Chapter 045 Good Brothers, Let’s Go Together


    “Just two zombies…”


    Zhang Su rubbed his chin. That answer was a bit unexpected, but thinking back to the day when someone used the elevator to transport zombies downstairs, it made sense. After all, there were only so many people in the building. If you counted those who had left through the underground parking lot, the numbers roughly matched up.


    “I see your weapons are spotless. You didn’t kill the zombies?” Zhang Su pointed at the fire axe and crowbar tossed to the side.


    “Oh my god, big bro, you guys don’t know, do you? Those zombies are seriously dangerous! One bite, and you’re infected—turn into one of those freaks! I saw it happen with my own eyes! No way I’d risk touching them!”


    Chongzi reacted like he had just heard something unbelievable, shaking his head frantically in fear.


    Zhang Su remained silent. This guy was the textbook definition of bullying the weak while fearing the strong. He had no problem going after other people but didn’t dare face zombies.


    Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan exchanged glances before turning to Zhang Su with a strange look in their eyes. It was as if they were silently saying,


    “Ahem!” Zhang Su snapped out of his silence, then suddenly felt his anger rise. He pointed at the fire axe and crowbar on the ground. “You cowardly bastards! You shrink away from zombies but have no problem throwing punches at women? What the hell are you even carrying those weapons for—shoveling s*? You guys are f*ing pathetic!”


    Chongzi chuckled awkwardly. “We didn’t dare kill the zombies, but… these weapons can still help us defend ourselves…”


    “Defend yourselves, my ass! Then tell me, how did you deal with the zombies on the first floor?” Zhang Su snapped, his patience wearing thin. If he weren’t too lazy to move, he would’ve already slapped Chongzi across the face.


    “Well… me and Xiang-ge figured out that zombies are super sensitive to sound. There was an apartment on the first floor without security bars, so I climbed in and knocked on the door to make some noise. The zombies were dumb enough to just keep pounding on the door while Xiang-ge and I snuck upstairs through the stairwell.”


    Chongzi seemed quite proud of himself, acting as if he had pulled off some brilliant strategy.


    But to Zhang Su and the others, this was just another name for courting death. He had only thought about escaping that moment’s danger without considering what would happen if there were more zombies wandering upstairs. That kind of shortsightedness could get him surrounded with no way out.


    “Leave your stuff and get lost.”


    Zhang Su suddenly lost all interest.


    At first, he thought Chongzi seemed sharp-tongued and quick-witted—maybe he could dig up some useful intel. But after this exchange, he realized the guy was nothing more than a slick talker with a few cheap tricks. When faced with real danger, he was completely useless.


    “???”


    Zheng Xinyu, Zhong Xiaoshan, and Chongzi—who was still kneeling on the floor—were all stunned.


    The two women had expected Zhang Su to deal with this guy harshly. With his personality, there was no way he’d let him off easy… and yet, he was just letting Chongzi go, just like that?


    Chongzi, on the other hand, felt like he had just won the lottery. Compared to Xiang-ge, who was lying outside, he had practically walked away with his life.


    “Thank you! Thank you, big bro! May you live a long and prosperous life!”


    In a flash, Chongzi sprang up and hurried toward the door as if he had just been granted amnesty. Along the way, he couldn’t help but glance longingly at the crowbar and backpack on the ground—his and Xiang-ge’s entire stash. But right now, he didn’t even dare try taking them.


    “No way.”


    Zheng Xinyu’s voice suddenly rang out. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Zhang Su’s lips curled slightly—an almost imperceptible smirk. He said nothing and simply leaned back, watching the scene unfold.


    “Uh… beautiful sister, uh… big bro already said I could leave. Do you have any other instructions?” Chongzi put on a flattering smile.


    Zheng Xinyu’s face darkened. “You came after me. You tried to rob me. He might’ve let you go, but did I?”


    “Uh…” Chongzi turned to Zhang Su, only to see the man shrug at him. His face immediately fell.


    “Sis, I made a mistake, okay? Please, have mercy! If you let me go, I swear, I’ll repay you in my next life—I’ll be your loyal servant, even a beast of burden!” Chongzi begged pitifully.


    Before the apocalypse, a plea like that might have softened Zheng Xinyu’s heart. But now…


    A gust of wind cut through the air as Zheng Xinyu swung a baseball bat down hard on Chongzi’s left arm.


    “Ahhh—y-you f*—my arm! Aghh! Hiss… it’s broken! It’s broken!!”**


    Chongzi’s face turned pale as he trembled in pain, sweat beading on his forehead.


    He swallowed back the curses stuck in his throat, forcibly restraining himself. But in his heart, a vicious thirst for revenge was already brewing.


    “It’s not broken, just a fracture,” Zhong Xiaoshan explained patiently. “If you rest properly, you’ll recover in about a month. But since there’s no medicine… probably two or three months.”


    In reality, her estimate was optimistic. In a world with severe food and water shortages, even with a stable environment for recovery, healing a bone fracture could take half a year—at best.


    “Now you can go.”


    Zheng Xinyu’s chest rose and fell heavily as she pointed at the door. Her emotions were complicated—anger, yes, but also a trace of guilt for having injured someone.


    Chongzi gritted his teeth, his left arm completely useless. He suppressed the cold fury in his eyes and forced himself to look pitiful as he nodded silently and continued toward the door.


    “Take one more thing with you.”


    Just as Chongzi placed his hand on the doorknob, Zhang Su’s voice rang out behind him.


    Chongzi froze for a moment before slowly turning around. His lips trembled. “Big bro… w-what do you mean?”


    “Xiang-ge is your buddy, right? Take him with you. Good brothers should stick together, don’t you think?” Zhang Su gestured toward the door. He had already checked—Xiang-ge had nothing valuable on him. Most of their supplies were in the backpack.


    Behind the door, Zheng Xinyu watched through the peephole as Chongzi struggled to drag Xiang-ge’s corpse out of the safety door, leaving behind a long, chilling trail of blood. Her emotions churned inside her.


    “Zhang Su… weren’t we a little too cruel?”


    Zhang Su leaned against the wall, speaking slowly. “You gave him a lesson. If this were before, that’d be enough. You could’ve ruled half a block of street punks as their big sister. But now… you’re still too soft.”


    Zheng Xinyu’s face paled. “Are you saying… I should’ve killed him?”


    Hearing that, Zhong Xiaoshan’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t expected things to reach the point where people were seriously considering killing each other.


    Zhang Su glanced at her. “The fact that you’re even asking means you already know the answer.”


    Then, he turned to Zhong Xiaoshan. “Xiaoshan, what would you have done?”


    Zhong Xiaoshan hesitated, then said, “I… I think I’d do the same as Xinyu-jie—just rough him up and let him go.”


    Zhang Su shook his head. “You might think that’s enough—enough of a warning. But have you ever heard the saying ‘a half-dead snake will bite you back’? I’ll show you something interesting later.”