The man with the sledgehammer quickly came over; he and a few girls were the least injured among them.
"Young Master Zhou, who is this...?" This man was not tall, around 1.75 meters, with a fairly muscular build and a worldly-wise expression.
"Brother Cao, come and get acquainted with me. This is my best friend in D City, Xia Feng, Lao Xia. This is Cao Zhiyong, he's older than us, you have to call him brother." Zhou Xinran introduced them enthusiastically.
Cao Zhiyong quickly dropped the hammer, reached out and shook hands with Xia Feng, "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Thanks to Brother Xia for his help today, otherwise we would have been done for."
Xia Feng, feeling uncomfortable holding Lin Xuan, simply offered a perfunctory handshake, saying, "You're too kind, Brother Cao."
The earth-elemental superpowered man was still bleeding from his thigh. He limped over and helped the tall, thin man with the Tang sword to his feet.
"Xiao Wu, how are you? Can you still walk?"
The tall, thin woman was pale and covered in cold sweat. She clutched the wound on her abdomen with one hand and said in a deep, magnetic voice, "I'm alright, boss."
The earth-elemental superpowered man helped the tall, thin man up and called out to the girls behind the counter where they were hiding, "Xiao Ze, come out, it's safe now."
The boy behind the counter quickly ran over and stood close to the earth-elemental ability user.
The group of people all huddled together towards Xia Feng, and Zhou Xinran quickly introduced them to Xia Feng one by one.
The man with earth-elemental superpowers is named Peng Yu, and the tall, thin man is named Shen You'an. They, along with the man named Cao Zhiyong from earlier, are all Zhou Xinran's bodyguards.
The shy boy with the student-style haircut is named Peng Ze, and he is Peng Yu's younger brother.
The two girls are Zhou Xinran's younger sister Zhou Lerui's best friends; one is named Yao Yao, and the other is named Sun Youmei.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xia Feng, eager to find a secluded spot to check on Lin Xuan, said to Zhou Xinran, "Old Zhou, you guys find a place to rest first. There are private rooms further in from here. I'll take my wife there first and come back to find you later."
After saying that, he hurriedly walked towards the corridor on the other side of the hall. Zhou Xinran waved to his back and said, "Alright, Lao Xia, let's talk again later."
The group looked at Xia Feng's retreating figure and exchanged glances. Zhou Xinran spoke first: "Let's find a place to rest for a while. Oh my god, Xiao Wu, you're badly injured. Hurry up, everyone find a place to bandage your wounds."
Zhou Xinran hoisted his knocked-out sister onto his shoulder, waved his hand, and took the lead in following behind Xia Feng.
Everyone followed him to find a room.
Xia Feng, carrying Lin Xuan, pushed open a small private room in the driver's lounge.
Lin Xuan had been clinging tightly to his shoulders, burying her face in his neck, without saying a word or crying. Her behavior was very unusual, making Xia Feng feel uneasy and anxious.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay, brother is here, brother is here…” Xia Feng carried Lin Xuan and walked back and forth in the room, patting her back as he did when she was a child, just like when he was putting her to sleep.
After a long while, Lin Xuan finally broke down in tears.
Xia Feng breathed a sigh of relief. It's good that you cried it out; everything will be alright once you've cried it out.
"I'm sorry, brother. I shouldn't have given you so many superpower crystals. I'm sorry, brother. Did I almost kill you again?"
Lin Xuan choked up as she said that she felt extremely guilty. The scene of Xia Feng dying in front of her in her previous life kept replaying in her mind. Had she done something wrong again?
Since her rebirth, she thought she had the upper hand, collected resources, and obtained so many crystals that could make people stronger.
She was greedy; she wanted to make herself and her brother stronger, but she never imagined that there was no free lunch in the world, and that everything would come at a price.
Xia Feng gently patted Lin Xuan's back to comfort her, "Xiao Bao, listen to your brother, can you hear me?"
Feeling Lin Xuan's head move slightly in his shoulder, Xia Feng continued.
“Xiao Bao, you did nothing wrong, none of us did anything wrong. It’s not wrong that we all want to become stronger. You said you lived in the apocalypse for five years in your previous life, but have you ever thought about whether we could have survived even without Zhang Xiaoqi’s framing?”
Xia Feng's voice was gentle, but his gaze was firm.
"Ultimately, it's because we're not strong enough, because my brother isn't powerful enough, that they had the opportunity to harm us."
"You said that the world would become more dangerous, and that more monsters would appear that would be increasingly difficult for us to defeat..."
"Can we live in this world for another five years? Will those powerful zombies, mutated animals, and mutated plants give us that chance?"
Lin Xuan rested her head on Xia Feng's shoulder, her gaze unfocused, staring at a corner of the room, her fingers fiddling with the decorative metal ring on the hood of Xia Feng's sun protection clothing.
"There's no time for us to prepare slowly now. We need to keep getting stronger so that we can survive longer in this world. We need to survive together for five, ten, or even several decades so that we can live to see the day when humanity defeats everything and rebuilds civilization."
"We can't stop taking risks and stop moving forward just because we've gained some advantages in the apocalypse. Opportunities and risks go hand in hand. Let's all be brave, okay?"
Xia Feng pulled Lin Xuan off his shoulder, supporting her neck with one hand and her bottom with the other, forehead to forehead, and said to her, "Baby, don't cry, and don't blame yourself anymore, okay? It breaks my heart to see you like this."
Lin Xuan's eyes were swollen shut from crying. She sniffled, nodded, and buried her face in Xia Feng's shoulder.
Xia Feng sat down on the single bed in the room, holding Lin Xuan in his arms.
"Brother also wants to admit his mistake. I shouldn't have been so arrogant after getting superpowers, causing a superpower riot and making you worry. I was wrong, I was wrong. Can you forgive me one more time? This will definitely not happen again. I'll kneel on the washboard later. Can you forgive me?"
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