Resistance

Feng Chao picked up the knife from the floor. After what had just happened, he knew that only by taking up a weapon could he protect himself and those who mattered to him. He looked at the few people cowering in the corner, wanting to save their own skins yet too afraid to step outside.

He couldn't be bothered to say much, only instructing the few who were willing to fight alongside him, "We can't rely on just us few. Go upstairs and call the guests down. Only by uniting can we hold this hotel!"

"Divide it up yourselves, one person responsible for each floor. Don't waste time trying to persuade those who don't want to come, but remember to take the fire extinguishers off the walls!"

"You two, come with me to the kitchen to get weapons."

Someone asked, "Brother Feng, what if those people refuse to come down?"

Feng Chao frowned, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. "Tell them that if they don't come down to help now, they won't have an easy time of it if we die. By the same token, if we survive, we won't provide them with any further help, including food."

In these extraordinary times, there was no room for benevolence or morality.

The group received their orders and immediately dispersed. Feng Chao looked at the woman standing to the side holding a watermelon knife; he wanted to offer comfort but couldn't find the words.

"Xiao Min, go to the back and hide."

The woman looked at him, gripping the knife tighter. "Waiting to be protected?"

Feng Chao: "...I'm sorry."

When the disaster struck, he could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved was humiliated, unable to do a thing.

Xiao Min didn't speak, looking down at the watermelon knife in her hand. In any case, she could no longer hide behind others, nor could she pin her hopes on anyone else.

She wanted to be as strong as Ye Zhao.

Feng Chao and the others reached the kitchen, tossing every usable knife and club into crates meant for fruits and vegetables before carrying them out. Feng Chao stayed behind to dismantle fire extinguishers and even connected a high-pressure water hose, determined to use every weapon at his disposal.

At this point, it was a fight to the death.

By the time they were prepared, the people from upstairs had begun to trickle down. Their hotel had hundreds of guests, yet only about thirty had shown up.

Feng Chao gave a cold laugh; if they didn't come down to help, they shouldn't blame him for being heartless later.

He distributed a weapon to everyone—some had cleavers, others rolling pins. Those with strength took the fire extinguishers; while meant for putting out fires, they were highly effective for spraying people in these desperate times.

Before long, a colleague he had sent to keep an eye on the supermarket returned, saying excitedly, "Brother Feng, Brother Leopard and his men were ambushed!" The group crowded around the window, and sure enough, they saw the scene of Brother Leopard and his men being sniped. Especially when they saw the car Brother Leopard was sitting in explode in the middle of the road, they couldn't help but clap in excitement.

"Serves them right! Good riddance!"

"That must have been Miss Ye, right? She's so amazing."

"Though her aim was a bit off, she looks like a novice?"

"Miss Ye has not only machine guns and sniper rifles, but now even grenades? Who exactly is she?"

"Whatever she is, she's a hero who saved our lives. From now on, I'm following Miss Ye!"

Feng Chao: "Save that for later. Hurry, those people are driving over! They'll definitely return to the hotel, so stick to the plan!"

Brother Leopard's death greatly boosted the morale of this group of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and they rushed out, weapons in hand.

Brother Leopard's underlings thought they could show off their might upon returning to the hotel, finding the sniper and killing them to avenge Brother Leopard. Little did they know, as soon as they stepped through the hotel entrance, several heads rolled to their feet like bowling balls.

The bloody wounds, the familiar faces, the pale, twisted expressions—their wide-open eyes still betrayed the terror and shock they felt before death.

The hostages who had been tied up were nowhere to be seen, and the hotel lobby was empty. Aside from a few corpses and bloodstains on the floor, there was nothing.

"Damn it! What's going on? Where are the people?"

"Can't even watch a few people properly; these losers deserved to die!"

"The phone still isn't being answered."

"Where's Mad Dog? Don't tell me he ran off to some woman's bed again? That idiot can't keep his pants on when he sees a woman; he's going to die on top of one sooner or later."

"Could this also be the work of that sniper? Should we retreat for now?"

"Retreat? Where would we find a base as good as this?"

"Exactly, they're just a bunch of office-working losers. We caught them once, we can catch them again!"

Because Feng Chao had already had the bodies dragged to the back to be hidden, Brother Leopard's underlings only saw three familiar heads and assumed only three had died, while the others had gone off to chase the escapees. They never imagined their entire force had been wiped out, and thus failed to realize the severity of the situation.

The underlings first moved the supplies from the vehicles into the hotel and left two men to guard them before cautiously heading inside with their cleavers.

They remained quite careful, not rushing in brazenly, and stayed clustered together.

In the surveillance room, Feng Chao had been prepared. He had hidden the corpses of the accomplices specifically to lure them in and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Otherwise, were they to wait for them to escape, grow their numbers, and come back to kill them?

What he wanted was to eliminate the threat once and for all! It was about revenge!

Unfortunately, several of his plans failed, such as trapping a batch in the elevator to reduce the pressure and picking them off one by one.

Because they didn't split up, they marched in a massive group straight toward the hotel's back office area.

It looked like they were coming to check the surveillance.

Feng Chao picked up a cleaver and ordered through his headset: "They're coming. Strike at the second intersection!"

Brother Leopard's underlings tapped and banged along the way, their knives and clubs striking walls and doors. "Not a soul here. Those cowards probably ran home to find their mommies!"

The group burst into laughter, but suddenly, the situation changed. Two men rushed out, hugging fire extinguishers and spraying them directly at the group, nitrogen dioxide filling their nasal cavities.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A white mist filled the air, and coughing broke out one after another. The underlings covered their noses and eyes, retreating. Before they had taken many steps, several more people appeared from nowhere, blasting them with fire extinguishers and high-pressure water hoses!

"Damn it! You're asking for death!"

"Charge them and kill them!" Someone shouted. The disoriented underlings found their resolve and charged with their blades drawn!

Feng Chao rushed over, shouting, "If you don't want to die, then kill them!"

The two sides clashed. Amidst the swirling smoke, the underlings were attacked from all sides. Soon, they were overwhelmed and fell one by one, struck down by blades...

Xiao Min stood behind the crowd, clutching her watermelon knife. An underling accidentally stumbled to her feet after being slashed. Without a word, she plunged her watermelon knife straight into his heart and added two more stabs to his lower abdomen.

The underling stared in disbelief, his eyes wide, unable to close them in death.

She looked at his twisted, dead face, a sense of gratification at having avenged her great grievance rising in her heart. She couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Ye Zhao stood behind the crowd, carrying her machine gun. It seemed she wasn't needed here, so she turned and left.

Xiao Min looked up and saw Ye Zhao's departing back. Her smile faded. Had she been too savage just now? Had she scared her?

But then she remembered Ye Zhao hacking off several heads, so she should be fine, right?

Ye Zhao returned to her room and set up her sniper rifle at the window, aiming back and forth. After those previous shots, she felt confident in herself; she felt she had graduated.

The supermarket became ownerless, and survivors rushed in to loot supplies. The scene was chaotic, and the supermarket was emptied in no time.

Ye Zhao saw a girl clutching a pile of supplies leaving the supermarket in a hurry. Two men in black, wearing hoods and masks, blocked her path and moved to snatch the supplies from her arms.

Ye Zhao removed the silencer and fired a shot at the man's backside. She missed, hitting the ground at his feet, but the gunshot made everyone downstairs look up.

The two men in black were terrified to look up. From so high and so far away, they couldn't tell if the shooter was human or a ghost, but remembering that Brother Leopard had just been taken out by a sniper from across the way, they immediately raised their hands and retreated while begging for mercy.

The girl, having escaped death, burst into tears, bowing repeatedly toward the distance before quickly fleeing.

The two men in black didn't dare to pursue and could only leave in frustration.

Ye Zhao fired two more shots at them, missing both. She wiped a bit of blood from her nose and pulled a carrot from her space to gnaw on.

She spent the whole morning watching the activity downstairs until Feng Chao pushed a dining cart to her door.

"Miss Ye, thank you for saving us!"

"If it weren't for you, my colleagues and I would have only had the option of dying sooner or later."

The food in the cart consisted of the vegetable dishes she had ordered recently, along with her favorite Tom Yum soup.

Feng Chao said they had killed all the bandits. Although several of their own were injured, the outcome was good. The hotel didn't have much spare medicine, so they planned to go to a nearby pharmacy in the afternoon.

Ye Zhao said, "I wish you success."

Feng Chao: "If you need anything in the future, or want to eat anything, you can just tell me, and I will have it delivered to you."

The two exchanged contact information to stay in touch.

Not long after lunch, Xiao Min came up with a fruit platter and dessert. "Miss Ye, thank you."

She didn't say much, her eyes filled with a clear, lingering gloom. It seemed she didn't want to recall anything. Ye Zhao grabbed a handful of milk candies and gave them to her. "Want some candy? It's very sweet."

There were many candies, enough for Xiao Min to hold in both hands. "Thank you." So Miss Ye liked candy; she could bring her candy every day from now on.

After sending Xiao Min off, Ye Zhao unwrapped a milk candy and popped it into her mouth, continuing to aim her sniper rifle downstairs.

Perhaps due to the glorious deeds of the morning, the number of robberies occurring downstairs in the afternoon visibly decreased. Even when some people were being robbed, they would intentionally flee toward her position, and Ye Zhao would fire a couple of shots whenever she saw it.

Invisibly, this place seemed to have become a safety barrier.