106: Chapter 106 Searching the Streets

"Resolved," Wang Zhiming said, concise and to the point.

"Mr. Zhou told the three of us to take people to the streets and scavenge for winter supplies."

Zhang Lijuan nodded.

More than twenty survivors followed behind, marching in a grand procession along the main street.

The streets of Linshui County were not very wide, lined with three-to-four-story buildings, all with shops on the ground floor.

If the rolling shutters were closed, they used crowbars to pry them open; if the glass doors were locked, they smashed the locks directly.

In the apocalypse, there's no need to talk about civilization; survival is what matters.

Wang Zhiming led the way with a map, checking off each shop on the map as they finished searching it.

Clothing stores, grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies—they searched one after another.

Cotton-padded jackets and trousers piled up into a small mountain, and the survivors' sacks soon bulged.

Someone found a box of hand warmers and was so happy they almost jumped for joy.

Someone dug out several boxes of cold and fever medicine from a pharmacy warehouse.

Wang Zhiming took a look and said this was the best find, as medicine was what the camp currently lacked the most.

Wang Laowu carried two large cotton quilts out of a grocery store.

They were thick and heavy, and carrying them on his shoulders felt like carrying a mountain. But he was happy, his face full of smiles.

"Professor Wang! Look at this! It's pure cotton! With this quilt, you won't freeze even at minus twenty degrees!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Good stuff, grab a few more." Wang Zhiming didn't even look up; he was crouching in a hardware store, rummaging through things.

"Wang Laowu, see if there are any hot water bags or thermos bottles. The elderly and children in the camp cry from the cold when sleeping at night; having these will help a lot."

"Got it!" Wang Laowu dove back into the neighboring grocery store to search.

The group searched half the street, their sacks were full, and they had already sent supplies to the floating cars twice.

After dropping them off, they continued searching. Although the survivors were tired, no one complained.

Transporting these supplies back meant survival capital for them once distributed. Breaking a sweat in the cold was better than freezing to death in winter.

Just as they reached the third intersection, Zhang Lijuan suddenly stopped.

She was clutching a talisman in her hand, and the talisman was slightly warm.

This was a sensing talisman she had drawn in advance; when worn on her body, it could detect surrounding killing intent and hostility.

The fact that the talisman was heating up meant someone was nearby, and they were not well-intentioned.

"Wait," Zhang Lijuan whispered, pulling on Wang Zhiming's sleeve. "There's someone."

Wang Zhiming stopped and scanned his surroundings calmly.

The street was empty, with closed shops on both sides and the occasional abandoned car tilted on the roadside.

The wind was strong, blowing plastic bags on the ground into spinning swirls. It didn't look like anything was wrong.

But Wang Zhiming did not doubt Zhang Lijuan's words.

"How many?" Wang Zhiming asked in a low voice.

"Not sure." Zhang Lijuan squeezed the talisman to sense them. "At least four. The killing intent is very strong; they must be coming for us."

Wang Laowu came out of the grocery store carrying two cotton quilts. Seeing their expressions, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone is targeting us," Wang Zhiming said.

"Don't make a scene, keep acting like nothing's wrong. Wang Laowu, have the survivors go into the nearby hardware store and stay there. Don't come out."

Wang Laowu's face darkened. He put down the quilts and turned to usher the survivors into the hardware store.

After more than twenty people squeezed in, the shop was immediately packed.

Wang Laowu pulled the shop door partially shut, then crouched behind the door, gripping the machete in his hand.

Wang Zhiming and Zhang Lijuan stood on the street, pretending to still be looking at the map.

The talisman in Zhang Lijuan's hand grew hotter and hotter. "They're here," she whispered.

Zhuang Zeqiang, along with four Transcendents, was crouching behind a third-floor window of a residential building at the street corner, looking down through the half-broken glass.

"Boss, only three Transcendents," the third one whispered into his ear, his voice extremely low.

"Two men, one woman. The rest are all ordinary people, all moving supplies."

Zhuang Zeqiang didn't speak, his eyes fixed on the scene below. He counted twice; there were indeed only three Transcendents.

The other twenty or so were all ordinary people, carrying sacks, moving in and out like ants moving house.

"Did that thing in Hongfan Plaza not make a move?" the second one asked, frowning. "They were in there for so long; how are there still people alive to come out?"

"Who the hell knows," Zhuang Zeqiang spat. "Judging by their appearance, they must have escaped."

"Maybe everyone else died inside."

"Then what are we waiting for?" the third one said anxiously. "Let's move! They've searched half the street, and they've already sent the sacks back twice. If we don't act now, they might leave!"

"What's the rush?" Zhuang Zeqiang glared at him. "This place is too close to Hongfan Plaza. If the commotion from the fight gets too loud and draws that thing inside out, what then?"

"Follow them a bit further before making a move. They are still searching eastward; past that intersection to the east is a back street. That area is full of residential buildings and nothing weird. Wait until they search over there, then we act—clean and quick."

Although the third one was anxious, he didn't dare disobey the boss, so he could only continue to watch from the window.

The five of them quietly snuck out from behind the residential building. Crouching low and hugging the wall, they followed far behind Wang Laowu and his group.

Zhuang Zeqiang walked at the front, clutching a pitch-black pistol. It wasn't an ordinary pistol; the barrel was engraved with dense runes, clearly a strange object.

The second one held a machete with a layer of dark red substance coated on the blade; it was unclear what it was.

The third, fourth, and fifth ones all held their own weapons, their eyes fierce and smiles on their faces.

It had been a long time since they had a score. In Linshui County, anyone worth robbing had already been robbed.

Before, when the Human Alliance passed through, they didn't even dare to breathe loudly and hid away shamefully for several days.

Now that they had finally waited for a group that didn't look too strong, how could they let this opportunity pass? Seven floating cars and so many supplies—once they robbed them, they could leave this godforsaken place and go wherever they wanted.

They followed from a distance, tailing Wang Laowu's group as they finished searching one street. Then they finished the second street, crossed the intersection, and turned into a back street.

The back street was narrow, and the tall buildings on both sides blocked the sky until only a sliver remained. The light dimmed, the wind died down, and it became very quiet.

"This is the place." A sinister grin curled at the corner of Zhuang Zeqiang's mouth as he raised his hand and made a gesture. The four men simultaneously surrounded them from different directions.

Wang Laowu was bending over at the entrance of a grocery store, rummaging through a pile of cardboard boxes. Wang Zhiming stood nearby looking at the map, and Zhang Lijuan leaned against the door of a floating car. She clutched the talisman in her hand, looking down at the ground, muttering something under her breath.

Zhuang Zeqiang chose Wang Laowu as his target. The fat man was sweating profusely from carrying things, with a large bundle of cotton quilts on his back, looking clumsy and the easiest to take down.

He darted out from behind the wall, the runic pistol in his hand aimed at Wang Laowu's back. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.