Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

Leng San immediately retorted, "Fine, but you're about to die. What do you have to offer me in a deal? And what makes you think I'll keep my promise?"

"I'm dying soon, but killing you before I die will be as easy as crushing an ant," the woman in black threatened bluntly. "As for how to ensure you keep your promise in the future, I have my own ways."

Leng San felt a chill run down his spine and frowned, asking, "Then what will you use to trade with me?"

Never give alms, always exchange what is equivalent—this is one of the wasteland creeds.

The woman in black pointed to the little girl's handbag and said, "There's a level-two gene enhancement serum inside. It's perfect for someone as thin as you."

Leng San was greatly interested upon hearing this. Gene enhancement drugs were also products of the [Wanhua Gene Biotechnology Group]. They could enhance a person's physical strength, power, speed, agility, eyesight, hearing, and other aspects. However, they were extremely expensive. A level one gene enhancement drug cost 10,000 contribution points, and a level two gene enhancement drug cost 50,000 contribution points. Ninety percent of scavengers were destined to never be able to afford them in their lifetime.

However, after genetic enhancement, the scavengers' strength increased dramatically, and level 2 genetically enhanced warriors could even take on mutated zombies one-on-one.

"Okay, deal!" Leng San agreed decisively. Although it was dangerous to have a burden, the level 2 gene enhancement drug was too tempting. If he went out to scavenge in the future, he could just leave the little girl in the room in the camp. The impact on him would be limited.

The woman in black smiled and said, "Then come here."

Leng San hesitated for a moment, but still walked to the woman in black as instructed. If she wanted to kill him, she wouldn't need to go through all that trouble, so he wasn't worried.

The woman in black spread her right index and middle fingers apart and quickly pointed them at her eyes. Then, she suddenly brought her fingers together and pressed them against Leng San's forehead with lightning speed. Leng San instinctively retreated, but it was too late. He felt a heat between his eyebrows, as if a flame had entered his brain, and then he returned to normal after a moment.

"What did you do to me?" Leng San was filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

The woman in black's gaze softened considerably as she said calmly, "You'll see later. As long as you keep your promise, there's nothing to worry about."

Leng San had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but unfortunately, he had lost all his cultivation and couldn't use internal vision, so he naturally couldn't detect the changes within his body. He could only say dejectedly, "Give me the thing!"

The woman in black smiled and said, "Don't worry, Dawn will give it to you. Now, move these Punisher corpses together."

Leng San moved the four corpses of the Church of Light's punishers to a pile, and was about to casually touch one of the corpses when the woman in black stopped him, saying, "Don't take anything. If you take anything, they will be able to find you."

Leng San's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly withdrew his hand. The Church of Light was not someone he could afford to offend.

"Alright, you can take Chenxi now," the woman in black said softly, her gaze fixed on the little girl, her expression filled with sadness and deep reluctance. However, the little girl remained expressionless, her eyes vacant, standing there like an empty shell, not even glancing at her.

"Remember, her name is Chenxi," the woman in black instructed before waving Leng San away.

Leng San slung his backpack over his shoulder, picked up his woven bag, and called out, "Let's go!" before turning and leaving.

The little girl followed closely behind Leng San. After walking about a hundred meters, there was a sudden bang behind them, flames shot into the sky, and a wave of scorching heat swept over, making the girl's ancient-style dress sway unsteadily.

Leng San stopped and looked back, only to find that the fire had melted the nearby vehicles, and the bodies of the woman in black and the four church disciplinarians were probably also completely destroyed.

Leng San's back was drenched in cold sweat. Judging from the power of the flames, if he hadn't agreed to the woman in black's request, the consequences would have been...

Two glistening water droplets had somehow appeared on the little girl's long eyelashes.

Cried?

A hint of surprise appeared on Leng San's face.

"Let's go!" Leng San took the little girl's handbag with ill intent and continued walking forward. He walked very fast, and the little girl tried her best to keep up, but the distance between them kept getting wider and wider.

Leng San turned a block and finally shook off the little girl. What a joke! Have you ever seen a scavenger keep his promise? Deception isn't shameful, stupidity is. He wouldn't be stupid enough to burden himself with a child, especially since it involves the Church of Light, which is a real problem.

Leng San was about to speed up and run further to shake off the little girl completely when a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head, as if his soul had been scorched by a raging fire. The pain made him fall to the ground and roll around.

After a while, the unbearable pain slowly subsided. Leng San scrambled to his feet and found the little girl Chenxi standing blankly in front of him.

Leng San casually dusted himself off and said, "Why are you walking so slowly? I won't wait for you next time. Let's go!"

Then he picked up the woven bag and continued on his way, but this time he walked much slower. Chenxi followed behind him without saying a word, showing no emotion.

Leng San inwardly groaned. The woman in black was a superhuman and probably had placed some kind of soul-binding curse on him. If he broke his promise and abandoned the little girl, his soul would suffer a backlash. Tsk tsk, how vicious! No wonder she wasn't worried about him breaking his promise.

Well, there's no way I can get rid of this burden!

Leng San glanced back at Chen Xi in annoyance, becoming increasingly displeased with her. The girl was too clean and beautiful, out of place in the wasteland, too conspicuous, and would bring him unnecessary trouble.

So, Leng San touched an abandoned vehicle and smeared the yellowish-brown rust onto Chen Xi's fair face. The latter merely furrowed her beautiful brows without flinching.

Soon, a beautiful porcelain doll was transformed into a dirty beggar. However, Leng San still seemed unsatisfied. He took out a dagger and cut off Chenxi's beautiful hair short, leaving it jagged and uneven, as if a dog had chewed it. But Leng San was satisfied. At this moment, Chenxi finally looked somewhat like a boy.

"Hmm, I need to change my clothes!" Leng San thought to herself, and was about to take off Chenxi's dress, but as soon as she reached out her hand, her soul seemed to be burned again, and her head throbbed with pain.

Leng San clutched his head in pain and squatted for a while before recovering. The little girl seemed to glance down at him before resuming her indifferent gaze.

Leng San then vaguely realized that the little girl in front of him seemed to be able to control that "soul forbidden spell". Oh no, he thought she was just a burden, but it turns out she has become a god. He has lost out big time!

Leng San suddenly remembered something and hurriedly opened the little girl's handbag. Fortunately, there was indeed a sealed alloy syringe box inside, containing two syringes: one first-level gene enhancement drug and one second-level gene enhancement drug.

Leng San breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the woman in black hadn't lied; otherwise, he would have lost everything. But then he thought, since she entrusted the little girl to his care, she must want him to become stronger. Otherwise, how could she take care of this burden?

Leng San's terrible mood improved slightly. This time, he didn't dare to rashly take off the little girl's dress. Instead, he took off his own coat and draped it over her to cover the eye-catching ancient-style dress.

"Let's go, don't cause any trouble, or I'll sell you!" Leng San threatened weakly, then led the little girl back to Camp C-361.

The two guards at the camp were surprised to see Leng San return to the camp alone, no, with a little tail following behind him. However, they didn't ask anything, just scanned the two of them according to procedure, and let them pass after confirming that they were not infected with the zombie virus.

"Little Sanzi, this little girl hasn't registered with the Alliance yet. Remember to register her, otherwise she won't be able to stay in the camp," a guard reminded him.

It was obvious that the guards recognized that Chenxi, with her dirty face, was a girl.

Leng San nodded and said, "Understood." Then he led Chen Xi into the camp.

The two guards exchanged a glance. The AK47 that Leng San was carrying belonged to Brother Leopard, which meant that Brother Leopard was already dead. Scarface and Skinny Monkey were probably also in grave danger.

Leng San was clearly the weakest in the squad, yet he returned alive. The two guards couldn't help but speculate maliciously: could it be that Leng San had played a cruel trick and killed his teammates? If so, that kid was truly ruthless. But why did he bring back a little girl? Was he planning to raise her as a child bride?

Meanwhile, Leng San led Chenxi back to his private room, told her not to wander off, and then went to the camp's supply station to sell all his AK47, Black Hawk revolver, machete, butcher knife, triangular bayonet, three daggers, and five pairs of military boots.

The supply depot's stationmaster, Old Xu, looked at Leng San in surprise and said, "Not bad, Little San, you struck it rich today? Well, making money off your teammates is still making money. Silly Leopard and the others are all dead, right?"

It was obvious that Lao Xu also recognized the AK47, machete, and butcher knife as Leopard Brother's weapons.

"Stop talking nonsense, how many contribution points are you worth?" Leng San said impatiently.

Old Xu wasn't angry at all. He smiled and said, "Let me calculate it for you. An old AK47 - 500 contribution points, a broken Black Hawk pistol - 300 contribution points, a rotten machete - 80 contribution points, a rotten butcher knife - 30, a broken military dagger, three rotten daggers, and five pairs of old leather boots - let's say 200 contribution points for you. That's a total of 1100 contribution points."

Leng San estimated it was about right and nodded, saying, "Deal, let's put it in the account!"

So Lao Xu scanned Leng San's iris and then pressed his fingerprint to confirm. With a beep, 1100 contribution points were deposited into Leng San's account.

This was undoubtedly a huge sum of money for Leng San; he had never had so many contribution points in his account before.

"Little Sanzi, you've struck it rich this time, aren't you going to replenish your supplies? We got a few new items today," Old Xu enthusiastically recommended.

Leng San turned and left. He had enough food and water for the time being, and as for weapons, the mini submachine gun was enough; anything more would be a burden.

"Aren't you going to buy some water and nutrients?"

Leng San walked away without looking back.

Old Xu watched Leng San's retreating figure thoughtfully. It seemed that this kid still had quite a bit of stuff in reserve, and might even be hiding some good things.