Chapter Thirteen: Encountering Qin Mengchun Again

Qin Sheng had already mapped out the route to the cafeteria in advance. On the way, the five of them only encountered a few scattered zombies.

The weather in the apocalypse was unpredictable; today, Qin Sheng felt an unusual chill as soon as she stepped outside. Normally, it should only have been early autumn, yet the biting cold was more like the depths of winter.

“We barely saw any zombies on the way. Granny, do you think zombies hibernate too?” Lin Xing’s endless chattering never stopped along the road, buzzing like a little bee.

Jiang Miaomiao rolled her eyes at Lin Xing, who seemed to have a hundred thousand questions and never knew when to be quiet.

“I heard from Shengsheng that zombies have another habit,” Jiang Miaomiao said, moving to Lin Xing’s other side.

Instantly curious, Lin Xing leaned in closer. “What is it?”

Jiang Miaomiao flashed a sly smile, bringing her lips near Lin Xing’s ear and whispered, “They like to catch people in advance as emergency rations…”

Lin Xing’s expression became indescribable, and his chatter finally quieted down.

Qin Sheng shook her head, smiling helplessly, saying nothing more. Her gaze drifted to the cafeteria not far off, a cold sharpness rising in her eyes.

“Captain Li, there are a few people coming from the girls’ dormitory. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Lin Xing and his group,” reported a classmate who was on lookout, quickly updating Li Chengbin.

Hearing Lin Xing’s name, Li Chengbin immediately sat up, frowning in surprise. “They’re back?”

“It’s not just Minister Lin’s group—there seem to be two more girls with them,” the reporting boy continued.

Tension flashed across Li Chengbin’s face. Didn’t Lin Xing run into any zombies? And he even managed to save two girls?

“Captain, are you alright?” The boy noticed Li Chengbin’s odd demeanor and asked, worried.

Li Chengbin quickly composed himself, a faint smile returning to his face. “It’s nothing. I understand.”

After being checked for signs of infection as required, Qin Sheng and the others were allowed into the cafeteria.

When the apocalypse struck, most students had been buying food in the cafeteria, which had now become a temporary safe haven. Fortunately, the doors had been closed in time—otherwise, this place would have already fallen.

There was still some rice and flour left, enough to feed the dozens of people for now, but it was clearly not sufficient for long.

Qin Sheng’s hands trembled slightly as she stared at the piece of steamed bun and the bottle of mineral water handed to her. She glanced around at the other students sitting nearby—after receiving their buns, they immediately devoured them. Her own stillness made her stand out.

“Hey, classmate. If you can’t finish yours, give it to me! I’ll help you out,” a chubby boy sitting nearby eyed Qin Sheng’s untouched bun after finishing his own.

Qin Sheng wasn’t very hungry and was about to hand over half of her bun when someone stopped her.

“Hey, food is rationed here—everyone only gets a little. If you give him yours, what will you eat when you’re hungry?” Lin Xing had just walked over and saw what was happening.

The chubby boy, seeing his chance gone, pouted and moved to the other side.

“Granny, I know you’re beautiful and kind-hearted, but you can’t just give away your food. What will you eat if you get hungry?” Lin Xing, protective as a mother hen, pushed the bun back to Qin Sheng.

Qin Sheng couldn’t help but think of all the food packed away in her dimensional space. She touched her nose awkwardly.

She wasn’t lacking in food, after all.

Lin Xing then sat down beside her, took out his own bun, and began eating with the mineral water. But after having enjoyed spicy noodles before, the plain bun tasted bland now.

Having witnessed Lin Xing’s usual speed when eating, Qin Sheng easily guessed why he was so slow this time.

“Here,” she said, stealthily pulling a packet of pickled vegetables from her space and handing it to Lin Xing.

Lin Xing’s eyes widened in shock when he saw it was spicy strips—he nearly dropped his bun. After making sure no one was watching, he turned and asked, “Granny, where did you get these pickled vegetables?”

Qin Sheng arched a brow, replying with practiced nonchalance, “Secret.”

Knowing he’d get nothing more, Lin Xing glanced around for a while before quietly tearing open the packet. With one bite of bun and one bite of pickled vegetables, he finished everything in no time.

Qin Sheng and Lin Xing had not been sitting long when Chu Xingyu and Jiang Miaomiao returned with their portions of bun and water and joined them.

“Shengsheng, it’s one bun and one bottle of water per person each day here. As long as we’re frugal, it should be fine,” Jiang Miaomiao explained, taking only a small sip of water before tightly screwing the cap back on and placing the bottle aside.

Qin Sheng thought for a few minutes, then leaned over to whisper something into Jiang Miaomiao’s ear.

Jiang Miaomiao was so shocked by Qin Sheng’s idea that she was momentarily speechless.

“If we don’t stay here, where will we go?” She finally managed to ask in a hushed voice.

“We’ll go back to where we used to live.”

If it weren’t for her supernatural space, perhaps Qin Sheng would have stayed here. But she didn’t need these few steamed buns, and staying wasn’t convenient.

“Sis! You’re here too?” Qin Sheng had just closed her eyes to rest when she heard a familiar voice, her brow furrowing in irritation.

From the first day of the apocalypse, Qin Mengchun had been brought here by Li Chengbin, living almost as comfortably as before. She’d thought Qin Sheng had already been eaten by zombies, and hadn’t expected to see her here.

“So it seems you weren’t hoping to see me here?” Qin Sheng slowly opened her eyes, her presence instantly chilling the air.

Lin Xing, nearby, shivered involuntarily.

Qin Mengchun quickly forced a smile, masking her earlier stiffness and awkwardness. “Of course not, Sis! I’ve been worried about your safety every day, afraid you might get infected…”

“Is that so?” Qin Sheng’s light laugh was tinged with obvious skepticism.

Qin Mengchun squeezed herself in next to Qin Sheng, pushing Jiang Miaomiao aside and grabbing Qin Sheng’s right hand, her expression full of grievance. “Sis, I’ve been pestering Brother Chengbin to look for you every day. Now that I finally see you, I can finally relax…”

Qin Sheng unobtrusively withdrew her hand, watching with amusement as her little sister put on a show of concern.

“Yet I never saw you go out looking yourself,” Jiang Miaomiao said with a wry twist of her lips, shoving Qin Mengchun back out of the way.

Qin Mengchun shot Jiang Miaomiao a resentful look, stomping her foot in annoyance when she saw how close Qin Sheng was with her.

In the past, if Lin Xing had bumped into Qin Mengchun, he would have been too shy to speak. But after learning that Qin Sheng and Qin Mengchun weren’t close, he’d quickly let go of any silly thoughts.

Standing awkwardly, Qin Mengchun’s gaze landed on Lin Xing.

“Lin Xing, I heard you saved my sister. Thank you so much! Are you hurt at all?”

Lin Xing, caught off guard by being addressed, froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.

“With Granny’s skills, she needed no saving from me,” Lin Xing said, as if he’d heard a joke, waving a hand dismissively.

It took Qin Mengchun a moment to realize that Lin Xing’s “Granny” referred to Qin Sheng.

But when had Qin Sheng ever shown any special abilities?

A thousand questions flooded Qin Mengchun’s mind.

A jealous glint appeared in her eyes. She knew everything about Qin Sheng—except that she knew martial arts. The only explanation was that Qin Sheng and that wretched old man Qin had hidden it from her!

Qin Sheng had been watching Qin Mengchun carefully from the beginning. Seeing the change in her expression, she sneered with contempt.

“Sis…” Qin Mengchun began, but was interrupted by a sudden loud crash.

“What happened?” Lin Xing looked at Qin Sheng, then moved with Chu Xingyu toward the source of the commotion.

The smell of blood?

A bad feeling crept into Qin Sheng’s heart.

“What’s going on?” Lin Xing and Chu Xingyu approached the scene, asking around.

“It’s nothing—just that a few people we just rescued were attacked by zombies on the way. Only these two made it back,” someone replied.

Lin Xing glanced at the two survivors, seeing them panting heavily, obviously traumatized by the attack. Witnessing their companions being eaten by zombies was something they were unlikely to recover from quickly.

“Move along, everyone, move along…” Lin Xing returned and briefly explained the situation to Qin Sheng.

But Qin Sheng couldn’t shake the sense that something was off. The scent of blood was faint, but she’d caught it.

“You’re injured?!” One of the rescued girls noticed blood oozing from her companion’s wrist.

“Please, don’t send me out. I just fell and scraped myself…” The short-haired girl trembled with fear, her injury having come from a fall where she might have come into contact with zombie blood.

If anyone found out, she’d be thrown out for sure.

The other girl, clearly unaccustomed to such horrors, quickly pulled a pink handkerchief from her pocket and bandaged her friend’s wound as best she could.

“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you…”

Both girls received a bottle of water and a steamed bun. Having not eaten for nearly two days, they tore into the food without caring for appearances.

But as she ate, the uninjured girl began to feel something was wrong. She turned to see the injured girl start to convulse strangely as she chewed her bun.

At first, it was just her arms and legs, but soon her head began to twitch as well.

Her body twisted on the ground in an unnatural pose, the grinding, creaking sounds sending the other girl into a panic.

The cafeteria erupted into chaos as everyone ran for the farthest possible corner, screams echoing in terror.

The girl in the midst of mutation soon lost all sense of self, transforming completely into a zombie. With a howl, she lunged at the crowd, jaws wide.

She’d barely taken two steps before being kicked away by a sudden force.

“Lin Xing, don’t let anyone come closer!” Qin Sheng shouted, then charged forward at incredible speed.

She couldn’t afford to draw her Tang sword from her space right now.

She would have to fight bare-handed!