Chapter 132: Fatal G City (Part 17)

The other men also froze upon seeing Shen Qingqiu. She was too good-looking, and their eyes showed nothing but awe as they momentarily forgot the situation.

Shen Qingqiu was used to it, but that didn’t mean she liked being stared at so blatantly. She had cleared most of the zombies,, and the others handled the rest. She had no interest in getting involved with this group.

So she put her dagger away, didn’t bother speaking, and began scanning the shelves.

The man who had questioned her earlier snapped out of it. Brows furrowed, he briefly looked around. Although his eyes were still on Shen Qingqiu, his tone remained cautious. “Excuse me, miss. Did you come in here alone?”

Shen Qingqiu glanced at him, spotted a large bag meant for bedding on the shelf, pulled it down, and started loading it with supplies.

“Miss, we got here first.” Annoyed at being ignored, the man stepped in front of Shen Qingqiu, warning her with his gaze. “Do you think it’s appropriate you start looting like this? You brought all those zombies in earlier, didn’t you? We let it slide because you’re pretty, but now you’re acting like nothing happened and even trying to take stuff. You think we’re dead or what?”

Shen Qingqiu gave him a faint smile and asked, “Do you own this supermarket?”

The man’s expression froze for a second, then he frowned and said, “No, but—”

“Then shut up and get out of my sight.” She looked at the group blandly before turning toward the fruit section.

The man grew furious and reached for her shoulder.

They were less than half a meter apart. It shouldn’t have taken more than half a second to grab her, yet he caught nothing but air.

Shen Qingqiu ducked slightly, slipped to the side, and grabbed his wrist with her right hand, giving it a sharp twist outward. The man yelped, his face contorting in agony.

A woman of enchanting beauty one-handedly subdued a man nearly 1.8 meters tall. It was pure humiliation for him. Gritting his teeth, he immediately swung his left fist at her.

But Shen Qingqiu gave another fierce twist. A crack sounded as his bones broke. The man couldn’t hold back his scream, and the force in his left arm instantly dispersed.

Shen Qingqiu had no mercy for people like him. She slammed her right leg into his knee, forcing him to kneel.

“Brother Zhong!” a skinny guy nearby cried out, visibly horrified.

That move was more than enough to snap the other men out of their daze. They now realized the woman standing before them wasn’t some delicate beauty.

She was a rose with thorns.

Shen Qingqiu calmly held Brother Zhong down. Her gaze swept over him before slowly shifting to the other five men. “So, can I take what I want now?”

No one said a word.

Shen Qingqiu smiled and twisted Brother Zhong’s arm again. He pounded the floor in pain, sweating buckets, gasping, “Yes, yes! Take whatever you want, anything!”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed lightly and released him. Stepping back, she patted her jacket with one hand, looking relaxed as she said pleasantly, “Could’ve saved me all this trouble if you’d just said that earlier.”

Behind the shelves, the other four watched Shen Qingqiu’s little performance through the gaps. They had forgotten how conflicted they had been about her drawing in zombies to test the group.

“I agree with you now, Tiantian,” whispered Su Jin. “I like Vice-Leader’s bad side, too. How is she so cool?”

Xiao Muyu withdrew her gaze. The gentle and faintly smiling look in her eyes vanished when she turned to the two girls.

Su Jin happened to meet her eyes. She and Zuo Tiantian stuck out their tongue before whispering, “We only idolize the vice-leader. It’s not the same as you, Leader Xiao.”

Xiao Muyu said nothing to that. Her attention returned to Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu had told them not to come over to avoid direct conflict. After all, those were NPCs, not players.

Judging from her expression and the system’s lack of response, what Shen Qingqiu had done probably didn’t count as harming NPCs.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to get involved with these men any further. They weren’t exactly good people. Besides, they were just background characters. There was no need to waste energy on them.

As she was about to leave, the three girls timidly walked up. One nodded at Shen Qingqiu, wanting to thank her.

Her eyes widened in alarm before the words left her mouth.

Xiao Muyu abruptly stood up.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t even turn. She casually tilted her head to the side, stepping to the right. There was a whoosh as a steel bar came down, nearly grazing her ear.

The men had all grabbed weapons to attack Shen Qingqiu.

She caught Brother Zhong’s missed swing, twisted under it, and blocked another strike sweeping toward her back with the steel bar now in her hand.

Shen Qingqiu lifted her leg and kicked hard, left then right, into the backs of both men’s knees. The already injured Brother Zhong crumpled even more quickly this time.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t give them a chance to recover. With a cold face, she followed up with two more solid kicks to the groins. The two men howled like ghosts, curling up on the floor, their bodies twitching.

The remaining four men charged in with watermelon knives.

It had only been two days since the apocalypse began. After communications went down and no one in G City stepped up or came to the rescue, these like-minded people had banded together, their evil no longer restrained by laws and morality.

When their ambush had failed against a woman, they chose to go in for the kill.

Xiao Muyu couldn’t stay put anymore. She hadn’t been worried when Shen Qingqiu was facing zombies, but people? She suddenly was. The conflict had already broken out. They didn’t need to hide anymore.

Xiao Muyu quickly led Su Jin and the other two over.

Shen Qingqiu could handle zombies without letting them so much as touch her. These four street thugs couldn’t even touch the hem of her clothes. She didn’t use her dagger, dodging their wildly swinging blades and clubs like taking candy from a baby.

But seeing Xiao Muyu approaching, she lost interest in toying with these men.

She grabbed the watermelon knife from one of the men mid-swing and spun, wrenching it from his grip. Flipping the blade, she struck out with the blunt side, hitting shoulders and elbows in rapid succession. Three weapons clattered to the floor, followed by four terrorized men, wailing and howling.

The three girls had never witnessed anything like it. They stared at Shen Qingqiu, utterly astonished, especially the one who had thanked her earlier. Her eyes practically had stars in them.

Shen Qingqiu threw away the knife and smiled at Xiao Muyu. “Didn’t I tell you not to come over?”

Xiao Muyu glanced at the three girls nearby, then walked over with an air of nonchalance, stepping on Brother Zhong’s hand.

The man let out a muffled groan, grimacing. Xiao Muyu looked down and noticed the knife he’d quietly grabbed. She kicked it far away. “You took too long. We should go.”

Shen Qingqiu’s smile faded. Nothing escaped her eyes. Looking at the man lying on the floor, she warned, “Don’t overestimate yourself. Try anything again, and I’ll take your arm off.”

Fear and hatred filled Brother Zhong’s eyes. He’d been in plenty of street fights but never seen a woman with moves this terrifying. It was unreal, like something out of a novel.

“Let’s pack everything and go,” Shen Qingqiu said, not wanting to waste time. Nothing good ever came from unexpected complications.

Xiao Muyu and the others were about to leave. The girl who had been watching Shen Qingqiu finally gathered her courage and stepped forward.

“C-Can I come with you?” she asked. “I didn’t know those men. We met last night while trying to escape from zombies. We had nowhere else to go, and they told us we had to do what they said if we wanted to survive, so we—”

Her face paled as she trailed off, shame and loathing written all over it.

As a woman herself, Xiao Muyu immediately picked up on the unspoken meaning behind her words. Her brows knit together in a frown.

The girl mistook Xiao Muyu’s silence for rejection and panicked. She shakily pleaded, “I can gather my own supplies. I won’t use up yours. J-just take me with you. I can’t survive alone against those zombies, and I can’t go back now that I’ve spoken up. Please…”

Xiao Muyu looked at her and calmly asked, “If you knew that speaking up would leave you no way out, why risk it? What if we say no?”

The girl’s eyes were red, but she forced back her tears. “I didn’t sleep at all last night. When they took us out today, I wanted to run but was too scared of them. I hesitated for so long. But when I saw how strong that sister was, I chose to take the chance.

“I don’t want to stay with those scumbags. It’s only been two days into the apocalypse, and they already dared to do what they did. Who knows what they’ll do next time?

“I’m just asking for help. I’m not trying to cling to you. If you think I’ll be a burden and don’t want to bring me along, at least take me somewhere with fewer zombies. That’s enough for me.”

Her words were difficult to say, especially the part about being unwanted. The fear behind her voice and the strength she forced herself to hold onto made Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian waver.

Bringing an NPC along wasn’t practical. The two understood that much.

Xiao Muyu wordlessly observed the girl before her.

She seemed to be in her twenties, the prime of her life, with a neat, delicate appearance. The more Xiao Muyu looked, the more familiar she seemed, as if she’d met her before.

It was strange. Xiao Muyu hadn’t exactly met many living people in instances.

She stared at the girl distractedly for a while. Shen Qingqiu noticed, found it odd, and eventually felt displeased. Not even she had ever been the subject of such intense attention from Xiao Muyu.

Clearing her throat, Shen Qingqiu was just about to refuse the girl when Xiao Muyu suddenly spoke.

“You can come with us. We’ll drop you off somewhere safe. Pack whatever you can carry.”

Shen Qingqiu swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue. She didn’t dislike the girl. Since Xiao Muyu had given the okay, she wouldn’t object.

The girl glanced back at the two other girls she’d come with. She hesitated before speaking again in a small voice.

“If we’re not going to be following you, could I bring a couple more people?”

She asked Shen Qingqiu this time.

Shen Qingqiu glanced past her and quickly fixed her gaze back on the girl. “I don’t mind. But sometimes, others don’t want the kindness you think they need.”

She picked up the knife and metal bar she’d discarded earlier.

The girl went over to speak with the other two. In the end, only one was willing to go with her. The other girl quickly distanced herself, whispering something under her breath.

As Shen Qingqiu approached, that girl turned and ran back toward the men. The first girl watched this incredulously.

Shen Qingqiu silently passed by her, casually tossing her the knife. The girl fumbled to catch it, gripping the weapon with visible fear. But when she saw Shen Qingqiu’s indifferent gaze, she tightened her hold.

Meanwhile, Xiao Muyu found some frozen steaks and shrimp in the fresh produce section. She picked out a few and tucked them into her bag.

Of course, it’d make more sense to stock up on filling non-perishables for the long term. Food like this wasn’t practical.

Shen Qingqiu walked over, puzzled at her selection. “Why are you picking these?”

Xiao Muyu shot her a glance, then let her eyes drift toward the girl still standing behind them, clutching the knife and glancing their way every so often. Without looking back at Shen Qingqiu, she continued rummaging through the freezer. “When have you become so warm?”

Shen Qingqiu blinked in confusion. “What?” she asked reflexively.

Xiao Muyu didn’t respond.

Shen Qingqiu finally caught on to Xiao Muyu’s meaning one beat later. The corners of her lips lifted involuntarily.

She leaned over, rubbing her chin. “Should we grab some seasoning, too?”

Xiao Muyu frowned. “Are you here on vacation or an outing?”

Shen Qingqiu grinned. “I just think a splash of vinegar would help the steak cook faster.” (The Chinese term “eat vinegar” means jealous)

Xiao Muyu’s hand paused mid-motion. She looked up at her, gaze unruffled. “I like my steak medium. Vinegar makes it too soft, so that’s only good for stew. If you like vinegar that much, I’ll have Chen Kaijie get some.”

Shen Qingqiu quickly shook her head. “I hate vinegar. You’re not allowed to feed me any—especially not for those indecent women. Better stay away from them.

“And I would’ve turned that girl down if you hadn’t agreed. You’ve always had good judgment, so you must have your reasons for wanting to help her. I’m only backing you up.”

Xiao Muyu turned her head, no longer looking at her. She wasn’t actually jealous. Logically, she knew Shen Qingqiu well enough not to worry about her getting involved with anyone else.

But emotionally, she didn’t like it when others tried to get close to Shen Qingqiu. She especially didn’t like it when this woman became a beacon of charisma the moment she got serious.

“If we’re talking about indecent people, maybe I should stay away from you.” Xiao Muyu picked out a bottle of black pepper sauce, slung her bag over her shoulder, and prepared to leave.

Shen Qingqiu took the bag from her, looking disapproving as she said, “Me being indecent with my girlfriend is perfectly reasonable. Qi Hongyue, though, had no business coming over and smiling at you before. One look at her, and I knew she was no good.”

Xiao Muyu almost laughed. “Weren’t you the same before we started dating?”

Alarms immediately went off in Shen Qingqiu’s mind, her brows furrowing. What was Qi Hongyue trying to do?

The group of seven had circled the supermarket for quite a while. After grabbing much of what they needed, they exited through the side entrance.

Of the two girls, the one who had spoken up was named Sun Xi, and the other Liu Jia. Both were still in grad school, studying biology at G University.

Something nagged at Xiao Muyu’s mind when she heard their major.

They had just finished loading their supplies into the car when the system made an announcement.

“Attention all players, attention all players: a key target has appeared. You must protect your designated target. If they die, Hell Mode will be activated!”

Chen Kaijie looked bewildered. “What target?”

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Author had something to say:

Low EQ: Both are bottoms.
High EQ: They both top.

Don’t say my main characters are bottoms. Isn’t Xiao Shen irresistibly cool? Or is Xiao Xiao not A enough for you?