Chapter 225: The Phoenix Man Who Soared Before the Apocalypse (30)

Before long, Shen Xiuyan returned. Su Mingyue glanced at him, then pointed toward the shop they had used as a rest stop.

Shen Xiuyan nodded and patted his pocket, indicating that everything was packed.

Young Master Huo looked even more confused. What kind of cryptic game were this couple playing?

Shen Xiuyan leaned back in his seat with a satisfied sigh.

The shop now looked like a bird had flown through and plucked it clean. He had emptied it out completely. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to call him heartless—he did leave behind a few packs of biscuits.

Later, when a few refugees passed by the service area, they thought it had been looted before the Apocalypse.

It was spotless, eerily clean. Not even a single shelf remained.

Luckily, they had some good fortune. On the ground, they found a few packs of biscuits. Staring at those lonely little packets, the group couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Should they consider themselves lucky or unlucky?

Well, at least they had a few life-saving rations. Better to split them up and eat quickly.

Shen Xiuyan, of course, knew nothing about this. A small, casual action on his part had ended up saving several lives. At this moment, their group was still on the road.

But from this point on, it wasn’t just about traveling anymore. After learning about the benefits of Core Crystals, Young Master Huo and Su Mingyue hit it off instantly. They started stopping the car more frequently, intentionally or not, and began frantically collecting Core Crystals.

Even though Shen Xiuyan wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, his objections were now meaningless.

The two of them were smart about it. They picked areas with fewer zombies—one handled the killing, the other did the digging. They split the loot fifty-fifty, creating a surprisingly efficient little supply chain.

“Honey~ Water~”

Su Mingyue’s sweet, coquettish voice rang in Shen Xiuyan’s ears again.

He stared blankly at the sky. Ugh… so much blood and violence. Please give him back his gentle and lovely wife.

It had only been a single day. How had she become so ruthless so quickly?

Her zombie-digging skills were now practically master-level. One slice, one Core Crystal, one miracle.

Shen Xiuyan had been reduced to a soulless hand-washing machine.

Don’t ask. If you ask, he regrets it. If he’d known this would happen, he never would’ve told them how Core Crystals worked.

But complaints aside, Shen Xiuyan’s hands were honest. Without hesitation, he passed over the water.

After washing her hands and storing the cleaned Core Crystal, Su Mingyue turned and dove back into the battlefield.

Shen Xiuyan stood to the side, completely numb.

After a few more rounds of this, Shen Xiuyan finally protested again, and the two reluctantly agreed to continue on their way.

“Alright, from now on, no one’s allowed to get out of the car,” Shen Xiuyan said sternly. “We need to pick up the pace. I checked—we can reach S City by noon tomorrow at the latest. We don’t know what the situation is like over there, so we need to conserve energy and be ready.”

“Got it!” The two nodded obediently this time.

When it came to serious matters, they could be quite obedient. Besides, after a full day of hard work, seeing the bags of Core Crystals piled up in the car, they were more than satisfied.

If zombies had thoughts, they’d definitely run far away when they saw this car coming.

What kind of death bus was this?

Not only did it kill them, it even dug out their Core Crystals. Terrifying.

And so, the two finally behaved and finished the rest of the journey properly. The next day, they successfully reached S City.

S City was nothing like the towns they had passed through. It was the second-largest economic hub in H Country, with a permanent population of over twenty million. One could only imagine the chaos after the Apocalypse hit.

Sure enough, just as Shen Xiuyan had predicted, even tens of kilometers away from S City, everything was already in disarray.

Countless vehicles clogged the roads, all trying to flee. Mixed among them were zombies of all shapes and sizes. The entire road was jammed solid.

Some cars had been stopped for too long and had run out of fuel. Now they were stuck, unable to move forward or back, making the congestion even worse.

There was no way to get through this mess. If these people didn’t get out and fight the zombies, they were going to starve to death.

Seeing the situation, Young Master Huo immediately hit the brakes from a distance.

His expression turned serious. “Young Master Shen, what do we do now?”

Shen Xiuyan frowned, his gaze sharp as he looked to the left. “We’ll detour. Cut through the left side. We’ll take the back roads. This off-road vehicle is sturdy enough to handle country roads.”

“Got it.” With a stylish U-turn, Young Master Huo veered away from the hellish road behind them.

The three of them bumped along the rugged countryside paths. After another jolt that nearly launched them into the air, Su Mingyue rubbed her sore backside and whined, “How much longer until we’re out of here?”

Shen Xiuyan looked at the paper map in his hand and reassured her, “Almost there. Just go to the end and turn right, and we’ll enter the outskirts of S City.”

“Good. I~ feel~ like~ I’m~ falling~ apart~” Her words came out one syllable at a time, squeezed through clenched teeth with every bounce.

“M~e~ t~o~o~” Young Master Huo couldn’t help but echo her.

Shen Xiuyan knocked him on the head. “Quit whining. Just drive. Once we’re past this stretch, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” Young Master Huo stepped on the gas. The car suddenly surged forward, and the three of them were thrown into another round of violent shaking.

Shen Xiuyan deeply suspected Young Master Huo was doing it on purpose.

Out of his line of sight, Young Master Huo grinned. Let’s see how you like being on the receiving end of your double standards, Shen.

But then again, this kind of suffering was mutual. Maybe it was better not to make enemies…

Young Master Huo quietly eased off the gas.

When they finally made it out and hit the asphalt road in the suburbs, it felt like they had come back to life.

The car pulled over to the side of the road, and the three of them enjoyed a moment of rare peace.

Shen Xiuyan asked, “Young Master Huo, where’s your home? We’ll drop you off first.”

“Thanks, thanks. Liuan Mansion, in the southern part of the city.”

Young Master Huo’s face lit up. He hadn’t expected they’d drop him off first. Shen really was a loyal friend!

“Huh?” Su Mingyue was stunned. “No way, seriously???”

Young Master Huo looked at her in disbelief. “Sister-in-law, don’t tell me you guys are going to Liuan Mansion too…”

“Believe it or not, we really are.” Su Mingyue grinned at him. “My parents live there right now.”

“Fate!”

“It’s totally fate!”

The two of them looked at each other across the car, and the atmosphere was so dramatic it felt like they were about to swear brotherhood on the spot.

Shen Xiuyan glanced at the two of them and shook his head helplessly. As expected, stupidity is contagious.

He rubbed his forehead and said with exasperation, “What’s so shocking about that? With your families’ status, there are only a handful of properties in S City worth considering. Is it really that surprising you ended up in the same one?”

Su Mingyue gave an awkward laugh. “That’s true. Most of the old family uncles live in that complex.”

“Yeah, most of the people my family knows live there too…” Young Master Huo nodded along foolishly. “But couldn’t you have said it a little more nicely? You made us sound really dumb.”

Shen Xiuyan: “…”

He let out a long, weary sigh. You don’t need help sounding dumb… you’re doing just fine on your own.