Chapter 148 There is...

"ha--"

Everyone slumped back in their chairs, completely satisfied.

Gu Wan raised an eyebrow triumphantly: "I wasn't lying, was I? Isn't it delicious?"

He Zhuo patted his round belly: "I didn't expect this stuff to smell so bad, but the more I eat, the more addictive it becomes!"

As they were talking, Lao Yu led his men to the front of the villa. After all, Lu Nange and the others had cooked a big pot of food, and the lingering aroma still filled the area.

Roddy pinched his nose, his expression contorted: "What's that smell, you lot? Is this...cooking...shit?"

Yu Xuan sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation: "Uncle Luo! This smells like snail rice noodles!"

"This... stinks terribly!" Roddy's face scrunched up like a chrysanthemum.

Old Yu slapped him on the back: "Don't talk nonsense if you don't know! My daughter cooked it for me, and it was delicious!"

Roddy...

To dissipate the smell, the villa's vines were spread out in full. Yu Xuan and the others stood not far from the villa, preparing to go up and knock on the door.

Roddy yelled at the top of his lungs, "Hey, are you guys home?"

The vines pulled open the courtyard gate, revealing Lu Beiye's tilted head: "Is something the matter?" His voice was soft at the end, and his big eyes blinked.

Roddy: [So cute it's making me swoon, I want to steal him and take him home as a pet.]

When she looked up again, Lu Nange and her group had already come out.

Roddy slapped himself on the forehead: [An illusion, all an illusion!]

The women behind Yu Xuan unconsciously moved toward Lu Nange, but hesitated and stopped when they caught sight of Chi Yanzhou and the others.

Noticing their restraint, Chi Yanzhou and the others retreated back into the courtyard.

The women who had been rescued the previous night immediately surrounded him.

They washed away the filth, changed into clean clothes, and bandaged their wounds. Although their complexions were still not good, their eyes had regained some vitality.

"We came to thank you, and Sister Yu Xuan brought us here," the older girl said first.

She bowed deeply, and the people behind her followed suit: "Yesterday... we didn't have a chance to properly thank you. Thank you for saving us."

"Sister Yu Xuan told us a lot," another girl said, clutching her clothes tightly. "We will definitely become stronger... please don't worry."

"Don't worry about us, thank you for the weapons, food and medicine you gave us."

In the orange glow of the setting sun, their straight backs resembled newly sprouted bamboo shoots, still slender, yet already possessing an upward force.

Yu Xuan: "Seven of them have special abilities. After they rest for a few more days, we will start training them in physical fitness and combat."

Old Yu and his group didn't linger, said a brief goodbye, and left.

The vines rustled and closed up again, completely enveloping the villa.

As night fell, the group began to stroll through the streets of Shun City.

The three Lu siblings and Chi Yanzhou brought up the rear, while the others cleared away the remaining zombies in front.

As Lu Nange walked, she opened the system interface and used up all the accumulated sign-in attempts in one go.

"Sign in."

"Sign in."

"Sign in."

She mechanically repeated the process, her consciousness constantly checking the rewards, all for the sake of the thermostatic garment.

Even after signing up for all the accumulated attempts, the thermostatic clothing is still not on the reward list.

Lu Nange sighed softly in her mind: [Hey, before you woke up, what was I thinking? What were the sign-in rewards? Tell me, did you secretly change the settings?]

Youyou pretended to be dead and didn't make a sound.

Lu Nange: [I know you're online, hurry up and say something, or else...]

Youyou: [Squeak...]

Lu Nange's voice trembled with emotion: "[...Youyou, you're probably tired. Before, you always responded to me, but now, for a few thermal underwear, you're so perfunctory in your replies. I thought we were best friends, but with this attitude, it's better if Youyou just ignores me altogether; it makes me seem unreasonable.]"

Youyou: [Nannan, I was wrong. We're best friends. It's no use being Youyou; Youyou will go and think of a solution for you right now.]

Chi Yanzhou patted Lu Nange on the shoulder: "Nannan, don't you feel like something's not right?"

Lu Nange withdrew from his consciousness and looked in the direction his finger was pointing—all the wandering level one zombies had disappeared, and the group surrounding Gu Wan and the others were all muscular level two zombies.

"Something's not right!" She immediately released her mental energy to investigate.

Two hundred meters away, the row of low buildings reeked of zombies.

Delving further in: "Half yellow, half orange!"

"Zhizhi, Gangzi!" Lu Nange's voice suddenly rose: "Kill those zombies! Zhizhi, bring Wanwan and the others back!"

The little tree-man's vines grew rapidly, its main root plunging into the ground and its branches entangling all the zombies.

While they were fighting, Gu Wan and the others were suddenly wrapped around the waist by vines.

"Don't resist!" Lu Nange shouted, "It's Zhizhi!"

The vines retracted at an astonishing speed, bringing everyone back safely.

As soon as Gu Wan and the others steadied themselves, they heard Lu Nange's solemn voice: "Those ahead are all at level two or above, and the one at the very back... should be close to breaking through to level four."

Chi Yanzhou noticed her unusual expression: "What's wrong?"

"These zombies..." Lu Nange's voice tightened, "...seem to have been artificially raised in captivity."

"What?" He Zhuo's exclamation and Gu Wan's gasp rang out at the same time.

Lu Nange nodded heavily: "From where you were just fighting, further in, there are only level two zombies, and even further in, there's a group locked in cages, like..."

Luo Xingyou suddenly replied, her voice trembling, "Like my sister?"

"Um."