Is Zuo Qingya sad? No, because I'm used to it.
After some stumbling and bumping, Zuo Qingya and Zuo Haijia arrived in the city. In just a few days, the city had completely changed. If it weren't for the remaining building ruins, probably no one would believe that this used to be a city.
"Mom, why did we come to the city?"
"Experience".
"Huh? What's so great about training here?" After Zuo Qingya finished speaking, she found herself in front of a city gate, with people checking people in front of her.
Zuo Qingya subconsciously called out "Mom," but there was no one around. Zuo Qingya felt a little scared and uneasy.
"Mom, you're not going to abandon me, are you?"
Zuo Haijia sighed and said, "Mom, I have something to take care of. You should stay in the city for a few days."
Zuo Haijia used a telepathic communication technique, which startled Zuo Qingya. After calming down, Zuo Qingya began to sob, saying, "Mom, am I still your treasure? Are you really so comfortable leaving me alone in the city? Didn't you say you were going to gain experience? Why did you run off like this?"
"I said I had something to do, so of course you're Mommy's little darling!"
"Then why are you leaving me here alone? Can't I come with you?"
"No, that's too dangerous."
"Huh??? So, Mom, you went to train all by yourself?"
"Well???"
Zuo Qingya sniffed, thinking to herself, "My chef mom is gone. Now I'll have to drink nutritional supplements again."
"Mom, come back soon!"
"Okay, I'll be back when I'm done."
"Go inside quickly!"
City of Hope
Zuo Qingya only brought a little food and supplies with her when she left home, just enough to pay the city entrance fee. Once inside, she immediately sensed the difference. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have imagined that people had fallen so low. In just a few days, everyone was covered in dust, dressed in rags, and emaciated. Zuo Qingya could also look at herself; she wasn't much better off. On the way down from the mountain, her clothes were torn by grass and trees, her hair was loose, her face had small scratches, and her shoes were worn out. Everyone else was carrying large bags and bundles, clearly well-off, while she only had a backpack—she was obviously dirt poor.
Zuo Qingya asked her way through the city's offices and learned that if she wanted to stay in a good place, she had to pay rent with supplies. Otherwise, she could only go to the east of the city, where there were free greenhouses to stay in. However, it wasn't entirely free, because she had to go outside the city to pull weeds every day. After pulling the weeds, she could get a small piece of bread and a bottle of water, which would be her food for the day.
With her backpack on, Zuo Qingya asked her way to the east of the city. She found an open space in a greenhouse, which was where she would sleep. Next to her was a woman in her fifties or sixties who, upon seeing Zuo Qingya, asked her all sorts of questions, inquiring about her background.
"Girl, are you alone too?"
Zuo Qingya nodded: "Mm."
"Sigh, this world is in such a state, when will it ever end!"
"Girl, my name is Honghua, you can call me Sister Hua. What's yours? Girl, what's your name? How old are you?"
"Zuo Qingya".
"Ya Ya, where are your parents?"
Zuo Qingya frowned. She didn't really like overly familiar people. How to put it? Overly familiar people just annoyed her. They'd only known each other for a few minutes, yet they were already asking all sorts of questions, showing no sense of distance at all.
Seeing that Zuo Qingya was silent, Honghua didn't know what to say, so she started rambling on and on: "I'm all alone now. Before the disaster, my son and daughter-in-law were at their parents' house. They wouldn't come back no matter how I asked them. It's better to have a daughter than a son. I don't know how they are now, or if they still remember this old woman."
"Daughter, have you ever heard of superhumans? I wish I could awaken a superhuman. Even though I'm old, I can still fight. You know, how come plants and animals mutated overnight? It's kind of scary."
"Fortunately, we have the country, and the country will get our lives back on track."
Zuo Qingya ignored Honghua's chatter, took out a thin folded straw mat and a thin quilt from her backpack, and immediately entered a state of cultivation. She had recently discovered that as long as she lay in the right position, her body would automatically absorb spiritual energy, whether she was awake or asleep. Even Zuo Haijia envied this skill.
Hearing Zuo Qingya's breathing, Honghua couldn't help but shake her head, thinking to herself, "This girl is really carefree. She can fall asleep like this without any sense of vigilance."
Honghua didn't sleep; he just leaned against the side, keeping a close eye on the crowds coming and going, and included Zuo Qingya within his protection zone.
"Host, it's time to do the mission."
"Do a quest? Little darling, how am I supposed to do a quest looking like this? There are so many people here. Do you expect me to just disappear on the spot?"
"Host, you can buy a substitute for 1 point!"
"A substitute? What's the use of that?"
"A stand-in! As the name suggests, it's just a stand-in. It can act in your place outside, just like a real person."
"Alright! Then I'll spend 1 point to buy a substitute."
"Okay, 1 point has been deducted. The substitute is being deployed. Host, please prepare."
"OK!"
Once Zuo Qingya entered the consciousness space, she changed out of her current clothes and put on the clothes she had made herself over the past few days. She was completely black, wore a gas mask, and then had Xiao Guaiguai teleport her into the system game.
As soon as Zuo Qingya entered the system game, she was placed outside a warehouse. A robot was guarding the door. When it saw Zuo Qingya appear out of thin air, its eyes flashed red and it scanned Zuo Qingya.
"Garbage collector, harmless, can pass." After the robot finished speaking, the door behind it slowly opened.
Zuo Qingya nodded and thanked the robot before going inside. The warehouse was filled with animal and plant corpses and entrails that Zuo Qingya couldn't understand. Zuo Qingya's hands spun like whirlwinds as she picked up the corpses and entrails from the ground. Now, Zuo Qingya didn't feel disgusted at all, because she had gotten used to it.
It took Zuo Qingya a total of 8 hours to pick up the trash. She felt that her arms and hands were numb and no longer her own.
In the space of consciousness, Zuo Qingya took a comfortable hot bath and drank a packet of nutrient solution. On the first day she missed her mother, Zuo Qingya changed into her tattered clothes and made her hair even messier before leaving the space of consciousness.
When Zuo Qingya appeared, the stand-in disappeared. Zuo Qingya opened her eyes and sat up.
"Girl, you're so carefree. There are people coming and going here, and you're sleeping so soundly."
Zuo Qingya was speechless. She stretched and yawned.
"Sister Hua, can't we sleep here for so long?"
"No, it's not that you can't sleep for that long, it's just that you're too careless."
"That solves it. I'm penniless, who would be so stupid as to target me?"
Zuo Qingya, you know what, she's now being targeted by someone, not for her possessions, but for her as a person.
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