Doomsday Grocery Store – CH50

Chapter 50

On the road, Old Li couldn’t help but ask Tang Yu’an a few more questions.

“Besides the laughter pressure point, do you know any others?” he asked eagerly. “Like the one that can freeze someone in place?”

“Grandpa, are you talking about the immobilization point?”

“Yes, yes, exactly that!”

“I don’t know that one,” Tang Yu’an said, shaking his head, though he wondered if there might be a marble that could cause paralysis someday.

Old Li looked a bit disappointed. He had hoped it was like in the martial arts novels he used to read. When he was young, he would play pretend with friends, acting out scenes after school.

Thinking back to those carefree days, he felt a pang of sadness. Those friends… they were long gone.

Soon enough, he refocused, continuing to ask questions, and after learning that Yuan An currently only knew the “laughter point” and was still practicing other skills, he encouraged him, “You should keep working hard and pass this art down.”

The disaster had destroyed so much civilization, and who knew if there would ever be a day of rebuilding…

A valuable ancient skill like this, if passed down, would mean a lot.

Tang Yu’an felt a bit guilty and replied vaguely. As for cultural heritage…well, martial arts might be out of the question, but maybe there were other ways to contribute.

They continued up the mountain.

The winding path twisted and turned, and wasn’t always uphill. Sometimes they’d go downhill, only to find, after checking the map, that they hadn’t really progressed at all.

This was one shortcoming of the map—it was only two-dimensional, and though it tracked horizontal movement, it didn’t account for vertical changes.

Would it be able to upgrade more in the future?

*

“Get lost! If you come closer, don’t blame me for getting rough!”

On the mountain path, Mingzhu, who had escaped with her son, thought she’d gotten away, only to find herself in trouble again.

Not far from the last rest stop, someone had blocked her way.

She recognized the man—one of Chen Liu’s buddies, who usually hovered around him. She hadn’t expected that after what happened to Chen Liu, this man would come after her instead of helping his friend.

“Hey, your kid looks half-dead already. Just let me have him for a snack, eh?” the man sneered. “Even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs. Don’t tell me you’d actually want to?”

Hearing this, Mingzhu’s blood ran cold, and she struggled to find words.

Suddenly, she understood.

“You and Chen Liu planned this together!”

No wonder Chen Liu had tried so hard to take her mushrooms and attacked her son—her boy had been the target all along, not the mushrooms!

The man laughed, shrugging. “Think what you want.”

He stared greedily at the boy in her arms, his gaze filled with determination, while the people around them looked away.

Mingzhu held her son tightly, her body trembling as she stammered, “The leader said no eating people in Jufeng Town!”

“Jufeng Town’s on the mountain. Outside the town, the leader doesn’t care,” the man replied with a careless smile. “Worst case, I’ll drag him past the town limits. Just have to avoid the patrol.”

Mingzhu’ was on the verge of collapse.

She glanced at the narrow mountain path, then at her son, weak in her arms. A fierce resolve flashed in her eyes.

Just as she was about to fight the man to the death, a small, round object flew in from the side, gleaming blue in the sunlight, and struck his arm.

The hit wasn’t too hard, but it made him frown.

Did someone else want to get in his way?

Just as he thought this, a wave of sadness flooded over him.

Yes, an intense feeling of sorrow suddenly surged from deep within his heart.

At the same time, every painful memory he had ever experienced flashed before his mind like a slideshow.

Memories he’d long forgotten suddenly felt sharp and piercing, heartbreakingly vivid!

The next second, tears poured from his eyes uncontrollably.

“Sob…sob…waaah—”

The once-arrogant man suddenly found himself sobbing uncontrollably. His soft whimpers quickly escalated into full-blown wails.

“Waaaah—waaah—”

Mingzhu was shocked by his outburst, her determination to fight replaced by confusion. When the man threw himself to the ground, crying, she quickly took the chance to run, clutching her son as she rushed up the path.

If they could just make it to Jufeng Town, no one would dare hurt her son…

After she fled, the man’s sobs continued to echo.

“Waaah—”

He cried so earnestly that he eventually lost his balance and tumbled down the mountain path, rolling off the cliffside.

As he fell, his pitiful sobs faded into the distance.

Onlookers, who had witnessed the entire spectacle, exchanged uneasy glances. From here, they could still faintly hear Chen Liu’s laughter echoing from the outpost. Together with the sobs, the sounds created an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.

It wasn’t long before the crowd dispersed like startled birds.

Hiding in the bushes, Tang Yu’an put away his slingshot, silently taking credit for his work.

Since there was only one path up the mountain, they quickly caught up with the unfortunate mother and son. Seeing another opportunity, Tang Yu’an decided to test another marble.

The Sadness Marble worked—it really could make someone cry!

He turned to share his thoughts, only to find Zhou Qi and Old Li looking at him with an odd expression.

Old Li was one thing, but even his older brother was looking at him like that!

Tang Yu’an mumbled under his breath, adding, “I just tried his ‘crying pressure point.’”

Old Li nodded slightly and glanced down the now-empty mountain path.

If he had fallen from here, even if he’d miraculously survived, he’d be as good as dead.

But that cannibal deserved to die a thousand deaths—no sympathy needed. Still, Old Li’s understanding of Tang Yu’an’s abilities had deepened!

“Let’s go; let’s keep moving,” Old Li said as he straightened up, confirming that the others had left.

Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi quickly followed.

“Sniff…sniff…”

A short distance away, they heard a muffled sobbing sound coming from the woods beside the path.

Tang Yu’an checked his map and saw two green dots there, giving him a pretty good guess as to who it was.

With no one else nearby, maybe it was time to initiate a trade and gain some experience!

“Grandpa, should we go check it out?”

Old Li looked at him, then at Zhou Qi standing silently by the boy’s side, and finally sighed. “Go ahead if you want.”

After what had just happened, he realized he didn’t really know these two kids as well as he thought. Their abilities might be beyond his imagination.

And besides, without their help, he’d be dead by now. Who was he to stop them from helping others?

As they approached the woods, the muffled sobs stopped.

But with the marked locations on the map, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi easily found the crying woman and her faintly breathing son hiding among the trees.

It was the mother and son they’d seen fleeing earlier.

“What…what do you want?” Mingzhu, looking like a frightened bird, clutched a stone beside her, her voice laced with false bravado. “Don’t come any closer, or I won’t be kind!”

Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi kept a safe distance.

“Sister, please stay calm,” Tang Yu’an said, holding up his hands, ready to run if necessary. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

The woman stared at him in disbelief, clearly stunned by his choice of words. After a moment, she repeated, “What do you want?”

“We’d like to trade for some mushrooms,” Zhou Qi chimed in.

“It’s you!”

Mingzhu recognized Zhou Qi’s voice and remembered seeing the three of them on the path earlier.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Looking down at her son, she thought of how excited she’d been after gathering a whole basket of mushrooms and how she might now lose her child. Sadness overwhelmed her.

“Oh, my poor child…” She cradled her son and began sobbing again.

Watching her, Zhou Qi said, “Is this your son? What happened to him?”

“That brute Chen Liu hurt him. I call to him, but he won’t respond…”

In that moment, regret consumed Mingzhu. She hadn’t realized sooner that Chen Liu had been eyeing her son. If only she hadn’t gone to that rest point, would her son have been safe?

“Why is life so hard…” she wept, “All we want is to survive. Why is that so difficult?”

Tang Yu’an tugged at Zhou Qi’s sleeve.

Zhou Qi squeezed his hand to calm him down, then said to the woman, “If you give us all those mushrooms, I can take a look at him.”

The woman, who had been resigned to her fate, looked up, her face full of disbelief.

Two unfamiliar boys stood before her, dappled with sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting a faint halo around them.

She looked at them, as though grasping at her last hope.

“Can you…can you really help him?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Before Zhou Qi and Tang Yu’an could answer, she fell to her knees, bowing her head repeatedly, “Please, save him! Please, save my son!”

Both Zhou Qi and Tang Yu’an were taken aback and quickly helped her up.

“No need for that,” Zhou Qi said gently. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll take a look.”

Zhou Qi could sense that the boy’s life force was still relatively strong—similar to when Chi Hao had 30% of his life left.

Using a basic healing bandage might help him.

“Alright, alright…” The woman quickly handed over her basket. “Take everything if you can just save him!”

Zhou Qi carefully took the boy from her and examined his injuries.

Fortunately, no bones were broken, though the child, already malnourished, seemed to have suffered some internal damage.

Zhou Qi wasn’t sure if a basic healing bandage would work, but it was worth a try.

He applied a medicinal balm to the bruises on the child’s body, then wrapped him twice with the basic healing bandage.

Each application restored 10% of his health, bringing the child’s health up to over 50%.

Whether he would survive now depended on his own will to live.

[Employee “Zhou Qi” completed a profitable transaction with a new customer, earning +48 credits, +3 experience points.]

Using the bandage twice cost 20 credits, while each mushroom was worth 1 credit, so the basket of mushrooms contained about 68 in total.

“All done.”

Zhou Qi adjusted the child’s clothing and was about to return him to his mother when Tang Yu’an tugged on his sleeve.

*

While Zhou Qi was busy bandaging the boy, Tang Yu’an hadn’t been idle.

He remembered when they had tended to Old Li’s injuries and used the Seven-Day Special Refresh Card to access new items, so he thought it was worth trying again.

[Would you like to use the “Seven-Day Special Refresh Card”?]

After Tang Yu’an confirmed, the card in his storage disappeared in a flash of light. When he opened the Seven-Day Specials page, he saw:

[Seven-Day Specials (Remaining refresh time: 5 days)]

[1. Basic Healing Bandage (2/2): 100 points/roll ]
[Description: Magical item]
[Effect*: Each roll can be used 10 times, restoring 10% of the user’s health each time (not effective if health is full). ]

[2. Basic Healing Potion (2/2): 200 points/bottle]
[Description: Magical item]
[Effect: Each bottle can be used 10 times, restoring 1% of health every 30 minutes for 4 hours, with gradual wound healing. (Can be stacked up to 3 times if consumed repeatedly). ]

Medicinal supplies—just what he needed!

Thanks to his level-up to Lv4, the available stock of each item had increased to two units. Seeing the potion’s description, Tang Yu’an almost shouted with excitement. While the overall health recovery per use wasn’t as high as the bandage, the healing potion’s long-lasting effect and cumulative healing were invaluable.

He realized that the healing bandage, as a bandage, was designed to treat external injuries, focusing on wound closure. While it could also restore health points, internal injuries would still cause gradual health loss if not treated properly.

Meanwhile, the healing potion, taken orally, would target internal wounds, healing them slowly and continually restoring health, making it ideal for internal injuries. Combining the two could potentially save a life entirely.

Suppressing his excitement, Tang Yu’an spent 200 points to redeem a healing potion, placed it in his storage, and tugged on Zhou Qi’s sleeve.

Though confused, Zhou Qi paused.

The woman, not noticing their exchange, focused on her son. She saw her son’s complexion turn slightly pink, thanks to the medicine and bandages.

“It’s really working!” She started to cry with joy.

After stopping Zhou Qi, Tang Yu’an crouched before her, reaching into his bag and pretending to pull out some ordinary lantern grass he had collected.

He explained, “He’s hurt, and he might develop a fever tonight. You can boil this in water to help reduce inflammation and fever.”

The woman looked at him, choking up. “But I don’t have any mushrooms left…”

Tang Yu’an smiled. “This grass is everywhere on the mountain. I can help you find some. By the way, may I know your name?”

“Mingzhu… my name is Mingzhu.”

“Sister Mingzhu, that’s a beautiful name.”

[You completed a neutral trade with a returning customer, gaining +2 experience points.]

Nice! A quick two experience points.

“Let’s go.” He gestured to Zhou Qi, who understood Tang Yu’an’s motives.

“Thank you…thank you so much…” Mingzhu hesitated, looking down at her son with lingering worry.

“He’s still injured, so it’s best if he rests. There are some bushes nearby with more,” Tang Yu’an said, pointing just a few meters away.

Mingzhu, seeing it wasn’t far, nodded. She followed Tang Yu’an to gather the herbs.

Throughout the interaction, Tang Yu’an hadn’t been able to fully explain his plan, but Zhou Qi caught on and quickly checked his system messages.

[Secret merchant placed a Basic Healing Potion in storage slot #1.]

Basic Healing Potion? Where did he get that?

With a quick thought, Zhou Qi opened the Seven-Day Specials page and saw the updated items. His eyes lit up as he read the potion’s description.

Understanding Tang Yu’an’s intention, Zhou Qi saw why he’d sent the boy’s mother away—to safely use the new item and gather experience points.

After Tang Yu’an and Mingzhu walked off, Old Li watched closely from a distance, ready to intervene if necessary.

Taking advantage of Old Li’s distraction, Zhou Qi discreetly took out the healing potion and gave the boy a single drop.

The dark green liquid slipped from the bottle, blending seamlessly into the boy’s lips.

Since the potion took effect slowly, the boy’s face showed no immediate changes, giving Zhou Qi a sense of relief as he returned the bottle to storage.

Checking the Seven-Day Specials again, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but smile. After using four doses on Chi Hao and now two on the boy, his initial stock of healing bandages was down to four uses.

With the latest items replenished and medical supplies readily available, Zhou Qi felt a renewed sense of peace, grateful for the extra safety net.

Meanwhile…

Tang Yu’an led Mingzhu to the bushes, where they found a few lantern grass plants.

Following his instructions, Mingzhu carefully examined and memorized the plant.

She’d seen and even eaten lantern grass before. It tasted bitter and sour, and could cause stomach issues, so she’d assumed it was inedible.

“It’s not for regular consumption,” Tang Yu’an explained, “but if you have a fever, boiling it in water can help reduce it. It’s also useful for a sore throat or to make a poultice for bug bites.”

Mingzhu committed it to memory, then began digging up the plants. She knew how dangerous a fever could be in the wasteland—people often died if it went unchecked. She had to seize this chance to save her son.

Once she’d collected the plants, Tang Yu’an pointed out her bruised face. “It looks like your face is swollen; does it hurt?”

Touching her cheek, Mingzhu winced. Chen Liu had slapped her so hard that her face had swelled.

“It’s nothing, just a small injury,” she said, trying to appear unaffected.

“I know of an herb that, if mashed and applied to the skin, can reduce swelling,” he suggested.

Mingzhu looked at him, a flicker of hope in her eyes. Knowing these remedies could be life-saving for her and her child.

However, she also knew there were no free favors in the wasteland. She looked at the boys, then at Old Li, who was standing guard over them. Clearly, they were no ordinary travelers.

Gritting her teeth, Mingzhu steeled herself. “What do you need me to do? I’ll do anything.”

Tang Yu’an was taken aback by her intensity. After thinking it over, he said, “We’re heading to Jufeng Town, and we might pass through here again tomorrow or the day after. All you have to do is gather some mushrooms or wild fruit and hand them over when we meet.”

Mingzhu looked surprised. “That’s all?”

He nodded. “Half of what you collected today would be fine.”

Mingzhu was hesitant but eventually nodded. “Alright, I’ll do it!”

Tang Yu’an pointed at a nearby dandelion. “This is the herb. It’s called dandelion. It helps reduce swelling and can be eaten as a wild vegetable. If you mash it and apply it to the skin, it should help with the swelling.”

Mingzhu widened her eyes in surprise. She had no idea this common weed had medicinal uses. She quickly dug it up.

As she collected the plants, Tang Yu’an smiled to himself.

[You completed a neutral trade with a new customer, gaining +1 experience point.]

All 6 experience points had been earned, completing a third of his weekly task!

Traveling to Jufeng Town, he’d met many new people but found it more challenging to make trades. Unlike in Desolate City, where he had time to observe new customers and evaluate potential deals, here everyone was a stranger.

After Mingzhu finished collecting the herbs, Zhou Qi returned her child to her, while Old Li had already secured the basket of mushrooms.

“Thank you so much!” Mingzhu said, her eyes welling up as she looked at her son’s healthier face.

“We need to get going,” Tang Yu’an said, checking they hadn’t forgotten anything before they left.

“Chen Liu shouldn’t be able to bother you or your son anymore,” he added as they departed.

Mingzhu was puzzled, but before she could ask, the boys and Old Li were already on their way.

“Will you come back tomorrow or the day after?” she called out. “Should I wait here for you?”

Her only answer was a wave from Tang Yu’an.

For him, the trade was complete. If they happened to meet again, they’d exchange the mushrooms and fruits as agreed; if not, they wouldn’t go out of their way.

As they disappeared, Mingzhu stood for a moment, then turned to the basket. Though the mushrooms were gone, inside were two pale yellow, soft round objects. She didn’t recognize them, but their aroma made her mouth water.

She immediately realized that it was food!

When had they put it in her basket?

Stunned, her nose tingled, and tears welled up in her eyes. She had been through so much pain and despair just moments ago, and yet, here she was, encountering kindhearted benefactors at this critical time.

These two generous boys had not only treated her son but had even left food for her… Suddenly, it felt like maybe this world was still worth living in.

“Mommy…”

A small, grimy hand reached up to touch Mingzhu’s swollen face. “Why are you crying? Does it still hurt?”

Hearing that young, familiar voice, Mingzhu’s entire body trembled as she looked down in shock.

Seeing her son, who had been on the verge of death and unable to respond, now awake, talking, and even worried about her, she couldn’t hold back her tears of joy.

“Sob… You’re alive… Xiao Bao, you’re really alive…”

She hugged her son tightly, laughing and crying at once.

*

After leaving the grove, Tang Yu’an glanced at the map, where the icons had turned a soft gold. He labeled them as “Mingzhu” and “Xiao Bao (Mingzhu’s son).”

If they returned to Jufeng Mountain in the future, they might have another chance to see them.

The transaction with Mingzhu had earned him a total of 6 experience points, 48 credits, and 68 mushrooms. After deducting the 20-credit cost for the healing potion, he’d netted 28 credits—a satisfying profit.

If they hadn’t chosen to save someone, he might not have refreshed the shop to reveal such helpful items as the basic healing bandage and the basic healing potion!

Good deeds truly had their rewards!

Moreover, after taking the basic healing potion, the child’s survival was virtually guaranteed, which was also something to celebrate.

As Tang Yu’an smiled happily, about to put the map away and focus on the trail, a system notification suddenly popped up:

[Congratulations! For rescuing 3 potential customers from life-threatening danger, you’ve earned the special title: “Little Savior.”]

Tang Yu’an: 0.0

Wow, he’d gained another special achievement title!

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