Chapter 34: I’m a Vibe of Delicate Weakness (3)
Si Xu also didn’t know where to find a pair of shoes. This was a university, the nearest commercial street was 200 meters away, a full kilometer from the administration building.
The supermarket sold shoes, but only slippers, which were even worse than Jiang Zhiyan’s current pair. Going to the dormitory… the dormitory was practically diagonally across the campus, even farther than the commercial street.
She should have refused such a request. After all, in these extraordinary times, being alive was good enough, there was no room for being picky.
But… Si Xu looked at Jiang Zhiyan, who was holding her hand, and found it really difficult to refuse her request. Besides, Jiang Zhiyan’s feet were probably blistered, and if she picked a pair of shoes from someone with athlete’s foot, it would be even worse.
The system noticed the change in Si Xu’s expression and sighed.
It was only the first day, how had she already abandoned her principles? Wasn’t this female lead supposed to be a principled person? Although she was kind, her current emotions didn’t seem to stem from kindness.
“Forget it, Senior, I can still hold on, it’s okay.” Jiang Zhiyan moved her feet.
Si Xu caught a glimpse of Jiang Zhiyan’s raw heels and frowned: “Let’s go to the university clinic first and wrap your feet with bandages, that will make it easier to run. The clinic is right next to the administration building.”
“Do you want to wait here for me?” Si Xu asked.
Jiang Zhiyan hesitated, shaking her head, then nodding: “I want to go with you, but that would just slow you down, so I’ll wait here for you, Senior. Please be careful.”
She gripped Si Xu’s hand tightly.
“Okay.” Si Xu replied.
“On second thought, Senior, forget it.” Jiang Zhiyan looked conflicted.
“It’s fine, I need the exercise anyway.” Si Xu said. “Wait for me in this office. I don’t know if that thing is still out there, so you be careful too. I’ll be back soon. If I don’t return in two hours, find a way to leave on your own.”
“Senior…”
“It should be fine, I’m a fast runner.”
Si Xu was telling the truth. Her current speed and endurance were much better than before. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
She pried Jiang Zhiyan’s hand off hers: “Go inside quickly.”
“Okay.” Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
Si Xu threw the bag filled with water bottles inside: “Conserve your water.”
“Yes, Senior, be careful.”
After Si Xu left, Jiang Zhiyan came out of the office, fan in hand, and ran to the third floor of the administration building.
The monster was still there, surrounded by a pile of doorknobs. Its injured eyes were healing. Smelling the scent of a human, it looked at Jiang Zhiyan.
In its eyes, Jiang Zhiyan was a bright red, bloody target. It sensed danger from her, after all, the doorknobs thrown at it earlier carried her scent.
However, although it sensed danger, it didn’t retreat. Rage took over, and it swung its hammers at Jiang Zhiyan.
Jiang Zhiyan opened her fan, sliced off its hands, and effortlessly cut through its neck. With her left hand, she pulled out its heart, crushing it.
She frowned, looking at the blood on her. Cleaning it herself would be difficult. She bought a restoration card.
“Aren’t you going to check on Senior?” The system asked.
“They’re all level one monsters down there, she can handle them.” Jiang Zhiyan smoothed her hair. “She’s never been a damsel in distress who needs my protection.”
She returned to the office, took off her shoes, and examined her pitiful-looking feet. The sides of her big and little toes, as well as her heels, were all blistered.
It hurt, but it wasn’t a problem.
She opened a bottle of water and waited.
The system noticed that Jiang Zhiyan was surprisingly patient, unlike her anxious self in the previous world.
“Because this world is different. The last world was about a delicate little flower, this world is about a powerful female lead. This world is clearly about growing through battles. And… even the little flower was stronger than I expected, let alone the female lead.” Jiang Zhiyan’s tone was laced with pride. “But it’s normal, my wife is the strongest no matter what.”
The system was speechless.
It hadn’t realized that Jiang Zhiyan had a tendency towards being love-struck. In the worlds they had worked together before, Jiang Zhiyan was always indifferent and clear-headed. Look at her now.
Si Xu returned. The administration building and the clinic were only a hundred meters apart, but it took her an hour to get back. She looked like she had been pulled out of a pool of blood, her hair matted, her entire body reeking of blood.
She placed the two bags in her hands on the table and moved away from Jiang Zhiyan, afraid of the smell overwhelming her. The items inside the bags were clean; there were even shoes and new clothes.
“You should be able to wear these shoes, they’re new, I just picked them up next to a corpse.” Si Xu sat down wearily, looking at Jiang Zhiyan. “Don’t cry, I’m not injured, it’s the monsters’ blood… Bandage your feet yourself, I’m too tired.”
“I need to clean up.” Si Xu coughed and left, supporting herself on a chair.
Jiang Zhiyan quickly bandaged her feet, put on the shoes and clothes, and followed her.
Si Xu’s cleaning method was simple and crude. She took a cold shower next to the mop sink in the women’s restroom. Because the apocalypse had just begun, the water supply was still working. It was summer, so taking a cold shower wasn’t a problem for an evolved human.
Si Xu saw Jiang Zhiyan and froze for a second. Although they were both women, she still felt inexplicably embarrassed: “You can go out first.”
“Then call me when you’re getting dressed. Everywhere here is too dirty.”
Si Xu glanced at the clothes in the plastic bag Jiang Zhiyan was holding and was about to say “no need,” but her body reacted faster than her mind, and she nodded.
Jiang Zhiyan went out and stood at the door, listening to the sound of water inside.
Because the protagonists all had fragments of Xie Liaoyi’s consciousness, their appearances were almost identical to Xie Liaoyi’s. The only differences were in their demeanor, due to their different character settings and ages.
Jiang Zhiyan lowered her eyes slightly.
The system wanted to chat with Jiang Zhiyan but, seeing her physiological data fluctuate, closed its mouth. At a time like this… at a time like this! How could she be thinking about such things?
Si Xu called out from inside. Jiang Zhiyan lifted her head slightly, suppressing all emotions and desires that didn’t fit her character, and walked in, holding the clothes.
Because Si Xu was shy, Jiang Zhiyan didn’t look too much, just handed her the clothes and left, very considerate.
Si Xu breathed a sigh of relief but felt even more uncomfortable knowing that Jiang Zhiyan had noticed her reaction.
After she came out, Jiang Zhiyan gave her a sweet smile.
“Let’s go.” Si Xu said.
“Okay.” Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
“Are the shoes comfortable?” Si Xu asked.
“Very comfortable! Thank you, Senior, you’re so nice.” Jiang Zhiyan walked beside Si Xu, massaging her shoulders.
Si Xu smiled. Jiang Zhiyan brought a sense of peace from a more tranquil era, easing her tense mind.
This time, when Jiang Zhiyan reached for her hand, Si Xu didn’t refuse.
Reaching the first floor, Jiang Zhiyan was surprised to see the scattered alien corpses. Judging from Si Xu’s expression, she must have killed them all.
Si Xu’s growth was astonishing. A few hours ago, she was still running away, and now she could kill level one aliens. She didn’t know how Si Xu did it, but the cross-sections of the aliens’ limbs looked like they had been smashed and broken.
She pretended to be scared, clinging to Si Xu, but with a forced expression of bravery.
“Don’t look if you’re scared.” Si Xu covered her eyes.
Jiang Zhiyan shook her head, pulling Si Xu’s hand down: “I have to get used to it… I can’t always rely on Senior to save me.”
Seeing a level one alien wandering outside, Si Xu replicated the weapon she had used before – a crowbar.
“Where did she get that thing from?”
Si Xu replicated another one for Jiang Zhiyan: “Is it too heavy?”
“Senior, I’ve also evolved! It might have been a bit heavy before I evolved, but now, it’s nothing.” Jiang Zhiyan swung it a couple of times to prove her point. “See?”
Si Xu chuckled: “Sorry.”
The alien ran towards them at high speed. Si Xu smashed the crowbar on its head, then its chest.
“These things only die if you crush their hearts, the heart is located around where I hit. Take a look. If you can’t kill it, break its legs. It takes about ten minutes for them to regenerate.”
“Okay!” Jiang Zhiyan replied.
“So impressive, went out for a while and learned so much information.” The system sighed.
“My wife.”
System: …
Jiang Zhiyan controlled her strength, usually crushing the alien’s chest in two hits. The system watched Jiang Zhiyan’s control over her body and took a deep breath.
While fighting, Si Xu also kept an eye on Jiang Zhiyan, slightly surprised. Although Jiang Zhiyan’s hands were trembling, and her eyes were red, she was focused, her hits accurate. She wasn’t as strong as Si Xu, but every hit landed on the same spot.
They couldn’t waste too much time here, the aliens were endless.
After letting Jiang Zhiyan practice, the two started running towards the meeting point. Jiang Zhiyan originally wanted to keep the crowbar, but Si Xu told her to throw it away, she could replicate more later.
On the way, they encountered another person. Seeing Si Xu and Jiang Zhiyan, the person burst into tears. The unshaven university student in his early twenties looked like he was in his thirties. Jiang Zhiyan glanced at him then looked away.
“Ahhh, Senior, Senior! I finally found someone, I thought you had already arrived there. If it weren’t for your broadcast, I would have thought everyone was dead except me.”
“My name is Huang Le! I study mechanics!”
“Have you also evolved? What are your abilities?” He asked excitedly.
“I replicate objects.” Si Xu said. “She’s camouflage-type, what about you?”
“I control objects. Currently, I can only control inanimate things, and they can’t be too big.” He said as he controlled a rock on the ground to hit a nearby alien. “Hmm, that’s about the biggest I can control.”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at the fist-sized rock and didn’t know what to say. Well, they had just evolved, they were all newbies.
This person was clearly a chatterbox. Even while crying, his voice trembling, he showed no signs of shutting up.
“I think I should give myself a name, what do you think of Manipulator! Isn’t that awesome?”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at him: “How old are you?”
“Huh? Eighteen.”
Jiang Zhiyan stared at his face for a moment, then looked away. She and Si Xu exchanged glances, then laughed.
Huang Le: ?
“Stop talking, you’re attracting the aliens in the distance.”
Huang Le immediately shut his mouth.
After running for about three minutes, a girl came stumbling towards them. As she approached, she tripped over a corpse on the ground. She didn’t get up but crawled towards them on all fours, her speed not slowing down at all. It looked terrifying, like a zombie from a movie.
“Ah!” Jiang Zhiyan let out a short scream, only to find that Huang Le screamed even louder.
She glared at him disapprovingly. Huang Le didn’t notice and ran even faster. Si Xu conjured another crowbar, preparing to strike. This girl was much faster than the aliens.
“I’m human, I’m human!” The girl yelled, tears streaming down her face. She originally wanted to stand up and run, but this was faster. She caught up with them. “Si Xu, it’s me, Qian Rongrong!”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Qian Rongrong, a member of the protagonist group. Her ability was zoomorphism. When she reached the highest level, she could completely transform into five different animals and gain all their abilities, even communicate with the same species.
Her first form was a cheetah, perhaps because she thought of a cheetah when she was running.
But cheetahs seemed more suited for sprinting, and her current speed clearly wasn’t as fast as a cheetah’s, just slightly faster than a normal person. Perhaps she could be faster, but she didn’t dare go alone. After running for a while, she got up. She couldn’t maintain her ability for too long, and her hands hurt too much.
“Xu Xu, do you know how I survived this long?” Qian Rongrong asked loudly. “If it weren’t for my ability, I think I would have just killed myself.”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Si Xu, who noticed her downcast mood.
“We’ll talk when we get there, now is not the time for idle chatter. Loud noises will attract aliens from other areas.” Si Xu reminded her.
“Fine.” Qian Rongrong said, glancing at Jiang Zhiyan.
Jiang Zhiyan looked away. They were all part of the protagonist group, but Qian Rongrong’s ability seemed much stronger than hers.
“Host, you’re already powerful enough, if you get any more cheats, you’ll become OP, you’re already almost OP.” Besides, the system felt that Jiang Zhiyan could definitely find other uses for her ability.
They soon saw the activity center building, surrounded by a circle of aliens, howling, seemingly calling for their comrades.
They immediately changed direction, turned into the building next door, killed the aliens wandering inside, and locked the door.
Leave a Reply