58 Previous Encounter

Accessing the system, he exchanged for three plastic bags of food and water. Inside were basic supplies such as bottles of water, crackers, bread and canned food. It should last the three of them a week if rationed well.

When he handed them the bags, their eyes glimmered with joy and hope. Although these supplies were a godsend to them, to Long Yu, it wasn't even worth mentioning. Just by trading anybroken vehicles on the road to the system, he could easily produce tens of these bags.

'Would I have become like them if I did not possess the system… struggling day by day just to survive…' Long Yu thought to himself as he saw the look of joy on their faces.

As the three of them happily walked towards the lobby's lounge area with their supplies, Long Yu suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, Miss Li, do you mind coming with me for a moment?" he called out to the girl who was taking a bottled water out of her bag.

Li Xue Lan froze in surprise when she heard him. She dropped the bottle of water back into her bag and slowly turned her head towards Long Yu. Then, she pointed at herself with a confused expression.

'Wait, why did he call my name? Have we met before in the past? Did I accidentally offend him in someway?' Her mind raced as she tried to suppress the fear from showing on her face.

"Yes, you, Miss Li. I would like to ask you some questions," Long Yu nodded his head and said.

Behind her, manager Zhang quickly pulled Wei Ying and took a sit on the lounge sofa, acting as if it was none of their business. He was afraid Long Yu would change his mind and take back their supplies.

"What do you think he wants with Xue Lan?" Wei Ying whispered to him.

"Hehe, what other reason could there be?" the plump man gave her a lecherous look as he stuffed his face with a bun.

Long Yu gestured for Li Xue Lan to enter the RV as he wanted to have a chat with her privately. The girl had no choice but to brace herself as she hesitantly walked towards him.

As she passed him, entering the vehicle, she could smell the fragrance of shampoo from his body. This made her subconsciously take a whiff of her own body, afraid that she stank. After all, it had been several days since she actually took a shower. Long Yu chuckled inwardly when he noticed her silly yet adorable action.

Another wave of dizzying aroma hit her, as Li Xue Lan stood inside the RV. The fragrance of cooked mutant meat was too irresistible for a survivor like her, causing her to gulp.

"Oh? Big brother, who is this big sister?" a little girl's voice attracted her attention. She had been distracted by the smell of the food without realising that Xixi was seating nearby.

"This…is?" Li Xue Lan could not help but ask. She did not expect to see someone else in the RV.

When Long Yu had saved them this afternoon, she assumed that he was alone. Since Xixi is short, it was natural that she did not manage to catch a glimpse of the little girl in the car from afar.

"She's my little sister," Long Yu patted Xixi's head as he replied, but did not introduce her further.

The little one was already digging into her food without caring for manners. Long Yu felt it would be awkward if it was just the both of them eating, so he decided to invite Li Xue Lan to dinner as well. Looking at her build, she probably doesn't eat much anyway.

"Put your bag to the side and have a seat. You can join us for dinner," he gestured towards a seat at the table. He then went to the kitchen to get another plate for her.

Seeing that the girl still did not move, he could only use a more forceful approach.

"Please sit, Miss Li. I have some very important questions to ask you," he said in a slightly stern voice.

Long Yu naturally didn't invite her into the RV just to get to know her. His intention was to confirm his conjectures on the redwood vampire plant.

Ever since they returned from the scouting, a plan had been forming in his mind on how he could kill the mutated plant. If he managed to extract the right information from Li Xue Lan, it would further solidify his plan.

After seeing Long Yu's serious expression, the babyfaced girl finally complied and sat down.

"So, Miss Li, I assume you had encountered the vampire tree before?" he got straight to the point.

"Yes sir, my group did," a hint of fear reflected in her eyes as she recalled the experience.

"There's no need to be so formal. Just Long Yu will do," his tone softened. "Can you describe to me what happened?"

Li Xue Lan then started to recount her experience on how their group decided to go around the vampire tree to leave the city.

After combining with the nearby survivors, they had around 20 people in their group. The leader, an ability user, naturally had confidence in his strength. However, he was also not rash enough to directly approach the giant tree.

The leader forced an old survivor in the group to advance towards the vampire tree and test for dangers. Under the threat of the leader, the survivor could only helplessly do as he said.

Initially, the survivor had safely made it to the tree. They did not notice any reaction from it even when the survivor was touching the trunk.

"Everyone including me, thought it was safe and started to go over to the survivor as well. However, I suddenly felt a strong sense of danger from the tree." Li Xue Lan said.

Long Yu's interest was piqued at this point. 'To be able to sense danger… has this girl awakened an ability as well?' he mused in his mind while listening to her.

"It was as if it had just awakened from its slumber. Even though I shouted to my group to quickly retreat, no one listened to me. They followed the leader and tried to climb over the exposed tree roots. By that time, the sense of danger I felt was almost suffocating. So, I could only pull Wei Ying and run away from the tree as quickly as possible. Somehow, manager Zhang also came along with us."