamed under the sunlight.
“Here.” Yu Beiyan wiped the knife on the ground, then wrapped it around Wei Xicheng’s hand and had him grip one of the crystal stones tightly. “You can eat it.”
“This is a crystal core?” Wei Xicheng, who had experienced the apocalypse, had never seen a crystal like this before. It was the first time he saw a crystal extracted from a zombie’s brain, and it was so clean. No, it was the first time he realized the zombie’s brain was actually empty.
“Only these are so beautiful.” Yu Beiyan lifted his chin and pointed to the zombies on the ground, then suddenly said, “Only you and I can eat them.”
Hearing this, Wei Xicheng didn’t respond immediately. It wasn’t until later that he recalled that in the original storyline, although there were people with abilities, their abilities were fixed from the moment they were awakened and couldn’t be improved, no matter what methods they used. It was like a new way of categorizing people into different levels.
Whether it was those who had lived through the apocalypse or the locals in the world of novels and comics, everyone had considered using crystal cores from zombie brains to replenish energy. But in this world, it was impossible. Because for some unknown reason, the crystal cores contained a more toxic zombie virus, and anyone who tried to absorb it was ultimately infected, including those with abilities.
Wei Xicheng gripped the crystal core tightly and, to his surprise, felt a trickle of energy seep into his body through his palm. He felt his body and strength change noticeably.
Along with these changes, some negative conditions vanished without a trace. He could absorb the energy from the crystal cores, and his inherent traits prevented him from being infected by the virus.
However, Wei Xicheng still didn’t understand Yu Beiyan’s words, “Only you and I can eat them.” From this, it seemed Yu Beiyan knew others couldn’t absorb the energy from the crystal cores, but why did he know he could? And why did he know that Wei Xicheng could also absorb it?
Moreover, while these crystal cores could eliminate negative conditions in the body, they couldn’t compare to enjoying real food.
Wei Xicheng was confused, unsure where to start asking.
Unconsciously, the crystal core in his hand had turned to powder, and the other two were still tightly gripped in his hand. The next moment, Yu Beiyan took them back. Before he could blink, the crystal cores had turned into a handful of dust, scattered in the air.
“Your body can only handle one.” Yu Beiyan held onto Wei Xicheng and walked toward the temporary camp they had set up earlier, blocking the many questions that Wei Xicheng hadn’t asked yet.
“Are you back? Great, everything’s packed. Let’s go.” Lin Huan slung the last small bag over his shoulder and walked toward the off-road vehicle. The others were already in the car.
Wei Xicheng suppressed his many questions and waited for an opportunity to ask Yu Beiyan later. When he was ready, he noticed the atmosphere in the car had become heavy.
Lin Lei tightened his grip on the steering wheel, then finally let go and turned halfway to face the others. Frowning, he hesitated before speaking, “Recently, we haven’t found new supplies, and the ones we have on the car are running low. Everyone should conserve food and water; we need to gather supplies at the next base.”
“But we don’t know the situation at the next base. Along the way, you should’ve noticed that the zombies are evolving. Their speed and intelligence have increased, and after this…” Lin Lei raised his eyes and glanced at Wei Xicheng and Yu Beiyan before continuing, “I hope everyone can help each other and hang in there.”
Yu Sheng and Lin Jianbai both glanced at Wei Xicheng. It was obvious that the two people who had joined the car midway had brought no supplies. Yu Beiyan was fine, as he had been handling zombies and providing physical strength, but the other person had neither contributed physically nor mentally and had taken a lot of supplies unnecessarily.
The two exchanged looks. Yu Sheng smiled mischievously and said, “How about this? Let’s not divide everything equally, let’s distribute it based on work. Those who can do more should do more, and those who work more get more. How about that?”
Giving more supplies to Yu Beiyan would make little difference—how much could he eat or drink alone? But at least they could save the portion for a “useless person.”
The meaning of his words was clear, especially since Yu Sheng didn’t hesitate to point at Wei Xicheng as he spoke. The contempt in his eyes was so obvious that it was hard to ignore.
Lin Huan glanced at Wei Xicheng, wanting to say something in his defense, but her brother stopped her with a gesture. Lin Lei shook his head at her. Lin Huan, annoyed, flicked her hair and focused on looking out the window, not wanting to look at the others.
“Alright.” The boy’s gentle and clear voice rang out, still carrying a trace of amusement. He didn’t mind the hostility and disdain from the others.
“Fine. We’ll do it that way from now on.” Yu Sheng quickly confirmed the arrangement, fearing that Yu Beiyan might speak up for Wei Xicheng.
Wei Xicheng ignored the others and looked at the hands that had unknowingly interlocked with Yu Beiyan’s. He smiled. It seemed like Yu Beiyan had always wanted to change clothes. He opened the system and saw that the nearest base was a developing town, and it should have clothes suitable for this person.
Or perhaps it wasn’t the person choosing the clothes, but the clothes choosing the person. With his figure, he’d look good in anything.
As for the dense zombies and various level indicators on the panel, Wei Xicheng didn’t pay them any mind.
The Lin siblings’ attentiveness was not without reason. When they found the off-road vehicle, they had also collected gasoline, so aside from occasionally resting for a day, they mostly stayed on the road.
They could now vaguely see the outline of the town. Once they saw the houses, everyone’s enthusiasm was reignited. In the past two days of traveling, except for Wei Xicheng, everyone had been tightening their belts, fearing they would run out of food before reaching the next base, and even more worried they wouldn’t find enough supplies when they arrived.
Upon reaching their destination, Lin Lei parked the vehicle in a hidden spot.
“Let’s split up. Leave two people to guard the car.” Lin Lei maintained his role as the leader, gesturing for Lin Huan to follow him. He didn’t trust anyone on the car and wouldn’t leave his sister behind.
“I’ll stay with Mei Zi to guard the car. You guys go quickly and come back soon.” Yu Sheng rubbed his hands together and threw a look at Mei Zi, causing Mei Zi to giggle and scold him for being improper.
Da Lei spat, pulled the still somewhat reluctant Lin Jianbai, and turned to leave.
thanks for the update…