After dealing with those zombies, Mu Ying picked up the scattered copper coins, waited for a while to make sure no more zombies were coming, then crossed the street to the entrance of the noodle shop.
The door to the shop was left wide open, inside was a complete mess, tables and chairs were toppled all over the place, and there were some scattered bloodstains—it looked like a brawl had taken place here.
She had been to this noodle shop quite a few times; it was owned by a couple from out of town, and the food was particularly tasty. While other shops raised their prices, this one had not.
Whenever she came down the mountains or returned and it happened to be mealtime, this place was one of her choices.
The shop had been modified to include a second floor, where the family of three that owned it lived. Their son seemed to be in the sixth grade of elementary school.
Mu Ying remembered that the entrance to the second floor was behind the refrigerator. She walked around it, only to see the ladder that had been propped against the entrance had slid down and was lying on the floor.
Just then, she heard a noise above her head. The cover to the entrance was pushed open, and a head poked out eagerly. When he saw her, his eyes lit up, "Sister Mu, it's you!"
"Yeah, are you hiding up there alone?" Mu Ying set the ladder back up and climbed up.
"Yes, lots of monsters appeared in the shop, and my parents ran away after being bitten by the monsters," Dong Xiaogang said quietly.
Mu Ying sighed. Doomsday had no virtues of respect for the elderly and care for the young. Coddling him like a child would only harm him.
"Those monsters are called zombies. If you are bitten by one, you'll get infected and turn into a zombie. Zombies have no reason and no soul; they are essentially walking corpses. So, your parents are as good as dead."
Tears instantly filled Dong Xiaogang's eyes, he had already had a premonition, "Really?"
"Really," Mu Ying nodded solemnly, "there are many more zombies outside. Without your parents to protect you, you can only rely on yourself from now on. So you need to quickly become strong, carry on for them, and live well."
Dong Xiaogang lowered his head, falling silent for a while, then suddenly, as if he had figured something out, he looked up at her, "Sister Mu, can I follow you then? You are so strong, can you teach me?"
"No, I can't take you with me, and I might not be able to teach you," Mu Ying stated the harsh reality brutally, "I'm going to the South Suburb. With you along, during a zombie attack, you wouldn't be able to run or fight like I can. I'm not capable of protecting you, and you would most likely die."
"This place is relatively safe, and the stored food will last you for a while. It's just that there's not enough water. Before I leave, I'll prepare some for you and then help you unlock your ability. In the next few days, just stay here quietly, explore your abilities on your own, and I'll come back for you from the South Suburb."
"There's a camp in the Forest Park that can fend off zombies, but you have to pay five copper coins per day to stay there. By killing about two zombies, you can afford one day inside the camp. I will take you there, but after that, it's up to you."
"Ability? Do I have an ability too?"
"Have you played video games before? When a person kills a zombie, they can unlock their own abilities just like game characters. After learning, defeating a single zombie isn't hard."
Mu Ying glanced outside the window, "Shh, there's a zombie over there. I will draw it over first."
Mu Ying gently tapped on the glass to catch the zombie's attention; once she attracted it to the door, she moved to the floor of the mezzanine entrance and knocked, step by step luring it towards the entrance.
Then she repeated the trick, using an entanglement technique to bind it. She then jumped down and used a hoe to break its limbs and gagged its mouth, thus, practically eliminating its ability to harm people.
Dragging it up to the mezzanine floor, Mu Ying handed Dong Xiaogang a kitchen knife she found in the shop, "Come on, chop off its head."
Dong Xiaogang hid in a corner, covering his mouth tightly, shaking his head.
This was Aunt Zhang from the corner store, how had she turned into this, it was too frightening!
"If you don't even dare to do this, in these troubled times, you're bound never to survive; one day you'll turn into a monster like this, and then you'll be utterly worthless to save," Mu Ying spoke without a hint of fluctuation in her voice, "Hurry up or the vines will disappear! You only get one chance."
These past few days of living alone had matured Dong Xiaogang considerably. He couldn't understand why Sister Mu, who used to gently pat his head, had become so cruel, but her look told him that if he didn't do as she said, she would indeed stop looking after him.
Dong Xiaogang approached, sobbing and sniffling, as Mu Ying, without any explanation, shoved a kitchen knife into his hand and pointed at the zombie's neck, "Chop here, with all your strength."
"Don't look at me. If you don't chop, I'm leaving."
Dong Xiaogang closed his eyes and raised the knife with trembling hands.
"Open your eyes, look carefully, then chop. In the future, no one will help you chop off a zombie's hands and feet and hold it down for you!"
Mu Ying's stern voice nearly scared Dong Xiaogang into dropping the knife.
He opened his eyes, filled with tears. In fact, the tears blurred his vision so much that he couldn't see the zombie clearly in the dim light, but he clenched his teeth and chopped down.
"Not enough, again, with force!"
With the first chop, more followed. Dong Xiaogang's chopping became faster and more powerful.
"Okay, that's enough," Mu Ying pulled him back and wiped his tears, "See, killing them isn't so hard. Their necks are as fragile as a human's."
"After you kill a zombie, it drops copper coins. Copper coins can be used to pay the fee to enter a safe area. You're in luck, there are three; go pick them up and keep them," Mu Ying said, pointing at the copper coins on the zombie.
Dong Xiaogang silently picked up the copper coins and watched in surprise as the zombie's body turned to dust and disappeared.
"After you pick up the drops, the body disappears, and the person who was turned into a zombie can finally rest in peace. You must have activated your Player Manual by now, right? Open it up and look, then choose your Profession to gain an ability like mine," Mu Ying said as she moved aside, picking up the pile of empty mineral water bottles in the corner and using the Water Creation Skill to fill them.
"Make sure to carefully read the introduction to Attributes. Attributes are very important for your Profession. I suggest you choose a Profession that suits your Attributes, and secondly, Professions with ranged attack abilities will also be safer for you. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."
Mu Ying did not pry into his Attributes, as they are quite personal to each individual.
After the water was ready, Dong Xiaogang remained silent, still looking at his Player Manual.
Mu Ying did not insist. Having done her part, she sat down quietly to rest, hoping to recover her Mana Value as soon as possible.
Hours passed, and Mu Ying's Mana Value was replenished. She stood up to stretch her limbs. "I'm leaving now. Hide yourself properly, and take this time to train your Profession abilities."
Dong Xiaogang crouched by the wall and didn't move. Mu Ying didn't mind, checked the surroundings, then opened the compartment's hatch, planning to go down.
After going down, she took the ladder down and set it against the wall.
The hatch cracked open again, "Sister Mu..."
"Yes?" Mu Ying looked up at him.
"Thank you, and... I chose Forest Patrol..." With that, he quickly closed the hatch.
"The kid's come around, that's good," Mu Ying's lips curled into a smile, "But what Profession is Forest Patrol?"