The vehicle continued forward.
All along the road were wrecked cars destroyed in collisions.
Occasionally, they could see pools of blood and severed limbs.
It was clear just how chaotic the previous night had been.
Tang Tang leaned against the car window and looked outside.
At their current speed, they should reach the next city around noon.
Meng Xingyuan continued typing on his computer.
Zhu Jiawen remained silent.
“Have some water, baby.”
Meng Xingyuan took a bottle of water from his backpack and handed it to Zhu Jiawen.
“When can we get back to Jing City?”
Zhu Jiawen had received a call from her parents earlier. The situation in Jing City was also far from good.
Her brows were tightly furrowed, and her heart was filled with worry.
Meng Xingyuan showed her his computer.
“If everything goes well, we can get back within a month at most.”
Tang Tang shook her head.
That was far too optimistic.
In her previous life, they had not even made it halfway after three months.
The extreme heat was actually manageable. At least they could travel for most of the day.
But there were also acid rain, lightning, hailstorms…
These natural disasters made it impossible to move forward.
Tang Tang turned her gaze toward Pei Xianzhi, who was driving.
His thin lips were slightly pursed as he drove with a serious expression.
Tang Tang felt that something was not quite right.
He was too calm.
Although he was usually like this, Pei Xianzhi had not shown the slightest emotional reaction to anything related to the Apocalypse.
Fear, worry, curiosity…
He showed none of them.
It was almost as if he already knew everything about these things.
Tang Tang’s eyes shifted. She took her own water bottle from her bag and handed it to Pei Xianzhi.
“Have some water.”
Pei Xianzhi took it with one hand, opened the cap, then handed it back to Tang Tang.
“You drink first. Are you hungry?”
From the back seat, Zhu Jiawen rolled her eyes.
“Can you two be any more lovey-dovey?”
Tang Tang’s face immediately flushed. She turned around and gave her a soft glare.
Holding the water bottle, she took small sips. Her movements were delicate, like a beautiful little rabbit.
As time passed, the temperature continued to rise.
Even with the air conditioner running, the car still felt stuffy and hot.
Meng Xingyuan found the thermometer in the trunk.
“It’s 45 degrees Celsius outside.”
Pei Xianzhi looked at the map.
“We don’t need to rush to the next city. Let’s find somewhere to stay first.”
Tang Tang nodded.
The extreme heat really was not suitable for driving for long periods. Even with the air conditioner on, the car was not cool enough, and it would also consume more fuel.
Zombies were not afraid of sunlight, but the high temperature reduced their activity levels, causing them to hide in dark places.
This was the best time to collect supplies.
“I think so too. I’m going to look for some materials and build a self-powered generator.”
Everyone agreed.
The vehicle left the national highway and turned onto a village road.
Tang Tang looked at the scenery outside the window.
Everything was desolate, yet so peaceful that it seemed as if nothing had ever happened.
It was not until they entered the village that they occasionally saw traces of blood.
They chose a house in the middle of the village that seemed relatively secure.
The front door was tightly locked, and weeds had spread throughout the courtyard.
It looked like no one had lived there for a long time.
They did not want to damage the lock on the front door.
Zhu Jiawen nimbly climbed over the wall, found the key beneath the doormat, and unlocked the door.
The group split into pairs and thoroughly checked the entire house.
No one had lived there for a long time. The doors and windows were locked, but there was not too much dust.
Meng Xingyuan brushed the dust from his hands.
“There’s still liquefied gas and hot water.”
Zhu Jiawen checked whether the locks on the bedroom doors were still working properly.
Through the reflection in the window, Zhu Jiawen suddenly noticed a suspicious figure sneaking around outside.
“Someone’s here.”
She tugged on Meng Xingyuan’s sleeve.
Meng Xingyuan instinctively shielded her behind him.
“You go upstairs and get Pei Xianzhi and Tang Tang. I’ll take a look.”
When the three of them came downstairs, Meng Xingyuan was standing at the front door, confronting the person in the courtyard.
Tang Tang took a closer look.
It was actually the old man who had tried to scam her at the general goods market.
That old man really had gone a long way just to scam someone in the city.
“What happened?”
Pei Xianzhi had been paying attention to her the entire time and immediately noticed the change in her mood.
Tang Tang gave a small snort.
“This old man last time…”
She stopped halfway through.
She could not tell Pei Xianzhi about this.
Otherwise, he would find out that instead of staying at the hotel, she had secretly gone to the general goods market.
Tang Tang said seriously, “He doesn’t look like a good person.”
Pei Xianzhi found her serious expression adorable.
He instinctively reached out and pinched her cheek.
Meng Xingyuan asked, “What do you want?”
A gleam flashed through the old man’s murky eyes.
Wasn’t this the young man from the general goods market yesterday?
What a small world.
The old man’s acting skills were still excellent. His voice trembled as he spoke.
“Young man, could you take me and my son with you?”
Zhu Jiawen rolled her eyes.
The old man looked sleazy enough, yet he was pretending to be a simple, honest, kindhearted person.
She said coldly, “No. We’re not related, so why should we take you with us?”
Tang Tang nodded from behind Zhu Jiawen.
Exactly. Why should they take him?
He had even swindled a watch from her yesterday.
The old man’s acting remained as convincing as ever.
With tears and snot streaming down his face, he began talking about how difficult it had been to raise his son alone.
But no one cared about his performance.
Meng Xingyuan said coldly, “Have you said enough? No matter what, we won’t take you with us. Leave.”
Taking them along would indeed have been easy enough.
But Meng Xingyuan simply did not want to invite unnecessary trouble.
Especially with a snake like this that could bite them back at any moment.
The old man immediately dropped his pitiful expression.
His eyes turned vicious as he glared at them.
“You young people have no respect for your elders. You won’t have a good ending.”
Zhu Jiawen shot back, “People who abuse their age to take advantage of others won’t have a good ending either.”
Tang Tang showed a surprised little expression.
What a great comeback!
As expected of Zhu Jiawen.
The old man was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. Before leaving, he even kicked the front door.
Damn these young people.
They would definitely suffer for this.
Pei Xianzhi stared coldly at the old man’s retreating figure and spoke calmly.
“Lock the door properly. Let’s go out and see what supplies the village has.”
Pei Xianzhi did not forget to store the vehicle in his Space Cheat Ability.
As they walked along the village road, Tang Tang curiously looked around.
“Huh? Where are those two?”
Pei Xianzhi opened an umbrella and held it over her, keeping her in the shade while leaving half of his own body exposed to the scorching sun.
“They went to collect supplies on the other side.”
They had not walked very far when they discovered a small supermarket in the village.
“There’s a supermarket here.”
Tang Tang pointed at the supermarket sign.
Pei Xianzhi moved her behind him.
The supermarket door was not closed, and the inside was in complete disarray.
There were several pools of blood on the card table.
Cigarette butts, beer bottles, and cash were scattered across the floor.
Tang Tang lowered her voice.
“Do you think there are still other survivors in this village?”
“I don’t know.”
Pei Xianzhi’s voice was flat, and he sounded somewhat unhappy.
Tang Tang turned around and saw his tightly pursed lips. She tilted her head up to look at him.
“What’s wrong?”
Pei Xianzhi took a deep breath.
“Tang Tang, would you hate me?”
Confusion filled her beautiful eyes.
“Why would I hate you?”
“At the gas station today, didn’t you think what I did was frightening?”
Pei Xianzhi lowered his head. Beneath his usually refined and composed exterior was a trace of longing.