Don't Go Out After Dark

"Phew~"

After some effort, Wang Tao sawed the Claw Hammer's short wooden handle down slightly, then tightly stuffed it into the steel pipe. To be safe, he even applied glue inside.

After testing it for a while, there was no looseness at all.

"It's a lot heavier, but it suits me perfectly, and it's more powerful too!"

A hammer striking someone's head was different from a steel pipe striking someone's head, especially with the Claw Hammer's claw. Its power would definitely be formidable.

"Wang Tao, dinner's ready..."

Ding Yuqin's knock sounded from outside the door.

"Okay."

When Wang Tao arrived at the dining table, Ding Yuqin had just served him a large bowl of rice and handed him a clean bowl and chopsticks.

Wang Tao accepted them with a smile. "Let's eat together."

"Okay!"

Ding Yuqin had been waiting for those words. Once Wang Tao gave her permission, she immediately went to the kitchen to get herself a bowl and chopsticks.

Although she felt Wang Tao would most likely invite her to eat with him, he had not said so yet. That was why she had not brought out her own bowl and chopsticks, so as not to make Wang Tao dislike her.

Dinner was simple: three dishes and a soup. The dishes were nothing fancy, but there was plenty of food. After all, whether Wang Tao was killing zombies or training his body, he needed to ensure a certain level of nutrition.

Ding Yuqin waited until Wang Tao started eating before picking up her chopsticks.

Wang Tao sampled every dish. He had to admit that Ding Yuqin's cooking was truly good, no worse than that of an ordinary restaurant chef. She was far better than a rough man like him.

As she ate, Ding Yuqin secretly watched Wang Tao.

Though she considered herself fairly skilled at cooking, everyone had different tastes. The dishes she made for Wang Tao yesterday were different from today's, and she could not guarantee that he would like them. Only after seeing that Wang Tao looked quite satisfied did she finally relax.

Ding Yuqin had eaten a lavish meal yesterday, so she was not as hungry as she had been then. Her table manners were much more refined, giving her the air of a well-bred young lady.

When she saw that Wang Tao's bowl was nearly empty, she immediately set down her chopsticks and stood up.

"Wang Tao, I'll get you some more rice!"

Wang Tao did not stand on ceremony.

"Then I'll trouble you, sister-in-law."

Ding Yuqin was wearing a gray professional skirt suit today. It fitted her body closely, accentuating all the right curves. Especially those long legs clad in sheer black stockings—they were not the photoshopped stick-thin legs seen online, but rounded, full, healthy, and beautifully proportioned.

Wang Tao's eyes almost stopped obeying him.

Beautiful things were meant to be admired, and Wang Tao made no deliberate effort to hide it.

When Ding Yuqin returned with the rice, she felt Wang Tao's gaze. Her steps paused slightly, but she pretended not to notice anything and handed him the large bowl of rice.

"Wang Tao, here."

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

After eating for a while, Wang Tao suddenly asked:

"By the way, sister-in-law, what did you do for work before?"

He only knew that Brother Zhao was a director. He was not sure what Brother Zhao's wife did.

"Huh? Me? Brother Zhao invested in a restaurant for me back in my hometown."

Hearing Wang Tao's question, Ding Yuqin hurriedly swallowed what was in her mouth before answering.

"No wonder you're such a good cook, sister-in-law."

Wang Tao suddenly understood.

"Well, I figured that since I was opening a restaurant, I had to know the quality of the food myself. So I went and studied cooking professionally. It cost over a hundred thousand! But not long after the restaurant opened, the apocalypse came..."

Ding Yuqin looked bitter.

After dinner, Ding Yuqin cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, then mopped the floor in Wang Tao's home.

"Phew~"

She had not done so much work in a long time, and her waist and back were somewhat sore.

So she sat on the sofa, took off her High Heels, and rubbed her aching ankles. She decided not to wear High Heels tomorrow. They were too tiring.

"Wang Tao, what time should I come over tomorrow morning?"

Wang Tao, who had been studying the map, raised his head. Seeing Ding Yuqin painfully massaging her little feet in black stockings, he suddenly had the urge to help her.

After waiting a moment, Wang Tao finally spoke.

"Six."

"Oh, okay. Then I'll come over again at six. I'll head back first!"

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under Wang Tao's gaze, Ding Yuqin hurriedly put her shoes back on and went home.

After watching Ding Yuqin leave, Wang Tao began his usual training.

Ever since he woke up after being unconscious for three days, not only had his physical condition become much stronger than before, but he could also faintly feel himself improving with every workout.

The reason most people lacked perseverance in certain things was because they could neither see nor feel any hope of success.

But now, after every workout, Wang Tao could clearly feel slight changes in his body. They were small, but the improvement was real.

On top of that, Wang Tao was already fairly disciplined. So unless something unexpected happened, training was something he did every day.

Of course, directly killing zombies might improve him faster, since killing zombies directly increased his Health Bar. An increase in the Health Bar also slightly improved his physical condition. But killing zombies was far too dangerous, and there was always the possibility of something going wrong.

Besides, Wang Tao was not a perpetual-motion machine. He could not kill zombies nonstop; he still needed time to rest and eat.

So he had to kill zombies, but he could not stop training either.

He had to focus on both, and excel at both.

After finishing his workout, Wang Tao took a quick shower and turned off all the lights in his home.

He went to the window and pulled aside the thick curtains.

Light attracted zombies. Although Wang Tao lived on the fifth floor, he had never let down his guard when it came to safety precautions.

The weather was nice tonight. Though he could not see the moon, the sky was full of stars.

By starlight, Wang Tao could roughly see the situation in the courtyard. He could see the zombies wandering around below.

"Hah~"

Wang Tao did not know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that zombies seemed more energetic at night than during the day.

After thinking it over, Wang Tao fetched a small metal sheet, took a deep breath, and hurled it with all his strength toward the building across from him. There were three zombies below it.

Clang~ "Hah hah—"

"Roar—"

In an instant, the three zombies near the metal sheet went berserk, letting out chilling howls as they frantically darted around it.

Looking at how agile they were, how could they be the same zombies from the daytime? Wang Tao would have believed they were athletes.

The other zombies in the courtyard began moving toward those three. Though they were not as fast as the berserk zombies, they were still much faster than their sluggish daytime pace.

"The agile zombies I saw last night weren't some mutated variant. It should have been them!"

"Maybe... zombies were different during the day and at night!"

"They were slow and stiff during the day, but once night came, they became faster, more prone to berserk states, and much more agile! No wonder they liked dark places!"

"I just don't know whether there are any other differences..."

"In any case, zombies were more terrifying at night! Don't go out after dark!"