Chapter 37: Xue’er Jie, It Hurts…
“Ah Ling, I’m back!”
Luo Xue dragged her bounty, walking briskly back to the camp.
Ling Ling poked her head out of the hut, and seeing Luo Xue’s return, her furrowed brows relaxed.
She quickly scrambled out of the hut and ran to greet Luo Xue.
“Xue’er Jie!”
Ling Ling’s little feet pounded on the frozen ground as she threw herself into Luo Xue’s arms, a big smile on her face.
For the Wastelanders in the settlement, every time they went out to gather resources, they had to be prepared to give their lives.
Every successful return was a blessing from the goddess of fate.
After all, most Wastelanders were not capable ability users.
Even a Level 1 ability user could find a living in the Suspended High Towers. Why would they choose to be Wastelanders, living a precarious life?
However, things were different now.
Luo Xue’s strength was enough for her to survive in this small settlement, and she didn’t want to go to the Suspended High Towers. She just wanted to take care of Ling Ling.
It seemed like it wouldn’t be bad to spend her life with Ling Ling like this.
“Alright, alright, let’s get to work.”
Luo Xue chuckled, gently patting Ling Ling’s head.
Hearing this, Ling Ling made a face at her, then reluctantly got down from Luo Xue’s embrace.
She picked up a small knife and expertly handled the wolf meat that Luo Xue had roughly cut up, looking nothing like a seven-year-old child.
In the wasteland, children had to learn survival skills after the age of three, and Ling Ling was no exception.
However…
“Xue’er Jie, why is there so much meat?” Ling Ling handled the meat, her expression filled with amazement. “It’s enough for the two of us to eat for a year!”
“And there’s so much water, and so many vegetables… Xue’er Jie, how did you carry all this back by yourself?”
Ling Ling bounced around the supplies excitedly.
Luo Xue didn’t answer, because she was also working.
Putting the vegetables and water into the cellar, air-drying some of the meat, and freezing the rest.
When Ling Ling had finally exhausted her excitement, Luo Xue smiled and said,
“Because I learned some incredible martial arts in my dream, and now I’m very powerful!”
“Really?”
Ling Ling’s eyes widened, looking at Luo Xue with admiration. “Xue’er Jie is amazing!”
“Do you want to learn?” Luo Xue picked up a short sword and with a flick, a wolf bone on the ground was instantly cut in half.
The Innate Realm allowed one to project their spiritual power, and wielding sword beams was a simple feat.
In the Immortal Martial World, this was the ability of Martial Grandmasters revered by mortal nations.
Even entering the Innate realm was an unreachable goal for ordinary people.
The reason she asked Ling Ling if she wanted to learn wasn’t on a whim. Luo Xue discovered that there was also spiritual energy in the apocalyptic world, just much thinner.
…Of course, it was also possible that Mount Fengyin was a blessed land.
In other words, the conditions for cultivation existed here.
Luo Xue could protect Ling Ling for the rest of her life, but her lifespan was much longer than ordinary people.
Even if she remained at the Innate Realm for the rest of her life, Luo Xue would still have a lifespan of two hundred years, far exceeding that of ordinary mortals.
She didn’t want to see Ling Ling grow old while she remained young.
If they embarked on the path of cultivation, they could spend more time together.
“But considering that I’m ten and she’s seven, is it a bit too early to think about this…”
Luo Xue muttered to herself, but maintained a smile on her face.
“Wow, so cool!” Ling Ling exclaimed, looking at the cleanly cut wolf bone, squatting down to examine it closely. “Can I become as powerful as Xue’er Jie?”
“That’s not certain. Your Xue’er Jie is a once-in-a-century cultivation prodigy!”
Luo Xue felt a little guilty looking at the “Barely There” on her status and raised her chin slightly.
“But becoming stronger than you are now is definitely possible!”
Luo Xue patted her chest. Even if Ling Ling was like her before, with “Almost None” aptitude, she knew some methods for ordinary people to temper their bodies.
Although it was slower than cultivating immortality and had a lower upper limit, it could still increase one’s strength.
Strength was the guarantee of survival in the endless wasteland.
“Can I help Xue’er Jie?”
Ling Ling looked up, her little face eager.
Seeing Ling Ling like this, Luo Xue was reminded of Su Yiyao, and she was momentarily lost in thought.
Xiao Yao seemed to look at her like this often…
“Xue’er Jie? Xue’er Jie!”
Ling Ling waved her little hand in front of Luo Xue’s eyes, blinking.
Luo Xue came back to her senses, her smile softening.
“Of course you can.”
That’s right, Ling Ling and Su Yiyao… were both her important little sisters.
However, Su Yiyao was quieter, while Ling Ling was more boisterous.
“I want to learn!”
Ling Ling immediately raised her hand, and thinking that wasn’t enough, she raised her other hand as well, bouncing in front of Luo Xue.
“I want to learn! I want to learn! I want to learn!”
“Then stop fooling around and finish all this work,” Luo Xue flicked the tip of the short sword with her wrist, knocking the hilt against Ling Ling’s head. “Don’t be naughty, I’ll teach you well tonight.”
“Ow, Xue’er Jie, it hurts…”
Ling Ling covered her forehead with her hand, staring with a pitiful and innocent big eyes.
“Hehe.”
Luo Xue sheathed the short sword and dragged the processed supplies into the camp’s cellar.
…
“Night Owl, sir.”
The black-clothed man bowed respectfully. In front of him was a seemingly carefree blond man, the Level 6 assassin, Night Owl.
After the advent of the cataclysm, not only did the world undergo drastic changes, but humanity itself also experienced many mutations.
Ability users were the product of this mutation.
Perhaps due to genetic mutation or contamination from the cataclysm, a portion of humanity developed variations.
Some of these variations were beneficial, some were detrimental, with roughly equal numbers of each.
Among them, the beneficial variations were called ability users, the detrimental variations were called contaminated, and the unstable ones were called uncontrollables. Based on the degree of variation, they were divided into nine levels.
Ability users were honored guests of the various Suspended High Towers, the contaminated were outcasts even the Wastelanders wouldn’t accept, and the existence of uncontrollables was a disaster in itself.
Night Owl was an ability user and an honored guest of Suspended High Tower 132.
His ability was speed, and his extreme speed brought extreme lethality, making him an excellent assassin.
“More orders from above… What is it?”
Night Owl leaned back in his recliner, leisurely crossing his legs, but his expression wasn’t very pleasant as he looked at the black-clothed man.
There were many maids serving him nearby, but upon closer inspection, they were all androids.
When the cataclysm was imminent, the Federation gathered the collective power of humanity to build hundreds of Suspended High Towers, allowing a portion of humanity to escape the disaster and preserve the achievements of civilization.
These android maids were a product of the technology left behind by the previous civilization, combined with current genetic technology.
“You are to kill someone.”
The black-clothed man handed over a photo. It showed a thin little girl standing calmly on the snow.
—It was Luo Xue.
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