Chapter 113: Collecting Snow in the Blizzard
Zhuang Mingxu was about to ask something when Lu Xi walked in. There was no trace of excitement on his face from awakening an ability. Instead, he looked rather unwell. He called out softly, “Brother.”
“Hm?” Lu Weiyi responded, halfheartedly trying to fold the blanket but giving up and just spreading it flat on the bed. “What ability did you awaken?”
Lu Xi shook his head. “Seems to be something related to hearing. I can hear sounds around me really loudly, like they’re exploding right next to my ear. It gives me a headache. But… my mind feels super clear. I’ve remembered a lot of things I’d forgotten before.”
“……” The first part was exactly like Lu Weiyi’s own reaction when he awakened his ability. As for the second part, he had always thought in his past life that Lu Xi had awakened some rare brain-enhancement ability—turned out it was a derivative of a mental-type power. “How far can you hear?”
“Each room,” Lu Xi answered, a bit embarrassed. Since waking up, he could even hear people’s private conversations.
“Hm.” Lu Weiyi walked out of the bedroom and saw people sitting scattered across various rooms. The last unconscious person from Li Qing’s group was now awake, and a bunch of men were casually chatting with their arms around each other.
“You’re awake? I made chicken offal soup with noodles this morning—I’ll cook up a bowl for you two right now,” Xi Shi called out from a little nook between the bed and the sofa, kneading dough with Xu Sa and Liu Rui helping out.
“Great,” Lu Weiyi said. “Brother Shi, make some extra and store it.”
“Li Zhuang told me we’d run out of the old stuff. I was just thinking I should make a bigger batch while the weather’s like this.” Xiong Jie helped move a table into the space where the bed had been, setting a chopping board on top.
“Brother Shi, let me help too. I used to be in the mess team—pretty good with noodles,” Lei Zi got up from the sofa and grabbed a mixing bowl.
“Sure, the more the better. That way they don’t have to just chew on bread when they head out.” Xi Shi dropped a handful of hand-rolled noodles into the pot and asked what they wanted for lunch.
“I’ll be heading out soon. Don’t worry about me—eat on your own,” Lu Weiyi said. “There’s meat and vegetables in the back room. Eat whatever you like.”
“The snow’s really thick now—it’ll probably be hard to even drive out for supplies,” Lei Zi remarked. When they arrived last night, the snow was up to their calves. It had been snowing non-stop since, and was probably knee-deep by now.
“No worries, I’m just going out for a walk,” Lu Weiyi said as he picked up a walkie-talkie and looked around before handing it to Antonio, who was busy feeding public displays of affection again. “Take this. Head out and speak into it—five meters, ten, fifteen, twenty, bit by bit. I want to test Xiao Xi’s ability.”
“What should I say?” Antonio asked as he took the device.
“Anything. Just want to see if he can hear you,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“Weiyi, can you tell what kind of power Qingji awakened?” Gu Qingyue and a few other awakened ones were inside a room studying Gu Qingji’s ability. When they heard Lu Weiyi’s instructions, they immediately came out.
Lu Weiyi looked at him.
“I can feel some energy inside me, but I don’t know what it is,” Gu Qingji said.
Lu Weiyi returned to the room and pulled out a small dagger, a seed, half a bottle of water, and a candle from his spatial storage. He also scraped some dirt off the wall. Handing the items over, he said, “Try each of these—whichever reacts is your type.”
Gu Qingji took the items and went back to the room with Gu Qingyue to test them. Lu Weiyi pulled Lu Xi to the doorway. Antonio’s voice came through the walkie-talkie: “I’m five meters from the door.”
“Okay, just mutter to yourself a bit,” Lu Weiyi responded and turned to Lu Xi. “Can you hear him?”
Everyone in the room held their breath and looked over. Lu Xi was quiet for a moment, then nodded and recited an English poem.
“Step back another five meters,” Lu Weiyi said to Antonio.
“OK,” Antonio replied. A moment later, “I’m there.”
After repeating the process a few times, they determined that Lu Xi’s range was about six to seven meters. Honestly, that was a bit weak.
Lu Weiyi had about a ten-meter range when he first awakened, and that was with normal speaking volume. If someone whispered, it probably wouldn’t carry that far.
Lu Weiyi remembered that in his past life, Lu Xi’s ability didn’t develop along this path. “I’ll teach you how to adapt to it later.”
Lu Xi nodded, clearly more relaxed. Meanwhile, Gu Qingji had finished testing. He walked out with a fresh green lettuce sprout in his hand and said awkwardly, “It’s a wood-type ability.”
“That’s amazing! If you get stronger, you might be able to grow food directly,” Li Qing said.
But Gu Qingji wasn’t thrilled. In the apocalypse, he had hoped for something more combat-oriented so he could better protect Gu Qingyue, not a logistics-support type. He forced a small smile and nodded.
Seeing he wasn’t happy, Li Qing didn’t press further and instead turned to Lu Weiyi. “In our team, three people awakened powers—fire, water, and earth types. Would you guys mind giving them a little guidance?”
He’d heard from Lin Yimu last night about the awakened ones in this group, and since everyone seemed to naturally look to Lu Weiyi, he assumed he was the leader.
“I don’t have those powers—you can ask them,” Lu Weiyi said, pointing to the relevant people.
“You’re not the team leader?” Li Qing asked in surprise, glancing at Lin Yimu.
“Nope,” Lu Weiyi replied as he handed a bowl of chicken offal noodles to Zhuang Mingxu. He grabbed another bowl for himself, nudged Dean off the sofa, and happily slurped some soup.
Lin Yimu nodded too and introduced the appropriate awakened ones to Li Qing. They were all familiar, so they quickly gathered to train together.
By the time they finished eating, Gu Qingji had adjusted his mood. “Weiyi, can you teach me how to use plants in combat? Like that little green vine you used.”
“… Cough cough cough…” Lu Weiyi choked on his drink. Zhuang Mingxu turned to pat his back, giving him a look to keep his cool. Lu Weiyi calmed down and finally said, “Get your stuff and come with me and Lu Xi—we’re not coming back for lunch.”
“Okay,” Gu Qingji replied and went to pack up, ready to leave at any time.
“I’ll go with you?” Li Zhuang leaned lazily against the wall.
“No need. I’m just going for a walk, nothing major. You guys get some rest,” Lu Weiyi said.
“We’re not doing much here either. Maybe we should…” Ning Yuan was about to suggest butchering the pig they ambushed yesterday when he suddenly remembered there were outsiders present.
The destination of Li Ji’s group was known to many in the base. If they suddenly brought out a whole pig, people might suspect they’d ambushed those men—especially given past grudges. He quickly changed course, “Never mind, let’s stay home and practice our powers.”
After asking Xi Shi, Lu Weiyi left some vegetables, flour, and meat bones for them before heading out.
Zhuang Mingxu, sitting in a wheelchair, saw him off as Lu Weiyi drove the car. As he was about to leave the courtyard, he glanced at the rearview mirror.
The vast, white, and desolate surroundings… Zhuang Mingxu pushed his wheelchair forward a bit, staring at the direction the car was going.
In that moment, Lu Weiyi felt that Zhuang Mingxu seemed like he wanted to be with him. He didn’t want to be trapped in this small world, but reality forced him to remain silent, like… an eagle that had lost its wings, staring at the sky with longing.
“Creak,” Lu Weiyi pressed the brake, leaned out of the window, and called out, “Do you want to come with me? I’m just going for a walk.”
Lu Weiyi saw Zhuang Mingxu’s back straighten instantly. His calm eyes seemed to light up slightly as he asked, “Is that okay?”
This wasn’t something Zhuang Mingxu would usually say, and he shouldn’t be so unsure of himself. Lu Weiyi felt a deep, indescribable discomfort in his heart. He nodded and said to Lu Xi, who was in the passenger seat, “Xiao Xi, sit in the back.”
Lu Xi nodded and moved to the back seat. Lu Weiyi got out of the car, picked up Zhuang Mingxu, and placed him in the passenger seat. Only then did they set off.
The snow outside had reached knee-height, making driving especially difficult.
Lu Weiyi worried that they might be traced back by their tracks, so he didn’t dare to gather supplies directly. He walked slowly for a while, covering up the tire marks with small green branches. Eventually, they switched to a truck and only started collecting supplies when they reached the next village.
After they left, the purpose was to guide the two people in their abilities. After walking for a bit, Lu Weiyi got straight to the point. He handed Lu Xi an eye mask. “Your ability seems to be mental-type. Mental-type abilities can disperse your power outward, allowing you to sense all movements and sounds within your mental power’s range. You can also use it to directly control objects. Your current level is a bit low, so let’s start by seeing if you can close your eyes and still sense your surroundings.”
“Make some gestures,” he said to Zhuang Mingxu.
Lu Weiyi continued, “Disperse your ability and check what gestures he’s making. If you can’t see them, try again.”
Lu Xi nodded obediently and put on the eye mask.
Lu Weiyi then turned to Gu Qingji. “The best use of plant-type abilities is to promote plant growth and assist in cultivating plants. Do you want to… use it for combat?”
“Yes,” Gu Qingji replied.
“I actually don’t have much experience with this. My plants aren’t ordinary; they grow from my body, almost like part of me. If they’re severed, I feel pain, but they also have some consciousness of their own and sometimes don’t follow my control.”
“Don’t follow your control? What do you mean?” Zhuang Mingxu had always thought these were just plants from his space, but he didn’t expect there was more to it.
“Let me explain,” Lu Weiyi reassured him before continuing. “Let me briefly explain my understanding of abilities…”
“Uh… Can I record this?” Gu Qingji took out his phone, which was usually used for entertainment during boredom. “I want to let Qingyue hear it when I get back.”
“Sure, I was actually planning to say that, but with so many people around…” Lu Weiyi said.
Gu Qingji nodded and started the recording function.
Meanwhile, Lu Xi took off the eye mask and looked at Lu Weiyi.
“This is similar to what’s described in cultivation novels. Different types of abilities correspond to different roots. The same cultivation method shows different abilities in different bodies.”
“You should have seen the bead cores I collected from the zombies’ brains,” Lu Weiyi said, taking a white, unneutralized bead core from his space and handing it to the others. “This core is located in the center of a zombie’s forehead, and we abilities users also have them.”
Thank you for the chapter