"Would you like to come with us?" Lei Ming asked.
Yun Xiaoxiao shook her head. "We still have a mission to complete. You go ahead."
"...Alright then, until we meet again."
"Mm, bye~"
After Lei Ming's group left, Yun Xiaoxiao and her companions continued their journey.
After another forty minutes, they finally arrived at the lumber mill.
The lumber mill was built at the foot of a mountain, with a vast primeval forest above it.
As soon as they reached the entrance, they encountered a zombie wearing worker's clothes.
It howled and lunged toward them.
Ling Jing slammed on the gas pedal, crushing it into a bloody pulp.
The car charged forward, sending several more approaching zombies to meet their maker.
When they reached the center of the factory, the two got out of the car and began slaying the continuous stream of zombies from both sides.
The lumber mill didn't have too many zombies, and before long, all of them had been eliminated.
"BOOM~"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar filled the sky.
Thunder had struck.
Looking at the gloomy sky, Yun Xiaoxiao furrowed her brow.
It seemed like it was about to rain.
She needed to speed things up.
Without hesitation, Yun Xiaoxiao began running quickly, moving between different piles of lumber.
Wherever she passed, the space became empty.
In no time, half of the lumber mill had been cleared.
"Sister, look! There seem to be people at the lumber mill down below!"
At that moment, a head emerged from some bushes on the mountainside.
The hair was like a bird's nest, dirty and messy, clearly unwashed for who knows how long.
Shortly after, another head popped out.
If Yun Xiaoxiao were there, she would probably find this person familiar.
Because this woman was the one she had saved from the abandoned prison, the one who had been biting people.
She was the one that had stood out most to Yun Xiaoxiao among the women who had left that day.
"Oh, it's her?"
Jin Xiaoqing's eyes lit up, showing a trace of disbelief.
"Sister, you know them?"
"Yes, though I only know the young girl. Remember when I told you about being kidnapped to an abandoned prison and almost dying? That little sister down there was the one who saved me."
"What a coincidence! But why is she here?"
"I'm not sure," Jin Xiaoqing shook her head.
This place was quite far from the abandoned prison.
"Let's go down and say hello."
"But there are many..."
Jin Shengjie was about to mention the many zombies below, but was surprised to find that as far as he could see, there wasn't a single one left.
He blinked and swallowed the words he was about to say.
Just as Yun Xiaoxiao finished storing the last of the dry lumber in her space, she suddenly heard the crunch of vegetation being stepped on.
She and Ling Jing looked in that direction and saw two 'boys' coming down the mountainside through the tall trees.
One appeared to be in his twenties.
The other looked about eleven or twelve years old.
Their facial features were somewhat similar.
But the taller 'boy' clearly had more delicate features.
As they got closer.
Yun Xiaoxiao looked at the information on her assessment panel and Jin Xiaoqing's face, raising an eyebrow slightly.
This person... seemed familiar from somewhere.
She imagined Jin Xiaoqing with long hair, and suddenly it clicked.
It was her!
Jin Xiaoqing approached with Jin Shengjie, smiling as she greeted Yun Xiaoxiao.
"Little sister, we meet again."
"Indeed, big sister."
Yun Xiaoxiao smiled gently, "By the way, what brings you here? Where are the other three?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoqing sighed slightly, "Two of them are already dead, and as for Lan, the one who betrayed you..."
Jin Xiaoqing briefly recounted what had happened.
It turned out that after she and the other three left that day, she had intended to return home to find her relatives.
The other three had planned to go to the Survivor Base.
Since their routes initially aligned, they traveled together.
However, halfway through their journey, they unfortunately encountered a small group of about a dozen zombies.
Though the number wasn't large, it was still a massive disaster for a group of defenseless women.
The car had crushed several zombies, but the tires got caught on zombie remains, preventing the vehicle from moving forward.
To continue driving, they needed to get out and clear the zombie remains from under the car.
If they didn't clear it, they would either have to wait for the zombies to leave on their own or slowly starve to death.
But seeing the zombies surrounding the car and constantly banging on the windows, they knew waiting for the zombies to leave on their own wasn't realistic.
They might not even have time to starve to death before the zombies broke through the windows.
At that point, death would be their only option.
After discussion, the four decided to take a chance.
Three would hold off the zombies while one cleared the rotting flesh from the tires.
So they grabbed all the weapons they could find in the car and gathered their courage to charge out.
Human potential is limitless, especially when facing life and death situations.
Jin Xiaoqing and the other two women desperately swung their makeshift weapons at the zombies' heads.
Buying time for the woman clearing the tires.
But they had no experience, and while their initial courage and brute force helped them cope at first.
Their strength quickly began to fade.
In the chaos, the first woman was bitten by a zombie.
After she was bitten, the woman who had once asked Yun Xiaoxiao to be kind and give them a ride, who had secretly admired Lu Chen, actually drove away alone!
She was the one responsible for clearing the tires.
This left Jin Xiaoqing and the remaining woman with no hope of survival.
Soon, the other woman was also bitten by zombies.
Those heart-wrenching screams still remained vivid in Jin Xiaoqing's memory.
She herself was also completely isolated.
Just when it seemed she would die in the zombies' mouths, unexpectedly, an intense energy suddenly burst forth from her body.
That energy transformed into scorching flames, shooting straight toward the zombies.
The zombies were thrown back by the fireballs, their entire bodies catching fire.
Jin Xiaoqing was very surprised, not knowing what had happened to her body, why she could suddenly shoot fire.
But the reality of the situation left her no time to think.
She used every ounce of strength she had to attack each zombie with fireballs.
By the time she had nearly exhausted all the energy in her body, a swath of zombies had been burned to death.
She sat on the ground, breathing heavily.
Thinking about the long journey home ahead, and to prevent being kidnapped again, she picked up the only small knife from the ground and cut off all her long hair.
After a long trek, she finally made it home.
Her home was on the other side of the mountain behind the lumber mill.
They had come to the lumber mill today to see if there was any food left.
They never expected to encounter Yun Xiaoxiao again.
