Regardless of the commotion outside, Park Su and Xu Nuo remained quietly in their room, one cultivating, the other drawing talismans.
As for the other espers, valuing their lives, they were unlikely to seek out danger. Indeed, their guesses were correct; many in their group heard the noises outside but not one ventured out.
At most, they glanced through the window to confirm the zombies' disinterest in them before returning to their rest or tasks.
Thus, Cheng Mingxu's previous plans ultimately came to naught; his team fought throughout the night, and he could clearly see that the zombies seemed bewitched, completely ignoring Xu Nuo and Park Su's group, focusing their aggression solely on his own.
The night's battle left Cheng Mingxu utterly exhausted, but thankfully, Xu Nuo kept his word, arriving with Park Su at dawn to provide support.
Once Xu Nuo and Park Su took over, Cheng Mingxu felt significantly relieved, and he finally caught sight of his beloved, whose combat prowess was indeed remarkable, deepening his infatuation with Park Su.
After Park Su dealt with most of the zombies, Xu Nuo immediately gathered all the team members, informing them that he planned to stay for two days due to accepting a protection mission for Cheng Mingxu. However, he assured them that they wouldn't need to engage in combat, as the mission might involve facing zombies beyond their capabilities. He would compensate them with a certain amount of zombie crystal nuclei for their two-day delay and also hire Ge Qing, Lu Shang, and Lü Xia along with Shi Lei to assist.
Initially, there was some confusion among the team about Xu Nuo's decision to stay, especially given the zombie attack they had experienced the night before. Staying one more day meant one more day of danger. However, learning that they wouldn't have to fight, could stay with the wounded, and would be compensated for their time, it seemed little different from a paid vacation in the pre-apocalyptic world.
Hence, with no real objections, they accepted his proposal. Shi Lei was particularly enthusiastic about being included again, though aware of the inherent dangers, his trust in Park Su and Xu Nuo's capabilities, seen in previous encounters, led him to join Ge Qing and Lu Shang in their blind faith.
For Xu Nuo and Park Su, this defensive engagement wasn't particularly challenging. They were mostly dealing with zombies drawn by the scent of the wounded. After deploying isolation and purification talismans, there were few zombies coming from their direction, with only sporadic disturbances from other directions, which were promptly dealt with by Park Su and Xu Nuo, leaving them relatively idle at first.
Later, when Park Su and Ge Qing realized the zombies approaching were of lower grades, they assigned this task to Lü Xia and Shi Lei, ostensibly for training. Whether it was truly training or an opportunity to slack off was known only to them, but Lü Xia and Shi Lei eagerly took on the challenge, while Ge Qing and Lu Shang supported them, ensuring their safety from the sidelines.
If Cheng Mingxu had merely suspected the previous night, the situation with Xu Nuo and Park Su today confirmed his suspicions that they possessed something that could render them invisible to zombies. Such an item was immensely appealing. Cheng Mingxu grew curious about what could possibly make zombies overlook them, allowing them to attack only his group.
If he could possess such an item, wouldn't his future expeditions be far easier? He even pondered that Xu Nuo's prowess might be linked to this mysterious object. If he could claim it, could he not reach Xu Nuo's level of power?
Could he then surpass his father? And if he did, wouldn't the leadership of S Base be within his reach?
However, Xu Nuo's formidable strength made him wary. Yet, his obsession with power wouldn't let him abandon his inquiries. Soon enough, he sent someone to spy on Xu Nuo's activities.
As soon as Cheng Mingxu's people arrived to investigate, Xu Nuo had already noticed, but he had no intention of concealing the talismans around him. After all, he planned to promote these for profit.
Moreover, this man had once severely harmed Park Su. Since he couldn't retaliate physically, extracting more money was a way to provide some comfort to Park Su.
However, what Xu Nuo truly desired was to throw S Base into chaos, preferably toppling the Cheng family from their position of power.
From his observations, Cheng Mingxu was obsessed with power; losing it would be worse than death for him. If Cheng Mingxu could never claim leadership of S Base, it would cause him even greater distress. Xu Nuo then recalled Cheng Mingxu's elder brother, Chen Mingzhang.
Though they had no direct conflict or interest, Xu Nuo was willing to assist anyone who could make Cheng Mingxu suffer. Moreover, if the brothers were to feud, it would only drain the Cheng family's strength. By nurturing a force within S Base, Xu Nuo could potentially see that force take control.
However, he was not well-versed in the current dynamics of S Base and had no clear idea of what force to support, yet he believed the plan was feasible. He decided to try and stir some trouble for Cheng Mingxu before he left S Base upon his return.
Since there was no special measure to hide the talismans, Cheng Mingxu's spies quickly discovered that the absence of zombie attacks was due to the isolation and purification talismans.
When Cheng Mingxu learned this, he was quite taken aback, never expecting Xu Nuo's true identity to be that of a Taoist priest!
Before the apocalypse, Taoists were often seen as charlatans, and even those with genuine skills were considered mere geomancers, adept at reading Feng Shui but not at combat. To think that someone like Xu Nuo, with an extraordinary combat ability and the ability to use his crafted talismans to mask their presence from zombies, was quite a revelation.
This sparked some interest in Taoism for Cheng Mingxu, but he knew that no matter the offer, Xu Nuo wouldn't teach him these techniques. Their relationship was strained, marked by mutual animosity and rivalry in love. However, he believed there must be other, more skilled Taoist priests in the world, whose abilities would surpass Xu Nuo's.
After all, Xu Nuo appeared quite young; his mastery of Taoism in such a short time suggested there must be others with even greater prowess. Hence, he saw no reason to humble himself before Xu Nuo for learning Taoism when he could cultivate his own force to find an equally or more capable Taoist.
Moreover, Cheng Mingxu felt that approaching Xu Nuo would likely result in nothing but humiliation. Since that was the case, why should he subject himself to such treatment? Nevertheless, he still wanted to acquire some of those talismans, understanding that without them, his team would struggle post-Xu Nuo's departure.
With the talismans, his team could rest better, allowing them to gather more resources with renewed vigor.
He had initially thought that making such a request would put Xu Nuo in a difficult position, or that Xu Nuo might refuse to sell to him. Surprisingly, after just conveying this message, Xu Nuo responded, expressing willingness to sell his precious talismans, though at a steep price, leaving it to Cheng Mingxu to decide whether to buy.
The reason given was that the materials used to make talismans that could isolate zombies were not the same as those for ordinary talismans; they were rare, and thus, expensive since he was essentially using one less with each sale.
Cheng Mingxu had braced himself for refusal, but now, with Xu Nuo willing to sell, he was less concerned about the materials; if lost, he could just spend time finding more. This trip's greatest gain was finding an energy stone, which would be used by a novice esper, but he was confident in gaining their loyalty.
However, even with his preparation, when Xu Nuo named the price for the exchange, Cheng Mingxu felt a pang of pain. One container of supplies for two talismans was harsh, but after some hard bargaining, they settled on three talismans for one container of supplies.
After acquiring six talismans, Cheng Mingxu calculated that even with the gambling losses, the supplies they gained from this expedition were pitifully small.