Chapter 33: Chapter 33

The squad's brain, Six, said quietly, ""I bet she's a druid. Druids have high affinity with animals.""

As they approached the treehouse area, the advance party was even more amazed.

""Can these trees really support such big treehouses?""

""Strange, there aren't many people sleeping rough in the camp.""

""These treehouses are 10 copper coins a day. Can many people afford that?""

Liu Luoluo, who had just gotten up and stepped outside for some fresh air, spotted seven tall, handsome guys walking her way. Her eyes lit up, and she rushed back inside to wake Cheng Wei.

""Wei, get up! Hot guys outside!""

""Hot guys?"" Cheng Wei perked up, sprang out of bed, and scrambled to the window. ""Where?""

Following Luoluo's pointing finger, Cheng Wei took one look and ducked back. ""Whoa, for real! Newcomers in the territory?""

""Luoluo, is my hair messy?""

Luoluo smoothed Cheng Wei's hair. ""You're good.""

The two of them eagerly went out to check out the handsome newcomers.

""Hi there! Just arrived at the camp? We happen to be free—need someone to show you around?""

""That would be great, thanks.""

...

""What? You're an official team? From Binhai City?""

""Yes, that's right.""

""How come there are only a few of you?""

""The main force is still on the way.""

""Oh, you should rent a treehouse first. It's cheap if you share, and besides a place to sleep, you can store your stuff safely. If you have enough money, you can even design your own layout and expand the space. Our team is one of only two in the camp that have expanded their treehouse—see, that's ours.""

""And the one next to it?""

""Yeah, that's rented by Mu Ying—you know, the top player on the leaderboard? She manages alone what it takes a whole team of us to do.""

""Seriously?""

""Of course! See, that's her. She looks gentle, but she's fierce when fighting zombies.""

""That's her?""

After her usual morning routine tending the camp's trees, Mu Ying planned to ride her ox out to plant more. She saw the new arrivals chatting with Liu Luoluo and the others, all looking at her, so she smiled and nodded, then climbed onto her ox.

After more than half a month of being nourished by the Spring of Recovery, the old yellow ox was even more intelligent than before.

Plus, Mu Ying had learned animal communication recently, making their teamwork even smoother.

She didn't even need a rope—just a pat on its back, and it would let out a long moo and stride briskly out of the camp.

""So cool!"" Seven exclaimed, awestruck by the sparrows and the ox.

""Right? Riding an ox is the mark of a true master living in seclusion,"" Liu Luoluo agreed.

""When we first entered, she was just staring at a tree. What was she doing?"" Three still thought Mu Ying was a bit odd.

""Oh, that's how druids train—something about sensing the natural energy in the trees. She gets up the earliest every day to do that. She racks up tons of class experience—let me check... She got nearly twenty points of class XP just this morning, and that's less than the last couple of days.""

Liu Luoluo scrolled through the leaderboard as she spoke. She checked the top players' progress several times a day to motivate herself.

""That much?""

...

After Liu Luoluo and Cheng Wei gave them a thorough tour, the advance party had a good grasp of Qingshan Camp and left.

By then, the main force had just arrived at Qingshan Town.

The advance party's report changed the entire team's plans.

""There aren't many zombies left in the forest park?""

""That's right. There are very few zombies on the Qingshan Town side near the forest park.

The camp's entry fee is 5 copper coins per day, which most people can't afford. Besides, the environment outside isn't as dangerous anymore. I suggest we set up camp just outside, establish a safe zone, and only send people into the camp to buy supplies as needed.

The camp restricts entry for those who damage the forest, so the best spot is south of Qingshan Town, near the forest park, with a river nearby and farmland outside the town for growing food.

The camp bakery also sells a kind of black bread—big portions, cheap, three for one copper coin, enough to feed a lot of people.

Also, the camp sells weapons, some with special effects. I recommend we equip the combat troops with new weapons—it'll really boost our fighting power..."""

"In the middle of the night, the rustling sounds woke Mu Ying. She got up and pushed open the window, and a wave of misty moisture hit her face. “Is it raining?”

It hadn’t rained for over half a month. She reached out to catch the raindrops, played with them for a while, then closed the window and went back to bed.

The rain fell all night long. Even the birds were lazy, hiding at home, so their usual chirping was gone. For once, Mu Ying slept in late.

She knelt by the bedside, propped her arms on the windowsill, and leaned halfway out to watch the rain.

The rain was as fine as ox hair, dense as brocade, shrouding the whole forest in a layer of mist, making it look like a fairyland.

She stared in a daze for a while, then decided to get up and go outside for a walk.

When she went downstairs, she immediately noticed that the small table where she kept her territory’s income had toppled over. On closer inspection, she saw that the metal table legs had badly corroded.

A thought struck her. She ran to the kitchen and opened the rice sack, only to find that the once pristine white rice was now speckled with black mold. It looked like it wouldn’t be edible for much longer.

She checked the eggs as well—each one was starting to turn black and smell bad.

Mu Ying immediately used the territory’s energy conversion function to break them all down as waste.

Everything had been fine last night, but after just one night, all the pre-apocalypse supplies seemed to have decayed at an accelerated rate.

This familiar feeling reminded Mu Ying of the very first day the apocalypse arrived.

But according to Aisha, there should still be at least a week left!

Mu Ying’s mood grew heavy. She had learned most of the level 2 spells, but she still hadn’t reached level 3!