Lin Yan's leap again drew gasps from these children.
After all, who doesn't have a hero's dream, especially the boys? Seeing a true martial arts master appear before them now made them incredibly excited.
With supernatural powers and zombies appearing in this world, having martial arts wasn't out of the question, was it?
Although Lin Yan had only cultivated a sense of qi after practicing all day, it proved that martial arts could be practiced in this world. She wondered about the children's aptitudes.
However, no matter what, she had collected many martial arts manuals in the martial world, so she was sure to find suitable ones. Even if they couldn't cultivate internal energy, learning some moves would be enough to deal with the zombies outside.
The first boy Lin Yan brought out was Wang Cheng, a ninth-grader. He was a class monitor at school and had leadership skills.
Lin Yan had him take a headcount, assign rooms, and take stock of everyone's specialties.
The specialties here were mainly related to household chores, as other skills were of little use in the current situation.
Soon, Wang Cheng, with the help of another girl, assigned rooms for these children. Since they had all been trapped alone in their rooms before, they were reluctant to live alone now.
Each room had at least two children. Lin Yan chose to live in the house farthest from the edge, so she could react immediately if anything happened.
Among these children were those who knew how to cook. A few of them discussed and prepared meals for everyone with the available ingredients.
The meal was mainly instant noodles, with a pot of plain white rice. There were no vegetables or meat. The rice, in fact, was slightly burnt because it was cooked on a gas stove.
But everyone ate the instant noodle soup mixed with rice with great relish, as it was the first hot meal they had in a long time.
"Go back and rest after eating. There will be many things to do tomorrow. We can't take baths today. I'll figure something out in a few days," Lin Yan said with a smile, looking at the children. The oldest among them was fifteen, and the youngest was ten.
Lin Yan didn't know if the younger children had been taken away by their families or if they hadn't survived the initial period.
"Then we'll clean up these dishes and bowls first," said a girl with a ponytail named Xu Nan, also in ninth grade.
"You've worked hard preparing dinner, so let the boys wash the dishes. They can't eat without contributing. Wang Cheng, take them and clean up here."
"Okay, sister, leave it to me!"
The next day, Lin Yan didn't wake the children up. After so much anxiety, it was good for them to get a peaceful sleep.
As Lin Yan practiced her sword in the courtyard downstairs, some of the older children woke up. They looked at Lin Yan practicing her sword with envious expressions.
Lin Yan didn't mind them watching from the side. After finishing a set of swordplay, Lin Yan put away her sword.
Seeing Lin Yan casually make her sword disappear, the children gasped again.
Lin Yan didn't hide her system backpack. After all, this world had spatial abilities. She had to appear powerful enough to gain their trust and make them feel more secure.
"This is a superpower. Some of you should have awakened superpowers too, but it's okay if you haven't. You can still protect yourselves by practicing martial arts well," Lin Yan was always patient with these children.
Children were like blank slates; their values and personalities would be influenced by those around them.
As long as they were guided properly, these children would become her best helpers.
"Sister, is it this one?" a girl asked excitedly. Then, a faint flame appeared in her palm.
"Xiao Li, you have superpowers too!" a girl beside her exclaimed with joy.
"Yes, I've had it since I woke up about a week ago. But this flame is too weak. It goes out with just a puff of breath. I used it for lighting at home," Xiao Li said sheepishly.
"Superpowers are always weak when they first awaken. They will become very powerful with time!" Lin Yan comforted her.
It was good that someone had awakened a superpower. After all, her own awakening was too painful, and she didn't want these children to go through it.
"It's already very powerful. We won't have to worry about lighting fires when we cook anymore," Xu Nan said, holding Xiao Li's hand.
"I've also just awakened my superpower. Let's learn how to use it better together," Lin Yan said, patting the shy girl's head.
When Lin Yan drove the school bus to pick up more people this time, Wang Cheng also got on the bus, saying he would help Lin Yan open the door.
Lin Yan didn't refuse. It was good for the children to be willing to do more. Moreover, daring to step out of the safe zone was a form of growth.
This time, with experience, it was smoother than yesterday, but Lin Yan also killed more zombies. Lin Yan frowned tightly as she looked at the zombie corpses.
The weather was too hot now, and these corpses couldn't be left here; they would breed plagues. They had to find a way to deal with them.
This time, Lin Yan brought back more than a dozen children.
Besides them, there was a family. Yesterday, when asked, they were unwilling to leave with Lin Yan.
But they had seen Lin Yan kill zombies by the window yesterday and felt that they would be safer if they followed Lin Yan.
So, when Lin Yan's school bus passed by, they called out to her and then got on the bus with their belongings.
When passing a small supermarket with its door ajar, Lin Yan went in herself and collected all the usable items inside.
Her system backpack had been expanded several times. Although it wasn't as large as the female protagonist's spatial capacity, it was enough to hold the items from this small supermarket.
Especially since the supermarket had bottled water. In a time without tap water, when river water was also unusable, bottled water provided a lot of peace of mind.
Although they could use well water, they were afraid that the zombies might have contaminated it. In the beginning, they could drink some if there was no other water, but now they should try to drink bottled water. Well water would only be used for washing.
When Lin Yan and her group returned, the children at home had already cleaned up the houses along the row.
They had conducted thorough cleaning at school, so under the command of the older children, they cleaned the houses very well.
The new children were assigned rooms, and the family of four also chose to share a room, but they moved in an extra folding bed.
Seeing that the two new children had their parents with them, many children lowered their heads slightly, hiding their reddened eyes.
However, Lin Yan's praise soon cheered them up. Especially when they learned that Lin Yan would teach them martial arts secrets tonight, they forgot their earlier sadness.