Chapter 57 - Mutant Plant (Part 1)
Because Liang Peng had left a bit dejected and apparently with a lot of things to think about, there were only three people left present; exactly the same amount of orbs that the evolved zombie had dropped this time.
This had made things easier as it would otherwise be difficult to start distributing the loot. Although it was likely that Liang Peng would give up his share in order to feel less indebted, it was also not certain that such a thing would happen.
After all, the human heart was unpredictable.
Besides... Bai Zemin did not know whether Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He knew about the existence of the orbs and how they were distributed according to their colors. Wouldn't it be good to take advantage of that as much as possible then?
However, that was merely a fleeting thought as Bai Zemin knew that it was not easy to deceive the two people in front of him; Chen He and Shangguan Bing Xue were two extremely smart people, especially her, who was not only smart but also cunning as a fox.
Indeed, as he looked at her he saw that she was also staring at him.
"I like the color yellow." Bai Zemin said out of nowhere.
Chen He and Shangguan Bing Xue looked at each other strangely before she turned to look at him and said with a smile, "I love yellow too."
Bai Zemin was already immune to her cunning little fox smile. Instead, he gave her a friendly smile and continued, "Well, too bad. Considering that my contribution is the highest, I guess I'll be shameless and take the Yellow Orb."
Want to play games of cunning with me? You're still too immature! Bai Zemin secretly sneered.
Indeed, Shangguan Bing Xue's smile disappeared in the blink of an eye and she looked at him with the same indifferent look as always while secretly clicking her tongue and muttering something that probably only she could understand.
With nothing more to say, Bai Zemin stepped forward and picked up the Yellow Orb with delight. This was his second Yellow Orb and thus his second Magic grade Treasure, how could he not be secretly excited? After picking up the orb, Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He and slowly explained: "Red Orb contains a Normal grade Treasure and Orange Orb a Rare grade Treasure. Although I think it's quite obvious but the Normal Treasure is inferior to the Rare Treasure... Still, both are good stuff, you two decide who gets what."
Hearing Bai Zemin's explanation and after remaining silent for a moment, Chen He looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and waved his hands as he said, "Bing Xue, you take the rare treasure. I couldn't do much during the battle and except for shooting the ice stake that you created my contribution is even inferior to Liang Peng... At least he managed to break one of that creature's blades."
Shangguan Bing Xue did not stand on ceremony and nodded without saying a word. At a certain point, she and Bai Zemin had the same main goal; to survive. In order to survive and not fall and then be devoured by some strange creature, she needed power and treasures were undoubtedly a good way to acquire such power. Even if it was external strength, the treasures could help them defeat more powerful enemies which would allow her to absorb a greater amount of pure Soul Power.
Without saying a word, each of them kept their respective loot of victory to look at and study later.
"Let's start inspecting the female dormitory." Bai Zemin frowned and said with some confusion, "I think there's something weird in there."
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him strangely but said nothing and nodded indifferently before starting to walk towards the nearby building.
* * *
The survivors were left in a nearby building under the protection of Fu Xuefeng, Cai Jingyi, and Zhong De; although none of the three had treasure-level weapons, any iron pipe or wooden stick was enough to deal with the zombies considering that they all possessed a skill and a stat at least two or three times higher than that of a normal person.
A careful search was conducted in the female dormitory and the ones in charge were Bai Zemin, Chen He, Shangguan Bing Xue, and Liang Peng who had already recovered a bit from his negative thoughts.
The lower and second floors were devoid of any signs of life. Both floors had been cleared by the zombies or Qiao Long in the past.
On the third floor, approximately thirty female students were found who were still alive. However, the biggest surprise was that on the fourth floor there were over one hundred female students alive!
Although all of them were weak and some of them seemed to have become a bit mentally ill with all that was occurring, at least they were still alive and had a chance to lead as good a life as possible unlike those who had been eaten alive.
In a room on the fourth floor.
"Bing Xue!"
Gao Min jumped into Shangguan Bing Xue's arms and began to sob like a little girl releasing all her grievances with her parents after being bullied by someone bigger.
Gao Min had been practically the pillar of her group since Li Na and Fan Wu needed constant mental support in order to overcome the mental pressure and hunger that threatened to drive them crazy; after all, it was not easy to go through such an abrupt change overnight.
On the other hand, Wu Yijun was generally quiet and silent so it was difficult to know what she was thinking or if she was well. Therefore, Gao Min could only take on the role of the pillar by herself unless she wanted to see her friends dying in front of her eyes.
"It's okay... Everything will be fine now." Shangguan Bing Xue gently stroked the girl's back in her arms and let out an inaudible sigh.
It wasn't just Gao Min, Shangguan Bing Xue was also assaulted by Li Na and Fan Wu so she had to take some time to calm her friends down. Although they had only met three or four years ago, they had become very close to each other and Shangguan Bing Xue was really happy that they were safe.
"Yijun, it's good to see that you're okay." Chen He looked at the stand-up beauty and sighed. "If anything happened to you, your father and grandfather would go crazy later."
"All thanks to you guys who arrived on time." Wu Yijun smiled slightly and nodded. Even though she was not in her best condition due to not being able to eat properly for almost a week, her clothes were clean and the smell of her body was sweet as roses thanks to the shower in the dormitory.
Every day, the girls showered very carefully and without making too much noise every time they stepped into the hot tub to avoid attracting zombies. So, they were comfortable in that sense at least.
At first, they were reluctant out of fear. But hunger, confinement, and the discomfort of not being able to take a hot shower were making everything more difficult for them. So, after two or three days of deliverance, the four decided that if they were going to die at least they might as well release one of their sorrows.