Crack!
The zombie collapsed.
Tang Li Yue felt something wet splattered near her sleeve.
Her smile twitched.
"Lu Chengran," she whispered.
"Yes?"
"If any of that touched me, lie."
He paused, "It did not touch you."
"Good," she almost heaved a sigh of relief when Lu Chengran continued.
"It almost did."
Tang Li Yue almost shrieked, "Ahhh! Why would you add that?"
He dealt with another zombie neatly, striking the skull with practiced force. His movements were too clean. Too steady. He wasted no effort, no motion.
Tang Li Yue noticed this and paused subtly.
Of course she noticed.
A man who claimed to work in logistics should not fight like a sharpened blade wrapped in human skin.
Then again, she herself was pretending to be a newly awakened space ability user, so perhaps both of them could enjoy their mutual pile of lies in peace.
They cleared the immediate area first.
Tang Li Yue used the bat only when necessary and supplemented it with small metal items she kept in her pockets. A screw. A folded blade. A needle taken from her emergency sewing kit.
Unfortunately, she was too panicked and disgusted in the first day that her brain failed to register that she was capable of such a feat. Otherwise, if she was rational that zombie chihuahua wouldn't have posed too much of a problem.
At least that's what Tang Li Yue tells herself.
Anyhow, she did just enough not to expose everything.
When one zombie lunged too close, Tang Li Yue discreetly flicked her wrist. A thin needle shot between its eyes, sinking deep. The zombie stumbled, and before it could regain balance, Lu Chengran crushed its skull.
His gaze shifted briefly toward her hand.
Tang Li Yue pretended not to notice.
He pretended not to have seen anything.
How harmonious.
They entered the convenience store after confirming no zombies remained inside. The place had already been half-ruined, shelves overturned and products scattered across the floor. Tang Li Yue's expression twisted painfully.
"What kind of beast tramples on snacks?"
Lu Chengran checked the corners.
"Zombies."
"No. This was done by humans. Zombies do not selectively steal cigarettes and alcohol."
He glanced toward the counter.
She was right.
Tang Li Yue stepped around broken glass with distaste and began sweeping supplies into her storage ring as soon as Lu Chengran's back turned. Bottled water. Energy bars. Instant noodles. Canned goods. Batteries. Lighters. Medicine from behind the counter.
She moved quickly, maybe too quickly.
When Lu Chengran turned again, an entire shelf of canned goods had disappeared.
He paused.
Tang Li Yue stared back at him blandly.
"Space ability."
"I didn't ask anything."
"You looked like you wanted to."
"I was admiring your efficiency."
That made Tang Li Yue even more suspicious.
Outside, the chihuahua barked again and then growled as menacingly as it could.
This time, it did not sound like a warning toward zombies.
It was people.
Five men emerged from the far side of the gas station, armed with pipes, knives, and one shotgun held by a thin man with a shaved head. Their clothes were stained, their eyes bloodshot, their expressions already carrying the ugliness of people who had discovered that the law was now optional.
Tang Li Yue sighed. Of course, stupid people like this existed everywhere. She had met her fair share of their kind back in the Murim.
They were the type that cannot be reasoned with, only beaten up.
The shaved-headed man raised the shotgun.
"This station's taken."
Lu Chengran stepped slightly in front of her.
Tang Li Yue did not appreciate that. Not because she disliked being protected.
Protection was wonderful. She fully supported it when it came with clean rooms, hot meals, and functioning plumbing.
What she disliked was being underestimated.
The man's gaze swept over the RV. Greed lit his disagreeable face.
"Nice ride. Leave it, and maybe we'll let you walk away."
Tang Li Yue tilted her head innocently.
"You want my RV?"
The man grinned. "Your RV. Your supplies. Maybe even the cat too, maybe. Looks expensive."
Sir Edmund, still visible through the RV window, blinked with the cold disdain of a monarch watching peasants commit treason.
Tang Li Yue smiled after a long, uncomfortable silence.
Lu Chengran's eyes shifted toward her, unsettled. He almost wanted to pity these men.
A beautiful woman's smile could mean many things.
Based on their limited interaction, hers meant somebody was about to suffer.
"That cat," Tang Li Yue said softly, "eats better than you deserve to live."
The man frowned. "What?"
Tang Li Yue moved.
Her fingers flicked once inside her sleeve.
A tiny needle shot out and buried itself in the wrist of the man holding the shotgun. He yelped. His fingers spasmed, and the weapon clattered to the ground.
Before the others could react, she stepped sideways, using the nearest pump as cover, and threw two more needles in quick succession.
One man collapsed to his knees, clutching his thigh.
Another dropped his knife as his arm went numb.
The movements were discreet, almost casual, as if she were merely dusting crumbs from her sleeve.
Lu Chengran watched, his gaze sharpening in realization. He already had an inkling.
Hidden weapons.
It was not improvised at the least. And it was most certainly not beginner's luck.
She was an expert.
Tang Li Yue closed in on the shaved-headed man and kicked the shotgun farther away.
Then she pressed the barbed bat that had bits of zombie flesh stuck in it beneath his chin.
"You are fortunate," she said, voice sweet. "I am in a hurry."
The man trembled, eyes wide.
"What did you do to me?"
She waved nonchalantly, "Relax, it's just a small lesson."
"You madwoman! Did you poison me?!"
Tang Li Yue's smile deepened.
"Would you prefer that? I can begrudgingly grant your request."
He shook his head frantically.
"Then crawl away. Take your little friends. If I see you near my cat, my RV, or my canned goods again, I will make you wish the zombies got you instead."
The men scrambled back with impressive speed for people who had moments ago attempted robbery.
Lu Chengran retrieved the shotgun and checked it. "You let them live."
Tang Li Yue huffed. "Do I look like I have time to dispose of bodies properly?"
"That is your reason?"
She tilted her head, "Would you prefer a moral one?"
Lu Chengran paused, "No."
"Good. Morals are expensive during apocalypse," she said with an approving nod.
He studied her for a long moment.
Tang Li Yue lifted a brow, and almost defensively asked, "What?"
"Nothing."
"You are doing that observing thing again." Annoyed, Tang Li Yue scoffed at him.
"I work in logistics."
She rolled her eyes at this, "I'm going to hack that phrase into pieces one day."
They resumed collecting fuel.
Lu Chengran filled containers while Tang Li Yue shamelessly stored what she could. Gasoline. Tools. Spare tires. Engine oil. More bottled water from the back room. She even took the station's entire shelf of wet wipes with deep emotional satisfaction.
The chihuahua trotted back with blood around its mouth.
Tang Li Yue recoiled at the sight.
"Do not come near me until you have reconsidered your life choices and hygiene routine."
It wagged its tail, uncaring of her snide remark.
Sir Edmund watched from inside the RV, serene and untouched by labor.
"Look at him," Tang Li Yue said bitterly. "Civilization ended and he somehow became more comfortable."
Lu Chengran sealed another fuel container.
"You chose his lifestyle."
"I did not choose to become his servant. It happened gradually."
"Most monarchies do."
She paused. Then, unwillingly, snorted.
It was brief, tiny, and barely laughter. Lu Chengran looked away, but the corner of his mouth lifted.
The moment did not last.
An ominous sound crept through the air.
It was a groan but it was neither a human's nor a zombie.
The ground beneath Tang Li Yue's boots trembled faintly.
She turned slowly toward the road behind the gas station.
There was a tree there.
At first glance, it looked ordinary. Tall, old, with thick roots breaking through the pavement near the drainage ditch. Its branches stretched over the back of the station, leaves dark and dense.
Then one branch moved.
Not with the wind. There was no wind.
Tang Li Yue froze.
The bark along the trunk split open like wet flesh. Dark sap oozed from the cracks, thick and red-black. The roots lifted from the ground one by one, dragging concrete with them. Beneath the tree, tangled among the roots, were bodies.
Animals.
Zombies.
Humans.
All wrapped tightly, drained into husks.
Tang Li Yue's face likewise drained of color.
Lu Chengran stepped beside her.
He heard her whisper in alarm, "Mutant."
The mutated tree shuddered as if in response.
Then one of its roots lashed out, fast.
Lu Chengran grabbed Tang Li Yue by the arm and pulled her back as the root whipped through the space where she had been standing, smashing into a fuel pump.
Metal screamed while gasoline sprayed and spilled.
Tang Li Yue stared at the ruptured pump.
Then at the tree.
Then at the gasoline spreading uselessly across the ground.
Her expression became profoundly offended.
"Did that tree just waste my fuel?"
Another root rose, uncaring of her reaction.
The chihuahua growled in defense.
Sir Edmund hissed from inside the RV.
Animals were usually more perceptive of danger. It was apparent that this tree posed more danger than even the zombies.
Tang Li Yue slowly lifted her bat forgetting for a moment that she didn't have the strength of her former physique.
Her eyes flashed with the dangerous light of a woman whose morals had been personally attacked.
"I was willing to tolerate zombies," she said through gritted teeth. "I even tolerated that dog."
The tree's branches writhed, leaves rustling like whispers.
"But wasting gasoline? That's the liquid gold of the apocalypse, okay?"
Her smile turned sharp.
"You've gone too far."
Lu Chengran tightened his grip on the crowbar.
For the first time since leaving the warehouse, his calm expression darkened with genuine wariness.