Maybe everyone was too scared, or maybe Yu Yao was just too reassuring.
In any case, although everyone had some complaints about the “injured” Luo Mei, they couldn’t help but follow Yu Yao into the sales office.
After all, between one zombie and countless zombies outside, they knew how to make the right choice!
…
Yu Yao didn’t care at all about what happened next.
She directly supported Luo Mei into the sales office, single-handedly took out the few zombies inside that smelled of living humans, and then headed straight to the second-floor VIP room.
Without any politeness, she closed the door firmly behind her, refusing others entry.
Zhao Han, looking at the firmly closed door, stomped angrily, “Yu Yao really doesn’t give us any face at all!”
Fang Lianjiao comforted her, “Maybe she’s afraid her friend might hurt us. Don’t be mad. This place is so big, aren’t there plenty of places to rest?”
Tan He added, “Exactly, her friend is basically a ticking time bomb right now. Better avoid her if possible. Let’s go find a better lounge.”
With that, he grabbed Zhao Han and started looking for rooms.
Zhao Han instinctively glanced at Ji Yan, intending to pull her hand away, but found she couldn’t, so she gave up.
Right now, Tan He was the nicest to her in the whole group; if she angered him, who would take care of her?
…
The lounge.
Yu Yao helped Luo Mei onto the sofa and sighed, “Why scare them? Aren’t you worried they might assassinate you?”
Luo Mei raised her chin with a contemptuous look. “Hmph, let them try!”
Yu Yao glanced at her but didn’t reply.
Luo Mei chuckled, her eyes shining.
“Isn’t this exactly so they won’t come near? That little white lotus is obviously no good. With her around, how could we have a peaceful life? And that whole bunch behind her, none of them are looking for free bodyguards? Ugly on the outside, dreaming big! With me here, forget it!”
“Just ignore them.”
Yu Yao knew exactly what those people were thinking.
But she was the kind of person who wouldn’t fight tooth and nail for strangers, nor accept moral coercion.
It was already hard enough for her just to take care of herself.
…
The two chatted and comfortably ate some food in the lounge, then each leaned back on the sofa and closed their eyes to rest.
Especially Luo Mei, whose mental strength was damaged and needed proper rest and recovery.
Fortunately, she recovered well, and by the next morning, she was basically fine.
But to scare the others, she still pretended to be seriously injured and barely breathing.
Yu Yao even mischievously lent her a box of face powder to make the act more convincing.
When Luo Mei appeared, those who had been secretly watching felt a chill.
There were some brave ones, like a man and a woman who had been living in B-3 before.
The woman, upon seeing Yu Yao, quickly pulled the elegant older man holding two pieces of bread over.
She said to Yu Yao, “Sister, hello. My name is Lian Qiao. I heard from your classmates that your surname is Yu, can I call you Sister Yu?”
Luo Mei’s eyes turned cold as she stared directly at Lian Qiao, making Lian Qiao’s heart skip a beat.
“Please don’t look at me like that, Sister. We just want to be friends. I awakened a special ability—I can condense a golden spear to kill those… those monsters.”
Toward the end, her tone grew noticeably more confident, seemingly certain Yu Yao would soon look at her with admiration.
Unexpectedly, what followed was Luo Mei’s light laugh.
“Sis, you’re so amazing. Work hard to kill zombies and protect your handsome uncle~”
Yesterday, when Luo Mei was bored, she overheard some gossip outside and learned that this handsome uncle had been a government official before the apocalypse.
And this woman named Lian Qiao was his mistress.
Originally gentle and understanding, a flower of words, after the apocalypse, their roles reversed.
She became the ability user, and the former sugar daddy was just an ordinary person.
So the way they interacted had also subtly changed.
Hearing the implied meaning in Luo Mei’s words, the elegant middle-aged man beside Lian Qiao was stunned for a moment; a complex look flashed in his eyes and quickly disappeared.
He then quickly returned to normal and placed the bread before Yu Yao and Luo Mei, saying, “Thank you. This is a small token from Qiao Qiao and me. We hope you don’t mind.”
Lian Qiao also said, “We don’t know if you’ve had breakfast. We only have these two pieces left. Please don’t refuse.”
Yu Yao directly refused, “Since these are the last two, you should keep them yourselves.”
Lian Qiao smiled softly and waved her hand, “It’s okay, please eat. At worst, we’ll go out to find some supplies.”
Although her words sounded nice, Luo Mei laughed angrily.
“You’re quite nice. When everyone else is thinking about getting something for nothing, you’re still thinking of giving us two pieces of bread to try.”
Lian Qiao’s expression changed drastically, and she hurriedly said, “No, no, no, you misunderstood. I just said that casually, nothing else.”
“Alright, your kindness is acknowledged. Keep the bread yourselves. Such kindness is too precious for us to accept.” Luo Mei replied indifferently, making it hard to tell what she really meant.
At last, she looked at Yu Yao and said, “A Yao? Shall we go?”
“Mm.”
Neither of them took the two pieces of bread. Under the watchful eyes of more than a dozen pairs of eyes, they turned and walked downstairs, swaggering as they left the sales office.
…
The car they had driven yesterday had been corroded into a terrible state by the acid rain, so Yu Yao had to switch to another vehicle.
In the driver’s seat was still Luo Mei, who had spent years racing in all kinds of situations and had much better driving skills than Yu Yao.
Just then, Ji Yan knocked on the car window. When Yu Yao rolled it down, he rested his arm on the frame and handed her a walkie-talkie.
“The broadcast said Lincheng has set up a safe zone, but the signal isn’t great. We couldn’t get the exact location. When we go out, we might encounter rescue soldiers. If you or we meet them, hopefully, we can warn each other.”
Yu Yao looked down, fiddled with the walkie-talkie in her hand, and asked, “What’s the maximum communication distance?”
“Optimally within ten kilometers. It’s already been tuned.”
Ye Zi’ang’s father had a habit of collecting these, and all were top-quality.
Ye Zi’ang often mocked his obsession, but now it saved their lives repeatedly.
Yu Yao nodded. “Got it. We’re heading to the Xinxin Shopping Mall.”
Ji Yan took a few steps back, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, and replied warmly, “Alright, we won’t disturb you.”
“Mm.”
As soon as Yu Yao finished speaking, Luo Mei floored the accelerator and disappeared.
Those who wanted to follow behind were dumbfounded, only able to grit their teeth and chase hard.
But Luo Mei’s speed was too fast and reckless.
If zombies dared to block the way, she would just ram them away, even if the car was covered in bloody stains, rotten flesh, and brain matter — it never slowed her down.
Such a brutal scene didn’t bother Luo Mei at all; on the contrary, she felt a faint thrill.
The two rushed recklessly for half an hour until they finally saw the Xinxin Shopping Mall building.
The Xinxin Shopping Mall was large, six floors above and below ground, surrounded by many street-level shops.
Normally, such a place would have been taken over by zombies long ago.
But luckily, most of the nearby buildings were newly handed-over high-rises still under renovation, with few people around.
Luo Mei chose a spot near the mall entrance to park, and the two got out.
There weren’t many zombies around but not none either.
Because of the smell of living human flesh and blood, a few zombies would occasionally roar and charge at them, but Yu Yao and Luo Mei easily dealt with them.
As Yu Yao had expected, Luo Mei was extremely skilled and ruthless.
Her exquisite curved blade danced like a ghost in her hands — one slash, one small zombie down.
…
Before entering the mall, Yu Yao checked the mall’s interior situation. There were zombies inside, but also several survivors.
Luo Mei noticed this too, staying alert around while leaning over to whisper in Yu Yao’s ear, “There are quite a few zombies inside, and also some living people.”
“Mm, let’s avoid them and go to the underground supermarket to grab some supplies, then leave.”
“Got it~”
Luo Mei replied and carefully pushed open the glass doors of the supermarket.