The four of them were startled.
Nie Yizhou quickly crouched down, wanting to cover the Old Master's wound.
The Old Master shakily stopped him with his hand.
"Don't... don't dirty your hands."
"Old Master, why would you do this to yourself? You were fine!"
"I... living alone is... cough cough... meaningless. She's still... waiting for me. I'm going to join her now, otherwise she'll be... cough cough... scared all alone."
The old man's cloudy eyes held a faint smile, showing no fear of death, but rather a sense of freedom and release.
He didn't say the word 'love' once, but his deep affection for his wife was evident in every word.
"I'm... I'm sorry for frightening you. I hope it won't cause you... psychological trauma. There's still some food in the house... please... take..."
Before the old man could finish speaking, his eyes began to lose focus.
Finally, his body went limp and his eyes closed completely.
Nie Yizhou checked for breath and sighed quietly.
"The Old Master is gone."
The four felt inexplicably moved.
In this apocalyptic world, they had grown accustomed to seeing the dark side of human nature.
Now, witnessing this elderly couple who had remained devoted and loving to the end felt truly precious and rare.
It's easy to hold hands at the beginning, but growing old together is no simple feat.
Nie Yizhou went to the bedroom to find clean clothes for the old man.
Yun Xiaoxiao tended to the old man's wound.
Then Xiao Feng and Lu Chen carried the old man inside and placed him next to his wife.
They were so in love, let them continue to accompany each other...
The four bowed towards the bed before closing the door and walking out.
By now, all the light in the sky had retreated behind dark clouds.
Night had fallen.
"I remember there's an empty room on the sixth floor. Let's make do there for tonight."
In the entire building, the other rooms either contained dead bodies or zombies, or were covered in dried bloodstains.
Only that empty room on the sixth floor was relatively clean.
Having made up their minds, they headed downstairs together.
As they passed through the corridor from the twelfth to the eleventh floor, Feng Xiaoshi appeared before them.
She stood with her head slightly bowed, suddenly emerging from the shadows like a ghost.
"Oh shit, make a sound next time! I almost thought you were a zombie rushing out. Luckily I stopped in time, or your head would've been split open just now."
Nie Yizhou had been about to strike with his knife when he realized it was Feng Xiaoshi, so he quickly halted.
Feng Xiaoshi was also startled.
She froze in place, not daring to move.
Seeing the group about to leave, she hurriedly ran up to Yun Xiaoxiao.
"Little sister, thank you... for earlier."
If it hadn't been for this little girl's words, she wouldn't have found the resolve to leave that family.
"No need to thank me, I didn't do much," Yun Xiaoxiao said, pursing her lips. "Besides, I really do like slapping people, and that guy had a very slappable face."
Feng Xiaoshi's mouth twitched.
This little girl was... quite... humorous?
Feng Xiaoshi was perceptive enough to stay put after expressing her thanks, not following the group as they left.
Naturally, Yun Xiaoxiao and the others weren't about to warmly invite a stranger along.
Although Yun Xiaoxiao had her Scumbag Detection Panel and knew this girl harbored no ill intentions towards them,
they had dangerous missions every day and couldn't possibly bring along someone with absolutely no combat ability at all times.
That wouldn't be saving someone, it would be endangering them.
Besides, there were plenty of pitiful people in the post-apocalyptic world. Were they supposed to save every single one they met?
They weren't bleeding-heart do-gooders, nor were they six-armed Iron Men.
Only when Feng Xiaoshi proved she had the ability to keep up with them would she possibly be allowed to join the team.
Otherwise, it was out of the question.
The four continued downwards until they reached the sixth floor.
Just as they were about to open the door to the empty room, a scream suddenly rang out from the apartment across the hall.
Only then did they remember - wasn't this where that girl who ate human flesh lived?
Strangely, the scream didn't come from the fair-skinned young man, but from the girl!
A series of screams followed in quick succession.
After a moment, the screaming stopped.
Then, the door opened from the inside.
A blood-covered young man ran out in a panic.
His left arm seemed to be injured, with blood dripping steadily from his fingertips.
Everyone recognized him - it was the fair-skinned young man from before.
Yun Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows in surprise.
In such a short time, this young man had suddenly awakened his ability, and it was the Soft Body Ability at that.
Indeed, people truly unleash their greatest power when their lives are threatened.
She could guess most of what had just transpired.
The girl must have tried her old tricks again, intending to harm him.
She had tied him up and was using a knife to cut flesh from his arm when he finally snapped out of it, terrified out of his wits.
It was at this moment that he awakened his Soft Body Ability, escaping from the ropes and killing the girl in retaliation.
At this point, Li Ming also spotted Yun Xiaoxiao and the others.
Red-eyed and highly agitated, he rushed up to confront them.
"Did you know all along that she eats human flesh?!"
He demanded angrily, as if they owed him something.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Nie Yizhou countered.
"You knew and didn't tell me?! I almost got killed by her! You did this on purpose!"
"Idiot!" Xiao Feng snorted.
Nie Yizhou also looked as if he'd heard a ridiculous joke.
"Hey, are you alright in the head? We did warn you back then. It was you who lacked common sense and insisted we were bullying her.
Isn't this all your own doing?
Don't tell me you actually believed that after three grown men died at her hands, she was still some delicate, harmless little girl?
May I ask, why did those three men all come to her place, and all want to violate her?
Didn't you use your brain to think about it properly?
Even if, for argument's sake, the first man really did try to violate her and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense,
she should have learned her lesson and not opened the door to strangers when the next two men showed up.
But she did open it, which means either she's an imbecile or she had ulterior motives.
Even my five-year-old little sister here understands such simple logic."
He pointed at Yun Xiaoxiao.
Then he looked at Li Ming mockingly, "You're all grown up, don't tell me you can't figure this out?
Moreover, there were three corpses right there in the room.
If you weren't so blinded by lust, you should have properly examined the bodies to judge whether that girl was truly wronged or just pretending to be innocent.
But you didn't do that.
So isn't all of this entirely your own fault?
And now you come blaming us? Do you have any shame?"
Li Ming's face turned bright red as Nie Yizhou berated him.
But some people, you see, are just not so ready to admit their own mistakes.
