257: Dad, she's the one who hit me.

The stall owner had wanted to throw this pile of junk away; it was just a collection of things he had scavenged here and there over the years.

Every time he set up his stall, he would lay them out, but they were so worn and old that people eventually stopped buying them, and he stopped caring about them too.

Now that someone actually wanted them, he naturally had to take this opportunity to ask for a high price.

Since Ai Yue had spoken, Ye Rui didn't bother haggling over a few crystal cores with the stall owner. She didn't care about those few cores anyway; she could get them back by killing a few more zombies.

The only reason she had insisted on haggling was that she was a frugal and sensible girl.

“I'll take two diamonds of every color,” Ye Rui finally said.

The stall owner's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he hurriedly picked out two of each color for Ye Rui.

“That's sixteen diamonds in total, so that'll be twenty-four crystal cores. Oh, right, you can pick six items from that pile over there,” the stall owner said cheerfully.

Ye Rui didn't hesitate and handed him the crystal cores directly.

“Sister, you have a good eye, why don't you go pick them?” Ye Rui turned and said to Ai Yue.

Ai Yue nodded and began rummaging through the pile of junk.

The stall owner leaned back in his chair, counting his crystal cores with a face full of smiles.

He had awakened a Superpower himself, but his ability was finding unusual stones. In this dog-eat-dog world, whether he had his Superpower or not didn't make much of a difference.

He was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.

Fortunately, having this skill allowed him to earn a living so he wouldn't starve to death.

With his physique, he had no way of dealing with zombies alone. Ordinary zombies were manageable, but if he encountered a Rank 1 zombie or higher, he could only run. Therefore, to him, Rank 1 crystal cores were already very precious.

The twenty-four crystal cores he received today would be enough for him to absorb for a long time.

He was so immersed in the joy of receiving the crystal cores that he didn't pay any attention to what Ai Yue was picking out.

After a moment, Ai Yue stood up and said, “Alright, boss, I'll take these six items.”

Hearing this, the stall owner looked up, glanced at the things in Ai Yue's hand, and didn't care at all, waving his hand with a smile to let her take them.

Ai Yue didn't say much more, taking the items and leading Ye Rui away from the stall.

Ai Yue casually put the six scavenged items into her backpack and continued browsing with Ye Rui.

It wasn't until the moon hung high in the treetops that Ye Rui, still wanting more, pulled a helpless-looking Ai Yue away from the market.

Ai Guosheng and the other had returned long ago; by the time Ai Yue and Ye Rui got back, they had already had a nap.

Ai Guosheng was a light sleeper; once he woke up, it was difficult for him to fall back asleep.

So, he simply got up and walked out of the tent.

Seeing Ai Yue keeping watch, he walked up and patted her, saying, “I can't sleep anymore. I'll take the late-night watch, you go sleep. You haven't rested well lately; take these few days to rest properly and recharge your energy!”

Ai Yue smiled faintly. “I know, Dad. Don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing.”

Ai Guosheng nodded. He knew Ai Yue had her own ideas and was very sensible.

Ai Yue returned to the tent but didn't go to sleep. Instead, she slipped into her space and found the items given for free today from a corner.

She directly pulled out a rusty dagger from the six items.

Ai Yue tried to unsheathe the dagger, only to find it was rusted shut and couldn't be pulled out at all.

Ai Yue stared at it for a long time, then with a flick of her finger, a wisp of golden flame appeared on her fingertip.

Ai Yue held the dagger over the flame to roast it. After a few minutes, there was no change, so Ai Yue shifted her will.

The flame on her fingertip grew significantly. Under the continuous roasting of the ultra-high temperature, the rusty dagger finally showed a change.

The rust on the surface of the dagger gradually disappeared, revealing a bright, polished blade.

The corners of Ai Yue's mouth curled up slightly, showing her good mood.

After another half hour, Ai Yue finally withdrew the flame from her fingertip.

In her hand now was a dagger without any ornamentation.

The appearance of this dagger was truly hard to describe; it looked like a blade that hadn't even been sharpened yet.

Picking up this unremarkable dagger, Ai Yue looked around and found a piece of granite.

Without using any force, Ai Yue lightly stabbed it into the granite.

With a soft 'squelch,' like stabbing into tofu, the entire dagger sank into the granite.

Ai Yue pulled it out in surprise. She knew in her heart that she hadn't used a shred of strength just now.

She hadn't expected it; she had just felt a mysterious intuition that there was a treasure in that pile of junk. She didn't quite understand this sort of mystical feeling.

She had simply followed her gut instinct.

With a gentle wave of her hand, the granite on the ground easily split down the middle, dividing into two halves.

She hadn't expected this dagger to be such a treasure, capable of cutting through iron like butter.

Having obtained this dagger, Ai Yue held it in her hand and kept playing with it.

The more she handled it, the more she liked it, and the more she found the plain-looking dagger pleasing to the eye.

Ai Yue stayed in the space for a while longer before coming out.

Ai Yue lay in the tent and fell asleep in a joyful mood.

The night passed without incident.

Soon, the sky began to brighten.

Pedestrians began to appear on the road. Ai Yue had slept lightly for two or three hours and was startled awake when she heard the noisy sounds outside.

Once awake, she didn't go back to sleep. Stepping out of the tent, she saw Ai Guosheng practicing Tai Chi in the clearing.

Ai Yue approached and mimicked Ai Guosheng's movements, gesturing through the forms move by move.

“You're awake?”

“Mm!”

Seeing it was Ai Yue, Ai Guosheng said while punching, “Why didn't you sleep a bit longer? It's still early.”

Following Ai Guosheng's rhythm, Ai Yue practiced with decent form and said casually, “Can't sleep anymore. I'll join you for some boxing so you won't be lonely.”

“Alright, alright, it's fine as long as you don't mess me up here. I was practicing well, but as soon as you came and started talking to me, I messed up several moves.”

Ai Guosheng looked complaining, but his eyes were full of smiles.

“Fine, fine, my fault. You can't remember the moves yourself and blame me for your mistakes. I'm not taking the fall for this one,” Ai Yue said jokingly.

“Hmph, hmph,” Ai Guosheng grunted twice.

After accompanying her father through a set of punches and breaking a slight sweat, she slipped into her space to wash up.

Just as Ai Yue and the others finished breakfast, Gong Qiuqiu walked over unhurriedly.

Seeing Ai Yue, he smiled and said, “It seems you've rested well these past few days; you look glowing with health.”

Ai Yue smiled but didn't speak.

Gong Qiuqiu's arrival meant that the time to attack the Nameless Monster had been set.

“When are we leaving?” Ai Yue said, eager to try.

“So eager? Those old fogies are dragging it out as long as they can, but you're the opposite—you can't wait to go slaughter that monster right now,” Gong Qiuqiu said teasingly.

Ai Yue gave a wicked smile. “I've been waiting for this!”

Just then, an arrogant voice came from nearby, “Dad, she's the one who hit me.”