Ti rewound half an hour earlier.
They rented an apartnt in a high-end residential area. The survivors living here had relatively high purchasing power, and not far from the community was a convenience market that was of course open at night as well, doing even better business than during the day.
Xing Ling didn't know her way around, but with the "Path-finding Technique" at her disposal, she found the market quickly.
At that mont, she was squatting in front of a "Seafood Specials" stall, haggling with the owner.
Xing Ling shopped for groceries, mainly buying seafood specialties from Luoxia. They were not lacking in other ingredients—their Space Backpack was filled at least halfway with a variety of food items: vegetables, fruits, various ats, and all kinds of seasonings.
In this respect, the dishes that Tang Yu prepared themselves were definitely more high-end than those from the street-side eateries in Luoxia.
The only thing they were short on was Mutant Beast at, and seafood... they hadn't tried it yet.
Xing Ling's face was expressionless as her fingers swept over several King Crabs the size of handbags, a barramundi over two ters long, a pile of scallops the size of dinner plates...
Unfortunately, they were all dead and not fresh.
"How much for these?"
The owner forced a smile, "3…3…2… eight Source Crystals in total."
If Tang Yu were there, he would have exclaid, "How cheap!"
In Lindong, a variant frozen at the size of a 20-inch luggage could sell for a high price of ten Source Crystals, and it was often in short supply. An ordinary Awakener team, if lucky enough to hunt down a Mutated Beast, could sotis earn dozens or even hundreds of Source Crystals.
By comparison, Luoxia was truly the origin of seafood, abundant and cheaper.
Xing Ling remained expressionless, "Four Source Crystals."
The owner kept up his smile, "Seven Source Crystals. It's a small business, can't go any lower."
Xing Ling remained expressionless, "Four Source Crystals."
The owner's smile twitched slightly, and with clenched teeth, he said, "Fine, six Source Crystals. Let's just make friends then."
Xing Ling remained expressionless, "Four Source Crystals."
The owner... seed to have made a major decision, "Five Source Crystals, I'll be selling at a loss!"
Xing Ling remained expressionless, "Four Source Crystals."
"…Alright, four Source Crystals then." The owner's smile turned bitter as he bundled up the ingredients, took a few breaths to compose himself, and then asked, "Do you need ho delivery? The convenience market offers a delivery service. It's just 0.1 Source Crystal within two kiloters, and 0.3 Source Crystal within five kiloters."
Xing Ling nodded without expression, laid down the Source Crystals, filled in the address, took the receipt, and turned to leave.
Under Luoxia's official supervision, these vendors would never dare to take the money without delivering the goods.
She wandered around the convenience market for a while longer, purchasing so suitable ingredients. When she figured the quantity was probably sufficient, Xing Ling stepped out of the market.
Outside the market, survivors were coming and going.
Vans filled with seafood drove out from the marketplace, delivering ingredients to various parts of Luoxia, while more delivery boys pedaled on tricycles, their rear compartnts piled high with bundled goods, riding laboriously toward the distance.
Xing Ling watched the passersby, her face expressionless. In her hand, she held a pendant—the chain swayed, and the circular patterned object tied to it flipped over, revealing a faintly visible number... five.
"The 'Spell' to calculate the bottom line of prices is quite useful."
She turned her head to look around. Coming out of the convenience market and turning left, just two more streets, and she would be back at the residential area… Xing Ling counted on her fingers.
She rembered this route very clearly.
At the pace of an ordinary person, it was less than a ten-minute walk.
Hmm.
So close,
She couldn't possibly get lost.
She wasn't a road idiot!
Ten minutes later, Xing Ling stood at a crossroads, deep in thought.
Twenty minutes later, Xing Ling stood in the middle of a road with no side streets, pondering whether to go forward or backward.
Thirty minutes later, Xing Ling turned into a small alley, staring at the cul-de-sac blocked off by a wall, crouched on the ground, resting her cheeks in her hands, her eyes dull and lifeless.
She had checked the map and calculated the distance; everything should have been correct.
She took out the pendant with the round, patterned object attached to it, the chain winding around her hand, the attached object swaying slightly.
She hesitated.
"Could it be that I must use that technique to find the correct path? No... that technique wasn't developed specifically for situations like this! I feel I've gotten a good grasp of my surroundings. There's a saying, 'When all the wrong paths have been taken, the remaining one must be the right one.'"
Xing Ling's energy was renewed, her little fists clenched tightly.
But soon, she tilted her head, recalling—
Which path had she just taken?
...
Not far away, a few young n with flushed faces, arm in arm, with sleazy smiles on their faces, uttered indescribable sounds.
One of them looked into the distance, suddenly widening his eyes, unable to help stretching his neck to get a clearer view, "Big brother, big brother, look, a top-grade one!"
In the middle, an older man, rugged in appearance, with his shirt front open, revealing a thick mat of chest hair, turned to look forward upon hearing this.
There at the narrow alley.
Dim and silent.
A girl in a plain white dress was crouching there, looking utterly helpless.
The leader's eyes lit up, "Indeed, a top-grade." He quickly turned back to look around.
This place was remote and it was nightti, without any streetlights, only the bright moon hanging in the sky provided a faint glimr of light.
There were very few survivors passing by; the alley being a dead end, no one would walk in this direction.
One young man rubbed his hands together, his laugh becoming even more indescribable, "Heh heh heh, our chance has co, such a top-grade, we brothers are in for a treat today."
The leader slapped his head, "Idiot, soone this top-grade can fetch a high price with Black Dog. When we get a big sum of money, we can have all the fun we want, you guys actually don't understand such simple logic?"
"Truly worthy of being big brother."
"Big brother is amazing."
After a flurry of flattery, they slowly approached, blocking the entrance to the alley.
They exchanged glances, feeling confident.
Suddenly, they saw the girl in the dress stand up; she didn't seem to notice them, still standing in front of the wall blocking the alley.
The next mont,
Whoosh.
The girl in the dress leaped high into the air.
The young n looked up, their gaze involuntarily following her movent.
They saw the hem of the dress defying gravity, clinging around the ankles until... the girl cleared the five- or six-ter-high wall and disappeared from their sight.
Faintly, they could hear the girl murmuring—
"If I don't follow the roads, then I guess I won't get lost."
Instantly, these tipsy youths shivered, the drunkenness dissipating in a mont.
As if a cold wind had blown past.
One of the young n spoke up, shivering, "Big... big brother, that seed... seed to be an Awakener!"
"Nonsense!"
"Big... big brother, we... we haven't gotten ourselves into trouble, have we?"
"Shut up! Don't you see I'm about to be scared witless!"
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