After crying for quite a while, Lei Min finally calmed down. Looking at the water stains on Lin Qingqing's trouser legs, she rubbed her fingers in embarrassment.
"I'm, I'm sorry!"
Lin Qingqing didn't blame her. She reached out to help Lei Min up and asked, "What are your plans for the future?" If Lei Min had a place to go, Lin Qingqing wouldn't mind giving her a ride.
"I don't know..." Lei Min shook her head blankly. Her family was from out of town, and she had lost contact with them since the end of the world. Besides her classmates in Rongcheng, her cousin was the only relative she had.
"Do you know where there is a base?" Lin Qingqing thought for a while and asked again.
"I know, but I don't want to go." Lei Min said in a low voice. Bases weren't easy places to survive in, especially for a single young girl.
"Why?" Lin Qingqing was puzzled.
"I, I sprained my ankle!" Lei Min thought for a while and didn't tell the truth. She hadn't decided what to do yet. Originally, she planned to find her cousin first and then figure out a way to go back to her hometown with her. But now that her cousin was gone, and her previous classmates had abandoned her and disappeared.
Seeing her hesitant look, Lin Qingqing remembered that this girl had indeed been suddenly attacked by a wood - type ability user with vines when they were running away. If she wasn't injured, it would be fine. But now that her ankle was sprained and she had difficulty moving, Lin Qingqing definitely couldn't leave a wounded person in place. In case she encountered zombies again, she might not be able to run away.
"Sigh~" Lin Qingqing sighed again. Then she helped the girl to find her car.
The two walked through the small forest and came to the place where they parked before. As expected, Chu Wei's off - road vehicle was gone. She didn't know how Xiao Hu managed to drive it away, but fortunately, he didn't touch her car. Lin Qingqing checked the car inside and out and found no signs of tampering.
"Let's find a place to rest first," Lin Qingqing said as she helped the girl into the car. Then she asked, "Do you know if there's a place to stay around here?"
"Yes, I'll show you the way," the girl said, raising her head and sniffing. "There are dormitories here for the park administrators to rest. My cousin used to bring me here."
She was quite familiar with the place. The car drove slowly on the deserted roads in the park. Following the girl's instructions, Lin Qingqing found a two - story building hidden in the dense forest.
After dealing with a few zombies, Lin Qingqing took the girl upstairs and found two relatively clean dormitories, planning to rest here for the night. Lin Qingqing had checked the girl's foot. It was just a sprain and the bones and muscles weren't injured. With the recovery speed of an ability user, this injury wasn't a big deal. Spraying some medicine, she should be fine by tomorrow.
"You rest here tonight," Lin Qingqing gave her some food and water, and then prepared to go to the next room."What about you?"
"I'll also rest here tonight," Lin Qingqing said, then left promptly without giving the girl another chance to speak.
"Ah..." Looking at the slender figure, the girl suddenly realized that she didn't even know the other person's name. "She doesn't want to get to know me," the girl thought dejectedly as she sat back on the bed with the food and water in her arms.
Back in her own room, Lin Qingqing had already put the girl next door out of her mind. She had saved the girl's life and brought her to a safe place. Lin Qingqing thought she had done everything she could. Besides, the other person was also an ability user. In the apocalypse, having an ability meant having the basic survival skills. She didn't need to worry about the girl's survival.
After having a meal and taking a short rest, Lin Qingqing locked the door and started to meditate. This was her secret and her biggest trump card, so she used every bit of free time for meditation practice.
Today, the girl next door was abandoned by her companions to the zombie, and she and Lao Yang were also betrayed by Chu Wei. It was the same kind of betrayal. Lao Yang died, the girl was lucky enough to be saved by her, and Chu Wei was counter - killed by her the moment he made a move.
Lin Qingqing knew that in the apocalypse, there were people like Captain Xiao and the girl next door who were kind - hearted, but they were in the minority. Most of the survivors were selfish like Chu Wei and the girl's classmates, or there were some villains like Zhou Mang.
The reason she could survive until now and even dared to save people was that she had a much stronger strength than others.
"Captain Xiao said that some people have already reached the third - order." Lin Qingqing didn't know how others did it, but she knew that there were always powerful people in this world. Some were smart and talented, some had strong backgrounds and never lacked resources, and some were not only powerful but also incredibly lucky.
Although she had a meditation technique that could accelerate the improvement of her strength, she still didn't dare to relax. Because she understood that compared to those brainless zombies, the real danger in the apocalypse came from the greed and scheming of her own kind.
Lin Qingqing always knew that she wasn't among the top - tier. So only the continuously strengthening strength was her confidence to survive in the apocalypse.
The night passed quietly.
Early the next morning, Lin Qingqing knocked on the door of the girl next door.
"Here's some food for you. Take care of yourself!" She handed a small bag of food to the girl and officially bid her farewell.
"You're leaving?"The girl rubbed her eyes and looked at her in surprise. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes, clearly not having slept well last night. She had thought that this elder sister would at least stay with her for a few days, but she didn't expect her to leave so abruptly.
"Yeah, take it," Lin Qingqing said, stretching the food in her hand a little further.
Two packs of biscuits and a bottle of water, just enough for a day's meager meal. It wasn't much, but the girl just couldn't bring herself to reach out. It wasn't that she was being picky. She knew that if she took it, it meant she was accepting the other's farewell, and the two of them might never cross paths again. She didn't want that. She wanted to follow her!
"What's wrong?" Seeing the girl lowering her head, not speaking and not taking the things, Lin Qingqing furrowed her brows.
"Can... can I follow you?"
"No!" Lin Qingqing refused without hesitation.
"You saved my life. I want to repay you for saving me!"
"I don't need your repayment. You led the zombie away, and I saved you to lead the zombie back. It was just a convenient act."
"You came here specifically to kill my cousi... the zombie?"
"Yeah. I got the news that there was a Level - 2 zombie here, so I came." Lin Qingqing pretended not to hear the unfinished "cousin" from the girl. A zombie was just a zombie. She wasn't interested in their stories before they became one.
Seeing the girl looking like she wanted to say something but held back, Lin Qingqing thought for a while and continued, "Although that zombie was related to you before it died, I was the one who killed it. I won't give you the crystal core."
"I... I didn't mean that," the girl said in surprise, waving her hands. "Don't misunderstand. I know it's your... your spoils of war. I don't want the crystal core even if I follow you."
"Then why do you want to follow me?" Lin Qingqing was a bit puzzled. Just look at Chu Wei to know how rare a Level - 2 crystal core of the same attribute was, not to mention this rare lightning - type one that came from her cousin. Did she really not want it?