Liu Weian stood in silence for a long time, the scene before him lingering in his mind. He had no idea when he got home—his thoughts were consumed by the look in that little boy's eyes, that gleam of pure joy and fulfillment. In that final moment, all his pain, hunger, cold, despair, and resentment had vanished. All that remained was the taste of the steamed bun in his mouth.
Something clogged Liu Weian's chest, an unbearable weight he couldn't release. He wanted to scream, but didn't know how. One word kept echoing in his mind: poverty. Then another: wealth. And then, a verse of poetry surfaced unbidden—"Behind the vermilion gates, meat and wine go to waste, while out on the road lie the bones of the frozen poor." He collapsed onto his bed and drifted into a restless sleep. When he awoke, it was already the next day.
Get up. Brush teeth. Wash face. Pick up parcels. Buy breakfast.
These were the mundane tasks that began each morning. After breakfast, Zhao Nannan and her daughter went off to study while Liu Weian donned his helmet and logged into the game.
Lu Yan had already arrived at the cemetery when he logged in. She was clearly more eager than he was.
"Zombies are tough to fight," she commented.
Liu Weian glanced at her. The dust and grime on her clothes made it clear she'd already had her own encounter with them. He made no remark.
Lu Yan had never seen him kill a zombie before, so she approached the task cautiously. She lured one out and slashed at its neck with a swipe of her sword, then immediately turned and fled. The zombie hopped after her silently but swiftly—its leaps were long and eerie. If it were nighttime, the sight alone would have terrified most people.
"Come—" she began to shout, but stopped short.
An arrow whizzed through the air and struck the zombie squarely in the jaw. Its lower face exploded in a burst of gore, half its head and neck obliterated. Lu Yan stood in stunned silence for several seconds, eyes wide.
One-shot kill.
The second time, she brought two zombies. She hadn't even run ten meters before both collapsed, arrows embedded precisely beneath their jaws, their skullcaps the only thing left intact.
The third time, she lured three. Then four. Five. Six.
But once the number exceeded six, even Liu Weian began to falter. It may have looked effortless, but in truth, hitting the jaw of a rapidly moving zombie required total concentration. One slight deviation would render the shot useless.
A sword flashed. Lu Yan's short blade struck a zombie's neck—just an inch in, it got stuck. Zombie bodies had no true weak spots; every part was solid as stone. Even with a bronze weapon, she couldn't cut deep.
The zombie shrieked and switched targets, lunging at Lu Yan. Its ten nails, sharp as daggers, shimmered in the air like deadly silver needles. Just as they were about to strike her, another arrow tore through the zombie's neck.
Boom—
Flesh flew in all directions. The creature collapsed in a heap. As Lu Yan scrambled to her feet, she saw the seventh zombie take an arrow and fall. Zombies were tenacious—they didn't die instantly. Even after dropping, they would twitch and shudder for several seconds before going still.
Liu Weian had used a spirit-imbued arrow for every shot. These precious arrows were consumed quickly. He tried using rapid-fire arrows at one point, but they weren't effective—two shots just to bring down one zombie, even when aimed at the eye socket. Against large numbers, it wasn't viable. And normal arrows? Worthless. It took at least six to kill just one.
Fighting together made things much easier for Liu Weian. As long as there were no more than eight zombies within thirty meters, they couldn't get close to him. Lu Yan, however, had a much harder time. She had to constantly dodge between zombies, risking a bite with every misstep. Fortunately, Liu Weian's spirit arrows always came through in the clutch.
At first, Liu Weian felt a little guilty. But Lu Yan brushed it off, saying this was child's play compared to the threats she'd faced alone. To her, this was just a warm-up.
He shut up after that.
He knew well—Lu Yan was fiercely proud, as stubborn as he was.
The morning flew by in tense, coordinated battles. They downed around 130 zombies—an impressive haul. Lu Yan was clearly pleased. She counted every meat sac with care, mentally calculating the day's income. Even while eating lunch, she wore a rare, genuine smile—nothing like her usual distant self.
"Do you eat lunch every day?" she asked.
"Not before. Only started this month," Liu Weian answered, momentarily stunned.
Zombies lay strewn across the field. Neither of them spared a glance.
"Do you know?" Lu Yan said, staring at her food with a calm voice. "This is the second time in my life I've had lunch."
Liu Weian saw something flicker in her eyes—sorrow. She didn't notice his gaze and continued softly:
"I was born in the slums. Life was hard, but I had my parents, grandparents, siblings—we were poor but happy. Every day was full of laughter. But I always yearned for more. I didn't want to spend my life in a crumbling house, wearing patched-up hand-me-downs, eating only once a day, always hungry—even waking in the middle of the night because my stomach ached. One day, I ran away. Crossed that gate and stepped into the world I dreamed of. But that's when disaster struck.
"A rich young man took a liking to me. He wanted me to be his mistress. I refused. When he tried to force me, I hit him with a lamp and killed him. Then I ran. Down street after street until I couldn't breathe. Until I was in a place where no one knew me. That day, it started to rain…
"I don't remember how I got home. But home was gone. Burned to the ground. My grandparents, parents, older siblings—all dead. Only my younger siblings were left. The village's able-bodied men had all been slaughtered. The rest—old, sick, weak—blamed me. Called me a curse. Even my siblings hated me. They never called me 'sister' again. Not once.
"After that, I worked like a madwoman. Every coin I made, I spent on the village. Never on myself. Spending even a single copper on myself felt like a sin. But what could I do alone? I wanted to lift them out of poverty. But no matter how hard I worked, I couldn't even feed them all."
She fell silent.
At that moment, Black Ox and the others arrived with their creaking ox-carts. Yellow Ox and Stone Ox hadn't seen Liu Weian in days and rushed up happily. Liu Weian greeted them warmly but couldn't muster a genuine smile. Lu Yan's story still weighed on his heart.
That afternoon, well-fed and re-energized, Lu Yan was flying through the zombie horde. Her movements were like a dancer's, leading three zombies at a time and making it look effortless. Liu Weian stayed steady—one arrow per zombie, no waste, no showboating. By nightfall, they'd taken down another 150.
Then came the cleanup.
Lu Yan's approach to loot was very different from Liu Weian's. He kept all his strength seeds and meat sacs—never sold them. She, on the other hand, only used strength seeds when absolutely necessary, and rarely opened meat sacs—she sold almost all of them.
Liu Weian sat her down for a serious talk. If she really wanted to help her people, she couldn't rely on conventional means. The odds were zero. The only path forward was to become powerful.
A powerful fighter could kill more monsters, earn more money. A weakling, unless miraculously lucky, would always struggle at the bottom. Before, Lu Yan might have dismissed such logic. But after earning over a thousand gold in just a few days working with Liu Weian—a sum that would've taken her years alone—she was convinced. When he proposed opening meat sacs, she only paused for three seconds before nodding.
Luck wasn't on their side that morning, but the afternoon made up for it. Two black iron items, a plant seed, and a corpse core.
The black iron spear was heavy and dark, about 40 jin, with a razor-sharp tip—an excellent weapon. The other item was a pair of Blacklight Boots. Only then did Liu Weian realize Lu Yan had been wearing plain straw sandals. No wonder she moved faster than him, even in bronze boots—was she a cheetah in a past life?
He handed her the boots without a word.
The plant seed was likely fruit-bearing—about the size of a pinky nail. Ever since labs confirmed that seeds from World of Beasts weren't affected by real-world radiation, prices had skyrocketed. Fruit seeds were especially prized. One recently sold for a jaw-dropping 121 gold.
This seed could easily fetch a hundred.
Lu Yan, always aware of market trends, recognized the value instantly. She knew she'd struck it rich today.
As for the corpse core—it was rare beyond words. Liu Weian had only seen two after all his time grinding zombies. He gave it to Lu Yan without hesitation. She was visibly embarrassed—two valuable items in one day, both hers.
"We'll be working together for a long time," Liu Weian said with a smile. "We need rules. Whoever can use something keeps it, no matter the price. If neither of us needs it, we sell. Sound fair?"
Lu Yan could only nod.
Black Ox and company arrived right on time—like always. Sometimes Liu Weian wondered if the man could read the stars.
Once the bodies were carted off, the day's work was done. Lu Yan logged off. Liu Weian still had more to do—he had to craft more spirit arrows. He was down to 260, and with today's usage rate, that wouldn't last tomorrow.
One hour later, he had crafted 55 more.
Then, finally, he logged off.