Time ticked by, and Su Ling's physical exhaustion slowly recovered.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jiang's suffering seemed to be lessening. At least, he no longer appeared as pained.
And indeed, this was the case. When Jiang Jiang realized the torment that made him wish he were dead had vanished, his pain subsided.
Lowering the hand that covered his face, Jiang Jiang, drenched in sweat, looked up.
He saw Su Ling leaning against a Tang sword, looking at him coldly.
Su Ling observed the recovering Jiang Jiang and noticed he had truly evolved.
His mutated eye had undergone subtle changes.
Previously, his eyeball protruded, and the whites dominated his entire eye socket. Now, it seemed to have receded slightly, and the whites were less conspicuous. Most importantly, the insect-like fissures on his face had become smaller and finer.
Jiang Jiang, confirming he was fine, quickly picked up his mask and put it on.
He was actually afraid that Gu Shangse and the others would see him like this and distance themselves from him.
Su Ling was the only one who didn't treat his mutation as monstrous, but that didn't mean others wouldn't.
With his mask in place, Jiang Jiang immediately stood up from the ground. He glanced at the pile of zombie corpses, then looked at Su Ling, his head bowed as if he had done something wrong, "Sister, Brother, I'm sorry for causing trouble."
If it weren't for his scream, these zombies wouldn't have been attracted.
Without the zombies, Sister and the others wouldn't have had to fight them while already exhausted.
Gu Shangse was still focused on performing craniotomies on the zombies to extract their crystal cores and didn't hear Jiang Jiang's apology.
Fatty and Skinny, after a brief rest, had recovered. Hearing Jiang Jiang, they waved their hands dismissively.
Su Ling looked at the apologizing Jiang Jiang, thinking to herself, why did this young boy seem increasingly delicate, like a young girl?
Was it her imagination?
Without dwelling on it, Su Ling, having worked all morning, was tired and hungry, wanting only to eat and rest.
She pulled off her raincoat and threw it to Jiang Jiang, her voice extremely cold, "Put it on."
Since it was related to this downpour, covering himself should suffice.
Jiang Jiang looked at the raincoat in his arms, then at Su Ling. It was impossible not to be moved.
He was about to refuse and return the raincoat to Su Ling, but Su Ling's cold voice cut in, "I don't want to hear you call out a second time."
Having said that, Su Ling looked towards Gu Shangse, who had finished collecting crystal cores and was walking towards her with a bulging bag.
Gu Shangse stopped in front of Su Ling, handing her his raincoat and the bulging bag of crystal cores.
Then, he grabbed the supply bag from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and led the way out of the building, into the downpour.
Su Ling and the others didn't linger, quickly putting on their raincoats and following.
Jiang Jiang was still a bit scared after coming out, but thinking that he was wearing a raincoat, he could only brace himself and rush into the downpour.
To prevent himself from crying out, he bit his hand hard.
Only when he realized he wouldn't cry out did he release his hand and quickly catch up to Su Ling and the others.
As Su Ling and the others returned laden with supplies, Xu Lin, Li Yunlong, and the injured Zhang Miaomiao had prepared lunch for them.
Although Zhang Miaomiao's hand was injured, she hadn't been idle. After this ordeal, she had become more resolute. She would try her best to do anything she could, rather than being lazy because of her injury.
She also felt sorry for Li Yunlong, feeling he had sacrificed too much for her.
They welcomed Jiang Jiang, whom Su Ling and the others brought back, to join them, treating him as an additional younger brother.
After all, Jiang Jiang was only nineteen, making him truly a younger brother figure among their group.
This meal was the first Jiang Jiang had eaten since the apocalypse. Holding a bowl of steaming hot rice, he was moved to tears.
With one side of his face hidden by the mask, his crying as he held the rice was eerie and awkward, yet held a hint of cuteness.