8: I'm not leaving today

Qin Shilei refocused his attention on the convenience store.

It was a glass door that could open from both sides.

The glass was covered with a layer of newspaper, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

Through a gap in the middle, a lock the size of a big toe could be seen hanging on the handles of both doors.

Kicking the door hard might knock it down, but the noise would be too loud and easily attract zombies.

Qin Shilei said in a deep voice, facing the door crack, "If you don't open the door, I'll kick it down. If that attracts zombies, you won't be able to defend this cozy nest."

He paused, then added, "We'll just take some food, leave once we're done, and we guarantee not to occupy this place."

Unfortunately, the person inside still showed no reaction.

Qin Shilei took out the Seven Star Sword and gestured with it, wanting to test if he could split open the glass door without making too much noise.

Just then, he suddenly heard the sound of heavy objects moving inside.

Through the gap in the middle of the door, he saw that the person inside had moved some shelves or similar items to brace the door from behind.

Holy cow!

The person inside was incredibly cunning.

Qin Shilei tried pushing the glass door again; it didn't budge.

The person inside had probably stacked many things behind the door.

Qin Shilei turned to go around and see if there were any windows nearby.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm came from inside.

"Tiancheng, hurry, a zombie has crawled in!"

"AYu, run, climb onto the loft bed!"

Then, a crashing sound came from inside.

Qin Shilei leaned close to the door crack and peered in, only to see a man in his thirties, holding a bone-chopping knife, desperately fighting three zombies.

Xu Tiancheng wielded the bone-chopping knife with formidable power, and while retreating and slashing, he managed to take down two zombies consecutively.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice the small stool at his feet, stumbled, and fell to the ground, his bone-chopping knife dropping to the side.

The last zombie seized the opportunity and lunged on top of him.

This was a male zombie, very burly, and stronger than Xu Tiancheng.

It was on top of Xu Tiancheng, trying hard to bite him.

Xu Tiancheng pushed against his chest with both hands, desperately holding the zombie back to prevent it from biting him.

"Tiancheng, I'll help you!"

AYu climbed down from the loft again.

She tremblingly picked up the bone-chopping knife nearby, wanting to kill the zombie, but she raised the knife and couldn't find the courage to bring it down.

"AYu, chop!"

"Ah!"

Seeing her husband about to be bitten, AYu closed her eyes, shouted, and chopped downwards.

She did hit it, but she chopped the zombie's shoulder and even got the bone-chopping knife stuck in the zombie's bone.

"Roar!"

The zombie ignored the bone-chopping knife in its shoulder, turned its head, snarled at the woman, and then tried to bite the man beneath it again.

AYu grabbed another cleaver from a shelf and, with her eyes closed, chopped at the zombie.

"Ugh!"

"AYu, stop chopping, I can't hold on much longer!"

It was the zombie's strength, combined with the force from AYu's chops, that made Xu Tiancheng groan in pain and forced him to call for her to stop.

"Big sister, open the door quickly, I can save him!"

Qin Shilei shouted into the gap in the door.

Hearing this, the woman seemed to grasp a lifeline and immediately ran over, frantically pushing away the shelves behind the door.

"Tiancheng, hold on a little longer, I'm opening the door to let him come save you!"

Although the woman was not good at fighting zombies, she didn't falter when pushing the shelves, and soon she had the key and opened the door.

Qin Shilei rushed in with a single stride, sweeping upwards from the side.

A massive head flew off to the right.

Black, foul-smelling blood spurted from the neck, drenching the man below.

"Tiancheng, are you alright?"

AYu asked anxiously, wiping the blood off her husband with a towel.

Xu Tiancheng struggled to get up, immediately pulled out the bone-chopping knife stuck in the zombie's shoulder, and then pulled his wife behind him.

"Thank you for saving me."

Qin Shilei said calmly, "I think you should go wash up, lest that blood turns you into a zombie too."

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Tiancheng still pulled his wife into the restroom.

Fortunately, these zombies didn't have sharp claws like vampires, otherwise, after that close-quarters combat, they would inevitably have been scratched and infected.

After a thorough wash, they came out and saw that Qin Shilei had not only locked the door but also blocked the windows behind it.

"He's not going to squat here, is he?"

Xu Tiancheng looked at Qin Shilei with a worried expression.

Qin Shilei smiled at them, then walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of happy fat house water, and gulped it down.

This iced fat house water was still refreshing, and he didn't know when the power would go out.

As soon as he thought of this, he quickly put three or four bottles of fat house water into his spatial ring.

Xu Tiancheng saw the other party drinking and taking things so casually, like the owner, and his worry deepened a few points.

His eyes darted around, then he tentatively said, "Thank you so much just now. To thank you for saving my life, just take whatever you want to take back."

With that, he handed over a backpack.

"Ugh!" Qin Shilei put down the fat house water, burped, and stared fixedly at the backpack, but didn't take it.

The backpack looked sturdy, but it wasn't the largest kind sold in the convenience store.

Even if he crammed it full, the amount of stuff it could hold was just a drop in the ocean compared to the convenience store's supplies.

"It's getting dark, and we only have one bed here, so I'm afraid we can't offer you a place to stay."

Xu Tiancheng saw that Qin Shilei didn't take the backpack and explicitly started to drive him away.

Qin Shilei smiled and said, "I'm not trying to take over your convenience store, do you really need to drive me away like this?"

"It's best if you have no ill intentions, but this is my convenience store, and I'm afraid I cannot host you, sir."

Xu Tiancheng again offered the backpack to Qin Shilei.

"Tiancheng, are you Xu Tiancheng, the owner of Tiancheng Convenience Store?"

Qin Shilei suddenly asked.

"That's me."

Xu Tiancheng was stunned for a moment but didn't hide it.

"On the trading system, you sell a bottle of water for one crystal. I just saved your life, shouldn't you give me some crystals as a reward?"

Qin Shilei wasn't necessarily trying to demand repayment, but he was annoyed by the other party's attitude.

He had just saved his life, and in the blink of an eye, he was being driven out.

Did he look like a bad guy?

"I haven't sold a single bottle of water, I don't have any crystals."

Xu Tiancheng flatly denied it.

When he first listed his items, no one bought them.

After all, those who could kill zombies weren't fools; they knew the value of crystals.

But the world was so big, there were always people who were starving. Near dinner time, he still sold two portions of food.

"No crystals, huh? That's a problem."

Qin Shilei said with a troubled expression, "There's food and drink here, I don't mind sleeping on the floor or something."

"You..."

Xu Tiancheng brandished the bone-chopping knife in his hand and said fiercely, "This is my convenience store. Be smart and take some things and leave. Otherwise, you won't even get half a hot dog later."

"Heh heh!"

Qin Shilei chuckled disdainfully, pointing to the business license behind the counter, "The owner of this store doesn't seem to be you; you're just a squatter."

"Today, I'm not leaving!"