Chapter 37: Danger Lurks—Fame Breeds Trouble

(from *Restarting the Farm at the End of the World*)

“Go downstairs?” Bian Changxi was momentarily stunned.

“Yes, yes!” Lin Rongrong said excitedly. “There’s food down there, and that’s way more important than anything else. That’s exactly what I’m lacking. Now’s the perfect time—there’s chaos, it’s dark, and if we’re careful, no one will notice. But I’ll need you to keep watch for me.”

Gu Xu had said there were a lot of thugs downstairs, and Lin Rongrong didn’t have the guts to go alone.

If her spatial ability was exposed, just thinking about being captured and used as a walking warehouse sent chills down her spine. But the lure of food was just too strong. She couldn’t rely on Bian Changxi forever, and the supplies Qiu Yun brought over would only last a few days. There was still plenty of empty space in her storage—if she missed this chance, who knew when another would come? If she let this huge supermarket slip through her fingers, she’d cry her eyes out.

Bian Changxi hesitated a little. The food in her jade bracelet, all added up, could last her maybe ten or twenty days. She’d already gotten fruit seeds, and she’d bought vegetable seeds before the apocalypse, so she wasn’t in urgent need of anything.

With so many people around, it wasn’t wise to use her farm warehouse, but if she didn’t, was she just going downstairs for a stroll? Then again, opportunities like this were rare. If she missed tonight, tomorrow everyone would definitely join forces to break out of the supermarket. Could she really stay behind alone, or double back halfway through?

Those zombies weren’t exactly friendly.

“Alright, let’s do it!” she finally said. What’s the harm in making a quick run downstairs? She told Lin Rongrong to put on a black coat, and the two of them each grabbed a quilt, covering their heads and faces, and blended in with a small group heading downstairs. Once they reached the second floor, they slipped into a corner, and Lin Rongrong quickly stashed the quilts in her space.

Fortunately, those with abilities had much sharper vision now—they could make out shapes even in near-total darkness. Plus, some light filtered down from the third floor, and a few scattered lamps on the second floor made it just barely possible to see what was going on.

People on the second floor had split up into three main groups, each using toppled shelves as barricades, staking out their own territory and guarding the food in their section. The place was noisy, with people talking and eating.

Neither Bian Changxi nor Lin Rongrong had ever been to this supermarket and didn’t know the layout. At a glance, most people were crowded around the rice, noodles, bread, milk, and snacks. The produce and fresh meat sections were almost deserted.

Which made sense—without electricity or fire, raw food was hard to cook or store. As long as they had enough for a meal or two, that was good enough.

The two of them crept over quietly. “Wait here,” Bian Changxi whispered. “I’ll check it out.”

Lin Rongrong nodded nervously.

Bian Changxi told Lin Rongrong to keep watch, then crouched low and circled the vegetable section a few times. Once she was sure no one was around, she grabbed a few vegetables, then moved on to the meat and poultry section. The freezers had all been raided, but luckily the supermarket had backup power, so the freezers had kept running for a while after the outage. They were still cool inside, and she managed to collect some edible items.

Next was the fresh seafood section. The smell was overwhelming, and she didn’t really want to reach in, but she heard water splashing in a few large oval tubs. Peering closer, she found live fish and shrimp, so she took the tubs as well. Since they were living creatures, she couldn’t store them in her warehouse, so she placed them directly on her farm.

She grabbed a few things from the pickled vegetables section, then moved on to eggs and other poultry products—chicken eggs, duck eggs, preserved eggs—she took plenty. On the same aisle were pickled vegetables, cooking oil, seasonings, and so on, so she quietly collected some of those too.

The next aisle had dried goods like mushrooms and black fungus—great stuff—but it was right next to the rice section, where a few people were sitting and talking.

“Leopard Bro, those people upstairs are way too arrogant. Did you see how cocky that Qiu Yun was just now?” one man said.

“Well, he’s ex-military, has heavy weapons, and now there are three—no, four—people with abilities. Of course they’re cocky,” a sinister voice replied, probably Leopard Bro himself. Then a younger man laughed, “Let them take the lead tomorrow. The more capable they are, the easier it is for us, right?”

“Exactly. There are hundreds of zombies downstairs—let’s see how many of them die before they make it out. Bro, did you find out who that woman is? Did she really cure someone who got bitten by a zombie?” a woman asked.

The young man answered, “She’s a college student, a wood-type ability user. I went up to check just now, and that Shadow guy really did seem healed—sleeping like a normal person. It’s amazing.”

Leopard Bro took a drag on his cigarette and made a decision. “We need to get that woman on our side. Sound her out first—if she won’t join us, at least keep an eye on her. We can’t let anyone else use her.”

They then started discussing plans to break out of the supermarket tomorrow.

Bian Changxi quietly retreated, having gotten a good sense of the situation, and returned to Lin Rongrong. Lin Rongrong asked anxiously, “Is it safe?”

“Yeah, there’s no one in the dark areas, but be careful—there’s a lot of trash on the floor.” She gave her a detailed rundown of the spots that were easy to trip over.

Lin Rongrong nodded gratefully. “Okay, I’m going.”

Bian Changxi kept watch, focusing on the lights near Leopard Bro’s group.

If she wasn’t mistaken, that woman was Yang Xiaowen. She hadn’t expected her to end up in the supermarket too. The young man was with her, but she didn’t know who Leopard Bro was. She hadn’t expected them to already have their eyes on her.

Bian Changxi smirked coldly. In times like these, fame really did bring trouble. Disaster twisted people’s minds, unleashing the darkness within. Any excuse could spark violence, and a single careless move could make you a target, leading to a senseless death.

But did they really think a reborn person was so easy to bully?

About ten minutes later, Lin Rongrong reported that she was done. Just as the people upstairs were finishing moving supplies, the two of them slipped back up, only to be confronted by a dark figure as soon as they reached the top.

Bian Changxi gasped, “Gu Xu!” Then she quickly adjusted her tone. “Captain Gu, what brings you here…?”

“We’re missing an ingredient for the pork rib soup, so I came down to get it.” Gu Xu glanced at the two of them. Lin Rongrong felt a pang of guilt, turning her head away. His gaze landed on Bian Changxi. “How’s your injury?”

“Much better.”

“That’s good. You do look a lot more energetic. That broken thing…”

“Just a little trinket, nothing important. Probably couldn’t handle the energy.”

Gu Xu seemed to accept the explanation. “You two go sit down. Dinner will be ready soon. I’ll be right back.”

Bian Changxi watched his back, blinking. Did he really need to come down himself just for a seasoning? His eyes seemed to see right through her, as if he understood everything she was doing and thinking.

She thought to herself, this was the thing about Gu Xu—no one could keep secrets from him. His sharp eyes missed nothing. Because of this, both in her previous life and now, she always felt a bit uneasy around him.

Honestly, even if her spatial ability was exposed, she could just claim to be a dual-type—space and wood—and no one would doubt it. Since she lived alone, she didn’t need that many supplies. It was a shame, but there was no need to go all out collecting things all the time. She could hide her abilities from anyone.

But when it came to the farm, she couldn’t afford to be careless. She never wanted to repeat the tragedy of her previous life. Secrets had to be kept—absolutely airtight.

In this life, she and Gu Xu were just strangers, and she intended to keep it that way. Once they left the supermarket, they’d go their separate ways. She was grateful and a little guilty towards him, but those were feelings left over from her past life. She’d help him when she could, but she couldn’t open her heart to him.

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