Han Xiaojiao stood before the fitting mirror, looking at the dress she was wearing, clearly not very satisfied. Afterward, she found a prettier flowered dress in the women's section and indicated to A-Xin that she wanted to change.
Even as a zombie, she had to be beautiful.
A-Xin agreed to wait for her to finish changing before going elsewhere. Han Xiaojiao took the dress and happily went to the fitting room.
After A-Xin waited about fifteen minutes without seeing Han Xiaojiao come out, she couldn't help but walk to the fitting room and knock on the door.
"What's wrong?" She sensed anger coming from Han Xiaojiao. Big Circle lay at the fitting room door, gnawing on a can while shaking its head. What else could it be? Most likely her body was too stiff and she couldn't get the dress on, sulking inside.
The zombie human servant was good in every way, just particularly vain.
She had to bathe every day, change into clean dresses, and even more terrifyingly, apply makeup. Of course, accessories and contact lenses were also essential. This human called Ning Xin could actually tolerate its human servant's temperament—it was somewhat impressed.
But this wasn't its business. It only needed to act cute, make the human servant happy, then eat and wait for death.
As for the angry human servant, naturally this woman called Ning Xin would coax her. It was busy gnawing on canned food and couldn't manage so much.
A-Xin pushed the door. "Xiaojiao, do you want me to help you?"
Han Xiaojiao looked at herself in the fitting room mirror—her whole body pale with a faint greenish tint, and that particularly frightening wound on her neck. She hurriedly indicated to A-Xin that it wasn't necessary.
So ugly!
How could she let anyone see?
Since Han Xiaojiao said it wasn't necessary, A-Xin didn't insist. Sensing Han Xiaojiao fumbling around, still putting on the dress, she waited very patiently.
Half an hour later, Han Xiaojiao finally came out with the dress on. Her hair was also messed up and her makeup smudged.
"Let me comb your hair and do your makeup?"
This time Han Xiaojiao didn't refuse, obediently sitting to the side. Big Circle very perceptively brought over a makeup case, then lay behind Han Xiaojiao, meaning she could lean against its soft body.
Letting the human servant lean on it—no problem.
When Song Tiantian and Fang Cheng's group came up, they saw A-Xin helping Han Xiaojiao comb her hair and apply makeup.
They'd felt something was off about Han Xiaojiao before—her walking posture was clearly not that of an ordinary person. As for Big Circle beside them, they weren't as curious. Many animals and plants worldwide had mutated—a big orange cat's existence wasn't unusual.
At this time, A-Xin had already finished combing Han Xiaojiao's hair and applying her makeup.
Han Xiaojiao still asked if she looked good. As usual, A-Xin said softly, "You're the most beautiful."
Han Xiaojiao happily raised her head. That's right, she was the most beautiful. She liked herself this way—no matter where she was or what she was, she was the most beautiful.
Song Tiantian almost burst out laughing. She stared at Han Xiaojiao, as did Fang Cheng and the others. At this moment, they finally discovered that Han Xiaojiao was very likely a zombie. When this thought emerged, they scared themselves.
A zombie?
They looked at Han Xiaojiao somewhat warily. Han Xiaojiao raised her chin. Facing their fearful gazes, she wasn't angry either. She pulled A-Xin and continued browsing the women's section.
Song Tiantian's group just silently stood to the side, watching a certain particularly vain zombie. Any clothes or dresses she liked, she'd have A-Xin collect. Watching the clothes disappear into thin air, they understood—A-Xin had most likely also awakened a space ability.
A woman with a space ability, not knowing if she had other powerful abilities, actually traveling with a vain zombie and a gluttonous big orange cat. This combination was as strange as could be in the apocalypse.
Of course, they weren't concerned about these things. Their main purpose was to collect supplies.
Song Tiantian's space wasn't large and couldn't hold much. They still had to move supplies into the car, and each person's backpack definitely needed to be stuffed full.
They didn't dare walk in front of A-Xin, afraid she wouldn't like it. They could only follow behind picking up leftovers. Even so, the car couldn't fit everything. There was a shopping mall upstairs. They wanted to find a couple changes of clothes. The clothes on their bodies had been worn for many days, and their shoes were almost worn through. Finding a place like this, they definitely couldn't miss the opportunity.
As for how A-Xin could be traveling with a zombie, they were very curious in their hearts. But since the matter didn't concern them and the zombie wasn't following them, they wouldn't meddle.
However, they were somewhat tempted by A-Xin having a space ability and collecting so many things without any sign of filling it up.
If the team had such a large space, it would really be a very good thing for them. Song Tiantian's space was too small. Waiting for her to slowly grow it—who knew how long that would take? By that time, supplies would probably have been collected by others long ago.
"Should we go talk to her?" Gu Dongling said. He squinted his eyes, looking at A-Xin's position. "That woman's space is very large—it's still not full even now. Her strength should be good, but fighting alone, how can it compare to being with a team? I think she won't refuse."
"But there's a zombie by her side. Right now it seems to have human consciousness, but who knows if she'll suddenly go crazy and attack people? Can we take that risk?"
"Even if we can accept it, when we enter the base later, we can't possibly bring a zombie in too, right? If our team has a zombie, the base definitely won't let us in."
"Actually, we could just travel with them to the base, then separate when we get there—it's the same thing. This way, it's also cooperation. She shouldn't disagree, right?" Gu Dongling said. "Her space is so large, sooner or later it will attract people's attention. Two hands can't fight many—cooperating with us, she doesn't lose out."
"Fang Cheng, what do you think?"
Fang Cheng thought for a moment and nodded. "We can talk to her. If we have her space to assist us, this journey will indeed be much better."
Before, they'd seen many items they couldn't take away. In the apocalypse, supplies were most important, so space for storing supplies was also important.
Song Tiantian didn't make a sound. Actually, what she wanted to say was that the other party had traveled all the way here without incident. Even zombies feared them—joining some team was completely unnecessary and would require sharing her space.
Gu Dongling calculated so much, but the other party wasn't a fool either.
If she had strong enough power, she wouldn't be willing to be constrained by a team. Life would definitely be much freer than now. At least if she had powerful strength, even joining a team, her status would be much higher.
But she didn't interrupt to say anything. Besides having a small exposed space, she had nothing, so she wasn't qualified to say these things. In the apocalypse, she—this kind of weakling—had to be very careful to preserve her life.
"Then I'll go talk to her."
Fang Cheng was also very tempted by A-Xin's space. It was still storing things even now—clearly very large.
This time the group didn't slowly collect supplies in the back, but quickly caught up to A-Xin's footsteps. A-Xin also sensed they seemed to be coming to find them, so she stopped holding Han Xiaojiao's hand. Big Circle heard the commotion, twisted its big butt around, and very loyally stood beside Han Xiaojiao.
"My name is Fang Cheng. I'm the captain of this team. Miss, we'd like to talk with you." Fang Cheng spoke politely. "I wonder if that's possible?"
A-Xin said, "Talk about what?"
"Miss, would you be willing to join our team?" Gu Dongling spoke before Fang Cheng. "In the apocalypse, not only are zombies rampant, humans are also dangerous. Miss, joining us would be safer than acting alone."
A-Xin said, "We haven't encountered any danger along the way."
Gu Dongling's mouth twitched. How was he supposed to respond to that? But he still didn't give up. The supplies in this mall were too abundant. Who knew if they'd encounter such good things in the future? It would be too wasteful not to take them.
Song Tiantian muttered in her heart—she'd said it. This woman who looked very formidable wasn't so easily fooled.
Someone who could travel with a zombie and live safely until now was definitely not a fool. Wanting to take advantage of her space for nothing—did they think she was a weakling like herself?
"Actually, we want to cooperate with Miss." Fang Cheng stopped Gu Dongling, who still wanted to speak. Gu Dongling's temperament was too impatient and unlikeable. If he continued, Fang Cheng feared offending them.
After stopping Gu Dongling, Fang Cheng continued, "Miss should have awakened a space ability, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt Han Xiaojiao the zombie's cold gaze. If she weren't being held by A-Xin, he thought this zombie would very likely jump up and bite him. He didn't retreat in fear and looked directly at A-Xin.
A-Xin said, "So what if I have?"
"We'd like to borrow Miss's space." Fang Cheng also said somewhat uncomfortably, but at this point, he had to continue. This concerned the team's survival going forward. "We don't know if we'll encounter this kind of mall again in the future. We can't haul away everything. We just saw Miss continuously collecting things—your space should be very large. If possible, we hope to cooperate with Miss."
Before A-Xin could speak, Han Xiaojiao was already unhappy.
Why should A-Xin's space be used by this group? If A-Xin weren't powerful, wouldn't these people be coming to rob them? Along this journey, she'd encountered too many of these annoying people. Of course, in the end, they were all whipped away by her powerful A-Xin with one lash—she hadn't even had a chance to act.
Han Xiaojiao tugged at A-Xin, indicating she didn't want to travel with this group.
A-Xin smiled and patted her hand. "I won't travel with them."
Han Xiaojiao's heart was satisfied. This group couldn't steal away her A-Xin. It was just that her A-Xin was too good, so many people wanted to abduct her.
"I won't cooperate with you."
"Miss might consider it. You're safe now, but that doesn't mean you'll always be safe. Moreover, you have a zombie by your side who seems very important to you." Gu Dongling's gaze fell on Han Xiaojiao. "In the apocalypse, zombies are humanity's enemies. Miss, do you think relying on your own power, you can protect her well? Cooperating with us, I dare guarantee that before entering the base, our team's people can help you protect her..."
He wanted to continue speaking, but unexpectedly Han Xiaojiao broke free from A-Xin's hand and made a very fierce movement. Somehow, she suddenly jumped in front of Gu Dongling and slapped him across the face, directly sending him flying.
Landing on the ground, Han Xiaojiao was also somewhat surprised that she could jump so high, jump so far in one bound, and slap that hateful guy away with one palm. She seemed to have discovered something. Looking at a platform in the distance, she directly jumped there, almost in the blink of an eye landing on the platform.
Her body was still very stiff, but her jumping ability was somewhat unexpected. She looked down at Gu Dongling who'd been slapped away, feeling contemptuous while also surprised that her strength was actually this powerful.
Gu Dongling never expected that the particularly vain zombie would hit someone as soon as she said so, jumping so high, flying over and giving him a slap. He truly had no reaction at all.
His expression darkened as he got up from the ground, walking somewhat angrily toward A-Xin. Seeing this, Han Xiaojiao immediately jumped back to A-Xin's position. Her movements were somewhat fierce, directly extinguishing quite a bit of Gu Dongling's anger.
"Xiaojiao doesn't really like people speaking impolitely to me or making threats." A-Xin explained with a smile, pulling Han Xiaojiao back. Han Xiaojiao proudly raised her chin, indicating that was exactly right.
This guy's words were full of using her to threaten A-Xin—clearly not a good person. She'd decided—if Gu Dongling came again, she'd slap him away.
Gu Dongling was choking on his words. He glanced at the zombies around them who'd appeared at some unknown time, completely not daring to say anything more. Looking again at that vain zombie's smug appearance, he was extremely angry inside.
Although the other's expression was stiff, he could tell she was very smug. Infuriating.
Han Xiaojiao saw the zombies she'd summoned had all arrived and tugged at A-Xin's sleeve, expressing her meaning.
A-Xin's lips curved. "Alright."
Han Xiaojiao happily waved her hand, shouting something at those zombies. Anyway, besides A-Xin, Big Circle, and the zombies, no one else could understand.
Not understanding didn't matter—they could see.
Next, those slow-moving zombies actually moved all the supplies from downstairs and upstairs to A-Xin. A-Xin casually waved her hand and everything disappeared before their eyes.
Now they understood—so Han Xiaojiao's meaning was to have A-Xin collect everything here. Gu Dongling's eyes widened. If not for so many zombies surrounding them, he definitely would have jumped up to hit someone.
Fang Cheng's expression was also somewhat dark. Lei Zhe was one of the team's strong members and quickly grabbed a few pieces of clothing nearby to stuff into his backpack. Although he looked like a big guy, his brain wasn't stupid. He hadn't thought of going to fight or anything. Their car was full—without space, they really couldn't take these things.
The other team members also grabbed nearby items to stuff into their bags, all somewhat annoyed in their hearts. If Fang Cheng and the others hadn't gone to talk about cooperation, if Gu Dongling hadn't angered them, the other party wouldn't have collected everything.
The other party had space and of course could take everything here. Han Xiaojiao, this vain zombie, could also control other zombies—just thinking about it was terrifying.
So did they need their team's protection?
Fang Cheng didn't move, obviously also thinking of this point. Indeed, he'd miscalculated. The other party could rampage through the apocalypse like this—they indeed didn't need their team's protection and wouldn't cooperate with them. They couldn't offer any conditions to exchange for using the other's space.
Han Xiaojiao clapped on the side, expressing to A-Xin: Well done, take it all, take everything.
Big Circle also lay beside Han Xiaojiao, gnawing on canned food, occasionally licking its fur, looking particularly content.
Song Tiantian watched all this, also somewhat dumbfounded. Everyone else was stuffing things, so she looked down at her somewhat dirty clothes, also found a piece in the women's section, and went to the fitting room to change.
When she came out, the mall's items had basically been emptied. She looked somewhat enviously at Han Xiaojiao and A-Xin. Being able to act so freely—only having powerful strength yourself would work.
As she passed by Han Xiaojiao, Han Xiaojiao suddenly stopped her, her gaze fixed on the jade pendant around her neck.
Song Tiantian was startled. Only then did she discover the jade pendant was exposed outside. It must have been when she hurriedly changed clothes just now—she forgot to tuck it inside.
Seeing Han Xiaojiao tilting her head and staring in front of her, she lightly pressed her lips. This vain zombie wouldn't have taken a liking to this jade pendant, would she? The jade pendant was indeed very beautiful—otherwise, when she'd passed by a certain dorm room's entrance that day and discovered the jade pendant lying on the ground, she wouldn't have picked it up and taken it away in her haste.
But this jade pendant had a space inside. She now relied on this space to have a position in the team and temporarily wouldn't become others' meat on the chopping block. She glanced at Han Xiaojiao, then looked at A-Xin. Ultimately feeling somewhat distressed—if the other wanted it, she also couldn't resist.
Han Xiaojiao didn't immediately take the jade pendant but called A-Xin over. From Song Tiantian's perspective, she didn't know what Han Xiaojiao was saying.
After a moment, A-Xin walked before Song Tiantian.
The other team members were all busy stuffing things, temporarily not noticing the situation here—even Fang Cheng was the same. But after A-Xin walked over, Fang Cheng noticed what was happening here and also came to Song Tiantian's side.
"What's wrong?" Fang Cheng asked, vaguely seeming to protect Song Tiantian.
A-Xin said, "This jade pendant is what Xiaojiao accidentally lost."
Song Tiantian looked at Han Xiaojiao. Han Xiaojiao expressed to A-Xin the school she attended. A-Xin relayed this to Song Tiantian. Song Tiantian finally confirmed that Han Xiaojiao was a female student from a certain dorm on the same floor. This jade pendant should be hers.
She was concerned about two points: first, the jade pendant's space was very important to her; second, the jade pendant had bound to her. Before, someone had stolen her jade pendant, but soon after it returned to her. It was also because of this incident that she hid the jade pendant inside her clothes. At this time, Song Tiantian had only recently bound with the jade pendant and didn't yet know how to unbind it.
But most importantly, the jade pendant was Han Xiaojiao's.
Ultimately, Song Tiantian decided to talk with A-Xin and planned to tell the truth. She also wasn't some selfless person—she just hoped to use this to build a good relationship with them. She'd thought of her request—she hoped to travel with them and have them escort her to a safe base.
"I don't know how to address Miss." Song Tiantian asked.
A-Xin answered, "Ning Xin."
"Brother Fang, I'd like to talk with Miss Ning privately."
Fang Cheng asked, "Alright." Since the jade pendant originally belonged to that zombie, and jade pendants weren't rare items in the apocalypse—as long as she wasn't doing anything dangerous to Song Tiantian, he didn't want to offend this very mysterious woman.
Song Tiantian followed A-Xin to another location. She glanced at several women and men whispering in the team and withdrew her gaze. Seeing this, Han Xiaojiao quickly had zombies surround their position, so those who wanted to eavesdrop couldn't hear, and those who wanted to look couldn't see.
"What's going on?"
Gu Dongling asked Fang Cheng. Fang Cheng answered, "The jade pendant around Tiantian's neck belongs to that zombie. They should be talking about how to resolve it."
"Will there be danger?" Gu Dongling asked. "Tiantian also has a space—don't let her be in danger."
"That's right, Captain. Among us, only Song Tiantian has a space. These days her space has also slowly grown a bit. In the future, maybe it can hold more items—we can't let her be in danger."
Fang Cheng glanced at the position surrounded by zombies and said coldly, "Even if they want to do something, what can you do about it?"
Everyone looked at the groups of zombies staring at them with gray-white eyeballs. Immediately they felt their hair stand on end, goosebumps all over. Indeed, they couldn't do anything. They all shut up. They couldn't possibly go over to stop it—they could only wait.
"This jade pendant is not simple."
Song Tiantian said to Han Xiaojiao, "At that time, I hurriedly passed by a dorm room entrance and immediately saw the jade pendant that had fallen on the ground. I thought it was very beautiful, so I picked it up."
Han Xiaojiao happily told A-Xin that it was a birthday gift her brother gave her—of course it was beautiful.
"Later, by accident, my blood dripped onto the jade pendant and bound to it. There's a space inside." Song Tiantian said quietly. "The people around me are slowly awakening abilities—of course, still a minority. But those who've awakened abilities, their status immediately stands at the top. At the same time, we ordinary people who haven't awakened abilities not only have to worry about being bitten by zombies, but also endure oppression from ability users."
"After waiting for a while, I still hadn't awakened an ability." Song Tiantian's eyes showed some loss. "To survive safely, I had no choice but to find a decent team and tell them I'd awakened a space ability."
"Since the jade pendant's owner has come looking for it, I definitely have to return it to you."
Song Tiantian let out a long breath. "However, the jade pendant is currently bound to me. I temporarily don't know how to unbind it. Also, I'd like to ask you for a favor."
"I can help you unbind it." A-Xin said. "Since you didn't steal it or rob it, your picking it up also counts as a kind of fate. What you gain you must lose—losing one thing, you'll have another thing compensate you."
"What's your request?" A-Xin asked again.
Song Tiantian hesitated, then said, "Are you going to C City?"
"That's right. Xiaojiao is going to C City to find her family."
Song Tiantian felt envious in her heart. The apocalypse reveals true feelings—perhaps this was true feeling. Whether this person was a zombie or human, Ning Xin would stand by her side without abandoning her. Unlike them—clearly all human, why couldn't they get along with each other?
"I want to follow you to C City." Song Tiantian's cheeks reddened slightly. "I know this is taking advantage, but as a girl without abilities, I might not be able to make it there alive."
Before A-Xin could speak, Han Xiaojiao was nodding, indicating her willingness. Everyone was from the same school, living on the same floor, and she'd even picked up her jade pendant. Most importantly, she found Song Tiantian quite pleasing to the eye. The jade pendant had a space, yet the other could still speak up about returning it. Regardless of whether she had selfish motives, at this time, it was rare and precious.