But after what just happened, Shen Hegui and Yu Ke's attitude toward her was so cold. Clearly, before she was pushed into the zombie's mouth by Jiang Yuntan, Shen Hegui and Yu Ke had already held a grudge against Jiang Yuntan. Unexpectedly, after just a few days without Jiang Yuntan causing trouble, they had gone back to protecting her. Truly typical — they never learned their lesson. Especially, she couldn't understand: as fellow women, how could Qi Ruoshui, even after awakening an ability, have no objection to them spoiling Jiang Yuntan like this? She had no backbone at all.
Lin Tingxue fumed inwardly, her eyes constantly scanning the streets, searching for any trace of Qiao Chengming.
Inside the car, Lin Xuan was equally in low spirits. Xia Chujing, sensing the dark mood of the siblings, didn't dare breathe too loudly. She had thought they were gentle and polite, but now it seemed otherwise.
Jiang Yuntan stared at the items in the showcase with a conflicted expression: Invisibility Talisman — can conceal form and odor for half an hour, priced at 800 dimensional coins. Reading the description, she was tempted. But like the Defense Talisman, it was a one-time use item. And one Invisibility Talisman only lasted fifteen minutes for 800 coins, which was a bit expensive for her now. After all, she still had the Defense Talisman; even if a zombie tried to attack her, she wouldn't necessarily get hurt. So the functions of the Invisibility Talisman and Defense Talisman overlapped somewhat. Looking at her remaining 30,000 dimensional coins, Jiang Yuntan decided not to buy it for now. If she wanted to, she still had a chance before the showcase refreshed at midnight. She wanted to save up and see if she could buy something like a legendary Marrow Cleansing Pill to remove impurities from her body and awaken an ability earlier.
Jiang Yuntan withdrew her focus from the dimensional system and looked up to see Shen Hegui reading a book. Huh? Even in the apocalypse, he was still reading? She bent over and tilted her head to see the title: "Introduction to Metallurgy." Beside him was another book, "Modern Metallurgical Technology." Jiang Yuntan was stunned. Shen Hegui had served in the military and later went into business, mostly studying finance and economics courses. What was he doing reading these now? Could it be that awakening a Metal Element Ability also grants talent in metal materials and metallurgy? She wanted to ask, but in the end, she didn't. Never mind — what did it have to do with her, the male lead's business?
Sensing her gaze, Shen Hegui expected her to ask, but she said nothing. That was rare. In the past, she would have eagerly questioned him about why he was reading those books. Now she didn't — he could somewhat believe her claim that she would treat him like a real brother.
The car maneuvered around various obstacles and drove steadily. This wasn't a busy area, so there weren't many zombies. Suddenly, Xue Zhao slammed on the brakes, and the car stopped. Jiang Yuntan felt herself lurching forward; before she could react, her hands had already braced against the seatback in front. Luckily, she wasn't seeing stars. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking up to see a furry creature two meters tall. It had its back to them, with black, gray, and white fur. Judging by the shape of its ears and tail, combined with the fur color, the thing blocking their path about four or five meters ahead was probably a husky. They had just made a sharp turn, so they hadn't noticed this giant husky earlier. Its two-meter-tall body was clearly mutated. The sound of the mutated husky sniffing echoed — it was obviously searching for something.
Behind them, Yu Ke and Lin Xuan's cars also slammed on the brakes after seeing their brake lights. "What's wrong?" Yu Ke's voice came through the walkie-talkie. Shen Hegui's eyes were locked on the mutated husky ahead. Seeing it about to turn around, he quickly said into the walkie-talkie, "Quick, turn around!" Though Yu Ke didn't know what was happening, he immediately turned the car. Lin Xuan could only follow.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuntan and Shen Hegui in the first car were now face-to-face with the mutated husky as it turned its head. Its enormous blood-red eyes were terrifying, and its mouth was smeared with fresh red residue. Its eyes were no longer those of a pet dog — clear and silly — but filled with bloodlust. Was this even just a mutation? With eyes as crimson as a zombie's, had it become a zombie dog? Upon seeing them, the zombie husky's eyes clearly brightened. The next second, the two-meter-tall husky charged at them.
Shen Hegui rolled down the window and raised his hand. Numerous swords formed from his Metal Element Ability flew toward the zombie husky. Facing this behemoth, Shen Hegui knew his current ability probably couldn't kill it directly — its body was as large as a small truck. Moreover, this zombie husky didn't seem stiff and clumsy like regular zombies. In just a second, it had halved the distance between them. He wondered what would happen to their car if it directly slammed into them.
Shen Hegui's ability struck the zombie husky, which let out an angry roar. Then, a few bullets from Jiang Yuntan hit it. They held it back for a few seconds. Shen Hegui took the opportunity to use his ability to smash nearby cars onto the zombie husky. Without turning his head, he said to Jiang Yuntan, "You're on your own later. Don't run out and play hero, or I really might not be able to take care of you." He had promised his father to bring her safely back to Jing City. Besides, as someone who grew up with him, he didn't want anything to happen to her.
Jiang Yuntan nodded cooperatively. "Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble."
Shen Hegui continued using his ability to smash wrecked cars onto the zombie husky, at least slowing its advance. The zombie husky was shaking off the cars with its head. He had Xue Zhao stop the car for a moment, then immediately got out and told Xue Zhao to drive to a safe place. Jiang Yuntan watched him turn and leave, touched the Defense Talisman in her pocket, but ultimately didn't hand it over. She couldn't explain it.
Jiang Yuntan bit her lip and resumed searching the dimensional system. Finally, she found a Rejuvenation Pill, which could restore injuries and vitality, but it cost 10,000 dimensional coins. Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief. If Shen Hegui got hurt, she had a solution. After all, she didn't want to rely entirely on Lin Tingxue's healing ability. Whether to return to Jing City more safely or for Shen Hegui's father's sake, she didn't want to see anything happen to Shen Hegui.