Even though her rebirth had likely disrupted the timeline of her past life, Hao Wenli’s early appearance still caught Chen Xing a little off guard.
’I can’t kill her yet.’
’Confront her?’
’I know she means me harm, but I can’t deal with her as satisfyingly as I did with Cheng Fang.’
Down at the main entrance, two women were anxiously ringing the doorbell, their expressions pitiable and heart-wrenching. Hao Wenli, in particular, had a pair of watery eyes that stirred a deep-seated desire to protect her.
Even if she couldn’t kill Hao Wenli, Chen Xing had no intention of letting her in.
Although Hao Wenli’s appearance might allow her to quickly uncover the woman’s true identity, or at least figure out her motive for getting close, she knew it wasn’t the right time yet.
Having made up her mind, Chen Xing focused her gaze on Hao Wenli’s face.
Whether it was due to luck or something else, the surrounding zombies had only just now noticed the two women.
Terrified, Hao Wenli began to pound on the door panel, tears streaming from her eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
CLANG! The door opened, and Hao Wenli and the other girl were saved.
She didn’t need to guess to know it was the people from Room 1902 who let them in. Perhaps they simply took pity on them?
It didn’t matter to Chen Xing whether Hao Wenli was in the building or not. It was a huge place, and the only way to her floor was via a dedicated elevator. As long as she didn’t want to see them, the chances of an encounter were slim.
Paying Hao Wenli no more mind, Chen Xing continued to search for supplies.
She searched from the top down, skipping the 19th floor and going straight to the 18th.
After the 17th and 16th floors, her mission for the day would be more or less complete.
Soon, only the last room on the 16th floor remained.
It was the apartment at the very end of the hall. As with every other unit, she opened the door and made a very slight noise at the entrance. After waiting a moment and hearing nothing, she stepped inside.
The kitchen, with its European-style decor, was to the left of the entrance.
A marble countertop that served as a partition was piled high with snack foods.
Chen Xing didn’t rush to collect the items. Instead, she gripped her knife with both hands and looked toward two side-by-side doors.
Food was scattered on the table and the floor.
What was most suspicious was that the bread in an open package was still soft, not looking like it had been open for long. This proved that someone had been here not long ago.
Just as Chen Xing took a step, a loud crash came from the left door, growing louder with each impact.
Only a zombie would slam against a door like that.
Realizing it was a zombie, Chen Xing’s steps became a little lighter.
After all, these things didn’t have thoughts yet, unlike humans, who harbored all sorts of ideas and were difficult to predict.
She put her hand on the doorknob, pushed it down, and pulled. The zombie staggered out.
Chen Xing seized the opportunity and stabbed it from behind.
It had just turned into a zombie; the markings on its face weren’t yet distinct. This confirmed her suspicions.
Not long ago, he had tried to eat something, but after opening the package, he must have felt something was wrong with his body. He likely intended to go back to his room to lie down, but mutated instead.
After dealing with the zombie, she immediately swept the apartment to make sure there were no others.
As she returned to the kitchen, she heard a door close upstairs, followed by cautious, soft footsteps—more than one person.
’Looks like the people on the nineteenth floor couldn’t hold out any longer.’
Chen Xing quickly collected the items in the kitchen. After several upgrades, her hand only needed to pass over an object to store it in her space, no touch required.
To be faster, she moved the entire refrigerator into her space.
By the time she finished, the group from upstairs had reached her floor and spotted the apartment she was in.
Chen Xing had a habit: unless there were zombies outside, she would leave the door open after entering a house for a quick escape in a crisis. This was also how Hao Wenli’s group found her so quickly.
When the group reached the doorway, the scene that greeted them was of a seemingly fragile girl looking at them without expression. The tip of the knife in her hand was still dripping with blood.
Although five people had arrived at the door, Chen Xing’s eyes locked onto the only one that mattered: Hao Wenli, dressed in a pink tulle dress.
She had seen that dress online before. Before the apocalypse, its price was nearly six figures.
For an ordinary working person, that was an astronomical price.
’She’s not the daughter of some wealthy family. It’s obvious there’s something shady about how she got that dress.’
She had thought she wouldn’t be able to resist killing Hao Wenli on sight, but to her own surprise, Chen Xing was perfectly calm. In fact, her face showed no emotion other than coldness.
Likely not expecting to run into Chen Xing here, Hao Wenli seemed momentarily stunned.
Chen Xing saw it and knew her guess was right: the Hao Wenli of this moment already knew who she was.
"Are you a resident here?" a man who looked to be in his early thirties asked, breaking the silence.
"No." Chen Xing pulled her gaze away from Hao Wenli.
Hao Wenli had felt uneasy ever since seeing Chen Xing, and that feeling only vanished when Chen Xing looked away.
The man looked past Chen Xing at the dead body in the living room, and his expression turned cold. "You killed him?"
"Yes." Chen Xing’s reply was cold and detached.
"Wasn’t there some kind of misunderstanding?" Hao Wenli spoke up for Chen Xing without a second thought.
Her best friend standing beside her gave Hao Wenli a look of disbelief and secretly tugged on the corner of her clothes. The meaning was clear: ’Have you lost your mind?’
Why would Chen Xing appreciate the gesture?
In her past life, Hao Wenli had also spoken up for her when she was falsely accused, and that was how she had won her trust.
"There was no misunderstanding. He turned into a zombie and was about to attack me, so I killed him." Chen Xing didn’t give Hao Wenli a chance to put on a show in front of her.
Hao Wenli wasn’t one to give up easily. She immediately looked up ingratiatingly at the man beside her. "Brother Hu, I think this counts as self-defense, right?" Her voice was so gentle it was impossible to refuse her.
Hearing Hao Wenli’s voice, Hu Dawei felt his whole body go weak. He immediately nodded in agreement. "Of course!"
The man in his fifties standing behind him was not so easily swayed. He looked at Chen Xing with anger in his eyes. "This is Doctor Wei’s home! We just spoke to him on the phone at noon, and he was fine then! It’s clear to me that you broke in, killed him, and are now trying to cover it up by claiming he turned into a zombie and attacked you! I don’t care that you killed him—we can let the police handle that when this crisis is over. But you are not a resident of this building. As the one in charge here, I have the right to make you leave!"
"Brother Hu..." Hao Wenli cried out, making it sound as if she were the one being kicked out. "She’s just a girl! It’ll be dangerous for her to leave here alone!"
Hu Dawei had never been treated this way before; he was ready to hand over his very soul to her. "Dad... I think..."
"Shut up!" Mr. Hu didn’t care that it was his own son pleading.
He just felt there was something off about this young woman and had taken an inexplicable dislike to her.
"Mom..." Seeing that his father was unmoved, Hu Dawei immediately turned to his mother for help.
Although Mrs. Hu wasn’t fond of the girl either, her son came first. "Old Hu, Wenli is right. It’s full of monsters out there. Making a young girl go out now is a death sentence, isn’t it?"
"This is non-negotiable!" Old Hu, a man famous for being afraid of his wife, was being stubborn for the first time. "Please leave this place immediately!"