"F***!" Yu Ke couldn't help cursing. "It didn't even burn to death. If we had just left, would it have been able to grow back?"
Jiang Yuntan slit its roots with a knife and picked out a green crystal core the size of a peanut. "It shouldn't be able to grow back now," she said.
She looked at the translucent green crystal core in front of her and noticed it wasn't as cloudy as the one from last time. It looked like a perfect natural crystal.
Shen Hegui only glanced at it and said, "Keep it. Let's head down first."
Jiang Yuntan gave him a strange look. In the original story, whenever Shen Hegui obtained a wood-element crystal core, he would give it to Lin Tingxue.
"What's wrong?" Shen Hegui asked, noticing her expression.
Jiang Yuntan said, "Lin Tingxue has Wood Element Ability. Judging by its color, this crystal core should be wood-element too."
Shen Hegui frowned slightly. "You're planning to give it to her?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Ke's eyes widened. "Wait, little sister, since when did you become a philanthropist?"
Jiang Yuntan said, "Give it to her? I'd have to be out of my mind to do that." As she spoke, she stored the crystal core in her space.
The next second, she headed toward the stairwell. "Let's go."
If she didn't leave, those three would probably keep questioning her.
She just wanted to probe their attitude toward Lin Tingxue. It was clear they didn't consider Lin Tingxue one of their own. After all, they had never fought side by side.
As for whether these changes would affect the future fate of the male and female leads getting together, that was none of her concern. She had the system, but she wasn't here to follow the plot.
Moreover, she was waiting for a chance to avenge the original owner. By then, the female lead might not even be around anymore, so who cared about the official couple?
Shen Hegui thought she was acting a bit strange, but he didn't ask further. He grabbed his things and followed.
When they reached the first floor, they found Lin Xuan and the others already waiting by the car.
And the doll-faced girl and her group were also standing by their car, holding bags.
Lin Xuan walked over and asked, "Are you all okay? You were gone so long, we were about to go check. Just as we were about to head up, they came down and said you encountered a murderous pothos."
"It's fine. It's been dealt with," Shen Hegui said in a low voice, placing the bag of clothes he was carrying into the car.
Lin Tingxue heard they had encountered a mutated plant and used fire to burn it. If they didn't know there was a crystal core inside the mutated plant, the core probably hadn't been taken yet.
After Shen Hegui finished loading, Lin Xuan asked again, "Can we go find medicine now?"
"Wait a bit. We need to go inside again," Shen Hegui said calmly.
"What else do you need to get? Haven't you already packed quite a lot?" Lin Xuan said, somewhat dissatisfied.
He was with two girls and didn't have abilities like Shen Hegui. Lin Tingxue's ability wasn't much help. There were many zombies on the first and second floors, and more were pouring in from outside. He was finding it a bit tough to handle.
Staring back at Lin Xuan's impatient gaze, Jiang Yuntan stepped forward and said, "I want to get some jewelry. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Of course I have a problem," Lin Xuan said. "Do you even see what time it is? Will these things be of any use?"
"How is it not useful? Haven't you heard the saying 'In troubled times, gold'?" Jiang Yuntan retorted bluntly. "Besides, I didn't ask you to come with us. What are you in such a hurry for?"
Lin Xuan looked at Shen Hegui, both angry and speechless. "Does your Shen family usually mistreat her? How can she still be thinking about jewelry at a time like this? Hasn't she seen nice things before?"
Shen Hegui: .......
What could he do?
He rubbed his forehead without hiding his exasperation. "Let her get it. If we don't go along with her, I don't know what she'll do later."
Lin Xuan: ......
Lin Tingxue then spoke up, "It's fine. If Yuntan wants them, let her get them. Aren't young girls just into these things?"
"Thanks, big sister, for understanding," Jiang Yuntan said with a sweet smile.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Lin Tingxue's face. She said aggrievedly, "Yuntan, I was kindly speaking up for you, but you're being so sarcastic. And calling me 'big sister'? We're only a year apart."
Jiang Yuntan gave a light laugh. "So you do know we're only a year apart? Then why call me a 'young girl'? Anyone would think you're much older."
With that, before Lin Tingxue could react, she tugged at Shen Hegui's sleeve and headed into the mall.
Lin Tingxue glanced at Xia Chujing beside her. "Weren't you the one who cursed her out the most before? Why aren't you saying anything now?"
Xia Chujing touched her still-painful face. "Didn't you tell me not to speak carelessly?"
Lin Tingxue: ......
Thinking of the mutated plant's crystal core on the fifth floor, she said to Lin Xuan, "Brother, since they've already cleared the upper floors, why don't we go up and get some clothes? We still have to go back to Jing City later, and it won't be easy to find clothes on the way. We don't have enough to change anyway."
Lin Xuan thought it over and agreed.
Inside the first floor, Shen Hegui was clearing zombies with his big blade. Xue Zhao had switched shifts with Jiang Yufeng, so Yu Ke and Jiang Yufeng also came in to help.
Shen Hegui and the others didn't ask Jiang Yuntan what she wanted; they just let her pick on her own. The place was open enough that they could see her at a glance.
Seeing the jewelry in the display cases, Jiang Yuntan found a large bag from the checkout counter and started taking out the items and putting them into the bag, repeating the motion.
Lin Tingxue, who was about to go upstairs, saw this and a mocking smile appeared on her face. Indeed, Jiang Yuntan was an idiot. At a time like this, she was happily grabbing a bunch of jewelry.
When they went to the supermarket the second time, she had seen the warehouse; there was still a lot of stuff inside, practically full.
Jiang Yuntan definitely didn't have a space ability. How stupid—she had a treasure on her and didn't even know it. She had to get that Blood Jade Bracelet as soon as possible.
After clearing out the counter, Jiang Yuntan found the gold shop's storeroom, where there was quite a bit of gold. She took it all without hesitation.
As she packed the bag, she opened her contacts, found Mu Qingtang, and placed a lot of gold jewelry into their trading window.
She kept collecting and repeating this action. So her bag had some jewelry, but the trading window between them had even more.
Yu Ke remarked, "Little sister's knack for finding storerooms—I don't know how she does it, but she hits the mark every time."
"Just focus on killing more zombies," Shen Hegui said, slicing off a zombie's head with one blow. The head rolled to Yu Ke's feet.
Yu Ke jumped back. "It almost got on my shoes."
As she was collecting from the fourth gold shop, the storeroom door behind her suddenly pushed open, and a zombie lunged at her.