Chapter 23
by LhaoziChapter 23: Triggering a Random Task
Up on the mountain…
Using the water well at the Wu family’s house, Qin Xi pumped some water, washed her face, and wiped down her body with a towel.
In the early stages of the apocalypse, water resources were still usable.
Given a bit more time, however, if even a single mutated animal corpse ended up in a water source, it would contaminate the entire city’s water supply.
When that time came, water-element supernatural ability users would become highly sought after [2].
By the time she finished washing up, Bai Hanyue’s breakfast was fully cooked.
She had prepared a generous portion, making enough for both Qin Xi and Qin Song as well.
Qin Xi pulled a fresh set of bowls and chopsticks out of her spatial dimension. After the three finished eating, they prepared to set off.
Before leaving, however, Bai Hanyue retrieved a large backpack from the Wu household.
Packing away the remaining half-box of instant noodles, half-box of milk, and two oranges left at the Wu house, she originally intended to grab a few more pieces of clothing, but for some reason, ended up deciding against it.
Outside, the rain was still falling. Though the intensity was significantly lighter than yesterday, the sky remained overcast and heavy, showing no signs of stopping.
All three wore raincoats and carried weapons.
Before leaving, Qin Xi collected all of the Wu family’s farm tools, including a till-plow machine.
Bai Hanyue, on the other hand, took a long-handled axe.
The axe was quite new; one side could be used for chopping, while the other side served as a hammer!
She was once again arranged by Qin Xi to stand in the middle, while Qin Song pulled the heavy main gate open slowly at the very front.
With the rain lighter today, visibility up ahead was considerably clearer.
Four or five zombies were wandering outside the gate, instantly gathering over upon hearing the commotion!
Qin Song cleared out the two closest zombies at the front.
Both of his supernatural abilities were still at Level 2.
Yet because his metallic ability had been used continuously over the past two days, its power had grown considerably stronger compared to when he first awakened it.
He felt an upgrade was imminent.
A gleaming longsword sprouted directly from his palm; following close behind, Bai Hanyue’s eyes widened in instant shock!
That sword actually grew right out of his hand!
During the dead of night last evening, surrounded by pitch darkness, she hadn’t noticed where Qin Song’s weapon had come from at all.
She had originally thought Qin Xi’s ability to pull objects out of thin air was fantastical enough!
She never expected this man to possess such power as well.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask aloud, but hesitated right at the tip of her tongue and closed it again!
Better not. During these peculiar times, being overly chatty isn’t a good thing!
Gripping the axe in her hand, she turned her gaze toward a zombie shuffling closer and closer to her, swallowing her saliva!
The world had changed, and she needed to adapt to this new way of survival as quickly as possible.
She recognized the zombie before her eyes.
It was a neighbor named Aunt Sun, who lived about a dozen houses behind her family’s place.
Seeing a familiar person turn into this kind of monster was both terrifying and heart-wrenching.
Bai Hanyue took a deep breath, raised the axe, aimed squarely at the top of Aunt Sun’s head, closed her eyes, and chopped down with all her might.
Crack!
The sound of bone splintering echoed as a splatter of warm liquid struck her face.
Watching Bai Hanyue’s actions from behind, Qin Xi raised an eyebrow.
Although terrified, she had executed the strike without a shred of hesitation—a truly brave girl.
Weighing the Standard Machete in her hand, Qin Xi swung it down into the head of the last zombie.
The machete embedded into the zombie’s head, but because the depth was insufficient, the zombie didn’t die instantly.
Qin Xi took a quick step back and swung the blade viciously once more; this time, the zombie collapsed to the ground instantly.
Looking down at the corpse on the ground, the blood was quickly washed away by the rain.
My physical strength right now is still too weak, and my endurance isn’t enough either.
I need to seize every moment to train.
Qin Xi pulled out the off-road SUV and got inside.
Bai Hanyue sat in the passenger seat to guide the way, while Qin Song took the wheel.
As the vehicle got moving, it plowed through two zombies that lunged toward them.
They didn’t head deeper into the village.
Instead, they turned around, taking another road near the village entrance.
Clutching the large backpack in her arms, Bai Hanyue explained:
“The village’s cultivation greenhouses are all over that way. There’s also an experimental field—I heard it’s used by the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences to cultivate tomatoes. There’s a plant nursery over there as well, growing saplings for greening projects [3].”
Listening from the back seat, Qin Xi raised her eyes to look at Bai Hanyue in the front passenger seat, asking:
“Are all of these located together?”
Hearing this, Bai Hanyue turned around to look at Qin Xi:
“Yes, these were all set up by contractors. Usually, whichever piece of land gets leased first, the rest are leased nearby; after all, being along the same road makes it easier for transport vehicles to move.”
Makes a lot of sense, Qin Xi thought to herself.
Soon, she spotted rows of structures covered in blue film in the distance ahead.
The outer perimeter of the foremost greenhouse was fenced off with wire mesh. The white main entrance was built formally, bearing the large characters reading: “Jiangcheng Tomato Seed Industry Innovation Experimental Field.”
Through the blue film, one could see human-height tomato vines climbing inside, along with small tomatoes in various shades of red, yellow, and green.
Qin Song parked the car in front of the two-story small building directly facing the entrance.
Qin Xi stepped out of the car, but the instant her feet touched the ground, a sudden [Ding—] chimed by her ear.
She froze for a moment, then heard the system prompt ring out:
[Triggered Random Task: Rescue researcher Li Zekai. Task reward: Spatial area increased by 100 sq meters.]
An additional 100 square meters of spatial area?!
Qin Xi was instantly thrilled!
One had to know that her spatial area had long become insufficient for her needs.
The items she had stored so far were mostly smaller things that could still be squeezed into gaps. If another large object came along, she might not necessarily be able to cram it in!
Yet she was reluctant to spend system points to purchase space, as it wasn’t cost-effective!
Who is this Li Zekai, though?
The very first thing Qin Song did upon stepping out of the car up front was to turn back to look for Qin Xi.
Only to see the girl standing in place, her brows furrowed in deep thought.
Ever since Qin Xi awakened that system, she had frequently zoned out like this over the past two days.
Whenever she acted like this, it generally meant something new had changed within that system!
Qin Song had grown entirely accustomed to it!
Walking over to Qin Xi, he lowered his voice to ask:
“What’s wrong?”
The moment Qin Song walked over, Qin Xi snapped back to her senses. Meeting the man’s gaze, her voice carried a clear touch of delight:
“Big Brother, we need to go inside to find someone named Li Zekai. Saving him will earn us a system reward.”
Hearing this, Qin Song’s eyes darkened slightly.
Glancing at the two-story building ahead, he turned back:
“Inside here?”
Qin Xi nodded.
Qin Song said a quiet “Alright,” his expression growing somewhat more serious.
Before preparing to head inside, however, he looked down at Qin Xi, the expression on his face turning exceptionally grave:
“In the future, whenever something happens with the system, don’t check it while we’re still outside. You’ve been zoning out frequently lately.”
Qin Song’s words caused a sudden jolt in Qin Xi’s heart!
She had been zoning out frequently lately?!
One had to know that during the apocalypse, zoning out even for a split second could result in getting bitten by a zombie leaping out of some unknown corner!
Even if one could dodge zombies, encountering a mutated animal was far more dangerous!
And she had actually been zoning out!
Qin Xi gritted her teeth. Having undergone several years of post-apocalyptic tempering in her past life, she had always maintained sharp vigilance.
Having returned via rebirth, the sudden relaxation—compounded by the curiosity and impact brought by the system—had unwittingly caused her to lower her guard!
Thank goodness her big brother warned her!
Qin Xi quickly raised her head, answering Qin Song in all seriousness:
“I understand, Big Brother. I’ll stay sharp!”
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Greening projects (綠化工程 – lǜ huà gōng chéng): A standard Chinese urban planning term referring to municipal landscaping, environmental reforestation, or urban vegetation planting initiatives.
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