Feng Moxi pulled a five-liter barrel of water from her storage space. She washed the large iron pot on the stove several times, then filled it with water and tossed in four or five packs of instant noodles.
She cracked four or five eggs into the pot, tore open four sausages and threw them in whole, and then added two packets of pickled mustard greens and a bottle of chili sauce.
Luo Yunxi's mouth watered just watching. It had been so long since the Apocalypse began, and this was their first proper meal.
Soon, the noodles were ready. Feng Moxi took out two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks, and the two of them began to wolf down the food.
"Mmm, this is delicious," Luo Yunxi said, then began to sob uncontrollably. They had been on the run since the great disaster began, facing mutated demons and countless near-death experiences.
Now, she was finally eating a hot meal.
'Even today, she had fought the demons so desperately, gritting her teeth against the exhaustion and the pain in her arm from swinging the iron rod again and again, but she hadn't backed down once.'
'She knew clearly that if you didn't advance, you fell behind. In a world like this, you'd be eliminated quickly.'
'More importantly, she didn't want Feng Moxi to give up on her.'
Feng Moxi glanced down at her. Once Luo Yunxi had vented her feelings, Feng Moxi said comfortingly, "Stick with me. Things will get better. And keep up with your Water Ability Cultivation. You can wash the bowls in a bit."
"Yes." Luo Yunxi's hoarse voice carried a note of resolve and a flicker of joy.
'Does this mean... she doesn't see me as an outsider anymore?'
Feng Moxi calmly left the room. She went to a small room on the second floor and looked out the back window, where she saw He Ping and his group gathered in the courtyard, cautiously discussing something.
She glanced toward the small bridge. The other side was dark and turbulent. Demons were already wandering back onto the very street they had just cleared today.
A fair number of demons were now roaming there again.
Looking into the distance, she saw only a silent, gray darkness. Unlike the ordinary dark of night, this seemed utterly devoid of hope.
She felt the few Demon Cores she had obtained today. 'The future... will be a little better, right?'
With this thought, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began to slowly circulate her Cultivation Technique. A faint, warm current flowed into her body.
The day's exhaustion immediately began to fade, replaced by a soothing comfort.
After an unknown amount of time, the distant SCREECH of a car braking sharply tore through the silence, followed by a continuous series of explosions.
The tremendous noise had already stirred the restless demons within the small town. All the demons on the street began to swarm toward the small bridge.
Feng Moxi cursed under her breath.
She leaped up and looked out the window. On the road from Binhai, flames shot into the sky, and the area was surrounded by about a hundred swarming demons.
As their vehicle was destroyed, five or six people jumped out looking battered. They formed a back-to-back circle and began to frantically attack the surrounding demons.
A quick glance revealed that most of them had superpowers, and the rest had decent Combat Power. They fought with reckless abandon.
Feng Moxi cursed again. 'If this keeps up, the thousands of demons in town will swarm out, and we'll all be surrounded sooner or later.'
Sure enough, hordes of demons from the town began ramming the barricade Feng Moxi had previously set up at the bridgehead, their guttural roars rising and falling.
Hearing the commotion, He Ping and the others in the small courtyard also quietly went on alert.
With the number of demons growing and little cover available, the newcomers spotted the houses over here and began a fighting retreat in their direction.
The sounds of battle grew closer.
Just then, Luo Yunxi leaned in and whispered, "These idiots are making such a huge scene. Once the demons from the town come rushing out, we're all going to be surrounded."
Watching the swarm of demons on the other side of town grow denser, Feng Moxi said softly, "Get ready. We need to break out and get clear."
Demons are already more active and ferocious at night, and with so many charging out...
...it would be like a siege.
"Right." The two of them hurried downstairs.
They didn't stay to watch. The wooden barricade was already teetering on the verge of collapse from the demons' assault, and the group of newcomers was now sprinting madly in their direction.
Closer and closer.
The demons followed close behind, moving even faster than the ones they had encountered in the town during the day.
The moment they rushed downstairs and opened the courtyard gate, they saw that someone was already blocking their car, while two others were pounding on the iron gate of He Ping's temporary shelter.
The last two people were fending off the pursuing demons.
"Get in the car!" Feng Moxi snapped at Luo Yunxi.
Luo Yunxi quickly opened the door. The moment she sat down, she realized two people had piled into the back seat. Demons had already caught up and were now frantically pounding on the windows.
Feng Moxi's eyes narrowed. With no time to waste on words, she slammed her foot on the gas. The engine ROARED, and the car instantly plowed through a dozen or so demons blocking their path, speeding out of White Poplar Town.
Meanwhile, He Ping and his group had also gotten into their vehicles and were making a break for it.
The remaining four newcomers didn't stand on ceremony, clinging to the doors of two minivans and getting dragged along as they sped out.
Despite He Ping's vehicles swerving wildly, they couldn't manage to shake them off.
Everyone reacted quickly. Even as the demons closed in, growing in number and speed, they all managed to break through onto the main road in one go, following closely behind Feng Moxi's car.
They had all escaped just before being completely trapped.
Feng Moxi glanced in the rearview mirror at the fiery glow and the gutturally roaring demons in relentless pursuit. Her heart grew heavy. 'This path through the Apocalypse is only getting harder.'
Luo Yunxi turned and shot a fierce glare at the two uninvited passengers in the back.
Feng Moxi floored the accelerator and sped onward. When she reached a three-way intersection, she executed another sharp, drifting turn, heading straight for White Poplar Village.
The two men in the back remained silent. One of them, who had a buzz cut, wore a faint smile and actually began to doze off.
The road to White Poplar Village was rough and uneven. Feng Moxi drove at top speed, deliberately steering toward the most pitted and bumpy parts of the road.
The car jolted so violently that its occupants were thrown from side to side, yet the dozing man remained perfectly still.
He lay sprawled out, as if nothing in the world was more important than his nap.
Feng Moxi drove all the way to the residence in White Poplar Village without stopping, her emotions slowly settling.
'She wasn't particularly upset. At worst, they could just fight to take it back tomorrow.'
'Surviving is the same no matter where you go; the whole world is like this now.'
Luo Yunxi, however, was still fuming. She glared viciously at the two men as they got out of the car.
One man had a cold, stern face with deep, piercing eyes. His well-defined lips were pressed into a thin line, his expression completely deadpan, radiating an aura that warned strangers to keep their distance.
The other man, the one with the buzz cut, was the complete opposite—languid and lazy. He had a pair of charming, almond-shaped eyes that always seemed to be sizing people up. His smiling face was strikingly handsome, but his whole demeanor just made you want to punch him.