Chapter 219 | Chapter 220 | Chapter 221
Chapter 219: Xie Linjia’s Revenge, Arrival at the Destination!
Ma Tong’s group immediately launched a counterattack!
However, the people attacking Su Ning seemed as if they had suddenly fallen under some bizarre curse. One person inexplicably stepped on a teammate’s foot, causing the others to collapse one after another like falling dominoes.
The terrifying earth spikes shot straight toward their heads like venomous serpents.
With a sickening “puchi” sound, several people were instantly skewered together.
Ma Tong stared at the massive earth spike piercing through his abdomen, looking at Su Ning in utter disbelief.
Only now did he finally understand the meaning behind the looks Huang Zhenggang and the others had given him earlier.
It was pity.
Sympathy.
But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
“Y-you…” Ma Tong tried to beg for mercy in agony, but Youyou’s horrifying attack was like the claws of a demon, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.
At the final moment of his life, regret consumed him.
Why had he provoked Su Ning?
In an apocalypse ravaged by disasters, anyone capable of maintaining such breathtaking beauty must possess terrifying strength. Why had he foolishly brought trouble upon himself?
And Youyou’s ability…
Some time ago, he had heard rumors that someone outside the shelter had died in exactly the same horrifying manner—someone even Gu Chengan regarded as troublesome.
Could it have been Su Ning who acted back then?
At that moment, Ma Tong suddenly began worrying about his boss, Du Chenyi.
That man possessed an overwhelming desire to conquer beautiful people.
The harder they were to obtain, the more obsessed he became.
Wasn’t the once-arrogant superstar Yan Yuehua eventually subdued through all sorts of schemes?
But now, facing someone like Su Ning…
Could Du Chenyi truly control her?
Unfortunately, that was no longer something Ma Tong would live to witness.
In an instant, Su Ning dealt with all of them.
Well—not quite all.
She deliberately spared two people.
Su Ning looked toward the now completely stunned Liu Jun and Huang Juan.
The pair tried to flee, but Youyou’s Shadow-Stepping ability pinned them in place, rendering them unable to move.
Su Ning had not forgotten that these two were Xie Linjia’s targets for revenge.
So she left them alive.
She turned toward Xie Linjia.
“These two are yours.”
At first, Xie Linjia looked somewhat dazed, but when she saw the trapped cheating couple, gratitude toward Su Ning surged within her heart.
Then her eyes gradually sharpened.
Memories of the past resurfaced, and the hatred she had suppressed for so long finally erupted.
Now that they were no longer inside the shelter, she no longer needed to fear punishment for killing.
From her Hundred Treasures Pouch, she pulled out a small knife.
Even if it meant wasting one of today’s items, she intended to personally send them to hell with this blade.
Su Ning glanced at the knife Xie Linjia had taken out.
Its effect was rather unique—it amplified the target’s sensation of pain.
The moment she saw the effect, Su Ning understood.
Xie Linjia had no intention of giving them a quick death.
She wanted them to suffer slowly.
Liu Jun looked at Xie Linjia approaching with the knife in hand.
Immediately, he began begging.
“Xie Linjia, you can’t kill me! I’m your man! You absolutely can’t do this! If you want me to change my mind, I swear I’ll cherish you properly from now on. Please spare me!”
Tears and mucus streamed down Liu Jun’s face as he pitifully tried to gain her sympathy.
He knew Xie Linjia had once been soft-hearted.
As long as he survived today, he believed he would eventually find another chance to get rid of her.
Seeing Xie Linjia remain silent, he immediately shifted the blame.
“It was all Huang Juan! She seduced me! None of this was my fault! Everything was her doing! If you want revenge, kill her instead! Please let me go! Our child wouldn’t want you to kill me either!”
“Shut up! You still dare mention our child?! You don’t deserve to be his father!”
Xie Linjia’s eyes were vicious with hatred.
Meanwhile, Huang Juan stared at Liu Jun in disbelief, unable to accept that such cold-blooded words had come from his mouth.
She cursed furiously,
“Liu Jun, are you even a man?! After everything you’ve done, you’re still blaming me? You’re truly garbage!”
“Bah! You call me garbage? What kind of thing are you then?!”
Watching the two turn on each other like rabid dogs, Xie Linjia suddenly found the entire scene boring.
The knife in her hand suddenly sliced across Liu Jun’s mouth.
Blood instantly poured down his face.
Unable to scream properly, Liu Jun was immediately overwhelmed by the knife’s pain-amplification effect.
All his energy for arguing with Huang Juan vanished, replaced by agonized shrieks.
Then, as though venting years of hatred, Xie Linjia slowly began carving into both of them.
Like a delayed execution by slicing.
Not enough to kill them immediately.
But enough to inflict unbearable suffering.
No one knew how much time passed before Xie Linjia finally completed her revenge.
Afterward, she broke down into tears.
Soon enough, however, she composed herself and quietly returned to the vehicle.
No one said anything.
Only Nan Sheng silently took tissues from her bag and handed them over for her to wipe her tears.
“Thank you,” Xie Linjia whispered.
Once everything was settled, the group silently continued toward their destination.
None of the girls thought there was anything wrong with what Xie Linjia had done.
But Gao Peng, Bao Song, and Huang Zhenggang all felt chills run down their spines.
Deep in their hearts, they swore they would never provoke women in the apocalypse.
When these women became ruthless, they were absolutely terrifying.
Gao Peng glanced at Su Ning, then at Xie Linjia.
“Both are absolutely people you can’t afford to offend… Thankfully my Lele is still cute.”
Thinking about certain things, Gao Peng grinned to himself happily.
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
Eventually, they arrived at their destination—a winery estate.
The surrounding area was utterly desolate, with barely any buildings left standing.
Su Ning also noticed that after the extreme cold ended, far more animals had begun appearing outside.
And none of them looked easy to deal with.
Huang Zhenggang pointed ahead.
“Our destination is right there. The winery we’re entering used to be part of a resort hotel. There’s a cellar underneath storing a large amount of supplies.”
Su Ning raised a brow.
“Brother Huang, sounds like you know this winery very well?”
Bao Song chuckled.
“That’s because this winery and resort used to belong to Huang Zhenggang himself. He was a genuine big boss before the apocalypse.”
Not only Su Ning, even Xie Linjia looked surprised.
“The Twilight Resort Hotel was your property? I remember before the disasters started, this place was incredibly expensive. It had all kinds of entertainment facilities. It was practically a small vacation resort.”
Huang Zhenggang smiled helplessly.
“No matter how good things once were, the apocalypse turned all those years of effort into nothing.”
Soon, the group arrived at the estate entrance.
However, the entire manor was now shrouded in pale green mist.
Huang Zhenggang looked toward Su Ning.
“This is one of the reasons we said we couldn’t enter before.”
“Poison fog.”
Not only that, Su Ning could also hear constant hissing sounds nearby.
These were likely the mutated creatures Huang Zhenggang had mentioned.
Or perhaps animals that, like Jiangjiang’s Rat King disguise, had obtained system powers.
Without hesitation, Su Ning stepped directly into the poison fog.
Since Xie Linjia did not know Su Ning possessed poison-control abilities, she immediately tried to stop her after seeing this.
“Be careful!”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 220: Twilight Manor, Staying for the Time Being!
Xie Linjia was frantic with worry, desperately trying to stop Su Ning from stepping into the dangerous poison fog!
“Su Ning, there’s poison fog ahead! Don’t go in!”
Clearly, she knew nothing about some of Su Ning’s abilities.
Lin Lele walked over to Xie Linjia’s side and softly comforted her.
“There’s no need to worry. Su Ning will definitely be fine.”
Xie Linjia was filled with confusion.
What did they mean by “fine”?
Wasn’t that poison fog ahead? Didn’t they say anyone who inhaled it would die? How could they let Su Ning recklessly walk straight into it like that?
Yet just as she remained deeply worried about Su Ning, the scene in the next moment left her completely dumbfounded.
She saw Su Ning take a deep breath.
As she inhaled, the surrounding pale purple poison fog seemed to be sucked into a vortex, continuously pouring into Su Ning’s body.
The Scavenger Poison greedily devoured the toxic mist before it.
Compared to the terrifying poison within the Scavenger talent, the poison fog here was insignificant.
The poisonous mist that Huang Zhenggang regarded as a major problem was effortlessly resolved by Su Ning in mere seconds.
Witnessing this scene, Huang Zhenggang could not help sighing in admiration.
“She’s still as powerful as ever.”
As the poison fog dissipated, the snake swarm that had created it also revealed themselves!
The snakes widened their eyes and stared fixedly at Su Ning’s group.
The venomous snakes were utterly bewildered.
??? Where did our poison fog go?!
With the poison fog eliminated by Su Ning, the others immediately made their move as well.
Gao Peng fired an explosive arrow, instantly sending the snakes straight to the afterlife.
Dealing with the snakes themselves had never been difficult for him.
The true problem had always been the poison fog they produced.
Now that Su Ning had solved the fog issue, everything else naturally became easy.
“Let’s go. We’re entering the manor!”
The group then stepped into the enterprise that had once belonged to Huang Zhenggang—Twilight Manor.
After enduring both the extreme heat and the extreme cold, some of the manor’s buildings had already become damaged.
“Don’t you think Twilight Manor sits at quite a high elevation? I think this is actually a rare treasure of a location!”
After looking around, Xie Linjia voiced her opinion.
She realized this place could absolutely be developed into a private base.
Su Ning also carefully observed the surroundings.
As Xie Linjia had said, the terrain here truly was quite elevated.
If a massive flood arrived in the future, this place would definitely avoid being submerged.
At that thought, Su Ning suddenly seemed to realize something and turned her gaze toward Huang Zhenggang’s back.
“Could it be… Huang Zhenggang didn’t come here solely for supplies? Is he planning to settle here?”
Still, Su Ning did not directly ask about his plans.
Huang Zhenggang rolled his shoulders and said,
“The accommodations upstairs are fairly damaged, but after some cleaning up, they should still be livable.”
Bao Song and Gao Peng began unloading camping equipment from the vehicle and searched for suitable places to set things up.
Meanwhile, what Lin Lele cared about most were the supplies inside the cellar.
“Boss Huang, didn’t you say there were supplies in the cellar? Let’s hurry and check them out! I really want to know how many usable things are left!”
Huang Zhenggang smiled helplessly.
“Alright. Coincidentally, I also want to see how many supplies remain usable.”
Then Su Ning and the girls followed Huang Zhenggang into a concealed underground cellar.
The moment they entered, they saw numerous stairways leading downward.
However, those stairways were now all sealed shut.
They could only enter through one particular door.
As they walked, Huang Zhenggang explained,
“Back when Twilight Manor was still open to the public, this cellar stored large amounts of food and wine. Whenever supplies were needed, they were taken from here. Over time, this naturally became the manor’s storage area, and the alcohol was the most important part.”
Lin Lele also noticed that many of the supplies in the cellar rooms had already become unusable.
“Ahhh, what a pity! These vegetables can’t be eaten anymore!”
She looked disappointedly at a rotten pile of something completely unrecognizable.
Huang Zhenggang smiled faintly.
“These are only the supplies left out in the open. The truly important things are somewhere else.”
As he spoke, he arrived before what looked like a heavy iron door.
There were still traces of ice and snow nearby.
After clearing them away, Huang Zhenggang took out a key and unlocked the massive door.
Immediately afterward, an extremely well-sealed space appeared before everyone.
“There’s actually a hidden room?” Xie Linjia exclaimed.
Su Ning vaguely caught the scent of alcohol in the air.
After entering, they saw row after row of shelves filled with all kinds of wine bottles!
Huang Zhenggang explained,
“Although Twilight Manor was partially a tourist destination, my main business was actually alcohol. Wine was the foundation of my fortune. These… these are my true wealth.”
Nan Sheng exclaimed,
“I can’t believe these wines were preserved this well!”
Su Ning looked around at the countless shelves storing all kinds of expensive liquor and was genuinely astonished.
When Gao Peng arrived shortly afterward and saw the scene, he practically howled like he had reverted to his primitive ancestors.
“Holy crap! These are all premium goods!”
As he spoke, he immediately grabbed a bottle to inspect it.
Huang Zhenggang did not stop him.
Instead, he smiled.
“Of course. There’s more here than just alcohol.”
Then everyone followed Huang Zhenggang into another room.
At this moment, even Huang Zhenggang felt somewhat nervous.
He did not know whether the supplies inside had survived the two disasters intact.
The moment the room opened, Huang Zhenggang cried out in delight.
“Great! Everything’s still intact!”
Perhaps because the cellar’s seal was exceptionally good, not only had the alcohol survived, but the supplies stored here had also remained untouched.
Everyone was overjoyed.
Rice, flour, cooking oil, food supplies…
There were also many hotel-use items like blankets and bedding.
“This is wonderful. With these supplies, we can absolutely live here for quite some time,” Huang Zhenggang said.
Su Ning raised a brow.
Sure enough, just as she had guessed, Huang Zhenggang had not come here intending to transport the supplies back to the shelter.
Later, Gao Peng and Bao Song carried some supplies upstairs.
Once everyone returned to the upper floors of the manor, Huang Zhenggang finally explained their true intentions to Su Ning.
“So you’re not planning to return to Shelter No. 5?” Su Ning asked curiously.
Huang Zhenggang shook his head.
“Maybe we will. Maybe we won’t.”
“The shelter hasn’t been peaceful lately. The struggle among the upper ranks is getting more and more intense.”
“I figured that instead of remaining trapped inside the shelter during this chaos, it would be better to stay here for a while.”
“Twilight Manor sits at high elevation. Even if floods come, this place should remain safe.”
“The biggest issue is that once the flood disaster arrives, this place will become an isolated island, making outside contact impossible.”
“But now that we have supplies here, and we can still obtain resources from survival dungeons once they reopen, staying here feels safer than being dragged into Shelter No. 5’s internal power struggles.”
Huang Zhenggang was no fool.
As a former boss himself, he could clearly sense the brewing conflict among the higher-ups.
To avoid becoming cannon fodder, the only thing he could do was stay away.
If he couldn’t afford to provoke them, couldn’t he at least hide?
Then, as night fell, thunder and lightning suddenly erupted across the sky.
Lightning flashed like the arrival of yet another natural disaster.
Soon afterward, torrential rain began pouring down.
“With rain like this, there’s no way we’ll be able to return anytime soon,” Nan Sheng said while observing the situation outside.
A new disaster was beginning to form.
“Let’s cook!”
Lin Lele suddenly became excited.
While exploring the winery earlier, they had found many usable tools and utensils.
Since there was nothing much to do at night anyway, Lin Lele immediately wanted to use the available supplies to prepare a lavish feast!
The others were quickly drawn in by her enthusiasm as well.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 221: Sweet Potato Sago Dessert!
The ingredients for dinner were carefully selected from the supplies they had just obtained.
Su Ning was somewhat surprised to see sweet potatoes and potatoes among them.
Ever since successfully taking revenge on Liu Jun and Huang Juan, Xie Linjia seemed as though a huge burden had finally been lifted from her shoulders. Her entire spirit had improved greatly, and she understood that only by looking forward could she truly continue living well.
Seeing how abundant the supplies were, Lin Lele beamed happily.
“Everyone should make one of their signature dishes tonight! Let’s celebrate today’s huge harvest properly!”
Everyone enthusiastically agreed without hesitation.
Back in the shelter, Huang Zhenggang and the others had never dared to act too openly. Even if they had good food, they could only eat it secretly like thieves.
Gao Peng patted his chest confidently.
“Lele, let me show you my specialty—garlic butter potato cubes. Guaranteed you’ll want more after one bite!”
Lin Lele rolled her eyes dismissively before turning toward Nan Sheng.
“Sister Nan Sheng, do we still have any of that wild boar meat left? I still want delicious grilled skewers!”
Nan Sheng smiled indulgently.
“We do. It’s marinated wild boar meat too, so it should taste even better grilled now.”
Lin Lele cheered happily.
“Yay! Then I’ll be your little assistant!”
Not wanting to be left out, Xie Linjia declared,
“In that case, I’ll show off my skills too. I’ll make some delicious noodles. My noodle-making skills are top-tier.”
Seeing everyone in such high spirits, Huang Zhenggang generously brought out even more supplies and encouraged everyone to make whatever they wanted.
“If we don’t use these supplies, they’ll just go to waste sitting around. It’s better to enjoy them now. There’ll always be more supplies in the future. Living well each day is what matters most right now.”
Bao Song immediately gave him a thumbs-up.
“Boss Huang is truly generous!”
Huang Zhenggang laughed.
“Since everyone’s showing off their talents, I won’t hold back either. I found some bartending tools earlier, so I’ll mix everyone some delicious drinks using the alcohol we’ve got.”
“Boss Huang is amazing! Never thought you were actually a bartender too!”
Su Ning sat quietly nearby, watching the lively atmosphere with a smile on her face.
When Lin Lele noticed her sitting off to the side, she quickly shouted,
“Su Ning, don’t think you’re getting away! Let us see your cooking skills too!”
Left with no choice, Su Ning joined the cooking banquet as well.
That night, accompanied by the sounds of thunder and pouring rain outside, the group prepared food around the campfire.
Their hands stayed busy, and their mouths did too.
Lin Lele glanced outside.
“With rain like this, we’re obviously not heading back anytime soon.”
Su Ning also looked toward the torrential downpour outside.
Suddenly struck by inspiration, Xie Linjia pulled out a small box from her backpack. Inside were glowing green plants emitting faint fluorescent light, like tiny stars scattered through the night sky.
It was the [Water Moss] they had obtained from the Dark Forest.
Xie Linjia carefully placed the moss beside a puddle, wanting to see exactly how much water it could absorb.
Watching this scene, Huang Zhenggang looked thoroughly confused.
What exactly was she doing?
Lin Lele immediately explained to him how they had obtained the Water Moss in the dungeon earlier.
At first, after hearing that the moss could absorb moisture, Huang Zhenggang wasn’t especially shocked. He simply thought it was a somewhat unusual plant.
However, once he witnessed just how much water the moss ultimately absorbed, he was completely stunned speechless.
“If there were enough of these things… they could practically stop floods from spreading.”
Of course, using Water Moss to stop a massive flood entirely was somewhat unrealistic.
But preventing huge amounts of water from flooding into Twilight Manor itself? That was entirely possible.
Huang Zhenggang immediately asked Xie Linjia,
“Miss Xie, how much more of this moss do you have? I want all of it. I can trade supplies for it.”
Xie Linjia looked surprised.
“I only have this much on hand right now.”
Huang Zhenggang couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
But moments later, Xie Linjia added,
“However, I can gather more of this moss every day.”
That instantly reminded Su Ning of Xie Linjia’s [Returner] talent.
She could completely return to the [Dark Forest] every day to harvest more Water Moss.
The two quickly finalized their trade agreement.
A major concern weighing on Huang Zhenggang’s heart was finally resolved.
“Dinner’s ready! Everyone hurry and eat!”
The garlic butter potato cubes Gao Peng made gave off an incredibly rich aroma, almost like a golden wheat field.
Bao Song’s braised potatoes smelled soft and sweet.
The grilled skewers made together by Nan Sheng and Lin Lele looked irresistibly delicious.
Xie Linjia’s fried noodles were fragrant and mouthwatering.
And of course, the food Su Ning made was finally placed before everyone as well.
Lin Lele looked puzzled.
“What’s this?”
Su Ning replied,
“Sweet potato sago dessert.”
She had cooked it using sweet potatoes, coconut milk from her space, some milk, Emerald Jade Honey, and sago pearls.
Unfortunately, she lacked raisins, red dates, and other dried fruits, otherwise the flavor would have been even richer.
Still, thanks to the Emerald Jade Honey, the dessert was already wonderfully sweet and fragrant.
Su Ning had even used part of the Frost Giant corpse they collected earlier to chill it beforehand.
Now it tasted especially refreshing.
Frost Giant corpse: So… this is what I’m being used for?!
Su Ning’s sweet potato sago dessert became an instant favorite.
Everyone practically polished it clean.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Du Chenyi realized that the Ma Tong he had sent out still hadn’t returned.
Looking at the stormy sky outside, he frowned.
“That brat couldn’t have run off somewhere to fool around in the rain, could he?”
Elsewhere within Shelter No. 5, the shelter leader Gu Chengan also wore a grave expression.
His close friend Ma Feng said,
“Boss, why don’t we just kill one person as a warning to scare the others? Once we make an example out of someone, nobody will dare oppose your orders anymore.”
The idea sounded good.
But the problem was—
Who would become that sacrificial chicken?
Gu Chengan truly never imagined that managing an entire shelter would be this troublesome.
Ma Feng stared at his silent leader, feeling increasingly frustrated inside.
…
After everyone rested, Su Ning returned to her tent before entering her space.
Inside the space, Aolaini had already fully integrated himself into the environment and was now helping Ganggang, the service-type biohuman, manage the space.
“Master, you’re back?”
Aolaini looked pitifully at Su Ning, clearly unhappy about staying inside the space all the time.
Su Ning sighed helplessly.
“You’ll need to wait a little longer. I have to find the right opportunity before letting you appear outside.”
Aolaini lowered his head.
“Alright…”
And so the days passed.
Outside, the torrential rain gradually formed terrifying floodwaters.
Huang Zhenggang and Gao Peng began repairing the manor, clearly intending to remain stationed here until the Great Flood disaster passed.
As for Su Ning, staying anywhere made little difference to her.
Besides, Shelter No. 5 still had people targeting her.
She genuinely worried that if her Misfortune ability accidentally activated again, she might indirectly destroy Shelter No. 5 altogether.
Meanwhile, Xie Linjia officially joined Huang Zhenggang’s group.
She also began contributing Water Moss to the team.
Every day, she would mysteriously disappear for one or two hours, and when she returned, she would always bring back a fresh batch of Water Moss.
(End of Chapter)
