With her backpack on, Su Yun headed out. This time, however, she ran into a familiar face in the stairwell.
Calling him “familiar” was a stretch—they weren’t related at all. He was a neighbor who lived upstairs. Back when she was in school and later interning and working, they would often run into each other in the elevator. His workplace was near the company where she had interned.
After Su Yun joined the official organization in her previous life, she never saw him again. Now, meeting him in the stairwell after such a long time, she couldn’t even remember his name.
The man looked to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven. When he saw Su Yun standing by the stairwell, he froze for a moment. Just as he was about to greet her, he saw her nod slightly and head downstairs.
He hurried after her. “Su Yun, wait for me. Are you planning to go out alone to look for food?”
But by the time he reached the fourth floor, he could only see her back. By the time he got to the second floor, Su Yun was completely out of sight.
After leaving the unit entrance, the man searched around for her, surprised at how quickly she had slipped away in such a short time.
He had thought that since they knew each other, he could ask Su Yun to team up and look for supplies together.
But something felt off. Su Yun seemed different—much colder than before. Every time they’d met in the past, she’d never been this indifferent.
Failing to find her, the man didn’t linger. Most of the zombies in the residential compound were wandering near the perimeter wall, so the area right below the unit building was still relatively safe.
He began cautiously exploring the compound, trying to find a safe way out.
After leaving Garden Community, Su Yun started scouting the surrounding area. Last night, the soldiers had mentioned that many of the nearby surveillance cameras had been destroyed.
Today, she needed to check exactly which places had damaged cameras.
While those cameras were out, she might be able to scavenge some overlooked supplies.
After exiting through the garbage alley, Su Yun headed straight for the street next to the bar district. Although some zombies there had been cleared out last night, many were still wandering around.
Most of the zombies were dressed in revealing clothes. One reason she disliked this street—aside from the lack of useful supplies—was the sheer number of people who used to gather here.
Next to the bars were several buildings: hotels and rental apartments. Many migrant workers lived on this street. The buildings had been subdivided by second-hand landlords into cramped, pigeon-cage-like units packed with residents.
Growing up nearby, Su Yun had heard plenty of lurid rumors about this street from older folks.
She glanced at the street cameras—whatever had destroyed them had smashed the components to pieces, scattering them all over the ground.
As she continued scouting, Su Yun realized that all the cameras on this street were gone. She could finally move freely.
She scanned the storefronts and entered a tobacco, alcohol, and grocery shop. As expected, most of the goods had already been taken.
Still, she managed to pick up quite a bit.
In shops like this, cigarettes were usually stored in cabinets behind the counter. After searching for a while, she found the floor littered with empty cigarette boxes.
The cigarettes themselves were gone, but there was still alcohol. Three sections of the liquor cabinet were empty; Su Yun put the remaining bottles into her space.
The drink vending machine was still powered on. Much of the water had been taken, but there were still over a dozen bottles left, along with some beverages.
She took everything.
She didn’t even spare the shelves underneath the retail racks. Thanks to her carefulness, she actually dug out a whole box of salt.
She also collected all the hotpot bases and snacks, leaving nothing behind.
As she was leaving, Su Yun glanced back at the shelves—there were still bread and biscuits on them.
After hitting several shops in a row, Su Yun remembered the nearest market in this area. When her grandmother was still alive, they often went there to buy vegetables.
Later, a new market had been developed elsewhere, and the old one was left deserted.
Young people rarely went there anymore. Mostly elderly folks set up stalls, selling fresh vegetables grown at home.
She remembered that there used to be several small seed shops there. She didn’t know yet whether the authorities had already taken the goods.
She needed to hurry over and check.
The old market wasn’t far from Garden Community. Su Yun scanned a shared bicycle and deliberately took the alleys, avoiding zombie clusters on the main roads.
Riding a bike was indeed much faster. In just over ten minutes, she arrived at her destination.
Even during the day, the old market felt eerie. A large shed covered the entire area, blocking sunlight from entering.
From a distance, Su Yun could already smell the stench of blood drifting from inside. This area hadn’t yet been cleared by the soldiers, so she didn’t dare enter recklessly.
Recalling the locations of the seed shops, she headed straight for them. These were all old buildings.
They had never seemed like much before, but today they felt oppressively stifling. Goosebumps rose along her arms.
It was broad daylight, and the air was scorching hot—yet she felt an inexplicable chill in her heart.
Su Yun quickened her pace and soon spotted the familiar shop from her memory.
A sign stood at the entrance, advertising all kinds of vegetable seeds. The seeds were sourced through official channels, produced by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
They were carefully cultivated seeds, guaranteed to sprout and yield a harvest. One packet of corn seeds even clearly stated how many kilograms of grain it would produce when planted.
These were all old shops with little foot traffic, so there weren’t even surveillance cameras inside.
Su Yun took half of every type of vegetable seed. She believed the authorities would come to collect these supplies soon anyway.
After taking half the stock from several seed shops, she was about to check other stores when she suddenly sensed something. She froze in place.
A watermelon knife appeared in her hand. Step by step, she retreated, every hair on her body standing on end like a startled cat.
If her instincts were right, there was a mutated zombie nearby.
She hadn’t expected a zombie mutation to appear so soon.
Now that she had been reborn, her ability was only at Tier One. Facing a mutated zombie, she would probably lose half her life here.
Only after retreating beyond the range of that oppressive presence did Su Yun hop onto her shared bike. As she rode away, she glanced back at the old market.
Just how many people had died there to nurture a mutated zombie?
Thinking back to the bloodstench she’d smelled earlier, Su Yun felt fortunate that she hadn’t gone in to investigate.
When she reached the area near the garbage alley, she parked the bike against a wall for convenience next time.
But today, she truly hadn’t checked the almanac before going out—her luck was exceptionally bad.
Looking at the zombie standing under the rental building, waving at her, Su Yun’s expression turned grim.
“Hi… wanna… come in… and play…?”
The zombie was wearing a red silk slip dress that outlined her alluring figure.
Her long hair was styled in fashionable big waves. Unlike other zombies with dull green pupils, her eyes were pitch-black—deep and unfathomable.