The three researchers hesitated.
“We don’t have any food left at all. If we don’t go, we won’t last more than a few days.”
Ye Huizhou nodded.
“Alright. We’ll still use the emergency stairwell. Zhuoye, take point. The three of you stay farther back. If we can’t get up this way either, we’ll have no choice but to give up on this place.”
The mall’s first-floor stairwell had two doors, one connecting to the mall interior and the other leading outside.
Ye Huizhou shut the inner door, wedged a steel pipe across the handle, then opened the outer door.
“If anything goes wrong, run outside.”
Gu Zhuoye lightened his footsteps and quietly moved upward to scout.
Second floor…
Third floor…
Fourth floor…
This stairwell was remarkably clean. The group reached the top floor without encountering any problems.
Many of the stores on the fifth floor had already been emptied.
Strangely, there were no zombies here either, not even corpses.
“Looks like more than one group has been through this place.”
Taking a long stride forward, Gu Zhuoye nudged Ye Xihe back toward Ye Huizhou.
“Something’s wrong with the fourth floor.”
Lowering his voice, Ye Huizhou said, “Gu Zhuoye takes the left side. The three of you take the right. Xihe and I will cover the front. Grab whatever you can and move fast.”
Everyone nodded and quickly dispersed.
Within minutes, each of them had filled a bag with food and was preparing to retrace their steps.
Clang…Clang, clang!
As they passed the fourth floor, a sudden noise echoed from the other side of the tightly shut stairwell door.
A chill ran down Ye Xihe’s spine.
Gu Zhuoye immediately signaled ahead.
“Keep moving. Don’t stop.”
Holding their breath, everyone hurried downstairs without making a sound.
Five flights of stairs was no small distance. Even Ye Xihe was breathing hard by the time they reached the bottom.
At least going down was easier than climbing up.
Looking at her flushed cheeks and labored breathing, Gu Zhuoye said,
“Starting tomorrow, find time to train. Run two thousand meters.”
Ye Xihe: “?!”
Her world collapsed.
She had failed gym class her entire life.
Even running eight hundred meters felt like it was trying to kill her.
She turned around with watery, pitiful eyes and looked at Ye Huizhou.
“Big Brother…”
Ye Huizhou lowered his gaze and looked at his Little Sister’s slender arms and legs, feeling somewhat reluctant.
He carefully began, “How about…”
Gu Zhuoye cut him off.
“Indulgence ruins a child.”
Ye Huizhou swallowed the rest of his sentence, ignored Ye Xihe’s pleading gaze, and stared resolutely ahead.
Ye Xihe shattered on the spot.
Just as she was about to protest, Gu Zhuoye suddenly raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.
Through the glass, Ye Xihe looked outside.
At some point, a large group of zombies had gathered there.
A rough estimate put their number at several dozen.
Most were F-rank Zombies and E-rank Zombies.
For ordinary people, that many zombies would be deadly.
But with Ye Huizhou and Gu Zhuoye present, even a few dozen more wouldn’t pose much of a problem.
After observing for a moment, Gu Zhuoye let out a sneer.
“They all came from the same direction.”
Ye Huizhou immediately understood.
“Someone herded them over here.”
“We’ve been targeted,” Tao Zhaochuan said, speaking up after remaining quiet for a long time. “There’s a team around here that specializes in stealing other people’s supplies. It’s probably them.”
Grinding her teeth, Ye Xihe declared,
“Let’s kill our way out.”
Gu Zhuoye raised an eyebrow at her.
The little girl was clearly in a bad mood.
Apparently, she really hated exercise.
Ye Huizhou’s lightning blade materialized in his hand, ready to be thrown, but a slender hand suddenly settled on his forearm.
Ye Xihe leaned close and whispered a few words into his ear.
Ye Huizhou nodded.
The long blade in his hand shrank into a short knife, purple electricity flickering faintly along its surface.
Flames ignited in Gu Zhuoye’s palm. He condensed a massive fireball, fully intending to roll it through the zombie crowd like a bowling ball.
Then he noticed Ye Xihe staring at him.
“Ahem.”
Feeling a bit guilty, Gu Zhuoye withdrew his hand.
He actually understood exactly what Ye Xihe was planning, but he still wanted to enjoy himself first.
Only after seeing the fireball shrink did Ye Xihe huff in satisfaction and move to the middle of the formation.
She secretly gathered her healing ability in her palm, ready to treat any injuries at a moment’s notice.
Meanwhile, on a nearby two-story building, several broad-shouldered men crouched together.
The leader held binoculars and observed the six people outside the mall.
“Boss, I say we just take them out directly. By the time we’re done wasting time here, we’d already be eating.”
“Shut up. Didn’t Fifth say they rescued that old man trapped in the hospital?”
“A few low-rank ability users. Are we really scared of them?”
“If your brain doesn’t work, then stop talking and follow orders.”
“You motherf…”
The men behind him argued noisily, but the one holding the binoculars remained unmoved.
After watching the lightning blade and fireball for quite some time, he lowered the binoculars and scoffed.
“Just two low-rank ability users after all. Let’s go deal with them.”
Ye Huizhou and Gu Zhuoye were getting tired of acting.
Normally, they could wipe out groups of zombies at once. Now they were deliberately restraining their abilities and killing them one by one.
Gu Zhuoye had reasonable grounds to suspect that Ye Xihe was taking revenge for his suggestion that she run two thousand meters.
Finally, just as the zombies were nearly wiped out, five burly men appeared from the front left.
The leader raised a hand, and water blades materialized beside him.
With a forceful swing, the blades shot forward and instantly cut down over a dozen zombies.
Looking at Ye Huizhou’s group, he flashed what he clearly thought was a handsome smile.
“Give me the food and the women, and I’ll help you deal with the zombies. How about it?”
As though deliberately showing off his strength, the man to his left clenched his fist.
A ring of earth spikes immediately erupted from the ground, blocking the approaching zombies.
“Need your help?” Gu Zhuoye’s voice dripped with mockery. “Don’t think so highly of yourself.”
The leader’s face darkened.
The man on his right stepped forward and grinned at Ye Xihe.
“Little sister, what future do you have sticking with them? Why don’t you come over here instead? We guarantee you’ll be very… happy.”
The way he emphasized the last word was vulgar and suggestive.
The other men burst into laughter.
“Heh.”
Ye Huizhou bit the inside of his cheek and looked at them as though they were already dead.
The men immediately felt offended and strode forward.
“Brat, what kind of look is that?”
“The look I’d give a dog.”
Before the final word had even settled, Ye Huizhou exploded into motion.
At some point, a metal rod had appeared in his hand.
Swinging it in a full arc, he smashed it straight toward the leader’s head.
The man remained completely calm and caught the descending rod with one hand.
A layer of water wrapped around his palm, then flowed along the metal rod toward Ye Huizhou.
The man sneered provocatively.
“That’s it? You…”
Ye Huizhou smiled. The man’s expression changed instantly as alarm bells rang in his head.
But Ye Huizhou gave him no chance to react.
Lightning energy surged violently.
In an instant, the ordinary-looking metal rod erupted with purple arcs. The powerful current traveled directly through the man’s water ability and crashed into his body.
At the same time, two men approached from the rear toward Ye Xihe.
One of them grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
“Pretty boy, hand over the woman next to you.”
As he spoke, he reached out, intending to drag Ye Xihe over.