CH 8

Chapter 8: The contradiction deepens

Chi Xin nodded at Xiao Li and left with the hero in his daze. This child, with how young he was, seemed a little dumb.

Cao Qing stood there and looked at their backs bitterly, resentment overflowing his eyes. Xiao Li reluctantly watched Chi Xin leave, turned to the man who was still holding his waist and leaning on the table, and couldn’t help but ask with some confusion: “Aren’t you leaving?”

Xiao Li wasn’t old, perhaps 18 or 19 years old. Once he took off the camo uniform and put on an ordinary t-shirt, he looked even younger. He had an innocent expression and his question sounded very genuine. Cao Qing’s face became stiff; he straightened up despite the pain and limped away.

Xiao Li put away his immature expression and snorted.

Chi Xin followed the protagonist group to a room. There were many of them that weren’t inhabited in the base, which had been abandoned after the outbreak. Jing Xiubai opened one at random; it seemed that the original owner had been a basketball lover and the entire room was decorated in famous players’ posters. Chi Xin walked over to take a look, touching the furniture with the tip of her fingers. Everything was so real.

Jing Xiubai’s voice sounded behind her: “You just followed us like that, aren’t you afraid of what I will do to you?” His tone was cold, “After all, after what you did, you can’t have a clear conscience.”

Chi Xin turned around and looked at the three protagonists. They all had different expressions and she picked the easiest answer: “I’m not afraid.”

She then added: “Watch what you say, there… are girls.”

Right now, the hero and the heroine’s feelings were not clear and as she thought about it, she swallowed the word “your” in her sentence.

Yu Xiang laughed: “Chi Xin, ah, you are so confusing now.”

Yu Xiang was the least hostile of the three. Not only was he more tolerant towards her because she had saved him in the past, but after she had saved the entire base, his negative thoughts had been forgotten. 

Chi Xin might have been confusing but her meaning was self-explanatory. Jing Xiubai choked for a second and his indifferent expression faded. He pushed back his glasses and said, a little helpless: “I just think you are no longer unreasonable.”

It was Chi Xin’s turn to be perplexed: if you don’t mean it, why say such misleading words!

Once the atmosphere eased, Jiang Congyun pursed her lips and whispered: “Nothing else matters but that pendant is very important to me. Chi Xin, can you give it back to me?”

After her words fell, the barely-there joy in the room disappeared instantly. The pendant was what Jiang Congyun cared the most about and the real thorn between Chi Xin and the protagonist group. Yu Xiang stopped smiling and Jing Xiubai’s eyes became serious once more; all three of them stared at Chi Xin.

But Chi Xin was also helpless. She had studied the space during these past three days but the jade pendant had melted in her body and she hadn’t found a way to give it back. 

After Chi Xin left, the other two looked at Jing Xiubai.

“What should we do?” Yu Xiang asked.

“It looks like my pendant really cannot be retrieved.” Jiang Congyun sighed with a certain gloominess between her gentle brows.

“Let’s keep observing.” Jing Xiubai said, “I feel she is hiding something else but if she doesn’t want to share, I am afraid no one can force her.”

Yu Xiang’s spirits suddenly came back: “Speaking of, what level is your ability at now? And if you were to be the one going against the high-level zombie before, what would have been your chances of winning?”

***

Chi Xin went out of the base in depression and the scorching heat of the sun made her feel even more annoyed. She hadn’t expected to mess up the first step as soon as she came out.

She picked up her pace and wandered around the base, hoping to find some minor troubles to raise her value up. However, before she could get far, Yu Xiang caught up with her.

“Hey.”

He had a bright smile on his face and started to walk by her side.

“Where are you going?”

Chi Xin couldn’t figure out what he wanted and cautiously answered: “Wandering.”

“You didn’t use to be so shy with words.”

Chi Xin didn’t know how to respond to that and replied with a cold face: “Oh.”

She was so uncooperative, Yu Xiang couldn’t continue the conversation; he shrugged and closed his mouth.

At the same time, a child rushed past them and Chi Xin avoided him carefully. Unfortunately, she did not pay attention to the man beside her and accidentally stepped on his foot.

“Sorry.” She blurted out then froze for a moment. The system prompted in her head: [+0.1 trouble value]

Oh, so stepping on the second male lead could actually get her the same amount of points as killing an ordinary zombie… Chi Xin stared at Yu Xiang and the man touched his head in confusion, wondering if something was wrong with his face. However, after weighing the importance of offending one of the protagonists or getting the trouble value, Chi Xin decided to abandon this idea with regret.

She worked hard for one day, always followed by Yu Xiang. Chi Xin constantly committed petty crimes, such as accidentally stepping on flowers or drinking from other people’s cups. Yu Xiang scratched his head, not expecting that despite having witnessed Chi Xin’s fighting power, she was still the same distracted girl as before.

When she “accidentally” stepped on someone’s shoe again, the current victim was not as good-tempered as the ones before. He obviously recognized Chi Xin and didn’t dare to confront her so blatantly, but the resentment in his eyes was far beyond the anger of being stepped on. Chi Xin swallowed back her apology when her defense instinct kicked in and her expression turned cold.

Yu Xiang’s face stiffened but kept on a smile as he apologized and pushed her away.

“The attitude towards you in the base is not quite uniform at the moment.” Yi Xiang whispered, “One group regards you as their savior and hero and another believes you are a sinner and not worthy of your merits. You have to be careful.”

“Oh.”

Yu Xiang: “Could you be just a little more concerned about your own life?”

Chi Xin thought about it seriously and looked at him with her big eyes: “But they are no danger to my life.”

Yu Xiang wanted to hold his forehead and almost gritted his teeth: “Have you ever heard the saying that it is difficult to guard against hidden enemies? Knowing you are so powerful now, who would be stupid enough to face you upfront?” He muttered angrily, “If not for you saving me before, I wouldn’t bother reminding you.”

Chi Xin’s face froze, this misunderstanding was also a big problem…

Seeing she ignored him and sullenly walked, Yu Xiang chased after her again and said with a strange expression: “You used to remind me of saving my life 800 times a day but suddenly you don’t seem to care about it so much.”

The original Chi Xin would mention it because it had been the only reason she had been able to stay with the protagonist group. Chi Xin really wished he had forgotten about it altogether, why would he take the initiative to mention it? She kept ignoring him as he followed and seriously caused trouble all day.

Unfortunately, her daily harvest was cleared out after one night of sleep.

Chi Xin: … I will kill the system!

She bounced off the bed all of sudden, quickly washed, and went out the door with a gloomy expression. This time, she would no longer waste time on trivial things and she headed straight to the mission exchange; this was the place where outside teams were arranged to go out and gather supplies and where they handed the items once they were back.