A newly turned zombie had bitten a chunk of flesh from my shoulder.
Thinking of that, I couldn't help reaching out to touch the spot where I'd been bitten. There was no trace of it left now, but
I could still vaguely remember the excruciating pain
of being bitten.
Just thinking about it hurt. It hadn't been a knife wound, a quick slash or a stab. It had been a whole chunk of flesh torn right off my shoulder.
I shook my head, driving the memory away. Now wasn't the time to think about that.
I followed the wall, keeping an eye on the area around me from time to time. There weren't many zombies; I'd occasionally spot one or two, and I did my best to tread lightly,
avoiding any conflict with them if I could.
The neighborhood, which should have been neat and tidy, was already covered in dirt and sand. The ground was littered with trash, along with things people had dropped in their haste.
A trash bag of one color or another would drift by now and then, but I had no interest in looking at them.
I walked for nearly twenty minutes. The neighborhood wasn't very big, with only about fifty villas, but I had to take a quiet, roundabout route,
or I might attract the attention of something.
At any rate, better safe than sorry.
The journey had been relatively peaceful. I reached the spot I remembered as the location of Villa 13 and stopped. After looking around, I saw no zombies nearby.
I slowly slid my combat knife into the belt across my chest, then placed my hand on the hilt of my katana.
With a soft metallic scrape, the temper line on the blade slowly came into view. I couldn't get enough of the pattern reflected in the light.
Holding the katana in my hand, I stepped out of the bushes and looked around.
The villas weren't very close together. A paved road wide enough for three sedans to drive side by side ran in front of, behind, and beside each one.
If the roads weren't covered in so much trash, the place would have looked very clean and tidy.
I looked all around. Seeing nothing unusual, I headed for the villa with a blue plaque on its wall marked "13."
Like the other villas, its yard was enclosed by a welded metal fence about two meters tall, topped with spikes. It looked like it was meant to keep out thieves and the like.
I hurried quietly to the gate and checked both sides. Seeing nothing unusual, I lowered my gaze to the lock.
"This is... locked?"
I reached out and felt the surface. There was some dust on the lock, but it was still smooth.
"Has... nobody unlocked it in a long time? Is the male owner not home?"
As I wondered, I studied the height of the fence. It was a little over two meters. I stood up straight and reached for the top, but couldn't touch it. I guessed it was about two and a half meters.
"Two... and a half meters?"
I lowered my head and fell into thought.
It's already afternoon, and the clouds drifting across the sky are gradually growing thicker.
I stood in front of Villa 13, hesitating as I eyed the spiked fence, which stood two and a half meters tall.
With my jumping ability now, two and a half meters shouldn't be too hard. It's worth a try.
After thinking it over, I took two steps back and looked at the black-painted railings. I lowered my body slightly, gritted my teeth—
I drove off with both legs, took two quick steps to build up speed, and leaped upward from about two meters away from the fence!
...My view widened. The surrounding villas gradually came into sight, including a wandering zombie hiding around a corner, which I could see clearly. But none of that mattered.
When my eyes reached the level of the second floor, I suddenly noticed something!
Maybe... not a thing?
But... just as I tried to get another look, the force carrying me upward abruptly vanished. Having used up my momentum, I went straight over the fence and fell.
Based on how high I'd risen, a full-power jump should have taken my feet to a height of about two meters sixty or seventy. That made it easy to clear the fence, which was only about two and a half meters tall, and land in the grass inside the yard.
I fell very quickly. The moment I landed, I only bent my knees slightly, trying to brace myself for the impact, but...
The force of the impact was clearly greater than I'd expected. As soon as I touched down, my legs buckled, and I nearly sprawled on the ground. Watching the grass rush closer, I curled up instinctively and rolled once across it. Covered in weeds and a little dirt, I finally managed to stand in a half-crouch.
"Phew..."
I let out a breath of relief. At least, inside a two-and-a-half-meter fence like this, ordinary zombies couldn't get in unless they were Mutant Monsters. I returned the katana to my waist and drew my combat knife.
The two weapons were very different in length, so the katana was better in open spaces, while the combat knife was much more practical in tight quarters.
I weighed the combat knife in my hand and looked up at the second-floor balcony, but from where I stood, I couldn't see above it—only the underside.
"Was that just now... really not my imagination?"
I'd caught a glimpse of something, but I couldn't be sure.
Still doubtful, I walked toward the front door with the combat knife in hand.
The villas in this neighborhood were all European-style, and the front door was made of solid wood. It looked very sturdy. I climbed the three steps to the entrance and hesitated,
but for safety's sake, I reached out and knocked twice on the door.
"Thump, thump."
The wooden door gave two low, muffled knocks. The next second, I held my breath, tightened my grip on the combat knife, and waited for whatever might appear.
The wind was still howling today. No strange sounds came from inside. After waiting about ten seconds and confirming that no zombies or Mutant Monsters were going to show up,
I relaxed a little and grabbed the door, giving it a shake.
"Locked..."
Just like the metal gate, the front door was locked.
"Looks like... I'll have to find another way in."
I could only retreat to the bottom of the steps and study the two-story villa. It was spacious, with the first floor alone measuring nearly two hundred square meters. But getting in from the front didn't seem easy.
There was nothing to grab onto beside the balcony.
I walked clockwise around the house and found... a balcony on every side, each with its own open-air pavilion beneath it. Decorative patterns were carved into the stone pillars, and though the handrails were covered in dust, it was clear that some of them were made of solid wood.
After making it most of the way around, I suddenly spotted a floor-to-ceiling window on the west side of the house. Its curtains were drawn, so I couldn't see inside.
I walked over and tried pushing it.
"Locked?"
Why was everything locked? Had the lady of the house gone out and locked up because no one was home?
But with that tall fence outside, plus the high walls around the property and the guards patrolling by the entrance, wasn't that enough? Did they need to lock everything inside the house too?
The main thing was... locking the windows might have made sense, but why draw the curtains?
Was there something inside the house they didn't want anyone to see? Couldn't they just keep it on the second floor? Why draw the curtains on all the windows around the entire house?
Could it be... that what I saw wasn't my imagination after all?
Thinking about the... pair of feet I'd just seen, I furrowed my brow.
When I'd cleared the fence just now, I'd noticed something beneath the curtains drawn across the floor-to-ceiling window on the second-floor balcony. What I saw... might have been a pair of feet.
If it wasn't my imagination, then could it be...
"Is someone in the house?"
Could the person inside... be the male owner? The man named Li Jiahui?
If that was the case, then my plan to take the car keys might fall through.
But whether it was true or not, I'd only know once I saw it with my own eyes. For now, I'd better get inside first.
I tried pushing the floor-to-ceiling window again and confirmed that it was locked from the inside. Then I raised the combat knife and, with the tip of the blade, suddenly...