Chapter 58: The Pretty Older Sister

Su Li responded, “There are all kinds of people in this world. Of course, this is all just speculation, and I don’t know the exact truth. But if this possibility is real, then we’re in trouble. I was planning for us to take the raft to the Purple Wind Building together, but if my guess is correct, wouldn’t we be walking straight into a trap?”

“Wait,” Ding Longyun suddenly cocked his head and looked at Xu Xuehui, having thought of a strange detail. “These three guys seemed to want to kill us, but they didn’t seem to want to kill the little girl. Why is that?”

Su Li speculated, “I don’t know. Maybe because she’s a child and poses no threat, so they didn’t want to strike her down. Or perhaps they need children for some reason, and she has some value to them.”

The greatest possibility, of course, was that Xu Xuehui was a girl, but Su Li didn’t voice that thought.

“Su Li, have you thought about this? If your guess is correct, the Purple Wind Building is currently occupied by a formidable group. And now Ni Jianrong has escaped. We killed two of his companions. Will he bring people back to seek revenge?”

“It’s highly probable,” Su Li said. “That was the implication when he fled, and that tone is precisely why I believe my suspicion has some merit.”

“What do we do then? Should we try to escape from here as soon as possible?” Although Ding Longyun hated Ni Jianrong’s guts, he also understood that the three of them couldn’t contend with a potentially large organized group.

Su Li replied, “Apart from the Purple Wind Building, there’s no better place than here in this entire area. Where can we run to? Besides, it won’t be easy for Ni Jianrong to swim all the way back alive, let alone bring people back to hunt us down for revenge. The Purple Wind Building isn’t exactly close to here.”

Ding Longyun also frowned. He had collected a lot of supplies over the past few days, all piled up in the apartment. Even if they wanted to flee, packing up all those resources would be a problem.

“Should we just do nothing? If they really come with a group of people, we’ll be in serious trouble.”

Su Li mused, “Whether or not they truly come for revenge, we need to prepare. The water surrounding us, while being a huge problem, also offers an advantage: it makes escaping easy.”

He recalled how Ni Jianrong fled. The moment he jumped into the water, Su Li felt reluctant to pursue him.

Fighting in the water is completely different from fighting on land. No one could guarantee they could kill an opponent in the water. Pursuing him recklessly would be too dangerous.

Ding Longyun’s eyes lit up. “I understand what you mean. We can stay here, but watch the situation. If no one comes for revenge, that’s great. But if they do, even if we can’t defeat them, we can jump into the water, and they won’t be able to catch us.”

Su Li added, “That’s one part. The second is that Xuehui and I need to practice our swimming skills. Your swimming ability is clearly fine, but I’m lacking. Furthermore, I want to advance another level. We need to strengthen our own personal power. If we are strong enough, there’s no need to be afraid.”

He currently had 11 Spiritual Sources and needed 19 more to reach Level 4. This wasn’t an impossible amount; given enough monsters, he could break through at any time.

Ding Longyun said, “I need a lot more Spiritual Sources now. Breaking through again will be difficult.”

“Only four days have passed since the flood appeared. I estimate the gap in everyone’s strength isn’t huge. The only advantage the Purple Wind Building has is its large numbers. We can prepare a few contingencies. We have an extra raft now. We can place one raft in the direction opposite the Purple Wind Building and load some essential supplies onto it. If a large number of people truly come, we can simply take the raft and leave beforehand. Since Xuehui’s eyesight is so good, she can spot them from far away. We can then decide whether to stay and fight or leave, depending on the situation.”

Hearing Su Li’s suggestion, Ding Longyun’s eyes shone. “That’s a great idea! Kid, you’ll have to work hard then. Keep watching that direction, and if anything looks wrong, tell us immediately.”

Xu Xuehui felt needed. Her spirits lifted, and her eyes brightened. She nodded vigorously, indicating she understood, and immediately began scanning the distance.

“They’re coming.”

Xu Xuehui suddenly looked far into the distance and called out.

“They’re coming already?” Ding Longyun was shocked. Had Ni Jianrong just escaped and already returned to the Purple Wind Building to bring back reinforcements?

Ding Longyun looked tense as he asked, “How many people are coming?”

“One,” Xu Xuehui replied, looking intently. Her eyebrows raised slightly.

Su Li’s expression changed. “One person?”

Ding Longyun widened his eyes. “You’re not saying that’s Ni Jianrong, are you? He came back alone? But the direction is all wrong. That doesn’t look like the direction of the Purple Wind Building; it’s too far off.”

Su Li vaguely understood. He said, “Xuehui, are you saying there’s one person in that direction? Is it Ni Jianrong, or someone else? Besides this person, is there anything else? Like food or supplies?”

“No. It’s an older sister. Very pretty. She has supplies, but not a lot.”

Hearing Xu Xuehui’s concise and efficient answers, Su Li let out a long “Oh.” He now understood.

The person who suddenly appeared had nothing to do with the escaping Ni Jianrong or the Purple Wind Building. She was likely a survivor from another area, traveling alone on a raft, just like he had earlier, searching for other survivors and a place to live.

Ding Longyun’s eyes lit up. “A very pretty older sister? You didn’t misread that, did you? This shouldn’t be the group from the Purple Wind Building coming for revenge.”

Su Li looked at him and said, “Brother Ding, have you forgotten the painful lesson we just learned? Just because they’re other survivors doesn’t mean they’re good people.”

Ding Longyun chuckled. “Didn’t the girl say it’s a pretty older sister? Pretty girls usually aren’t bad people, and besides, she’s just one person. Do we really have to be afraid of her?”

Su Li was speechless by his logic. At this point, both he and Ding Longyun could finally faintly see a blurry dark shadow in the distance.

The dark shadow continuously sharpened and grew clearer, heading right for their location.

In this body of water, the three-story building exposed above the surface was quite eye-catching. It was no surprise that it attracted survivors to come here.

As the distance between the two groups closed, Su Li could finally clearly see the figure on the water in the distance.

It was the “pretty older sister” Xu Xuehui spoke of.

The first thing that surprised Su Li and Ding Longyun wasn’t how pretty the woman was, but that she wasn’t using the makeshift wooden raft they had assumed she would be on. Instead, she was on an orange kayak.

The kayak was small, barely big enough for three or four people. A woman was sitting inside, paddling furiously. The kayak moved very quickly, heading straight toward them.

(End of Chapter)