Chapter 166 - 133: The One and Only Sister

Chapter 166: Chapter 133: The One and Only Sister

Fen Da, Uncle Zaozi, and the other team members were heaving and grunting as they unloaded items into the shed.

Uncle Zaozi, who had no Superpower and loved to slack off, purposely carried the lighter things. Meanwhile, Fen Da’s Gold Ability easily sorted all the metallic objects into a separate pile.

Unloading three large carts of assorted scrap was fairly easy. Before long, the shed was packed to the brim.

Behind the house, Chen Xing carried a massive, overflowing basket of bamboo shoots with a taut face. Her serious expression made it look less like she had been digging up shoots and more like—

"Hey, Ms. Chen, why do you look like you just got beat up?"

Uncle Zaozi scrunched up his bruised, colorful face, trembling with suppressed laughter.

Huai Yu couldn’t help but glance at him. She thought that the books were right—people truly never learned anything from the lessons of history.

The next moment, a clump of mud flew up from the ground and hit Uncle Zaozi right in the face with a loud SPLAT, knocking him flat on his butt again.

This time, Huai Yu felt too embarrassed to even help him up.

She looked over at Chen Xing again. Although Sister Xingxing had failed to act cool earlier and had been frightened by Kuang Biao, she had still harvested a huge basket of bamboo shoots. Her mood should be fine now, right?

However, having never formally entertained friends before, Huai Yu wasn’t sure if this chaotic atmosphere meant she was doing a good job as a host.

Chen Xing, keeping her face perfectly taut, set the bamboo shoots down and paced in circles around the room. Seeing that the others hadn’t followed her inside, she hurriedly threw her arms around Huai Yu and whisper-shouted,

"Little Yu!!!

"From now on, you are my big sister! My one and only sister!"

Huai Yu was held so tightly her hoe dropped to the floor. "Ah?"

Chen Xing gripped her shoulders, her eyes burning with fervor. "I should have known! For you to live in the Rose Corridor, you must be incredible!

"What’s so strange about having an obedient mutated bamboo?

"My god, I never thought I’d meet someone as amazing as you in my lifetime!

"No wonder you said the Defense Army is coming to help you build a house—they must know how incredible you are and have submitted to your social network!

"Oh, wait, no—your mutant network!"

"Anyway!" Chen Xing said solemnly. "If you ever need any help in the future, just ask! If you have items that are inconvenient to sell publicly, bring them to me. I can definitely give you a good price.

"And that brick of tea you gave us—I was wondering how its Mutant Value could be so low. It must have an extraordinary origin, right? Don’t worry! I will absolutely never reveal where it came from!

"As for your Uncle Zaozi, I’ll beat some obedience into him later."

Chen Xing was so excited she was practically jumping. Her entire being was radiating the vain thrill of actually knowing such a massive bigwig.

Huai Yu opened her mouth, struggling for a long while before finally stammering, "Actually... I really don’t have any other abilities."

"I get it, I get it," Chen Xing said with a knowing look. "Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others."

As the sun began to set on the horizon, a completely satisfied Chen Xing stood at the door carrying a basket and waved her hand contentedly.

"Fen Da! Bring the bamboo shoots!"

She turned back and, with exceptional solemnity, accepted the vase and the Rose that Huai Yu was holding out. Joy overflowed from her eyes and brows.

"We need to get going before it gets dark. Little Sister Yu, when I come back from the Wilderness next time, I’ll definitely bring you some good stuff!"

After a moment’s thought, she hugged the vase to her chest and reached out to grab Uncle Zaozi, who was still trying to linger around.

"Let’s go, let’s go! I’ll distribute the stuff once we’re in the car. Don’t stay here and make our Rose angry."

Uncle Zaozi began to struggle. "Hey—"

"Keep your voice down!" Everyone instantly pounced on him. A flurry of hands clamped over his mouth and pinned down his arms and legs.

"The Rose Corridor really hates it when people make a racket here! Behave yourself!"

The group carried him off and hastily shoved him into the car. It wasn’t until the engine started that Huai Yu remembered something. She quickly ran forward and called out,

"Sister Xingxing, tomorrow I’ll bring you the tea bricks that Uncle Zaozi took!"

Chen Xing didn’t reply. She waited until the car was safely on the main road before sticking her head out the window.

"We’re setting out tomorrow! I’ll come find you the next time we’re back!"

Huai Yu smiled and waved back. "See you next time!"

But—

"Wait!"

She chased desperately after the car until Chen Xing spotted her in the rearview mirror and hit the brakes.

"What’s wrong? Is there something else?"

Huai Yu rested her hands on her knees, panting. "N-No, I just wanted to ask a favor, Sister Xingxing. If you see a very young person wearing a Guard Army uniform out in the Wilderness, could you..."

She hesitated, not knowing what words to use.

Chen Xing, however, dropped her smile. She pushed the car door open and asked patiently,

"Lend him a hand?

"Or... bring him back?"

In this era, everyone had experienced loss or separation.

Whether they were Explorers, the Defense Army, or the Guard Army, the more dazzling their glory, the closer they were to a final parting.

This was especially true for the Guard Army. In the cities, they enjoyed ultimate glory, but out in the Wilderness, their bleached bones piled high.

In those dangerous zones overgrown with mutated plants, no one could survive alone and come back alive.

Chen Xing didn’t know who Huai Yu was talking about, nor did she want to pry into why Huai Yu was all alone. At this moment, she simply gave the frail girl in front of her a warm hug.

"I will.

"Whenever any Explorer encounters a Guard Army..." She struggled to force out the word, "...soldier’s remains, they will do their best to bring them out."

Although there were all kinds of people among the Explorers, Chen Xing couldn’t guarantee that everyone possessed a basic human conscience.

But as long as they had a shred of humanity left, if they truly came across belongings or unconsumed bones, they would do their utmost to bring them back.

After all, the Guard Army offered rewards for successfully recovering remains or personal effects. A combination of human decency and financial incentive meant Huai Yu wouldn’t be completely disappointed.

If not her team, then someone else would do it.

In her embrace, Huai Yu’s eyes silently reddened.

Everyone knew that stepping into the Wilderness was a one-way trip to death, but she simply refused to accept it...

Someone as incredible as Lin Xuefeng...

Ultimately, she held back her tears. Pulling away from Chen Xing’s embrace, she said solemnly,

"Thank you, Sister Xingxing."

Chen Xing offered her a gentle smile before climbing back into the car.

The engine started, and the vehicle once again drove down the road into the distance. Twilight clouds rolled across the horizon, and the evening breeze blew past with a slight chill.

Standing there, Huai Yu felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.

She took a deep breath, shaking off those messy thoughts, and decided to make something delicious for dinner to calm her nerves.

If nothing else, she would cook bamboo tube rice tonight!

Steamed in a bamboo tube with diced bamboo shoots, pork, bean sprouts, and wild greens—born of the same roots, the flavor was bound to be incredible!

If it turned out well, she could even bring a portion to Zhou Qian tomorrow!