77: Chapter 77 A Deadly Battleground

The air pressure in the auction hall was heavy and silent; cold beams of light cast down from the ceiling, dividing the person and their shadow into dramatic frames.

Chu Yunting leaned in beside Ye Nanxing, his tone soft yet carrying a hint of restrained urgency.

"What is it... that you need from this auction?"

"Are you short on people? Armor? Or maybe medicine?"

Ye Nanxing did not answer immediately.

Her eyes were as calm as water; she tilted her head slightly and simply replied, "I haven't decided yet."

The answer was so vague it was almost meaningless, but Chu Yunting froze for a moment, did not press further, and just chuckled softly.

"You're still the same as before, not liking to reveal your trump cards to others."

He sighed, and as if having made up his mind about something, added, "My current supplies are still quite abundant."

"My family has our own mountain, and we cleared out a few warehouses in advance. At the time, I thought what you said was unbelievable, and everyone else thought I was crazy, but now it's become a trump card for survival."

"I can share some with you."

He said, pausing for a moment, and added casually, "Of course, nothing special. It's all standard survival resources, low-temperature power supplies, dry food rations, and some... jade stone that I didn't get around to throwing away back then."

When he said the words "jade stone," his tone was extremely casual, even carrying a hint of self-mockery: "Who still cares about Feng Shui and gathering energy during the Apocalypse? Nobody wants it, and I find it just takes up space myself."

Hearing this, Ye Nanxing's eyes suddenly narrowed.

She thought of the spirit spring within her space—that source of life she relied on for awakening, healing, and strengthening—which was no longer "growing slowly" as it once did.

Those drops of spirit spring were now "one drop less for every drop used."

And she had seen with her own eyes that after an entire piece of spirit jade was absorbed by the space last time, the spirit spring had clearly experienced a "capacity expansion" and "reverse energy overflow" phenomenon.

jade stone might truly be able to upgrade the space another level.

She was tempted. Instinctively, she wanted to nod and agree to trade with Chu Yunting.

Chu Yunting noticed the change in her gaze and suddenly smiled, his voice dropping a few notches: "Are you interested in jade stone?"

"If you need it, I can take you to the warehouse tonight; you can have as much of those things as you want."

"...I can even give them all to you."

Ye Nanxing ignored the change in Chu Yunting and said indifferently, "I won't take them for free, rest assured."

Chu Yunting shook his head: "The fact that you are alive and standing in front of me is the most valuable thing of all."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was sincere. "What do you want to trade for?"

Ye Nanxing's voice wasn't loud either, but it made Chu Yunting's breath hitch for a moment.

"I want to trade for an answer from you," Chu Yunting said seriously. "Where exactly... have you been these past few months?"

Just as Ye Nanxing was about to speak, she heard a familiar, alert-inducing set of footsteps behind her. It was Zhou Xiao, who had arrived.

He was still wearing a black trench coat, neat and clean, with a "Wind Eye" metal badge pinned to his cuff. His pace was not fast, but every step was extremely steady.

"It looks like you two are having a good chat."

His voice was neither salty nor bland, and no emotion could be detected. But the moment Ye Nanxing turned to look at him, she keenly sensed—his gaze was a bit off.

"Is this your friend?"

He asked nonchalantly, his tone not heavy, but every word felt like a pre-sharpened blade, slicing against the skin.

Ye Nanxing swept a glance at Zhou Xiao, her expression calm: "Yes."

Zhou Xiao didn't say a word, but the gaze that swept over Chu Yunting in that instant was already suffocating. It wasn't simple "caution." It was hostility.

Chu Yunting, on the other hand, acted refined and elegant, smiling as if he hadn't noticed the pressure in the air at all.

He tilted his head slightly, as if to ease Ye Nanxing's awkwardness, and reached out a hand, saying: "Chu Yunting. This is my first time attending an auction, and seeing that she had an acquaintance here, I just came over."

"If it weren't for her, I would probably still be in another Shelter gnawing on frozen biscuits right now."

"You also know, she's always alone and rarely trusts anyone."

His tone was gentle and his smile sincere, but to Zhao Wei, it felt like this person reeked of a "green tea" vibe. This wasn't diffusing the situation at all; it was blatantly "marking territory."

Zhou Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly; the smile on his lips remained, but the coldness in his eyes grew a few degrees deeper.

"Is that so?" His tone was cold. "It sounds like... you know her quite well."

The moment Zhou Xiao's right hand gripped Chu Yunting's, one could clearly feel the air around the two of them turn colder.

"I wouldn't call it knowing her well," Chu Yunting smiled modestly. "But she has indeed helped me more than once."

"If possible... this debt of gratitude must be repaid." He said this casually, but it was actually killing two birds with one stone.

After hearing this, Zhou Xiao's expression didn't change; he just turned his head to look at Ye Nanxing. "What about the thermal clothing?"

At that moment, his voice suddenly dropped.

Ye Nanxing looked up, her expression unmoved: "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you been looking for the 'Zero Point' series?" His tone was calm, but his gaze was slightly probing. "You... are quite particular about choosing clothes."

"Being particular is part of survival capability," Ye Nanxing replied even more coldly. "You know that too."

"Then do you think now—is it worth it?" Ye Nanxing paused, then nodded. "It certainly saves lives."

Zhou Xiao nodded and asked again: "Do you still want them?" "The auction isn't selling them anymore," Ye Nanxing didn't answer directly, but said indifferently.

"Do you know why they aren't selling them?"

This auction was recommended to Ye Nanxing by Zhou Xiao, and the main reason Ye Nanxing came was for this. Ye Nanxing's blunt counter-question was largely because she wanted to test whether Zhou Xiao would tell her.

Zhou Xiao glanced toward the auction floor, his tone flat: "D9 has been replaced."

"The original organizers were taken over by the 'Silin Chamber of Commerce,' and the technology category was moved to a non-public line. They have some old scores to settle with us at Wind Eye, so I can't get them right now either."

"However, I heard that someone has been generously 'delivering goods' recently." "I wonder how much he can manage to get?"

Chu Yunting stood to the side, his smile unchanged, but his eyes had grown a few degrees colder. "What I'm delivering isn't clothing, it's jade stone," he said. "I can't get this clothing for the time being either."

"You know more about authority than I do; you're part of the official distribution chain," his gaze was calm. "If you really want to get to the bottom of this auction—why not first check the connections of the Silin Chamber of Commerce."

Zhou Xiao did not respond, but he did put away his smile. His gaze fell back onto Ye Nanxing.

"However, I know the factory is near Luo City, two days' travel via the safe passage. Controls are still in place, but I can let you in."

While he was saying this, his gaze did not shift from Chu Yunting. The meaning was clear: You can go, but you'd better not bring "him."

Chu Yunting understood, but did not respond; he just became quieter, as if habitually stepping back.

After Zhou Xiao finished speaking, he turned slightly and looked at Ye Nanxing: "If you really want to get the goods, then decide now."

Ye Nanxing did not respond immediately. She lowered her head, looking at the auction list in front of her, but her mind was already weighing things rapidly.

The Zero Point series thermal clothing concerns the survival stability of the team during the future extreme cold phase. The jade stone concerns whether the space can evolve again and whether the spirit spring can regenerate. Both are the most core resources for her current system. She must choose one of the two.