In the later half of the night, there was a sudden commotion downstairs. It became noisier after someone started banging on the door.
Shi Sheng sat up, scowling. Qian Li was still burrowed in his corner by the window. Seeing Shi Sheng move, he immediately went over to her and stared at her finger. ‘Bloody hell, he still wants to eat!’
Shi Sheng resigned herself to giving the future Zombie Emperor his ‘milk’ before combing through her hair in frustration and heading to the door, sword in hand. Qian Li followed for a couple of steps when he suddenly seemed to have thought of something and slowly retreated back to the window.
Shi Sheng stood at the door and listened for a bit. Though there was a commotion, there weren’t any shrieks, so it was unlikely that someone had turned into a zombie. Shi Sheng pulled open the door.
The object the person outside was using to smash at the door hadn’t managed to hit anything. In the darkness, this woman only saw a human shadow standing there, causing her to cry out in alarm and retreat hastily.
Her cry caused the other people to head over. Someone formed a fireball and tossed it towards Shi Sheng. That person seemed to have only created it as a source of light for the fireball stopped a meter away from Shi Sheng, allowing everyone to see her clearly.
“It’s a person… scared me to death. Thought it was a zombie.”
“Didn’t they say there were people staying on the third floor already? Yet you wanted to go and bash at their door, look what you’ve gotten yourself into now.”
“Well, we were worried…”
“Worried about what? Zhao Yan, don’t think we don’t know what you’re really thinking!”
They started bickering again, causing Shi Sheng to rub her aching forehead and snap grumpily, “What do you guys want?”
‘Having the strength to argue in the middle of the night… Just how bored are these people?’
“If you people still have space upstairs, let us in!” The woman who had thrown the fireball earlier spoke out arrogantly.
The people here were clearly separated into three different factions. One of them was headed by the woman, Zhao Yan, while another was made up of people opposing Zhao Yan. The rest were those who were keeping themselves out of this matter or were too busy sobbing in despair to care. There were also those who wanted to complain about all the noise, but no one dared to stand out to say anything.
Zhao Yan was one of the more important female villains in the novel. She was the daughter of Zhao Jing’s uncle. Zhao Jing was the male lead’s competent assistant and the driver of the car Shi Sheng had boarded. His uncle had instructed him before his death to find Zhao Yan and protect her.
Zhao Jing had been raised by this uncle of his, so of course he would want to repay this debt. The convoy had met Zhao Yan on the road to B City so naturally, he took special care of her.
But this Zhao Yan coveted Song Shi for his looks. Hence she disliked Qi Mingxue, who Song Shi looked well upon. In the end, she turned into a zombie and was killed personally by Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing’s ending wasn’t good either.
That Zhao Yan was here now meant she hadn’t met up with Zhao Jing and his teammates. Shi Sheng only took a few seconds to process all this information as she continued leaning against the door, her arms crossed over her chest. “Why should I let you in?”
‘If it hadn’t been for the sake of those Nuclei, I wouldn’t have let anyone in. Yet now they want to take a mile after getting an inch?’
“What do you mean, why? This is now a shared space; what’s the meaning of you keeping a floor to yourself?! Don’t you see how many people there are downstairs?” Zhao Yan was clearly angered. Before the apocalypse, she had been a pampered young miss; she had always gotten everything she had ever needed and wanted just by asking.
Even after the apocalypse started, she awakened an ability so she was still taken care of by others. Yet now, they wanted her to squeeze in with so many people. People who stank as well as cried constantly. Had she known about it earlier, she wouldn’t have gotten into an argument with her cousin.
The person responsible for their lodging arrangements had said that the third floor was off limits. She had heard that there were only a few people on the floor at most, and one of them was just a young lady.
She hadn’t planned to go up initially but halfway through the night, she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t want to return to see that woman anyway so, hearing no movements upstairs, she decided to go break down the door.
“What’s that gotta do with me?” ‘People are killing over loaves of bread right now, let alone for territory!’
Zhao Yan was infuriated by Shi Sheng’s attitude. “I am going upstairs whether you like it or not! Let’s go!”
She made to go upstairs. Shi Sheng’s gaze darkened and the sword that had been dangling in her hand suddenly slashed towards Zhao Yan. Zhao Yan hadn’t noticed the sword earlier, and hadn’t expected her to use it to slash at her even less, so she was caught off guard. The blade brushed her shoulders, slicing off a strand of hair.
Shi Sheng’s wrist turned and pressed the sword against Zhao Yan’s neck. A cold sensation sank into her bones, causing fear to rise in Zhao Yan’s heart.
“Don’t move, ‘kay? This sword of mine is very sharp. I just need a liiittle bit of effort to get your neck and head to say bye-bye to each other…” The raucous atmosphere immediately calmed down, allowing Shi Sheng’s light, yet malice-filled voice to be heard clearly.
Thud thud thud…
The sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs could be heard and a few figures stepped out from the stairwell. One of them was holding a flashlight, which panned through the place before coming to rest on the stairwell to the third floor, where Shi Sheng was.
“What’s going on here?” The person who spoke was the captain of the military team that had conducted the transaction with Shi Sheng. His gaze swept over Shi Sheng before landing on Zhao Yan, who had been taken hostage. His expression turned ugly. “Zhao Yan, what were you up to? Didn’t I already warn you not to go near the third floor?”
‘One look at this young lady and you can tell she’s not a normal person. I already warned them not to go up to the third floor! This lady seems straightforward; not the type to cause trouble. The ruckus must’ve been Zhao Yan’s fault.’
“Captain Chang, can’t you see she’s threatening me with a sword?!” Zhao Yan growled through clenched teeth, her eyes radiating anger. However, she didn’t dare to move.
“Xiaonan?”
Shi Sheng’s gaze shifted to look at the person behind Chang Xin. Qi Mingxue was dressed in leather and looking very cool. She stepped out from behind Chang Xin, her expression showing worry. “Why are you here? You just left without saying anything, we were worried. Let go of Zhao Yan first. If there are any misunderstandings, let’s talk it out.”
‘Pei! Worried I’m(bbb) not dead? You were the one who ambushed me last time yet you’re now here to fake concern? Who gave you the face?!’
“Ms Qi is acquainted with this young lady?” Chang Xin’s eyes lit up. He had been furiously thinking of a plan to deal with the situation, and though the lady looked very young, she didn’t give him the impression a normal young lady would.
“Er, she’s my cousin.” Qi Mingxue spoke in a low voice. “Sorry about that Captain Chang. My cousin’s personality isn’t very good. She didn’t mean to cause trouble, I’ll go persuade her to stop. Sorry for any bother she might have caused.”
‘Fuck you! Dare to slander me in front of my face! Your face is really thick ah female lead-sama to push the blame on me!’
Chang Xin’s brows furrowed lightly. ‘Qi Mingxue means to say this lady was the instigator? Her temper does seem a bit bad… I could feel it when we were negotiating earlier.’
He looked at Shi Sheng, who still had her sword to Zhao Yan’s neck. ‘Her expression looks a bit… er, gentler? Or is it just me?’
“Qi Mingxue, hurry up and get her to release me!” Zhao Yan roared upon hearing Qi Mingxue’s words. Shi Sheng was a bit surprised. ‘Zhao Yan knows Qi Mingxue? Since they’ve already met, why is Zhao Yan here?’