Searching the Nearby Villas
“Roar!~~~”
“Ugh ugh ugh!~~ Ugh ugh!~~”
“Grr grr grr!~~ Grr grr grr~~~”
Hearing the noise, several more zombies nearby began to converge.
As he watched the dozen or so zombies gradually closing in, Xiao Yi recalled a long-handled modao sword he'd seen on a variety show once.
This long-handled modao, also known as a horse-chopping saber, had a blade as long as its handle, stretching up to over two meters at maximum length.
Razor-sharp, it could slash or thrust with equal lethality. A warhorse could be decapitated outright under a swing of such a blade!
Xiao Yi had witnessed the power of the long-handled modao on an American variety show. A burly man wielding one full-force could cleave five sows in half in an instant!
If only he had a weapon like that—these dozen zombies in front of him could be slaughtered effortlessly!
With that thought, Xiao Yi dodged nimbly, swinging the modao in his hand to bisect the nearest zombie's head.
Foul blood and brains erupted in a spray as the zombie crashed heavily to the ground.
A milky-white orb of energy was swiftly absorbed into Xiao Yi's body.
Leveraging his enhanced agility, Xiao Yi darted back and forth across the front yard grass, slaying zombies one by one.
Before long, he'd cleared every last one from the yard.
Stepping out through the iron gate, the midday sun beat down on the town's cement roads, revealing a scene of devastation.
Zombie corpses lay scattered haphazardly, while the not-so-wide two-lane road was choked with cars abandoned in panic at the apocalypse's onset. Dozens of vehicles jammed the way, crash sites a gruesome sight.
This was still the suburbs—Xiao Yi could only imagine the horror in the city proper!
A few zombies shuffled aimlessly between the cars, seemingly hunting for prey.
Xiao Yi steered clear of the road, sticking to the relatively open sidewalk as he headed toward the manor.
Along the roadside stood numerous small villas much like the one he'd started in. From Nicole's villa to the manor was about a hundred meters, with seven or eight houses in between.
He'd taken a shortcut before due to time constraints, missing a chance to check them out. Now, with time to spare, Xiao Yi figured he could search these villas thoroughly—maybe find other survivors or useful supplies.
To his great disappointment, however, the first three villas turned up nothing of value.
All three were virtually stripped bare—no survivors, no food. He found some clothes and dollars, but those were worthless in the apocalypse.
It wasn't until the fourth villa that he scored a pump-action shotgun.
The shotgun's owner had been a burly Western man in U.S. Air Force fatigues. By the time Xiao Yi found him, the corpse was already rotting faintly, reeking, with clear bite marks on his arm.
Judging by the body's state, the man had died just two or three days ago.
He must have shot himself in the mouth after being bitten by a zombie.
His skull had burst like a watermelon from the close-range blast, splattering blood, flesh, and brains everywhere.
Xiao Yi picked up the pump-action shotgun and inspected it—three rounds left. The stock was engraved with a name: Mark Alba.
This pump-action fired large-gauge shotgun shells, about 18.4 millimeters in diameter, with devastating power at close range—enough to shred a wide area.
But its accuracy sucked, and the noise was deafening. In this apocalyptic world, it wasn't all that practical.
Still, a gun was a gun.
Xiao Yi stowed the shotgun in his Space Magic Cube, rummaged the house again—no extra ammo—but found a dagger on the man, plus a photo clutched in his hand.
The photo showed a family of three.
Background: an airplane.
They looked blissfully happy.
The man matched the corpse's build.
The woman was a stunning beauty with an enviable figure and delicate features, her face radiant with joy.
Between them stood a girl of eight or nine, with golden wavy long hair, big enchanting eyes, a perky nose, and a unique mixed-race charm that made her utterly adorable.
The instant Xiao Yi saw the girl's photo, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.
Like I'd seen her somewhere before.
But he couldn't place it.
Shaking his head inwardly, Xiao Yi slipped the photo back into the man's pocket and moved on to the next villa.
“Hm?!”
This fourth villa was utterly different from the others!
To Xiao Yi's surprise, its iron gate was locked tight.
Peering in, the windows seemed boarded up with all sorts of junk, curtains drawn securely.
Someone was definitely inside!
The discovery thrilled him.
Glancing at his watch—11:18 a.m., high noon, plenty of time.
Under the blazing sun, street zombies had retreated to the woods or hunkered under cars, motionless until Xiao Yi passed, when they'd sluggishly emerge.
After beheading the few that approached, Xiao Yi scanned the surroundings.
Confirming it was safe, he decided to check it out.
Making up his mind, he found a good spot to climb and carefully scaled into the front yard.
The villa's walls were only about two meters high—easy for Xiao Yi with his momentum, and more than enough to keep out non-climbing zombies.
The front yard was spotless—no zombie tracks, no gore. This family had gotten lucky at the apocalypse's start: no one mutated, and they'd wisely hunkered down instead of fleeing blindly.
Plus, Xiao Yi spotted fresh dug-up soil and bark stripped from a fruit tree in the yard.
All signs pointed to survivors inside—starving ones, down to digging roots and eating bark.
Stowing the modao in his Space Magic Cube and drawing the shotgun, Xiao Yi crept warily toward the front door.
In this apocalypse, humans were always deadlier than zombies.
If survivors were holed up here, he couldn't be sure they wouldn't turn hostile.
With no laws or morals, constant death looming, and supplies scarce, the end times amplified humanity's darkest impulses.
Trust between people had collapsed.
Anyone was a potential threat, ruthless and desperate.
These survivors might gun him down without a word—for his supplies, or to protect their own.
This wasn't China; it was gun-toting America!
A surprise shot, and he'd be done for.
So Xiao Yi proceeded with utmost caution.
Just as he neared the front door, the curtain on the second floor twitched suddenly.