Chapter 64
After packing up, the two of them changed into new protective suits, took their weapons, and prepared to leave.
For safety, the cats, except for Coal Ball, were once again disbanded. Coal Ball turned into the size of a small cat and circled around the two of them’s feet, as if it didn’t quite understand why they had to leave when they were doing so well here.
Although it had become smarter and could understand human language, it was still a simple little cat and couldn’t understand too many twists and turns.
But when Bai Qian and Xia Weishuang said they were leaving, it would obediently follow, rubbing against them with its body, and acting coquettishly. And when it encountered danger, it would turn into a fierce beast to protect its owner’s safety.
Of course, perhaps in its eyes, it was the owner.
When the two of them were carrying their bags and going out, there seemed to be a strange movement upstairs, which did not sound like it was made by a zombie.
After they had moved into this building, they had never found any signs of living people. It was probably because the survivors in this residential area had all left with the rescue team.
That was what the two of them had thought, but now it seemed that not all the people had left.
“Let’s go. Let’s not cause any more trouble,” Bai Qian said.
“Okay.”
It was too hot. Although it was a little late now, after putting on the protective suits, it was no different from returning to the hottest noon. The two of them each took their weapons and ran downstairs. The journey was thrilling but not dangerous. After they got into the car, Xia Weishuang turned on the air conditioner to cool down.
Turning on the air conditioner used a lot of gas, but it was really too hot. If she didn’t turn it on, she would get heatstroke.
Bai Qian opened the atlas and asked, “The factory district is very large. Where are we going?”
Xia Weishuang thought for a moment, pointed to a spot in the factory district, and said, “Here. This is our local brand’s soap factory. I’ve bought this brand before, and the address should be around here.”
The raw materials needed to make soap were water, grease, caustic soda, and salt. These were the things that Xia Weishuang needed.
Bai Qian looked at the location and estimated, “If things go smoothly, we should be able to get there before dark.”
“If we really can’t, we’ll find a place to rest for a night in the middle.”
“Let’s see how it goes. We’ll see the situation then.”
“Alright.”
Bai Qian was responsible for driving. Coal Ball was lying between the two of them, curled up and taking a nap. Xia Weishuang, on the other hand, was looking at the scenery outside the car.
When the car started, she seemed to feel that someone was looking at her. Following her intuition, Xia Weishuang saw that on the high floor of the building she had previously stayed in, it seemed that a family was living there.
The window was covered with a curtain, and a person was standing by the window, and had pulled the curtain a corner, and was secretly looking at the car that was making a noise.
When Xia Weishuang looked over, this person realized that his peeping had been exposed, so he quickly let go of the curtain and pretended that nothing had happened.
Because that person had hidden too quickly, Xia Weishuang did not see clearly if the other party was a man or a woman, old or young. The residents in this area had basically all been evacuated, but the other party was still staying here. It was probably because they had some unspeakable secret. But no matter what the reason was, it had nothing to do with her.
Xia Weishuang let Bai Qian drive, and she herself held a crystal and absorbed it to replenish her mental power.
Her ability was different from Bai Qian’s stable type. Every time Xia Weishuang activated it, she would consume a lot of energy, so much so that she was the one who had consumed the most crystals until now, because Coal Ball would go out to hunt on its own, but Xia Weishuang could not.
After consuming another crystal, Xia Weishuang felt that she could do it again. She tried to mobilize her ability, and her brain was still stinging, but it was not as strong as before.
Bai Qian looked at her with some worry. “You’ve used a little too many crystals. Are you okay?”
She had also experienced the side effects of using crystals and knew what kind of side effects it would bring.
Xia Weishuang nodded and said, “It’s okay. I’ve consumed more before. Now that I have more experience, it should be okay to have a little more.”
However, Xia Weishuang wanted to absorb two more crystals to try, but she found that she had run out of the crystals she had brought out.
Xia Weishuang looked out the car window at the scenery on the side of the road. The sun was setting in the west and was about to set, but there was still some time before it was completely dark.
“Anyway, we’re already very close to the factory. Let’s stop the car first and let Coal Ball go and get some crystals back,” Bai Qian decisively began to move towards a place on the side of the road where they could stay.
Xia Weishuang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why do you say it as if it’s as simple as playing whack-a-mole?”
Bai Qian smiled. “It’s not simple for us, but it’s a meal for Coal Ball.”
When Coal Ball heard its name, it turned over. Xia Weishuang scratched its chin, and it purred comfortably.
“Then let’s rest here for the night. I want to check the terrain nearby.”
“Okay. Then we’ll stay in this shop for the night.”
The car stopped by a clothing store on the side of the road. When they stopped, the zombies that had been attracted by the sound of the car unceremoniously surrounded them, and numbly and tirelessly rammed the vehicle. They scratched with their claws, and even bit the car window glass with their mouths, as if this way, they could eat the human flesh in the car.
Coal Ball stood up and stretched lazily.
Xia Weishuang rolled down the car window a little. The zombie’s big mouth was aimed at her and was about to bite. Xia Weishuang grabbed the fire axe that had been on her lap, and unceremoniously shoved it into the zombie’s mouth, and then pushed back, pushing the zombie’s head a little further away from the car window.
Coal Ball followed closely behind, and rushed out like a shadow. Its body suddenly became bigger, and it began to eat a buffet.
However, not all the zombies had a high-quality crystal in their heads. In addition, Coal Ball knew that it had to leave some for the weak humans, so after it had smashed the zombies that were surrounding the car, it ran to the street to find better quality zombies.
And besides the crystals, Coal Ball also needed normal food. But with its current demand, neither Bai Qian nor Xia Weishuang could afford to feed it. It had to hunt on its own.
Bai Qian and Xia Weishuang did not delay either. They quickly got out of the car and used a knife to dig out the crystals from the zombies’ rotten heads, and put them in a plastic bag to take with them.
Their speed was not too slow, but there was still one that had slipped through the net. It suddenly slid out from under the car and pounced on the two of them.
“Be careful!”
Xia Weishuang was sharp-eyed and pulled Bai Qian. Bai Qian was startled and quickly used the clothes-drying fork that was hanging on the car to fork this zombie’s neck.
However, this zombie’s strength was not small. The fragile clothes-drying fork and the not-so-strong Bai Qian could not completely suppress her. Fortunately, Xia Weishuang had timely used a fire axe to cut off its neck, so the zombie did not break free.
Oh no, after its neck was broken, the zombie was not completely dead. Its body twitched for a while and then there was no movement, but the mouth on its head was still opening and closing, and it was trying to get at the two of them. It was another kind of struggle.
Xia Weishuang held the axe and forcefully chopped at the zombie’s head. After several chops, the zombie finally stopped all its activities.
Bai Qian crouched down, continued to search for crystals with a knife, and sighed. “Coal Ball has always been protecting me. Counting the time at the hospital before, I haven’t even killed a few zombies with my own hands.”
Xia Weishuang smiled and said, “In this world, zombies are no longer the most terrifying. They are just moving corpses. They are better than mutated creatures that can think and have a purpose.”
“Yes. I thought that zombies were the most terrifying. After I’ve been to many places, I’ve learned that terrifying things are far more than just zombies.”
The two of them looked at each other and gave a bitter smile. They quickly packed up the crystals and ran into the clothing store to hide, so as not to attract the zombies again.
The door was closed and blocked from the inside, and the windows were also all closed. When Coal Ball came back later, they could open the window for it from the second floor.
Xia Weishuang used the water from the flower vase in the shop to wash the crystals, and then found a piece of ugly clothes to wipe the crystals.
The two of them went to the second floor, checked all the ventilated places, and sealed them all with cloth strips before they took off their protective suits.
“After two more times, the protective suits will probably be useless,” after being repeatedly stained with their scent, the effect would become smaller and smaller.
“So we have to be quick and succeed in one go.”
Xia Weishuang held the crystal and lay on the sofa, preparing to absorb it. Bai Qian called out to her and threw her some food. “Eat something first. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for a long time to finish. At that time, it will be too late and it will be bad for your stomach.”
“Okay,” Xia Weishuang smiled at her, accepted Bai Qian’s kindness, and only after she had finished eating did she begin to absorb the next crystal.
When she was immersed in the fusion of power, she would often not notice the passage of time. But according to her experience, she would be faster when she was absorbing. Now that she was experienced, she could absorb the power of a crystal into her body in less than half an hour.
But it would take a longer time to digest it. And she needed time to calm her emotions and her restless mind. This process also needed to be done slowly and calmly.
A sound from the outside suddenly pulled Xia Weishuang out of her internal feelings. She opened her eyes and found that it was already dark in front of her.
The window on the second floor was covered with a curtain, but it was not completely drawn. Through a crack, she could see that the sky outside was also dark. There were no stars and no moon tonight. It seemed that the weather tomorrow would not be good.
Just as she was about to sit up and ask if Coal Ball was back, she was covered by Bai Qian’s mouth.
“Shh…”
“?” Xia Weishuang drew a question mark on the back of Bai Qian’s hand.
Bai Qian whispered in her ear, “There’s something outside. It’s not an ordinary zombie. Coal Ball isn’t back yet. We shouldn’t make a sound.”
Something?
Thud!
Thud!
A slow and heavy sound, which sounded like footsteps, was just outside the building. Every time it sounded, Xia Weishuang could feel this two-story small building shaking slightly.
This muffled sound and strength, the thing outside must be very big.
When it came to the front of the window, both Xia Weishuang and Bai Qian couldn’t help but tense their muscles and hold their breath, not daring to make any extra noise.
Because they saw that the crack in the curtain was completely occupied by a deeper color. When the monster took another step forward, the color slowly disappeared. Xia Weishuang could see from the edge of its body that it was its arm.
However, this monster’s arm was a little strange. It was bulging, but because the sky was too dark, she couldn’t see clearly what was going on.
This monster was taller than two floors. At this time, she didn’t know if she should be glad that it was too tall, so it couldn’t see inside the building. If it were a little shorter, it might have noticed…
The monster suddenly took a step back.
The sense of relief in Xia Weishuang’s heart immediately disappeared, and she became nervous again.
A teeth-aching sound of steel scraping came from outside… crap! This monster had crushed the car!
Then the monster bent down, and its huge body moved with it. It seemed that there was more than one head on its shoulder, and it looked very strange.
It seemed to have sniffed at the rotten car on the ground, and then it turned its head and sniffed at the clothing store.
Xia Weishuang and Bai Qian were so nervous that they didn’t move. They hoped that their protective measures were in place, so that it wouldn’t find anything and would leave quickly.
However, this monster also seemed to have a brain, and it was not as easy to fool as a stupid zombie.
It slowly stood up. Just as Xia Weishuang and Bai Qian thought that it would leave like this.
Suddenly.
Thud!
This sound did not come from the street outside, but from above their heads! The ceiling above them shook for a moment, and countless wall powder fell down. The lamp above them fell to the ground and shattered.
Xia Weishuang and Bai Qian jumped up at the same time and rushed towards the stairs.
“Be careful!”
How strong was that monster’s strength to be able to shake the entire building!
The clothes racks on the second floor all fell to the ground, and the whole place was a mess, as if it were an abandoned shop that had not been visited for many years.
The two of them were unsteady on their feet and bumped into each other. Xia Weishuang’s head hit the wall, and she almost fainted, but she was still holding the plastic bag with the crystals in it tightly.
With a series of loud crackling sounds, the roof of the second floor was smashed by the monster.
Xia Weishuang pulled Bai Qian and stumbled to the corner of the first floor. The triangular structure was the most stable. If the first floor also collapsed, this would be the safest place.
