Isn't This Perfectly Reasonable?

Chen Ye was not a bad person.

But he had never considered himself a good person either.

Much less someone with the broad-mindedness to care about the whole world.

Having transmigrated once and gained the infinitely promising Saitama Physique, all he wanted was to live this life as he pleased, without having to be as cautious and miserable as he had been in his previous life.

Of course, he knew the information he possessed was important. Perhaps one day, he would make it public, but definitely not now.

Because he only wanted to benefit his own countrymen, not hand advantages to foreigners.

He vaguely had a plan in mind that could ensure the information would not leak when he revealed it in the future...

Not yet.

What he had said earlier had actually been a test for Tang Zichen.

If Tang Zichen had truly tried to claim the moral high ground and persuade him to reveal the zombies' information for the sake of all humanity...

Then after this secret realm expedition, Chen Ye would definitely stay far away from her.

Fortunately, Tang Zichen was a smart girl and had not done anything foolish.

A moment later.

A bonfire was lit in the woods.

Chen Ye and Tang Zichen were burning the zombie.

They both carried windproof lighters customized by the school. They were lightweight and held plenty of fuel. Aside from burning zombies, they could also be used to start fires in the wild for warmth or to roast some meat.

Once the zombie's corpse came into contact with the flames, it was reduced to ashes in less than two minutes.

This proved that fire was indeed highly effective against zombies!

Only now.

Could they truly confirm that the zombie had been killed by the two of them.

However, the reward for killing zombies would not be issued immediately. It would be settled collectively after twenty days, once all the freshmen had left the secret realm.

"Let's go," Tang Zichen said.

"Wait!"

Chen Ye tore many vines from a nearby tree, then tied the black young man's dried corpse into a thick bundle resembling a giant rice dumpling.

"What are you doing?" Tang Zichen asked.

"Didn't Teacher Liu say so?" Chen Ye said with a smile. "Anyone bitten by a Jumping Corpse will become a new blood-sucking monster within twenty-four hours."

Tang Zichen understood. "So you're planning to wait until it turns into a monster, then burn it to death?"

"Smart!"

Chen Ye said, "Teacher Liu also said there aren't actually that many Jumping Corpses in the secret realm. If our luck is bad, we might not encounter one for days... Since this guy has already been bitten to death, it would be such a waste to just leave him here."

"Wouldn't that mean we'd have to wait here for a long time?"

"Why wait? We can just carry him with us."

"Carry him? Even if the Jumping Corpse drained all his blood, he still weighs at least a hundred pounds. Carrying him would take too much..."

Before Tang Zichen could finish.

Chen Ye finished tying up the black young man's corpse, then lifted it one-handed.

"Let's go!"

Chen Ye carried his own case in his left hand and held the black young man's corpse in his right, looking utterly relaxed.

Tang Zichen did not move. Somewhat surprised, she said, "Chen Ye, your strength..."

"Oh! At school, I work out for over an hour every day, eat on time, sleep early, wake early, and never stay up late. It's perfectly reasonable for me to be a little stronger, right?"

Tang Zichen: "???"

Although she felt Chen Ye's explanation was anything but reasonable, she had no intention of digging deeper.

"Carrying that will drain more of your stamina. Let me take your case for you!"

Tang Zichen wanted to help share Chen Ye's burden.

Chen Ye said with a smile, "No need, no need. I can carry it. You're carrying the important responsibility of killing Jumping Corpses, so I can only handle these rough and tiring chores. No need to be so polite with me."

It was more than merely manageable.

With Chen Ye's current strength, a person weighing over a hundred pounds felt like a little chick in his hands. He could barely feel the weight.

Hearing that, Tang Zichen did not insist.

But she decided inwardly that during this secret realm expedition, she would kill more Jumping Corpses and carry Chen Ye to victory!

In the blink of an eye.

Five days had passed.

Over those five days, Chen Ye and Tang Zichen had killed roughly six or seven zombies.

With Chen Ye's peachwood sword helping her, Tang Zichen killed zombies with almost no effort. As long as the peachwood sword pierced a zombie's body, it would lose the ability to move.

Then Chen Ye would light the fire and burn the zombie to death. The entire process was extremely easy.

When it came to killing zombies, the two of them had been exceptionally successful.

Unfortunately, there were too few zombies for them to farm points like crazy.

Of course.

There were also many things that had not gone smoothly.

First of all, they could not bathe, nor did they have spare clothes to change into.

After five straight days without bathing, they both naturally had a bit of an odor. For two people who liked cleanliness, that was very uncomfortable.

Also, it was somewhat inconvenient for a man and a woman to support each other when they were not a couple.

For example, whenever Tang Zichen needed to relieve herself, she had to avoid Chen Ye and hide far away...

Even goddesses were human. They had to poop too!

Those were manageable, just minor inconveniences they could overcome.

Now, the two of them faced a major problem: food resources.

Over the past five days.

They had not found a single wild animal and had relied entirely on wild fruit to stave off hunger.

No wonder Old Liu had said food resources in the secret realm were scarce.

After all, zombies existed here. Those small animals with warm blood flowing through their bodies were likely zombie food, so it was only natural that their numbers were low.

The problem was that humans were omnivores and could not survive on fruit alone.

Eating only fruit for a prolonged period would result in insufficient intake of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, leading to negative conditions such as anemia and malnutrition.

For example, Chen Ye could now feel his physical stamina gradually declining.

It was all because he could not eat meat.

Compared to everyone else.

The two of them were doing fairly well.

Over the past five days, they had seen quite a few human corpses along the way.

There were Asians, black people, and white people.

Some had died at the mouths of zombies, while others had died at the hands of their own kind.

The brutality of survival in the secret realm was plain to see.

Today was the sixth day.

Morning.

The moment Chen Ye opened his eyes, he saw Tang Zichen's beautiful but exhausted face.

The two of them now worked in shifts.

Chen Ye kept watch during the first half of the night, while Tang Zichen took over during the second half.

The first few days had been fine.

But over the past two days, Chen Ye had noticed that Tang Zichen was becoming increasingly unable to keep up.

His physique was powerful enough for him to endure it.

Tang Zichen only had the physique of an ordinary person. Without protein, both her physical strength and energy would decline.

"Class monitor, I've slept enough. You rest for a while first! There doesn't seem to be any food left on this mountain, so we need to change locations today," Chen Ye said.

Tang Zichen nodded at his words. Without standing on ceremony, she lay down where Chen Ye had slept and fell asleep.

She actually wanted to take a proper bath and sleep soundly.

Unfortunately, the conditions were too crude to make that possible.

Perhaps because she was too exhausted, Tang Zichen began breathing evenly not long after lying down.

Even after five or six days without bathing, the girl still looked beautiful.

But Chen Ye was not in the mood to appreciate beauty right now.

He looked at the nearly extinguished fire, then found more wood nearby and lit it to keep Tang Zichen warm.

The temperature in the secret realm was not high. Especially at night, it dropped to only a few degrees.

It was still morning, and the temperature had not risen yet. Without a fire to warm herself by, someone with Tang Zichen's physique would definitely catch a cold and fall ill sleeping like this.

At the moment, she had her legs curled up and her arms wrapped around herself, shivering into a ball from the cold.

Only after Chen Ye lit the fire and warmth spread over her did a comfortable sleeping expression appear on Tang Zichen's lovely face.

Afterward.

Chen Ye began exercising nearby according to the Saitama Training Method.

Even in a place with conditions as crude as the secret realm, he still exercised every day without missing a single day.

It was not that Chen Ye was particularly diligent.

The main reason was that he could not bear to give up the fifteen attribute points he gained every day...

An hour later.

Chen Ye finished his workout. Feeling his strength increase once again, he stopped with satisfaction, sat opposite Tang Zichen, and prepared to eat some wild fruit to ease his hunger.

When he opened the bag, he discovered that there were only a few wild fruits left.

Chen Ye frowned.

The food problem had become urgent.

Another hour passed.

Tang Zichen finally woke up.

Her spirits had recovered considerably.

The two of them made some simple preparations, then left the place and headed farther away.

By noon.

Tang Zichen, who had been walking, suddenly stopped and listened carefully.

Seeing this, Chen Ye thought something unusual had happened to Tang Zichen and stopped as well.

He did not ask unnecessary questions.

After several days of working together, the two of them now coordinated seamlessly.

If Tang Zichen had truly discovered anything unusual, she would tell Chen Ye herself without waiting for him to ask.

A moment later.

Tang Zichen seemed to have confirmed something and said, "Chen Ye, I hear the sound of flowing water from the left. There should be a river over there."

Chen Ye immediately said, "Let's go take a look."

Tang Zichen agreed as well.

The two of them changed direction and headed toward the front left.

They had not walked far before they indeed found a river ahead.

The two were overjoyed.

Especially since the river water was so clear that merely looking at it lifted their spirits.

Tang Zichen had long been thirsty. She immediately went to the riverbank and scooped up a handful of water, seemingly intending to drink it.

Chen Ye stopped her. "Don't drink it! The water looks clean, but that doesn't mean it has no parasites. Also, there are Jumping Corpses in the secret realm. What if someone upstream threw a Jumping Corpse's body into the river? The entire water source would be contaminated with corpse poison."

Hearing this, Tang Zichen sighed and stared at the clear river surface, swallowing hard several times.

Seeing how thirsty she was, Chen Ye took out the last two wild fruits and handed them to Tang Zichen.

"Class monitor, have some wild fruit to quench your thirst!"

Tang Zichen knew how many wild fruits they had. She immediately said, "If you give them all to me, what about you?"

Then she took only one. "You eat too."

Chen Ye smiled and did not refuse. He swallowed the wild fruit in two bites, then walked over to the riverbank.

"Class monitor, while it's best not to drink the river water, it's so clean that it would be great for washing up. Do you want to get in and take a bath?"

Chen Ye had only meant it as a joke.

Unexpectedly, Tang Zichen was genuinely tempted.

It was already noon, and the temperature had risen back to over ten degrees. The river water was not as cold, so she could barely manage a bath.

"Turn around. Don't you dare peek!"

A few minutes later.

Chen Ye stood on the riverbank with his back to Tang Zichen, his unfocused eyes surveying the surroundings.

The rustling sound of clothes being removed behind him made him somewhat distracted.

As a shut-in who had watched countless videos, Chen Ye already had images in his mind.

If Chen Ye suddenly turned around at this moment, he would be in for quite a feast for the eyes. Tang Zichen probably could not do much about it either.

Of course, Chen Ye did not do that.

As a man, he could be lustful, but he could not be shameless.

Very soon.

Tang Zichen could be heard entering the water behind him.

A moment later, Tang Zichen suddenly cried out:

"Chen Ye, look! There are fish in this river!"

Hmm?

You were the one who told me to look!

Chen Ye immediately turned his head.

"Where? Where?"

His mouth called out eagerly, but his eyes were fixed on the pale, naked body in the river.

Though most of her body was concealed by the water, it was clear enough for Chen Ye to vaguely make out the outline of the girl's figure.

The next moment!

A fish flew out of the water under telekinetic control and hurtled straight toward Chen Ye's feet.

Chen Ye reacted quickly and caught it in one grab.

Tang Zichen's voice rang out at the same time. "If you've had your fill of looking, pick up the fish!"

The girl had caught him...

There were quite a few fish in the river.

Tang Zichen caught seven or eight large ones before she stopped.

Each weighed one or two pounds.

Chen Ye recognized the species as well. They were crucian carp, common on Earth in his previous life.

He had to admit, the girl's telekinesis was incredibly useful. She could even catch crucian carp in a river.

"Turn around. I'm coming ashore."

Tang Zichen said.

Chen Ye obediently turned away.

Very soon.

The sound of a beauty emerging from the water came from behind him, followed by the rustling of clothes being put on.

"You can turn around now."

Chen Ye turned back.

Fresh from her bath, Tang Zichen looked much more refreshed. Her pretty face was calm, as though she was not angry about Chen Ye sneaking a look at her just now.

This girl's mentality was unusual.

"How should we deal with these fish?" Tang Zichen asked.

Chen Ye said, "Given our crude conditions, we can only make grilled fish."

"Grilled fish is easy!"

Tang Zichen volunteered. "I can do it. Leave it to me."

Chen Ye handed Tang Zichen a fish with some doubt, letting her try her hand first.

Unexpectedly.

The girl really did know how to prepare fish.

Using the darts she had brought, she killed the fish, scaled them, removed their guts, and washed them... Her movements were swift and practiced.

After cleaning the fish, the girl built a fire, found some sticks, skewered the fish, and set them over the flames.

"Class monitor, I never expected you to know how to cook."

"Poor children grow up early."

Tang Zichen replied calmly, offering no further explanation.

Perhaps because they had no natural predators.

The crucian carp were all plump and fat.

Before long.

They sizzled with dripping oil over the fire, filling the air with a rich aroma.

Once the fish were fully cooked, Tang Zichen handed one to Chen Ye first before grilling one for herself.

Chen Ye did not stand on ceremony. He took it and bit into it.

Without seasonings like pepper salt or cumin, the grilled fish naturally did not taste all that good.

Its advantage was the freshness of the ingredients!

Combined with Tang Zichen's excellent control of the heat, it was more than good enough to fill their stomachs.

Especially since neither of them had eaten meat for days. After living on wild fruit every day, both their mouths and stomachs had long begun protesting.

Now that they could finally eat grilled fish, it still tasted delicious even without salt.

"Smells amazing!"

Chen Ye praised it as he ate in large bites.

The two of them quickly finished several fish.

Tang Zichen had a smaller appetite and only ate two. After that, she simply kept grilling fish for Chen Ye.

When Chen Ye was eating his fourth fish.

Tang Zichen suddenly put down the fish she was grilling and stood up, a guarded look appearing on her pretty face.

Seeing this, Chen Ye immediately knew that something was approaching.

He put down the grilled fish he was eating and stood up as well.

"Someone's coming," Tang Zichen said calmly.

Very soon.

Several figures appeared before them.

There were three newcomers in total.

Like Chen Ye and Tang Zichen, all three were Asians.

When they saw Chen Ye and Tang Zichen, they were not surprised. Their gazes immediately locked onto the remaining fish, greed filling their eyes as they swallowed frantically.