Chapter 22: A Fleeting Stirring of Emotion

All the way up, Chu Xiu quickly reached the thirty-second floor.

As soon as he stepped out of the stairwell, he heard faint laughter and conversation coming from a room deep inside.

Chu Xiu glanced over as he walked by, showing a slightly surprised expression.

This room had changed greatly since he had first come here. The rubble, dust, and wooden boards in the living room had all been cleared away, replaced by a complete set of tables and chairs stacked together to form a simple dining table with cleaned porcelain bowls placed on it.

Not far from the dining table, ten mattresses were laid out, matching the number of members. Chu Xiu remembered these mattresses were all moldy before, but now they were covered with brand-new sheets, hiding the dirty pads underneath. This was clearly Xu Hang’s handiwork.

The balcony was also sealed with waterproof covers, so at least they wouldn’t have to suffer from cold drafts at night.

That somewhat delicate perfumer, Song Zhiping, had somehow found two pots of slightly wilted greenery and was arranging them carefully.

At this moment, Shen Zhuo and his group had all returned and were inside a room, eating and chatting happily. Yun Lu was in their midst, smiling joyfully.

This momentarily touched Chu Xiu’s heart.

This simple, shabby room, in contrast with the outer world, unexpectedly gave him a sense of "home" warmth.

"People are indeed social animals. Although I’ve made the best decision with reason, there’s still some inner yearning."

Of course, Chu Xiu was not a sentimental person, and this momentary emotion disappeared quickly. He never regretted his choice; the simple truth is, you can’t have both fish and bear’s paw.

Compared to this insignificant warmth, greater power is his pursuit.

"Ah! Chu Xiu!"

Just as he was about to leave, a voice stopped him.

Somehow, Yun Lu had noticed him from the room, enthusiastically got up, and ran over with her bowl in hand.

She held the bowl up before Chu Xiu, and inside was finely sliced fresh red meat.

"Guess what we discovered on our outing today? A live deer! This damn place actually has deer! We were lucky to hunt one, so we don’t have to worry about food for the next two days!"

"Try it, it’s much better than rat meat!"

Looking at the fresh meat before him, Chu Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly and heard a dissatisfied voice sound inside the room: "He’s not even a part of our team, why should he get the meat we worked hard to hunt?"

Chu Xiu glanced over; it was a short-haired girl named Wu Xinyi, a member of Shen Zhuo’s combat group.

Her appearance was ordinary, but she had a clean and straightforward masculinity that gave a rather reliable feeling.

Clearly, she wasn’t pleased with Chu Xiu’s freeloading behavior.

Others were also casting sidelong glances at him, seemingly saying, "Weren’t you quite the big shot before? If you’re so great, don’t eat our food!"

Yun Lu looked a bit troubled and turned to Shen Zhuo, who replied blandly: "Although Chu classmate is not one of us, he is our cooperative partner, he just needs to pay to eat."

Upon hearing that, Yun Lu breathed a sigh of relief: "That’s good, let’s use my portion first."

After hearing those words, although Shen Zhuo said nothing, his face visibly darkened, while others naturally seemed even more displeased.

Chu Xiu nonchalantly took it: "Thanks, how much for this meat?"

"One Cause and Effect Point per pound," Shen Zhuo said.

Yun Lu whispered: "No need, you took care of me so much before, this little bit of meat is nothing."

Chu Xiu nodded, taking the plate.

"Tsk." A disdainful laugh sounded from the room.

Chu Xiu didn’t pay it any mind and turned to leave.

Yun Lu watched his back, her face showing some disappointment, and then slowly shifted her gaze away.

"Xiao Yun, why are you being so nice to that guy? You don’t have a crush on him, do you?" Wu Xinyi said unhappily.

"Ah! No! I’m just grateful," Yun Lu quickly waved her hands.

Wu Xinyi sighed: "He does look decent enough, but he’s not particularly handsome, and his personality is terrible. He’s antisocial and selfish, so why bother with someone like him?"

Xu Hang chimed in: "Exactly, what era is this? Still doing that solo act, and as a support profession no less. If that lone wolf develops well, it’s a miracle."

Yun Lu awkwardly smiled: "Chu Xiu isn’t that bad."

Wang Long "hmph"ed: "Have you forgotten during our cooperation, he still hasn’t given us our share? At least he took advantage of a few dozen Cause and Effect Points!"

"Yeah," Li Shan added, "people like that are extremely selfish, not sharing a bit with us."

These two clearly had great resentment towards Chu Xiu.

At this moment, Guan Ke, who had been silent, finally spoke: "Is there a possibility that he’s actually a High Grade Professional, just concealing his true grade?"

This statement caused everyone to show thoughtful expressions.

Indeed, Chu Xiu’s actions resembled those of a High Grade Professional, and if so, it would make sense of his behavior.

"Probably not," Li Shan spoke, "I’m classmates with him. His Energy Level was only 0.8 before departure."

"Oh," Guan Ke shook his head somewhat disappointedly, "then it seems he’s just shortsighted."

Wu Xinyi also said: "Xiao Yun, I’m not criticizing him specifically, if he was truly strong, then fine, but he’s just relying on his special profession for some early advantage. He is just a support profession; the further it goes, the more apparent his lack of Combat Skill will become."

"He doesn’t seize his period of advantage to make alliances with combat professions, instead acting all high and mighty, isn’t that foolish?"

Yun Lu said nothing, but she visibly showed displeasure.

Guan Ke came out to smooth things over: "Alright, Xiao Yun already said she didn’t mean that."

Shen Zhuo nodded: "True, let’s mind our own business, what others do is their own concern."

Seeing Shen Zhuo speak up, everyone stopped pursuing the topic, and began to chat casually, with the atmosphere gradually becoming lively again.

They were unaware that all their chat had been heard by Chu Xiu.

It wasn’t that he was eavesdropping on purpose, it’s just that his Spirit and Constitution Attributes were too high.

Of the three Basic Attributes, Spirit and Constitution can both influence reaction speed and Perception Ability to a certain extent.

Chu Xiu’s Spirit was already high and after subsequent upgrades, his Perception Ability far exceeded that of others.

Listening to people bad-mouthing him, his heart didn’t stir. To be honest, given his style, if nobody criticized him, that would be odd.

If roles were reversed, Chu Xiu would be harsher on himself than they were. Compared to him, these people are quite dignified.

So he calmly continued eating to restore his Physical Strength.

But at that moment, he suddenly heard Guan Ke, who rarely spoke, say: "Our harvest seems to be diminishing."

This remark instantly cooled the lively atmosphere.

After a while, Shen Zhuo said sullenly: "Today’s luck was not too good, but after leaving the apartment building, the harvest was alright. We not only caught a deer, but also got an Equipment drop."

"It shouldn’t just be a matter of luck," Guan Ke spoke seriously, "I suspect those creatures have a fair amount of intelligence. They’ve already realized someone is hunting them, thus becoming more cautious. Future hunting may be more challenging, even requiring ventures to regions far from the apartment building!"

As Guan Ke seriously analyzed the situation, Chu Xiu’s mouth involuntarily twitched.

There’s no such intelligence, it’s simply because I killed most of the Corpse Demons, and the bodies were absorbed, going unnoticed by them...

However, this girl’s keen insight is better than the others.

"So, what are you suggesting?" Shen Zhuo’s voice sounded.

"My suggestion is that if we plan to explore further distances, we need better Equipment, otherwise it’s too risky."

Guan Ke paused: "It’s also time to discuss Bone Armor manufacturing with Chu Xiu."