As the woman slowly narrated her story, Ning Yu finally remembered.
It must have been during that mission to kill 50 regular zombies.
She had used the terrain to her advantage, killing all the zombies that had surrounded her, completing the mission in the process.
And the woman in the hotel had witnessed it.
Unexpectedly, this had inspired her, motivating her to break out of her hotel.
This woman, who appeared so frail, had managed to survive until now—it was nothing short of a miracle.
But that was all there was to it; Ning Yu didn't feel anything particularly special about it.
Perhaps it was just that Ning Yu had once again "saved" this woman, which meant a great deal to her.
Beside them, Shen Yiyue listened silently.
While she sympathized with the poor woman's ordeal, she seemed to be contemplating something else.
Perhaps finally becoming aware of herself, the woman suddenly noticed the nauseating smell coming from her body.
She seemed to transform back into a human being, regaining her basic sense of shame:
"I'm... I'm sorry, everything here and my body smell terrible."
The woman slowly stood up, looking at her tattered clothes that barely covered her body.
She managed to cover her private parts with her hands, though fortunately, they were all women here.
"Those men..."
"We killed them all."
Before the woman could finish asking about those villains, Ning Yu cut in with her answer.
The woman wasn't particularly surprised by this news, as she had noticed the blood on Shen Yiyue's blade and the dagger Ning Yu had threatened her with earlier.
"I have some food hidden away that I never told them about. Consider it my thanks—I'll take you to get it."
The woman bowed deeply to Ning Yu, expressing her gratitude.
Ning Yu politely averted her eyes from the woman's exposed body and said:
"Oh? Alright, thank you for the trouble."
Hearing this, the woman's expression showed relief, as if being able to repay Ning Yu felt natural to her.
Then the woman walked out of the room that had been like a nightmare to her.
Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue followed—free food was free food, after all.
The woman felt around the bottom of a cabinet, found a key, and used it to open the door to the training center's printing room.
As soon as the door opened, they saw snacks, candy, and boxes of water stored inside—quite a substantial amount.
If the woman hadn't foolishly opened the door for that man, she probably could have survived here for a long time.
Unfortunately, Ning Yu's storage space couldn't hold all of it, only a small portion, and that was after they had consumed some of their previous supplies.
Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue began taking inventory of what they would take.
Seeing the two already gathering supplies, the woman said to them:
"Take whatever you want... I'm going to find some clothes, I really can't..."
Ning Yu nodded in response, and the woman left.
She quickly came across the bodies of the two men lying in pools of blood. Though she couldn't see the third one, she knew he must be dead too.
Without hesitation, she began stripping the clothes from the men's bodies.
This was a training center, a tutoring facility—there were no spare clothes here.
She hadn't brought any other clothes when she left the hotel either.
The woman took the bloodstained clothes she had stripped from the men and went into the training center's women's bathroom.
Though the power was out, the water was still running, and she planned to clean herself there.
"Finally... finally this nightmare is over."
The woman collected cold water from the tap in the bathroom.
First, she removed all her clothes, then used a water bottle to pour water over herself from head to toe.
Without soap or shower gel, she could only scrub her body with her hands.
It was as if her body had become the filthiest thing in the world—she scrubbed vigorously while crying.
It became difficult to tell whether the water on her face was tears or tap water.
She planned to clean her body thoroughly before changing into the dead men's clothes.
As for the bloodstains, she would have to wash one set while wearing the other.
Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue had nearly finished gathering supplies.
Their resources were now fully replenished—at least Ning Yu's storage space was packed to the brim.
Ning Yu thought to herself that with all those Points she had, it would be nice if she could upgrade her storage space.
Unfortunately, she couldn't find any upgrade options in the store.
"We're done here, let's go."
Ning Yu said to Shen Yiyue, having no intention of further helping the pitiful woman.
There were still plenty of supplies left here, enough for her to survive for a while longer.
Shen Yiyue didn't say anything and followed Ning Yu as they prepared to leave through the main iron gate they had entered through.
At that moment, the woman suddenly emerged from the bathroom and called out to them:
"Please... excuse me..."
Their footsteps paused at the sound of her voice.
"What is it?"
Ning Yu turned her head, fixing her amber eyes on the woman.
She had managed to clean most of the filth from her body and was wearing one of the men's clothes, with an unwashed bloodstain still visible on the chest.
The cleaned-up woman, though without any makeup, still possessed a certain beauty.
No wonder those men had targeted her.
The woman seemed hesitant but finally gathered her courage and asked Ning Yu:
"Please, could I... could I come with you?"
"No, I can't look after you, and you're of no use to me."
Ning Yu rejected her coldly without hesitation.
"Although I saved you, your life belongs to you, and you need to fight for it yourself now."
The woman hadn't expected such a blunt rejection, though she hadn't really been hopeful to begin with.
Walking in this apocalyptic world, she had no skills and couldn't offer any value.
Her previous workplace skills were now completely useless.
She showed a dejected expression but fully accepted the outcome, then asked another question:
"Then... could I at least know your name?"
"Ning Yu."
Ning Yu had no intention of hiding her name.
"Ning Yu... Ning Yu... what a beautiful name, thank you."
The woman murmured, bowing deeply to her as tears fell from her face to the ground.
"Thank you for giving me the courage to live twice. I will cherish this chance."
"Take care."
Ning Yu replied briefly, then took Shen Yiyue's small hand and led her away.
Long after they had gone, the woman still maintained her bowing position, though the two could no longer see her.
Arriving at the underground parking lot, Ning Yu unlocked the motorcycle.
The two mounted the motorcycle one after the other, with the silver-haired little girl leaning against Shen Yiyue's back as usual.
"Let's practice a bit more before hitting the road."
Shen Yiyue nodded slightly, then carefully asked a question:
"Ning Yu... am I useful to you?"
She seemed to be referring to what Ning Yu had said to that woman.
But looking at her face, there was a barely perceptible hint of panic.
Hearing this, Ning Yu immediately rose from the back of the motorcycle, then knelt and wrapped her arms around Shen Yiyue's neck.
She brought her head close to Shen Yiyue's face from behind.
"Eh?! What are you doing, Ning Yu?"
Shen Yiyue was caught off guard by the sudden attack, her pretty face turning red.
Ning Yu showed a mysterious smile and whispered in her ear:
"What do you think?"