Chapter 373: Chapter 363: Encountering a Supermarket

No wonder when Aunt Hua woke up groggily in the middle of the last night, she saw Qiao Jin wasn’t sleeping beside her. So this was what she was off doing.

Aunt Hua knew exactly how valuable these things were. The only reason they were able to travel so far in a single day was because of them.

To anyone, these things were their very lifeline. If this girl, Qiao Jin, had stolen them, their owners would be ready to fight her to the death.

And they were still on the Zhao Brothers’ territory. This was a deadly predicament!

Even someone as composed as Aunt Hua was so frightened she could barely stay on her feet.

But then she thought about how this girl had braved such great danger to get these things, all for her, and a complex, indescribable feeling welled up inside.

"Aunt Hua, what are you thinking? I didn’t steal these things. They were mine to begin with."

Tang Mo, of course, knew what was going through Aunt Hua’s mind.

"If you don’t believe me, go ask them," Tang Mo said, gesturing toward Zhao Huan.

Aunt Hua followed Tang Mo’s gaze and her eyes met Zhao Huan’s.

As the leader, Zhao Huan was always keeping an eye on the group’s dynamics. He had naturally seen Tang Mo hand the cloth sack to the woman beside her.

Seeing how close Tang Mo seemed to the woman, Zhao Huan treated Aunt Hua with much more respect, giving her a friendly nod.

This gesture left Aunt Hua a bit confused. She had clearly seen Zhao Huan’s eyes land on the cloth sack, yet his friendly smile was much warmer than it had been yesterday.

Yesterday, Zhao Huan had been polite enough as a leader, but his gentle expression had been strictly business. Having lived for so many years, Aunt Hua could still clearly see the coldness deep in his eyes. But today was clearly different.

"What did you do last night?"

Aunt Hua now suspected that Qiao Jin must have done something last night to get these things and cause such a change in the others’ attitudes.

’It couldn’t be...’

Looking again at the contents of the cloth sack, Aunt Hua’s expression soured. True, that young man Zhao Huan was a good person, someone dependable in this apocalyptic world.

But Qiao Jin was so young! How could this be allowed!

’That scoundrel, Zhao Huan! Seducing a young girl... I must have been blind to have brought Xiao Jin to this team. Wasn’t this just sending a lamb to the slaughter? I’ve failed you, Xiao Jin.’

"Xiao Jin, you..."

Aunt Hua grasped Tang Mo’s hand, her face filled with heartache.

In reality, Qiao Jin was already 20 years old. But because she was so thin and small, Aunt Hua always thought of her as a child who hadn’t yet come of age.

The moment Aunt Hua’s expression changed, Tang Mo knew what she was thinking. The situation was so absurd she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Aunt Hua, what’s going through your head? I earned these things with my own skills. I didn’t do anything wrong."

"Really?"

Aunt Hua was skeptical. The skills of a young girl like Qiao Jin... she had never actually seen them.

But then she remembered the food in Qiao Jin’s backpack. She must have been surviving fairly well in this apocalyptic world.

"Of course it’s true. You’ll find out eventually."

Without giving her a chance to refuse, Tang Mo stuffed the cloth sack into Aunt Hua’s backpack.

She really couldn’t fit anything else in her own pack. She couldn’t just carry it in her hands the whole time, and it wasn’t really necessary for her anyway. She was better off giving it to Aunt Hua.

Tang Mo felt a real connection with Aunt Hua and her sons, Da Bao and Xiao Bao. As long as it was within her power, she didn’t mind looking out for them.

Tang Mo didn’t actually intend to hide her spiritual power, but using it to deal with these Red-eyed Mutant Beasts right now would be far too sensational.

She planned to just lay low with the group while searching for news of Mr. Qiao and Mrs. Qiao. She had no desire to waste time playing the hero.

Seeing Qiao Jin’s confident demeanor, Aunt Hua started to believe her, no matter how incredible it all seemed.

Still, she secretly resolved to keep a closer eye on Xiao Jin from now on. ’I can’t let a good girl like her be taken advantage of.’

"Sister, is it yummy?"

Da Bao had watched his "sister" Qiao Jin stuff a whole bag of things into his mother’s backpack. After the two finished talking, he couldn’t help but ask.

"Do you want some, Da Bao?" Qiao Jin asked.

Da Bao had started calling her "sister" more and more naturally lately. Looking at him, Tang Mo was reminded of Yangyang, and she grew very fond of the well-behaved, sensible child.

"Da Bao won’t eat."

The little boy shook his head with a serious expression.

"Da Bao wants Mommy to have something to eat."

The boy, only a few years old, was already sensible. He knew his mother usually went without so he could eat, and all he wanted was for her to have something for herself.

"Good boy, Mommy’s not hungry."

Aunt Hua’s heart melted. Hearing her son’s words made all the hardship and exhaustion of their journey worthwhile.

Thanks to the morning’s developments, the group made incredibly fast progress.

But they didn’t travel idly. Having used up all their food the previous night to make bait, the Zhao Brothers’ top priority was now to find more supplies.

Going hungry themselves wasn’t a big deal, but running out of bait with no food to make more of it? That would be a true disaster.

So, whenever they passed a supermarket or convenience store, they had to go in and take a look.

Everyone knew these places had probably been picked clean long ago. Any store that still had food would surely be surrounded by a horde of Red-eyed Mutant Beasts.

If a place was empty on the outside, it was bound to be empty on the inside, too.

But what if they missed something?

Clinging to this faint hope, they didn’t let a single roadside supermarket or corner store go unchecked.

Even if there was no food, they might run into people willing to join their group and pay the entry fee, which would be excellent.

It wasn’t just the Zhao Brothers; the rest of the group was even more thorough. They swept through the streets like a swarm of locusts, ensuring not a single scrap of food was left behind.

"Hey, Little Bro, look at that supermarket! With so many of those red-eyed freaks outside, there has to be something good inside!"

The sharp-eyed Zhao Yu had spotted a small supermarket around a corner not far away.

The small supermarket’s doors were shut tight, with numerous Red-eyed Mutant Beasts milling about outside, completely blocking the entrance.

"Should we go check it out?"

Seeing the closed supermarket, the eyes of both Zhao Tian and Zhao Yu lit up. A place like that was bound to have something good left inside.

Zhao Huan glanced at the number of Red-eyed Meat Dragons outside the supermarket. There were about seven or eight of them.

He thought for a moment.

In the past, even if that supermarket held good supplies, he would have led the team away without a second glance, taking a detour instead.

Seven or eight Meat Dragons would require an enormous amount of bait. With their previous bait only lasting a few minutes per piece, it would have been far too risky.

What if the supermarket didn’t have much food inside? He wouldn’t have dared to take that gamble.

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