After Jiang Li sat down, Gu Jin also sat down beside her in an empty spot. She could not help but glance at him.
“Well… it’s better to have someone to look out for each other, and I don’t feel comfortable with anyone else.” Faced with her gaze, Gu Jin felt a little guilty.
“Oh, I see.” Jiang Li looked at him somewhat strangely, feeling that he seemed a little different from before. She assumed he was still a bit awkward because of what had happened earlier and did not think too much about it.
“There’s still a while before dawn. Do you want to sleep for a bit? I can keep watch. I can’t sleep anyway right now.”
“Alright, I’ll nap for a bit. Wake me up if anything happens.”
“Okay, sleep.”
Jiang Li leaned against her backpack and closed her eyes. After spending so much time together, she trusted Gu Jin’s character quite a bit. Besides, she would wake up immediately if anything happened. That was a habit she had developed in the apocalypse, she would never fall into deep sleep. After all, no one knew what might happen while you were asleep.
In fact, Jiang Li did have a tent in her backpack, but since no one else had one, taking it out now would immediately draw attention. So she planned to wait until the next day when everyone went out searching for supplies and some people had already set up shelter before taking it out.
The next morning, as expected, many people were already searching through the ruins for supplies. After all, everyone had been fleeing for their lives, who would remember to bring food? Even if they did, it was only a small amount, far from enough to survive on later.
Some people found their cars and simply lived inside them, which was already considered quite good. Others who could not find their cars, or found them unusable, pieced together makeshift shelters instead. Many people saw this and followed suit. After all, the sun was still scorching hot during the day, and they needed a place to rest. Of course, quite a few people also managed to find tents.
Jiang Li also went to take a look for her car, just for show. As expected, the underground garage was already inaccessible, the entrance was blocked. Even if she could get in, the road inside was full of obstacles and it would be extremely difficult to drive out. If another earthquake hit, there would not even be time to escape. Of course, she would not take that kind of risk just for a car.
This residential complex was newly built and the quality was fairly good. The building she lived in had not collapsed, though it was no longer habitable, it had already become structurally unsafe. Some of the other buildings had partially collapsed.
Compared to this neighborhood, other places were far less fortunate, with casualties making up the majority.
Jiang Li glanced at the square and saw that quite a few people had set up tents. She went to a corner, took out her own tent from her backpack, and then walked toward the open area.
Gu Jin had somehow already found a tent and set it up. Hearing the movement, he turned around and saw Jiang Li carrying a tent back. He said, “Let me help you set it up.”
“Alright, thanks.”
Gu Jin took the tent and set it up next to his own. Although he helped, Jiang Li did not completely stand aside and let him do everything. The two of them worked together, and the tent was quickly set up.
They also planned to set up a simple cooking area in front of the tents. After all, earthquakes were still happening intermittently, so staying inside buildings was definitely unsafe. Going elsewhere was even more dangerous, staying put was still the best option.
Jiang Li originally intended to just make something simple, but Gu Jin said he knew how and could build a basic structure using bricks. So she let him handle it. He went out to find materials while she stayed behind to watch their belongings. After all, just the two tents alone were already enough to attract envy.
Before leaving, Gu Jin thought for a moment and took out a handgun, handing it to Jiang Li. For some reason, he just had the feeling that she knew how to use it.
“I think you should be able to use this.”
Although he knew she had a knife and was skilled in combat, a handgun would be more deterrent.
Jiang Li froze slightly when she saw the handgun being handed over. She did not expect him to simply give her a gun like that.
“Thanks, I have one too.”
Then she also pulled a handgun from her waist. Seeing that Jiang Li had one as well, Gu Jin actually felt that it was normal. Logically speaking, an ordinary person should not have a gun, but he just felt that this was natural. Seeing that she also had a handgun, he felt reassured and went out to look for supplies.
Gu Jin’s caution was not without reason, after all, this was the apocalypse. As expected, not long after he left, someone came over.
“Hello, miss. You see, you have two tents. Could you give one to our father and son?”
The ones who came were a father and son. They looked about seventy to eighty percent alike. The older man appeared to be in his fifties, while the younger one was already in his thirties.
“Dad, why bother talking to her? Just take it. Look how delicate she is, tie her up and bring her back so I can have a good time with her,” the younger man, He Li, said while looking at Jiang Li with a lecherous grin.
These two were from the neighboring residential area and did not know Jiang Li or the others. People from Jiang Li’s own neighborhood did not dare to provoke her or Gu Jin anyway, those who had caused trouble before had never returned.
“You don’t want your eyes anymore? I can help you dig them out.” Jiang Li said coldly to He Li. “And these things are not something you can covet. Get them and get lost.”
He Li was startled by her cold gaze. Then, realizing he had actually been frightened by a woman, he immediately flew into a rage.
“You damn woman, don’t know what’s good for you! You’re just relying on a man anyway. Who knows how many men you’ve slept with before? Acting so pure and noble here.”
In He Li’s mind, a man bringing such a beautiful woman with him meant she must have relied on selling herself, since they did not look like siblings and the situation was the apocalypse.
He Guangwen saw that Jiang Li was not going along with it and stopped pretending as well. He said, “Young lady, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. The people who could help you aren’t here now. Be obedient, hand over your things and come with us. We might even show you some mercy. Otherwise, you’ll suffer in a moment.”
“Oh? Really? Then try it if you’ve got the guts.” Jiang Li picked up her Tang sword and casually toyed with it in her hand. Using a gun on them would be overkill, this was enough. She looked at them as if she were already looking at dead people.
He Guangwen and He Li stared at the sword in her hand and sneered, thinking that as a woman, she was only using it to scare them and would never dare to actually act.
“Dad, look at her, she’s still trying to scare us. I bet it’s not even sharpened, it just looks real. Hahaha.” He Li said with a mocking grin, full of ridicule.
A sharp sound rang out, and He Li collapsed to the ground. A knife was embedded in his chest, the very same blade that had just been in Jiang Li’s hand. He Li clutched his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief. Everything around them fell silent, until a sudden scream broke the stillness.
“Ah, killing—” The voice was quickly muffled by someone covering his mouth, afraid of drawing Jiang Li’s attention.
“You… I’ll kill you!” He Guangwen stared at his son falling to the ground, unable to believe it. He rushed forward to grab Jiang Li, but she kicked him away.
“I already gave you a chance. You refused to leave yourselves. Who can you blame?” As she spoke, she took out her other knife and swiftly slit He Guangwen’s throat.
Jiang Li glanced coldly at the surrounding people. None of them dared meet her eyes. Satisfied with their reaction, she thought that there would likely be no more troublemakers coming after this.
From a distance, Chen Sisi was watching, her whole body trembling. Fortunately, she had not provoked them any further back then.