Chapter 28
The thin man opened the paper box and showed the contents to others. When the other four saw the chicken sandwich, their eyes widened and they looked at the thin man. After closing the paper box, the thin man carefully put it back into the backpack.
Pointing to his backpack, the woman asked, “Is that a chicken sandwich? Why is it still in good condition at a temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius?”
The thin man was carrying a backpack and said, “I bought this at the night market last night.”
A man wearing glasses looks at the thin man in disbelief. “Last night? Did you buy it from that woman’s stall?”
The thin man nodded and said, “Yes. Have you seen the little mark on the paper box?”
“Yes.” They answered in unison.
“All of her products will have that mark on the packaging to keep the food good for two days.”
The other four looked at him like he was just telling them the biggest lie in the world. Seeing that they couldn’t believe it, he sighed. “Do you still remember the mutated bird we got a few days ago?”
The woman nodded and said, “Yes. You said you want to eat meat, so you went to hunt for mutant birds.”
“Do you know how I brought the fresh meat back to the base?” The thin man asked again.
“Nope.” The youngest man shook his head.
“I cut up the birds and put them in these paper boxes. I keep her paper boxes and use it as a portable ice box when I’m on a mission. It’s only good for forty-eight hours, but as long as the box is empty, the time will not be counted.”
When Murong Jiao heard it from the room, she was startled. She didn’t know that the small cooling array she drew on the paper boxes to keep the food fresh still had that kind of effect. That thin guy knows how long food stays fresh. He even knows that as long as the box is empty, the time will not decrease.
Touching her chin, she couldn’t help but glance at the thin man again. In fact, knowledge and technology can only advance when humans work as a community. Looking at them again, Murong Jiao decided to study the inheritance left by her ancestors. Knowing your own array functions from outsiders is rather awkward.
While Murong Jiao was still making the list of what to do, a group of five people had already walked out of the village hall. She heard their conversation again as they walked past the house where she was hiding.
“Do you want to go back to the base and buy some paper boxes from her?” the woman asked.
The thin man took a look at her and said, “You wish. She only sells food and supplies, but never paper boxes. I asked her before, and she turned me down.”
The woman snorted at the thin man and said, “That’s because you are ugly. How about we go back later and ask Luo Tian to ask her to sell the paper box to us?”
The thin man glanced at the pretty face of their team leader, and said, “I don’t mean to offend, but I don’t think it’ll work.”
“Why?” The glasses man asked.
“Captain Gu wanted to buy paper boxes last night, but she refused. I saw it with my own eyes.”
The other three looked at their leader’s face and sighed in unison. Luo Tian glared at them and said, “I heard your sighs.”
Their voices faded away as they moved further away. After confirming that the five people had left, Murong Jiao walked out of the wooden house invisibly, looking thoughtfully at their disappearing backs. Standing where she was, she pondered for a moment before walking to the mountain.
Knowing that the zombies had been dealt with by the team of five, she walked up the mountain easily. Not long after, she came to the foot of the mountain and looked at the lush green plants in front of her. The purpose of her coming to this mountain village is to get more kinds of animals, mushrooms and vegetables from forests and streams.
Although her spirit courtyard has its own collection, she still wants to get more new species. What’s more, there are no mutant animals or plants in her spirit courtyard. It’s always better to have more variety.
Taking out the sickle and hoe from her warehouse, she walked into the forest without taking off the invisibility talisman and the aura covering talisman. If she encounters danger in the forest, these two talismans can buy her some time to run away. She cut a path with a sickle and walked cautiously into the forest.
Just a few steps into the forest, she was enveloped in darkness. Looking up, she cannot see the sky from below. The mutated trees are extremely tall, and the canopy covers the entire forest like an umbrella.
After thinking about it, she took out a luminous pearl from the warehouse, held it in her left hand, and mowed the grass with a sickle. Although the light of the luminous pearl was soft, it was enough to illuminate her surroundings. With the help of soft light, she managed to pick several new types of mushrooms, wild vegetables and wild fruits.
She didn’t pull out the whole fruit tree or bush, and just gather the fruits. She will use these fruits and plant them later in her spirit courtyard, leaving these trees and shrubs for whoever dares to take them later. After walking for hours, she found a small stream running through the forest.
The water is very clear with big fish, clams and shrimp. Looking at those clams, she was excited, and hurriedly picked one, and opened it slightly. Peeking inside the clam, there are countless smooth and round pearls inside.
‘I hit the jackpot!’
Putting the calm into her spirit courtyard’s stream, she looked at the long stream and saw that it was full of giant clams. Delighted by this discovery, she was soon harvesting fish, clams and shrimp in a good mood.
She only takes the big ones and leaves the small ones behind. If she took the big one, she can keep it and raise more in the future. Seeing that the big ones were all collected, she walked back slowly into the village. It was night when she finally emerged from the forest.
After returning to the spirit courtyard to wash and eat, Murong Jiao tidied up her harvest and went out again. As night fell, the atmosphere of the silent mountain village became more terrifying than during the day. She was so frightened that she quickened her pace and left the village in a blink of an eye.
After stripping off the invisibility talisman and aura covering talisman, she took out her off-road vehicle and drove back to the Diyu Base. The base frequently dispatched superpower teams to clean up the surrounding zombies. On the way to the base, there were only a few scattered zombies. After driving for forty minutes, she saw the two women from this morning still on the same side of the road.
Knowing they didn’t want her help, she drove past them. Everyone is fighting to survive the apocalypse, including herself. She doesn’t help people who don’t need her help, and she doesn’t help everyone blindly.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw the short-haired woman walking slowly with another woman on her back. After walking a few steps, the short-haired woman fell down, but she still used her own body to pad the other woman’s fall to the ground. Seeing their pitiful appearance, she sighed deeply and parked the car on the side of the road.
Murong Jiao got out of the car, approached the two of them, and stopped a few steps away from them. Glancing at the bandage on the unconscious woman’s stomach, she said, “I want to go back to the Diyu Base. Do you want to tag along?”