Chapter 22: Stir-fried Water Spinach with Minced Garlic

Seeing an old acquaintance, Su Su felt a complex mix of emotions, but Lin Weiran’s feelings were even more complicated.

Her lips trembled slightly. "Why are you here?"

"Why shouldn't I be here?"

Compared to Lin Weiran’s disbelief, Su Su, after the initial shock, quickly regained her composure. She had long anticipated meeting them again. She had expected it to happen at the Southern Base, never thinking they would cross paths so prematurely in X City.

In her previous life, this encounter never happened. Si Zhe and Lin Weiran, fearing that X City would become another C City, had only stopped on the outskirts to scavenge for supplies before detouring further south.

In this life... Su Su’s gaze fell on Si Zhe. Perhaps an accident had occurred; the team was wounded and exhausted, and with the only medical kit left in her SUV, they had been forced to take the risk of entering X City to search for medical supplies.

It wasn't just Lin Weiran who was shocked; the other teammates were equally stunned, even doubting their own eyes.

"I thought you stayed in the town."

Su Su found this amusing. "Stayed in the town? Let’s be clear: you were the ones who dumped me in that town."

A teammate behind Lin Weiran, anxious to retrieve medicine, impatiently interrupted, "You were the one who made such a scene, insisting on breaking ties with us. We left as you wanted, and now you’re trying to shift the blame?"

"That’s enough, Weiran. Don't waste time arguing with her; it’s pointless. Let’s just grab the medicine and go!"

Thinking of her wounded teammates who desperately needed treatment, Lin Weiran’s voice turned icy. "Whether you chose to stay in the town or leave, it has nothing to do with us anymore. Move aside, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

Pang Cancan finally understood the situation from the sidelines: these were Sister Su Su’s enemies, a group of enemies trying to cut in line while acting incredibly self-righteous!

"Do you have any shame? I found this clinic, and Sister Su Su drew the zombies away. What right do you have to tell us to move?"

At this moment, Lin Weiran’s mind was entirely on the feverish, unconscious Si Zhe. No matter how reasonable the young girl’s words were, she could not abandon the resources within reach. When it came to ownerless goods, whoever had the bigger fist took them.

Flames dozens of centimeters high erupted from Lin Weiran’s palms, burning fiercely like a silent threat. She was a Tier 2 fire ability user, and the three large men standing behind her were also Tier 2. Their overwhelming pressure bore down on them mercilessly.

"Hey! Since when is having an ability something to brag about? As if we don't have them too!"

Seven or eight colorful, venomous insects flew out with a buzzing sound. Up close, one could clearly see their long, curved, needle-like mouthparts, sharp as sawteeth. Since their owner had reached Tier 2, these insects had grown to the size of ping-pong balls, looking even more terrifying.

Pang Cancan beckoned smugly, and one of the insects landed obediently on her palm. "These insects—if they pierce your skin, you’ll drop dead on the spot, and no amount of saving will help. I’m Tier 2, and you’re Tier 2. Unless you’re confident you can kill all my insects in one go, if even one slips through, one of you is going to die randomly!"

The faces of the people opposite turned ghastly. These insects were not like humans; they were agile and lightning-fast. A moment of distraction could mean a fatal bite. They hadn't expected to run into such tough opponents here!

Lin Weiran’s face cycled through shades of green and white. She turned her head instinctively, and the moment her eyes met Si Zhe’s, her anxiety overcame everything else.

"Fine! I want to see if these bugs fly faster or if my fire burns fiercer!"

The flames surged, expanding rapidly to both sides like a compass in a geometry teacher's hand. In the blink of an eye, a circle of fire was drawn, surrounding Su Su and Pang Cancan.

Before the insects could fly up, the surrounding walls of fire bent into an arc, forming a completely airtight sphere of fire. To escape, the insects would have to break through this encirclement, and even if they survived, they would suffer heavy losses. Not to mention, there were three other Tier 2 ability users outside... relying solely on these newly upgraded insects, it would be a pyrrhic victory at best.

"Damn, what a vicious trick!" Pang Cancan yelled. "Are you trying to suffocate us to death?"

Under the scorching heat of the flames, the temperature of Su Su's cheeks rose, and a flush appeared on her face. The fire sphere was small; oxygen was depleting rapidly, and breathing was becoming difficult.

*Rip.*

Before Su Su could move, a sinister snake head pushed open the zipper with agitation.

"Little Black? Do you have a way to fix this?"

Beads of sweat from Su Su’s forehead slid down to her chin, and as she turned her neck, they dripped onto the python’s head.

"Hiss!"

The black snake climbed onto the ground with the droplet of sweat on its head, circled the fire wall once, and it evaporated completely. For some reason, Su Su believed from the bottom of her heart—Little Black had a way to solve this predicament.

Sure enough, it stopped at a certain point, opened its mouth, and a massive burst of blue flame surged out, forcefully scattering the orange-red fire wall and breaking an opening with ease.

"Holy—!!!"

Pang Cancan’s eyes widened. Before she could recover from the shock, she immediately waved her hand, letting the insects slip through the gap. They had been gasping for air, but upon hitting fresh air, they regained their spirit and swarmed out from inside the fire ball.

That wasn't all. With its lower body coiled on the ground and its upper body reared high, the black snake scattered the 360-degree wall of fire in one go. Residual sparks splashed in all directions, landing precisely on the group who were still busy rummaging for medicine.

*Buzz, buzz, buzz.*

Before they could brush off the sparks, the sound of the insects' wings was already right upon them.

"Bugs! The venomous bugs are out!"

"Weiran, what is happening?!"

The moment the fire wall was completely dispersed, Lin Weiran was also knocked to the ground. When she stood up again, all she saw was the python coiled at Su Su’s feet!

Was it a hallucination? She closed her eyes instinctively, and when she opened them again, the black python that should only exist in tropical rainforests was staring at her coldly... In broad daylight, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Lin Weiran’s back.

Where did this python come from? Why was it coiled at Su Su’s feet? Why wasn't it biting her?

Seeming to notice her distraction, two insects flew straight at her, aiming for her face—the only part of her skin exposed. If they touched her skin, she would surely be flayed alive.

Lin Weiran retreated in a panic, instinctively throwing a few fireballs. Unfortunately, she was only Tier 2, and the temperature and lethality of her flames were insufficient to kill insects controlled by another Tier 2 ability user in a single strike.

Forced all the way out to the entrance, Lin Weiran finally managed to burn the two persistent insects to death. The others were no exception; they were forced to stop their looting and focus on resolving the lethal threat before them.

In an instant, the situation turned one-sided.

Su Su felt at ease. She crouched down and stroked the black snake. "Little Black, guard them for me. I’m going to get the medicine."

"Hiss~"

The black snake didn't respond, but looking at its posture, it had clearly locked onto every human present. Su Su finally set her mind at ease.

The clinic’s medicine cabinet had been thoroughly picked over, and the remaining supplies were sitting on the counter, not yet packed away. This worked in Su Su’s favor. Without a moment’s hesitation, she swept all the medicine into her backpack, instantly filling the empty storage space.

"That’s our medicine! Put it down!"

A teammate, eyes bloodshot with rage, didn't even care about the insects. He flicked his palm, and a wind blade appeared out of thin air, aimed precisely at the back of Su Su’s neck. Given the force behind it, had she been caught unprepared, the result would have been decapitation.

"Sister Su Su! Watch out!"

Su Su turned instinctively; her pupils constricted, clearly reflecting the rapidly enlarging wind blade. Her brain didn't have time to think, but her body reacted first, dodging the strike.

The wind blade missed Su Su’s neck and the medicine cabinet, only to be knocked away in mid-air by a blade of blue flame.

"HISS!!!"

The black snake was furious. Someone had actually tried to kill the human it was looking after!

The black snake possessed instincts for hunting and aggression far beyond that of humans. Almost instantly, it mimicked the human’s wind blade, using the same method to deflect the attack aimed at its servant.

"An ability? The snake has an ability!"

The teammate who witnessed this stood frozen, his fingers trembling in fear. The black snake, still not satisfied, opened its mouth and spat out large masses of blue flames. They rose and converged from left and right, like two giant palms, enveloping all the teammates except for Lin Weiran.

This move was so familiar! It was almost a carbon copy of Lin Weiran’s fireball!

Screams rang out one after another. The trapped ability users were far less composed than Su Su and Pang Cancan had been.

"Weiran! Save us!"

"Damn it! The temperature of these flames is too high; we can’t get out!"

Lin Weiran stared in shock at everything unfolding before her, her gaze shifting back and forth between the python and Su Su. It was no longer rare for a python to have an ability, but what was rare was... if she wasn't mistaken, its ability had already reached Tier 3! Aside from the unconscious Si Zhe, no one present was a match for it!

Even the large blue fireball it had replicated was something she, the creator, could not break through. Thinking of Si Zhe, who was being carried by a teammate and was also trapped in the fireball, Lin Weiran was forced to soften her stance. She bit her lip and looked at Su Su.

"Is this your pet?"

Hearing the word "pet," the black snake hissed threateningly and glided a distance closer to Lin Weiran.

"Little Black!" Su Su hugged the massive python in time and coaxed it in a low voice, "Don't listen to her. You aren't my pet; you are my best partner."

Lin Weiran imperceptibly pulled back the step she had almost taken. A spark of realization flashed through her mind. She suddenly understood, and the look she gave Su Su became even more complex. "Wu Zhi’s death wasn't an accident at all. You ordered this snake to bite him to death."

It had only been a week or two since that happened, but to the current Su Su, it felt like a lifetime ago.