Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

They were probably exhausted, because in no time at all, Zhou Chen and Fatty were snoring loudly. Ye Wenrou leaned against the corner of the wall, holding the overclocking oscillation blade in her arms, her eyes slightly closed, her breathing even. It was hard to tell if she was asleep or not. But when Ye Wenrou was awake, she was a fiery hot pepper, but when she was asleep, she was very gentle.

Bi Lang suffered from severe internal injuries and coughed lightly from time to time. He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to fall asleep. Finally, he silently went to the balcony, lit a cigarette, and started smoking. This was his last bit of sustenance, and he didn't know if he would be able to afford cigarettes in the future.

"Hey, are you asleep? If not, chat with me for a bit," Bi Lang said in a low voice, exhaling a smoke ring.

Leng San wasn't asleep. He went to the balcony and sat down on the ground next to Bi Lang, who handed him a cigarette, saying, "This is the last one. Want to have a couple of puffs?"

Leng San shook his head and refused. Bi Lang smiled and continued smoking, looking quite content. Not knowing what to talk about, Leng San casually asked, "How was your trip to the incense market, Master Bi?"

Bi Lang said self-deprecatingly, "What else could we do? We ended up looking disheveled and almost suffered a total defeat, as you saw."

"Was the object that fell to the sky just a safe?" Leng San pressed.

Bi Lang exhaled a smoke ring and shook his head, saying, "No, there was indeed an orbital experimental module, but it disintegrated in mid-air during the crash, and most of its contents spilled out, falling into the [Forbidden Zone] in Xiang City. The radiation inside is too strong; even if ordinary people wear radiation protection suits, they can't get in."

We were just searching the perimeter; finding a safe was incredibly lucky. Even so, we were targeted by a B-level ability user from the Church of Light and almost lost our lives.

It was the Church of Light again. Leng San couldn't help but think of the black-clad woman who could manipulate flames, and the four Church of Light Punishers who were killed by her.

"Are B-level ability users strong?" Leng San asked calmly.

A hint of fear appeared on Bi Lang's face as he nodded and said, "They're terrifyingly strong. I couldn't last three moves against them. If it weren't for a zombie appearing just in time and ambushing that B-level ability user, none of us would have escaped."

"Armored Corpse?" Leng San's heart skipped a beat. He had heard of this thing before. It was an enhanced version of a mutated zombie. In addition to its hands evolving into sharp bone blades, its entire skeleton had evolved, as if it were wearing an extremely sturdy suit of armor that ordinary firearms could not penetrate, unless it was a heavy weapon.

Zombies are essentially "immortal," and can only be killed by destroying their brain tissue. The bones of the armored zombie are incredibly hard, including its skull. With such abnormal defense, you can imagine how difficult it is to kill it.

In any case, with Leng San's current strength, he definitely couldn't break through the armored zombie's defenses; encountering it would basically mean certain death. Fortunately, armored zombies are ten or even a hundred times rarer than mutated zombies; basically, only one in 100,000 zombies can evolve into one, so the chance of encountering one is extremely small.

At this moment, Bi Lang added thankfully, "Fortunately, that armored corpse killed the B-level ability user of the Church of Light. Otherwise, even if we had managed to escape at that time, we wouldn't have been able to escape the Church of Light's subsequent pursuit."

At this point, Bi Lang couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, if I had known there were only useless seeds in the safe, I would have just given them to that superhuman. In the end, I was seriously injured and lost three brothers."

Leng San said calmly, "Even if you had given it to them back then, they might not have let you off the hook."

Bi Lang laughed, "That's true. Even if there are a few ants on the ground, I wouldn't mind stomping them to death. This world is one where the strong rule and fists speak. Little San, if you ever have the chance to become stronger, never miss it. Life is too short; there's not much you can do. Only by becoming stronger can you live longer and do more things… cough cough!"

Bi Lang coughed a few times, spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and then said with a somewhat tragic expression, "I usually drink Grade B clean water. I thought I could live another twenty years, to fifty years old. Now it seems that I may not live for many more years."

"Master Bi will get better," Leng San comforted him.

Bi Lang sighed, "I hope so. Actually, compared to most scavengers, I, Bi Lang, am considered a superior person. I've enjoyed everything I could, and I'm content!"

Bi Lang took a deep drag, flicked the burnt-out cigarette butt downstairs, and slowly exhaled the smoke after a long while.

"Xiao San, if I invite you to join the Canglang Scavenging Team again, would you be willing to join? I mean, you can be the captain, and I'll be your assistant." Bi Lang stared intently at Leng San.

Leng San shook his head decisively and said, "Master Bi is joking. I don't have that kind of ability. I can work alone, but I can't lead people well. I'm not cut out to be a team leader."

Bi Lang couldn't help but show his disappointment and sighed, "Well, I wouldn't want to take on this mess either."

Leng San shook his head and said, "Master Bi, you misunderstand. That's not what I meant. Besides, even if someone were to take over, it would be Brother Chen and Sister Rou who would take over from you."

"Zhou Chen is good at socializing, but not steady enough. He is gentle and good at leading from the front, but he is not qualified to be a team leader. With more experience and training, he may be able to grow."

Leng San did not respond.

Bi Lang smiled and said, "Little San, there's no need to rush to reject me. Think it over again. The Azure Wolf Squad welcomes you to join us anytime."

After saying that, Bi Lang yawned and fell asleep fully clothed on the balcony. The man who had just finished smoking was snoring almost immediately.

Leng San glanced at his watch; it was already 4 a.m., and dawn would break in about two hours. He closed his eyes to rest, knowing he would need to find a way out after daybreak.

Just as Leng San was getting drowsy, the sound of high heels clicking on the floor came from the corridor outside, and the talisman on the wall glowed again.

Leng San was instantly wide awake. He stood up and tiptoed toward the conference room door, only to find that someone was missing. Ye Wenrou was gone, and the conference room door was ajar, indicating that she had obviously gone out.

Leng San was secretly surprised. Although he had been half asleep, he couldn't have been so quiet that he didn't hear someone open the door and leave. Ye Wenrou's skills were only at the level of a first-level enhanced gene warrior, so it was unlikely that she could have fooled his ears.

Leng San gently opened the conference room door and slipped out, just in time to see a figure disappear around the corner of the corridor. Judging from that slender and tall figure, it should be Ye Wenrou, but Ye Wenrou was clearly not wearing high heels!

After a moment's hesitation, Leng San still gave chase.

The staircase was at the corner of the corridor, and the clattering of high heels came from upstairs; Ye Wenrou must have gone up.

Something is wrong!

Leng San hurriedly chased after him upstairs, but after ten floors, he still couldn't catch up; the clattering of high heels kept coming from the floor above. Leng San bit his tongue hard; it hurt, which meant this wasn't an illusion or a dream.

Just then, the sound of a door opening came from the top floor, and Ye Wenrou had clearly arrived. Leng San had a vague feeling that something was wrong, so he rushed up to the top floor at full speed and saw Ye Wenrou standing on the rooftop wall, her ponytail swaying in the night wind.

"Ye Wenrou!" Leng San channeled his spiritual power and shouted in a low voice. Although the voice was not loud, it was as loud as a great bell, deafening and resounding.

Ye Wenrou was jolted awake, as if from a dream. Looking down, she realized she was standing on a sheer drop dozens of stories high. A cold sweat broke out on her brow. She quickly jumped down from the wall, exclaiming in surprise, "Xiao San, how did I get here?"

Leng San frowned and said, "I should be asking you that. What are you doing upstairs in the middle of the night?"

Ye Wenrou asked with some confusion, "Wasn't I sleeping the whole time?"

Leng San's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "So, were you dreaming?"

"I really did have a dream!"

"What did you dream about?"

Ye Wenrou asked somewhat shyly, "Why are you asking this?"

Leng San pointed to the wall and said, "This is the thirtieth floor. If I hadn't called you back just now, you would have been smashed into a pulp."

"I just needed to pee and dreamt about looking for a toilet," Ye Wenrou said, blushing.

Leng San, sweating profusely, asked, "Did you hear the sound of high heels walking?"

"Huh? How did you know? I did dream about a kind lady in high heels who helped me find the restroom."

Leng San said in a deep voice, "What kind sister? You've run into something unclean."

Ye Wenrou was taken aback for a moment before she realized what she meant and said with a hint of disbelief, "What nonsense are you talking about, mistress? There are no ghosts in this world."

"So do you think you're sleepwalking? Or did I bring you up here?" Leng San retorted.

Ye Wenrou was speechless for a moment, but she still didn't believe in ghosts. Before the nuclear war, Earth's technology was highly advanced, and the more advanced the technology, the less people tended to believe in ghosts and gods.

Leng San was too lazy to argue with her and turned to leave, but Ye Wenrou quickly said, "Xiao San, wait a minute, let me go down with you."

The hot-tempered but gentle woman seemed a little scared. She woke up to find herself standing dozens of stories high, ready to jump. Anyone would be terrified in that situation.

Just as the two reached the twentieth floor, Zhou Chen came up and saw Leng San and Ye Wenrou together, his eyes looking very strange.

Ye Wenrou said somewhat angrily, "What are you looking at? Can't I go on patrol with my mistress?"

Zhou Chen coughed lightly and said, "I didn't say it was impossible, cough... well, the boss's condition isn't good, he has a fever!"

Ye Wenrou quickly ran downstairs. Zhou Chen glanced at Leng San and asked in a low voice, "Xiao San, what just happened?"

"Would you believe me if I said Ye Wenrou was possessed by a ghost?" Leng San said indifferently.

Zhou Chen was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Couldn't you come up with some other excuse for a date? But with a personality like Wenrou's, how did you manage to hook up with her?"

"Never mind what I said!" Leng San strode downstairs.

Zhou Chen shrugged, then suddenly felt a gust of cold wind blowing from behind him. He quickly shrank his neck and hurried after Leng San.

The group returned to the conference room on the eighth floor. At this time, Fatty also woke up and was feeding Bi Lang water, who was indeed running a fever.

Normally, level-two gene-enhanced warriors wouldn't get sick easily, but Bi Lang was seriously injured and his immunity was weakened, so he developed a fever.

Ye Wenrou examined Bi Lang's wound on his ribs and frowned, saying, "The wound is infected and needs antibiotics."

Zhou Chen frowned and said, "The antibiotics are all over the arrow."

Arrow was a member of the Gray Wolf Squad, but he died in Xiang City.

Leng San poured out all the medicine he had collected from his backpack.

Ye Wenrou's eyes lit up: "Penicillin, that's great, Xiao San, thank you. Consider it a gift from us, and we'll transfer the contribution points to you later."

Leng San didn't refuse. Equivalent exchange was the principle of the wasteland. If the other party was willing to give, he would naturally accept it without hesitation.