Since they had already decided to head for the H City base in a few days, supplies and water for the journey were indispensable.

On top of that, seasonal changes after the apocalypse seemed far more extreme than before. It was only early summer, yet the heat already rivalled peak midsummer. One could only imagine how unbearable true summer would be. Because of this, the group decided to split up—one team to gather food and water, the other to collect other essential supplies.

Splitting into two teams meant their overall strength would be halved, so the assignments had to be made carefully, based on combat ability.

At present, Luo Beiyao, Su Mu, and Wu Keke ranked among the strongest in the group, so the three of them had to be separated to lead different teams.

Luo Beiyao, Lu Shuangshuang, Xu Qingru, Su Wanmei, and Deng Qinghuai formed one team.

Su Mu, Wu Keke, Fang Yihan, Fang Yiyang, and Jiang Sheng formed the other.

Su Mu quietly watched as the teams were arranged. He frowned slightly.

“Can I be on the same team as my mom?”

He wanted Su Wanmei to learn how to protect herself in the apocalypse, but if she wasn’t nearby, he couldn’t feel at ease. After all, he was her son. No matter how attentive Luo Beiyao was, he couldn’t compare to her own child.

Luo Beiyao gave him a flat look. 

“Then who are you swapping with?”

Without hesitation, Su Mu pointed at Jiang Sheng, who had been standing obediently to the side. “I’ll trade him for my mom.”

Jiang Sheng: “……”

Once he processed that, he nearly rushed forward to hug Su Mu’s leg—but one glance at Luo Beiyao’s icy gaze made him retreat instinctively. 

Swallowing hard, he said with a miserable expression, “Master Su, can you not trade me? I can hide life signatures, I—”

He trailed off, hesitating. After a long pause, seeing everyone’s attention on him, he finally seemed to make up his mind. He leaned closer to Su Mu and whispered something into his ear.

The others only saw Su Mu’s brow crease slightly before he followed Jiang Sheng into the kitchen.

In the apocalypse, everyone had their own secrets. Close companions sometimes shared things privately, and no one found that strange.

But just because the others didn’t care didn’t mean Luo Beiyao didn’t.

His senses were sharp. Even though Jiang Sheng deliberately lowered his voice, Luo Beiyao still caught what he said.

“Master Su… about my ability. I’ll tell you everything I’ve been hiding. Just let me stay with you from now on, okay? I’m handy. I swear.”

Luo Beiyao sat upright on the sofa, expression calm. His long fingers slowly curled against the tabletop. His phoenix eyes seemed unfocused—yet unseen by anyone, he released a thread of spiritual sense and attached it to the back of Su Mu’s ear.

Through that connection, every word exchanged in the kitchen flowed clearly into his hearing.

Jiang Sheng sounded nervous, even desperate.

“I’ll be honest with you. My ability isn’t just hiding my presence. It’s… related to life.”

There was a brief silence before Su Mu’s level voice replied, “What does it do?”

“At first, I could only suppress my own aura—or other people’s,” Jiang Sheng said. “But after absorbing crystal cores for a few days, I realised I could… siphon life.”

Su Mu: “…Siphon life?”

“On the third day after absorbing cores,” Jiang Sheng continued, “I could see a long red bar above everyone’s head—like a health bar in a game. Once, when I bumped into Wu Keke, I felt something flow into me from where I touched her. Then I saw her bar drop a little.”

Su Mu: “… You’ve been gaming too much.”

“I’m serious!” Jiang Sheng said urgently. “I swear I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, I can find someone and drain their life completely.”

Su Mu: “…Then how much life do I have?”

“There aren’t numbers,” Jiang Sheng said quickly. “Just bar length. Is life value tied to strength? Luo Beiyao’s bar is the longest. You’re second. Wu Keke’s third…”

Faced with such a terrifying ability, Su Mu decided that as long as Jiang Sheng harboured no ill intent, keeping him close wasn’t unacceptable.

After reaching an agreement, the two left the kitchen. The others hadn’t waited long. Seeing them return, they began checking their gear and preparing to head out.

[The real juice is @ https://www.lemonsociety.gay ♡]

In the apocalypse, leaving the house meant fighting zombies—snatching supplies from man-eating monsters. This was nothing like the old peaceful days. One careless scratch could mean death.

Su Mu was about to say something when Luo Beiyao suddenly spoke.

“Let Keke swap with Aunt Su.”

The group erupted in murmurs. Luo Beiyao was already the strongest among them—adding Wu Keke to his team would sharply reduce the overall strength on Su Mu’s side.

Su Mu stood quietly to the side, detached, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. He hated trouble and believed words meant nothing unless backed by action.

And besides—what was he supposed to say?

“I can operate solo.”

“I’m worth two Wu Kekes.”

“I have extensive combat experience.”

After much internal debate, Lu Shuangshuang volunteered to join Su Mu’s team instead. She swapped places with Wu Keke, and only then did the group feel things were somewhat balanced.

Several sedans were parked outside the Su residence. Luo Beiyao yanked the skeleton slumped over the driver’s seat out of one car and tossed it aside without a second glance. He opened the door and got in as if nothing were amiss.

Su Mu’s group took the truck they usually used for scavenging and drove ahead to clear the way, with the sedan following steadily behind.

Seeing Su Mu driving, Lu Shuangshuang excitedly claimed the passenger seat. The way he’d patted her head the day before—so gentle it didn’t seem like him at all—kept replaying in her mind. She’d been so distracted that night she hadn’t absorbed a single crystal core.

“Mu Tou…” She glanced at the divider, then rubbed her hair and said shyly, “You look really nice when you’re gentle.”

Su Mu: “…When am I gentle?”

“Well—yesterday,” she said, cheeks warming. “When you touched my head. You felt really gentle.”

He kept his eyes on the road and replied casually, “It was okay.” He paused—then frowned slightly.

Okay? He shot her a quick glance. “The texture was good. Soft hair. Comfortable to touch.”

Lu Shuangshuang’s eyes lit up. “And then?”

Su Mu turned the steering wheel, looking thoughtful. “Easy to touch,” he said, “Just… a bit oily.”

Lu Shuangshuang: “……