Wood-Type Ability

There was still some water and flatbread left from what they had brought along. The two made do with a little, then lay down to rest. They had originally planned to take turns keeping watch, but neither could sleep that night.

"I don't remember ever saving your son." After tossing and turning several times, Nan Shao finally couldn't stand it anymore. He sat up against the wall and asked the man seated in a chair by the window, watching the situation outside by starlight. The other man seemed very good at this sort of thing. He had sat there for nearly two hours without moving once, much less making a sound.

At his words, Zhang Yi kept his eyes on the outside and answered evenly, "Six months ago, Yangyang got separated from me and was nearly hit by a Ferrari running a red light. Your car knocked the Ferrari aside." What had happened was that Zhang Yi had taken Zhang Ruiyang with him to bring his mother to the crematorium in the city to be cremated. Dazed with grief, he only realized he had lost the child when he received the urn. When he found him, he saw a Ferrari charging madly toward the other side of the street, about to hit his son, who stood in the middle of the road looking helplessly around. His heart seemed to have stopped, his mind completely blank, until a Maybach parked up ahead suddenly shot forward and sent the Ferrari flying.

The Ferrari was wrecked, but its occupant suffered only scrapes. When the owner came storming over, a refined-looking man with gold-rimmed glasses and a commanding presence stepped out of the back seat. The man walked straight over to Zhang Ruiyang, who was still standing blankly in the middle of the road, completely unaware that he had just escaped death, and patiently led the little fellow to the roadside.

"Keep an eye on your child." Faced with Zhang Yi, who hurried over thanking him repeatedly, the man left him with only those words before turning and getting back into the car. From beginning to end, he never once glanced at the Ferrari's owner. Strangely, the moment the previously blustering owner saw the man, it was as though something had seized him by the throat, and he never made another sound.

Thinking of how confident and high-spirited the man had been, looking down on the world as though no one could challenge him, then looking at the down-and-out man before him now, Zhang Yi once again felt the bleakness of life's unpredictability. In light of his own experiences, he couldn't help feeling a little closer to Nan Shao.

"So that was you two." Nan Shao finally remembered and sighed in realization, pursuing the matter no further. He had been worried that the other man had mistaken him for someone else. Now that he knew that wasn't the case, there was nothing more to say.

Chapter 13: Wood-Type Ability

"How many Corpse Crystals did we get today?"

"I haven't counted." Zhang Yi picked up his backpack and tossed it over. "They're all in there." He wasn't in the habit of distracting himself with other things while keeping watch.

Nan Shao caught it and emptied out its contents. This was the bag he had carried earlier. The only food inside was a pile of lollipops; everything else was practical supplies. Habits developed over twenty or thirty years couldn't be changed just like that. Before, with a water-type ability user on the team, he had always been able to maintain basic cleanliness. Now, though he had fallen to the point of having to ration even his drinking water, he had still taken these things without hesitation. At worst, he would kill a couple more zombies. As for the things he had taken for the little fellow, that was because he really couldn't bear the sight of him any longer.

He sorted through the things scattered on the floor and packed them neatly again, freeing up quite a bit of space. Then he gathered all the Corpse Crystals and counted them. There were actually twenty-five. Remembering something, Nan Shao felt around in his trouser pocket and pulled out another one-the one the woman in the supermarket had given him.

"How much does a relatively safe place with a bathroom cost?" He still hadn't given up. Whenever he thought of that child having to hide in the small, stuffy hole at the back every day in such hot weather, he felt uncomfortable. Besides, the shack was far too small. With two grown men sleeping inside, they couldn't even stretch out.

"With a private bathroom, a one-bedroom costs three hundred Corpse Crystals, and a two-bedroom costs five hundred. I haven't asked about anything better." Zhang Yi answered without turning his head. Clearly, he too had considered moving somewhere safer, but unfortunately lacked the means. "Anyone who can live in an apartment building won't be weak. Very few people try anything against those residents." And as long as ordinary people didn't actively provoke them, ability users were even less inclined to waste their energy on them.

In other words, as long as they could rent an apartment, they would have a basic guarantee of safety. Keenly picking up on that information in the other man's words, Nan Shao began rapidly making calculations. After the day's hunt, he had discovered that working with Zhang Yi was exceptionally easy. Without any unnecessary words, the other man could understand what he meant and cover his gaps promptly and precisely, leaving him free of worries at his back so he could focus all his attention on attacking what was in front of him. Naturally, his efficiency in killing zombies had increased severalfold. If they could maintain that kind of rapport, renting a one-bedroom with a bathroom wasn't impossible.

He told Zhang Yi what he had in mind. Zhang Yi remained silent for a long time before saying, "With your abilities, you could easily join a stronger team." It wasn't that Zhang Yi wanted to push him away; he was stating a fact. He wouldn't eagerly agree to an idea the other man might have come up with on a whim and assume he had found a long-term partner. With Yangyang in his care, he had to consider every step carefully. Otherwise, if the other man suddenly decided to leave their partnership, it might plunge father and son into even greater difficulties than they faced now.

Nan Shao more or less guessed his concerns. He smiled and said, "I'm on my own now, with nothing tying me down. Being strong or not doesn't matter anymore. I just want some peace of mind." His tone was clearly casual and light, yet somehow it conveyed the sense of a hero at the end of his road, utterly disheartened.

At those words, Zhang Yi finally turned to look at him, but soon turned his gaze back outside the window.

"If you don't get stronger, you'll only get closer and closer to a dead end," he said evenly, then pointed to the other bag. "I collected quite a few vegetable seeds in there. If you don't want to sleep, give them a try. Maybe one day we'll get to eat fresh vegetables."

Knowing that he had agreed to his suggestion, Nan Shao couldn't help a trace of a smile rising in his eyes. He answered, then actually dug out a packet of Chinese cabbage seeds, tore it open, picked up a single seed, and began trying to make it sprout. Whether because his mental state was better than yesterday or because Chinese cabbage was easier to sprout than radishes, this time, although it still took him ages, he managed to produce two young leaves before his strength was exhausted.