Chapter 273: Don’t Tell Rouxi
Ash drifted over Lingyun’s boots as the last of the zombie bodies blocking the entrance collapsed into itself.
He had spent entirely too much time creating the disgusting barricade to feel bad about burning it now. It had done its job, the dead inside the store were no longer throwing themselves at the entrance, and he was finished climbing over corpses just because everyone else lacked a useful solution.
The fire ran across the pile in a controlled white wave, eating through ruined flesh and clothing while leaving the tile beneath it untouched. Within seconds, the entrance was clear enough for the others to walk through without stepping on anything... questionable.
Chenghai watched the last body disappear. "You could have done that before we opened the gate."
"Weren’t you the one that told me the barrier was a good idea? That at least now it was making those things slow down? Talk about an about face," grumbled Lingyun, wiping the dust from his arms.
Seriously, now the man wanted to talk shit about the plan?!?
"I don’t remember saying that at all," replied Chenghai, tilting his chin up just enough to annoy Lingyun. Seriously, it was like the other man was just begging to be hit.
Lingyun looked at him. "Funny how that works."
Chenghai’s expression made it very clear that he thought the answer was none of his business.
Behind them, Zhenlan finally allowed the people from the military truck to come inside. No one rushed forward or wandered off on their own, which was a pleasant surprise after the day Lingyun had endured.
Old Chen entered first with his pipe in one hand, followed by Fang Lihua, Luo Qing, Qin Fen, Gao Shun, and the rest of the people who had spent the entire drive discussing everything they needed to repair the mansion.
Lingyun moved out of their way and gestured toward the aisles. "Congratulations. You have a store and an unlimited credit card. Go have fun."
Fang Lihua looked around at the shelves, the abandoned carts, and the dark stains covering half the floor. "We are here for work."
"Right, that too," replied Lingyun, waving his hand in the air. He wasn’t going to admit it to anyone, but he was really starting to feel a bit... off.... he had definitely used too much power.
But that was fine. All the better to see Rouxi sooner.
Zhenlan began giving instructions before anyone could start grabbing whatever caught their attention, which seemed stupid. It wasn’t like they were going to come back here to get whatever they missed.
It was better to take everything and just tell everyone else to go fuck themselves.
Ignoring Zhenlan’s orders, Lingyun followed them deeper into the store while Chenghai and Zhenlan checked the aisles ahead.
A few zombies were still trapped behind fallen shelves or wedged beneath carts, but they were slow enough to deal with before anyone came close. Lingyun stopped using the narrow fire bullets and burned them properly instead. His wrist already felt like someone had driven a nail through it, and there was no reason to torture himself with control now that they were away from anything important.
Anything that moved burned.
Much easier.
Within half an hour, supplies had started piling up near the entrance. "I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed," sneered Lingyun as he looked over his shoulder to Zhenlan, "but I can’t see all this fitting in the SUV or the truck filled with people."
"It won’t," Zhenlan agreed, much too quickly for Lingyun’s peace of mind. "But there are a bunch of transport trucks behind the store. We can take as many as we need."
"Look at that," Lingyun purred, even as the edges of his vision blurred just a bit. He bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to wake up and made sure that the smile was plastered on his face. "Mr. Prim and Proper is now willing to commit a felony or two."
"In case you haven’t noticed," sneered Chenghai in response. "But there is no more government, let alone felonies."
"Well now, that changes everything," Lingyun replied as he turned around. He put his hands in his pocket and whistled cheerfully as he walked down one of the aisles.
But he wasn’t alone. It only took a second to notice Qin Fen standing alone at the end of the electrical aisle. Everyone assigned to her had already carried several boxes toward the entrance, but she remained beside the shelves with her hand resting on a container of circuit breakers.
Then the container disappeared.
Lingyun blinked.
Qin Fen reached for a box of fuses, and that disappeared too.
Well... now wasn’t that interesting?
He moved closer without making enough noise to warn her. By the time Qin Fen noticed him, three more boxes had vanished and her hand was hovering over a bundle of specialty wiring.
Her entire body went still.
Lingyun smiled. "Do you plan to share with the rest of the class?"
Qin Fen lowered her hand. "It is small."
"That was not my question."
"My space," she clarified, glancing toward the others. "It is small. I can only store a few things, and the opening is not wide enough for anything large."
Lingyun’s mind immediately went to Rouxi and all the things she somehow managed to produce whenever they needed them. He had learned a long time ago not to question her too closely, and he had absolutely no intention of giving anyone else a reason to start questioning her either.
Rouxi’s secrets belonged to Rouxi.
Qin Fen’s little closet of wires could remain Qin Fen’s problem.
"How small?"
"About the size of a storage closet, but I cannot put furniture, sheets of wood, large batteries, or generators inside it." Qin Fen crossed her arms before he could suggest any of those things. "I am using it for the pieces that are expensive, easy to damage, and difficult to replace."
Lingyun looked at the shelves around her. "Breakers, fuses, connectors, meters, and small tools?"
"Yes."
"That sounds useful."
Her expression remained wary. "You are not going to ask why I hid it?"
"I already know why you hid it."
People were greedy. People were stupid. People liked to call something a shared resource when what they meant was that it no longer belonged to the person who had it.
He had watched that happen long before the apocalypse.
Qin Fen studied his face, apparently searching for the trap. "You are not going to tell the others?"
"They are going to notice when half this aisle disappears."
"That is not what I meant."
Lingyun’s smile brightened. "Then you should be more specific."
She looked like she wanted to throw something at him, but the most convenient objects had already been placed inside her space.
Too bad.
"Take what you need," Lingyun told her as he turned away. "But if anything in there can help Rouxi’s house and you leave it behind, I will become difficult."
Qin Fen stared at his back. "Become?"
Lingyun smirked. "This is me being nice. You don’t want to see what I look like when I drop the smile."
Going back to whistling, Lingyun moved on.
Fang Lihua had reached the lumber section with Luo Qing and several others. They were sorting through the stacks of wooden boards, rejecting anything warped or damaged while pulling out the pieces they could use for temporary repairs.
He watched as one of the men reached into a gap for a board wedged near the bottom.
But something moved behind it.
Lingyun straightened before he understood what he had seen just as the board flew outward.
And a zombie came with it.
The creature was little more than skin stretched across bone, but starvation had not made it slow. It hit the floor on all fours, twisted around the falling board, and launched itself toward Fang Lihua before anyone had time to shout.
Chenghai appeared from the next aisle and drove his fist into the side of its head. The blow should have crushed its skull, but the zombie turned with it, using the force to throw itself away from him instead of falling.
Zhenlan’s wind caught it a second later.
The zombie slammed into the shelving, bounced off the metal frame, and changed direction again.
Straight toward Lingyun.
Of course.
Apparently even the dead knew who was in charge.
Lingyun raised his hand, but the flame hesitated. His wrist seized after hours of forcing his powers, and his head was already spinning enough that his vision was starting to go.
It was official. He was fucked.
The zombie struck him hard enough to drive him into the boards, its teeth sank into his shoulder like he owed it money.
Pain tore through his arm and across his chest. Lingyun’s fire erupted without any control left in it, rushing through the zombie until its body stiffened against him and smoke poured from its mouth.
Chenghai ripped the thing away before it finished burning.
The zombie hit the floor in pieces and for several seconds, no one moved; they just looked at him in horror.
Lingyun managed a weak smirk before the store disappeared completely.
"How about we don’t tell Rouxi?"
