Chapter 21: Welcome Back
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The third passive skill that she had developed last night couldn’t have been timelier.
In the dark, Lin Sanjiu managed to avoid the kitchen knife thrown at her from the staff room with a quick dodge. She silently thanked the heavens. Without her Overall Physical Enhancement ability, she would not have been able to dodge the smelly kitchen knife that Wang Sisi suddenly threw at her, much less the attacks of that crafty and speedy green vine.
The kitchen knife fell not far from her and made a clanging sound. In the time that Wang Sisi’s attack missed, Lin Sanjiu had already nimbly jumped backward and conveniently closed the door with a bang, blocking other incoming attacks. It was only then that she heard a series of dragging sounds from the other side. After that, she heard the muffled voices of both Luther and Marcie.
Through the two doors, Marcie’s voice had an unmasked anxiousness: “Xiao Jiu, are you alright? Try to leave quickly, we do not have the keys to enter!”
“I am alright! I already came out of the room!” Lin Sanjiu replied loudly. “The little desiccated corpse pulled off the knife in its mouthpart and threw that at me just now. But I am unharmed!”
Wang Sisi hissed angrily as Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt the vibration of the door she was leaning against. It was as if it had been struck violently by something—probably Wang Sisi’s mouthpart. Lin Sanjiu took a few steps away from the door hurriedly and quickly relocked the door with her key. After hearing Wang Sisi’s frustrated screech, Lin Sanjiu took out the lighter in her pocket and lit it.
Ever since her body had been enhanced, her night vision had improved significantly: even without light, she could see with about 60% to 70% clarity in the dark, so she did not need to look blindly for a light source like a moth. However, that was also the reason why she did not carefully check her surroundings carefully. She was totally focused on returning to the supermarket and ran straight in when she saw a door, and that was how she came face to face with Wang Sisi’s deformed face for a brief moment just now.
Since she could not return immediately right now, she decided to use the light from her lighter to explore the area. When her eyes swept across the area, Lin Sanjiu promptly held her breath uncontrollably. Just ten steps away from her, she saw rows of goods shelves which were at least the height of two persons. At one glance, the shelves were different from those in the supermarket. They were almost touching the ceiling, and each level on the shelves was filled with properly packaged boxes. She could tell that the majority of the boxes were food and drinks.
She suppressed her excitement and jogged to the front of the shelves. She could not help softly touching the boxes of mineral water with her hands. Last night, after her ability was discovered, the three of them started from the scratch and counted the amount of food and water they had. They had to concede that what they had left was an aftermath of a pillage. Even though there was quite a significant amount of goods left, but after what they had consumed, there were only enough supplies for another two weeks.
“I was wondering why we couldn’t find the warehouse…” Lin Sanjiu laughed till her eyes glistened. Speaking to herself, she softly cursed, “So you have been hiding here, with a desiccated corpse guarding the door, no less!”
When she would go back, she would have to think of a method to store all these things in the warehouse.
The bottles of “life source” wrapped in a pink hard case glowed under the light of the flame. As she saw the full shelf of mineral water, Lin Sanjiu opened a box and took a bottle as she was feeling thirsty.
Just then, she heard Marcie’s and Luther’s voice from the other side of the staff room door once again, “Xiao Jiu, what are you doing now? Can you think of a way to get back?”
“I am okay! I found the supermarket’s warehouse…” Lin Sanjiu replied. She sat outside the staff room entrance deciding to rest for a while to regain her energy. There were confidence and resilience in her voice as she said, “I will definitely find a way to get back, don’t worry.”
There were a few more muffled sentences from the other side as if the other two of them were trying to tell her some instructions, but thereafter there were no other sounds. Lin Sanjiu snapped the lighter shut, and the warehouse returned to its original dark silence.
[At this time, Wang Sisi must also be thinking of a strategy behind that door, right?] Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly as she drank a mouthful of water, enjoying the cool fluid going down her throat. She really could not underestimate that little desiccated corpse. She made a lot of noise and movements when she was pulling out her the keys to open the door, but Wang Sisi purposely kept very silent, so Lin Sanjiu totally did not suspect that she was opening the back door of the staff room. If she had not smelled the rotting stench that wafted out once the door opened, she would not have been alert enough to dodge Wang Sisi’s attack.
Now, the two routes back to the supermarket were blocked, similar to how their paths were blocked by the broken down Land Rover. In the large hall, there was a weird, unpredictable forest; if she chose the path through the staff room, she had to bypass Wang Sisi.
In any case, she had to vote for the lesser evil. After she waited for an unknown amount of time, Lin Sanjiu finally made her decision. She stood up silently in the dark and placed her light, water bottle, and other random things aside. She wrung her hands and gave a soft sigh. It was time to test out how powerful her Overall Physical Enhancement ability was.
She slotted the key lightly in the keyhole and turned left once. The metal lock made a tiny sound. In the absolute silence, that small sound was so loud that it was shocking. It was impossible that Wang Sisi did not hear it, and almost immediately, as if to prove her right, a chain of “gugu” sounds ranged out. Lin Sanjiu could sense something walking closer.
She did not say a word but stealthily turned the door handle. The door slowly opened up a gap that was wide enough for a person.
The heavy darkness remained silent, and it was as if even the flow of air had stopped. Almost abrupted, a black shadow suddenly shot out from that gap in a swoosh. It targeted the area right behind the door handle. The speed was too fast, even with her body enhancement, Lin Sanjiu definitely wouldn’t be able to dodge it…
However, the attack which was supposed to certainly hit missed its target.
“Huh?” Wang Sisi made a human sound after some time. She shook her mouthpart around the door area and realized that Lin Sanjiu had disappeared all of a sudden and was nowhere to be seen
Hesitating for a moment, Wang Sisi walked two steps toward the door cautiously. A sweet voice came out from her mouthpart, “Big Sister, where are you? Sisi doesn’t want to fight with you. Can you just let Sisi go, okay?”
Nobody replied her. Outside the half-opened door, it was still that same silent darkness. She could not see Lin Sanjiu’s figure or hear any movement. It was like there had never been a person that at all.
A hand, so dry that it no longer resembled a human's, peeked from the door as if to push it open. It paused and retreated. After a while, a horrible looking thing crept out stealthily from the room. That was Wang Sisi. After they had not seen it for days, it had become more shriveled, similar to security guard, its skin now layered on top of each other. Due to Luther’s kick, there was a deep impression on its chest; thus even the last human-like vestige was lost. The gap was not wide, but it was sufficient for Wang Sisi.
“Big sister! Big sister! I am out. Don’t be afraid, okay? Sisi just wants to go home to look for mommy…”Its two white eyeballs rolled around searching the warehouse, but it couldn’t spot Lin Sanjiu at all. It spun its mouthpart nervously. She could smell the scent of a live human’s blood, but it could not tell where it was from. This made Wang Sisi, who had not eaten for days, rash and jittery. The child-like voice that was generated from its mouthpart was filled with a sobbing tone: “Big Sister, if you don’t come out, I will take it as your consent. Sisi is leaving, she is going home…” the little girl’s voice reverberated in the dark. She stabbed her mouthpart towards the back of the door—the only place that a person could hide!
Her mouthpart which shimmered with a metallic light stabbed into nothing.
“Are you going to suck your mother dry?” a plain, mocking voice came from above her.
Wang Sisi was shocked. She immediately looked up. Before she could pull back her mouthpart from the back of the door, a black shadow fell on her. Following that moment, the door trapped her mouthpart. Before Wang Sisi could scream, there was a sudden flash of light above her head, and before she knew it, a chef’s knife had penetrated its skull. In an instant, Wang Sisi’s body along with its mouthpart fell to the ground with a “pak” as it lost all its strength.
Seeing that the corpse was motionless, Lin Sanjiu gave a sigh of relief. She had been crouching on top of the narrow ledge of the door. She remained silent before choosing an opportunity to jump down from the door. This was an extremely difficult feat—she never imagined that she would be able to execute such ninja-like action sequence before the New World descended.
She pinched her nose as she carefully walked past the dead body and went to open the other door in the staff room.
As the door opened, the silver light resembling the moonlight, which the Ability Polishing Agent emitted, shined on Lin Sanjiu’s entire body. The shelves, used for block the door have, have already been removed by the two other outside. Luther was standing, and Marcie was sitting as they waited quietly for her to return. “Welcome back!” Luther greeted cheerily, leaning on the wall, as he held the Ability Polishing Agent in one hand.
