Chapter Twenty-Three: The Little Thief in the Car

“Ugh!”

The extremely bloody scene shattered Chen Sixuan’s delicate psychological defenses. As she stepped down from the vehicle, the overwhelming scent of blood hit her, and she immediately began to gag.

Lin Xian was about to comfort her but saw her raise a hand.

“No… no need, I’m fine.”

Chen Sixuan’s face was extremely pale, but Lin Xian could tell she was forcing herself to adapt to the grisly scene before her. Understanding this, he said nothing further.

“Be careful. There might still be survivors or other zombies.”

“Mm.” Chen Sixuan nodded, and the two began scavenging the off-road vehicles parked at the platform, quickly discovering a large stash of water and various foods originally reserved by the Oasis convoy.

“There’s so much food!”

Chen Sixuan deliberately avoided looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, opening car doors to gather supplies.

Lin Xian glanced over the mostly intact supplies; frowning, he suspected the attack on the Oasis convoy’s roof wasn’t caused by humans, or the supplies would have been looted long ago.

Then, seeing the insect legs on the ground, his heart sank.

Woo~

Lin Xian opened the hydraulic tailgate of vehicle number three and called to Chen Sixuan.

“Time is tight. Just throw everything inside for now. We’ll sort it out on the road.”

“Got it!”

So, the two split up to search the destroyed convoy for usable supplies.

What surprised Lin Xian was that Chen Sixuan, who had been gagging and furrowing her brows with every step at first, soon became completely absorbed in the joy of gathering supplies, energetically running back and forth to load everything onto the train.

She excitedly told Lin Xian when she found a large box of instant noodles,

then screamed with delight upon finding several boxes of canned food,

and somehow found a basket full of bottles and containers of facial and hair care products from one of the vehicles, bursting with joy.

Lin Xian watched her running skillfully among the corpses and quietly marveled at how remarkably adaptable this woman was.

“Look, Lin Xian, what’s this?”

At that moment, Chen Sixuan pulled a black leather suitcase from a large Raptor vehicle. Opening it, she found a purple plastic rod, a small cup with holes, some indescribable lace lingerie, and even a USB drive carefully preserved in a box.

The box was labeled “Precious Teacher Materials.”

“Teacher materials?” Chen Sixuan thought to herself—she was a teacher after all—and her curiosity was piqued, expecting something important. She took out the purple plastic rod, puzzled. But when she saw the strange clothing, realization dawned on her.

She let out a soft “Ah!” then immediately tossed it aside, glancing awkwardly at Lin Xian, her face flushing deeply.

Lin Xian laughed to himself, thinking that physiological needs are only natural, but to bring such “things” during an apocalyptic escape—this girl was quite the character.

---

The Oasis convoy had barely left Jiang City for a few days before it was completely wiped out. Lin Xian had managed to scoop up most of the supplies from the convoy.

After hauling for over half an hour, Lin Xian estimated that even with three meals a day for the two of them, the supplies would last for two months.

That was quite a haul!

One had to admit, Liu Wei was quite the character. He had faced roadblocks and vehicle ambushes before, but was the first daring enough to stop a train, relying on his supernatural powers recklessly. His death was not in vain—he had handed Lin Xian a great gift.

“That’s about enough. Let’s get going.”

Lin Xian raised the hydraulic tailgate and prepared to depart. Suddenly, his mechanical heart detected movement inside the vehicle, and his brow furrowed.

He turned to Chen Sixuan and made a shushing gesture. Seeing his serious expression, Chen Sixuan’s face changed as she looked toward the train.

There was someone on the train?!

Lin Xian’s expression darkened as he suddenly remembered there was still a live person on board whose background was unknown.

“Lin Xian, it’s that girl!” Chen Sixuan realized as well.

Lin Xian stood still, somewhat amused and exasperated. The girl who had been unconscious for three days had been secretly playing a trick on him all along.

Clang!

The “Infinite” locomotive’s cockpit door opened. Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan entered one after the other and closed the door behind them.

Lin Xian started the train at the right moment and said to Chen Sixuan behind him,

“Teacher Chen, be careful. That girl has supernatural powers. I’ll go deal with her first.”

He didn’t want to waste time traveling and, suspecting the girl possessed supernatural abilities, kept Chen Sixuan back for safety.

“Okay, you be careful too.”

Chen Sixuan was full of curiosity, having been focused on the unconscious girl and wondering why she hadn’t woken after three days.

With time pressing, Lin Xian had to both drive and handle the girl, so Chen Sixuan took up the task of watching the road.

Lin Xian went to car number one and found the sofa empty, with several broken ropes on the floor.

He slowed his pace and closed the gates of each car to try to contain the situation.

As he approached car number two, a wrench suddenly flew toward him, accompanied by a sharp “Hey!”

It was clear the girl had used all her strength, determined to succeed with her sneak attack.

But Lin Xian’s speed exceeded that of an ordinary person. Being on guard, he caught the wrench mid-air.

Seeing her attack fail, the girl panicked, dropped the wrench, and ran toward the rear cars, closing the gate behind her.

However, when Lin Xian approached, the gate automatically reopened.

---

“I kept wondering why you didn’t wake up all this time. Aren’t you hungry or need to use the bathroom? Turns out you can untie yourself.”

“Ah~” The girl clutched half a piece of leftover bread. Startled by Lin Xian’s imposing presence, she shouted while running, “Don’t come near me, don’t come near me!”

She retreated until she reached car number three with no escape behind her. Her eyes darted around, then she suddenly grabbed a cardboard box and hurled it at Lin Xian. Taking advantage of his dodge, she tried to slip past him and run in the opposite direction.

Lin Xian was cautious. Knowing she might possess powerful supernatural abilities, he prepared his wind cannon and was ready to summon an ice shield for defense.

But the girl only threw the box at him, which took him by surprise.

With no way to retreat, she tried to slip past him, but he reached out, grabbed her wrist, pulled her back, and tripped her. She fell to the ground with a sharp cry, “Ouch~,” begging, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t kill me, mister.”

Lin Xian frowned. He had subdued her easily without encountering the resistance he expected. Yet he clearly remembered the girl had blasted “Old Li” flying during the night. He was puzzled.

Then, he noticed a subtle cunning gleam in her pleading eyes, and his heart tightened.

The girl was acting!

He decided to play along and coldly scolded,

“Stealing my food and trying to sneak attack me—is this how you repay your lifesaver?”

Feeling Lin Xian had no intention of harming her, the girl feigned innocence, blushing deeper as she retorted,

“Pah, you’re a bad guy! Peeping at my underwear and bullying that lady, you’re shameless and disgusting!”

Underneath her shorts, her smooth legs kicked wildly, struggling fiercely beneath him.

Lin Xian suddenly realized that this girl had been pretending to be asleep the whole time, just waiting for the right moment to escape. For such a young age, she was remarkably sly. Didn’t she get hungry or need to use the bathroom?

“So you were pretending all along. I haven’t even asked you to repay my lifesaving kindness, and yet you repay me with ingratitude?”

The girl, stubborn and defiant, struggled fiercely.

“Who told you to peek at my underwear? You pervert! I don’t believe you!”

Lin Xian was stunned. It was the first time he’d seen a girl so confidently accuse him of ingratitude.

He sensed in her a proud and selfish beauty, born and raised spoiled.

Watching her curse and kick while he had saved her but was being attacked in return, Lin Xian’s anger flared. With one hand, he pinned her hand behind her back, then raised his free hand and delivered a sharp slap to her delicate backside.

Smack!

The crisp sound echoed slightly—a fine bottom indeed.

The girl’s body trembled from the pain. Her large eyes misted over, tears welling and rolling down her cheeks as she burst into sobs.

“Wahhh… How dare you hit me… I only stole two pieces of your bread, you stinky bastard…”