Chapter 36：A Tug of War Between Life & Death

Dumbstruck, Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan stared at Shen Chen as he remained asleep on the floor. Ye Xiaoyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She gave him a gentle nudge, asking, "Shen Chen? Are you really drunk?" Only Shen Chen's snores greeted her in response.

Guo Yuan scratched his head with a wry smile. Recalling Shen Chen's peculiar behavior from yesterday, as well as his bloodshot eyes, everything now seemed to make sense. "Boss must have a reason for acting like this. Let's leave him to get some rest."

Ye Xiaoyu nodded agreeably. The two of them helped turn Shen Chen over so that he could lie comfortably, and then Ye Xiaoyu continued sifting through the medical supplies.

Guo Yuan sighed a breath of relief. Had Ye Xiaoyu persisted with her questions, he wouldn't have known how to handle them, because he wasn't sure what was going on with boss, either. What he was certain about, though, was that boss must have suffered some damage from the day before, given how urgently he needed the medical supplies. What he could do for boss now was ensure his safety as he slept!

Guo Yuan took a deep breath as he got ready to guard the entrance with his fire axe. Meanwhile, Shen Chen was stuck in some kind of internal deadlock. The medicinal wine and tonics had generated a large amount of heat that swiftly wrapped around the evolution fluid, melting it as it flooded his bloodstream.

The pain was accompanied by the kind of high that one usually gets from an adrenaline rush. It was a strange sensation—a mixture of pleasure and pain circulating through all the meridians of his body. Thanks to the new bout of energy, the parts of his skin that were previously sunken or swollen were now smoothed out. As the evolution fluid coursed effortlessly through his veins, warmth spread all over his limbs and bones. The warmth felt really good, so much so that the sheer comfort made him feel as if he were floating among the clouds.

Shen Chen started breathing evenly, a relaxed smile forming on his face. As Ye Xiaoyu passed by his sleeping form, she saw how his brows had smoothed and how his lips had formed a crescent. It not only reminded her of how strong, proud, and stubborn he was, but also how soft he could be, as elusive as that might be.

She shook herself out of her stupor by lightly slapping her face, and walked away hastily with a blush on her face.

After half an hour, Shen Chen had yet to awaken. Ye Xiaoyu carried all the medical supplies to the entrance of the store and struck a casual conversation with Guo Yuan, who was standing guard by the door.

They looked out onto the empty streets, which used to be full of hustle and bustle but were now full of blood stains and strewn bodies, casting an eerie gloom over the winter day. Suddenly, they heard bloodcurdling screams from a distance, followed by noisy footsteps and the sound of flesh being torn apart.

Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan tensed up, their expressions betraying their uneasiness! They looked at each other nervously before quickly picking up their fire axes and hiding cautiously in a corner while keeping their eyes fixed in the direction of the noises.

What greeted them was the sight of three to four men scurrying over in a frenzy while screaming desperately. A dozen zombies were on their trail, gaping at them with bloody mouths and howling incoherently!

One of the men stumbled and tripped. It didn't take long for the zombies to pounce on him; he was soon buried in a swamp of zombies. Bits of blood and flesh flew into the air and landed on the pavement, staining it a shade of bright red...

Ye Xiaoyu's body shivered uncontrollably at the horrifying sight! She prayed that the men wouldn't see them, because they might well lead the zombies over to them!

Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened. One of the men noticed them, his eyes lighting up with hope! His survival instincts prompted him to turn around and run toward the drugstore with all he had!

Ye Xiaoyu's heart sank. How had he discovered their presence!? To make matters worse, the two other men had followed after him, bringing along with them the zombies who were currently hot on their trail!

"Fuck!" Guo Yuan let out an expletive. 'What a b*stard! Why did he have to run over here? Did he think I could handle so many zombies on my own?'

Scared out of her wits, Ye Xiaoyu frantically asked, "What should we do? The zombies are coming here, too!"

Before she could finish speaking, the three men had already rushed into the store. Realizing there was a woman inside, they shouted, "Quick, shut the door! Shut it quickly!"

"How the f*ck am I supposed to do that? The door's already damaged. Why did you have to drag us into this?" Guo Yuan was bursting with fury, but it was too late for that now. It wouldn't do them any good. The metal grille had long been damaged by Shen Chen, and the glass door had also been shattered. More than a dozen zombies were headed their way, including those who had been feeding on the human corpses.

When the guys saw the state that the metal grille was in, they almost fainted in shock. "We're done for! Really done for!"

It was a good thing that Ye Xiaoyu managed to think on her feet. She shouted at them, "Quick! Push the shelves over and pile them up!"

The guys moved with a sudden burst of strength and managed to barricade the entrance with a stack of shelves.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The zombies hammered furiously at the white shelves, eager to rush in! As the shelves wobbled from the impact, medical supplies started falling onto their heads and faces. It wasn't long before multiple arms reached for the humans through the gaps between the shelves. The twig-like arms of the zombies scratched and grabbed at anything they could get ahold of.

"Chop off their arms! Chop them off!" Ye Xiaoyu shrieked. "Don't let them scratch you!"

Guo Yuan immediately hacked them off with his fire axe. As he did so, severed arms fell to the ground, one by one. After hacking off about a dozen arms, black blood from the zombies splattered on everyone's clothes. Despite the stains, everyone felt a momentary sense of relief. However, the zombies began retaliating with even more force. The shelves started clattering and were about to fall from the impact!

"Hold them! Stop them from falling!" Guo Yan exerted all his weight and strength against the shelves, keeping them steady.

It was a tug of war between life and death. Sometimes the shelves would fall toward their side, and sometimes they would go the other way. But everyone tried their best to defend themselves. No one was sloppy in the fight against the zombies!

"We won't be able to hold up against them for too long!" said one of the men, who was weeping out of fear.

"You better stop f*cking crying. Conserve your energy for them!" Guo Yuan roared.

Tens of zombies on the other side of the shelves howled in response. After a stalemate of more than ten minutes, one of the men, the skinny one, was about to collapse from sheer exhaustion. The five of them watched helplessly as the shelves started inching toward them…