Chapter 130: Half-Completed Preparations

"Whew." Withdrawing her gaze from the alleyway, Zhuang Xiaoyuan exhaled softly. She walked a short distance away, bypassed the alley entrance, and headed further out. It seemed that in the absence of living creatures, these bone demons would simply remain in place rather than wandering off. She just wondered if the entire city was infested with them, or if they were confined only to this district.

As she moved forward, contemplating the dangers she might encounter, Zhuang Xiaoyuan scanned her surroundings for her objective. There were many parked cars along the road, but most were damaged or lacked keys. She made a mental note of the keyless vehicles; if she couldn't find anything better, she would have to go through the trouble of breaking the locks and hot-wiring them.

"Hmm? A gas station. I suppose that was easier than expected." After searching for quite some time without encountering any other dangerous creatures, Zhuang Xiaoyuan finally found a place that might prove useful.

Several intact vehicles were parked in front of the station: a jeep, a heavy-duty truck, and a sedan. There were quite a few. Seeing so many seemingly undamaged cars at once, Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s eyes lit up, and she hurried inside.

"Meow!" No sooner had she approached the station than a crisp cat's meow rang out. Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s heart tightened; she halted instinctively and stepped back. A black shadow flashed before her eyes, and a sharp pain stung the back of her hand, where three thin, shallow scratches appeared. Had she not retreated, the wounds would likely have been far worse than these surface-level scratches that didn't even draw blood.

"A bone demon... cat?" Looking up after glancing at the wounds on her hand, she saw a creature composed of a cat's skeleton. Like the rats she had encountered earlier, it was another remnant of a creature transformed into a bone demon.

Facing the skeletal cat, Zhuang Xiaoyuan scanned the area for other bone demons, but it appeared she was alone. Upon reflection, this made sense. There were countless rats living in the city—every household had a few, and they naturally congregated, so their numbers weren't surprising. But how many families kept cats? Naturally, they wouldn't be as numerous as the rats. This bone demon cat was likely a pet that had once lived at the gas station.

"Meow!" With another crisp cry, the bone demon cat darted forward, its speed significantly faster than the rats she had faced before. Although its cry remained cute and clear, its appearance made it anything but.

Facing the incoming shadow, Zhuang Xiaoyuan pulled the dagger from her waistband with her right hand and swiped at the cat with a reverse grip. "Meow!" The shadow paused as the cat used its bony claws to latch onto the blade, attempting to use the leverage to pounce at her head.

Narrowing her eyes, Zhuang Xiaoyuan thrust her left fist forward. Her punch, backed by raw force, pierced the air and slammed into the cat's skull. With a sharp crack, the cat was sent flying, crashing to the ground. Though fast, its body was fragile, and to maintain such speed, its weight must have been minimal.

Quickly closing the distance, Zhuang Xiaoyuan knelt and swung her dagger, decapitating the creature. "Meow!" The round, skeletal head rolled to the side, still emitting the cat's cry, though the sound had become significantly more piercing. The headless body suddenly fell apart, crumbling into fragments of bone.

"Just as the books said: ordinary damage cannot kill a bone demon; only a strike that pierces the skull can finish them." Even after being severed from its body, the bone demon continued to make noise. The vitality of these monsters was extraordinary—a different, more stubborn kind of tenacity than the demons she was used to. After delivering a final blow to ensure the creature was truly destroyed and gaining a rough estimate of the combat prowess of these animal-based bone demons, Zhuang Xiaoyuan entered the gas station.

"Heh, what a haul." After spending some time inside, Zhuang Xiaoyuan walked out with a cheerful expression. Not only had she found several intact vehicles, but the station’s fuel reserves were surprisingly high—enough to fill over a dozen heavy trucks. She had also found plenty of usable compressed food in the attached convenience store, none of which had expired.

She had already selected the vehicles they would use to leave, loaded up the fuel cans and food, and now just needed to pinpoint their current location to make their escape. Her spirits were unexpectedly high.

With a light heart, she continued her search further afield, though she found nothing else of note and no signs pointing to their location. Her initial good mood began to wane. The only piece of good news was that she hadn't encountered any new dangers.

Seeing the sun nearing the horizon in the west, and unsure if the ruined city would change in the dark, she dared not linger and headed back toward the small clinic where she had been resting. She didn't drive the cars back; the station wasn't far, and it would be quick enough to return later.

More importantly, she felt an uneasy, inexplicable intuition that the clinic was too close to the nest of the rat-bone demons and was not safe. It was better to leave the vehicles in a secure spot; the fact that none of the cars at the station had been damaged proved how safe that location was—at least for vehicles.

"Static... Xiaoyuan, have you returned yet?" Just as she started back toward the clinic, Wen Hui’s voice crackled through the communication headset.

"I'm on my way back. Hui, did you find anything useful?" Zhuang Xiaoyuan asked, quickening her pace.

"Haha, I found a map! And plenty of food, too—I found it in a supermarket. You should come back and see; we don't have to worry about going hungry anymore!" Wen Hui’s voice sounded excited; it seemed her haul was quite good as well.

"Good, I'll be there soon. I've also found some usable vehicles. Once we confirm our location, we can leave." Hearing Wen Hui’s voice, Zhuang Xiaoyuan felt her own excitement rise, her heart beating a little faster.

She hadn't expected that the predicament they were in would be resolved within a single day. It helped that there were only two of them, and they weren't in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse; filling two stomachs in this semi-abandoned city was relatively simple.

She wondered how Uncle Feng and the others were doing. It was easy for two people to escape, but they had hundreds, if not thousands. And she didn't know how many had survived that night. Uncle Feng, please be safe.