Chương 22: Shangguan Bing Xue

Soon, Bai Zemin had taken the lives of the second group of walking corpses almost effortlessly. The only problem was the consumption of Mana. Currently, Bai Zemin faced the difficult problem that he did not have good control over his own Mana; after all, he had never used or had control over such power.

If he wanted to use his Mana to perform an all-out attack without caring about the consequences, then there was no problem since he did not need to worry about Mana consumption just as he had done against the First Order Blazing Beetle. However, if his goal was to make many weak attacks and with less consumption, then the problem appeared.

To end the lives of those fifteen weak zombies, Bai Zemin had spent approximately 40 Mana points, which was quite considerable since currently his total Mana was 204 points.

Unfortunately, Bai Zemin did not seem to be in luck today as after finishing off that group of five zombies, another group of ten appeared at the entrance and started walking towards him. Some zombies stumbled over the corpses of their own kind and struggled to get back on their feet, while others got stuck in the doorway from trying to enter in a group, blocking the path of entry for those behind them.

Bai Zemin spent a total of 15 Mana points to end the lives of those who had successfully entered and left alive those who got stuck at the entrance blocking the way.

"Although I can temporarily make use of those zombies, if a mutated beast or an evolved zombie appears and lets this group of endless zombies start charging towards here, my little life might be in trouble." Bai Zemin frowned and felt incredibly frustrated.

Lilith, who could only look on without being able to act, was about to give Bai Zemin something when a playful smile rose on her lips and she slowly said, "Apparently you're more appreciated than you thought."

He looked at her confused and with questioning eyes. However, the answer he was looking for came not from Lilith, but from the outside.

The temperature seemed to drop several degrees suddenly and the already cold atmosphere due to the raging storm became even colder. The sound of zombies growling and bodies falling to the ground one after another could reach Bai Zemin's ears even with the ongoing storm.

After about five minutes, the zombies that were stuck were hit by something and their bodies fell limp on the ground to never get up again. On the back of their heads was a small wound the size of a baby's fist completely frozen by a thin layer of ice.

Seeing Shangguan Bing Xue dressed in white slowly walk into the building like an ice goddess, Bai Zemin's expression became a bit complicated.

She looked at him silently for several seconds and observed his condition carefully.

After almost a minute where the two observed each other with different thoughts, Shangguan Bing Xue lightly clenched her pearl-white teeth and took a step forward as if she was fighting against something.

Bai Zemin observed all this in silence. The reason he wasn't afraid that she would want to do something to him was because at the first strange move he could end her life by destroying her from the inside out with his First Order Blood Manipulation; even if she was powerful, she definitely couldn't have higher stats than him.

However, the facts proved that his precaution was not necessary. She crouched down beside him and without a word supported him to stand up.

Bai Zemin quickly picked up the backpack and the few plastic bags with his healthy hand; he put the backpack on his right shoulder and held the bags with his right hand. With Shangguan Bing Xue's help, he slowly stood up. However, he had to grit his teeth to the point where his mouth began to bleed from the embracing pain and the uncomfortable itching under his feet.

When Shangguan Bing Xue moved his left arm around her slender gooseneck to support him, her rain-soaked body shivered slightly and her eyes trembled softly. However, she did not say a word and slowly led him towards the exit.

After reaching the outside again, Bai Zemin was shocked to see over a hundred corpses scattered everywhere. All of these zombies had been killed with a clean shot and their heads only had a small wound that had been frozen with a small layer of ice preventing the blood from escaping from inside.

Obviously to save him Shangguan Bing Xue had no choice but to end the lives of this huge group of zombies by herself. However, one thing Bai Zemin could not understand was why she was alone here and the other two were not? After all, Bai Zemin knew that she didn't like him.

Another thing that was bothering him a bit was why she was here to begin with. After all, the agreement was that he would look for the medicines alone and not join her, Chen He, and Liang Peng's group. So, it didn't make much sense for her to show up at this place when she should be waiting in a relatively safe place where the freezing water wouldn't be able to reach her.

However, the truth was that Shangguan Bing Xue's appearance had gotten Bai Zemin out of a big trouble that in the long run could have cost him his life.

However, seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he also said nothing and focused on supporting the pain he felt with every step he took.

When they passed by the corpse of the giant First Order Blazing Beetle, Shangguan Bing Xue hesitated as if she wanted to ask something but in the end she seemed to be too focused on something else as her teeth were still clenched tightly. Without saying a word, she continued to move forward.

The two walked and the raging storm attacked them mercilessly. Neither of them said anything as they both seemed to be fighting for different reasons and all the willpower they had seemed to be focused on the single goal of moving forward.

The only good thing about all this was that fortunately, the fog had receded quite a bit thanks to the wild charge of the First Order Blazing Beetle and its flames so they could see much better than in the past.

Suddenly a group of fifteen zombies rounded a corner and appeared before the group blocking the way. However, Shangguan Bing Xue casually waved her free hand and fifteen ice pikes appeared.

As if they had a mind of their own, the fifteen ice pikes flew swiftly and the next second they had appeared before the fifteen zombies. The mindless creatures were struck in the head with precision and collapsed lifelessly a moment later.

The group of two had not even taken twenty steps when a mutated dog with brown fur appeared out of nowhere and charged towards them furiously.

The mutated dog's speed was very high, at least 30 or 40 points. A normal person would not even have time to cry out before their throat was ripped to shreds.

However, Shangguan Bing Xue said only one word to end its charge.

"Freeze."

Following the fall of her cold voice, the mutated dog's body stopped dead in its tracks. Using the water under its feet, the beast's body began to gradually freeze until it became a lifeless ice statue.

Seeing this Bai Zemin could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy. If he had the high Mana control that she had his life would be much simpler and he wouldn't have to fear losing all his Mana after several attacks.

However, he was so focused on how powerful and precise her attacks were that he didn't notice how her voice, for the first time since he met her, quivered slightly. She immediately gritted her teeth again as if that simple word had cost her all her energy and continued to support him slowly.

* * *

No matter whether it was Bai Zemin or Shangguan Bing Xue, both of them were soaked from the tips of their hair to the tips of their toes, and if it wasn't because they were both evolved humans with much higher stats than their respective levels they would have definitely gotten sick as a result.

Due to Bai Zemin's injuries, Shangguan Bing Xue had no choice but to move forward at a snail's pace, and by the time the two returned to the gymnasium it had been a little over an hour since they had left the pharmacy.