Chapter 7: Green Pepper and Pork Stuffed Buns

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At the third service area, there was still no food to be found.

After finishing their last breakfast, as the unspoken leader of the group, Si Zhe made a decisive call: “Let’s get off the highway.”

The seven-seater SUV was the first to enter the highway exit ramp, followed blindly by seven or eight other vehicles without hesitation.

Since the apocalypse had struck, all network signals had long collapsed. Lin Weiran held a detailed map printed and downloaded in the early days of the crisis. After studying it for a while, she pointed to a spot and said, “If we get off here, we’ll pass through a fairly large town not far away. We can replenish some supplies there, then get back on the highway and continue.”

Zhao Zhenyu scratched his head and looked over, “Is this town that big? Won’t the food have been looted already?”

No one knew the answer.

Si Zhe said, “We won’t know until we check.”

The convoy turned onto an ordinary road. Not long after, as the outline of the town came into view, an artificial roadblock suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path.

“Stop!”

Several psychics leapt out from a roadside pavilion, standing alertly in front of the vehicles.

“Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”

A quick glance revealed two of them were first-level psychics capable of blocking the town’s entrance… Could it be that this town hadn’t fallen?

Lin Weiran poked her head out the window, raising her voice, “We just got off the highway. Our food supplies aren’t enough, so we wanted to see if we could find anything nearby.”

Seeing a woman, the psychics’ expressions softened a bit, but their tone remained cold and firm.

“Our town doesn’t welcome outsiders. Leave now, or don’t blame us for being rude!”

Lin Weiran wanted to argue further but caught Si Zhe shaking his head at her.

“Words won’t work. They won’t let us in.”

Lin Weiran sighed in frustration, “Then what do we do? This is the closest town. If we bypass it, we’re left with just villages, where finding supplies will be even harder.”

It wasn’t impossible to search villages, but… if the villagers were still alive, they couldn’t just barge in and rob them.

The psychics’ abilities were too strong, and Zhao Zhenyu, having missed several meals, was growing acid in his stomach from hunger.

He stared at the town ahead, eyes gleaming, “If it comes to it, we just charge through! They’re only a few first-level psychics; we have three first-level and three second-level psychics ourselves. How could we not handle them?”

No one responded, so Zhao Zhenyu licked his lips, “It’s just a small town. How many psychics could they have inside? We’re not after their lives—just some supplies.”

Si Zhe remained silent, and Lin Weiran hesitated.

Neither side moved; the convoy behind dared not advance.

“There are guards at the entrance of this town? Could it be there are no zombies inside?”

Inside a van, the woman driving noticed the oddity and asked aloud.

Everyone in the vehicle was shocked. “Th-Then this place must be a paradise?”

A paradise?

Su Su tugged at the corner of her mouth, her eyes cold and indifferent.

At last, just like in her past life, she had returned to the town that had caused her the greatest pain.

She rolled down the window, gazing at the nearby town, instinctively touching her face.

“Do you have a mirror?”

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Her soft voice surprised her companions for a few seconds. Perhaps because of the recent “accident” involving Wu Zhi, Su Su had barely spoken since then, shrinking into a shadow in the corner, minimizing her presence.

“Why do you need a mirror at a time like this?”

Though spoken, her companion still took a small, palm-sized round mirror from her backpack and handed it over.

Su Su accepted it. “Thank you.”

She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look great, but her skin remained smooth and delicate as always, even after wandering the highway for days.

Most importantly… there were no longer the two scars stretching across her brow bone, nose bridge, and mouth corner…

Su Su stared a little longer. It had been so long since she had truly looked at her face.

In her previous life, those two ten-centimeter-long scars had accompanied her for three years. One slashed from brow to mouth, the other across her cheeks, ruining her facial beauty and branding her as the scarred woman no one wanted to look at twice.

Some male psychics, who had little contact with women, didn’t mind the scars and only desired her body, willing to buy a night of bliss cheaply with a few crystals.

“Stop looking,” her companion took back the mirror. “Someone from the town is coming out.”

It seemed the stalemate had lasted too long; someone ran back to report. Soon after, a vehicle drove out of the town and stopped not far away.

A man in his thirties wearing a jacket got out.

“Everyone, no outsiders are allowed into the town. If you want supplies, you’ll have to go around.”

The man’s tone was calm but firm.

Zhao Zhenyu, hot-tempered, couldn’t hold back and jumped out, unleashing a water torrent that scattered the roadblock.

Si Zhe and Lin Weiran didn’t stop him either. As expected, this display stunned those guarding the entrance.

“Mayor, he’s a second-level psychic!”

The jacketed man called the mayor frowned, glancing at the unstepped-out group.

Si Zhe and Lin Weiran exchanged looks and stepped out in tacit understanding—one releasing fire abilities, the other thunder. The rest of their team also unleashed their first-level abilities.

This was both a show of strength and a subtle threat.

The mayor’s pupils contracted for a few seconds, his expression shifting several times, but his psychological resilience was strong. After a brief shock, he quickly composed himself and greeted them with a smile.

“We’re all psychics here. Fighting would hurt both sides. How about this: I’ll make an exception and let you stay in town for a few days. As for supplies… the town still has a good number of residents. All resources are centrally managed, but since you’re few, we can squeeze some out for you.”

“How does that sound?”

He spoke sincerely, clearly willing to part with some supplies for these “plague carriers,” waiting to see if they would accept.

Zhao Zhenyu quickly warmed to the idea.

“Si Zhe, Weiran, shall we agree?”

“He means we get to eat and rest well first, then they’ll share some supplies for us to get back on the road,” Lin Weiran said with some displeasure. “We’re not bandits.”

“So what if we were?” Zhao Zhenyu was near starving. “It’s the apocalypse; what law would stop me?”

Si Zhe said, “No worries, we can trade other things for their supplies.”

Zhao Zhenyu paused. “What do we have…”

Mid-sentence, he remembered: crystals. They’d collected plenty along the way, enough to fill a convenient pouch.

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Si Zhe elaborated, “The town has many residents, so there must be psychics. We still have plenty of miscellaneous and first-level crystals. Someone will want them.”

“I agree!”

Lin Weiran thought for two seconds. “I agree too.”

After unanimous consent, the mayor allowed the convoy into the town. Naturally, the six psychics entered without hindrance, but the ordinary people following behind were subjected to thorough searches to ensure no one carried zombie virus that might threaten the town.

When it was Su Su’s turn, she instinctively looked up and caught the mayor’s gaze from a short distance.

He scanned her sharply, his eyes lingering on her face for two seconds, seemingly finding nothing unusual before looking away.

Those two seconds of eye contact made Su Su involuntarily hold her breath.

Only when the mayor’s gaze fully shifted did she quietly exhale, though her fingers trembled slightly, her heart beating faster than usual.

“All right, you may enter the town.”

As soon as those words fell, Su Su lowered her head and blended into the crowd entering the town.

The mayor’s earlier mention of “many residents” was true. In the grim apocalyptic environment, the town was like the “hidden paradise” someone had mentioned earlier—no zombies in sight, ordinary people going about their work, occasionally pausing curiously to observe the newcomers.

“Before the apocalypse, the town’s permanent population was ten thousand. When the acid rain came, the townsfolk reacted quickly, telling everyone not to go out and guarding the highway and main intersections… Now, about four to five thousand remain. Though there are stockpiled granaries, the supplies only suffice for the town’s self-sufficiency…”

The mayor walked ahead with Si Zhe and Lin Weiran, openly sharing the town’s situation.

Si Zhe suddenly spoke, “We passed several nearby service areas along the way, but they had been completely scavenged…”

The mayor, understanding immediately, smiled.

“Our town is near the highway. I sent people to bring supplies back from several service areas nearby, and we cleared some zombies from the highway at the same time.”

No wonder the service areas were so empty, and why the zombie groups on this stretch were relatively few.

The psychics’ faces darkened slightly. The mayor pretended not to notice and led the group to the town’s administrative center. The second and third floors had been converted into rooms, and the first floor was a spacious hall.

“You’ll stay here for a few days. I’ll have some clean daily supplies sent over shortly. There are only seven or eight rooms on the upper floors. As for the others…” He glanced at the two or three dozen ordinary people following behind, unconcerned, “The first floor can also be used for floor bedding. I hope no one minds.”

Before Lin Weiran and the others could speak, the mayor suddenly remembered something and smiled warmly.

“Of course, you’re all powerful psychics. Our town doesn’t want enmity. Tonight, I’ll host a dinner for you.”

“How about hotpot? We don’t have many rare ingredients, but some hotpot base remains.”

Gulp.

Zhao Zhenyu swallowed his saliva.

“Hotpot sounds great! I haven’t had a proper meal in so long!”

The mayor’s smile deepened. “Good, I’ll have someone prepare it right away!”

Everyone present heard this clearly.

Some swallowed hard, already dreaming aloud: “Hotpot? Finally, a full meal!”

A companion next to him smiled wryly, breaking the fantasy—

“You think it’s for you? The mayor is inviting only those psychics. They’re the ones the town wants to appease.”