BC Chapter 17

With tools, things were naturally much easier. Soon, Lu Ziming’s rope ladder was made. One end was tied to the base of the toilet stall, and the other was given to Zhou Yuanyuan, telling her to climb down. The length was sufficient, even a little extra. Lu Ziming tied Zhou Yuanyuan’s backpack and spring baton together and handed them to her to carry on her back. Then, she told her to climb down the rope ladder first.

After Zhou Yuanyuan had already grabbed the rope ladder and descended, Lu Ziming picked up her own things and climbed onto the ventilation window. She leaned out halfway, watching Zhou Yuanyuan slide down bit by bit. Fortunately, the ventilation window was only five or six meters above the ground. In a few moments, Zhou Yuanyuan had safely landed. Standing on the ground, Zhou Yuanyuan gave Lu Ziming a victory sign with a sense of accomplishment before making way for Lu Ziming to come down.

Lu Ziming, already accustomed to climbing, first threw down her weapon. Then, in a few quick movements, she jumped out of the window, grabbed the rope ladder, turned around, and landed on the ground in less than three seconds.

Zhou Yuanyuan was so shocked that her eyes widened, and she couldn’t close her mouth…

So fast? Big sister, are you from the special forces?

Lu Ziming ignored Zhou Yuanyuan’s ghostly expression, nonchalantly picked up her weapon, and passed through the bushes behind the building. She crouched forward and gave Zhou Yuanyuan a ‘follow me’ gesture.

Then, Zhou Yuanyuan came back to her senses and immediately followed. If she had previously chosen to follow Lu Ziming simply because she wanted to find an adult to rely on, to reduce her fear of being alone in a chaotic world, and also because she had no choice, then at this moment, it was completely out of admiration for Lu Ziming’s all-encompassing abilities. She was very glad that she had firmly chosen to follow her instead of being greedy for temporary comfort and choosing to follow Wang Dong and the others. Only after leaving the sealed-off building did she realize the preciousness of freedom. Although the outside was full of dangers, at least the air was fresh. She just didn’t know how the four people still in the building were doing at this moment.

…

As early as when Lu Ziming and Zhou Yuanyuan separated from the group of four, Mei Ting had already proposed the suggestion to continue searching for necessities, but she was refuted by Hu Ying.

“Let’s rest for a bit first. You and Wang Dong just came back. Resting for a while before considering the next step will give you more energy. Look at Wang Dong, he clearly hasn’t recovered yet,” Hu Ying said, also for the good of the two of them, seeing Wang Dong still looking frightened.

“Ah? Me? I, I’m fine, no problem.” Finally temporarily free from the troubles of the zombie horde, Wang Dong felt his body a little weak. Although he was a boy, because his daily routine was very chaotic, he hadn’t exercised since graduating from high school and leaving behind various school gymnastics and sports. His physique wasn’t good to begin with, and without exercise, his overall physical strength might not even be as good as Mei Ting’s, who often did yoga. So at this moment, he already felt a little strained, but after secretly glancing at Mei Ting’s face, he still forced himself to say that he was fine.

“Forget it, you should rest for a while. It’s okay if we go later,” Mei Ting, of course, understood Wang Dong’s physical condition. Moreover, Wang Dong not directly admitting that he couldn’t do it was already giving her enough face, so she didn’t force Wang Dong to continue pretending and directly agreed.

So, in the interval when they were resting, Lu Ziming and Zhou Yuanyuan had already searched the entire third floor. Afterward, the two went up to the fourth floor, and the group of three arrived on the third floor. After the group of three searched the third floor and discovered that some useful items had already been taken, they quickly went up to the fourth floor. By the time the group of three went up to the fourth floor, Wang Dong and the other four on the second floor began to act. Hu Ying put the backpack full of food on her back, and Mei Ting found three empty backpacks in Tuoda’s office, giving one each to Wang Dong and Huang Xiaolin, and carrying one herself.

“Let’s go,” Mei Ting led the way upstairs, but in reality, she knew in her heart that the two people who had just left, Lu Ziming and Zhou Yuanyuan, couldn’t have done nothing and just hidden. She could tell that Lu Ziming was different from them.

Therefore, not finding food became what she had expected.

“Oh—so, their leaving separately was something they had planned long ago, right?” Hu Ying clapped her hands, acting as if she had suddenly realized, “So, they didn’t even care about our little bit of food, and they were in such a hurry to leave, just to get more things before us, right? Wow… They really have a good plan.”

“The things in this building don’t belong to us in the first place. It’s normal for them to take them,” Wang Dong said quietly, drooping his head. Although he knew that Lu Ziming and them weren’t on the same path, he still felt very disappointed when he realized that nothing was left, after all, he had just risked his life to save the two of them.

“Maybe there wasn’t much to take here to begin with. When we were rushing the two of them away just now, didn’t we only see the food we had?” Mei Ting felt Hu Ying’s words were very harsh. Although Lu Ziming and the two of them should have taken food when they left, the development of the situation initially diverged from her plan because Hu Ying’s words stimulated Lu Ziming and them, and not just because of Lu Ziming’s intentions.

“Hey? You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want! It wasn’t us who drove them away, they wanted to leave on their own. No one mentioned the word ‘leave’,” Hu Ying insisted on not admitting that her words implicitly conveyed the meaning of wanting the two of them to leave.

“Heh… forget it, let’s go upstairs.” Mei Ting sneered, too lazy to argue with Hu Ying about this anymore. Anyway, the four of them were in a relationship of mutual dependence for the time being. If things got too strained, she wouldn’t be able to smooth things over.

“Tsk.” Hu Ying was pulled back by Huang Xiaolin. Turning her head, she saw Huang Xiaolin wearing a sad face, shaking her head at her with difficulty. Originally, she wanted to say something, but thinking about her current situation, she only clicked her tongue and followed behind Wang Dong to continue upstairs.

When they reached the fourth floor, the four of them still didn’t find anything, but this time, because they were already mentally prepared, they weren’t as disappointed. Lu Ziming and them were only two people, even if they took things, two floors should be about it, so there would definitely be gains further up. Therefore, the four of them didn’t stop and continued upwards.

…

The fifth floor was where several small magazine studios were located. Each room had books and paper, and the space wasn’t large enough, so Wu Hao’s group of three’s search operation began to be affected, slowing down their pace. However, this time, the few people searched more thoroughly, so they gradually filled a backpack with food.

Perhaps because the editors and chief editors inside were very lazy, the company installed a refrigerator in the drinking area. The power supply system in this building hadn’t broken down, so the food inside was still well preserved, but the food that had already been opened couldn’t be eaten because it had been stored for too long.

A few bowls of instant noodles and a few cans of beer and bottles of drinks could be taken away. Yin Zhouhang stuffed food into his big bag while muttering, “Aiya, why didn’t anyone put a few packs of cigarettes here? We have beer and drinks, all that’s missing is a pack of Chunghwa. The few packs of cigarettes I swiped before are all gone. Looks like I still have to go out. You need capital to live, right…”

For Yin Zhouhang, who just coasted through life, what he ate, drank, and smoked was his entire life. Now that he had something to eat and drink, it was still very difficult to resist the craving for cigarettes.

“Stop talking nonsense and quickly pack yours.” The bag that Yin Zhouhang was carrying was found for him by Yin Suna, who deliberately found a super large travel backpack. The purpose was to safely sit in place at this time, waiting for Yin Zhouhang to fill the big bag like a squirrel preparing for winter, and then help her carry it. As for the backpack behind her, its main function was no different from a makeup bag, filled with sunscreen, foundation, moisturizer, makeup remover, eyebrow pencils, eyeliner, and so on, all these women’s ‘weapons.’

You ask why Yin Suna isn’t being more practical at this time and packing some food, drinks, and supplies? It’s estimated that Yin Suna would righteously tell you that this face is the lifeblood of us women! If you don’t want your face, you don’t want your life! So don’t talk about this time, what is this time? When is your life not important? So, I’m packing these to protect my own life!

And these things, although Yin Zhouhang was a boy, he had been influenced by them since childhood, so he understood Yin Suna’s sophistry very well. Therefore, he wouldn’t idly ask why. Just like how his necessities might not be food and water, it could also be said that the two siblings were cut from the same cloth.

“Wow! Ice cream! This is a must-have! Haha… When God closes a door, he opens a window.” When Yin Zhouhang was searching in order from the top to the bottom of the refrigerator, he discovered that there were still three ice creams inside, perfectly preserved, in the freezer compartment. So he was so excited that his little face flushed red, and he danced with joy. The two siblings were born to the same parents, so Yin Suna liked to eat sweets, and so did Yin Zhouhang. Although it wasn’t as exaggerated as Yin Suna, he would be very happy when he encountered his favorite ice cream, especially now that he hadn’t eaten a normal meal in days.

“Oh? Hand it over, hand it over!” As soon as she heard that there was ice cream, Yin Suna, who had just been sitting on the chair pretending to be dead, immediately perked up and jumped up to rush forward.

As for Wu Hao in the other room, he had heard other sounds appear even before the Yin siblings started making a ruckus. So he stopped searching for things, drew his longsword, and went out of the room.

…

Wang Dong and the others just took a look around on the fourth floor and went upstairs. Although they were mentally prepared, it would definitely be a lie to say they weren’t frustrated.

“This is pretty much like the Japanese devils entering the village back then, they searched it so clean…” Walking on the stairs going to the fifth floor, Hu Ying couldn’t help but say sourly.

“Ah… Sister Ying, don’t say that,” Although Huang Xiaolin hadn’t said much, she had seen everyone’s emotions. After all, they still had to walk together for who knows how long. Hu Ying constantly accumulating everyone’s resentment wasn’t good after all. Mei Ting kept her head down without saying anything, and Wang Dong pushed up his glasses, pretending not to hear.

Then, the four of them went upstairs in succession and ran into Wu Hao, who was carrying a bag and holding a sword, standing in the corridor.

“Was it you who locked the gate?” Wu Hao’s voice was low and his face was expressionless.