Chapter 16
"Gunshots! There really are gunshots!!" The hoarse voice of a middle-aged man was filled with surprise.
"Shh, quiet! Listen carefully... It's automatic fire... sounds like quite a few people, must be the army! Wait... the commotion seems to be getting smaller and smaller..."
"Then, should we rush out now? Let them come rescue us quickly!"
"It's too late! There's only a few of us, and there are so many monsters outside. It's too dangerous to rush out so recklessly!"
"So we just wait here? Doing nothing?!"
"Why are you so impatient?! Who doesn't want to get out of this mess sooner? The more impatient you are now, the more likely things will go wrong! If you really can't wait and are so eager to die, you can go ahead by yourself. We won't stop you!"
"What the fuck did you say?!"
"Both of you, shut up!! Stop arguing! Do you want to attract the monsters and get us all killed?"
...
This was a storage warehouse, half buried into a mountain hollow and half exposed on the surface. A makeshift bed was formed by pushing several long tables together against the wall. In the empty space in the middle, a round table and a few stools were scattered. Five men, either sitting or standing with their heads bowed, and three women, half-sitting on the bed, who hadn't spoken much, made a total of eight people.
After a long silence, one of them spoke in a low, calm voice, "I say, there's no need to panic! This place is usually a tourist garden, not some major transportation hub. Whether it's the army or not, they came here either to search for supplies or to look for survivors. There's no other reason to come to this remote mountain corner. But since they've already been here, they definitely won't leave empty-handed. Besides, the gunfire we just heard wasn't very intense. I estimate it was just an advance party, here to scout the situation. Once the main force arrives, won't we have the chance to be rescued? So, the key right now is to get the message out that we're hiding here!"
"That's right, that's right! Brother Zhou is truly worldly. Your mind is so much sharper than ours!" A slender man, who looked to be in his early thirties, repeatedly flattered the man named Zhou.
"Zhou Weiping! It was you who urged everyone to hide here, saying the government and the army would come for disaster relief within a week or two at most..." The tall, sturdy young man, with an aggressive tone, still glanced resentfully at the window and said, his anger undiminished, "Count how many days have passed until today! If it weren't for the sweet potatoes stored in my family's cellar, we would have starved to death long ago. What you just said sounds reasonable, but what if they don't come? What then?!"
"Hey, Qin Bin, don't just start shouting. Let's talk things over nicely," a middle-aged woman sitting on the bed interjected to mediate.
Zhou Weiping didn't seem to take it to heart. He smiled at the middle-aged woman. "Sister Zhao, it's alright. Everyone, rest easy. Even if they really don't come in, the commotion from just now was enough to attract most of the monsters away. We can take this opportunity to move around and scout the surroundings." As he spoke, his eyes swept across the group.
At the mention of going out voluntarily, most of the people's faces showed fear, and none dared to meet Zhou Weiping's gaze.
An old man, who looked haggard and nearly sixty, said slowly and methodically, "Just waiting here is definitely pointless. The people who went out before never came back. Either they escaped successfully, or they were... by those monsters. If they were still nearby, there would be some noise, it wouldn't be this quiet.
We are few in number and weak, and we don't have any weapons to defend ourselves. Going out together would make us too big of a target. In my opinion, it would be better to pick two clever and brave ones to go out and scout. If it's true, as Little Zhou said, that the monsters have been lured away, we'll take the chance to escape! We'll actively look for the team that was firing; if it's still dangerous outside, we'll find a way to get the message out that we're hiding here!"
"Uncle Peng, why are you listening to his nonsense? He..." Qin Bin was somewhat indignant for a moment.
"That's enough, Little Qin! We're all in trouble now. Let's not have internal conflicts! Nothing is more important than getting out of here alive!" Old Man Peng interrupted Qin Bin, paused, and then said, "It's better to do this sooner rather than later. Who is willing to volunteer to go out and scout the situation?"
Everyone fell silent again.
Zhou Weiping stepped forward voluntarily. "I was the one who suggested it. I can't just hide in the room myself." Facing the crowd's expressions of surprise, admiration, and doubt, his gaze finally rested on a woman half-sitting on the edge of the bed for a few seconds. He then turned to a man he was on good terms with and said, "Little Zhang, if you trust me, let's go out together, shall we?"
The slender Little Zhang was stunned. Although he had gotten closer to Zhou Weiping recently, being suddenly named to go out on a dangerous mission was something he was unwilling to do. However, he had received some kindness from the man during this time, and he couldn't bring himself to suddenly turn his back on him. He could only force an awkward smile and stand up bravely.
"Wait—" Unexpectedly, Qin Bin suddenly reached out to block them.
He pointed at the frail Little Zhang and sneered, "With his small frame, forcing him to out is just sending him to his death, isn't it?" His words were barbed, insinuating that Zhou Weiping was being insincere. "It's rare that you're volunteering to go yourself. In that case, I'll go with you!!" He stared provocatively at Zhou Weiping.
Qin Bin had seen it clearly just now. This Zhou fellow's shifty eyes kept drifting towards the woman he liked. When he suddenly stood up, she immediately noticed him! Regardless of what little scheme he was plotting, he absolutely could not let this guy show off!
Of the three women half-sitting on the bed, besides Qin Bin's mother Sister Zhao, and a thin, dark-skinned waitress from the garden's restaurant, there was also a beautiful woman who made one feel comfortable at a single glance.
Although her clothes were also wrinkled and her expression somewhat listless (after all, they had been hiding here for nearly half a month) her slender and tall figure, her slightly wavy shoulder-length hair, and her fair, creamy skin accentuated her already delicate features, making her appear even more bright and beautiful. Her curvaceous figure could not be hidden by her loose clothes, making her stand out like a crane among chickens.
No wonder Qin Bin was still competing with Zhou Weiping even at a time like this. For some reason, he found this guy displeasing no matter how he looked at him, especially since this guy loved to run his mouth. It was one thing for the people around him to be fooled by him, but when the woman he liked, Song Yaqi, was also attracted by him, Qin Bin could no longer bear it!
Qin Bin had just turned thirty this year. As the saying goes, at thirty, a man should be established. His family had been urging him to get married and start a family. If he hadn't met Song Yaqi, the naturally carefree Qi Bin might have just followed his parents' arrangement, found a girl he thought was decent, and married her, then properly managed the family's share in the tea garden resort. He would have been content with his life.
But one day in April, the tea garden received a group of tourists. When he first laid eyes on Song Yaqi among the crowd, she was like a lightning bolt that instantly illuminated his originally muddled heart. At that moment, he understood why he had been unable to make a decision after several blind dates. The girls weren't bad, but he just couldn't put his finger on what was wrong. It turned out that what his heart truly longed for was a woman like Song Yaqi!
Her fashionable and trendy attire, her curvaceous figure, her confident, poised and beautiful appearance. What man wouldn't be captivated and his heart stirred? But at that time, the beauty clearly had someone else on her mind, chatting warmly with the rich man leading the group, while he himself was like a clod of earth from the countryside, dull and insignificant.
Perhaps God heard the cries of his inner anguish and deliberately created an opportunity for him. A car fleeing the city brought back an unknown virus, which quickly spread from Shanghe Village to the tea garden. Once familiar villagers and neighbors, after being attacked, all turned into monsters that preyed on humans. The rich man, in his panic, abandoned Song Yaqi, trying to escape alone by car, only to get into a traffic accident and ultimately perish, torn apart by the monsters.
Qin Bin, having recognised the danger early, safely avoided disaster. Relying on his familiarity with the local area, he quickly found a secure storage warehouse to take shelter in. The farmers' reserve of coarse grain, which was usually completely unremarkable, had unexpectedly become a vital resource for survival in this special period. It was under these circumstances that he and Song Yaqi, who were practically from two different worlds, became acquaintances living under the same roof.
Now, he had plenty of opportunities to get close to the beauty. If things continued to develop this way, he might even win her heart and make her his!
But it just so happened that Zhou Weiping had to pop up and get in his way! He was originally part of Song Yaqi's group, so the two of them had known each other longer and were much closer than Qin Bin, which in itself made Qin Bin quite concerned. What's more, this guy often had the nerve to huddle with Song Yaqi to discuss this and that, which inevitably made him burn with jealousy.
In Qin Bin's mind, Song Yaqi was already his, and he would absolutely not allow an outsider to lay a hand on her, let alone this guy trying to snatch food from his mouth! He could see through that guy's lecherous intentions. Therefore, he often liked to oppose him, intentionally or not. And since Qin Bin was on his home turf, holding the home-field advantage, it gave him great pleasure to often see the other guy put in an awkward position.
"This Zhou guy usually just runs his mouth but today, he's actually volunteering to go out. He must be hiding something. To prevent him from ruining my plans, I have to keep an eye on him!!"
When Qin Bin's mother heard that her son also wanted to go, her face immediately changed color. These past few days, she had seen more dead people than ever before in her life. He was her only son; how could she let him take such a risk!
However, this time Qin Bin was determined to go, and no matter how much Sister Zhao objected, it was useless. Finally, under the persuasion of Old Peng, the partner of the tea garden, she reluctantly agreed.
"Let's go!" Zhou Weiping and Qin Bin walked towards the back door of the warehouse. One carried a sharpened bamboo pole, the other gripped a carbon steel wrench. They gently opened one of the doors and slipped out sideways.
The warehouse immediately fell silent again. Everyone stood in unison before the ventilation window, constantly peering outside.
*****
Read 50+ chapters ahead at:
patreon.com/DayEmperor
Patreon: DayEmperor