Chapter 53 Conjunctivitis

Under the vast, murky night sky and a torrential downpour, some road sections were submerged in water up to thigh-level. A group of people, either carrying heavy backpacks or pushing overloaded bicycles, struggled miserably through the muddy water, as insignificant as ants scurrying between heaven and earth.

The group rested several times along the way. Fearing being coveted, they deliberately took smaller paths, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of their journey. Sometimes, they couldn't avoid confronting other groups they encountered.

Everyone felt this journey of over ten kilometers was harder than the pilgrimage to the West for scriptures. They stopped and started repeatedly, taking four to five hours just to get near the residential complex.

Bai Xiao wasn't greedy; she only packed one backpack of supplies. Originally, she could have ridden her bike ahead, but since they came together, and these people were just trying to survive, she didn't want to abandon everyone like that.

Watching the group unwilling to give up even a single bag of food despite the extreme hardship and exhaustion, a complex, indescribable feeling welled up inside her. She did what she could, temporarily lending her bike to those without a vehicle to carry heavy loads but unwilling to part with any supplies.

Carrying her large backpack and holding her Compound Bow, she walked alongside the group. Whenever they rested, she stopped too, even subtly helping to stay vigilant of their surroundings.

The twenty to thirty men initially thought Zhao Fangzhe and Shi Jun had brought her along to freeload. They never expected this long-distance trek with heavy loads to seem like nothing to her. They even felt she was accommodating their pace.

The admiration for strength gradually blurs one's perception of gender. No one dared to look down on her anymore.

...

Night had fallen. Many families, who had waited in vain for their men to return, were anxiously waiting in the lobby by the building entrance.

Some who had chosen to search for supplies at nearby Supermarkets also came downstairs curiously to wait. They were eager to know why these people were so late returning—whether they had found so much that it slowed them down or encountered danger preventing their return.

This way, at least forty to fifty people crowded the lobby. Some waited anxiously, some wanted to watch the spectacle, and others sought information—each with their own agenda.

Since nightfall, the rain had grown heavier and more urgent. Combined with several consecutive days of rain, the city's sewers were already full. The drainage rate couldn't keep up with the inflow, causing water to accumulate more and more on the roads, even seeping gradually into the building entrances.

The night was pitch black, the downpour like a waterfall. With the power outage, the complex's streetlights were useless. The anxiously waiting family members could only shine a few flashlight beams toward the main gate.

The merciless rainy night seemed capable of devouring everything. A few flashlight beams couldn't penetrate the rain-woven veil between heaven and earth.

"Let's go back. It's so late. Feels like they probably won't come back."

Half of those waiting to see the outcome finally grew too impatient to wait any longer.

Hearing this ominous remark, the family members glared angrily. Unfortunately, most were elderly, women, or children, and the men paid no heed to their hostility.

"Wait, come look quickly. Is that them returning?"

Several family members who had been eagerly pressing against the building entrance, watching into the distance, saw what seemed like responding lights in the far distance. Excitedly, they called to those around them.

"It really seems like them! They're heading toward our building!"

The family members cheered and hurriedly opened the door, holding umbrellas to go out and welcome them.

It was indeed Bai Xiao's group returning. Exhausted from the day'sBusy, drenched by rain, and with temperatures dropping as night approached, many were utterly spent—cold, hungry, and on their last legs. They made it back purely on willpower, driven by the desire to survive and concern for their families.

Twenty to thirty people pushed over a dozen bicycles. Each bike carried three or four bags either loaded or tied on, and every person also carried a large backpack.

Those waiting to watch the spectacle or gather information were dumbstruck, seeing they had actually brought back so much.

The group's faces were pale from the cold, mustering their last bit of strength to push the supplies and bikes into the entrance and hand them to their families. Immediately, more than half collapsed on the spot, too exhausted to speak.

"Did you really find this much at the wholesale market? Is it all food?"

"Is there a lot of stuff at the wholesale market? How much is left?"

"Did you meet anyone else? Were there any violent gangs guarding it?"

"Can we borrow the bikes? We want to go to the wholesale market tomorrow too!"

As if waking from a dream, the crowd swarmed around those still standing and sorting supplies, firing questions like a machine gun.

Bai Xiao benefited from carrying only one inconspicuous backpack and being a woman, appearing as if she'd been given a few things out of courtesy. The crowd seemed to look right through her, directing their inquiries at the men laden with supplies.

She subtly signaled Zhao Fangzhe and Shi Jun, intending to take her bicycle and head upstairs first.

She quickly found the person who borrowed her bike. Their family was unloading, and the bike was now empty. She stepped forward, lifting it with one hand to carry it away.

"What are you doing, stealing our bike!" The man's wife, seeing someone silently trying to take the bike, immediately bristled.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is Miss Bai's bike." The man, slumped on the ground, hurriedly stopped her. He pointed to a small bag on the ground and said apologetically, "Sorry, Miss Bai. Thank you for lending me your bike to carry things back. Take this bag as a token of gratitude from me and my family."

Bai Xiao saw his wife, child, and an elderly person gathered around him. Unbothered by the wife's rudeness, she shook her head dismissively. "No need. It was a small favor. You keep it."

While she extricated herself and went upstairs, Shi Jun and the others were still surrounded, being questioned.

After entering the secure door and climbing two floors, Bai Xiao, seeing no one ahead or behind, stored the bicycle back into her storage slot.

Walking up, she thought to herself: She had gathered enough supplies. Even if she won the next game, she wouldn't have enough points to buy many expanders for storage slot upgrades.

After all, her first priority was body enhancement potions, her second was recovery potions. She truly couldn't afford many expanders; one or two was the limit.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn't plan to go out again before the next game. She only wanted to focus quietly at home, studying close-combat techniques and general knowledge.

Setting down her pack and removing the heavy raincoat, Bai Xiao washed up and changed into clean, warm loungewear.

She took out a previously ordered fried rice and braised pork with pine nuts from her storage slot to reward herself.

While she enjoyed her meal and slept peacefully, her equally exhausted companions downstairs were still trapped, unable to get away.

More people, hearing the news, swarmed around them, pressing for answers. Dozens of pairs of eyes, like hungry wolves, fixed on the piles of bags on the ground.

Shi Jun's group had risked their lives to bring these things back. How could they allow others to take a share? They, along with their families, confronted these green-eyed people. Neither side would yield, refusing to back down.

building manager Shen Xiang and several building administrators also received word and came down. It was then that Shi Jun and the others learned the other group that went to the Supermarket five kilometers away had returned empty-handed.

That Supermarket had no one guarding it—or rather, didn't need guarding. It had long been picked clean.

After Shen Xiang explained the situation, the air grew still. Shi Jun had implicitly become the team's spokesperson; everyone looked to him to represent them.

"By the time we got to the food section of the wholesale market, more than half was already empty. We only brought back some miscellaneous items. There should still be supplies left, but we're not sure how much. More than one group went to the wholesale market today; people were still there when we left."

Hearing this, the crowd grew anxious.

"Then how much can we still get if we go tomorrow?"

"We need to discuss this! Which families have bikes? We need to take more bikes to transport stuff!"

"Where would we get that many bikes? Why not just use theirs? It's not like we won't return them."

Hearing these people casually talk about taking the bikes, the bike owners' faces turned ashen.

Bicycles were so precious now. What gave these people the right to use them so freely, as if it were a given?