However, they did discover five nests of mutated doves, and both Yan Ming and Zhuang Xiao each managed to obtain an edible, moderately irradiated mutated bird egg.

On the way back to the shantytown, a few people’s joy was written all over their faces—they clearly had a fruitful harvest.

Even the guards who had gone out with them today were visibly elated.

They had hunted a total of eighteen mutated doves, and more importantly, found an E-grade energy stone and an F-grade energy stone in the stomachs of those birds. On top of that, they confirmed three moderately irradiated mutated doves were edible.

Their luck today was simply outrageous.

It had been years since anyone had heard of a guard squad getting this lucky in the mulberry woods.

Zhuang Xiao also saw a group of sturdy young men, all armed, tightly surrounding someone in the center. The person in the middle was carrying what was clearly a large mutated dove.

Judging by that scene, it was definitely edible.

However, most people were only carrying green leaves and looked pretty indifferent—neither happy nor sad.

Still, since they had carried those back from so far away, it was likely the leaves were also edible.

This showed that venturing farther to forage, while risky, wasn’t without its merits. At the very least, the chances of finding edible food were significantly higher.

When they reached the fork in the road, Yan Ming and Yan Hu personally escorted Huo Xiao and Zhuang Xiao home. They stayed for a short while before quietly leaving under the cover of darkness.

After all, they had gained quite a bit today, and they were worried someone with ill intent might target Huo Xiao and Zhuang Xiao.

When Zhuang Xiao got home, she threw her bag onto the table, didn’t even bother taking off her shoes, and flopped straight into her little bed.

They had walked for four hours with barely any rest in between. Her hands and feet no longer felt like her own—especially during the second half of the journey back, her whole body was just numb with exhaustion.

So by the time Huo Xiao brought dinner into the room, Zhuang Xiao was already snoring softly.

Huo Xiao set down the bowl, gently spread the blanket she had bundled around herself, and covered her properly. After finishing one bowl of porridge, he went to the yard and pulled out the thistle plant again for another test.

Sure enough, some of its leaves were edible.

Since it had been dug out whole, it was clear Zhuang Xiao intended to plant it.

The soil Yan Ming had brought over was nearly used up, but there was still enough to wrap the roots.

Given how Zhuang Xiao was so determined to find more plants, he figured they’d better find a way to get more planting soil soon.

After dealing with the thistle, he carefully put away the mulberries and leaves they had gathered that day.

Then he found a box specifically for storing the energy stones.

Right now, those were the most valuable things in their home.

It was still early, so he sat back down at the workbench and began repairing the old fan that Yan Ming had brought over last night. As he worked, Zhuang Xiao’s soft snores echoed faintly behind him.

It was deep into the night, but his heart was calm.

Everything was moving in a good direction.

---

Zhuang Xiao woke in the middle of the night to pitch darkness.

Because the curtain in the bedroom had fallen off, moonlight streamed through the window, enough for her to make out the shapes of things around her.

She raised her hand and glanced at the time. It was two in the morning—six or seven hours had passed. No wonder her stomach was growling like crazy.

She tiptoed toward the door, careful not to wake Huo Xiao.

Feeling her way through the dark, she eventually found the bottle of nutrient solution, twisted off the cap, and was about to take a few gulps to fill her stomach.

Suddenly, click—the bedroom light turned on.

Huo Xiao stood in the doorway, calmly watching her from the yard.

For some reason, Zhuang Xiao felt like a thief caught red-handed. She quickly explained, “I… I didn’t eat dinner last night…”

Ugh, why was she even explaining? That nutrient solution was bought with her own credits.

Still, she felt super guilty.

Seeing Huo Xiao say nothing, she added softly, “I… I’m a bit hungry now…”

Looking at the flustered girl, Huo Xiao let out a quiet sigh and said, “There should still be warm porridge in the clay pot. Drink that instead.”

He had stayed up late because he was worried Zhuang Xiao might wake up hungry in the middle of the night—so he kept the porridge warm.

When Zhuang Xiao heard that he’d even saved food for her, she quickly screwed the cap back on the nutrient solution and ran off to get the porridge.

She opened the pot. Green porridge.

It’s that one. Again. Still that one.

Fine. Green porridge it is!

Huo Xiao hadn’t woken up for any particular reason—he just felt awful, broke out in sweat, and then woke. Just in time to see Zhuang Xiao sneak out, so he instinctively followed.

Zhuang Xiao downed the bowl of porridge in one go. It still had that weird taste, but at least her stomach felt much better.

She gently patted her now-silent belly and said, “Alright, I’m going back to sleep.”

She was still exhausted—every muscle in her body ached.

Based on past experience, it would take at least ten days to half a month before her body could adapt to this level of physical labor.

Back then, just one yoga class had left her sore for a week.

It was only after another round of “torture” from the yoga instructor that the soreness began to ease—and only then did her body slowly adapt to the daily stretches that pulled her limbs and joints in every direction.

Still, her physical condition now seriously needed improvement. Otherwise, forget eating meat regularly—just surviving would be tough.

She didn’t wait for Huo Xiao to respond. She was just saying it in passing anyway. She squeezed past him and went back to her bed.

Stretching out fully, she sighed inwardly: Nothing beats lying down.

Huo Xiao silently turned around, turned off the light, and lay back down.

---

Maybe because she had already gotten so much sleep earlier, Zhuang Xiao found it hard to fall asleep again.

In the hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, she seemed to hear a sound in the room—strained and pained.

Startled, she jerked awake.

It was… Huo Xiao.

She jumped out of bed and flipped on the light.

On the bed, Huo Xiao’s face was flushed, sweat soaking his forehead. His damp hair clung in strands to his skin, his eyes were shut tight, and he was groaning unconsciously.

What was going on?

She was an outsider and she was totally fine—why did this wastelander get “wrecked” just from going out once?

Was she supposed to take him to the hospital? She didn’t even know where it was.

Wait—Yan Ming. She had Yan Ming’s contact.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about whether she was disturbing him. She immediately called.

Yan Ming was woken up, grumbled a bit, glanced at his watch—Zhuang Xiao?

She wouldn’t contact him this late without a reason. He wiped his face and answered quickly, “Sis, what happened?”

Relieved to get through, Zhuang Xiao let out a breath and said, “Huo Xiao… I think he’s sick…”

After hearing her description, Yan Ming also let out a sigh.

Sigh, same as his brother.