Chapter 196: Zombies And Outing.
Then she looked around again and filled the remaining space with soy sauce, vinegar, and other condiments until the storage was completely full. She was moving so quickly and efficiently that it almost looked like she had done this a hundred times before.
On the other side, Yan Cijin was packing instant noodles and other shelf stable foods into her backpack. She also checked the toiletries section and took toothpaste, face wash, shower gel, and other similar items because her family was already running low on them. Bai Li could see her moving carefully, and she did not interfere. Yan Cijin passed one shelf and stopped for a second when she saw some birth control pills sold in the pharmacy style section of the supermarket. For just a moment, she hesitated, then blushed a little, looked around quickly, and quietly put three bottles into her backpack. Bai Li was busy packing other things and did not seem to notice, which made Yan Cijin breathe a tiny sigh of relief. But the second she turned away, she saw Bai Li gathering gloves, underwear, socks, and similar packaged items. Bai Li’s thoughts were already ahead of everyone else. If industrial civilization truly collapsed for years, then these small things would become hard to find very quickly. Bai Li grabbed whatever was sealed and usable, stuffing it into her backpack until it was full. After that, she went looking for Yan Cijin again, and the more supplies she piled up, the more one thought kept coming back to her. In the end, maybe she should just give all of this to Yan Cijin. That thought sat quietly in her mind while she kept packing, because somehow it felt completely natural to her, like those supplies would mean more in Yan Cijin’s hands than in her own.
Draft.....Need to make final touches from here on.
After the two of them had gathered their belongings, Bai Li moved with the kind of care that came from knowing one wrong sound could ruin everything. She crouched down first and gently shifted the zombie beside the door a little farther away, making sure its body would not block their path or bump into anything when they moved out. Then she silently pushed the two chairs back into a safer position, sliding them over the floor with almost no scrape at all. Yan Cijin, standing close behind her and watching the stairwell through the narrow gap, pulled the mop handle out from the doorknob without making any extra noise. The whole process was so quiet that it almost felt unreal. In a place like this, even a small sound could turn into trouble, so both of them moved like they were walking on thin ice. Right now, there were only two zombies at the door. That was already enough to make the air tense, but it was still manageable. Bai Li leaned slightly toward Yan Cijin and whispered in a low voice, "When you run out, wait for me at the building entrance."
"Okay," Yan Cijin nodded immediately.
Bai Li did not waste any more time. After giving Yan Cijin her instructions, she gripped her Tang sword tightly and rushed out. The instant she moved, her whole presence changed. It was not just speed. It was the feeling of someone completely stepping into battle, as if the air around her had sharpened too. Her body was light and powerful at the same time, and her steps were so quick that the eye could barely follow them. The large male zombie by the door barely had time to react before Bai Li was already in front of it. Its arm had only started to lift when Bai Li’s blade came down. The sword cut through the spine with frightening precision, and the zombie’s head dropped cleanly from its body. The movement was so fast and so neat that it almost looked unreal. Bai Li did not even pause to look at the result. She had already turned her body to face the other threat.
At that moment, the female zombie reacted with a rough roar and lunged straight at Bai Li’s neck. Its movements were wild and ugly, the kind that would have startled an ordinary person for sure. But Bai Li did not retreat in panic. She did not even lose her rhythm. Instead, she shifted her shoulder, twisted her waist, and swung her Tang sword horizontally in one smooth motion. The blade flashed under the weak light and sliced across the female zombie’s neck with a forceful, clean strike. The head was severed in one hit and dropped to the ground almost at the same time as the body started to collapse. There was no wasted movement in any of it. Bai Li’s whole body seemed to carry a kind of cold, controlled pressure that made the scene feel even more terrifying to anyone who saw it. She was not just strong. She was steady. She was the kind of person who made killing look easy because she never allowed herself to be sloppy.
The cries of the two zombies had not fully died down yet, and Bai Li knew that was dangerous. If the sound pulled more zombies toward them, then getting out of the building would become much harder. Without stopping to think too long, she rushed toward the building entrance. Her steps were fast, and her knife hand stayed ready in case anything else appeared from the side. Yan Cijin followed close behind her, carrying her backpack and keeping her own weapon in a ready grip. The two of them moved through the corridor and toward the large white door that led to the fire escape. Bai Li only breathed out a small sigh of relief after both of them entered through it and made it to the safe side. Even then, she did not really relax. She just had one less immediate problem to deal with.
Lin Lei was still upstairs and had not been dealt with yet.
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TO BE CONTINUED.
