Chapter 128: Entering the Village (Today

Overnight passed without incident; when the sky brightened again, the sun did not rise as usual, replaced instead by a sky choked with dark clouds—unlike the weather of late autumn or early winter.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."

Zhang Su stepped out of the vehicle, spitting out his mouthwash onto the roadside, then drew a deep breath of the fresh countryside air—unlike the city, where faint rot hung everywhere. Though there were plenty of zombies nearby, the air remained crisp.

"Uncle!"

Zhang Su turned toward the other side of the roadblock, where the village of Shuikou lay, just as someone called his name.

Pang Dakun poked his head over the roof of the fertilizer shop, his face clean now; he flipped down to the ground and proudly held out a roasted ear of corn: "I roasted this yesterday—just warm it up and eat."

Zhang Su took the corn, squeezed it, sniffed it—it was charred, rock-hard…

"Come on, meet everyone!"

With that, Zhang Su brought Pang Dakun onto the vehicle and reintroduced him to the group.

After joining the team, Pang Dakun shed his arrogant demeanor and became courteous, addressing everyone as Brother, Sister, Auntie, Uncle—the highest-ranking being Yu Wen, whom he now called Uncle Yu.

"We don't have idle hands in this team, Little Pang. You'll need to contribute. The more supplies you gather, the more you earn—a ten percent cut. But don't be reckless. This isn't the old world—back then, if you got caught stealing, you'd get detained. Now, one bite from a zombie and you're dead."

As he spoke, Zhang Su handed Pang Dakun a heated self-heating rice box—a welcome meal.

Pang Dakun nodded vigorously, opened the rice, and exclaimed: "Whoa, Uncle! I've seen this kind of self-heating rice in supermarkets—thirty or forty yuan a box! This is a real treasure—you guys are awesome!"

"Don't mention money anymore—that's all in the past. Eat up. We've got work to do."

Zhang Su patted Pang Dakun's shoulder, then pulled out a heated chicken roll for himself. Since the RV had acquired a microwave, many previously inconvenient foods had become easy to heat.

(Not sure if I mentioned it before—the RV roof has solar panels.)

"Mmm, smells great…" Pang Dakun lifted the lid, then asked: "Uncle, what are we doing after breakfast?"

"Clear out Shuikou Village," Zhang Su said casually.

"Cough! Cough!"

Pang Dakun choked as a few grains of rice flew into his mouth upon hearing Zhang Su's words.

"Damn it, kid, are you trying to ruin my meal?" Lu Yu bo had just started eating his soaked instant noodles when rice grains landed in his broth.

Pang Dakun waved his hands apologetically, then pounded his chest, face tense as he told Zhang Su: "Uncle, there are too many zombies in the village—I can't even count them! They're everywhere! We can't kill them all!"

"Kid!"

Zhang Su glanced sideways at Pang Dakun: "You're not some coward who picks on the weak and fears the strong, are you? Your courage is the size of a grain of corn—no, a sesame seed?"

His words crushed the stunned Pang Dakun, who clutched his self-heating rice box, his face turning purple with shame.

"I'm not a coward!"

After a long pause, Pang Dakun forced out the words through clenched teeth, then buried his face in the rice, shoveling down several mouthfuls. He hadn't eaten a proper meal in ages—every day was roasted corn or roasted sweet potato, and even those were badly burned.

"We'll see how brave you are soon!" Zhang Su pointed to the side: "That's your weapon. While you eat, I'll teach you the essentials of killing zombies—listen carefully. This is more important than learning how to steal."

At once, Pang Dakun straightened up.

After breakfast, everyone disembarked, each armed and armored, knowing a major battle loomed—but every face radiated determination.

After all, none of them were greenhorns anymore, and the generous rewards ahead had stoked their fighting spirit.

"Pei Lan, today's combat will be intense. You're injured—don't join in. Guard the intersection. If anyone approaches, blow the whistle as loudly as you can—we'll hear you."

Zhang Su handed Pei Lan a survival whistle—he'd found it in the RV's first-aid kit.

"Got it. I'll keep a sharp eye!"

Pei Lan still had one arm suspended by a scarf; she was perfect for this duty. At this point, unless you were truly incapacitated, you had a role to play.

The group reached the roadblock. Lu Yu bo stepped onto a tractor tire and peered inside: "Brother Su, should we just charge in?"

"No risky moves. The village layout's complicated—every courtyard could hide zombies. If one lunges from behind, no one survives."

Zhang Su rejected Lu Yu bo's idea outright: "We're training, but safety comes first. Stick to the old method—lure and advance. Always keep a safe escape route behind you. Don't get surrounded!"

As he spoke, he noticed Pang Dakun standing at the end of the line, face scrunched. "Xinyu, go draw out two zombies for the kid to practice on."

Zheng Xinyu glanced at Pang Dakun, saw his embarrassed expression, made a strange face, then leapt over the village fence at an easy spot, checked her escape route, and walked toward the first courtyard.

"I'm not saying this to be cruel, Little Pang—you lived here with these zombies day and night. You saw them every time you looked up. How can you still be scared?"

Zhang Su couldn't understand.

Pang Dakun forced out a grim smile: "I… I never actually met them. I ran across rooftops. I ate and drank up there. The courtyard I slept in had no zombies…"

"Alright, alright, you're some kind of sky-bandit. Fine. Here they come—oh, three of them. All yours. Deal with them, then we start for real."

With that, Zhang Su helped Zheng Xinyu down from the roadblock, then stood aside with the group, waiting for Pang Dakun to show his stuff.

"Auuuugh!"

The zombies Zheng Xinyu lured from the first courtyard rushed to the roadblock, spotting fresh meat just out of reach. Frustrated, they grew angrier, their roars escalating.

Pang Dakun trudged forward with a crowbar, reluctant, then turned back to Zhang Su: "Uncle… these are people I know. I…"

"They're just shapes now. They're not who they were. Do it," Zhang Su said coldly. Everyone had to overcome this.

"Uncle, Auntie, Grandpa—I'm here to send you off!" Pang Dakun knew he had to do this. He took a deep breath, raised the crowbar high, remembered Zhang Su's lesson, and drove it straight into the nearest zombie's skull.

Zheng Xinyu leaned close to Zhang Su's ear, her expression complex: "These zombies… they were probably relatives or neighbors of Pang Dakun. To make him kill them like this…"

She didn't finish, but Zhang Su understood. He shook his head: "How cruel can this world be? Keep these thoughts to yourself. Never say them aloud."

Zheng Xinyu nodded, understanding.

Though skilled, Pang Dakun still struggled—his first zombie kill took over ten minutes to finish all three.

"Still… damn hard to kill."

After killing the three zombies, Pang Dakun overcame his inner turmoil. He wasn't sure if he'd feared the zombies themselves, the familiar faces, or something else—but he felt better.

"Clap, clap."

Zhang Su patted Pang Dakun's heaving shoulder: "Keep practicing. This level won't cut it. Come on—follow us and learn."

With that, Zhang Su's group climbed over the roadblock and entered the village.

More than a dozen people plus one dog, organized and disciplined, cleared zombies with near-zero risk—but danger still lurked. Someone was knocked down by a lunging zombie; had a companion not intervened, they'd have been dead.

Even Lu Yu bo nearly got bitten—zombie blood sprayed onto his neck from the force of teeth clashing, proving how close they'd been.

"Don't get arrogant. Don't grow numb. Stay focused and alert at all times!"

Zhang Su constantly reminded them, acting as the team's vital core, coordinating every move.

Shuikou Village was small—among villages near Qincheng, one of the tiniest. Its registered population was under two thousand; permanent residents, only about a thousand. The number of zombies trapped inside didn't exceed five hundred.

The clearance operation continued. Meanwhile, across the river, in a courtyard of another village, a group was discussing Shuikou Village.

"Da Tie, I swear I didn't imagine it—Tou'er's leading a group killing zombies in the village!"

"Survivors from the city wouldn't waste time killing zombies for fun. They've spotted our stored grain."

"Right! We fled in a hurry—I only took a little flour. Hundreds of pounds of flour and freshly harvested peanuts are still there. We can't let them take it!"

"We ran here because we brought so little food—we've had to beg scraps from other villages. If we get our grain back, we'll be the ones in charge!"

Seventeen or eighteen men crowded the room, talking over each other. The leader, Da Tie, frowned silently, lost in thought.

"Da Tie, say something. What do we do? The village chief is gone—you're our leader now. Do we go or not?"

"I say go. That's our hard-earned grain. Who knows how we'll survive tomorrow? We can't let strangers take it—especially that thief. He's betraying our village!"

"He's a thief! You don't know what kind of man he is? Who in our village hasn't been robbed by him? He wants revenge for his grandpa? We should've thrown him in the river long ago!"

"Stop wasting time on that. Da Tie, what's our move? Think clearly—we're not just fighting for ourselves. Our wives and kids are starving. If we don't settle this, we'll keep bowing our heads forever!"

"They've got a big group. They must've brought a lot of gear from the city—probably supplies we can't even get. We can't let them slip away!"

Da Tie had dark skin and a massive frame—even seated, he looked imposing, at least two hundred and thirty or forty pounds. After hearing his men, he nodded decisively: "Grab your weapons. Let's go."

Four words ignited fury in every man in the room.

Ten-thousand-character update delivered. Thank you, readers.

(End of chapter)