The next day, a heavy snowfall disrupted Zuo Feng's group's planned itinerary.
When Zuo Feng and the girls woke up, they found the world outside the window covered in thick snow. Snow in July was a strange sight that made everyone look at each other in bewilderment. Fortunately, a Zombie Blood Moon had already appeared, so everyone quickly adapted to this bizarre phenomenon.
This snowfall was extremely peculiar. With such heavy snow falling, the temperature should have plummeted according to common sense, but the outside temperature remained high; no one knew how this heavy snow had formed.
However, Kong Ling, Tiegada, and Firefly were all unaffected by the snow, which clearly had a different effect than the Blood Moon.
With nothing to do, everyone sat on the sofa chatting, and the villa was filled with the chattering of the girls.
Xiao Mi Tao, who had been laughing and playing happily, suddenly fell silent, her large, watery eyes fixed on the window, growing brighter and brighter.
Then, under the puzzled gazes of everyone, Xiao Mi Tao hugged the little pine tree and placed it outside on the terrace, allowing it to bathe in the snow.
The little pine tree appeared exceptionally tall and straight in the snow, as if absorbing some mysterious power. Everyone watched curiously, discussing animatedly. Xiao Mi Tao, however, simply watched quietly, a curious glint in her eyes.
Clearly, this snow held special significance for the little pine tree; it made the little pine tree even more vibrant. Zuo Feng, deep in thought, softly asked,
"Xiao Mi Tao, how did you think of this snow having a miraculous effect on the little pine tree?"
Xiao Mi Tao blinked her big eyes and said proudly,
"The Blood Moon can strengthen zombies and allow them to awaken initially; so I thought, could this strange snow be specifically for plants? A timely snow promises a bumper harvest, after all... I just tried it, and I didn't expect it to actually work!"
Upon hearing this, Zuo Feng nodded inwardly. Sure enough, Xiao Mi Tao was clever.
Watching the little pine tree grow greener and taller in the snow, a strange excitement surged in Zuo Feng's heart. What kind of surprise would this little pine tree bring them after this heavy snow?
Just as everyone was immersed in their own thoughts, urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside the villa, breaking the silence.
Immediately after, urgent knocking sounded at the door. Zuo Feng stood up alertly, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Zuo Feng slowly went downstairs and walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw a woman standing outside. She was dressed in dirty clothes and looked sallow and emaciated, clearly due to prolonged malnutrition.
The woman knocked urgently while cautiously looking around, obviously worried about zombies appearing.
"Is something wrong?"
Zuo Feng asked through the door, his voice low and wary. He naturally wouldn't open the door; he didn't even know who the person was, so how could he open it casually?
The woman heard the voice, stopped knocking, and said urgently,
"You must have just moved in last night. This villa area is Xingyao Alliance's territory. Since you've moved in, you should register quickly, otherwise you'll be considered intruders."
Zuo Feng frowned slightly. He hadn't expected this villa area to also have territorial divisions.
However, this villa area was famously known as the "Mistress District" before the apocalypse. Many powerful and influential mistresses lived here. The woman knocking at the door, judging by her outline, must have been a charming beauty before if she wasn't so emaciated from hunger now.
"Da Hundan, who is it?"
At this moment, Da Mi Tao's voice came from upstairs.
Zuo Feng looked up and responded softly,
"A woman from Xingyao Alliance. She said this is their area and came to inform us to register."
Da Mi Tao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, pouted, and said with a hint of disdain,
"Let her in, come upstairs, and ask for the specifics. Since she's here, we should clarify the rules."
Firefly was terrifyingly strong now, and Da Mi Tao was very confident. Da Mi Tao didn't really care about a mere alliance in a villa area.
Zuo Feng nodded, slowly opened the door, and gestured for the woman to come in.
The woman cautiously brushed off the snow from her body and stepped in carefully, a flash of wariness in her eyes.
She looked around, swallowed nervously, and said in a low voice,
"My name is Jian Ruoxi, a liaison for Xingyao Alliance. You must register as soon as possible, otherwise, you'll bear the consequences."
Zuo Feng nodded slightly, his tone calm:
"Come up first, let's discuss the specifics."
Jian Ruoxi gritted her teeth and followed Zuo Feng upstairs.
Jian Ruoxi stood awkwardly to the side, her hands clasped tightly.
Before the apocalypse, she had been a glamorous socialite, favored by an official and kept in this villa area. After the apocalypse struck, she was trapped in this villa area. Initially, her family's supplies could sustain her, but as time went on, food ran out.
Fortunately, not long after, someone here formed the Xingyao Alliance. The leaders were three Mutants who controlled this area and established strict survival rules.
Jian Ruoxi had no choice but to join the Alliance to survive. Originally, she had hoped to secure a place in the Alliance by virtue of her outstanding looks and social skills.
But reality was cruel. In this villa area, most were once glamorous mistresses of the powerful and influential. In terms of looks, talent, and methods of charming men, there were countless others more outstanding than her.
Unable to compete with those mistresses, she could only become a low-ranking member of the Alliance, barely surviving on meager supplies and hard labor.
She was only able to get a bowl of thin porridge every two days, and life was difficult.
Last night, Xingyao Alliance discovered that new people had moved in. Originally, specific personnel were supposed to be arranged to come and verify this morning, but unexpectedly, a strange incident occurred last night: a member of Xingyao Alliance died within the villa area, in a bizarre manner, as if their life force had been drained.
Logically, the zombies in the villa area had long been cleared out, so such a strange phenomenon should not have occurred.
However, it did happen, which made the Alliance's high-ranking members extremely nervous, suspecting it was related to Zuo Feng and his group's arrival.
The member originally responsible for notifying Zuo Feng was so scared after hearing the news that he dared not come, even offering an exorbitant price of a bag of instant noodles to find someone to replace him to complete the task.
The long-hungry Jian Ruoxi, for the sake of that bag of instant noodles, bravely took on this task.
However, when she truly stepped into this villa, her heart became even more uneasy. After all, the person's death last night had been too horrifying, and she did not want to die. Noticing Jian Ruoxi's nervousness, Zuo Feng couldn't help but smile slightly and pointed to the sofa beside him: "Sit down..." Jian Ruoxi forced a smile and slowly sat down, her fingers still tightly clasped.
At this moment, a faint sound of footsteps came from upstairs. Da Mi Tao, Da Bai Tu, and Da Yuanyuan, the three girls, came down carrying fruit platters and tea, placing them on the table one by one.
Da Mi Tao said softly,
"Hello, my name is Yue Jiaxue, this is Yun Qianqian, and that is Shui Rou. Welcome here."
When Jian Ruoxi saw the three girls, her heart was in turmoil. She couldn't believe such beautiful women existed in the world. She had originally thought her own looks were superior, but compared to these three women, there was a world of difference.
Especially their clothes were all brand new, and when they came closer, there was a faint fragrance on them, indicating they bathed frequently.
Jian Ruoxi couldn't even imagine how they managed to be so luxurious in the apocalypse, where water resources were scarce!
Now, she couldn't even guarantee drinking water, let alone bathing.
Moreover, she herself was starved to skin and bones, yet their complexions were rosy, as if the apocalypse had no effect on them.