CH 14

Chapter 14: Practice marksmanship

For a few minutes, only the sound of the car, the ragged breathing of the men, and the subtle tremble of nerves were heard.

“We… came out alive?” Yu Pengcheng asked in a trance, his voice shaking.

“Yes, we made it out alive.” Yu Xiang slapped his thigh abruptly and shouted, “Who assigned us this broken mission? I think I have a few words to tell them.”

Jing Xiubai didn’t complain but his lips were drawn in a straight line. From the corner of his eyes, he glanced at Chi Xin: “How are you?”

Hearing him ask her this question, the mood in the car suddenly calmed down.

“Sister Chi, thank you for saving us this time.” Yu Pengcheng’s reverence was no longer enough to be contained on his face and he clenched his uninjured fist, “You really, really…”

His brain was drawing a blank, unable to find the words to describe her.

“Sister Chi, I also recognize you as Sister Chi!” Chen Xing laughed weakly but his voice was full of gratitude and fear of having almost died, “Thank you.”

Rong Feng held his ribs in silence but both of his eyes were riveted on Chi Xin and never moved.

“Sister Chi.” Yu Xiang followed somewhat seriously, “There is something I want to say but I am too embarrassed to do so here.”

“You’re not going to confess, are you? Then we don’t agree!” Chen Xing joked.

“Even if I do, you can’t answer for her!” Yu Xiang glared at him in dissatisfaction and smiled again as he faced Chi Xin, “Right?”

Chi Xin was lying on the back of her seat, watching them, and she rolled her eyes when she heard him: “Speak fast.”

As soon as she answered, the slightly solemn atmosphere in the car immediately relaxed.

“Young master Xiang, it seems like you are not so invincible.” Chen Xing grinned.

Rong Feng’s sharp gaze retracted and Yu Pengcheng breathed a sigh of relief. Even Jing Xiubai loosened his hands that were holding the steering wheel tightly.

Yu Xiang looked at Chi Xin with a complicated expression but decided to keep his thoughts to himself. She obviously had a portable space on her, did she really need help to move? Chi Xin smiled, ignored him, and looked back at the road.

The space was not hers and sooner or later, she would find a way to return it to the heroine. In this apocalyptic world, it would be nice to have someone carry things for her and it was good to find a volunteer in advance. She was so full of thoughts on how to survive this cruel world, she did not carefully consider what deeper meaning Yu Xiang’s words had. To put it simply, even if she heard something, she would only choose to ignore it. The relationship between her and these plot characters was like a cold partnership; she needed to rely on them to walk the plot and nothing more.

After a while, Chi Xin turned back around and said: “Yu Xiang.”

The man, who was quarreling back and forth with the wounded in the back, immediately sat upright: “Yes!”

***

Although everyone had come back in a miserable state, the harvest of this mission was visible to the naked eye. Cao Yan, the leader of the base, specially gave the team special privileges and told them to select materials from what they had gathered.

Chi Xin casually picked up some ammunition for her Desert Eagle. She and the protagonists knew that the better of today’s results had ended up in her space and the rest was not worth fighting over. However, in the eyes of those secretly observing this scene, they all responded in awe to Chi Xin’s indifference to fame and fortune. In the last days, everything might be what would save them from death and she just had handed all the supplies casually like it didn’t matter to her.

Cao Yan’s grateful words went in and out of Chi Xin’s ears; she was already distractingly organizing her messy space and as she flipped through it, she stilled.

She forgot to find detergent! What was she going to do with all this blood!

Cao Yan stared at her cold expression and thoughts he had said something wrong. Chi Xin had conquered one of their best teams in one trip, including Jing Xiubai; any dangerous mission in the future would require her and he did not dare to offend her.

“None of your business.” Chi Xin had a heavy heart and was wondering where to find soap.

Cao Yan became nervous and looked at Jing Xiubai who was standing not far away, a cry for help in his gaze. The hero had been looking at their side and after answering Jiang Congyun’s concerns, he walked to them. Seeing the blood-covered Chi Xin, Jing Xiubai said: “If you want to go back to freshen up, go. There is nothing more to do here.”

Chi Xin silently shifted her gaze to him. Outside of the battle, she looked like a small trapped deer, her eyes pure and innocent. Somehow, Jing Xiubai’s heart suddenly became happy and he tentatively asked: “Do you not have any toiletries?”

***

Chi Xin’s most lucrative gain after this mission was not the food nor the guns in her space but the 89 trouble value. With these points, she could stay in the base and try to fix the relationship with the protagonist group without having to go seek death outside for the time being.

But she was not idle.

When L City had built the base, it had deliberately included the shooting range of the original urban area. Because most people were ordinary citizens, even if they were given guns, they didn’t know how to use them and needed a place to train.

After the terrible zombie siege, there were twice as many people going to practice and Chi Xin got up early and rushed there before the crowd would arrive. There were only a few people already present and when they saw her come in, they put down the guns in their hands and saluted Chi Xin in awe.

After the team had come back from the last mission, the news of her killing another high-level zombie had quickly spread. Nowadays, nobody could look at her with normal expression anymore and the voices of opposition had almost entirely disappeared.

Chi Xin silently and solemnly walked to the corner she used for training every day. Since she had taken this spot, nobody dared to use it lately.

The other people in the shooting range didn’t understand why the Goddess would miss the target every time she fired. But after watching her practice with a cold expression on her face and never hit the bullseye, they suddenly realized—

It seemed that she was too bored during her rest time and she had come to the shooting range to have fun! And at once, their gazes held even more worship.

After this downed on them, nobody was surprised anymore with her empty target but kept observing her. Chi Xin ignored those eyes, took a deep breath, glared at the bullseye, and raised her gun again.

“You are not standing firmly enough, you are not putting your body weight on your two feet so your trajectory always deviates. Of course, if it was your intention, just ignore me.”

Chi Xin’s hand holding the gun stiffened, and she looked behind her. Jing Xiubai stood not far away, his arms crossed on his chest, and the eyes behind his glasses were looking at her gently.

“I went to your room to look for you but you weren’t there. I guessed you should be here instead.”