Chapter 44: Inquiry

Chen Mu and the others could understand her feelings; after so many days without eating anything proper, suddenly having a bite of hot food—one can imagine their mood.

While He Ying and Sun Yuan were enjoying the rare meal, Dong Junwei gave Chen Mu and Tang Jing a look and stepped aside.

Should we let He Ying join us?

After hearing the two's abilities, Dong Junwei's first thought was to recruit them.

Actually, this idea had been on everyone's mind all along.

Wanting to develop and restore human civilization, it's obviously impossible to rely on just these nine people.

Chen Mu and the two others had discussed this issue many times; the answer was no more than two options: either recruit people themselves and continually expand the team, or join other survivor groups.

If possible, of course the former is more ideal.

He Ying and Sun Yuan's abilities are obviously helpful to the team, at least much better than having horns on the head or lumps on the body.

We'll have to gradually expand the team; He Ying… at least we know her background. Tang Jing echoed.

I have no objection.

Chen Mu brought He Ying back, originally intending to recruit her, but of course such a matter still needed discussion with the others, and Dong Junwei's idea was already within his expectations.

Besides, they still have three companions; we definitely need to go get them. Tang Jing said.

It's nothing; at worst it's just near the cafeteria, I can make another trip. Now every person is a resource, even those without awakening are potential stocks. Yi Zhong over there already seems quite large in scale, and for some reason they harbor deep hostility; if we remain complacent, we're just waiting to die.

Since returning, Chen Mu's sense of crisis has been growing; even without carefully asking He Ying about the others' information, he has a vague foreboding.

After roughly reaching a consensus, Chen Mu and the two others returned to the crowd again.

At this moment.

He Ying and Sun Yuan had already eaten three rice crackers in a row.

If it weren't for feeling it would be impolite, they'd really want to eat more.

Don't rush, there will be something even better later. Tang Jing glanced at the two, who looked eager yet embarrassed to ask for more, and gave a light smile.

He Ying also calmed her emotions and told Chen Mu, 'I promised you—I will tell you everything I know.'

Chen Mu nodded and immediately asked, 'How did you and your previous companions come together?'

When the disaster struck, I happened to be on the way from the classroom to the playground; there were still many people around. I spent a long time gathering dozens of people, working hard to calm them down, but before I could figure out what to do next, we encountered a rat...

He Ying said this, her face both fearful and sorrowful.

Actually, not many people were actually eaten by the rats, but in their panic they scattered and fled, many jumping straight into the grass; I don't know what happened to them afterward. In any case, we ended up with only sixteen people together.

Chen Mu asked, 'Do you guys have headaches?'

Yes, everyone does, and it started before the rats appeared.

Did anyone awaken on the spot?

'Awaken?' He Ying blinked.

'We call gaining an ability "awakening,"' Chen Mu explained in a sentence.

'Oh.' He Ying indicated understanding, then added, 'Back then there wasn't any; perhaps everyone was just panicking and didn't realize it at all.'

Chen Mu nodded slightly, thinking that if it weren't for Wei Dalei venting his frustration by pounding the ground with a fist, they probably wouldn't have realized the existence of abilities so quickly.

He then asked, 'When did you discover your ability?'

It was when that rat appeared; I was terrified then, could only flee desperately, and at first I didn't notice, but soon I realized I had pulled everyone far away.

He Ying said this, still a bit embarrassed, she pursed her lips before continuing: 'You know, I've always been in good shape and run fairly fast, but I couldn't possibly have thrown a bunch of boys that far. At the time I felt my body floating a bit, but I didn't think much of it, assuming it was just fear making my steps uncoordinated. Only after sprinting far ahead did I realize something was off.'

How big was that rat? Du Jia Jia suddenly asked.

Very big.

How big?

'Quite big...' He Ying thought for a while but couldn't find a word to describe it.

Everyone hearing this pointless exchange was left speechless.

Chen Mu quickly took over: 'What happened to the remaining dozen or so people afterwards?'

We were panicked and had no long-term plan; some wanted to go into the grass, but I stopped them, then we just kept walking along the main road, hoping to meet anyone who had come out of the classroom, but we didn't encounter anyone along the way.

'Not a single person?' Chen Mu wondered.

'Exactly, it was about five minutes after the break started; most were either at the playground watching the exchange activity with Yi Zhong, or staying in the classroom, so there really weren't many people on the road.'

'Then you all went straight to the cafeteria?'

'Everyone thought the cafeteria had food; even if we couldn't turn back, we at least wouldn't starve.'

'That idea was also correct.'

'We were probably the first to reach the cafeteria; given time, there would surely be all kinds of rats and reptiles here, so we had everyone bring enough food in one go, then find a place outside the cafeteria to hide.'

'Where did you hide?' Chen Mu asked.

He Ying hesitated a moment, then said: 'Outside the cafeteria, inside a floor-mounted distribution box.'

'A distribution box?'

'Yeah, the ventilation hole on top is just the right size for a person to crawl in, which can block large animals like rats.'

'That's actually a good idea.'

'Not bad, at least we haven't been attacked by animals afterward.'

'But why did we end up with only the five of you?' Dong Junwei asked.

'They all died at the hands of those people from Yi Zhong.' He Ying said this, unconsciously gritting her teeth.

'Why did they kill people?'

'I don't know either; our first encounter was when we were fetching water.'

'Where were you fetching water?' Chen Mu pressed.

'There's a faucet for watering plants outside the cafeteria; it doesn't shut tight, so it keeps dripping.' He Ying answered.

Chen Mu recalled that Dong Junwei had originally suggested going there to fetch water, but he never expected that someone had already gotten there first.

He Ying continued: "We had no containers for water, so whenever we were thirsty we all had to go together to get a drink. Once we happened to run into some people from Yi Zhong; they weren't more numerous than us, but among them was someone who seemed to have awakened an aiming ability—he could throw rocks with uncanny accuracy, and our whole group was kept down by him alone, unable to lift our heads. At that time, it was just me and another male sophomore who had already… awakened."

"That boy had an ability similar to bronze skin and iron bones—very resistant to blows—so he volunteered to take the rear. But after I had escorted the others to safety and turned back to look for him, I found he had already died on the road, his body covered in ants."

He Ying said this, filled with sorrow and self-reproach.