Chapter 29 She has always been looking out for all of us.

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Yue Bai Shi’s words made Yi Zhe stop in his tracks.

A trace of surprise showed in his deep-set eyes.

It was not only him. Even the two mercenaries he had brought along wore expressions of utter disbelief.

They almost wanted to pry open Yue Bai Shi’s head and see what on earth was inside it.

This group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people was already living so desperately. Shouldn’t they be making use of every second to scavenge as much as possible?

For the past several days, Yi Zhe had been patrolling the area where the Shi family’s group had settled, always with a few mercenaries at his side.

In a sense, he was abusing his authority for personal reasons, showing the Shi family a small measure of favoritism.

After all, there would certainly be many difficulties for the Shi family’s people if they went out scavenging.

If he happened to run into Yue Bai Shi and the others while on patrol, he could lend them a hand.

But Yue Bai Shi and the others rarely went out scavenging.

He hardly ever saw the family at all.

For several days, Yi Zhe had worried about how the women of the Shi family were faring.

Unable to hold back any longer, he had come to take a look today—only to discover that Yue Bai Shi had actually arranged for them to begin doing hard labor.

It was one thing for her to put the women of the Shi family to work. She even intended to recruit Yi Zhe and his men.

In a fit of exasperation, Yi Zhe led the two mercenaries into the Shi family’s tarp shelter and carried out the large stone.

It was quite a large, heavy rock. No wonder Yue Bai Shi had wanted several grown men to move it.

With a stern expression, Yi Zhe called over the other two mercenaries.

The three men rolled up their sleeves and carried several more of the larger stones out of the shelter.

“Put them there.”

Yue Bai Shi pointed to several spots with a long stick as she watched Yi Zhe, the good-hearted man.

There was no way Second Sister-in-Law Shi and Nong Yasi could have moved those large stones on their own.

Yue Bai Shi’s abilities were still insufficient. Just keeping the women inside the shelter alive was already difficult enough for her.

If she also had to move so many massive rocks, she would be stretched far too thin.

Yi Zhe had truly done her a great favor.

“Stop putting these people from your family through so much.”

After setting down the stone in his hands, Yi Zhe pressed one hand against his shoulder and swung his arm a few times.

He glanced into the shelter. Only small fragments of stone remained.

Then Yi Zhe picked up a cardboard box and set it down in front of Yue Bai Shi.

“This is a little powdered milk I exchanged for points.”

The members of Yi Zhe’s family were either dead or missing. He was the only one left.

With so many points in his possession, he actually had little use for them.

Thinking of the child in Shi Mother’s womb, Yi Zhe was still somewhat worried.

He had used his points to exchange for some powdered milk in the Great City, along with several small packets of biscuits.

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He crouched in front of Yue Bai Shi and looked at her mountain-like bulk. In the manner of an elder brother, he said earnestly, “If anything happens, come find me. I’ll try to patrol around here more often for the next few days.”

“Yue Bai, Shi Yi used to dote on you the most. You still need to go out and scavenge properly. Stop making trouble.”

Yue Bai Shi pressed her lips together. She had not wanted to answer Yi Zhe at all.

But then she caught the faint scent of blood between her nostrils. It was coming from Yi Zhe.

She turned and took out a bottle of disinfectant.

“Clean the wounds on your body first.”

Yi Zhe froze for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the bottle of disinfectant that had been pressed into his arms.

Yue Bai Shi, however, had already turned her flatbed handcart around and gone into the shelter to inspect the piles of broken stone at the back.

She left Yi Zhe to Second Sister-in-Law Shi and Nong Yasi.

After all, as a Great Shaman, she was skilled at fighting, not at socializing.

It had to be said that spending an entire day clearing away the rubble had produced at least a little progress.

At the very least, a large open space had now been cleared inside the Shi family’s shelter.

And, astonishingly, flagstones had been laid across the ground.

Yue Bai Shi raised her head and looked at the towering pile of rubble. Beneath it, there should be a flagstone path leading directly to the public restroom.

Going farther upward would lead to the bridge.

“Yue Bai, I’m leaving now. Tomorrow I’ll come take you all scavenging.”

Yi Zhe’s voice came from outside the shelter.

Yue Bai Shi waved impatiently without even turning around.

In the wasteland, anyone who did not scavenge—unless they were a mercenary or an ability user—would seem extremely conspicuous.

That was why Yue Bai Shi had not refused Yi Zhe.

Yi Zhe, still uneasy outside the shelter, walked back up.

He looked up at the rubble that had already been piled as high as the bridge deck.

Frowning, he asked, “Yue Bai, what else are you planning to do?”

Second Sister-in-Law Shi groped her way forward and said apologetically, “Yue Bai plans to clear a path so that those of us who are old, weak, sick, or disabled can get to the public restroom more easily.”

“She has always thought about everyone.”

“Captain Yi, it isn’t that we don’t go out scavenging. It’s just... the food you gave us last time was enough to keep us going for a very long time.”

Second Sister-in-Law Shi was fiercely protective of Yue Bai Shi. She did not want anyone to misunderstand her.

But she did not tell Yi Zhe that, during this period, they had actually eaten nothing at all.

Nor did she tell him that, strangely enough, they had not felt hungry in the slightest.

Yi Zhe said nothing. He merely gave Yue Bai Shi a long, searching look.

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The two mercenaries behind him let out a scoff.

“Second Sister-in-Law, your family’s young mistress still doesn’t seem to understand what matters most.”

Anyone who regularly followed financial news would know of the Shi family.

Shi Father had built his fortune from nothing and, in barely more than twenty years, had become one of the richest men in the country.

Shi Yi might have suffered a little hardship as a child, but when he grew up, he joined the garrison forces, which suited his temperament perfectly.

Yue Bai Shi, however, had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had been spoiled from childhood, and the Shi family had raised her with an utterly self-centered personality.

That was why people in the wasteland often mocked her, saying that the young mistress still had not learned to change her temper.

Just as now, Yi Zhe was the captain of a mercenary group and was obviously looking after the Shi family.

He was willing to take the Shi family’s people scavenging, with the entire mercenary group serving as their backing.

So why was Yue Bai Shi being so cold?

Yi Zhe turned around, a hint of warning in his eyes.

The mercenary behind him still wanted to say something, but in the end he lowered his head in indignation.

The expression on Second Sister-in-Law Shi’s face grew even more awkward.

“Captain Yi, Yue Bai, she...”

“It’s fine. Yue Bai is still young.”

Yi Zhe reassured Second Sister-in-Law Shi, then turned and left with the two mercenaries behind him.

After they had gone some distance, he turned around and shoved the bottle of disinfectant in his hand into the arms of one of his subordinates.

“Think before you speak next time.”

Chen Yong was still indignant and was just about to voice his dissatisfaction with Yue Bai Shi when he looked down and saw the unopened bottle of disinfectant in his hands.

“Huh?”

Chen Yong’s eyes widened.

“Disinfectant?”

And it had not even expired.

To mercenaries, medical supplies like this were practically life-saving elixirs.

Disinfectant in particular.

When mercenaries went out to fight mutant beasts, they inevitably suffered scrapes and other external injuries. They went through disinfectant extremely quickly.

But without it, an infected wound could turn them into zombies.

The merchants in the Great City had recognized the opportunity and driven the prices of medical supplies sky-high.

Mercenaries, in particular, had to pay several times more points than ordinary people for disinfectant and other medical necessities.

Most of the time, the supplies were unavailable altogether.

Did Yue Bai Shi really not understand what one liter of disinfectant meant to mercenaries?

Otherwise, how could she have been so lavish after they had merely helped her move a few stones?