"What did she say?" The group gathered around, their faces full of curiosity.
Gu Chen, who had been tense all afternoon, finally started to relax. A rare smile appeared on his face.
"She said there’s a massive hailstorm outside, but she’s found a building to take shelter in. The conditions are acceptable, so she’ll be fine for one night."
"She’ll look for a way back at first light."
As he spoke, he scrolled through a few photos to show everyone.
Song You’ai’s heart had been in her throat, and her brow furrowed tightly when she saw the pictures.
’Are these crumbling ruins, all toppled over, really the once skyscraper-filled Canghua Home from before the apocalypse?’
On top of that, it was already late, so all they could see were patches of icy snow glowing white.
Xie Ning sent back a selfie.
She was bundled up tightly from head to toe like a little bear, with only a pair of pitch-black eyes showing, staring quietly at them.
Seeing her wrapped up like that, everyone paradoxically let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Don’t worry. My sister probably has dozens of thick quilts with her alone. She won’t freeze." Song Kexin breathed a sigh of relief. "Brother Gu Chen, are the roads outside really bad right now?"
"The roads at the base entrance are frozen over. All construction projects have been halted, too. We don’t know if this hailstorm will stop by tomorrow."
Lu Wei pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and sighed softly. "The base is organizing a group to work through the night fluffing cotton. Due to the rapid drop in temperature, many of the elderly, infants, and young children have frozen to death in their sleep."
"Zuo Dazhu is being responsible, at least. He’s already organized the people in the shantytown to move into the underground air-raid shelters."
"The specific situation will depend on tomorrow. If the hail doesn’t stop and the snow keeps falling, we’ll have to take a series of intervention measures."
Gu Chen tapped his wristband and showed everyone the new picture Xie Ning had just sent.
The young woman had now climbed into a guardhouse, sealed the door and windows with her Gold Ability, and was making a ’V’ for victory sign at them.
Everyone saw a large, red leather suitcase next to her, intentionally left open to reveal many vacuum-sealed packages of cooked food inside.
They exchanged blank looks, and Song Shijun commented, "My sister lives well no matter where she is."
Xie Ning dragged the suitcase and the youth back into the Farmhouse Space.
The two of them impatiently stripped off their damp gear, finally feeling like they had been brought back to life.
Outside, the hail was coming down hard, CLANGING loudly against the metal windows.
Xie Ning had no intention of suffering out there; she would never be able to sleep with the sound of hail pounding on the windows, so she dragged the youth inside with her.
"I don’t think we should have entered the Space from inside that half-collapsed guardhouse," the youth said, his face cold.
’Is she an idiot?’
’After a night’s sleep, who knows if the guardhouse will be frozen into a solid block of ice? Isn’t that just asking for trouble and sealing ourselves inside?’
"You think one night of hailstones will bury the entire guardhouse?" Xie Ning was taken aback, but on second thought, what the youth said seemed to have some merit.
"We should find an open area to enter and exit from."
Xie Ning rolled her eyes at him. The entire area was covered in collapsed buildings; there was no "open area" like he described.
’But thinking about it carefully, it’s true,’ she thought. ’If we get sealed inside this little guardhouse by ice and snow, getting out probably wouldn’t be impossible, but it would likely take some effort.’
Readily accepting his advice, Xie Ning immediately picked up the gear from the floor, forced the eye-rolling youth to put it back on, and dragged him outside with her.
After the whole ordeal of going out and coming back, the Beichen youth spoke coldly, "What do you think would have happened if you had left me here alone?"
’This woman doesn’t trust me at all! It’s so infuriating!’
Xie Ning turned and smiled at him. "We’re partners who have been through life and death together. Naturally, I can’t just abandon you."
Beichen scoffed and started walking toward the supermarket area. "Where am I sleeping?"
"Come with me." Xie Ning led the youth back to the edge of the fields and pointed to a lush green vegetable garden. "The environment here is pretty nice, right?"
Then, using her Gold Ability, she created a small iron room, not forgetting to add a small, rectangular ventilation window.
"Get in."
Beichen almost laughed in anger. "Do you take me for a prisoner?"
’Isn’t this just a fucking iron cage??’
His eyes were cold as he stared at the young woman. "You’re actually wary of a Healing System user like me? Worried I’ll sneak out in the middle of the night to kill you?"
Seeing his explosive anger, Xie Ning remained completely unfazed, even smiling as she said, "One can’t be too careful. Sorry about that."
Although she said she was sorry, it was clear she didn’t mean it in the slightest!
He walked into the small, dark room in a rage. Just as he turned to speak, he heard a "CLANG" and the iron cage’s door slammed shut!
This door was controlled by a Fourth-stage Gold Element master. An outsider wouldn’t even be able to feel a seam where the door was, let alone open or close it!
If he wanted to get out, she would have to personally open this invisible door.
’What a cautious, ruthless, and vicious woman!’
’She’s this guarded against a Healing System user like him, who doesn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken. Is there anyone in this world who could ever get close to her?’
Xie Ning tilted her head, looked at her masterpiece, and happily spun in a circle.
The young woman strolled over to a row of fruit-laden plum trees by the farmland and surveyed her surroundings.
Beaming with joy, she raised a hand and released her Gold Ability.
She casually changed the color of the Gold Element Energy in her hand, transforming it into a faint coppery-red before she began to construct her own little house.
The young woman drank two bottles of Energy Water, went back and forth changing her design several times, and spent over three hours before finally creating a light crimson, two-story cottage.
Although the metal-framed cottage had a bit of a futuristic, mechanical feel, it looked quite nice overall.
The young woman also shifted the trees on either side slightly, so the entire cottage was nestled among them.
When she ran to the second floor and pushed open a window, she could see two lush plum trees, their branches so close she could reach out and touch the red and yellow fruit.
The young woman spent another two or three hours decorating the two-story cottage. By the time she finished her shower and tumbled onto the soft, large bed, it was already 3:30 in the morning.
She set an alarm for eight o’clock.
When she groggily got up, she could faintly hear the sound of someone POUNDING on a door coming from the small, dark room across the farmland.
With a dark expression, the young woman opened the door for the Beichen youth. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he immediately erupted in an angry tirade, "Are you trying to make me burst?"
Xie Ning slapped her forehead and immediately gave an embarrassed smile.
She quickly handed over a brand-new, unopened portable toilet. "I forgot yesterday."
BAM! The small iron door slammed shut right in Miss Xie Ning’s face, followed by the youth’s humiliated roar from inside, "Get lost!!"
Xie Ning pouted and muttered, "Such a bad temper," before silently ’getting lost.’
To express her apology, Miss Xie Ning specially added an egg to the Beichen youth’s meal, but his expression was still frighteningly dark...
Xie Ning silently took out a men’s facial mask cream and stuffed it into the youth’s hand. "This is for winter. It moisturizes, nourishes, and protects your pretty face."
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