Return to the Apocalypse

After Huishi died, the dark-colored alms bowl in his hand rolled to the side.

The bowl rolled and shook, suddenly spilling countless tiny black dots.

When the black dots hit the ground, they all grew larger.

Some turned into blades of grass.

Others became wooden sticks.

There were also houses made of all sorts of odds and ends, including sunflower seed shells, small pieces of metal, and soda cans.

As these things returned to their original sizes, the houses fell apart, leaving a jumbled mess.

Most numerous of all were the survivors.

One survivor after another sat slumped on the ground, which was scarred by the battle.

They were all still somewhat bewildered.

Most of these survivors were elderly.

As they gradually realized that they had returned to the real world from the miniature world in the bowl, the survivors showed no excitement.

Instead, they began to wail.

Some even pointed at Chen Fan and the others and cursed them.

"We finally escaped the apocalypse and had enough to eat and drink, all thanks to the holy monk Huishi. You damned murderers deserve to die! You dragged us right back into this apocalypse."

"Oh, I might as well die! From now on, we'll have to go back to scraping by, never knowing where our next meal will come from!"

"You superhumans will all die horrible deaths! Boo-hoo-hoo..."

Chen Fan sneered when he heard them and shouted, "Huishi brought death upon himself. If you want to blame someone, blame him. If that bald monk had simply taken in some survivors during the apocalypse, no one would have bothered with him.

"Unfortunately, his ambitions were too great, and he'd gone mad. He wanted to create some Western Paradise, so naturally, he brought death upon himself."

Seeing that the old folks were still about to curse him, Chen Fan unfurled the Ten Thousand Souls Banner behind him. A great number of ghostly souls burst out, flying around and wailing.

"Let's see who still has a foul mouth. I can send you off to keep following your Master Huishi."

Everyone immediately fell silent.

The elderly people's mouths caved in as though their dentures had been taken out.

They couldn't say another word.

Several members of Nie Shufeng's team hurried toward someone in the crowd.

It was Wang Bing, who had also been thrown out of the world in the bowl.

Wang Bing was disheveled and covered in grime.

She had clearly suffered quite a bit in the bowl's world too.

Her earlier intensive divinations had already left her haggard.

After emerging from the bowl's world, she looked even more worn out, as though she had aged several years.

A few wrinkles had appeared on her forehead.

There was even a new streak of white in her bangs.

Zheng Alin hurriedly helped Wang Bing up, her eyes full of concern.

"Sister Bing, are you all right?"

Even with help getting to her feet, Wang Bing staggered several times. She was clearly very weak.

Her eyes were bloodshot. She glanced at the people around her and saw that almost all of them were injured.

The nearby ground was covered in traces of battle.

Huge craters, scorched patches, flames that had yet to go out...

Then she looked at the convoy, whose numbers had dwindled to a pitiful few.

Finally, she spoke in a hoarse voice. "This was all my fault. I had the convoy keep moving even though my divination hadn't given me a clear result. I'm sorry, everyone..."

As she spoke, her body trembled, and she bowed deeply to the people beside her, as well as to Chen Fan and the others a little farther away.

Chen Fan, Li Yuanyuan, and Yang Xiaomei exchanged glances but said nothing.

Zheng Alin's eyes grew a little moist as she reached out to help Wang Bing.

"All right, Sister Bing. There's no need to say all that between us."

Wu Zhiyou scratched his head and said breezily, "Everyone gets muddled sometimes. It's no big deal, so don't take it to heart."

As soon as he finished, Zheng Alin shot him a glare.

Wu Zhiyou looked utterly baffled.

Nie Shufeng also stepped forward and helped Zheng Alin steady Wang Bing back into an upright position.

He said earnestly, "All right, it's over now. The cost of your superhuman ability already makes you prone to putting too much faith in your divinations. From now on, you need to be on guard against that at all times."

Wang Bing nodded. "I've reached the second tier. My divinations will be more accurate from now on. I'll also be more careful."

Everyone's faces brightened at the news. It was the only good news to come out of the incident.

Zheng Alin and the others helped Wang Bing away to rest, while Chen Fan and his companions returned to their respective vehicles.

The area was relatively safe, and after traveling for so long, they were all exhausted.

The few remaining people who had traveled on bicycles or on foot were so exhausted they were close to death.

In any case, they weren't fit to continue their journey now. They needed to rest here for a while.

On the Fairness Convoy's side, Nie Shufeng took the lead, and several superhumans voluntarily brought out some supplies to distribute among the survivors who had followed the group.

Those on bicycles and on foot were given some food high in sugar and energy.

Those in vehicles were given a little gasoline.

Although no one received much, it was a gesture of compensation.

The siblings Zhao Xing and Zhao Xin, for example, received two liters of gasoline.

That would get them another twenty-odd kilometers, which helped ease their immediate predicament a little.

This incident had been caused by the superhumans' misjudgment.

For the many survivors in the convoy, it had been an undeserved disaster.

But there were many things for which no one could be held accountable. In the apocalypse, survivors depended on superhumans to live.

When something like this happened, the survivors couldn't really hold anyone to account. They didn't have the power to do so.

The fact that Nie Shufeng and the others were willing to offer some supplies as compensation already showed they had a conscience.

The Mortal Convoy-Chen Fan and his companions-had also followed Nie Shufeng's group for more than twenty hours.

But that old rascal Nie Shufeng had just brazenly come over and offered Chen Fan a verbal apology. That was the end of it, without the slightest practical gesture.

Chen Fan was so angry his teeth itched.

Even so, Chen Fan didn't say much.

Both sides had made the decision together, and when he had relied on Wang Bing's ability to avoid the strange threat, he had benefited from her ability too.

An alliance meant advancing and retreating together in the first place. There was no point in quibbling over too much.

After returning to the RV, Chen Fan took a quick shower and lay down on the sofa to rest.

He had to admit, showering with the purified water from the Water Purification Bottle felt wonderful.

Lying on the sofa, Chen Fan examined the effects of his new magic artifact, the Annihilation Death Nail.

The Annihilation Death Nail had a single, straightforward effect, but it was also very powerful.

Its only ability was to cause all vitality to undergo "necrosis."

Any target struck by the Annihilation Death Nail would undergo "necrosis" in its entirety.

This "necrosis" was not death in the ordinary sense, but more like a withering and collapse.

After "necrosis," nothing of the target would remain in any sense.

Whether its physical shell or its soul and consciousness within, everything would dissipate completely.

Dust to dust, earth to earth.

This also meant that Chen Fan could not make further use of any living being killed by the Annihilation Death Nail with either his Ten Thousand Souls Banner or his Endless Black Coffin.

It was worth mentioning that the Annihilation Death Nail could cause more than living beings to undergo "necrosis."

Metal and even stone could undergo "necrosis" as well.

In addition, the Annihilation Death Nail's size would automatically adjust according to its target.

When used to kill a mosquito, it could be a fine needle.

When used to kill a giant monster, it could be a towering pillar.

However, there were limits to how much its size could change. After all, it was only a mid-grade magic artifact.

As for quantity, Chen Fan was currently a second-tier superhuman and could summon two Annihilation Death Nails at once.

Chen Fan was quite satisfied with the Annihilation Death Nail's abilities.

This ability could effectively counter enemies with powerful regenerative or recovery abilities, or those who were difficult to kill.

After finishing his examination of the Annihilation Death Nail's abilities, Chen Fan thought of the mere ten points of Origin Material he had left.

He grew somewhat troubled.

I need to find a way to get some Origin Material, or I won't even be able to refine magic artifacts.

Even so, he had just fought a major battle and didn't feel like moving for the time being.

He stayed on the sofa until someone knocked on the RV's door.

Chen Fan reluctantly got up to answer it and found Yang Xiaomei, who had just joined them.

"Do you need something?" Chen Fan asked.

Yang Xiaomei took out a can of gasoline and asked, "Can I trade this for some food?"

Chen Fan was a little surprised to see the gasoline in her hand.

Gasoline was a scarce resource in the apocalypse. For survivors who drove, it was even more precious than food.

But Chen Fan quickly remembered that she rode a cat, which used no fuel per hundred kilometers, so naturally she had no use for it.

Chen Fan smiled. "Sure. What kind of food do you want? Bread? Instant noodles?"

Yang Xiaomei shook her head. "I need packaged meat products, like braised chicken feet or braised pig's trotters. Little Red prefers meat. More than half the food I give him has to be meat, or he won't eat it."

Chen Fan: "?"