NOVEL WEB Chapter 16: Both of You, Hold On Tight
Su Ling pretended not to notice and waved to Gu Kai Xuan.
"Where were you playing?" she asked.
Gu Kai Xuan immediately jumped to the floor and ran towards Su Ling on his short legs.
In a childish voice, he asked, "In the shadows near the house, Auntie, I heard a sound inside. Are there zombies again?"
Su Ling reached out and rubbed his small round face, smiling as she replied, "No, it's just a chair that fell over."
Gu Kai Xuan said, "Oh," and then asked, "Where is Uncle Guan Shan?"
"He went out to look for things."
Just as she finished speaking, Sheng Hongye walked in from outside.
His face was gloomy, and he held a slightly deformed crutch in his hand.
Gu Kai Xuan immediately bared his small teeth and happily said, "Uncle, you really found a crutch!"
Geng Hao looked at Sheng Hongye with admiration, nodding his head vigorously.
"Thank you, Mr. Sheng, thank you, Mr. Sheng."
"You're welcome."
Sheng Hongye's expression eased a little as he said to everyone, "Rest well tonight. We'll set off early tomorrow morning."
Li Xueying immediately spoke in a cutesy tone, "Brother Hong, I want to ride in your car."
Sheng Hongye didn't say anything and picked up the fallen shelf, re-securing the door.
As expected, the zombies attacked again at night. The sounds of howling, banging, and scratching kept everyone awake. The noise was unbearable.
Li Xueying irritably covered her ears, and Geng Hao and Liu Yu also tore off a piece of bedsheet to muffle the noise.
Only Su Ling and Sheng Hongye remained calm and composed.
Such nights would occur again in the future, perhaps even worse than here. Only by getting used to such noises could they truly adapt to the apocalypse.
Su Ling tried to imagine the noise as the sound of pleasant raindrops or typing on a keyboard, forcing herself to adapt.
It was almost dawn before she managed to close her eyes for a short while.
During this time, no one asked about Guan Shan's whereabouts; everyone knew what had befallen him.
Liu Yu and Geng Hao became even more respectful of Sheng Hongye.
Su Ling observed everything; as she had said, both men and women admire strength. It's a common human trait, and Sheng Hongye indeed possessed leadership abilities.
The next morning, everything had returned to its original quietness.
After a simple meal, they set off in their cars.
Li Xueying insisted on riding with Sheng Hongye, and Gu Kai Xuan followed his uncle. Su Ling drove with Liu Yu and Geng Hao. Since Geng Hao's leg was still injured, Su Ling asked him to lie down in the back seat, while Liu Yu sat in the front passenger seat.
As soon as the car started, Geng Hao marveled, "Su Ling, this car is impressive. It's so stable."
Su Ling curled her lips, thinking that this young man seemed to have a good eye for cars.
Liu Yu also seemed to understand cars and couldn't help but look around.
"Miss Su, this car should be well-equipped."
Su Ling thought to herself, with one-hundred percent defense and speed, how could it not be well-equipped.
Her response followed his words, "It's okay, I just changed the engine and some small parts."
Liu Yu nodded and said, "No wonder. Miss Su, what medical field are you in?"
Su Ling smiled and replied, "Cardiothoracic surgery."
Liu Yu immediately showed respect. "Being able to work in cardiothoracic surgery, Miss Su's medical skills must be highly advanced."
Su Ling modestly said, "I wouldn't say they're advanced, just basic life-saving and healing."
The three of them chatted casually until they noticed the car in front slowing down.
Su Ling quickly reduced her speed, and the Land Rover came to a stop.
As they got out of the car, they found a nearly foot-wide fissure in front of them, deep and continuously emitting hot air.
The surrounding greenery was also overturned and twisted, showing signs of nature's devastation.
Li Xueying started panicking again.
"Brother Hong, what do we do? The car will get stuck."
Su Ling glanced at the fissure, then at her own wheels, feeling tempted.
With her car, crossing this gap shouldn't be a problem.
The Land Rover should also have decent horsepower, but it hadn't been reinforced. Su Ling wasn't sure if it would get stuck.
Thinking of reinforcement, Su Ling's eyes lit up.
Since she had the ability to reinforce things, she could reinforce Sheng Hongye's car as well.
With that thought, she walked up to the front of the car and placed her finger on the car door.
"Reinforce."
"The success rate is 5%. Item reinforcement failed. Do you want to continue?"
"Continue reinforcing."
The system prompted again, "The success rate is 5%. Item reinforcement failed. Do you want to continue?"
"Continue."
Five times in a row, and still no success.
Su Ling couldn't help but look at Sheng Hongye.
She had always suspected that he was the person her soul was connected to, and now she had a chance to test it out.
"Mr. Sheng, can you come here for a moment?"
Sheng Hongye responded with an "Mm-hmm" and walked over to Su Ling.
"Is there something you need, Miss Su?"
Su Ling mustered her courage and held onto Sheng Hongye's hand.
"Reinforce again."
A crisp sound rang out, and the system gave a clear prompt.
"A character with an 80% compatibility to the host's soul has appeared. Item reinforcement successful. Armor increased by 20, endurance increased by 20, speed increased by 20. Do you want to continue reinforcing?"
Even though Su Ling had suspected it for a long time, she couldn't help but glance at Sheng Hongye again.
She couldn't understand why her soul was so compatible with Sheng Hongye's. Did they share some common interests?
Sheng Hongye was slightly surprised, but instead of pulling away, he found her touch soft and comfortable.
He asked in a deep voice, "What's wrong?"
Su Ling didn't speak but kept silently reciting the reinforcement command. After a moment, Sheng Hongye's vehicle was reinforced to eighty percent. Just as she was about to perform the final reinforcement, her hand was suddenly pulled away.
"Why are you holding onto Brother Hong? Su Ling, do you have no shame?"
Li Xueying, wearing high heels, rushed over in frustration.
Sheng Hongye's face darkened. "Xueying."
"It's clearly her fault, Brother Hong."
Li Xueying squeezed out tears but quickly held them back. She had a tight grasp on the essence of being a scheming woman. Then she covered her chest, breathing heavily.
"Brother Hong, I feel so uncomfortable..."
Sheng Hongye frowned and took out some medicine from his pocket. Li Xueying immediately trembled as she took the medicine and sprayed it into her mouth a few times, gradually calming down.
From subtle facial expressions, Su Ling could almost determine that she was pretending, which disgusted her.
"The crack is so small; our car can pass through. I'll go first."
Su Ling said, then got back into her car.
As she watched him start the car, Liu Yu couldn't help but ask, "Miss Su, is this... safe?"
Su Ling, with her high ponytail flicked back, smiled and said, "No problem, both of you, hold on tight."
She pressed down on the gas pedal, and the sedan shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow...
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