For a moment, the three of them—Xie Lingruo, her father, and brother—grew alert, unsure whether the people in the approaching vehicle were friend or foe. For now, they could only wait and observe.
Realizing someone was coming, Xie Lingruo quickly pulled out three large backpacks from her space, designed to hide her spatial ability, and exchanged a meaningful glance with the other two, signaling them to help her conceal the truth.
Once she had cleaned up the area, they saw a man in a raincoat step down from the vehicle and walk toward the first floor's security door.
He knocked politely, and a deep voice rang out:"Sorry to disturb you, friends inside. It's raining red outside, and this is the only shelter nearby. Would it be possible for the five of us to come in and wait out the rain?"
From the first words he spoke, Xie Lingruo immediately recognized the man at the door—it was Coach Yu from the gym they used to go to.
While he spoke, Xie Lingruo quickly explained his background to her brother and father. The three of them agreed to let them in—after all, in a situation like this, it was hard to turn down someone you actually knew. Plus, this wasn't her personal property anyway.
There was another reason: Xie Lingruo knew the zombies would become more dangerous after this red rain, so building a good relationship now could mean future cooperation in fighting their way out.
Outside, the red rain continued to fall, and zombies were gathering eerily in the open, letting themselves be drenched. One of the nearby highway exits was already crawling with them.
When Xie Lingruo opened the door, she nodded and greeted Coach Yu, then turned back inside without much fanfare.
Though she knew Coach Yu and his group were capable, she had no intention of sucking up to anyone. She only did things when they were to her advantage.
Seeing the girl again, Coach Yu was surprised and moved, thinking, "So we meet again, even in the apocalypse."
He had spotted the faint candlelight coming from inside the building, confirming that survivors were there. His upbringing prevented him from forcing his way in.
Shortly after, a second vehicle pulled in, and four men got out. One of them was an old acquaintance—Zhou Yi, the part-time "hell coach" from their old gym.
But Zhou Yi looked injured, blood streaming continuously from his arm. Xie Lingruo wasn't that close to him, so she had no intention of wasting precious medicine on him for free.
Now that five more people had joined them, the atmosphere turned strangely quiet. Both groups settled on opposite ends of the second floor, keeping their distance.
However, Zhou Yi's injury was clearly serious, so Coach Yu had no choice but to come over and try his luck—asking Xie Lingruo if she had any Yunnan Baiyao or other hemostatic medicine. He made it clear they were willing to trade.
After some thought, Xie Lingruo agreed, mainly because they didn't try to freeload just because they were acquaintances, and also because she might need them later to serve as "muscle."
Xie Lingfeng and Father Xie had no objections, especially since the supplies belonged to her, and besides, from their appearance and manner, it was obvious these newcomers were former soldiers—making it even less of a problem.
In the end, Coach Yu traded some compressed biscuits and bottled water for two boxes of Yunnan Baiyao from Xie Lingruo.
While not exactly an even trade, his sincerity showed, and Xie Lingruo was satisfied.
Over on the other side, the injured group was relieved, happy that their leader could finally stop the bleeding.
As it turned out, Zhou Yi had been injured while saving someone—a civilian being chased by zombies.
But that person turned out to be a backstabber, conspiring with another group to ambush Zhou Yi's team. During the scuffle, Zhou Yi was injured while protecting one of his own men.
That other group was the one Lin Yiyi had joined—a bunch of ex-gang members who, upon seeing Zhou Yi's group had guns, tried to set them up and take their weapons. But they had underestimated them—all five of Zhou Yi's group had powers.
As for Lin Yiyi, things weren't going well for her. In order to secure a more comfortable life and better supplies, she had already become the lover of their team leader, Xu Ke.
Her lightning-type power was too weak to be of much use when scavenging for resources, but she still wanted the good life—so when Xu Ke made advances, she didn't resist.
Meanwhile, Zhang Wenbin was furious, practically grinding his teeth. He never imagined Lin Yiyi would cheat on him like this.