Chapter 10: Scumbag, or Signs of Turning into a Zombie?

There’s a saying in the apocalypse: if you awaken an ordinary ability first, that’s pretty much it for your potential. But if you awaken an elemental power, you can also gain the ordinary abilities as add-ons. So, those who were initially envied for having ordinary powers soon become looked down upon—their potential is exhausted, and even regular people have more hope of becoming strong. The ever-gossipy “Capital Editorial Department” once used the analogy of “unmarried girls” and “married women” to describe ordinary people and ordinary ability users, sharply pointing out the huge difference in their future prospects.

Six years into the apocalypse, if you don’t have a psychic ability, you’d be embarrassed to call yourself a strong survivor.

As she was lost in thought, cheers erupted nearby. It turned out that after the two who had been vomiting joined the fight, the zombie was quickly defeated. The girl who’d been throwing up looked at the skinny boy with admiration and said, “A-De, you’re amazing! I saw it all—the zombie was basically taken down by you alone.”

At her words, the others’ expressions soured a bit, but the skinny boy quickly tried to play it down. The guy who’d called out earlier smiled and walked over to Bian Changxi. “Thank you so much. If you hadn’t helped, we wouldn’t have lasted much longer. These monsters are too strong—even taking on one at a time is tough for us.”

He paused, then quickly introduced himself, “I’m Cheng Haijun, a student at A University, and I’m the leader of this little team. That skinny guy is Zhou De, my classmate. Things got tense earlier and he just acted on impulse—please don’t take it to heart. The guy with glasses is Wu Jie, and the girl with the ponytail is Jiang Hui.”

Wu Jie was the one who’d been vomiting—average-looking and shy. Jiang Hui had stuck close to Cheng Haijun, fighting zombies with focus and effort, working up a sweat. Though she looked a bit of a mess, her flushed face was rather pleasant to look at. They were all Cheng Haijun’s classmates, having escaped campus together.

The other two were the vomiting girl, Wang Yan, and Zhang Yuwen.

After Cheng Haijun finished the introductions, Bian Changxi glanced at everyone and simply said, “Hello. Goodbye.” Before Zhang Yuwen could approach, she swung onto her motorcycle and started it up.

“You—” Cheng Haijun was surprised by how blunt she was. Zhang Yuwen was even more shocked and quickly called out, “Changxi, what are you doing here? I looked everywhere for you when we escaped from school—I was so worried about you!”

He shot a look at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan got the hint. Bian Changxi had just shown impressive combat skills—exactly what their team needed. Plus, they were currently tagging along with A University’s group, but Bian Changxi was from S University. If they could get her to stay, their own standing would definitely improve.

Though she was reluctant, Wang Yan still smiled and said, “Yeah, Changxi, Yuwen really worked hard looking for you. If we hadn’t dragged him out, he’d still be stuck at school refusing to leave. Where have you been these past two days? And how did you end up like this? It’s dangerous to be alone—why not join us?”

As she spoke, she tried to affectionately take Changxi’s hand.

Bian Changxi looked at her with a half-smile. This woman was amusing—her eyes were full of jealousy and discomfort, yet she forced herself to act all close and friendly. And when she glanced at the others, she looked almost proud, which was just contradictory and ridiculous.

As for Zhang Yuwen, now that he’d spoken, she remembered him. In her previous life, he had indeed escaped the school early, in the same group as her. Back then, everyone was too busy running for their lives to pay attention to what anyone looked like. She’d been in the middle of the group when someone up front asked Zhang Yuwen if he had a girlfriend he needed to find.

What had he said then? Oh, right: “I’m barely alive myself, why should I care about her? That sickly girl’s bound to die sooner or later—better sooner than later, so she doesn’t drag anyone down!”

She hadn’t been angry at all, honestly. The so-called boyfriend-girlfriend thing was just for show—she needed someone to make her look like a slacker, while Zhang Yuwen wanted to show off by dating a rich heiress. She’d never even held his hand, let alone had any real feelings. But now, hearing him lie through his teeth was just disgusting.

She deftly avoided Wang Yan’s hand and said coolly, “I have other things to do. I’m leaving.” She nodded at Cheng Haijun, then revved her bike and sped off, not sparing Zhang Yuwen a single glance.

Her decisiveness stunned the group. Wang Yan nudged Zhang Yuwen. “What’s with her? Can’t you control your girlfriend? She’s so rude!”

Zhang Yuwen glared at her, then turned to Cheng Haijun with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Changxi just has a bit of a temper. I’ll talk to her later and make sure she apologizes to everyone.” He then shot a subtle look at Zhou De.

Cheng Haijun, though he felt Bian Changxi clearly didn’t care about Zhang Yuwen, couldn’t be sure, so he just smiled and said, “No need to take it so seriously.” Seeing Zhang Yuwen glance at Zhou De, he thought maybe Zhou De had offended her, which was why she’d been so cold.

He said, “We’ve got the food—let’s get out of here before more zombies show up. By the way, Yuwen, was that your girlfriend? She’s got some serious skills. What did she do before?”

“She? Nothing much, just a sophomore. She always pestered me to teach her some self-defense moves when we went out—just some basic stuff.” Zhang Yuwen lied without blinking.

Cheng Haijun looked skeptical, while Jiang Hui just laughed. “She learned those driving and axe skills from you? Doesn’t look like it to me.”

Zhang Yuwen was annoyed but just smiled and let it go. Cheng Haijun quickly changed the subject, and the six of them hurried off.

Bian Changxi found a quiet, open spot and parked her bike, keeping one foot on the ground, ready to leave at any moment. She carefully rolled up her left sleeve.

The white bandage was soaked with blood. Her whole left arm was cold and aching, occasionally twitching painfully—it was almost unbearable.

Her head felt heavy and dizzy, with a faint feverishness.

Since last night, her wound hadn’t healed; in fact, it had gotten worse, with more and more symptoms cropping up, sometimes flaring up violently, like just now.

Only then did Bian Changxi recall something: in her previous life, those who awakened powers in the first three days said the process was anything but smooth—some even described it as torturous, with all kinds of discomfort and pain, feeling like they were on the brink of death.

Even ordinary people who awakened later usually went through a painful process.

She should have paid attention, but she had no experience. Her power, like the jade bracelet space, had come to her suddenly and silently, as if it appeared overnight, so she’d never felt anything. Plus, her eagerness to gain powers made her act rashly without much thought or preparation.

Regret was useless now. The most important question was: were her symptoms a sign of awakening, or was she turning into a zombie? How much longer would this last? Could she make it through?

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"**Restarting the Farm at the End of the World**