"That girl seemed a bit off, I'm not sure if she was just greedy or if someone was instigating her," Xu An said, trying to be as tactful as possible, but Zhou Haimei still understood the implications. If it was the former, the girl was merely a mischievous and gluttonous child. But if it was the latter, it proved they had stumbled into a shifty establishment, where entering was easy, but leaving would be difficult.
"Then why did you bring up the matter of the north?"
Xu An smiled and casually replied, "I was just talking nonsense, a good excuse to find a source for the food." But was it truly just an excuse? Xu An hid the flicker in her eyes and didn't dwell on the issue. Those who do too much injustice will inevitably perish. If these people hadn't harbored greedy thoughts, they wouldn't have ventured north. If they hadn't gone north, they naturally wouldn't have… encountered the zombie horde migrating from north to south.
She took out the food again and laid it on the somewhat shaky small table. "Come, let's eat."
Earlier, Xu An had asked Ze Yuan to check the water the girl had brought. It was indeed authentic mountain spring water, no lie, and there was nothing wrong with it. The area was nestled among many canyons and embraced by mountains and water, and its mountain spring water had been famous even before the apocalypse. Many water bottling companies had set up factories here, directly sourcing the mountain spring water. It had once been popular nationwide. The slogan "Farmhouse Spring Water, Slightly Sweet" was also well-known. It wasn't surprising that the girl still had mountain spring water now.
Xu An busied herself cooking the self-heating rice and took out two packets of preserved vegetables. To avoid suspicion, Xu An and the others had kept it simple, not opening the vegetable packets. They just had two sausage sticks, accompanied by a packet of preserved vegetables. After all, those vegetable packets were mostly oily and spicy, and the smell could be detected even from a distance. Moreover, the room didn't even have a window. This way, it was flavorful and considered a balanced meal of meat and vegetables.
After eating, Xu An handed a fruit can to Zhou Haimei, and they shared it. They even drank the last drop of syrup before going to the bathroom to wash up, satisfied. The water temperature had already cooled down, neither hot nor cold, just right.
Xu An cleaned up all the garbage on the table, put it into a trash bag, and then stored it in her space. Zhou Haimei had asked about the garbage after the meal. Upon learning about the design of Xu An's backpack, she was so envious that she immediately begged Xu An for the design blueprints, vowing to find a craftsman to make an identical one back at Lighthouse. Xu An smiled and agreed.
After Zhou Haimei finished washing up, she reheated the separately saved water and brought it to Xu An in the bathroom. She could only say that the rent for those bags of instant noodles was not paid in vain; the electric kettle here still worked. She wondered how this small inn managed to sustain its daily electricity usage. But that was none of their concern.
"Mei Jie, don't bother. I'll just wipe myself down," Xu An said.
"No, the weather is getting colder. If you use cold water, even just a simple wipe-down will make you catch a cold. This isn't like upstairs. If you really get sick, you'll suffer." Although Zhou Haimei was a bit naggy, Xu An felt her care. This made her unconsciously think of Xu Yan. She wondered how her mother was doing at Lighthouse.
At that moment, Xu Yan, lying on the sofa eating frozen fruit: "..." Her nose felt a little itchy.
After Xu An entered the bathroom, she first locked the door, then flashed into her space. This was why she didn't let Zhou Haimei fuss. She had no intention of bathing here. Even if she heated the water, wiping herself down in this cold bathroom could still make her sick. Xu An was naturally sensitive to cold. She had pushed the water bucket into the bathroom beforehand and kept the room door tightly shut to store heat inside. This way, it wouldn't be too cold for Zhou Haimei when she went in. But after she finished washing and going in and out, the little bit of heat inside would have long since dissipated. Although Xu An was grateful that Zhou Haimei boiled water for her, she didn't intend to mistreat herself to fulfill Zhou Haimei's gesture of kindness.
Ze Yuan had watched a live broadcast, clearly understanding Xu An's thought process. "Indeed, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea."
"...Do you even know what a woman is!" Xu An said, feeling a bit speechless at Ze Yuan's words. Ze Yuan snorted dismissively, thinking, Who do you look down on? However, the complexity of humans was something even deities had yet to fathom.
After bathing in her space, Xu An tidied everything in the bathroom and then, drying her hair, walked out. The dense fog of night enveloped the room. There was only a tiny top window through which one could see the sky. The thick fog was almost tangible white, attempting to blind human eyes and eradicate humanity entirely.
"Let's go to sleep. We'll leave here as quickly as possible tomorrow," Xu An said.
Zhou Haimei nodded in agreement. "Okay, we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Even if Xu An hadn't said it, Zhou Haimei already had a vague sense of unease, fearing they might not be able to leave so easily.
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Xu An was woken by a series of urgent knocks on the door. Xu An first opened her eyes and glanced at Zhou Haimei, finding her also looking confused, as if she had just been woken up. She immediately knew it must be the innkeeper's people outside. But she didn't know what they wanted or whether they were benevolent or malevolent.
"Who is it?" Xu An had been cautious and locked the door yesterday. Seeing that the door couldn't be opened, the person outside started banging on it. "Get up, get up!"
"What is it?" Xu An's brows furrowed. She had asked yesterday; this place didn't seem to have as many rules as before the apocalypse. There was no set time for check-out. She looked down at her watch; it was only eight in the morning. Even for check-out, they wouldn't be kicking guests out at eight in the morning, would they?
"Stop dawdling and open the door for me!"
Xu An heard the voice of an unfamiliar man and her alert immediately sounded. She became even more reluctant to open the door and wedged her knee against the doorknob. This was to prevent them from acting desperately and kicking the door down.
"Who are you! Why are you knocking on our door!" Xu An was not one to back down, her words laced with a chilling intent.
"Who the hell do you think I am? My luggage got lost yesterday. All the residents here have already gotten up and are in the lobby. Why aren't you coming out!"
"Did you steal our things? You're feeling guilty, so you're afraid to come out and face me?!"
Xu An felt like laughing at this thuggish logic. Setting aside the fact that who would get up at eight in the morning to go to the lobby, but in this apocalypse, were their relationships so good that they could exchange pleasantries?