Chapter 24: The Mysterious Girl
After Xu Zhi finished speaking, the two people in the distance seemed to agree and took the initiative to walk toward her.
Once they got closer, Xu Zhi could clearly see what they looked like—a man in his thirties and a young girl who appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen.
From their clothing and general condition, they didn’t seem to be doing too badly. At the very least, they had enough food, water, and supplies. The man had even trimmed his beard.
And their eyes were clear and sharp.
Since entering the spirit body, Xu Zhi hadn’t had a chance to check her own eyes in a mirror to see if they appeared normal, but judging by the two people’s reactions, her eyes were probably fine.
Was it because the spirit body didn’t have a fixed attribute, so she wasn’t technically a familiar of the [Cup]?
Yet based on this spirit body’s traits, it was clearly strongly aligned with [Cup].
Several thoughts flashed through Xu Zhi’s mind. She guessed that maybe she hadn’t invested enough [Cup] cores to awaken the spirit body’s full attribute, which was why she hadn’t shown more obvious external changes.
But if she invested more [Cup] attribute cores in the future, she wasn’t sure she could suppress that strange inner agitation so easily.
She’d test that theory when the chance came. For now, the most important thing was the two people in front of her.
Xu Zhi pulled her thoughts back and looked at them. “And you are?”
“Oh, hello. I’m Yan Songlin, and this is my daughter, Yan Rui. We’re residents from nearby. What about you?”
The man named Yan Songlin spoke in a cultured tone, with a refined demeanor. He probably came from a decent background before the apocalypse. Clearly, life after the end hadn’t worn down his civility.
“I came from somewhere else,” Xu Zhi replied simply.
Since the couple was from the area, and given how long the city had been sealed, they likely knew who was still around. Lying wouldn’t help.
Seeing Xu Zhi wasn’t offering more, Yan Songlin understood that she didn’t want to say too much. He didn’t press the issue—those details weren’t important.
“Do you have anywhere to go? Want to come with us?”
“Don’t worry. We’ve built a temporary gathering place. There are nearly thirty people there now, all locals. We send people out every day to look for survivors. The atmosphere’s good, and there are extraordinary individuals protecting the group. It’s a lot safer than wandering alone.”
That line again—it sounded so familiar.
Of course, Xu Zhi couldn’t actually join them. She’d vanish in ten minutes!
Still, there was no harm in digging for information. She thought for a moment and asked, “It’s not safe out here for me, sure. But how do I know it’s safe going with you?”
A fair question.
Yan Songlin seemed to have been asked that many times before. He gave a knowing smile. “That concern is totally understandable, but rest assured—our group doesn’t tolerate anyone who threatens the safety of our members.”
There was absolute confidence in his words, such certainty that it struck Xu Zhi as strange.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
He smiled. “I can’t be sure—but someone at the gathering place can. She can tell who’s safe and who’s dangerous. Threats don’t come from inside.”
Though he didn’t say it outright, he implied enough.
This wasn’t an ordinary world anymore—it was a world of supernatural powers. And in their gathering place, someone could tell whether a person was a threat.
Xu Zhi began wondering what kind of attribute could grant that power. Was it active? Passive?
She still knew too little about abilities to be sure. If time weren’t so short, she’d have gone with them to see for herself.
Thinking it over, she asked, “How long does it take to get there from here?”
“About half an hour.”
“What a shame…” Xu Zhi sighed with regret.
Yan Rui was confused. Judging from her behavior, she had likely been well protected before the apocalypse, and even afterward hadn’t suffered much. She hadn’t seen the dark side of human nature. That explained why she was so bold and innocent, asking straightforward questions the moment she didn’t understand something. That alone suggested their gathering place might genuinely be decent.
At least, decent to this father and daughter.
“What’s wrong? You can’t come with us?” the girl asked in a sweet, naïve voice.
Xu Zhi hesitated. If possible, she did want to talk to the extraordinary individual guarding their base. So perhaps it was best to be “honest.”
“This is just a split-off part of my ability—a spirit body. It can only last a short while. I can’t make it to your base.”
Xu Zhi’s “honesty” was calculated. One, she wanted to make a good impression in case she was randomly dropped here again—then she could enter the base and talk to the person in charge. Two, she hadn’t really told the whole truth.
Letting them assume her supernatural ability was “cloning” or “projection” could work to her advantage. Being on guard against her clone? That would be a waste of time.
Besides, revealing this also established her identity as an extraordinary person, increasing her chances of being noticed and taken seriously if they met again.
With that in mind, Xu Zhi asked, “What’s this place called? And what’s nearby?”
Yan Songlin paused, hesitated less than ten seconds, then replied, “This is the Nanshan Villa District. Nearby are the Nanshan Subway Station, Chongming Elementary School, and Ganming Golf Course.”
Ah—Xu Zhi recognized the name. This was the “rich people’s district.”
She asked about landmarks so that if she ended up nearby again, she could find her way quickly.
Yan Songlin was puzzled. A local from Cloud City wouldn’t not know about Nanshan Villa District, would they? It was one of the city’s most famous areas—famous enough that even outsiders had heard of it. The girl in front of him didn’t recognize it… Was she not from here?
After a moment of thought, he decided to answer anyway. First, Xu Zhi hadn’t asked for the exact location of their base. Nanshan Villa District was huge—big enough that even by car, it took a long time to get around. Now, it was even harder. Finding a hidden base wouldn’t be easy. Second, he trusted his team.
They had several extraordinary individuals. Even if this girl had bad intentions, Yan Songlin was confident they could handle it.
More importantly, he trusted “that one.” If something was off about Xu Zhi, she would know immediately.
Seeing that he was cooperative, Xu Zhi offered, “My surname is Xu. Next time we meet, you can take me to your base, and we can exchange information.”
“I’m quite curious about the one you mentioned who can tell if someone is safe.”
Xu Zhi smiled as she spoke. Yan Songlin gave a calm nod, but inwardly, he was full of questions. This plain-looking girl—aside from her strikingly beautiful eyes—was strange.
He couldn’t figure her out. She seemed alert and cautious, but would suddenly “reveal” that she was an extraordinary being and had clone abilities. Now she was openly expressing curiosity about the core figure of their group. Wasn’t she worried this would make people wary?
She didn’t know this was the Nanshan Villa District—that proved she wasn’t from around here or nearby. So how had she ended up here?
It was worth noting that before 5:00 a.m., no one would’ve been outside. Now it was barely 5:30.
A mysterious girl who appeared out of the fog—this naturally made both Yan Songlin and Yan Rui wary, yet curious.
