Jiang Yuntan watched this dramatic scene, not knowing what to say. Was this how abilities were supposed to be used? Mainly, the scene looked a bit strange.
Yu Ke hit the nail on the head, voicing the doubt in her mind.
Yu Ke teased, "Shen, who would have thought that you, a big group president, are now in the business of cremation? You, your sister, and Yufeng together could open a funeral parlor."
Jiang Yuntan: ... Suddenly, that made some sense, didn't it?
Shen Hegui shot him a glance. "Say one more word, and I'll throw you in there too."
Yu Ke immediately made a zipping-his-lips gesture, then cheerfully continued tossing zombie rat heads into the newly constructed furnace.
Lin Tingxue watched their actions, then looked at the dagger in her own hand, hesitating. She used her Vine Element to bind a few zombie rat heads and dragged them over.
Jiang Yuntan saw her approaching and thought, "Uh-oh. Wait, they killed so many zombie rats, but Lin Tingxue and her group didn't seem to contribute much, right? The Lin siblings were okay, but Xia Chujing didn't help at all." Did they expect to split the spoils equally? No way. She couldn't agree to that. After all, she had put in a lot of effort.
If Shen Hegui and the others had done most of the work and wanted to share equally with Lin Tingxue's group, she wouldn't object. But now, she was a significant part of it too, okay? She couldn't agree to an equal split with Lin Tingxue. What good would it do her to strengthen an enemy?
So Jiang Yuntan blocked Lin Tingxue's path. "What are you doing? We built this ourselves. You're not trying to get a share, are you?"
Lin Tingxue said gently, "Yuntan, we're teammates. Shouldn't we work together?" Then she turned her gaze to Shen Hegui.
Shen Hegui didn't even look at her. He said directly to Lin Xuan, "We said before, each team takes care of its own members. We're just traveling together. We never said we're one team."
Lin Xuan knew why his sister was so eager, and he didn't stop her, hoping that if Lin Tingxue succeeded, Shen Hegui—who was his equal in everything—would eventually call him "big brother." But right now, he wasn't willing to admit they were a team; that would mean acknowledging Shen Hegui as their captain, and he couldn't bear to lose face. So he nodded. "That's what we said before."
Shen Hegui said firmly, "Then you understand that in the battle just now, we did most of the work. Crystal cores are crucial for improving strength. Just like in business, we can't split them equally with you. So naturally, you take what you earn. It's better to clarify this early. I don't want to argue over issues like this later. As for the crystal core from that zombie husky a few days ago, I'll compensate you with zombie rat cores later, or if you want the husky's core, you can compensate us with zombie rat cores."
Lin Xuan's expression turned awkward. Damn it, wasn't he just saying they hadn't contributed much? Unfortunately, he still hadn't awakened any abilities. Years of upbringing in elite circles prevented him from making a fuss. "Fine, it's not fair to split equally. We'd be too embarrassed to ask for an equal share," Lin Xuan said, suppressing his displeasure. If he didn't have abilities, he'd have to recruit people with abilities. But how were Shen Hegui's team members so lucky? So many had awakened abilities.
Lin Tingxue's face fell upon hearing her brother agree. Now that it was made so clear, they really couldn't be considered one team, and even settlements would be separate. That meant when they encountered good stuff, like these zombie rat cores, how much would they get? It was a pity they hadn't managed to recruit Qiao Chengming.
Shen Hegui then pointed to the area where Lin Xuan and his group had been standing. "You were killing zombie rats over there, right? That area should be yours. But it seems many were shot over by Yuntan and the others. The scene was chaotic, so it's hard to count. Consider it a gift."
Lin Xuan joked, "Shen Hegui, since when did you become so fussy?"
"You don't want it?" Shen Hegui looked at him calmly.
As soon as he finished, Jiang Yuntan's voice came from behind. "You're not fussy? If you weren't, wouldn't you gladly accept it? I think we're already giving you too much. Don't be ungrateful and accuse others of being fussy."
Lin Xuan: ... He really didn't want to talk to Jiang Yuntan anymore—she'd just infuriate him. Turn to Shen Hegui? That was useless too. Yeah, Shen Hegui was useless.
With that thought, Lin Xuan turned to dig out zombie rat cores. Those were good stuff; he wasn't foolish enough to refuse out of spite.
Shen Hegui watched Jiang Yuntan drive Lin Xuan away and smiled without a word. He suddenly felt it was fine to let her keep that arrogant, merciless attitude. Let her be.
Lin Tingxue stood awkwardly, holding a zombie rat head. Jiang Yuntan turned and saw her expression, feeling like she looked as if Shen Hegui had wronged her. She was really good at adding drama.
Jiang Yuntan turned away, ignoring Lin Tingxue, and continued picking up zombie rat heads to toss into the fire.
Although the flames inside the metal cover were still blazing, through the vents she could already see the shiny crystal cores inside. Also, she felt that Shen Hegui and Jiang Yufeng were secretly practicing their abilities while doing this.
Jiang Yuntan looked at the few zombie rat heads in her hand, thought for a moment, and sat down to the side. Since fire could burn their bodies to ashes, could she control it to just burn the area around the core to extract it?
As she was thinking, she looked up and saw Qiao Chengming and Xue Zhao ahead, repairing a large hole that the zombie rats had gnawed through. If Earth Element abilities developed this way, they might just reenact the story of "The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains."
She withdrew her gaze and focused on the zombie rat head in front of her. Gathering flames, she didn't act immediately but continuously channeled her inner energy, making the flames grow redder. Soon, she felt the heat of the fire, and before it touched the rat, she could smell the burning fur. It was time.
Jiang Yuntan directed the flame to burn the area where the core was located, and when the fire touched the rat's flesh, that part instantly turned to ash.