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"Get inside the complex first, then drag the bodies over," Nan Shao said decisively. The Tang saber in his hand grew smoother to wield with every stroke, easily slicing off a zombie's head in a single cut. He discovered that his stamina had more than doubled and his movements were more agile. Knowing this was because his ability had improved, he felt that even a useless ability had its uses.

Neither Zhang Yi nor Li Muran was facing zombies for the first time, and they understood his meaning immediately. If no zombies from elsewhere were drawn over, they would have enough time to drag the slain zombies in front of any building entrance near the complex's gate. Not only would the zombies' rotten stench mask their own scent, but they could also take their time extracting the Corpse Crystals. Of course, if they had already attracted other zombies, they could only abandon the Corpse Crystals.

The three had worked together before, and their coordination showed now. In silence, blades flashed and the pickaxe swung, and soon they caught sight of the first apartment building. Buildings of this type were seven stories tall, faced with red tiles, with security doors at the stairwell entrances. All the doors were tightly shut, making it impossible to tell whether anyone had been there.

The zombies wandering inside the complex heard the noise and gathered, quite a few of them. Zhang Yi dared not delay any longer and quickly took out the thin wire he carried to start picking the lock. Li Muran stood guard beside him, while Nan Shao used the interval to cut the heads off the nearby zombies Li Muran had killed and carry them in his hand. By the time he reached the third body, Zhang Yi had opened the door. Without further delay, they slipped inside one after another and slammed the door shut.

There were no sounds of zombies in the stairwell. The three went up to the first floor and found the apartment doors on both sides tightly shut. Only then did Nan Shao toss the severed zombie heads onto the floor and say to Zhang Yi with a smile, "This Tang saber's handy, but unfortunately, I can't carry the heads it cuts off on me. They bite." As he spoke, he took Zhang Yi's machete and crouched to extract the Corpse Crystals. It really was not that he was too stingy to let even a few zombies go, but that his cultivation consumed more Corpse Crystals than anyone else's. Naturally, he wanted to bring back more.

Zhang Yi knocked on the security door of the apartment on the left and waited a moment. There was no sound inside. He knocked twice more, and only when there was still no response did he bend down to pick the lock, answering Nan Shao as he worked. "Getting Corpse Crystals is easy enough. Later, we'll find a way to let some zombies in, then extract one every time we kill one." As he spoke, the zombies gathering outside banged against the security door at the stairwell entrance, but it was solidly installed and looked unlikely to break anytime soon.

"Sounds good." Nan Shao held the three Corpse Crystals in his hand and wiped them on the clothes of one of the zombies that looked relatively clean. With a ripping sound, the fabric actually tore apart. He frowned. "If this sun keeps beating down, sooner or later people will be dried into jerky."

Neither of the other two wanted to discuss the subject. If things really developed that way, they would have no choice but to relocate and search for somewhere else suitable for survival. Yet with the internet and all communications down, how could they know where they could live?

The door opened. Sure enough, there were neither people nor zombies inside, but the place reeked of feces and urine. Clearly, some members of this household had survived when the apocalypse arrived, and with the county town's water and electricity cut off, their waste had piled up. Although the rooms were messy, there were no bloodstains. It was quite possible that no one in the family had turned into a zombie.

The three searched and found that not a scrap of food remained. As for clothes and the like, there were no clean ones, while dirty ones were scattered everywhere. In the end, Zhang Yi found some tools, including screwdrivers and wrenches, and tossed them into the backpack on his back.

"They might come in handy," he said in response to the other two's questioning looks.

There were two zombies in the apartment opposite: an old woman and a child who looked three or four years old. When he saw the scene inside, Zhang Yi briefly closed his eyes, unable to help thinking of his own mother and son. He failed to swing the machete in his hand. Fortunately, Nan Shao yanked him aside, saving him from becoming a zombie.

"Why the hell are you spacing out now!" Enraged, Nan Shao swiftly sliced off the old zombie's head. Only after seeing that Li Muran had dealt with the little zombie did he start cursing furiously. He did not know why, but when he saw the old zombie's nails about to touch Zhang Yi, he had felt as though his entire scalp would explode. Even now, waves of lingering fear still washed over him.

"Sorry!" Zhang Yi raised a hand and wiped his face.

Seeing that he still looked dazed, Nan Shao was so angry that he kicked the door and went inside. Li Muran pressed her lips together and said, "Brother Yi, I can't believe you made such a basic mistake. If you die, no one will help you look after Little Yangyang." With that, she followed him inside.

Zhang Yi lowered his head to look at the blackened, rotting bodies of the old woman and child on the floor. He briefly closed his eyes, then crouched, cracked open their skulls, and dug out the Corpse Crystals before dragging the bodies aside and laying them side by side. After doing all this, his throat felt unbearably dry, but his gaze had grown even colder and harder than before.

This family had been fairly well-off, and with the habit most elderly people had of storing food, there was still quite a lot left at home. Aside from what had already rotted and become inedible, they gathered some rice, flour, mung beans, dried foods, pickled vegetables, and children's snacks. There were plenty of children's clothes, shoes, and socks, and Zhang Yi found some that would fit Zhang Ruiyang. All told, the three backpacks were more than half full.

"My mother made a lot of pickled vegetables. Let's go over there one day and bring them all back," Zhang Yi said as they left the first floor. Since leaving home, no matter how hard life had been, he had never thought of going back. For one thing, he could not carry much on his own; for another, he did not want the familiar surroundings to stir up his grief again.

Seeing that he had finally returned to normal, Nan Shao silently breathed a sigh of relief. On the next two floors, they encountered seven zombies. Fortunately, they were separated, or they would have been rather difficult to handle. Unfortunately, most of the residents were young people, and apart from picking up a few pieces of clothing, they found little of value. They could not even fill their bags. No wonder no one had come here. Ability users would not bother with such meager gains, while for ordinary people, the danger outweighed the rewards. Naturally, this was not the best choice of location, or Zhang Yi and the others would never have had their chance.

When they reached the fourth floor, Zhang Yi was just about to start opening the door on the left when the door on the right suddenly opened and a young man stepped out. Startled, all three turned wary eyes toward him at the same time.