Chapter 153: Testing the Snow Water
Lu Weiyi took a bottle of water from his space and offered it to the man. “Want to give him some water? They say drinking water helps detoxify.”
He could barely hold back a slap to himself for coming up with such a weak excuse. What’s worse was that everyone around him was looking at him like he was an idiot.
Apparently, the man didn’t think anything of it. When people are helpless, they’ll try anything and believe anything.
The man took the water and said “Thank you.”
Li Zhuang and Antonio knew about Xu Sa’s bite and had a vague sense of what was happening. They silently exchanged a glance with Lu Weiyi, thinking he was trying to save the man. But after drinking the bottle of water, the man still showed no signs of recovery from turning into a zombie.
A moment later, dark veins spread across the man’s face, and he became more monstrous.
“Hubby—!” The woman screamed, but was pulled away by the others. Just as the man rose and tried to bite someone, a metal user stabbed him in the forehead with a knife, killing him instantly.
The whole event, from start to finish, took less than three minutes. Lu Weiyi saw the dead man on the ground and felt a sense of relief, though it was unclear whether it was from luck or something else.
From the moment Zhuang Mingxu suggested he try the snow water, Lu Weiyi had known what he was really planning. On one hand, Zhuang Mingxu wanted to see if he could develop superpowers. On the other hand, Lu Weiyi was a little scared because no one knew the actual effects of the snow water. It was like a special medicine—maybe it worked for a hundred people, but you could be the one for whom it didn’t work. If Zhuang Mingxu was the one who didn’t benefit…
Lu Weiyi couldn’t bear the consequences.
He’d rather Zhuang Mingxu remained an ordinary person, at least alive.
“Achoo!” Yun Lu’s sneeze broke the silence. Lu Weiyi then realized they were all still wearing their soaking wet clothes.
He stood up from the sofa, and everyone immediately turned their attention to him. Lu Weiyi calmly walked into a room, and after a moment, he came out wearing a new set of clothes. He tossed a set of clothes to everyone, including the two women.
“Thank you,” Yun Lu said, looking up at Lu Weiyi with admiration shining in her eyes.
Guan Tong only tightened her grip on her daughter, eyeing Lu Weiyi as though she were scrutinizing a potential son-in-law. In the end, she didn’t say anything and took her daughter to the room to change clothes.
The scene made Li Qing’s mood of receiving the crystal core feel less joyful. He wanted to talk to Lu Weiyi about how this wasn’t right. Although Zhuang Mingxu was now disabled, with the healing ability of superpower users, recovery was just a matter of time.
Moreover, what Zhuang Mingxu had done for him back then was no small feat.
But with the crystal core Lu Weiyi had so generously given him, Li Qing felt reluctant to say anything more.
Indeed, when someone offers you food, it’s hard to refuse. Li Qing glared at the crystal core in his hand, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to return it. His military department had only upgraded two people so far, and their lack of abilities was one of the reasons they were struggling.
Li Qing sighed, and despite having many words to say, he said nothing.
Outside, hail began falling again, the ice pellets hitting the ground with a loud crack. Li Zhuang quickly sealed most of the windows, leaving a small gap with some light shining through.
After doing this, the group of twenty people across the room didn’t dare to glare at them anymore.
“Hey, let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Zhang Lei, a metal-type ability user. This group is made up of friends and family. We’re heading to the Qingyuan City safe base. What about you guys, are you heading there too?” A dark-skinned man spoke up, looking like the leader of the group, as he had conversed with them earlier.
“Davis Antonio, we’re from Qingyuan City base. We came out for some business,” Antonio replied, noting how rare it was to meet someone with the same ability.
“We’re all from Qingyuan, and we have family there. We’ve been on the road for a few months, trying to get back. Can you tell us what’s going on over there?” Zhang Lei asked.
Antonio didn’t hold back and shared the common information, which everyone knew already. He briefly mentioned the situation. Upon learning that entering the base required so much food, everyone exchanged looks.
“What if we don’t have enough food?” a man beside Zhang Lei asked.
“There’s a refugee zone at the base entrance,” Antonio responded.
“Aren’t the military supposed to help the people? They’re using taxpayer money to set up safe bases, but now they’re charging the taxpayers? Doesn’t that leave ordinary people with no way to survive?” the man shouted.
“Without the fees, how would all those soldiers be fed? Can you save people just by blowing air?” Li Zhuang, fully aware of how difficult things were for the military after the earthquake, couldn’t help but ask. “After the earthquake, the military rescued several counties and cities around Qingyuan. How come no one’s providing them with supplies? If they died, they died for the country, and if they didn’t, they’re still supposed to serve the people. Did they enlist, or did they sign up to sacrifice their lives for you?”
“Then… what are we supposed to do?” The man began to cry. He knew his thoughts were wrong, but when you’re struggling to survive, nothing else seems to matter.
“Sorry, he just… can’t see any hope,” Zhang Lei said helplessly. “We started with 72 people, and now there are only a few of us left. We’re not sure we’ll make it to Qingyuan safely.”
Li Zhuang shook his head. He understood the other side was just venting, and he, too, had built up a lot of anger. He pursed his lips and calmed himself. “It’s still a day’s journey to Qingyuan. The road here is far from the city, and there aren’t many zombies. You’d be better off looking for supplies than complaining. In times like this, no one can afford to blame others for the state of the world.”
*
The rain today wasn’t as heavy as yesterday, and after the rain, the temperature dropped noticeably. Learning from the previous day, everyone took out their warm clothes in advance. Lu Weiyi also gave a down jacket to Guan Tong and her daughter, which earned him a shy “thank you” from Yun Lu.
At night, it was still Yun Lu and Guan Tong cooking. The group looked on with envy as Lu Weiyi seemed to pull everything from his space, but no one dared to have any ill thoughts.
Guan Tong said she could cook, which was a bit better than the men, so she made some rice soup, a cold cucumber salad, and reheated some buns. After serving everyone, Yun Lu quickly brought a bowl of rice soup to Lu Weiyi. “You… you should eat.”
Lu Weiyi, who had been lost in thought, was suddenly interrupted. He glanced over casually, and Yun Lu blushed instantly. She quickly placed the bowl on the coffee table and hurried out.
Lu Weiyi had grown up with servants, so he didn’t think much of being served tea or food. As for girls, he had little experience and was a typical straight-laced guy, so he didn’t understand the little nuances, thinking it was all a bit awkward.
“You’ve got quite a charm, young master,” Li Zhuang teased, without hesitation.
Lu Weiyi gave him a disdainful look and ignored him.
It was then that Li Qing spoke up. “Your team is really impressive. Recently, the various families in the base held a ball. It was basically a matchmaking event. Most of them were hoping to find a good match from your team, but none of you showed up.”
“There’s such a thing? How come I didn’t know?” Antonio asked, looking at Li Zhuang.
Li Zhuang shook his head, signaling that he didn’t know.
“You didn’t know? The invitation was sent to Zhuang Mingxu…” Li Qing said, then glanced at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi calmly took a sip of his soup. He thought he remembered hearing about it, but Zhuang Mingxu never mentioned it. He certainly wouldn’t say he didn’t know. “I declined.”
“Why? Don’t you think about the single people in our team?” Antonio asked.
“A bunch of single dogs who rely on me to survive, whose abilities are so weak that they die as soon as they step out. What gives them the right to date? Can they afford to?” Lu Weiyi said matter-of-factly, glancing at Antonio. “Does Dean know you want to attend the matchmaking event? Should I tell him?”
“I hate matchmaking events. Why not focus on improving abilities instead of wasting time on that?” Antonio grumbled, taking a big bite of bun and drinking some porridge.
Lu Weiyi turned to Li Qing and smiled, “I almost forgot. Brother Mu is indeed getting older, and he’s been taking care of me all these years. Now that I’m in good health, it’s time to help him find someone. When we get back, I’ll talk to him.”
Li Qing raised his hands in surrender, then made a zipper motion across his mouth.
Lu Weiyi calmly wrapped up the conversation and continued eating.
“Why don’t you say anything about him?” Antonio asked, pointing at Li Zhuang in indignation.
“Well… I have self-awareness,” Li Zhuang chuckled, grabbing the last bun from Antonio’s side and taking a big bite before Antonio could stop him.
As the topic wound down, Li Qing suddenly remembered someone else back at the base. He cleared his throat and said, “You said you’d be back in a week, but it’s been a few days. Zhuang Mingxu might be worried.”
“Mm.” Lu Weiyi nodded and casually pulled out some meat-filled pancakes from his space, tossing them to the two men fighting over the last bun.
A punch landed on the cotton.
Li Qing took a sip of soup and smiled. “I saw your son the other day, is that your son? He’s adorable, how old is he?”
Yun Lu, who had been secretly listening to their conversation, suddenly lifted her head, staring at them in a flustered manner. Her expression was like she’d just encountered a heartless man. Li Qing caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye and felt a bit embarrassed, but he didn’t regret what he’d said.
“Of course, he’s my son,” Lu Weiyi said, now able to feel the pride of being a father. He smiled gently, “He’s three years old, very well-behaved.”
“Then you…” Li Qing was about to continue when Zhang Lei walked over. Under everyone’s gaze, he said to Lu Weiyi, “Hey, could we exchange some hot soup? I have two packs of bread to trade for a bowl. The temperature has dropped so much, my wife is pregnant…”
