To Su Mo, descriptors like tall, short, fat, and thin seemed quite adequate to describe them.
They surrounded the soldier, clamoring:
"You can’t eat this rice!"
"Exactly, we worked our butts off to find it, and now it’s just a knock at the door for that stinking woman Bai Ling!"
"Give it back to us!"
The group chattered back and forth, and Su Mo got the gist of the situation.
When Bai Ling saw them, her body shivered, and as she faced Rong Bai’s now stern expression, she stood up in panic to explain:
"I didn’t, the rice is mine. They not only wanted a piece of the action but kept putting their hands on me."
She resembled a delicate flower in the evening breeze, softly weeping and recounting her grievances.
"Bullshit! What kind of killing power does your superpower have? Could you have survived if we hadn’t taken you to find supplies?"
"And a Dual Ability User at that, you’re just a real b*tch."
The indecent remarks escalated, each worse than the last. Rong Bai’s aura became heavier and heavier. When Su Mo looked at him, she realized that, when spoken to nicely, he seemed like a simpleton, but when serious, he was as intimidating as Lu Chen.
The four of them quickly grew silent, the pressure from the presence of a Level 3 Superpower User made it almost impossible for them to breathe.
Rong Bai, with a stern face, glanced at Bai Ling, then personally took the rice from the soldier’s hand and threw it in front of the four, "Scram"
Just one word was enough to scare them into quickly grabbing the rice and running off.
Bai Ling was left with only embarrassment. Even though someone was there to console her, she knew she had likely made a bad impression in the eyes of those of higher status.
She wanted to step forward to explain, but the oppressive aura made it hard even for her to breathe, so she silently sat back down.
Su Mo sighed. It was rare for the soldiers to want to eat rice and it would be disappointing for their enthusiasm to be quashed, so she tugged at Lu Chen’s arm and spoke softly, "Take it out now."
"Okay," Lu Chen rubbed her head, leading her by the hand to stand before the soldier.
Two bags of rice appeared out of thin air on the ground, and seeing this, Su Mo also took a box of pickles from her System Bag.
With a smile, she called out to the soldiers whose hands were empty and spirits were low, "Go wash them again. Two bags of rice is more than enough for everyone to eat their fill."
The soldier looked at Rong Bai and, upon receiving his nod of approval, excitedly stepped forward, even calling a comrade to wash the rice.
"Thanks, brother," Rong Bai expressed his gratitude to Lu Chen with a heavy voice.
All Lu Chen did was pat his shoulder, then he took Su Mo back to their seats. As they passed by Bai Ling, she stood up especially to bow to Lu Chen, "Thank you, Admiral Lu, for helping me."
She remained bent over for a long time without hearing a voice above her, and when she finally looked up, Su Mo had taken the person’s place.
With a cheery smile, she said to her, "Next time don’t confiscate other people’s things, okay?"
When Bai Ling looked at Lu Chen, she realized he hadn’t paid her any attention at all. Seeing that Su Mo had finished speaking, he took her hand and walked away.
Bai Ling clenched her fists, her head hung in embarrassment.
With many mouths to feed, one bag of rice was simply washed by the military’s Water Element Superpower Users and poured directly into a pot to boil with water, while the other bag was stored in the car.
Su Mo and her companions had their own utensils, so they didn’t use the iron mess tins like the other soldiers.
Piping hot porridge paired with some pickles was extremely comforting eaten in the cool weather, and everyone around could not help but let out satisfied sighs.
Everyone ate their fill that night, and afterward, to prevent any unnecessary trouble, the fires were extinguished, plunging their side into darkness.
Rong Bai assigned ten soldiers to keep watch through the night, along with a Spiritual Superpower User, positioned around to detect any disturbances at once.
Su Mo and Lu Chen returned to their tent. Not far off in the ordinary people’s convoy, the fires were still brightly burning.
Tomorrow there would be a fierce battle, so everyone went to bed early.
In the middle of the night, two soldiers on guard duty stood together, not far away, a bush stirred.
"What is it?" someone immediately raised their gun and moved forward.
"Probably the wind. If there were zombies, our superpower users would’ve noticed," one of them said.
The man with the gun swept the area in front of him to confirm it was just the wind before returning: "Probably nothing."
In the bushes, two oddly shaped zombies were crawling on the ground, slowly disappearing from sight.
Su Mo was once again awoken by Ling Ye’s crying. She heard Su Niang softly soothing up and Zhao Changsheng’s grumbling from the tent next door, then the curtain beside her was pulled back.
She got up to have a look but was stopped by Lu Chen grabbing her hand.
"Where are you going?"
"To the toilet," Su Mo turned and whispered, "You go back to sleep, I’ll be right back."
"Put on a jacket," the man let go and sat up, handing her a small coat. Su Mo took it, bent over, and went outside.
There was Su Niang, coming out of the tent holding Ling Ye, feeling somewhat embarrassed when she saw her: "He’s fussy about going to the toilet."
Su Mo looked at Ling Ye, whose little face was red with the effort to hold it in, and said, "It’s not safe outside, I’ll take him."
"Oh, okay," Su Niang tried to put Ling Ye down, but the boy was clinging to her collar and wouldn’t let go, which made things awkward.
Su Mo approached Ling Ye with a smile, her eyes flashing coldly: "If you don’t want to comply, pee on yourself and sleep outside."
This threat indeed worked, and Ling Ye obediently got down from Su Niang’s arms, glared at her resentfully, but Su Mo didn’t mind. She offered her soft palm instead, and after hesitating for a moment, the pressure in his belly made him compromise and take her hand.
"Sister Su Mo, could you please take me too?" Bai Ling emerged from a small tent, her face also showing embarrassment.
Su Mo turned to look at her with a slightly diminished smile: "Just call me Su Mo."
Bai Ling faltered, her hand clutching the hem of her clothes and then awkwardly said, "Su Mo, could you take me as well?"
Su Mo turned her back and ignored her, taking Ling Ye to the small bushes opposite.
Bai Ling stomped her foot, but driven by physical needs, she followed.
Su Mo casually found a slightly higher bush for Ling Ye: "Go on in."
He let go of her hand and walked in, seeming afraid she might peek, even going a little farther than necessary.
"Don’t go where I can’t see you," Su Mo frowned and instructed.
"I’ll go in and watch him," Bai Ling smiled at her, lowering her head and trotting inside.
Su Mo waited in place; it was dark around her, but her vision was unaffected. Not far away, a clump of bushes moved slightly.
Her heart skipped a beat, and alert, she asked in a low voice towards the bushes beside her, "Done yet?"
There was no response from inside the bushes, Su Mo couldn’t help but call out again, "Ling Ye?!"
"Not yet," a soft, aggrieved voice made her relax a bit, and she once again turned her gaze to the same bushes, a Tang Blade appearing in her hand.
The bushes stopped moving, but Bai Ling, who was with Ling Ye, suddenly screamed.
She ran out without even pulling up her pants properly.
Su Mo grabbed her: "Where is he!?"
"In... inside! There’s a monster!" Bai Ling trembled like a leaf, barely able to speak.