The village lane was a narrow dirt road. Ordinary cars could get through, but most people had chosen to enter on foot, like Big Niu.
It wasn't that they were worried about their cars. In this apocalypse, a damaged tire was a serious headache.
But that was precisely the advantage Chen Mo and the other cyclists had!
A few minutes later, Chen Mo braked hard, stopping in front of a small, freestanding building on the only road into the village.
By rights, he should have been delighted to find somewhere to loot so quickly.
But the building before him was far too strange.
Its front door stood wide open, but the light inside was so dim that Chen Mo couldn't make out the interior from outside. He could only vaguely discern the outlines of a few furnishings.
Chen Mo slowly pushed his little yellow bike a few steps closer. The fierce midday sun shone down on him, casting a small patch of shadow in the courtyard.
He glanced down at the dividing line the sunlight drew across the entrance, and a powerful instinct suddenly stirred within him.
It felt... as though something in the bottomless darkness inside was watching him intently, like a spider in its web, quietly waiting for prey to come to it.
Something's wrong!
This place is so fucking wrong!
Just as Chen Mo began to feel unnerved and was about to turn his bike around and leave, a gentle, kindly voice drifted out from behind the door.
"Young man, don't go."
"Look at you, so thin and pale with hunger. It's been a long time since you've eaten, hasn't it? Granny has plenty of food here. I couldn't possibly eat it all myself."
"My legs aren't what they used to be. Come in and pack some up to take with you!"
The voice was very gentle. At first, it really did sound like a kindly old woman showing concern for a younger person.
But Chen Mo felt his scalp prickle. The instant he'd turned toward the voice, he had caught sight of a wooden sign tucked into a corner of the building.
-Sunny Village Convenience Store.
This was the very place Captain Lin had specifically warned them not to approach!
Seeing that Chen Mo was about to leave, the thing inside the store seemed to grow anxious, its voice becoming even warmer and kinder.
"Young man, don't be afraid. The horrors in the village left long ago."
"This old woman was lucky. I hid in the cellar and escaped with my life."
"Come inside. Granny will cook you a bowl of hot noodles."
With both hands on the handlebars, Chen Mo suddenly asked something out of the blue.
"Granny, do you have a son?"
The voice inside faltered, then answered in an even more affectionate tone, "No. Granny lives all alone, with no one in the world."
"Good boy, come inside and let Granny get a proper look at you."
Just when the thing inside thought Chen Mo was about to come in, he abruptly swung his bike around, turned his head, and spat a thick wad of phlegm onto the ground.
"Even if you did, I bet he'd have no asshole!"
Before his words had finished ringing out, Chen Mo pedaled his little yellow bike away at full speed without looking back.
Eat, my ass! Do I look like a fucking idiot?
The store behind him fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly caught off guard.
A few seconds later, the warm, kindly voice vanished, replaced by a venomous curse from within.
"Fine... fine... fine! You little bastard, I'll remember you!"
Hearing that voice, Chen Mo felt a sharp stab of pain in his brain. Although he suspected the old woman was afraid of sunlight and wouldn't dare come out, he still didn't dare look back. He even stood up to pedal faster.
As for staying to warn others? What a joke. He had neither the time nor the inclination to hang around like an idiot waiting for people to arrive.
After that delay, the people behind him had probably already entered the village. If he got there any later, there might not even be scraps left for him!
The village dirt roads were rough and uneven, and the little yellow bike beneath Chen Mo creaked as though it were about to fall apart.
"Fuck, whose house is this? Who the fuck locks their door in the countryside? Afraid someone will come pay your wife a visit?"
"Over here! Nobody's here! Brother Dao, hurry!"
"Get lost! I saw it first! Fuck off!"
Just as Chen Mo had expected, during the two minutes he'd been held up, quite a few people had already trickled into the village.
Those on bicycles like his, along with the motorcyclists, had charged into the battlefield first.
The village was already in complete chaos, like a raid by Japanese troops, with chickens and dogs scattering everywhere (except there were no chickens or dogs).
Curses, crashing doors, and the sounds of people rummaging through cupboards and chests rose one after another.
After riding farther in for two minutes, Chen Mo's eyes lit up. He jerked the handlebars to one side and darted down a narrow path.
Looking up, he saw a standalone courtyard compound at the end of the path.
It looked like... the home of the village's wealthy landlord.
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