25: Wang Meilan's viciousness

Seeing that the zombie horde hadn't noticed her yet, Si Nan immediately turned the scooter around to check the other three gates further away. The result was the same; they were even more crowded than this one. "No choice then. I'll have to fight my way in."

Si Nan had to return. At the corner, she put away the electric scooter, took out two military shovels, walked over, and whistled at the zombies whose backs were turned to her. "Sss-sss, come on, babies!"

"Roar—" Hearing the noise behind them, the zombies let out a roar. They all turned their stiff, mangled bodies and rushed toward Si Nan, clawing and baring their teeth.

Someone inside the iron gate recognized Si Nan. "Everyone, look! It's the Property Owner of unit c-108. She's actually holding professional weapons. She doesn't intend to kill these people and break into the neighborhood, does she?"

Just as that person began to doubt her, Si Nan had already started a killing spree. For her, who had taken down several evolved zombies in her past life, this small group of low-level zombies was a piece of cake.

She took them down one by one with her shovel—fast, accurate, and ruthless, with extreme efficiency. The sharp shovel sent the zombies' black blood splashing everywhere around her, terrifying everyone inside the iron gate.

"Ah, she's killing people! She's killing people!"

"My god, how can a girl like her have such good skills? And be so ruthless? She's terrifying."

Right then, Si Nan heard Wang Meilan's sharp, inciting voice from behind the chaotic iron gate. "Security, call the police and arrest her! Si Nan is killing people in broad daylight right in front of all of us! Hurry up and call the police to take her away. Whatever you do, don't open the gate for her!"

"Look at her! She kills without blinking. What if we let her in and she kills us too? Am I right, everyone?"

"This—but she is a Property Owner here after all, and she looks normal enough."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be right, would it? The ones she's killing aren't normal people anymore; they're just walking dead trying to get in and bite us."

The spectating Property Owners were still rational at this point, their opinions divided.

Seeing that the crowd remained unmoved, Wang Meilan immediately added fuel to the fire, egging on an Old Woman beside her. "If that shovel hit you, do you think you'd still be alive?"

That old lady was the gossip from unit c-102 who had previously scolded Si Nan for being 'arrogant and fat.' She usually had a good relationship with Wang Meilan, and the two often echoed each other's gossip.

The Old Woman immediately caught onto Wang Meilan's intent. Pointing at Si Nan outside the iron gate, she said, "Yes, yes, we absolutely cannot let her into the neighborhood! No one is allowed to open the gate for her! Who knows if she'll lose herself in the bloodlust and kill us too?"

"More importantly, who can guarantee she hasn't been infected with the virus? Look at all that black blood on her—it's exactly the same as the black blood spat out by the people she killed. It's disgusting."

"What if we let her in and the virus spreads to us, turning us into zombies? Even if we don't get infected, what if Si Nan turns into a rabid dog and starts biting us? We'd be dead!"

"Yeah, that's a very high possibility."

"Auntie Wang is right. It's very likely. I agree with not letting Si Nan in."

"Also, look at how easily she decapitates people like she's chopping vegetables. She's a highly dangerous individual. We must not let her in."

"Right, we agree. Don't let her in."

Since it concerned their own lives, the two old women's incitement immediately caused those who had just spoken up for Si Nan to switch sides. Everyone agreed with Wang Meilan's proposal.

The way the crowd looked at Si Nan changed again, shifting from distant friendliness to hostility.

Wang Meilan felt incredibly satisfied, very pleased with her old friend's cooperation. She hated Si Nan to the core and couldn't wait for her to die. She wanted to watch Si Nan be torn apart and shredded by those lunatics outside the gate with her own eyes. Only then would her hatred be appeased.

She had only taken a few free items, yet Si Nan had been malicious enough to try and send someone her age to prison. Now, they'd see who would kill whom first.

Due to her excitement, Wang Meilan stood at the very front of the crowd, closest to the iron gate. Suddenly, *Bang!*

A headless corpse slammed against the iron gate in front of her. The black blood and brain matter spraying from the zombie's head splattered across Wang Meilan's face. Terrified, she screamed "Ahhh!" while frantically wiping the black blood off her face.

She slumped onto the ground, her old face already drained of color and deathly pale.

Looking outside the gate again, the zombie horde that had been reaching for them two minutes ago was already dead. Mangled zombie corpses lay scattered everywhere, along with dark, rotting flesh and black brain matter. The scene was gruesome.

Every corpse was a hideous sight. The faint-hearted had already run back screaming. Those who remained stared wide-eyed and terrified as Si Nan, her face covered in blood, calmly took off her blood-splattered helmet and threw it on the ground. She then removed her dirty down jacket to wipe the black blood off her shovel before turning her cold, chilling gaze toward the security guard in the crowd.

"Are you sure you're not opening the gate?"

The security guard was also terrified by Si Nan and didn't answer immediately. "Me?"

He looked at the surrounding Property Owners. With their emotions running so high, how was he supposed to know if he should open the gate?

But the Property Owners he looked at didn't know either. They had long been stunned by Si Nan's display. Wang Meilan was still wailing on the ground, having not yet recovered.

Besides, she was a Property Owner here and seemed like a normal person. What right did they have to keep her out?

But in her condition... opening the gate felt too dangerous.

The scene became terrifyingly quiet. Not a single person dared to answer Si Nan's question.

Seeing the security guard remain unmoved, Si Nan was already fuming. She stepped forward to scan her face to open the gate, but it wouldn't work anymore. She suddenly looked up, narrowing her eyes at the guard. "I'll ask you one last time. Are you really not opening the gate? I am a Property Owner here!"

"Me?"

"You brought this on yourselves."

While the security guard was hesitating, Si Nan gauged the height of the iron gate. After dropping those cold words, she suddenly ran toward the other end of the gate. Using her speed, she kicked off the wall with her right foot, landed her left foot on the iron lattice of the gate, and leaped into the air, clearing the gate and landing steadily in front of everyone.

The moment she landed, Si Nan kicked the security guard flying. Then, with a backhand swing of her shovel, she knocked Wang Meilan down, stepped on her face, and applied sudden pressure.

She ground her foot down hard. "Old hag, you're the most malicious person in this entire neighborhood. Did you think that because you didn't have to go to prison, you could start acting up again?"

Beneath her foot, Wang Meilan clawed at Si Nan's leg, letting out a shrill scream. "Ahhh! You little bitch, let go of me! Help! Someone help me! Si Nan is going on a killing spree! Ahhh! Someone kill her, quickly!"

Even now, Wang Meilan didn't forget to incite the crowd, urging the onlookers to attack Si Nan.