Chapter 58: Black
Huddled in the shadows, Song Yuqing and her staff listened intently to the hushed conversation between Ruan Fanfan and Zhang Lei. Song Yuqing’s mood plummeted to rock bottom. Sensing her distress, Gaha, Little Meat Bun, and Liu Xiaona each reached out a comforting hand to pat her head.
“Let’s go,” Song Yuqing mouthed silently. She needed to get back to her room to clear her head and figure out her next move.
The moment they slipped back into the supermarket and were safely out of earshot, Liu Xiaona let out a furious, whispered curse. “I knew there was something off about Ruan Fanfan! Unbelievable! She’s actually colluding with some strange guy to take over the God’s Supermarket!”
“Gaha! Gaha!” Gaha agreed, nodding his head vigorously.
“If the manager hadn’t signaled for us to leave, I would’ve stormed right in there and demanded to know what they’re plotting!” Liu Xiaona cracked her knuckles, her face flushed with anger.
“Hush, keep your voice down,” Song Yuqing urged. “For now, we act like we don’t know a thing.”
Liu Xiaona huffed, clearly unsatisfied with letting the matter drop so easily.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” Song Yuqing reached into her storage and pulled out a small bowl filled with bright red berries. “This is the Truth Fruit. I’ll have it cooked into tomorrow’s meals.”
Song Yuqing harbored a gut feeling that Ruan Fanfan wouldn’t actually hurt her, but she couldn’t say the same for Zhang Lei. She had to take precautions.
Liu Xiaona took the bowl, examining the vibrant berries with curiosity.
“Truth Fruit! Truth Fruit!”
Conghui, Ruan Fanfan’s purple-blue diamond parrot, was perched on a nearby shelf, staring intently at the berries in Liu Xiaona’s hand. Amusement flickering in her eyes, Liu Xiaona plucked one of the fruits and tossed it to the bird.
“What is your master planning?” she asked.
Conghui swallowed the berry and squawked instantly, “Wants to do something big! Something big!”
Hearing the bird’s blunt betrayal, Little Meat Bun rolled his eyes and lashed out a paw to swat at it. Conghui flapped his wings with a loud chatter and flew to a higher shelf.
“Alright, everyone go to bed. We can’t let the neighbors hear us,” Song Yuqing said, turning toward her room. Little Meat Bun made a parting face at Conghui before scurrying after Gaha and Liu Xiaona into their own quarters.
Silence settled over the God’s Supermarket once more, broken only by the faint, rhythmic pulse of the white security lights tracing the edges of the shelves. Conghui hopped merrily from ledge to ledge, finding the quiet supermarket a wonderful playground.
“Song Yuqing, I’ve upgraded your shelves. They are now directly linked to your inventory space and will automatically restock themselves.” Master Fu’s voice suddenly rang out. Song Yuqing, who had just lain down and was trying to force herself to sleep, sat up abruptly at the unexpected news.
“Really? Such a good thing?”
“Yes.”
“Are there any strings attached?”
“None.”
Master Fu’s unusually serious tone made Song Yuqing hesitate. “Why the sudden generosity? I just upgraded not long ago, and now you’re giving me another boost?”
“Ah… fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin,” Master Fu sighed enigmatically. Before she could press for answers, his presence faded, leaving Song Yuqing scratching her head in the dark.
A sudden upgrade was a blessing, which meant…
Song Yuqing’s eyes widened as she put the pieces together, cursing the old spirit in her heart. That sly old Master Fu! He knows a disaster is coming, but instead of telling me how to prepare for it, he decides to throw me some comfort food first?!
Knock, knock, knock.
A frantic tapping at her door cut through her thoughts.
Song Yuqing instantly tensed. “Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Liu Xiaona’s voice whispered urgently from the hallway. “I heard Master Fu say that trouble is coming.”
“Oh, come on, don’t speak it into exist—” Song Yuqing swung the door open, only to freeze mid-sentence. Standing before her was Liu Xiaona, completely covered in pitch-black soot from head to toe. Only the whites of her eyes and her teeth flashed in the dim light.
“What happened to you?! Did you get struck by lightning?” Song Yuqing panicked, her mind instantly flashing back to Master Fu’s warning. Was this the disaster he meant?
“Huh?” Liu Xiaona scratched her head, entirely oblivious to her own appearance.
Without a word, Song Yuqing dragged Liu Xiaona into the bathroom, flicked on the bright vanity light, and pointed at the mirror.
Liu Xiaona stared at her own charcoal-black skin. A beat of stunned silence passed, and then she let out a blood-curdling shriek.
Her loud, raw screams didn’t just bring Gaha and Little Meat Bun running; they also drew Ruan Fanfan and Zhang Lei rushing over from next door.
Despite the chaos, the supermarket staff remembered Song Yuqing’s earlier instructions. They deliberately ignored the fact that Ruan Fanfan and Zhang Lei had bolted out of the same room together, focusing entirely on the crisis at hand.
“What happened?” Ruan Fanfan asked, stepping forward to rub Liu Xiaona’s arm. To her surprise, the black pigment didn’t smudge or transfer onto her hands at all.
“Is it poison?” Zhang Lei suggested, his brow furrowing.
Poison?!
Song Yuqing, Liu Xiaona, Little Meat Bun, and Gaha all whipped their heads around to stare at Zhang Lei simultaneously. If it was poison, he was easily the prime suspect.
“It’s not me,” Zhang Lei said, quickly holding up his hands. “I’m just guessing.”
“Do you feel sick anywhere?” Song Yuqing asked anxiously, pressing a hand to Liu Xiaona’s forehead. Her temperature felt perfectly normal—neither hot nor cold.
Could this really be what Master Fu was warning her about?
“Why don’t you try taking a bath first?” Song Yuqing suggested softly. “Maybe it’ll wash off.”
Liu Xiaona nodded miserably.
“I doubt it’s that simple,” Zhang Lei muttered, his frown deepening.
“Ahem. What a bunch of idiots. Let me give you a hint: it’s because of the polar night,” Master Fu’s voice suddenly blurted out in Song Yuqing’s mind.
“What?! It’s because of the polar night? How does that even work?” Song Yuqing cried out loud to Master Fu. Since Ruan Fanfan and Zhang Lei couldn’t hear the spirit, they looked at her sudden outburst in sheer bewilderment.
Ruan Fanfan blinked, thoroughly confused. “Because the night is too dark, Liu Xiaona just… turned dark too?”
Zhang Lei remained silent, his gaze shifting toward the oppressive, pitch-black void outside the supermarket windows as he pondered the ridiculous but strangely plausible theory.
Song Yuqing nodded grimly. “I think that might actually be it.”
“Wow… then what am I supposed to do?” Liu Xiaona wailed, wiping away a tear. While she didn’t rely on her looks to get by, waking up completely charcoal-black was a bit much for anyone to handle.
“Try using your ability,” Song Yuqing suddenly urged, a thought striking her.
Liu Xiaona pressed her lips together and focused her internal energy. But instead of her usual power, a stream of pitch-black water erupted from her palm, steaming violently and swirling with thick white foam.
“It’s toxic!” Ruan Fanfan yelled.
Everyone scrambled backward, creating a wide berth around Liu Xiaona. Depressed and overwhelmed by a wave of grievance, Liu Xiaona cut off her power and squatted in the corner, burying her face in her knees.
“If this is an effect of the polar night, then she won’t be the only one affected,” Zhang Lei pointed out.
His logic proved correct almost instantly. As if on cue, the supermarket doors burst open, and another entirely black figure stumbled inside, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Save me! Someone save me!” The man collapsed heavily onto the floor, his face twisted in despair.
Song Yuqing: “…”
Liu Xiaona: “!!!”
Song Yuqing quickly stepped forward to help the fallen man up, pulling over a chair for him to sit down before ushering Liu Xiaona over to sit beside him. Standing together, the two of them looked like identical twins.
“Explain exactly how you turned black,” Zhang Lei demanded, his tone sharp and commanding, like an officer interrogating a prisoner.
“I…” The man shrank back timidly, refusing to look Zhang Lei in the eye.
“Hey, don’t be afraid of this jerk. I’m right here, I’ll protect you,” Liu Xiaona snapped, swatting her hand to push Zhang Lei away.
Zhang Lei’s combat instincts flared, and his hand moved defensively. The two almost came to blows right then and there, but luckily, Song Yuqing and Ruan Fanfan stepped in and separated them.
“What are you so terrified of?” Zhang Lei growled, glaring at the stranger. “If you have something to say, spit it out. Stop wasting our time.”
“If you don’t tell us what happened, we can’t help you,” Song Yuqing added gently, handing the trembling man a glass of purified water.
“Exactly! What is there to be afraid of?” Liu Xiaona chimed in, gesturing to herself. “Look at me, I turned black too!”
The man swallowed hard, his voice dropping to a terrified whisper as he buried his head in his knees. “I… I am a zombie hunter from Base No. 16…”
Zhang Lei raised an eyebrow, his harsh demeanor softening slightly. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Thank you… thank you for sparing my life, Boss!” the man gasped out. Before anyone could stop him, he slid off the chair and fell to his knees right in front of Zhang Lei.
Little Meat Bun and Gaha’s jaws dropped.
Song Yuqing and Liu Xiaona exchanged a look, utterly and completely bewildered.
