Chapter 183: The Unexpected Change, Song Haitang's Crisis

Chapter 183: The Unexpected Change, Song Haitang's Crisis

As the basement door was pushed open, a pungent odor wafted out.

Inside, seven people were hiding, all of them elderly, weak, women, and children.

The youngest among them was a little girl who looked to be only eight or nine years old.

"Dad!"

Upon seeing Han Laosan's return, the initially fearful little girl ran out and rushed towards him.

Han Laosan, the tough man, smiled and squatted down, opening his arms.

Father and daughter embraced each other.

Song Haitang looked at the little girl, who was pale and skinny, with withered hair, clearly malnourished, and her clothes were dirty.

The others in the basement were in a similar state.

They were all relatives.

Besides the reunion of the little girl and Han Laosan, the other survivors also emerged from their hiding places and joined Han Minna and the others.

Some were parents, some were siblings, all of them close family members.

Only then did Song Haitang realize that Han Laosan and his group were actually supporting a whole group of relatives.

It was truly admirable that they could still take care of their family in the apocalyptic environment, where survival was difficult and food scarce.

"There's food here, everyone have something to eat first..."

Han Laosan called out, distributing the food to everyone before turning to Song Haitang and saying, "Miss September, please don't mind this."

Song Haitang shook her head and said earnestly, "I really admire you."

Then, Song Haitang glanced at the little girl eating bread and said, "Now I understand why you wanted to take them to the Thunder God Shelter."

Han Laosan nodded and said, "Food is becoming scarcer, and the Thunder God Shelter is our last hope. For her future, I must give it a try, no matter how difficult it is!"

After a brief conversation, they each found a place to rest.

Han Laosan planned to set off early the next morning with his family, so he needed to rest well.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning, Han Laosan and his group woke up early.

"Sister September, we're leaving. Take care of yourself!"

Han Minna approached Song Haitang to bid farewell.

Song Haitang smiled at the girl before her.

"Don't worry, I'm a psychic, and my friends will be here soon. I'll be fine. You guys take care on your journey."

At this point, Song Haitang seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, right, you can have this!"

She placed the corpse crystal into Han Minna's hand.

Han Minna was surprised and exclaimed, "Sister September, this is very valuable. If I take it to the shelter, I can exchange it for many resources! I can't accept this..."

Song Haitang shook her head. "I have no use for it anymore."

"But..." Han Minna was actually tempted, as she had heard about the benefits of corpse crystals.

Even some ordinary people had become psychics by consuming corpse crystals.

As Han Minna hesitated, Song Haitang stood up and walked over to Han Laosan, saying, "I won't need this much food, you can take another pack."

The food had been divided into four large bundles, two for each group.

Seeing that they were about to leave, Song Haitang decided to let them have another bundle.

It wasn't that she was being overly generous, but she believed that with Zhao Zheng's arrival, food would not be an issue!

Additionally, Han Laosan's group was rare in that they managed to maintain their humanity in the apocalyptic environment, and she was willing to support them.

It was just a matter of giving up some food.

Han Laosan, looking at the food before him, wanted to decline, but the words just wouldn't come out.

He knew that yesterday's convenience store haul was not enough to sustain them for long, and food was an essential resource if they wanted to reach the Thunder God Shelter safely.

For the sake of his child's survival, Han Laosan could only swallow his pride and say, "Thank you, we'll gladly accept it."

Song Haitang smiled but said nothing.

Han Laosan pulled his daughter over and said, "Quick, bow to our benefactor!"

The obedient little girl immediately knelt down and bowed deeply.

The other elderly, weak, women, and children also knelt and bowed, seeing that Song Haitang was willing to give up food.

In these times, anyone willing to share food was a living Bodhisattva.

Song Haitang was taken aback by this reaction.

It was her first time experiencing such a scene.

"Get up quickly... All of you, get up!"

...

After seeing Han Laosan and his group off, Song Haitang closed the basement entrance and waited in the dimly lit basement for Zhao Zheng's arrival.

Last night, Song Haitang had used the Spirit Jade to check on Zhao Zheng's location and was surprised to find that his movement speed was indeed very fast.

Originally, Zhao Zheng was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and in just one night, he had already reached the coastal region.

This was despite Zhao Zheng having stopped numerous times along the way.

It was likely that he had encountered monsters blocking his path, and he had to fight them to proceed.

His speed of movement was truly astonishing.

Song Haitang even thought that perhaps, in a while, Zhao Zheng would arrive...

However, things did not go as planned.

For an entire day, Zhao Zheng seemed to have encountered some trouble and remained stationary in the coastal region.

Song Haitang furrowed her brows.

She knew that Zhao Zheng must have encountered a big problem and was entangled by something terrifying, which was why he hadn't moved.

With Zhao Zheng's current strength, the only thing that could hold him back was an Aberration!

And a very troublesome one at that!!

Thinking of this, Song Haitang felt anxious.

Unfortunately, her anxiety was of no use.

Firstly, she was currently inland, quite a distance away from the coast, and even if she could rush over, with her strength, she wouldn't be able to help Zhao Zheng.

So, all she could do was wait!

And wait she did, for a full nine days! It wasn't until the evening of the ninth day that Zhao Zheng finally resumed his movement...

As she felt Zhao Zheng getting closer, Song Haitang breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Zhao Zheng was safe, that was all that mattered!

As for whether the Aberration had defeated Zhao Zheng and was now coming for her, that was not the case.

The two Spirit Jades had essentially 'recognized' their owners when they came into the possession of Zhao Zheng and Song Haitang, serving only them.

Additionally, the telepathic connection between them was something that no Aberration could perfectly imitate.

As Zhao Zheng drew nearer, Song Haitang even began preparing to welcome him.

She used the remaining bottled water to wash her face, leaving only two bottles for backup.

After cleaning herself up, Song Haitang made her way to the basement entrance, ready to open the door and greet Zhao Zheng.

However, it was not Zhao Zheng who arrived, but a figure rushing towards her.

"Sister September! Save us!!"

The figure called out for help from a distance.

Song Haitang immediately went on high alert.

With her excellent vision, she could see that it was Han Minna! And Han Minna was in terrible shape.

Her body was covered in blood, and one of her arms was severed, with blood continuously flowing from the wound.

Her malnourished face was now completely devoid of color.

Seeing Han Minna in such a dire state, Song Haitang was shocked and immediately rushed to her.

Han Minna, on the other hand, collapsed into Song Haitang's arms.

"Quick, close the door..."

Han Minna managed to utter these words before her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

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Song Haitang didn't dare to delay, and holding the girl, she quickly retreated into the basement and closed the door.

The entrance door was a blastproof one, thick and heavy.

Whatever monster was chasing Han Minna, it could at least hold it off for a while.

Once inside the basement, Song Haitang first used a cloth strip to tightly bind Han Minna's severed arm to stop the bleeding, then gave the girl some water, and finally pinched her acupoint to revive her.

She knew that now was not the time for Han Minna to rest.

She needed to find out what had happened.

When Han Minna woke up and saw Song Haitang in front of her, she immediately cried, "Sister September, please save Uncle San and the others! I'll give my life to you, please save them..."

Song Haitang's heart sank, but she maintained her composure and asked, "What happened? How did you end up like this?"

Han Minna cried as she spoke, "After we left here..."

Listening to Han Minna's story, Song Haitang finally understood what had transpired.

Initially, Han Laosan and the others had a smooth journey.

They successfully entered the military base and met up with the old captain, preparing to head to the Thunder God Shelter.

However, in the military base, it wasn't just the old captain who had a say.

There was a group of people who believed that traveling all the way to Seoul was a death wish! Even if they were lucky enough to reach the Thunder God Shelter in Seoul, it didn't guarantee their safety.

They even thought that everything in the Thunder God Shelter was a hoax and that with current technology, it was impossible to create a perfect ecological system within a single shelter.

So, a dispute broke out between the two groups.

In the end, they decided to part ways.

Those who wanted to go to Seoul followed the old captain, and those who didn't want to go stayed behind.

As most people chose to follow the Old Captain, the military base suddenly lost a significant portion of its population, which displeased those who preferred to stay put.

The Old Captain's departure, along with the loss of many essential supplies, further enraged the "stayers"! They even used the radio to contact a group of nomads on the public channel! In the end, they colluded with the nomads, intending to devour the Old Captain's group and divide the "spoils of war"!

On the second day of their journey, the Old Captain's group encountered an ambush by a group of nomads.

"Those nomads are powerful psychics. We were ambushed and were no match for them... The team was quickly scattered, and only I managed to escape..."

"Sister September, if it weren't for the corpse crystal you gave me, enhancing my speed, I might not have made it out either, waaah..."

At this point, Song Haitang furrowed her brows.

According to Han Minna's description, the nomads were not weak.

After all, the Old Captain's group also had psychics and powerful firepower.

Yet, they were defeated in a single encounter, indicating a significant gap in strength between the two sides! Han Minna asked Song Haitang to rescue the others, which seemed like a difficult request.

Han Minna herself seemed to realize this, wiping away her tears, "I'm sorry, Sister September. I shouldn't have said those things. Those people are too terrifying. Even if you went, you wouldn't be a match for them... You'd only be dragged down."

As she spoke, Han Minna's face showed despair.

Although she had always known that they might all perish in the apocalyptic environment, the reality of that day's arrival still left her struggling to accept it.

What was even more unbearable for her was that Uncle San and the others had fallen into the hands of the nomads.

Being in the hands of those beasts would undoubtedly be a living hell.

Just then, Song Haitang seemed to sense something. She turned Han Minna around, making her face away from herself.

This movement caused Han Minna's wound to twitch, and the girl endured the pain, her forehead breaking out in a cold sweat.

"What's wrong, Sister September?" Han Minna asked, her back to Song Haitang.

Without speaking, Song Haitang frowned and used a piece of paper to remove a gum-like substance from Han Minna's back.

This object was alive, and when thrown to the ground, it wriggled and continued crawling towards Han Minna.

"Ah!"

Han Minna was startled, "What is this thing?"

Without hesitation, Song Haitang produced a flame and burned the unknown object to death.

"It's probably a tracking device," she said.

Then, her gaze turned towards the basement entrance.

"This place is no longer safe. Let's go!"

Hearing this, Han Minna hurriedly endured the intense pain and followed Song Haitang towards the exit.

As they reached the door, Song Haitang stopped and signaled for silence.

Han Minna was stunned.

Soon, she heard the sound of motorcycles approaching, getting closer to their location.

Not just one, but several! Han Minna's face turned pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.

"I remember now. It must have been when Uncle San was covering for me, and those people overheard..."

At this point, Han Minna looked at Song Haitang with despair, her eyes filled with guilt, "Sister September, I... I've put you in danger!"

Song Haitang glanced at the girl and sighed softly.

She didn't blame Han Minna but comforted her, "Don't worry, my friend is on the way. Everything will be fine."

Just then, they heard several motorcycles arrive at the basement entrance and stop right outside the door.

Only a thick iron door separated the two groups.

"Hyena, are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely! The signal from my treasure is unmistakable. Whoever has it must be inside, and they're definitely not ordinary."

"Excellent! Redeye, open the door!"

"No problem!"

Mechanical whirring and cutting sounds followed outside the door.

Han Minna was so scared she couldn't speak.

Song Haitang released Han Minna and prepared for combat.

She didn't choose to escape through the ventilation shaft because Zhao Zheng was about to arrive, and there was no need to rush.

Within two minutes, a long slit was cut into the thick blastproof door lock.

The next moment, the door was smashed open.

A group of people rushed in.

When they saw Song Haitang, their faces lit up with surprise...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end