The mysterious young man

Nan Shao said nothing and paid no one any attention as he quickly cleaned himself up. But it had been far too long since his last bath, and by the end, the water in the basin was so filthy that no one would want to give it another glance. He could only abandon the idea of washing his clothes. It looked like he would have to find more clothes to change into when they went out.

That morning, everyone ate rice that was neither dry nor soupy, again accompanied by pickled chilies and preserved mustard stems. The portions were generous; after all, there was no need to scrimp further in the short term. Then the three of them tidied up, picked up their weapons and backpacks, and headed out.

They had just closed the door when they saw people coming downstairs. There were about five or six of them, both men and women, all young or in their prime. They wore ordinary clothes, mostly shirts, T-shirts, jackets, and long pants, stained with plenty of grime and carrying a distinct stench of decay. Yet none of them had the hunched, furtive caution or sorrowful expressions of ordinary people. They looked relaxed and full of confidence. When they saw the three of them, they even smiled and said hello.

"Ability users don't seem nearly as guarded around one another as ordinary people," Zhang Yi said quietly to Nan Shao and Li Muran once those people were out of earshot. He had never spent time around ability users before and knew little about their relationships. From what he saw now, they seemed much the same as before the apocalypse.

"Only on the surface," Nan Shao said mildly. At the large base where he had once lived, competition and infighting among ability users had been particularly fierce. They fought over supplies, Corpse Crystals, status, territory... It was far crazier than before the apocalypse. By comparison, ordinary people were exhausted simply trying to survive. How could they spare any attention for anything else? Their relationships were actually much simpler.

Chatting casually, the three soon left town and reached the pickup point. They spotted Zheng Kun's group aboard the vehicle, but it was already too late to back out, so they could only act as if nothing were wrong and sit at the back. Clearly, however, Zheng Kun's men remembered them. One walked over to Zheng Kun and whispered a few words in his ear. Zheng Kun glanced back at them, his gaze lingering on Nan Shao for just two seconds longer. Then a dismissive smile curled his lips. Toying with the gun in his hand, he said something, and the subordinate returned to his seat without coming over to cause trouble.

"He said we took part in the attack on Small Shop Street the day before yesterday. He also said Brother Yi was on friendly terms with Meat Tower Chen, so if we escaped, Meat Tower Chen must have tipped us off. He also said Meat Tower Chen is staying with us." Looking straight ahead, Nan Shao repeated what he had heard in an extremely quiet voice, his lips barely moving. He had noticed that his hearing and eyesight had become much sharper since awakening his ability. The change was especially apparent today, probably because of last night's cultivation.

Li Muran gave him a surprised look. Although she could vaguely hear some voices too, she could not make out what they were saying.

"Zheng Kun said he'll find a chance to kill us," Nan Shao continued, lowering his lashes to conceal the flash of killing intent in his eyes.

Zhang Yi leaned his head against the seat back and gazed at the reinforced roof of the vehicle. Hearing this, he did not so much as twitch an eyebrow. He only said, "We'll talk once we're off."

Once the ability users guarding the vehicle boarded, they stopped talking. After they got off, Zheng Kun left first with his men. Zhang Yi and the others hung back, only relaxing slightly once they were certain the two groups were heading in different directions.

"Looks like we'll have to be even more careful from now on." Zhang Yi's brow was tightly furrowed, his mood irritable. Facing the threat of zombies every day was already exhausting. Now they also had to be constantly on guard against someone stabbing them in the back. No one would be happy in their position.

"They have guns. Whether they attack openly or in secret, we can't defend against them," Nan Shao said mildly.

Hearing the deeper meaning in his words, Zhang Yi turned to look at him. Li Muran still had her head lowered, as if there were gold on the ground.

"Rather than live without a moment's peace, we might as well strike first." Nan Shao's gaze rested on a point ahead, but his words were utterly cold. He had always been like this. Anyone who dared set their sights on him would be repaid double.

Li Muran raised her head. Zhang Yi did not answer for a long time. Of course they knew what the best solution was. Yet although they had struggled through half a year in the apocalypse, witnessed plenty of people killing their own kind, and suffered at others' hands themselves, they had never imagined that one day they would have to kill someone with their own hands. Unfortunately, some things could not be avoided simply because you did not want to do them.

"Dealing with Zheng Kun will be enough," Zhang Yi finally said as zombies began appearing ahead. He remained unwilling to stain his hands with too much of his own kind's blood.

"And the one who tattled," Nan Shao said calmly, rubbing his thumb twice over the scabbard of the Tang saber in his hand. He had never killed anyone, but he did not mind making this the first time.

Zhang Yi remained silent, giving his tacit agreement.

"Count me in," Li Muran said. This involved her too, so she could not stay out of it.

Nan Shao looked at her, a smile touching his lips. "Good girl!" With that, he drew his Tang saber with a swish and took the lead, meeting the zombies lunging toward them.

Chapter 27: The mysterious young man

The main road into the county seat had been cleared. The vehicles that had once blocked it had all been dragged to the roadside, leaving a passage down the middle for vehicles to enter and leave. Even ability users generally did not dare drive straight into the county seat, however, because no one had yet dared clear the streets inside. Driving in and getting trapped was as good as a death sentence. Wangyang Town's higher-ups were planning to clear the roads farther inward until they finally opened up the entire county seat. Then many supplies could be transported out directly by vehicle, and they might even reclaim the county seat. Before that happened, those who could reach the inner city first would naturally get more good things. Thus, any ability users with some strength had their sights set on the major shopping malls in the center of the county seat. The better places around the outskirts had already been visited, so few people paid them much attention anymore.

The place Nan Shao and the others were heading to no longer counted as the outskirts of the county seat, but it was not too far inside either. Along the way, however, abandoned vehicles, wandering zombies, and scattered corpses could be seen at any moment. The shops and restaurants that appeared from time to time on either side had already been looted clean. Tables and chairs lay overturned, and shards of glass reflected the sunlight, glittering as brilliantly as diamonds.

Nan Shao led the way, with Zhang Yi on the left and Li Muran on the right. The three advanced step by step, immediately killing any zombies they encountered as long as there were not too many. Of course, they had no choice but to kill them; otherwise, they could easily find themselves surrounded, unable to defend both front and rear. But this left them too little time to extract Corpse Crystals. After all, they lacked the ability users' knack for extracting them the instant they made a kill.