CH 21

It was impossible for Hao Jian to kiss Lian Ru Ning. Only by killing zombies can she gain the experience she needs to upgrade the system.

Lian Ru Ning left to cook instant noodles, so Hao Jian took out the small stone sculpture Lian Ru Ning gave her from her pants pocket.

At first, she threw the phone back in the car because of its weight. She only carried the small stone sculpture and the smart watch she was wearing in her trouser pocket. She thought optimistically, even though she no longer has her possessions, she at least still had these two things.

Lian Ru Ning brought the cooked instant noodles to her. When she saw that the small stone sculpture in her hand, some strange emotions arose in her heart. She asked, “You kept it?”

“I bought it with a pack of instant noodles anyway, so I’m keeping it as a souvenir.” Hao Jian curled her lips, put it away, and reached out to pick up the instant noodles.

Lian Ru Ning’s mood gradually improved. She sat down beside Hao Jian and ate the instant noodles, occasionally looking around to see if there were any zombies approaching.

“What now?” Lian Ru Ning asked.

Hao Jian paused. In fact, she noticed that Lian Ru Ning’s constant comfort to Xin Ting was actually her comforting herself.

Compared to Hao Jian who was carrying the task given by the system, and Xin Ting who’s just in it to survive, Lian Ru Ning had a goal in mind. She eagerly wants to return to Southern City to find her family, but she’s faced with a desperate situation in front of her. She felt very frustrated, so she used comforting words on Xin Ting to make herself look less vulnerable.

“Do you still have your phone?” Hao Jian asked back.

“Have.”

Lian Ru Ning’s phone was inside her backpack. Except for the walkie-talkie, most of her belongings were with them.

“Give me.”

Hao Jian checked the offline map using Lian Ru Ning’s phone. She suddenly remembered something and searched inside the convenience store to look for it. After a while, she asked Lian Ru Ning to look for maps, including the national traffic atlas as well as for provinces and the city.

Hao Jian then took a pen and drew a circle on it and said, “Look at the gas station around it, either a car repair shop or a 4S shop. There are low houses around it, which shows that the population is low here. It’s not too dense. Moreover, Li Chang and the others said that after the incident, many people rushed back to the countryside, so now the number of zombies here should be relatively small.”

“From today’s situation, there are indeed not many zombies here.” A glimmer of hope rose inside Lian Ru Ning’s heart.

“There are several shops selling second-hand cars just a few hundred meters ahead. We can go there to try out luck and see if there’s a car that can be driven. Then there is a viaduct two kilometers past the shop, with farmland surrounding it. There will definitely be fewer zombies wandering there than there are on this road now.”

Although the second-hand car shop may be robbed of all cars after the chaos, even if they’ll pick up a battery car, it’s still better than walking all the way.

“So. . . ” Hao Jian stared at Lian Ru Ning, “Are you ready, can you handle it tomorrow?”

Although it’s only a few hundred meters on the map, there may be hundred of zombies within this distance. This seems to be a short road on weekdays, but there are many terrifying and unknown dangers lurking, is she confident?

Lian Ru Ning took a deep breath, and finally nodded solemnly.

Hao Jian gave the axe to Lian Ru Ning, “The axe is more lethal than the fruit knife. You carry it, and I will use the crowbar so Xin Ting will use the fruit knife. As for the remaining Swiss Army knife, hide it on your body for self-defense.”

After distributing the weapons, the sky was completely dark. They didn’t dare to turn on the lights, so they could only use the weakest light of their flashlights when moving about in the convenience store.

“You sleep first, then change with me.” Hao Jian said to Lian Ru Ning.

“Will you be alright?” Lian Ru Ning was worried. No matter when it was Hao Jian who asked her to rest first so she could rest later, there would always be changes in the middle of the night that will reduce Hao Jian’s rest time.

“Yes. I have something to do.”

“It’s still early, let me help you!”

Hao Jian didn’t say any more, she collected everything available in the convenience store.

For most people, the oil, grains, beverages, and other food are the first thing they look for in convenience stores so there are barely any of these things left. But things like car lubricants, simple repair kits, auto parts, daily necessities, and other things that are not so important, are things fewer people look for.

Hao Jian cut open the mouth and bottom of a beverage bottle and used it as a knee pad to protect her forearm. The defensive power of the plastic bottle is better than that of a cardboard suit. Although it becomes a little hot after being wrapped, it’s still better than losing one’s life.

She also found a pair of work gloves. She and Lian Ru Ning each wore a paid. As for Xin Ting, she is currently a person with low combat effectiveness and would not suit her current weapon.

Some cloth bags can be found in the convenience store. Although they have been trampled on many times and stained with drinks, they cans till hold a lot of things.

Lian Ru Ning caught a glimpse of Hao Jian putting up the condom on the counter. Her face turned red and asked, whispering, “Why do you even want this?”

Lian Ru Ning couldn’t think of how condoms would help them along the way.

“Condoms have many uses aside from sexual intercourse, and they are very convenient to carry, don’t take up much space, and barely weighs anything. . .” Hao Jian turned to look at her and said narrowly, “You’re thinking who I’ll use this with, right??”

Lian Ru Ning is pretty sure that she didn’t listen and that Hao Jian was just teasing her! Her face flushed, but fortunately, Lian Ru Ning didn’t let Hao Jian see it in the dim environment.

“Who’s thinking about what!” She said angrily and turned to leave.

Hao Jian didn’t make any noise after cleaning up these things because she noticed that there were zombies wandering outside again.

However, there was a scream from somewhere, which attracted the attention of these zombies.

In populous counties and cities, there is never any place to make noise. Just the noise of babies crying in the middle of the night, the noise of under-minded children, or the noise caused by people who didn’t know that they have been infected with the zombie virus. It can be very lively during the night.

Hao Jian came to a conclusion based on her observations over the past few days; although the method on how zombies find living creatures is unknown, their attention is more likely to be attracted by noisy living creatures than quiet living creatures.

Although she can’t guarantee that this conclusion is accurate, it can help her judge the environment better.

At about nine o’clock, Lian Ru Ning couldn’t hold it back anymore and fell asleep. She woke up past one in the morning due to a nightmare. She gave a soft cry in panic, looking for any trace of Hao Jian.

“Have a nightmare?” Hao Jian touched Lian Ru Ning.

Lian Ru Ning felt relieved, she nodded, and remembered that Hao Jian couldn’t have seen it and asked, “What time is it?”

Hao Jian glanced at her smart watch and answered her.

“You should be very tired. You should rest. I’ll get up and watch for the night.”

At this time, Xin Ting also woke up and said, “I will accompany you to watch the night together!”

In fact, Xin Ting didn’t fall asleep at all when it was dark. She heard Hao Jian and Lian Ru Ning talking and could see their movements, but she did not speak because she felt that she was a superfluous person.

Soon after, she became too tired and fell asleep. Just now, she was awakened by Lian Ru Ning, who was sleeping next to her. Hearing Lian Ru Ning’s proposal, she tried her best to prove that she was not a superfluous person.

“If you’ve had enough rest, you can.” Hao Jian said before going to sleep.

Lian Ru Ning glanced at her and asked Xin Ting in a low voice, “Does your arm still hurt?”

“It’s not as painful as it was at the beginning, so I take care of things.”

“You don’t have to force yourself. You can hurt your muscled and bones if you do. Don’t hold heavy objects in your hands.”

Xin Ting was silent for a moment and said sincerely, “Thank you! I’m so lucky that I met you first and not Li Chang and the others.”

Lian Ru Ning didn’t say anything and Xin Ting didn’t want to attract zombies, so she stayed quietly.

In the hot summer, even the air is sticky. In a small convenience store, there are no other vents except the crack in the door that allows the air to circulate.

Lian Ru Ning’s sweat has soaked her clothes, and when they dry, they emit a sweaty smell.

Xin Ting didn’t dare go out. If she wanted to relieve herself, she could only solve it in the corner.

After they lasted for four hours, the sky gradually faded from black o blue, and then silently faded to blue.

Hao Jian woke up when she heard the alarm clock on her watch. She saw the sleepy Lian Ru Ning and Xin Ting. She equipped herself first, and then checked the situation outside through the window.

There are two or three zombies wandering outside. The nearest is at the outer gas pipe, but as long as they go out, the zombies will surely be able to find them.

Lian Ru Ning and Xin Ting also got up and loosened their muscles and bones, they then equipped themselves from head to toe. Hao Jian said, “We’re going out, and we have to face the zombies outside directly anyway, so. . .”

“No need to say anymore, we know what’s going to happen. If we don’t succeed, it’s over!” Lian Ru Ning grasped the axe in her hand tightly.

“Xin Ting, please observe the environment.” Hao Jian looked at Xin Ting who was carrying a backpack, a fruit knife, and a wrench.

Xin Ting’s heart was hot. She didn’t expect that she would be trusted, so she nodded vigorously, watching the surrounding situation intently with her eyes.

Before moving the shelf and opening the door, Hao Jian took a deep breath and spit it out again, “Remember, if you can’t beat it, you can run. The speed of zombies is not necessarily faster than that of people. If they can’t run, they will go higher, go everywhere.”

According to her existing information on zombies, zombies are not as powerful as those in games. Not to mention flying away, even jumping is a bit difficult, But they can’t take it lightly, what if zombies evolve?

Although the sound of Hao Jian and the others moving inside the store was small, there were zombies wandering around, so after Hao Jian opened the door, the nearest zombie was only two meters away.

Hao Jian had become accustomed to such thrilling scene and quickly knocked through the zombie’s brain with the gesture of hitting a home run. Xin Ting was so scared that she almost screamed subconsciously, but she but her lip tightly and stopped herself from speaking.

“Quick!” Lian Ru Ning reminded Xin Ting as she saw zombies running from a distance.

“A distance of ten meters in the direction of ten o’clock, and another at the distance of twenty meters and ten meters at two o’clock respectively.” Xin Ting instructed immediately. Hao Jian and Lian Ru Ning were also directly facing the zombies in the ten o’clock direction, rushing towards them,

Compared to dealing with the zombies who were alone, Hao Jian chose to work with Lian Ru Ning to solve the nearest zombies first.

Their tacit understanding got better and better. Hao Jian went down and knocked down the zombie while Lian Ru Ning quickly stepped forward to bring down the axe, solving the zombie in a few seconds.

Xin Ting gave the distance and location of the remaining zombies again, and Hao Jian and the others could rush to the zombie at ten o’clock without spending time looking for them.