Xiao Huang thought carefully for a moment, then said: “Yesterday, I could sense danger. From far away, I could feel it approaching, so I could avoid it—like turning onto a different road instead of taking that one.”
“Today, I was able to use that perception at extremely close range to dodge and weave between zombies.”
“It’s exhausting when there are a lot of zombies—I can’t relax for a single second. Because a second-generation zombie’s pounce happens in the blink of an eye—many times, I dodged by just brushing past them.”
“That kind of movement takes a huge toll on my stamina.”
That was why he’d collapsed from exhaustion.
The elderly folks couldn’t quite understand what “movement” meant. But the gamers at the Youth Apartments all went: “Whoa!”
Ask any gamer—who wouldn’t envy that ability?
Even though the ability itself wasn’t evasion, it effectively maxed out their dodge stat.
As for collapsing from exhaustion—kid, you charged into a nest of zombies! Anyone would be wiped out after that.
Making it out alive alone was already impressive.
It sounded like an ability that wasn’t offensively strong, but had incredible survivability.
Jiang Cheng nodded. Seeing his color had improved and he could sit up, she asked: “Do you want to go home and rest?”
But Xiao Huang looked across the street at the west gate of his own complex, resistant.
He didn’t dare go back to that empty home.
Zhou Wang understood completely. He didn’t like going home either—empty, depressing.
If he weren’t so busy, staying alone at home would be torture on his psyche.
He sighed and was about to say, “Why don’t you stay at my place?”—when Jiang Cheng said gently: “If you don’t want to go home, you can come over to our side.”
Zhou Wang: “…”
Jiang Cheng continued: “We have a lot of empty units—all single apartments, small, perfect for a young person living alone. A lot of us aren’t much older either—they’d be like older brothers and sisters to you. Everyone can look out for each other.”
Zhou Wang: “…”
Right. This was the Jiang Cheng he knew.
Hearing about someone else’s ability and having the nerve to poach them right to their face, without a hint of shame.
This girl’s dictionary probably never contained the word “embarrassment.”
By contrast…
Zhou Wang couldn’t help glancing at Brother Dong.
Brother Dong: “…?”
Zhou Wang looked away.
Brother Dong was now a strong ability user too. And he hadn’t planned to stay long—just wanted to crash for one night out of caution, then see how things went before heading home.
Yet Jiang Cheng wouldn’t even agree to that—she’d pushed him straight onto Zhou Wang.
Zhou Wang now knew what Brother Dong had done back then.
But he still thought Jiang Cheng was too young, too unforgiving.
The purest water holds no fish. When using people, you should be flexible and consider their value.
What Zhou Wang didn’t know was that Jiang Cheng was fully aware of how powerful and useful Brother Dong’s ability was.
But the moment she’d reunited with Brother Dong, a thought had flashed through her mind—
[Loyalty is more important than value.]
This awareness came from deep within her locked memories, from Jiang Cheng’s true self.
So even with Brother Dong trying so hard to ingratiate himself, Jiang Cheng had rejected him without hesitation.
Zhou Wang actually really, really wished Jiang Cheng would invite him to the Youth Apartments too.
The demographic structure at Jixiang Jiayuan was truly despair-inducing.
He’d heard from those who’d stayed behind that from noon to afternoon, six people had returned from the city. But even with six more able-bodied survivors, the overwhelming majority were still elderly.
With his ability, Zhou Wang could survive almost any situation.
But people can’t easily abandon their homes—this was where he lived.
The worst part was that everyone in the complex naturally and unapologetically assumed that this time, he would once again be the leader, responsible for keeping everyone safe and fed.
They didn’t stop to think—how many able-bodied fighters did he have on hand now?
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Xiao Huang wasn’t unmoved by the offer.
Leaving a heartbreaking place for a new environment to avoid reminders of pain—wasn’t that a form of emotional self-preservation?
But Xiao Huang knew he wouldn’t leave Uncle Zhou.
He’d observed quietly and understood exactly what the situation was at Jixiang Jiayuan.
Uncle Zhou needed help.
He politely declined.
Jiang Cheng didn’t mind either.
For her, many things were worth a try—no loss in attempting, and maybe some gain. But not trying at all and letting an opportunity slip by—that was the real loss.
Right now, Jixiang Jiayuan had a grand total of 16 able-bodied people, including one high schooler, plus 6 newly returned, plus Xiao Huang—making 23 able-bodied, two of whom were high school and middle school students.
The only good news was that among the six newly returned, five were ability users.
Two Earth, one Metal, one Fire, one Electric.
The rate of ability users was pretty high.
Or to put it another way: people with abilities had a much higher chance of survival.
Zhao Yi and Gao Yuxuan were still pestering Zhang Lesi: “Can you restore mana for others?”
Zhang Lesi: “…”
Zhang Lesi: “I’ll give you high blood pressure instead.”
“‘Restore mana,’ ‘restore HP,’” she snapped. “You two think this is a game? Obsessed, are you? Wake up!”
The two anime fans were properly scolded, looking sheepish and dejected.
They slunk off to chat with the newly returned ability users from Jixiang Jiayuan instead.
They were the only ones left. Everyone else had already been interviewed.
Xiao Huang felt he could stand now. Zhou Wang helped him up and prepared to head home.
Xiao Huang was still a bit weak. Zhou Wang said: “Stay at my place for now. Otherwise, how are you going to eat by yourself?”
He used air currents to make walking easier for Xiao Huang.
Xiao Huang felt his body being gently supported and praised: “This ability is really convenient.”
Brother Dong followed Zhou Wang too.
Zhou Wang asked: “When are you heading home?”
Brother Dong said: “Tomorrow. Just crashing for one night tonight.”
Zhou Wang asked: “Made contact with your family?”
Brother Dong: “No.”
Zhou Wang: “Ah…”
“No, not that.” Brother Dong knew Zhou Wang had misunderstood—nowadays, being unreachable basically meant being dead.
Brother Dong said in frustration: “I lost my phone. Can’t find it.”
Zhou Wang pulled out his own phone: “Use mine.”
Brother Dong was even more frustrated: “I don’t remember any phone numbers.”
“…” Zhou Wang. “Not a single one?”
“Not one.”
Nothing could be done about that.
Zhou Wang found a unit for Brother Dong.
There were too many empty units now. Several had been breached and cleared of zombies—the doors were already unlocked, ready for move-in.
Zhou Wang was exhausted from the day’s events and didn’t want to cook.
He found an elderly woman he knew well, talked it over, and arranged to have meals with her going forward—him and Xiao Huang together.
The group dispersed on Jixiang West Street, each heading back to their own complex.
Song Jingshuo noticed Jiang Cheng seemed distracted and walked beside her: “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”
Jiang Cheng said: “Xiao Huang’s school has several buildings. From what he said, as long as there were people in a building, there were survivors. In the end, several hundred students survived.”
Song Jingshuo sighed: “That’s really not easy.”
But Jiang Cheng wasn’t marveling at the minors’ resilience. She said: “The Development Zone Government Building has five floors. Zhou Wang and Old Dong ran through three floors. They didn’t see any survivors.”
Song Jingshuo: “…Maybe on the fourth or fifth floor?”
Jiang Cheng: “It’s unlikely all the survivors would be on the fourth and fifth floors. Even if there are some up there, it should be very few.”
Song Jingshuo wasn’t sure where she was going with this: “What are you saying?”
Jiang Cheng waved her hand: “Nothing. Might be overthinking.”
Song Jingshuo frowned deeper: “Can’t you tell me?”
“Because I have no evidence—it’s just speculation. Saying it would only make people doubt me,” Jiang Cheng said. “Let’s wait and see. Maybe it really is just overthinking.”
The abnormality Jiang Cheng had sensed was very subtle, and the sample size was too small to make a compelling case.
You could say there was a high degree of subjective conjecture involved.
When such “conjecture” turned out to be right, it was often called “keen insight.” But if it was wrong, it was just overthinking.
Running your mouth before things were confirmed could cause trouble or invite ridicule—Song Jingshuo understood that well.
He trusted Jiang Cheng.
“Then tell me when you’ve figured it out.”
“Okay. Let’s wait and see if there’s a government announcement.”
Song Jingshuo fell silent for a moment. Jiang Cheng’s phrasing already included the possibility that there wouldn’t be one.
They walked in silence.
Li Jiangbing caught up: “What’s up with you two?”
Why were they walking without talking? Anyone else, fine—but when the two of them walked in silence, it was a little ominous.
Jiang Cheng asked: “Jiangbing, can you purify water?”
Li Jiangbing: “Huh?”
Jiang Cheng explained: “Like how Cui Haiyang purified that iron plate into pure iron.”
Li Jiangbing scratched his head: “What for?”
Jiang Cheng painted the scenario: “The water’s cut off. All you have in front of you is a pool of sewage. Can you extract pure water from it for everyone to drink?”
Now even Li Jiangbing went quiet.
He and Song Jingshuo both stared at Jiang Cheng’s face.
Song Jingshuo said: “Isn’t that too pessimistic?”
Li Jiangbing also said: “Yeah. Look, last time—”
But he couldn’t finish, because earlier today in the Mai Duoduo warehouse, Jiang Cheng had already laid out her analysis. If she was right, this scenario might very well become reality.
Jiang Cheng smiled instead: “How is that pessimistic? It’s optimistic.”
Her eyes looked especially bright at times.
“The moment I think about the three of us—our abilities—I feel very optimistic.”
Zhao Yi and Cui Haiyang came walking back toward them from ahead: “Jiang Cheng!”
Zhao Yi said: “About the abilities, we two—”
But Jiang Cheng narrowed her eyes and cut him off: “Where are your glasses?”
Zhao Yi was nearsighted—without his glasses, he might not even recognize a tree.
But he wasn’t wearing any now.
Zhao Yi paused. Gao Yuxuan said excitedly: “Your observation is really sharp!”
He slapped Zhao Yi on the back: “You tell her.”
Zhao Yi said: “I don’t need glasses anymore.”
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