When Robbers Met Bandits

"What does Yabi mean?"

Only then did Qi Xing truly feel the gulf created by age.

Though Jiang Zhaosu was young, she had never heard the term either. She shook her head. "I don't know."

Although Bai Xiaoling could only lie there like a mummy now, crookedly wedged among all kinds of goods and barely clinging to life, that did not stop her from mentally looking down on Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing, the two country bumpkins.

"It's hard to explain it to people like you."

Bai Xiaoling proudly lifted her chin. "Simply put, most of what they like goes against mainstream culture. They want to show off their unique personalities."

"Oh," Qi Xing said. "Xiao Ya is like that."

"Your little sister's name is Xiao Ya?" Bai Xiaoling eagerly asked.

Jiang Zhaosu repeated, "Xiao. Ya."

It was kind of cute, actually.

"Her nickname is Xiao Ya. Her full name is Qi Tong."

Qi Xing suddenly realized that, encouraged by Jiang Zhaosu and Bai Xiaoling, he had said far too much.

"Enough. Let's end this topic."

Thinking of what Qi Tong had been like after entering puberty gave him a headache. Her disappearance had made it even worse.

Raising children really was painful.

Fortune was better. She was obedient. Though she was a little slow-witted, she was sensible and well-behaved. She never made him so irritated that his head hurt and he wanted to lose his temper.

Though Jiang Zhaosu looked young and was slow in her thinking, she could be sensitive at times. She could even sense and empathize with his emotions, then comfort him in return.

Qi Xing was increasingly glad that he had not killed Jiang Zhaosu at the mall back then.

Without realizing it, he had already traveled with this little zombie for so long.

Jiang Zhaosu was no longer his pet. She had become one of the few comforts he had left in the apocalypse.

What he had said at Duan Yuanyuan's grave had been sincere as well.

The apocalypse was fraught with danger. One careless mistake could mean death.

Qi Xing did not know how long he could survive in this apocalypse, either.

If he died, he hoped Jiang Zhaosu would eat him completely, so that his Crystal Core and ability would be inherited by this little zombie.

At least then, when she encountered danger, he could still be of some use.

After driving for several hours, Qi Xing parked somewhere with fewer zombies and prepared to eat.

Now that they had plenty of supplies, there was no need to be as frugal as before.

In a generous flourish, Qi Xing opened five cans of beef stew in a row and even let Jiang Zhaosu try a can.

Zombies had different tastes from humans. Zombies generally only ate meat.

To Jiang Zhaosu, the meat of Ability Users tasted best, followed by ordinary humans and Mutated Species.

When there was truly no food, she could eat the meat of some animals as well. Like the fish they had caught in the forest, which could provide Jiang Zhaosu with a small amount of energy.

This kind of canned beef stew was already packed with solid ingredients for humans, delicious and nutritious.

But as Jiang Zhaosu ate it, it reminded her of the cheap artificial meatballs she used to buy at the Vegetable Market before transmigrating whenever she craved hot pot. It had that chemically processed taste.

Besides that, Qi Xing also let her try some self-heating rice and Yellow Peach Stew.

Jiang Zhaosu found their flavors strange too.

Anyway, she was not hungry now. When Qi Xing tried to feed her more, she shook her head and refused.

In the trunk, Bai Xiaoling watched them share food and swallowed hungrily.

She had not eaten anything all morning either, and after moving so much cargo, her stomach had long been growling with hunger.

"Fortune, Xiao Ya Ge."

Qi Xing had not told her his name, so Bai Xiaoling could only call him that. She struggled to inch her body toward the driver's seat and looked at the two of them pleadingly. "Give me something to eat too. I'm starving to death."

Hearing Bai Xiaoling call Qi Xing that, Jiang Zhaosu simply could not hold back. She bared her teeth and repeated, "Xiao Ya Ge."

She found Bai Xiaoling really interesting now. She did not even want to eat her anymore. Keeping her around to trade jokes with would be pretty good too.

Qi Xing glanced at Bai Xiaoling in the back speechlessly. "Then starve to death."

"How can you be like this?!"

Bai Xiaoling said angrily and aggrievedly, "You stole all your food from me. What's wrong with giving me a little?"

Qi Xing replied righteously, "Because we're robbers. Once we've taken it, it belongs to Fortune and me, and we decide how to distribute it. That's how the apocalypse is. If you don't like it, take it back from us."

Bai Xiaoling was so angry that she went "aba aba," her mouth opening and closing, yet she did not dare curse out loud.

Seeing her like that, Jiang Zhaosu could not help thinking of how miserably Qi Xing had bullied her when she had lacked the strength to resist.

And now, she had started bullying others alongside Qi Xing.

So the dragon-slaying youth eventually became an evil dragon!

While Qi Xing ate, the bored Jiang Zhaosu simply opened a bag of bread. Kneeling on the passenger seat, she stretched out her arm and held the bread before Bai Xiaoling's mouth, waving it back and forth to tease her.

Qi Xing ate beside her, watching her fool around with a smiling squint.

Suddenly, Jiang Zhaosu straightened up, turned to look outside the window, and reported, "There are... people."

She had caught the scent of strangers in the air, and there was more than one.

Hearing this, Qi Xing immediately looked outside alertly as well.

While they observed the situation outside, Bai Xiaoling thrust her body forward with all her strength and snatched the bread from Jiang Zhaosu's hand in her mouth.

While Bai Xiaoling chewed and swallowed the bread, their vehicle was swiftly surrounded by a group of people.

The group held all kinds of weapons and shouted at them, ordering them to get out of the car.

In chaotic times, people killing their own kind, burning, murdering, and looting were common occurrences. Qi Xing had long ceased to be surprised by such things.

What surprised Qi Xing, however, was that some of these people were actually holding guns.

Back when he had worked at the base, even during urgent missions, his superiors had only begrudgingly issued two guns to the team.

Where had these people gotten their guns?

Had they rushed to loot the Police Station when the apocalypse had first begun?

Qi Xing quickly swept his gaze over the group and found quite a few people carrying guns, at least seven or eight. He also had no idea whether there were any Ability Users among them.

Jiang Zhaosu saw the guns in their hands too. Silently, she pulled a sturdy helmet from a box in the trunk and put it on her head.

Her body was not important. The main thing was protecting her head.

"This time... me?"

After armoring her head, Jiang Zhaosu spoke to Qi Xing from inside the helmet, her voice muffled.

After all, Qi Xing was still human. His body was relatively fragile, and weapons like guns were troublesome for him to deal with.

Besides, Jiang Zhaosu also wanted to know how well she had mastered her ability.

After Qi Xing nodded cautiously, one of Jiang Zhaosu's hands faintly glimmered with watery light. She conjured an invisible Water Shield out of thin air, covering the entire vehicle, then opened the door and got out.