Chapter 5: Stir-fried Water Spinach with Garlic

Startled, the white specks of light surrounding Su Su instantly dissipated.

The black snake, which had been enjoying the "warmth," paused for a moment. It viciously opened its mouth, its head lunging forward with a "whoosh," ready to take a fierce bite out of the human.

"Ah!!!"

Su Su let out a short, sharp scream. White light suddenly appeared and rapidly surged into the black snake's head.

The snake's fangs, which had already grazed her skin, slowed down for a second, leaving a trail of translucent saliva on Su Su's arm. Perhaps because of the "white light," the hideous snake head returned to normal, and the aggression in those vertical pupils dissipated somewhat.

"Hiss... hiss..."

Seeing this, her heart, which had been pounding violently, finally calmed down. Su Su vaguely felt she had guessed the key to the situation.

"Are... are you chasing me because of my ability?"

Seeing that the black snake gave no response, Su Su tentatively released a bit more white light. This ability, which she had yet to fully understand, seemed to be very much to the black snake's liking. Its body, which had been reared up, gradually lowered back down and coiled into a heap.

"...What kind of ability is this, anyway?"

The white light gradually grew faint. Su Su’s current strength had not yet reached the first tier; she was unable to release her ability for long periods.

Just as her nerves were taut, constantly worrying that the black snake might attack again, the window of the van was knocked.

"Su Su, aren't you coming down?" A companion was looking into the car, clearly wanting to see what she was doing.

Su Su was startled and reflexively looked at the black snake coiled on her thigh—it had slipped away at some point, but it was certainly still in the car.

"I'm coming down now."

It was dinnertime. The food on the side of the ability users smelled exceptionally fragrant. Just by the scent, one could tell they were eating instant noodles again. The overbearing aroma seemed to bore into one's nose, slide down the intestines, and poke a hole in a famished stomach.

In contrast, the side of the ordinary people was deathly silent.

Some had already run out of food; others might still have some supplies, but they dared not eat openly in front of everyone.

Su Su hugged her backpack, sitting in the crowd in a daze.

In her bag, there was still half a bag of dried beef and a bag of instant noodles. The nuts and konjac strips had been eaten like a thief during her bathroom breaks earlier in the day.

It wasn't until late at night, when others had drifted into dreams, that Su Su stuffed a piece of beef jerky, hard enough to hurt her teeth, into her mouth. She ground it down bit by bit, let it soften, and swallowed it without a sound.

Rustling noises could be heard faintly in the surroundings; someone else was likely sneaking a meal in the dark.

The next day.

The convoy continued on its way.

Su Su was sitting in the back seat of the van when a familiar, slippery, squirming sensation suddenly came from her ankle.

She looked down, and sure enough, it was that elusive black snake!

It was raising its head, staring gloomily at the weak, useless human. Its body, coiled like a mosquito coil, was poised and ready, as if it were a spring waiting to snap up and bite her at any moment.

Su Su pinched her fingers tightly, realizing with absolute clarity that she was being entangled—entangled by a dangerous venomous snake!

She had no choice but to secretly release her ability while hiding from her companions, "nourishing" the insatiable cold-blooded animal.

"Hiss... hiss..."

The black snake made a sound of enjoyment.

A companion next to her suddenly spoke up: "Did you guys hear any strange noises?"

"The van is so loud, you must have misheard, right?"

"I definitely didn't mishear. Listen!"

The atmosphere suddenly went quiet. Su Su felt a tightness in her chest and instinctively kicked the black snake that was enjoying itself.

After the kick, she broke out in a cold sweat.

Cold-blooded animals are the most vindictive. After a kick like that, wouldn't it bite her at some point?

"I don't hear anything. Everyone says you misheard."

"Fine."

The others stopped pursuing the matter. Su Su looked down, feeling uneasy, and happened to meet a pair of ink-colored vertical pupils narrowed into lines.

"...I'm sorry."

Su Su opened her mouth, her apology sounding like a breath of air. Although she feared this venomous snake, she somehow didn't want it to be discovered.

Once discovered, it would either mean her companions would resist improperly in their panic and get bitten, or it would attract the attention of the few ability users in front... Since Wu Zhi died, she had neither understood her ability nor known how to use it. She could only keep lowering her presence, surviving until the day she could stand tall again...

As if to compensate, the white light flooded into the black snake's body many times over.

The cold-blooded animal, having just been kicked and its ferocity sparked, calmed down again.

It lay lazily by the human's ankle. Its vertical pupils, still retaining their wildness, stared coldly at Su Su. Its tongue would occasionally slide across her ankle, leaving behind saliva and raising goosebumps layer after layer.

Cold-blooded animals have no sense of gratitude.

While coveting the "warmth" emitted by the human, it also petty-mindedly remembered that kick from earlier.

...

Before the convoy reached the next service area, it was forced to stop.

Zhao Zhenyu stood on the roof of the car, staring with a grim expression at the pile of abandoned vehicles ahead. The congested section was nearly two kilometers long; other than electric scooters, no vehicles could pass.

He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath: "Damn it! Blocked again!"

The apocalypse had broken out too suddenly and too violently. Many cities without the capacity to respond fell instantly, and the highways were paralyzed section by section. For ordinary people wanting to head south to seek refuge in large bases that were still operating, the biggest hurdle was transportation.

Lin Weiran was relatively calm: "How long is the blockage?"

"Two kilometers!" Zhao Zhenyu jumped off the roof of the car, his brows filled with irritability. "We have to move them one by one to clear a path."

If Wu Zhi were still alive, he could flip a car with both hands, saving a lot of effort... but he was dead.

Zhao Zhenyu wished he could drag out the culprit and beat them up.

"What do we do now?"

Lin Weiran instinctively looked at Si Zhe, who said calmly, "Move them. We still have our abilities; two kilometers isn't that long."

"There are also ordinary people following behind. Let them pitch in, too."

"Fine." Lin Weiran patted Zhao Zhenyu on the shoulder. "The road is just blocked; it's not the first time we've experienced this. It's fine."

It was precisely because it wasn't the first time that there was a comparison to be made!

Zhao Zhenyu looked sullen as he released a stream of water, flipping the abandoned cars blocking the way to the sides. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he felt.

Feeling irritable, his work wasn't going smoothly either. Just then, a familiar figure drifted into his line of sight—it was the middle-aged man who often exchanged miscellaneous crystals for food with him; the day before yesterday, he had even exchanged for a bag of konjac strips.

Konjac strips... he still had plenty of those.

Zhao Zhenyu rolled his eyes, called the man over, and whispered a few words.

"...Did you understand?"

The middle-aged man rubbed his hands: "Understood, but this payment..."

Zhao Zhenyu took out two small bags of konjac strips and tossed them into the middle-aged man's arms as if dismissing a beggar: "If you do a job that satisfies me, giving you a few more bags isn't out of the question."

The middle-aged man thanked him profusely and left, his face turning into a scowl the moment he turned away.

Two bags of konjac strips, what could he do with those?

But it was better than starving to death.

...

The blocked two kilometers were finally cleared into a path that allowed the convoy to pass. Su Su joined the others in flipping over several wrecked vehicles, then dusted off her hands and silently climbed back into the van.

The beef jerky in her mouth had become soft and mushy. After swallowing it, she felt some relief from the unbearable hunger.

Without her noticing, the black snake, which had been hanging around on the hill, swam back lazily.

It had just snatched a stupid rabbit in the bushes. After biting it to death, it opened its blood-stained maw and swallowed it whole. Now, it was too full to move, shrinking under the van seat and lazily squinting in a feigned sleep.

Seeing that it wasn't coming out, Su Su breathed a genuine sigh of relief.

She really couldn't squeeze out a single bit of her ability today. It was great that this greedy black snake could be satisfied.

After clearing the congestion, the convoy reached the next service area before long.

Again, several ability users walked into the only convenience store. Su Su waited until they had all gone in before getting up and walking in the other direction.

Others with the same goal were searching through other rooms one by one.

Su Su targeted a room and was just about to push the door open when she was rudely shoved to the ground.

"Get lost!"

The middle-aged man glared at her with malice, swaggered into the room, and began rummaging through cabinets.

He was considered the strongest ordinary person in the team, and he was quite skilled at finding supplies; his spirit was much better than the other ordinary people.

Su Su looked at his strong back, silently climbed up from the ground, and turned to go to another room.

Before she could even start searching, the door was kicked open violently, and a thick arm grabbed her like a chicken, tossing her aside.

"Get lost! This room is mine to search!"

It was the same middle-aged man, with a piece of rotten, expired bread hanging from his mouth; every move he made was exceptionally overbearing.

Su Su gradually realized—he might be targeting her.

To verify this suspicion, she went to a third room. As expected, the middle-aged man soon followed and drove her out again.

Su Su stood in the corridor of the service area, feeling a chill throughout her body.

She wanted to walk to another place, but as soon as she looked up, she met the middle-aged man's malicious gaze... It was like this again! It was exactly the same path!

A fire, wanting to burn everything to the ground, burned fiercely in the bottom of her heart. Su Su took one last look at the middle-aged man and turned towards the most remote room.

Ability users had evolved senses, and she could hear even the slightest movement.

Before she could get close to the door, the arriving middle-aged man bumped into her from behind and pushed the door open first.

As he walked in, he glared fiercely at Su Su twice.

"Stinky girl, if you don't get lost, believe it or not, I'll slap you to death?"

The middle-aged man stepped into the room. Two seconds later, a miserable scream rang out.

"Zombie! There's a zombie!"

The sounds of a struggle grew louder, and people who heard the scream ran out of other rooms in a panic.

"Help me! Come in and help me!"

The middle-aged man's roar reached outside, and those capable of helping looked at each other.

"Help me kill it, and I'll give you the crystal!"

Some were tempted. Just as they approached the door and took a peek, their eager hearts went cold instantly, and they even turned and ran.

"What's wrong?"

"It's a first-tier zombie inside!"

As soon as this was said, everyone fled in panic.

Ordinary zombies could still be swarmed and fought, but once they faced an evolved zombie, apart from the ability users, ordinary people were essentially serving themselves up as a meal!