Nan Xing left him behind and went back inside the house, where she spent some time dealing with Lin Li’s corpse.

She quickly burned it crudely with fire to remove all identifying features and threw it down the well, sealing it with stones.

She hypocritically bowed towards the well and returned to her room. While eating biscuits, she checked the belongings of the unfortunate guy she had found.

She opened the letter, and inside, there was a string of addresses, including the address of the Cracked Stone Farm.

With this address, Nan Xing could safely assume that the unfortunate guy outside wasn’t Lin Li’s brother. Lin Li had been entrusted to the Cracked Stone Farm personally by her brother, so there was no need for an address. This person was probably sent by her brother to find Lin Li.

There was no return address on the envelope, so Nan Xing put it into her space casually.

Next was the mysterious metal box. Nan Xing was filled with anticipation; maybe it contained a cure for the zombie virus.

Taking precautions, Nan Xing carefully opened the box.

“Huh.” The box was actually empty.

She couldn’t believe it, so Nan Xing turned the box upside down and shook it. It was truly empty. There was nothing inside.

However, on the back of the box, Nan Xing found a line of text: “Kukas Biochemical Laboratory TA-579 Resuscitation Agent.”

As soon as she finished reading, the text disappeared as if it had never appeared.

She quickly took out a piece of paper and a pen to record it. This seemed to be a hint in the game.

The laboratory might have this agent, and the name sounded related to healing.

She suspected that the two access cards were keys to this laboratory, and more specific information might be decrypted from the USB drive.

For now, she put this matter aside and refocused her attention on exploring the forest.

She had to find water or a substitute liquid to survive for a few more days.

Her supplies were already organized, and she had stored some tools and materials she didn’t need immediately in the attic, freeing up some space in her inventory.

Nan Xing loaded up a shopping cart with some water storage equipment and weapons and entered the forest.

The midday forest still gave off a creepy vibe. There were many types of birch trees – white, black, and red birch. When she observed through binoculars, she didn’t see any obvious white birch trees, so she would have to rely on luck to find either black birch or red birch.

The wheels of her small cart rumbled on the ground, and the terrain here was relatively even, making her journey quite smooth.

The forest was dense, primarily consisting of pine trees. Nan Xing smiled; generally, pine trees and birch trees grew together.

Sure enough, after about ten minutes of walking, Nan Xing spotted birch trees mixed among the pines, and they were quite dense.

Quickly, Nan Xing took out her prepared containers – pots, bowls, basins, and ropes. She tied the containers to the trees and used her knife to cut a 5-6 cm deep notch in the tree, inserting the pre-cut magazine hardcover into the notch for drainage.

She repeated this process, arranging all the tools she had brought along. It was spring, the perfect time to collect birch sap.

After setting everything up, Nan Xing left some marks around and continued to explore her surroundings cautiously. She didn’t want to venture too far from her current location because, after all, there were real wild animals in the forest.

With birch sap as a food source, she would be able to sustain herself for quite some time.

At the moment, she only had compressed biscuits and had eaten two large potatoes; the rest of her food supplies remained largely untouched.

*Gurgle, gurgle…*

Her stomach began to growl, and Nan Xing stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth, savoring it carefully as she moved forward.

According to Lin Na’s diary, her father had a small cabin in the forest for hunting purposes.

They had arrows at home, so there might be a bow in the cabin.

Nan Xing hoped she could find a crossbow or something similar.

Following the hints in the diary, Nan Xing soon found the forest cabin. However, the condition of the cabin sent shivers down her spine.

There were at least ten zombies surrounding the cabin, all stationed at the front door and on both sides. She couldn’t determine if there were any zombies behind the cabin.

Fortunately, the cabin was more than three hundred meters away from her, and she could still run.

Nan Xing put away her binoculars, preparing to leave.

“Don’t move, little girl.”

Something cold pressed against Nan Xing’s head, and a voice whispered in her ear.

Nan Xing’s heart skipped a beat, and she swallowed the candy with a gulp. Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes.

A gun, it had to be a gun!

“Now, raise your hands and slowly turn around to face me.”

Nan Xing complied with her instructions, turning around with a terrified expression.

*Bang!*

A gunshot rang out.

“Ahhhh!”

Nan Xing instantly covered her head and crouched down, tightly shutting her eyes. “Please don’t kill me, waaah!”

“Hahaha, it seems that girls from your country are quite timid.”

Amidst the merciless laughter, gunshots rang out one after another. She felt no pain, which allowed Nan Xing to cautiously open her eyes.

This was a team of players, comprising individuals of various races, armed with excellent equipment. Most of them were in their prime, and even those who weren’t had well-defined muscles that made it clear they weren’t to be trifled with.

Nan Xing was able to deduce that they were a player team from what the woman said, “your country.”

In this island nation, there were people of all skin colors, all considered indigenous. The neighboring Eagle’s Nest Quarry, for example, was run by brown-skinned people.

Did this player group search their vicinity?

Nan Xing’s mind raced. She had mostly erased the traces of the farm, right? Wait, there was still that wall of boxes! How should she explain that?

“Get up, little girl. We won’t harm you,” said the woman who had been teasing Nan Xing moments ago, jumping down from a rock and extending her hand in a friendly manner, her smile warm and approachable.

“Thank you,” Nan Xing timidly said, looking up at her, and she took the woman’s hand.

“A pitchfork? Not a bad choice,” the woman remarked, glancing at the pitchfork Nan Xing carried, and she raised her thumb while winking at Nan Xing.

“Thank you,” Nan Xing smiled shyly and stopped speaking.

“Which country are you from, China?” the woman asked.

“China?” Nan Xing expressed a hint of confusion at the right moment while simultaneously pretending to be cautious. She deliberately created some distance between them, letting them notice, “Where is China from?”

There was no need for her to pretend; she was a frail individual, and even if she tried her best to hide it, they would still notice.

“Don’t misunderstand; we’re not bad people,” the white woman exchanged a quick glance with her companions and her smile became even friendlier.

“China is an Eastern country; haven’t you heard of it?”

Nan Xing watched them warily, her eyes round and wide, shaking her head.

“It’s a small country; it’s normal if you haven’t heard of it. You must have heard of the Great Country of Canada¹, though!” another short-haired man eagerly asked.

Nan Xing still shook her head in confusion and took another step back, her fear becoming apparent. “What are you talking about?”

1. Thanks to Katy for helping me translate this section.