A Home Invasion-Style Family Recognition

This tall building clearly belonged to a high-end apartment complex, with spacious balconies and beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows for every unit.

Jiang Zhaosu didn't know about Qi Xing's family background before the apocalypse, and Qi Xing hadn't told her the details of how his sister got lost, so she could only call out to him whenever she saw someone who resembled her.

After she had just mentioned his sister, Qi Xing, though he appeared unconcerned and didn't say much, spoke significantly less on the road afterward, barely chatting with her.

Even though the man's eyes were fixed ahead, he clearly wasn't watching the road.

To be honest, with him driving in this state, Jiang Zhaosu was worried they'd crash and kill themselves before any righteous factions could deal with them.

Hearing her words, Qi Xing turned his head and glanced in the direction she was pointing.

With just a fleeting look, Qi Xing confirmed, "It's not her."

"Huh?"

Jiang Zhaosu was confused.

From such a distance, she couldn't see clearly. How could Qi Xing be so sure the girl upstairs wasn't his sister?

Seeing Qi Xing step on the gas and about to drive away from the building, Jiang Zhaosu wanted to try persuading him again.

But before she could speak, Qi Xing suddenly changed his mind, drifting the car around and swinging back. "Forget it, let's go up and take a look."

Jiang Zhaosu's mouth, which had opened halfway, froze. After a pause, she closed it, silently swallowing the words of persuasion.

A man's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

Impossible to figure out.

This building was estimated to be over twenty stories high, and the girl was on the seventeenth floor.

The building had lost power, so they had to climb the stairs.

As Jiang Zhaosu climbed the stairs with Qi Xing, she silently thanked her lucky stars that zombies didn't feel fatigue.

With such high-intensity exercise every day, it was no wonder Qi Xing looked slender on the outside but was covered in well-defined muscles when he took off his clothes. Without even using his abilities, he could take down a zombie with a single strike.

Along the way, Qi Xing cut down several zombies. After killing them, he tossed their heads to Jiang Zhaosu, asking her to check for Crystal Cores inside.

Actually, ordinary zombies rarely had Crystal Cores. They were just doing this because climbing the stairs was too boring.

After finally reaching the seventeenth floor, Qi Xing was covered in the stench of blood, and Jiang Zhaosu's hands were also smeared with blood and brain matter.

The man and the zombie knocked on the door of the little girl who had sent out the SOS signal.

"Are you the rescue team?!" the little girl ran over from the living room, asking cheerfully through the door.

Not many people could maintain such a cheerful tone in the apocalypse. It was clear this little girl hadn't yet tasted the hardships of the world.

Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing exchanged a look.

Qi Xing turned his head and spoke into the peephole, "No, we're survivors too. We saw your SOS signal hanging in the window and wanted to ask if you wanted to come with us to the Survivor Base."

Upon hearing they weren't the rescue team, the little girl hesitated. "No, I'll just wait for the rescue team. Thank you."

Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing looked at each other again.

By now, they were both certain this was definitely not Qi Xing's sister.

But from each other's eyes, they also saw another meaning.

They had climbed all the way up here; it would be a wasted trip if they didn't get anything out of it, right? No way!

"Little girl, are you home alone?"

Qi Xing asked, while nimbly taking out a universal key from his pocket and starting to pick the lock. He spoke in a kindly, creepy uncle tone, "Relax, we're not good people."

Jiang Zhaosu, standing beside him, heard the little girl inside shriek in a terrified voice after his words: "..."

When she had first met Qi Xing, he had said the same thing to her. If she bared her teeth at him again, he would pull them out one by one.

Qi Xing had this kind of dark sense of humor.

Although what he said might have been the honest truth.

They really weren't good people.

However, this little girl wasn't a pushover either.

As soon as Qi Xing picked the lock, a sharp kitchen knife flew out from inside, heading straight for them.

Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing quickly dodged to the sides.

Vroom vroom vroom--

Accompanied by the sound of an electric motor, a young girl with long, wavy, seaweed-like black hair appeared before them. She was holding a small, running chainsaw and, with teary eyes, shouted at them, "Don't come any closer! If you dare come in, I'll saw you!"

If she had encountered two ordinary thugs robbing her, this chainsaw would have been more than enough to deter them.

Unfortunately, she had encountered Jiang Zhaosu and Qi Xing.

Qi Xing didn't even make a move.

Jiang Zhaosu raised a finger, trying to control her newly learned Lightning Ability, and sent a barely perceptible white light towards the young girl's wrist.

The white light struck the girl's wrist, and she immediately cried out in pain. The chainsaw clattered to the ground in response.

Jiang Zhaosu imitated Qi Xing's usual way of using his abilities, flipping her wrist so her palm faced upward.

Her blood-stained palm obeyed her will, emitting a white light and spitting out fine, silk-like electric threads that shot like lightning toward the chainsaw on the ground.

With a wave of Jiang Zhaosu's hand, the chainsaw was thrown five meters away.

After a roar, the saw stopped running.

While doing this, Jiang Zhaosu was still holding a zombie head in her other hand.

She had just checked the head for a Crystal Core and hadn't had time to throw it away yet.

The long-haired, curly-haired girl's legs went weak from fear of her Ability and the bloody human head in her hand. She sat down on the ground with a plop, trembling as she retreated, stammering incoherently.

"Don't kill me... take whatever you want from the house... don't kill me..."

Seeing the girl's terrified gaze cast upon her, Jiang Zhaosu remembered she was still holding a zombie head.

"Uh."

She really didn't mean to scare the girl; she didn't have Qi Xing's cruel sense of humor.

Jiang Zhaosu casually tossed the punctured head into the corridor and asked Qi Xing with a sliver of hope, "Rec- recognize family."

"I told you, she's not my sister."

Qi Xing looked at the young girl on the ground, who was about to faint from fear, and tutted, "Is there any food or drink?"

Since they were already here, they might as well take something with them.

The girl's face was a mask of stunned fear. She pointed a hand from the floor toward a room: "Kitchen..."

Qi Xing went to the kitchen to search for supplies.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zhaosu walked around the living room, curiously examining the furnishings of this high-end apartment.

Having stayed in a five-star hotel yesterday, Jiang Zhaosu thought she was no longer a country bumpkin, but seeing the girl's home still surprised her a little.

The girl's apartment wasn't decorated with the decadent luxury of a five-star hotel suite. It leaned towards a modern, minimalist style, but every line in the room was exceptionally smooth and beautiful, clearly indicating it was valuable.

What shocked Jiang Zhaosu the most was that one entire wall in the living room was covered with various paintings.

Although Jiang Zhaosu didn't understand art appreciation, she could tell that the exquisite frames used to set off the paintings were expensive.

Despite the slightly gruesome image of Jiang Zhaosu appearing with a human head in hand, her appearance was that of a frail young girl, and she spoke with a stutter, making her seem far less dangerous than the adult man from earlier.

The long-haired, curly-haired girl was also around seventeen or eighteen years old. After lying on the ground for a long time, she finally managed to catch her breath.

Seeing Jiang Zhaosu staring blankly at the paintings on the wall, she secretly glanced at the fruit knife on the coffee table not far from her.

If it were just this girl, she should be able to handle it, right?