Hao Jian knocked on the door. Inside, there were faint sounds of movement, but no one came to open it.
“Pick the lock!” Shi Gong Dui muttered in frustration, blaming his own bad luck. He figured that whoever had changed his locks must have known about the food he had inside, likely a neighbor.
As for the possibility that someone inside had discovered his true identity? Highly unlikely. After all, the people who knew wouldn’t have simply changed the lock and then moved into such a dangerous place.
Xin Ting started the crop harvester, and the gears sparked against the stainless steel. Some zombies heard the noise, but they were trapped behind the hallway door. After cutting an opening large enough to fit her arm, Hao Jian easily unlocked the door. She drew her gun and let Shi Gong Dui and the others force the door open.
As soon as the wooden door inside was broken down, two men wielding knives shouted, “Don’t come any closer!”
Seeing the situation inside and recognizing the two men, Shi Gong Dui couldn’t help but laugh in anger. “You’ve got some nerve! You changed my locks, took over my house, and are eating my food, using my things?!”
The room that Shi Gong Dui had once filled with supplies was now half-empty, and the place was littered with trash no one had bothered to clean. What infuriated him the most was the thought that his important equipment might have been ruined, making him feel like killing them.
“Do you know them?” Hao Jian asked.
“One’s my classmate, a driver for a moving company. Back when I bought the supplies and disguised them as renovation materials, I asked him to help me move them. I thought he didn’t notice, but it seems like he did. The other guy is his colleague. I bet it’s not just the two of them here.”
Just as he finished speaking, someone rushed out of the nearby kitchen. Standing next to the door was Lian Ru Ning, so without thinking, Hao Jian fired a shot at the figure.
The shot echoed through the house and hallway. A fat woman collapsed near the kitchen door, letting out a wail as the knife she had been holding clattered to the ground.
“Mom!” the young man cried out in terror. But seeing that Hao Jian had a real gun, neither he nor the others dared to approach.
“Junior sister, are you okay?” Hao Jian asked, pulling Lian Ru Ning to check on her.
Lian Ru Ning, still shaken, shook her head. “I’m fine. She didn’t hurt me.”
Two women and an elderly lady ran out from the other rooms. When they saw the wounded woman bleeding from her right shoulder, they were terrified.
The old woman screamed, “Murder! Murder!”
As the zombies outside grew more frenzied, Hao Jian coldly stared at them. “Scream again, I dare you. I’ve got plenty of bullets left and don’t mind giving each of you one.”
The women hurriedly covered the old lady’s mouth, looking at them in panic.
Peng Mao closed the door, even though it was already in poor condition, to prevent zombies from barging in.
Hao Jian glanced at the woman groaning on the ground and handed Lian Ru Ning some bandages and hemostatic powder from her backpack. “Help stop her bleeding.”
Did Hao Jian regret shooting an ordinary person? No, because if she hadn’t fired, the knife could have landed on Lian Ru Ning, which could have been life-threatening. She wouldn’t take a life without reason, but if someone threatened her or Lian Ru Ning’s life, she wouldn’t hesitate.
Shi Gong Dui didn’t say anything. He walked into the room where he had hidden his equipment. He had concealed it inside a storage bed, covering it with clothes, and stored food in other compartments.
The room had clearly been rummaged through, but only the food was missing. His equipment was intact, which gave him some relief, reducing his urge to kill.
Coming out with his belongings, he saw that Lian Ru Ning and Xin Ting had finished bandaging the injured woman. Though the bleeding had stopped, no one could be sure there wouldn’t be complications that could claim her life.
Hao Jian wasn’t concerned. Seeing Shi Gong Dui emerge, she asked, “How are your things?”
“They’re fine,” he replied, though his heart ached when he thought about the supplies he had painstakingly gathered that had once filled three rooms, a living room, and a dining area, but now were reduced to half.
The sky outside was growing dark, and Shi Gong Dui turned on a dim light. He sat in front of the group, consisting of his classmate Lin Fubiao, his colleague Pan Yaoting, and several others. The wounded woman was Lin Fubiao’s mother, while the younger woman was his wife, Jiang Chunping. The other woman, in her thirties, was Pan Yaoting’s wife, Cao Li, and the elderly lady was Pan Yaoting’s mother.
Hao Jian thought for a moment, then said, “There should be a child here as well.”
At her words, Pan Yaoting’s expression became tense.
Shi Gong Dui also realized that Pan Yaoting, being in his thirties, likely had a child. So he went inside to look. Soon, he found an eleven or twelve-year-old boy hiding in his parents’ room.
The elderly woman became hysterical as he went to search. “If you dare touch my grandson, I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Stop it!” Pan Yaoting and his wife pleaded in panic.
Xin Ting frowned. “As long as you cooperate, we won’t hurt you.”
Lin Fubiao, however, grew furious. “You shot my mother, and now she’s dying! How can you say you won’t hurt us?!”
Hao Jian gave him a sidelong glance. “Maybe you should ask why your mother was trying to stab someone.”
Lin Fubiao was momentarily speechless, then tried to argue, “You broke in, and we were just defending ourselves. What’s wrong with that?”
Shi Gong Dui, having just dragged the boy out, angrily pushed him towards them and shouted, “Defending yourselves? This is my house! You changed my locks and took over my home, and now you’re calling us intruders?!”
Lin Fubiao’s face shifted, and he quickly backed down. “Come on, we’ve known each other since middle school. We’ve been friends for years, aren’t we brothers? Are you really going to abandon us?”
Shi Gong Dui laughed and kicked him. “Brothers? If you dare call yourself my brother again, I’ll show you what real pain feels like!”
They had thought that Shi Gong Dui must have been dead after not hearing from him for so long, but unexpectedly, one day they saw him again, and in his own house, no less.
“In just a few days, you’ve squandered three months' worth of supplies! Are you pigs?!” Shi Gong Dui cursed angrily.
It was obvious that these people thought there were enough supplies to last a whole year, so they ate recklessly, gorging themselves. What they couldn’t finish, they threw away, which led to the rapid depletion of food.
"All of you, get out!" Shi Gong Dui didn't want to hear their excuses anymore.
Lin Fubiao's face changed instantly. "Shi Gong Dui, you have so much money, what’s the big deal if we ate some of your stuff?"
"Out!" Shi Gong Dui didn’t want to waste more words. He grabbed an axe and held it to Lin Fubiao's neck. "If you don’t leave, I’ll send you off myself!"
“You’re throwing us out, it’s like sentencing us to death! We just ate a little of your food, why be so heartless? Fine, we’ll pay you back if that’s what it takes!”
...
Hao Jian and the others stood by coldly watching, unmoved by the situation. This textbook case of "I'm poor, so I’m right" was far from rare in the apocalypse. Everything here belonged to Shi Gong Dui, so it was up to him how to deal with it.
After retrieving the equipment, Shi Gong Dui had let go of the fact that his things had already been eaten and used. As long as they were willing to leave, he was fine. But the others’ shameless behavior had made his anger rise rapidly.
"The house next door is unlocked, and it should be empty. Go spend the night there. Now, get out!"
Lin Fubiao probably knew Shi Gong Dui’s temper, so he pathetically pleaded for forgiveness. In the end, he even managed to get a box of food from Shi Gong Dui.
After they left, Shi Gong Dui closed the door. Considering the door had been damaged and was no longer secure, he and Peng Mao moved heavy furniture to block it.
After finishing, Shi Gong Dui looked somewhat downcast. He said, "Check how much food is left and divide it among yourselves."
Hao Jian raised an eyebrow, while Lian Ru Ning asked, "Weren’t you the one who cared the most about this food? Why are you giving it away now?"
"I’m someone who knows how to repay kindness. You all risked your lives to help me get back here and retrieve these things. I haven’t forgotten your kindness. Once I contact the authorities, I probably won’t come back here again. Since the supplies will just sit here, it’s better for you to take them."
If it hadn’t been for discovering Lin Fubiao had changed the locks and plotted to harm them, Shi Gong Dui wouldn’t have been so ruthless. In his mind, Lin Fubiao and the others would safely spend the night in the neighboring house, and once they left, the remaining supplies could be used again.
He then looked at Hao Jian. "You fulfilled your promise."
Although things between him and Hao Jian hadn’t been entirely smooth, he could see that she had been diligent throughout their journey. She had done what she said she would, so he couldn’t blame her for her initial threats.
Hao Jian said nothing but told Lian Ru Ning, "Go take a shower and get a good night's rest. Tomorrow, we'll figure out how to get back to the southern city."
Lian Ru Ning nodded and was about to leave when Xin Ting, sensing something, asked, "The reason you acted that way today, was it to create a rift between us so you could separate from us and return to the southern city on your own?"
That was the only reason she could think of for Hao Jian’s cold attitude earlier.
Hao Jian rolled her eyes. "You need to stop reading those melodramatic stories. I don’t have time for that ‘deliberately causing misunderstandings to ensure someone’s safety’ nonsense."
But Xin Ting wasn’t discouraged. "Then how were you originally planning to handle our relationship?"
"Our relationship?" Everyone perked up, sensing some drama. Was there something more going on here?
"I mean, are we still companions? Can we continue being companions in the future?" Xin Ting asked anxiously, her heart filled with both hope and fear.
Lian Ru Ning, having overheard as she returned, looked tired. "Xin Ting, the real question is, what do you want?"
Before, Xin Ting would have been confused by such a question, but after everything she had experienced that day, she had thought a lot. She had seen Lian Ru Ning relentlessly searching for news of her family. When she learned that they were still alive before the Internet went down, her face was filled with both worry and joy. This mixed emotion deeply touched Xin Ting and caused her to think about things she had been too afraid to face.
She, too, had family back home, and she didn’t know if they were worried about her. In the past, fear had kept her from facing that fact, but now, with newfound courage and a reason to move forward, and after seeing hope in their journey, what was there left to be confused about?
That night, as Xin Ting lay awake, listening to the distant howls of zombies, she thought about her family and made a decision.
The next morning, before dawn, Hao Jian woke up early. She bumped into Xin Ting, who shared her decision with Hao Jian.
Hao Jian smiled slightly, pleased to see that Xin Ting now had both the motivation and the courage. "Yang City is a coastal city, and I’m sure there are boats along the coast. You might want to consider that route."
Xin Ting nodded firmly, then suddenly hugged Hao Jian, saying sincerely, "Thank you. And thank Lian Ru Ning too. Without you two, I would’ve died back at the school."
Lian Ru Ning and Peng Mao emerged, and Peng Mao, looking at them, said, "I thought about it all night. Hao Jian, you and Lian Ru Ning are both capable and brave. As for Xin Ting..."
Xin Ting let go of Hao Jian and looked back at him, just in time to hear him say, "I’m planning to go with Xin Ting. We can look out for each other on the road."
Xin Ting was about to say something when Peng Mao hurriedly explained himself, going on and on. Listening to him, Xin Ting smiled. "I understand. I’m not going to drive you away. I should be thanking you too."
As they prepared to cook some food and discuss how to contact the security team, Hao Jian suddenly caught the smell of gasoline. She glanced at Xin Ting’s reaper machine and was about to ask if it was leaking oil when she noticed smoke seeping through the door crack.
“Holy crap, the place is on fire?!” Peng Mao shouted in alarm.