"Why are you following us?" Chen Mu finally had the time to get a clear look at the two people in front of him.

The girl was probably around the same age as himself, wearing a dirty white T-shirt that had not been changed for a long time, just like everyone else, including Chen Mu.

The boy's face looked noticeably young, wearing the uniform of Ziwei High School, seemingly either in the first or second year.

The girl was tied up on the ground, showing neither anger nor sorrow, as if resigned to her fate, not struggling anymore. However, no matter how many times Chen Mu asked, she refused to speak.

This put Chen Mu in a dilemma. They wouldn't talk no matter what, but he couldn't just kill them like that.

But letting them go?

He was not willing to do that either.

Besides, who knew who they were and what they were capable of? What if they went back and brought trouble to him with reinforcements?

The boy seemed less steadfast, wanting to say something but hesitating because of his silent companion. He looked to both sides and pleaded in a low voice, "Senior sister..."

The girl seemed to soften and sighed before finally speaking, "We really didn't mean any harm. We just wanted... to steal some food."

"Why don't you go to the cafeteria to find food? Weren't you around there before?" Chen Mu asked.

"The cafeteria is the stronghold of the students from Yizhong. We've had a lot of trouble with them, and we dare not go in again." The girl's face showed clear anger as she spoke.

"What's your name?"

As Chen Mu asked this question, a pleasantly surprised voice came from behind, "He Ying?"

Zhao Xiaoyan rushed over with a puzzled expression on her face, "You're the one following us?"

"He Ying?" The girl obviously didn't expect to encounter someone familiar and looked surprised.

"You know each other?" Chen Mu asked.

"He Ying, from Class 7. She's my childhood friend and neighbor, my closest friend," Zhao Xiaoyan said. Earlier, Chen Mu had asked Zhao Xiaoyan to stay away for safety and had even given her a hand grenade just in case.

It was only after the battle here was over that Wei Dalei greeted her, and when she came over, she unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

"Friends?"

Wei Dalei patted his chest, feeling relieved. Luckily, he didn't hurt her just now; otherwise, it would be hard to explain to Zhao Xiaoyan.

"Yes, she's the sports committee member of Class 7, has won many awards in sports events, and is a famous figure in the school. Her fame is not inferior to Dong Junwei. You two must have heard of her," Zhao Xiaoyan said, glancing at the two companions.

Chen Mu and Wei Dalei exchanged glances and shook their heads at the same time.

In Wei Dalei's eyes, there was probably only one girl, Zhao Xiaoyan, unfortunately, he had no proper way of expressing his affection, silently loving her without even knowing her closest friend.

As for Chen Mu, he barely had much interaction even with his classmates, let alone students from other classes."I'm impressed by you guys," Zhao Xiaoyan said, rubbing her forehead. Then, she turned to He Ying and asked, "How come you're here?"

He Ying's usually expressionless face showed a hint of embarrassment for once. "We have a few companions, and our food is running out, so we came out to find something. Coincidentally, we encountered your group and thought..."

"Why didn't you just come and talk to me directly?"

"I didn't know it was you, and... the people we encountered before weren't... very nice, so..." He Ying explained.

Zhao Xiaoyan looked back at Chen Mu, feeling a bit hesitant. "Chen Mu, He Ying is actually a good person..."

"Since it was a misunderstanding, then it's okay," Chen Mu said, relieved to confirm that the other party wasn't some wicked person. What made him willing to believe in He Ying, besides Zhao Xiaoyan's endorsement, was the fact that she didn't abandon the male companion and fled by herself during the previous encounter.

With her abilities, if she didn't want to save her companion, Chen Mu might not have been able to stop her.

"Right, right, just a misunderstanding, hehehe..." The male companion felt the atmosphere easing up and broke into a happy smile.

Chen Mu removed the "shackles" from He Ying's hands and feet. After the recent battle, he had noticed that her abilities seemed to focus on speed and enhanced jumping, something akin to the martial arts' lightness skills. However, her direct combat abilities were quite limited, which explained her tendency to flee.

Rubbing her sore wrists and ankles, He Ying slowly stood up, but her gaze kept wandering over Chen Mu's weapons. Clearly, she was very curious about his abilities, but they were not yet familiar enough, and after what just happened, it wouldn't be appropriate to ask directly.

"He's called Sun Yuan, a freshman in high school, and his ability is enhanced hearing," He Ying introduced the male companion.

"Hello, senior brothers and sisters," Sun Yuan said, feeling a bit shy yet excited.

His performance just now was quite miserable, with no contribution whatsoever, merely being a burden to He Ying, and he appeared to lack determination.

But Chen Mu didn't look down on him just because of that.

If begging for mercy were the only way out, Chen Mu would not hesitate to do so. Moreover, Sun Yuan's final action showed that he still had some loyalty in his heart.

Zhao Xiaoyan smiled and said, "You're quite similar to me. I have enhanced olfactory senses. Both of us have enhanced senses among the five senses."

Sun Yuan seemed accustomed to flattering others and immediately started complimenting, "Being able to have some connection with Senior Sister is truly an honor..."

"Chen Mu, Wei Dalei," Chen Mu also introduced his own people.

He Ying nodded, considering it as a greeting. Then she thought for a moment and said, "You're really formidable."

"The formidable one is Old Wei."

"You are all strong. No wonder you can snatch food in Yizhong's territory," He Ying said with some emotion.

"We have encountered people from Yizhong too, but they didn't seem impressive at all. Just a few empty threats were enough to scare them away," Zhao Xiaoyan remembered Chen Mu's acting during the day and couldn't help but chuckle.

However, He Ying shook her head helplessly. "I guess you might have encountered only a small team sent out by them to search for food. Many people from Yizhong have survived, and quite a few of them have powerful abilities. However, those people are not good folks; they act superior and always send ordinary people to do dangerous tasks."

Chen Mu sighed. It had only been a few days since the apocalypse began, and humanity was still struggling to survive, yet these people were already establishing a hierarchical system.

At this moment, he felt somewhat fortunate to have met He Ying. It seemed she had more knowledge about the outside world.

The nine students from Class 4 of Grade 12 had been living relatively well so far, but they were somewhat isolated from the rest of the school.Now it appeared that there were quite a few survivors in Ziwei High School. Without timely information, they might be at a disadvantage in the future.

Having encountered He Ying now, Chen Mu couldn't afford to miss such an opportunity.

However, before he could ask, He Ying took the initiative and asked, "How did you two know that we were following you from behind?"

She still had some confidence in Sun Yuan's hearing ability and couldn't quite understand how the two of them could detect her and Sun Yuan from such a distance and successfully ambush them.

Chen Mu counter-questioned, "Can I ask first why you didn't just steal outside the cafeteria and had to follow us all the way here?"

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