CHAPTER 30

The group parted ways.

"I'll come back here after I gather the medicinal ingredients. If fate allows, we'll meet again." Zhou Zhou said, rubbing the little black cat peeking out of her backpack before turning toward the hospital in the city, while the others stepped into the urban village.

Huang Qianqian informed them that she and her mother usually only operated within the urban village. Originally, the villagers had fled to other places, but later, a group of outsiders had come and cleared out the zombies, allowing some of the old neighbors to gradually return. Compared to the city, this area was much safer.

Tang Yu noticed that the main access points to the village were secured with iron gates. Through the gaps in the iron bars, she could see the inside of the urban village.

These five-meter-high iron gates were likely meant to keep the zombies out, with spikes or shards of glass attached to the top. However, there were no zombies roaming the streets now, perhaps they had been cleared out by the players who had recently gathered in the area.

Jin Ye managed to open the gate without damaging the lock, and the group stepped into the village, with Tang Yu shutting the gate behind them.

By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten, dispelling the night, but it couldn't eliminate the strong stench of decay. In the narrow, dilapidated streets, large rats scurried about, completely ignoring the group passing by.

Tang Yu held her weapon across her chest, surveying the surroundings as she walked. The distance between the buildings was narrow, with only one main road dividing the entire urban village into a grid pattern. The rest were winding paths and alleys, littered with scraps of paper from rental notices blowing around.

The main road was only wide enough for two cars to pass side by side, with many abandoned stalls around. Some fruits, vegetables, and spicy hot pot ingredients had rotted, covering the surfaces of the stalls with a disgusting shade of green mold.

At a glance, none of the buildings around had any lights on. After all, having the lights on would signal to others that there were people or supplies, and in this apocalypse, humans had to guard against more than just zombies.

Huang Qianqian had mentioned that there were still some natives in this area, but when Xiaoli asked where they were, she couldn't say. She only mentioned having seen someone coming to look for her mother through the window, exchanging some daily supplies. She hadn't stepped outside the small shop in a long time.

It seemed that her mother didn't want her daughter to be exposed to outsiders. After all, in the barren apocalypse, humans were also a form of resource.

Tang Yu's keen eyes spotted a window slightly ajar on the second floor of a nearby rental house. Just as she looked over, the window was suddenly shut.

There were people here.

Tang Yu discreetly withdrew her gaze, but as she scanned the area again, she felt that behind every window, there were one or more pairs of eyes watching them.

Making a quick decision, she led the group away from the main road and into a narrow alley. After circling around a few times, they finally found the entrance to the stairs of the building.

The iron door of the rental house was tightly shut, with a pile of about ten rotting corpses stacked nearby.

Jin Ye lowered her voice and unlocked the door. The group quietly made their way to the second floor and arrived outside the room where the earlier window was located.

This was a remodeled building, with six small units partitioned within a cramped floor. Old flyers advertising monthly rents of 800 were stuck to the walls, intended for workers migrating to the city. However, it was likely that those renting here were no longer the same tenants.

With a click, Jin Ye unlocked the door. As Tang Yu cautiously peered inside, the person inside was still at the window, looking out. The person abruptly turned around upon hearing the noise.

Seeing four women standing at her door—two of whom were zombies and one a child—was an incredibly strange sight. A woman in her sixties in the room was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, trembling and unable to even scream.

Xiaoli quickly rushed into the room, wanting to help her up, but this only backfired, causing the elderly woman to scramble backward in terror.

Jin Ye held Xiaoli back, who quickly stepped away, saying, "We're not bad people, we don't mean to harm you."

Tang Yu also put away her weapon. From the woman's actions and appearance, it seemed she was just an NPC, not the player she had thought.

At that moment, Huang Qianqian peeked out from behind the door and timidly called, "Grandma Mei."

Only then did the elderly woman muster the courage to glance over. Her face was filled with surprise, "Ah, Qianqian? You're still alive?"

Tang Yu led Huang Qianqian into the room. Since the two villagers knew each other, it would make things easier. She closed the door behind them and surveyed the surroundings.

The room appeared to have been ransacked; aside from a wooden plank bed, there was hardly any furniture. There was a small kitchen and a balcony outside the room, with a bathroom to the left, all three functional areas so small they could barely fit one person.

The balcony faced the windows of the neighboring building, so close that one could almost shake hands through them, which explained why the houses in the urban village were known as "handshake buildings."

Additionally, there was a small window in the room facing the main road, which was the same one Tang Yu had seen from outside.

While Tang Yu was surveying the room, Huang Qianqian had already explained the situation to Grandma Mei and spent some time clarifying things until the elderly woman was no longer afraid. They helped her onto the wooden bed. Xiaoli, being the only human who could speak, played a significant role in this.

Huang Qianqian asked Grandma Mei if she had seen her mother, but Grandma Mei averted her gaze and didn't answer.

"It's okay, the child needs to know." Xiaoli said, already anticipating the worst-case scenario.

"She was taken away by a group of outsiders... or rather, I should say... captured," Grandma Mei stammered, grabbing Huang Qianqian's hand with an apologetic expression. "Qianqian, don't blame me. I... I couldn't save her. She saw me, she was calling for help..." As she spoke, it seemed she recalled the events of that day, trembling uncontrollably.

Upon hearing this, Huang Qianqian was frightened, her little face turning bright red.

Tang Yu frowned, it seemed that Qianqian's mother was in grave danger. As for the "outsiders" Grandma Mei mentioned, Tang Yu suspected they referred to their group of players.

"How many people were there? When did this happen? Which way did they go? Did you see anything?" Xiaoli asked, trying to calm the elderly woman's emotions while gathering information.

"It was two days ago, there were... four people, led by a woman, they went that way." Grandma Mei walked to the window and pointed in a certain direction. "If you follow that road down, it might lead to the ancient well at the village center."

The group exchanged glances, feeling a silent sense of dread.

Four people... In that moment, Tang Yu thought of Song Lengzhu. Could it be such a coincidence? Why would she capture Qianqian's mother? Was it for a mission?

In addition, Jin Ye noticed Grandma Mei mentioning the ancient well, which corresponded with a piece of information from the game forum: "The special mission must be triggered by the ancient well in the urban village."

After pondering for a moment, Tang Yu decided to lead the group to check it out.

Xiao Mao, as if recalling something, asked again, "Do you live here alone?" The implication of her question was understood by both Tang Yu and Jin Ye. Although it seemed a bit harsh to ask, it was difficult for elderly people to survive for long in the apocalypse.

At this mention, Grandma Mei's gaze dimmed, and soon it was clouded with tears: "I had a son and a daughter, but they both fell ill last month and... passed away."

Everyone was taken aback. Xiaoli quickly asked, "What illness? Did they get infected with the zombie virus?"

"No, no, no," Grandma Mei shook her head repeatedly, "They didn't turn into zombies. I don't know what the illness was, they suddenly had a fever, a high fever that wouldn't go down, then they became swollen all over, and within a day, they suffered respiratory failure..." As she spoke, memories of her sorrow surfaced, and she started to tear up. She had no means to bury her children, so she could only lock their bodies in another room, letting them decay. But she thought this was better than leaving them on the street for zombies to feast on.

Xiaoli stopped asking further questions. Since their arrival, they had already caused the elderly woman distress, and they felt guilty about it.

From her backpack, Jin Ye took out some potatoes and sweet potatoes, placing them in Grandma Mei's kitchen. Normally, she wouldn't reduce her own food supplies for an NPC, but Tang Yu's actions from yesterday reminded her that these people were still human.

Consider it as a reward for exchanging information.

Unable to hold back her tears, Grandma Mei cried once more. This wasn't her first encounter with outsiders. Although previous outsiders hadn't killed her, they had taken all her belongings. Now, Jin Ye was giving her something instead.

"You are good people... good people." Grandma Mei repeated this phrase, wiping away tears continuously.

Tang Yu turned to walk outside, they were not good people, and they hadn't shown mercy when killing.

Before closing the door, Xiaoli reminded Grandma Mei, "In the future, don't stand by the window looking out. If we can see you, others can see you too."

Grandma Mei nodded, murmuring, "I was just too lonely, I wanted to see if there were any old neighbors..."

The three of them said nothing as they took Huang Qianqian and exited, securely closing the door behind them.

"Once this is all over, I want to take her back to the village." Tang Yu said, changing her camp's recruitment strategy. In addition to the players who had turned into zombies, she could also take in these defenseless NPCs who had nowhere else to go.

"Don't speak too confidently. She's human, living in the midst of zombies doesn't guarantee safety." Jin Ye reminded Tang Yu.

"Xiaoli is human too," Tang Yu chuckled, "From now on, I'll only recruit zombies that won't eat people and have high self-control. If their self-control is lower than Lu Lu's, I won't take them."

"If Lu Lu knew she had become the lowest standard, she'd be very upset." Jin Ye joked, lightening the mood after the earlier heavy atmosphere.

Currently, their 'loving' Yijiaren consisted of only three zombies, and compared to Tang Yu and Jin Ye, Lu Lu's self-control was indeed a bit lower, especially since she had once mentioned wanting to eat Xiaoli.

The four of them changed their mood as they headed downstairs. When they passed the pile of corpses at the entrance again, they noticed that it wasn't just zombie bodies piled up, but also human corpses that were fully swollen.

Putting this information together, they gradually pieced together the background of their current mission: a strange illness had appeared in Huang Village, and the survivors who returned to the village had died one after another. This mission likely required players to find out the cause of the illness and the cure.

Tang Yu thought that almost everyone living here were natives, and players typically didn't treat the natives well. The only players who could gain the villagers' favor and trigger missions and gather information were probably just a small fraction of players who still had a conscience.

Tang Yu raised her hand to check the game panel and found that the villagers' favorability had accumulated to 3 at some point. This change made her dispel her earlier speculation.

No, it might not just be players with a conscience, there could also be those who disguised themselves to gain favor. They might approach the villagers repeatedly to boost their favorability, but beneath the surface, they remained cold-blooded opportunists.

Like Song Lengzhu!

Tang Yu gritted her teeth. Since Grandma Mei used the word "captured," it indicated she must have seen Qianqian's mother resisting. Qianqian's mother hadn't gone with Song Lengzhu willingly.

Tang Yu scoffed inwardly. That witch was truly despicable!

The group made their way through the winding alleys toward the ancient well. With Grandma Mei's experience in mind, they didn't plan to show themselves on the main road again, who knew how many players were watching the situation on the road. They decided to rely on their old tradition of survival: blending in.

The stench in the urban village grew stronger, Xiaoli managed to find four strips of curtain fabric from some corner and handed them to the others to tie around their noses to block the smell, which was better than nothing.

The alleys were interconnected, and after turning several dozen corners, the group became disoriented. Fortunately, Huang Qianqian was a local, before the zombie outbreak, she often played hide-and-seek with her friends in these alleys, so she knew her way around.

After about ten minutes, they finally reached the center of the square. Tang Yu peeked out from the gap between two buildings and saw a square patch of open space in the distance. At the center of the space stood a large banyan tree, its aerial roots reaching down to the ground, forming new root systems. It looked like an ancient tree.

Beneath the banyan tree was an ancient well, surrounded by a railing that seemed to have been preserved as a cultural relic. However, the railing had been heavily damaged, and on the bluestone slabs surrounding the well, there were two male corpses lying in disarray.

From their clothing, it was clear that they were players. Their tactical jackets were high-end, and their backpacks had been opened, with their belongings stolen. The corpses had no weapons in their hands, suggesting that two teams of players had encountered each other here and a conflict had erupted, with the victorious side looting their supplies.

The group looked around but found no signs of Qianqian's mother or Song Lengzhu. Aside from the two bodies, there was no one else in the square.

However, the surrounding buildings were another matter.

Tang Yu withdrew her gaze and looked up at the surrounding buildings. Here, there were residential buildings all around, providing a wide field of view. Through the windows, they could see every movement in the open space. If players wanted to ambush them, they would definitely choose to hide here.

Tang Yu took a step back, concealing her figure in the shadows. After a discussion in their group, they decided to find a room to hide in, waiting for Song Lengzhu and Qianqian's mother to appear.

Tang Yu chose the building facing the ancient well. The iron door had been violently damaged, indicating that players had also been lurking here. However, this building had the best visibility, with no banyan tree blocking their view, allowing them to grasp first-hand information in a timely manner.

If luck really turned against them and they ran into other players, they would have no choice but to fight.

As she stepped onto the first flight of stairs, a thought struck her. She notified the group, "Let's check the rooftop, the chances of running into someone will be smaller there."

These self-built buildings were only five stories high, and they carefully climbed up, trying not to make any noise in the stairwell.

The black cat, unbeknownst to them, had jumped out of the backpack and was running ahead. Its paw pads made no sound on the tiles.

Tang Yu couldn't help but sigh, being a cat must be great.

By the time they reached the third floor, a door suddenly creaked open.

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