Chapter 137: Is a Man, Not a Ghost

The sky slowly brightened. Zhang Su stared with bloodshot eyes. Haoyun lay at his feet, having washed itself in some puddle—its mud had vanished, restoring its original fur color, though it looked slightly ruffled, likely from shaking itself dry afterward.

"Brother Su, Chen Hanzhou hasn't turned yet after all this time. Maybe he's okay?"

Zheng Xinyu checked the time on Zhang Su's arm—it was already past seven in the morning, over two hours since the horde attacked. Recalling Qiu Shuo, who had escaped with Lu Yubo, that much time should have been enough for him to turn.

"Cough." Zhang Su cleared his dry throat, took a sip of water, and shook his head. "Much longer than Qiu Shuo's delay, but individual variation can't be ruled out. We must keep observing."

As he spoke, he stood up, stretched, then bent to look out the window. The clouds had cleared; sunlight once again bathed the earth, gilding the wet road. Too bad that sacred light scattered corpses, severed limbs, and organs.

Zhang Su stared at the piles of zombie corpses surrounding him, his expression grim. "We can't stay here. We need a relatively safe place to rest."

He turned to get out of the vehicle and alert everyone, but Zheng Xinyu grabbed his arm.

"What about Chen Hanzhou? You said you'd watch over him."

Zhang Su glanced at Chen Hanzhou, still asleep, then handed his pistol to Zheng Xinyu. "Keep an eye on him for me."

"Me? You? Damn it, you're such an irresponsible man. I don't want to! Hey!"

Zheng Xinyu watched Zhang Su step out of the vehicle, then looked at the USP in her hand—she felt like she'd swallowed a fly.

"Brother Su."

"Big brother, what's our plan after this?"

"How's Chen Hanzhou doing?"

When Zhang Su entered the Mercedes RV, everyone turned to him. Nearly all were filthy—blood, mud, and unidentifiable substances coated their bodies. The air inside reeked of complex, foul odors.

Fortunately, the temperature was only seven or eight degrees. Otherwise, mixed with the stench of zombies, it would have suffocated everyone present.

"Little Chen is fine for now. Get ready—we can't stay on the highway. I remember about a li north, there's an abandoned factory. Let's head there first."

Zhang Su pointed north. Several hundred meters away, faintly visible, stood a dilapidated red-brick building—distinctly characteristic of the last century, a relic of the past.

"Uh… aren't we going back to the city?"

Zhou Litao from the Tiguan trio spoke up, only to find everyone staring at him strangely—even his own two colleagues. He grew embarrassed.

Zhang Su looked at the speaker. "You're Wang Xin, right?"

"Brother Su, I'm Wang Xin. He's Zhou Litao." The tall Wang Xin smiled awkwardly, reintroducing them. With time so tight, mixing names was understandable.

"Oh, Zhou Litao. The city's too chaotic. With our current condition, we can't handle emergencies. We need a sealed, safe place to rest first. Understood?"

In front of nearly all his companions, Zhang Su didn't want to snap back at Zhou Litao. Authority built on force is unstable. He knew they followed him not just because of his strength.

"Y-yes, understood." Zhou Litao replied awkwardly.

"You talk too much! Brother Su has his reasons!" Liu Tianji scolded Zhou Litao sharply.

Wang Xin also shook his head irritably, then stood. "Brother Su, what can we help with?"

He and Liu Tianji had already decided to join Zhang Su's group. What Zhou Litao thought no longer mattered—if he wanted to stay, he'd prove himself; if not, they had different paths.

Zhang Su glanced at the Tiguan trio, seeing their fractured unity. Now wasn't the time to deal with this. "You three take the Prado ahead to scout the factory. Clear any obstacles, check the environment."

Those who knew Zhang Su understood—he was testing Liu Tianji's group.

Liu Tianji immediately stood. "Leave it to us. But Brother Su… we don't have weapons."

"Even if you abandon the vehicle to escape, you carry your weapons and basic supplies!"

Zhang Su couldn't help criticizing. Zhao Xue and Wu Lue had done well—neither had discarded their packs or weapons. He turned to Zhao De. "Zhu, take them and pick out some weapons."

"Got it!"

Zhao De moved at once.

Moments later, the Tiguan trio drove off…

"Brother Su, you're really okay with them driving off in the Prado?"

Lu Yubo seemed distracted. The Prado was now assigned to him—if they stole it, he'd be heartbroken.

"Run off? Even if they tried, they couldn't get away. Don't worry—they won't." Zhang Su was certain. Then he turned to everyone. "Hurry up and prepare!"

Five minutes later, everyone on Zhang Su's side was ready and back in the vehicles. Two RVs, carrying over ten people, headed toward the factory.

"What? What skin? No—this is a glass factory, right?"

Zhang Su drove to the factory gate. The massive iron doors were gone—likely stolen and sold for scrap. Only two crumbling cement pillars remained on either side.

Above the entrance, five characters had once been there. Years of wind and sun had worn them down—only half the character "Bo" remained. Based on Qincheng's history, it wasn't hard to guess this was a glass factory from the last century.

"That's right, Brother Su. This used to be Nonghua Glass Factory. Go ahead, go ahead—no problem, it's tall enough, won't hit!"

Liu Tianji acted like a parking attendant, diligently directing the RVs into the factory grounds.

Gak-gak-gak.

The heavy RV rolled over the weathered road, crushing the cement slabs into spiderweb cracks…

Since the factory ground was slightly higher than the highway, there wasn't much standing water. The cracked cement was overgrown with weeds; tall patches could easily hide a person.

Leaves on tree branches had turned slightly yellow. The factory walls had peeled, revealing bricks and stone beneath. Time's traces were everywhere, speaking of their decay.

The entire factory wasn't large—all buildings were visible at a glance: two workshops, one warehouse, and a leaky tile-roofed shed, likely used for loading goods.

"What's the situation inside?"

Zhang Su parked the vehicle in the center of the factory and jumped out to ask Liu Tianji and the others.

"No problems." Liu Tianji waved toward the factory. "No people, no zombies, nothing useful—just not clean."

Zhang Su noticed Liu Tianji's odd expression when he said "not clean." As he walked toward the largest workshop, he asked, "Why not clean?"

"Hehe…" Liu Tianji grinned awkwardly. "Probably kids from nearby villages came to play and peed everywhere…"

Zhang Su paused, then chuckled and shook his head. Compared to zombie corpses outside, feces meant nothing.

As Liu Tianji said, the workshop contained nothing valuable except scattered trash. In the corner were feces and toilet paper—likely from long ago. The air carried no odor.

Gray walls bore large patches of chalk graffiti—messy, unrecognizable, yet colorful and full of childish charm. Beneath the graffiti were motivational slogans, their paint still faintly visible after decades.

Zhang Su tapped the support pillars and walls with his axe-hammer, then shone his flashlight upward. "Buildings from last century were solid. Abandoned this long, and they haven't collapsed—even the roof barely leaks!"

Aside from a few spots where water dripped, most of the roof remained intact.

"Really? Brother Su, you didn't mention it, I never noticed. Damn, the roof of the apartment Dong Ge rented—only seven or eight years old, and it leaks. Made us fight with property management. Annoying as hell."

Lu Yubo immediately complained.

Yu Wen, arms behind his back, gazed at the faint slogans on the wall. "Those times were different. People then had light in their eyes, faith in their hearts, strength in their actions!"

"Alright, alright, Teacher Yu, save the speech. Let's all get to work—clean this area… hmm?"

Zhang Su was about to order everyone to begin cleaning when his ears twitched—he heard an unusual sound.

Haoyun the corgi also turned its head.

The man and dog exchanged a glance—each saw clear confirmation in the other's eyes.

"You didn't check every corner?"

Zhang Su drew his axe-hammer from his belt, frowned at Liu Tianji and the others.

Everyone saw Zhang Su's reaction and tensed instantly. No one doubted his instincts. They immediately pulled out their weapons and scanned the surroundings—but saw only peeling walls and broken windows. Nothing unusual.

"We… we…" Liu Tianji was flustered, unsure what had happened. "We didn't have time, Brother Su! We just walked through this big workshop and heard you coming. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? There's a zombie!"

Zhang Su's eyebrows shot up. He walked toward the workshop door. The sound came from another enclosed space. Had Yu Wen not spoken so thoughtfully, and had everyone not fallen silent, he might have missed the faint noise.

Everyone followed Zhang Su out of the workshop cautiously, nerves taut.

Zheng Xinyu, utterly unwilling, sat in the Ford Mustang guarding Chen Hanzhou. Seeing everyone emerge from the workshop, weapons in hand, she froze. She crouched low, scanning everywhere, gripping the USP tightly—watching the windows, glancing back at Chen Hanzhou, overwhelmed.

"Over there!"

Zhang Su pointed to the warehouse, its iron door half-closed.

"I'll check!"

Lu Yubo switched on his flashlight and hurried to the warehouse door.

"Huh?!!"

He shone the light through the hole in the door—but when he peered inside, he recoiled several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

Everyone knew Lu Yubo was fearless—stabbing humans or zombies alike. If something scared him, it must be serious. Many tensed, ready for battle.

"Ghost! Brother Su, it's a ghost!"

Lu Yubo bounced over to Zhang Su, face twisted in terror. He'd been badly frightened—if he hadn't recently trained himself not to scream, he'd have yelled.

"Ghost?"

"It's bright outside, and this warehouse has no windows—it's dark and eerie. Could be…"

"Could be crap. Stop guessing. No ghosts. It's a person!"

Zhang Su shook his head. He'd clearly heard footsteps. That person inside had probably been scared by Lu Yubo too.

Hearing Zhang Su say "person," everyone relaxed. They trusted him implicitly.

Lu Yubo scratched his head. "Whether it's a person or ghost, it's damn scary. The head looked like that, the hair like that, the face…"

No one understood what Lu Yubo was trying to describe—he had no words.

Zhang Su shook his head, ignoring Lu Yubo's performance. He walked to the warehouse door and gently pushed open the rusted iron gate with his axe-hammer. A grating, teeth-on-edge screech echoed.

"Where's the ghost? Come on, Brother Lu, point it out—I think you're just a coward, hahaha!"

Zhao De, flashlight in hand, stepped into the warehouse first.

Everyone followed the beam. The warehouse, about twenty square meters, held nothing but rotting logs and trash like the workshop floor. Walls were scribbled with chalk. The air smelled damp and dusty.

Finally, all eyes turned to the office in the corner. If someone were hiding, only there was possible.

"Come out. We know you're in there!"

Zhang Su took a few steps toward the office and called out loudly.

Aao-aao-aao.

This time, everyone heard it clearly—a zombie's moan, muffled, as if its mouth were blocked.

(End of chapter)