"I'm sorry?"
"Our party." Liu Zhi repeated. "You don't have a party, right? Every person outside the shelter more or less has a party. Did you lose your party or were they... you know... bitten? In any case, you look plenty strong and we would like to welcome you as our member."
"Why would you straight up recruit a mysterious person in the middle of the forest? Like, isn't that kind of yabai?" I asked him. (Yabai means dangerous.)
"Um, Yong Rui, the thing is... half of our party members were eliminated on our way back to our shelter. We were tasked to procure a mysterious gem bu-" The girl started explaining but before she could say anything else, the other guy covered her mouth.
"Sshh, what are you talking about? Why are you telling him top secret information?"
"But, he'll be part of our party, right? Shouldn't he know why we're recruiting him? If someone approached you in the middle of nowhere and asks you to join them, wouldn't that be weird?"
"She's right." Liu Zhi sighed before turning towards me. "And that's about the gist of it. We were sent to scout a place where a mysterious gem was discovered and it was rumored to enhance cultivation and combat the virus of the infected. We don't know if it would work but orders are orders. In the end, we managed to retrieve it but yesterday, we were attacked by rabid humans fleeing from this forest and lost half of our men. They were on the same cultivation level as yours so they died pretty easily."
"In any case, how did you survive by yourself alone?" The girl asked. "By the looks of it, you didn't have a party for a few days by now, right?"
"I've never had a party, nor am I affiliated with other shelters," I told them as simply as I could. "I'm heading to Ziyou Shelter. If you're heading that way, then you're free to tag along."
One reason why I offered them a hand was because I was probably the reason why half of their teammates died. After all, I was the one who fought with the low-leveled rabid humans in the forest and drove them out unintentionally. They were probably overwhelmed by their numbers that the others died before they could even react properly to the situation.
"So... for the past five years..." The girl trailed off as I gave him a nod.
Well, it's not like I was lying when I said I was flying solo for five years now.
Because of my response, all of them gasped as they gave me a good stare. In their minds, they were probably asking why someone like me could survive the past five years without anyone's help. As for me, I'm just surprised that they weren't doubting everything I said. I mean, was I really that believable?
"What a coincidence! We're heading to Ziyou Shelter too!" Liu Zhi pointed out as he extended his hand once again. "If it's fine with you, can we travel together?"
"Not that I mind," I responded. "Just don't burden me too much."
"What? A mere cultivator in the soul realm would dare say that?" The other man exclaimed as he charged at me.
"Now now, we're both on the human side so I would like it if you don't pick a fight, Blade." Liu Zhi stood in front of him. "Also, Wu Yan, can you take out some of our provisions? We can set up camp here. Would that be a problem? Of course, we'll share some of our provisions, they're just canned goods though."
"So that guy is Blade and the other lady is Wu Yan, huh," I said to myself.
As I relaxed underneath the cloudless and starry skies, the party felt at home as they used the campfire that I've built. Upon closer inspection, I recognized that they looked way more rugged compared to regular people. Heck, they looked way terrible than when I found Yu Sying and Yu Yan. Or maybe, Yu Sying and Yu Yan were well protected by the husband. "If only he didn't turn into a rabid human, huh."
My thoughts were interrupted by the intense aroma of meat and potatoes which was boiling on a pot on top of the campfire I set. I was a bit surprised since I never knew that potatoes and meat are still a thing five years after the rabid human infestation happened. But all my thoughts were flushed down the drain when I received a bowl of boiled meat and potatoes. It might be lackluster in appearance but it's meat and soup so I can't complain. I've never tasted these after so long, after all.
"Here," Wu Yan graciously said as she handed the bowl of soup towards me.
"Is this really meat and potatoes? And also, what kind of meat is this?" I asked, just to confirm. After that incident with the Si Shelter, I didn't want to trust the food handed to me, especially if it's some sort of flesh.
"Yeah, our shelter is known for its agriculture and cattle." Wu Yan enthusiastically said as she twirled her thumbs.
"Wait... are you, by any chance, from Ziyou Shelter?" I gulped. If such was the case, then I wouldn't want to tell them the strange rumors I heard from Yang Chen, the person I saw in Si Shelter who was looking for her daughter.
"Oh, no, we're not actually from there. If I was a sane person then I wouldn't want to go in there either." Liu Zhi fervently shook his head, violently denying my question. "We are from the Red Sea Shelter. Since our shelter was nearby, we were tasked to scout the neighboring shelters as a party of zombie hunters. Aside from hunting down hordes of zombies, one of our missions is... yes, to scout neighboring shelters. Our next destination is towards Ziyou Shelter. Frankly, I wouldn't want to go there."
Yu Yan's eyes then turned warm with delight as she relayed a scoop that I apparently already knew. "You see, there are rumors that most of the children there." She whispered, then she leaned in closer as if she was going to tell me something awful to scare my wits.
Finding the opportune moment, I interrupted her to ruin the fun. "I know, most of the children there are disappearing right?"
Gasp!
"How d-did you know? I thought you weren't affiliated with other shelters. How did you know about the state of Ziyou Shelter?" Liu Zhi exclaimed.
"Let's just say, I have connections. Although I'm not affiliated with any shelters, I know some very important people who tell me these things."
"A lone hunter with connections... and with no party... this guy is no joke." Liu Zhu whispered to himself but I could hear him.