Liu Chengjun's Departure

In the bedroom, Nie Xiaoqian sat sideways across his lap in loungewear, her arms around his neck as she watched the computer screen, her eyes sparkling.

An Yang focused on the computer. He first found a local knife and sword shop on a shopping site and ordered several heavy blades and Tang daos said to be capable of cutting through iron. After speaking with the seller, he had them sharpen the edges. He then found a Security Armor Company online and ordered several sets of stab-proof vests, all of the finest quality.

When he insisted that they had to arrive tonight, perhaps because the transaction was worth over ten thousand, both sellers agreed readily and promised to be on time. They did not even ask why he had made such a strange request.

One hour in the real world was equal to three hours in the Apocalypse World, and he had already wasted an hour. After spending a little intimate time with Nie Xiaoqian, he opened the Gate of Space once more.

"By the way, Xiaoqian, I could come back at any time in the future, so don't let anyone in casually, understand?"

"I know. It's your secret."

Nie Xiaoqian answered obediently and sensibly, looking at him as if she wanted to say something but held herself back.

An Yang immediately smiled. He withdrew the foot he had stepped toward the Gate of Space, held Nie Xiaoqian's face in his hands, and said, "Don't be sad. I'll be back tonight, and I'll come back to see you often in the future."

Nie Xiaoqian pointed at the dark blue void behind him. "With that thing, can't you take me with you?"

"The system won't allow it." An Yang said helplessly. "All right, I already promised I'd come back every few days. Why do you have to insist on going with me?"

Nie Xiaoqian sighed. "All right. Then be careful on your own. I'll wait for you."

An Yang pressed his lips together as he gazed at her. He lowered his head and kissed her deeply before finally stepping into the void. His vision blurred, and the pitch-black hotel room was already before him.

"Eleven thirty at night..."

An Yang opened the door and walked out of the suite. Just as he was about to head upstairs, faint noises came from the other end of the corridor. Thinking there might be zombies that had not been cleared out, his expression turned sharp, and a battle saber appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Before he got close, he froze.

"Ah..."

"I didn't expect a broad like you to keep yourself in such good shape!"

A series of rustling sounds and hushed whispers drifted over.

An Yang frowned and walked forward.

"Turn on the flashlight!"

A dazzling beam shone from the back of the phone in his hand. The two people less than ten meters away immediately froze. The man raised a hand to shield his eyes, while the woman stood there blankly, at a loss.

An Yang narrowed his eyes. He had seen both of them before.

The woman was the wife from the young couple he had saved two days ago. Just as he had heard earlier, she took good care of herself. Her skin was tender and smooth, her figure full and voluptuous, radiating the allure of a mature married woman.

The man was from Liu Chengjun's group, another thug. His eyes were slightly narrowed from the sudden exposure to light.

"Who is it?"

The man reacted instantly, lowering his hand and pulling a fruit knife from his waist. He pointed it at An Yang and asked.

"Turn it off."

The light abruptly went out.

The man remained where he was, staring at the figure ahead by the faint ghostly green light in the hallway as he carefully considered that voice.

"You're... An Yang?"

An Yang said nothing. He glanced at the two of them, turned, and left.

Though they were both forced by circumstances, the woman had willingly traded her body for certain things. He could not control such matters even in peacetime, much less in this apocalypse. Could he possibly manage everything?

He took out his keycard and prepared to unlock his room, but it took several swipes before the door opened. It seemed the magnetic lock's battery was running low as well.

"Beep beep beep, click."

The lock opened, but the door was caught by the security chain. Chen Yafei, gripping a Folding Knife, peered outside through the gap of barely over ten centimeters.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

Chen Yafei was surprised. He hurriedly put away the Folding Knife and unlatched the security chain.

"An... Brother An, weren't you resting in your room? I thought Liu Chengjun and those bastards had come looking for trouble!"

"I went out to take care of something. Good security awareness." An Yang stepped into the room.

Chen Yafei scratched his head. "This apocalypse has messed me up. I can't fall asleep before midnight."

"It's almost midnight. Get some sleep." An Yang spoke quietly and entered his own bedroom.

On the morning of the sixth day, An Yang got up early.

A loud commotion came from the corridor. The husband from that young couple kept demanding to know where his wife had gone the previous night, why her bra strap had broken, why she had suddenly brought back food, and why there were scratch marks on her body. His words grew increasingly ugly and harsh, tears streaming from his reddened eyes.

The woman lowered her head and sobbed softly, remaining silent. The man had torn her T-shirt apart, exposing the snow-white skin beneath, bare underneath, along with the faintly visible curves of her full breasts—an utterly seductive sight.

"You ****! I don't care what you did before we got married. It's bad enough that you're shameless after marriage, but you actually went out and sold yourself behind my back!"

"I saw through you long ago, you slut!"

The man's hair was a mess and his face was pale, yet he kept pointing at the woman and cursing, spittle flying everywhere.

More and more people gathered around to watch. Several male students soon figured out what had happened, and the way they looked at the alluring woman became increasingly improper. This seductive married woman was simply too enticing. Since others could trade food for her body, and since others had already enjoyed her, why couldn't they?

With that thought in mind, the charming married woman looked more and more tempting. Quite a few people were already calculating how much food they had left.

The woman suddenly looked up at the man, her face equally pale. Her misery only made her seem more helpless. "Your health was already poor to begin with. If you don't eat, you'll starve to death!"

The man froze for a moment, then covered his face and began to cry in anguish.

"I don't need you to worry about me. I'd rather starve to death than have you do this!"

The few people watching nearby were stunned as well.

An Yang narrowed his eyes and sighed, then turned and told Chen Yafei to bring them some food.

Though the apocalypse could erase humanity and twist people's hearts, it had been less than ten days after all. It still could not turn a person into a beast.

Today was the day Liu Chengjun planned to head for Pingnan City. Their plan was the same as An Yang's group: as long as they could safely reach the highway entrance, it would count as a victory. They had even found Off-road Vehicles and planned out a route yesterday. All that remained was to grab their weapons today, charge out, and rush to the highway entrance as fast as possible.

But cars lay scattered haphazardly all across the roads, so forcing a path through would still be very difficult.

Around noon, when the zombies should have been at their least active, Liu Chengjun led the group downstairs. Among them were survivors they had found in the hotel over the past few days.

An Yang and Chen Yafei stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the large group leave the lodging building and cross the garden. Only when they reached the entrance did they begin moving cautiously. Then they pulled open the retractable iron gate, got into the Off-road Vehicles they had prepared, and drove onto the street.

"Bzz... Vrooom..."

The deep roar of the Off-road Vehicles' engines instantly shattered the silence over this district. A Pickup resembling a Ford Raptor led the way, slamming a red sedan ahead of it aside with a deafening bang. The remaining three Off-road Vehicles hurried after it.

"Roar!"

The first zombie roar sounded from the shopping mall. Figures emerged from the buildings one after another, and the instant they saw the cars, they charged over in a frenzy.

The powerful Pickup barreled recklessly forward. By the time the zombies rushed onto the street, the convoy had mostly already left. Even those that lunged toward the Off-road Vehicles were brutally crushed beneath the wheels.

A knock sounded at the door. An Yang did not move, while Chen Yafei obediently went to open it. Chang Hui entered with him.

"When are we leaving?"

"After I figure out whether zombies mainly detect people by sound or smell."

"Alright."

Chang Hui nodded and pulled out a crystal-clear shard.

"You seem to be collecting these."

An Yang looked at him in surprise and accepted the crystal from his hand. "I'm just interested in them."

Chang Hui nodded again without asking anything further. He continued watching the departing convoy through the window. "Do you think they'll make it?"

An Yang shook his head. "Probably not. There are too many of them, so they're too conspicuous. It's fine here, but things will get troublesome once they reach the city center."

Chang Hui drew a deep breath and said, "The zombies in the entire building have almost been cleared out. What are you going to use for your experiment?"

"There are still quite a few zombies on the second floor of the restaurant."

"Hiss..." Chang Hui sucked in a breath. "I took a look when I came over. The zombies on the restaurant's second floor are packed together very densely."

"I wasn't confident before, but with you here, my chances are much better. The restaurant is indeed dangerous, but the pressure in the natural gas pipelines is too low. The restaurant kitchen must have LPG tanks or natural gas tanks, as well as the necessary pots and food supplies."

Chang Hui's eyes lit up, and he licked his lips.

He had not eaten a hot meal in a very long time.

By the time the three of them had thoroughly cleared all the zombies from the building, it was nearly dark. Chang Hui simply moved into this suite for the night. However, An Yang and Chen Yafei had already claimed the two bedrooms, leaving him no choice but to sleep on the living room sofa.

That night, An Yang once again found a place to open the Gate of Space and return to the real world. Nie Xiaoqian had already prepared several blades and several sets of Stab-proof Vests for him. An Yang tested them out. Both the combat blades, Tang dao, and Stab-proof Vests were of excellent quality. After spending a brief intimate moment with Nie Xiaoqian, he returned to the Apocalypse World.

PS: One hundred updates today!