Chapter 177: The Foolish Ghost

"Shit!"

"This is..."

"Run!"

The people hiding on the second floor of the mobile phone store had no chance to react—they were still debating whether to launch a preemptive strike or defend and counterattack when the grenade flew in.

Boom!

"Ahh..."

A figure appeared at the window, only to be blasted out by the force of the explosion, Guoxiezhehuitu, and slammed onto the ground with a thud—his back was drenched in blood, yet he stubbornly held on, still alive.

But his two companions upstairs were not so lucky—they were already dead on the spot.

"You—you're not from the United Village! You're not from United Village!"

The man's lips bled as he painfully lifted his head to stare at the four men before him.

Lu Yu Bo walked down the stairs, carrying a shattered short-barreled shotgun.

"There's some emergency first-aid meds in the vehicle—I'll get them to you later. Take care of it yourself, then sit outside and keep watch. Here, I'll compensate you with a pack of cigarettes consider it a day off."

Zhang Su inspected the shotgun in his hand—it was utterly useless, so he tossed it aside onto the roadside.

The group walked to the dental clinic, where Zhao Dezhu sat slumped against the wall, a makeshift tourniquet bound tightly around his thigh, visibly miserable, a small pool of blood pooling beneath his calf.

"Good thing the craftsmanship was so crude—if it had been better, Zhu's leg would've been ruined..."

"Boss, this piece of junk!"

Seeing his companions approach, Zhao Dezhu said: "Big brother, you threw a firework for such a small scene? That guy died so fast you didn't even get to ask him anything..."

"Small scene? You think it's small because it went smoothly—but what if they had more firepower? I've got patience for zombies, but humans with firearms? The faster you eliminate them, the safer it is!"

The ruthlessness still lingered on Zhang Su's face.

The situation erupted suddenly; no one knew how far it might escalate, so it had to be ended with thunderous force!

"Hehe, yeah, yeah, big brother's right. Damn, am I just too bulky? They were aiming right at me!"

"Damn, bad luck—ran into a bunch of lunatics!"

"Fucking hell, they didn't even know who we were and opened fire? Speak up—who the hell are you?"

Zhao Dezhu exhaled a puff of smoke and sighed: "I won't die for sure—the musket's power is weak, the blast radius is wide, but the wound isn't deep. Blood's stopped for now, I'm fine. Can't help you carry stuff though."

Lu Yu Bo pulled out a dagger, said nothing, stepped forward, and smashed it into the man's skull, then dashed back into the smoke-filled phone store to finish off the two corpses with extra stabs—just to be safe.

Zhang Su shrugged: "Those guys thought we were from the United Village—they must've had prior conflicts with them. No need to dig deeper now. How's your leg?"

Pang Dakun grinned, making a blossoming gesture: "Boom, they're all dead. A grenade, Boss Zhu—damn impressive."

He always treated others as they treated him: polite, he was polite; cruel, he was crueler...

"You—you... uh..."

Zhang Su was furious—he thought these people were idiots, just because they had a gun they started shooting randomly.

Without uttering another coherent word, the man's head lolled to the side, his breath cut off, his leg kicked once—and he was gone.

Zhao Dezhu lit another cigarette, looking gloomy.

Zhang Su shoved a pack of cigarettes into Zhao Dezhu's arms.

"Damn, when we get back, I'm burning incense and bathing to wash off this bad luck!"

Zhao Dezhu sighed repeatedly—they clearly hadn't even aimed properly, yet somehow they hit him. What else could this be but bad luck?

The group helped Zhao Dezhu sit on the curb, gave him disinfectant, hemostatic medicine, and gauze bandages.

"Damn, are there any remaining bastards? Come out, one by one—I'll blow your heads off! Ouch... damn, that hurts!"

Zhao Dezhu muttered to himself as he tended his wound, eyes scanning the surroundings—his gaze practically begged for some unlucky soul to appear so he could gun them down and vent his rage.

The random attack didn't slow their work. Zhang Su and Lu Yu Bo drove the vehicle closer; the grenade blast had drawn more zombies toward the wire fence, which the group eliminated before beginning to load supplies.

The courtyard piled high with rebar also held construction materials and scaffolding rental equipment. When the disaster struck, it was peak farming season—no one was building houses, so the yard was crammed with all kinds of gear.

Every single piece of scaffolding was invaluable for reinforcing defenses—load it all up!

The RV had decent carrying capacity, but due to its structure, some oversized items couldn't be loaded. Fortunately, there was a small pickup truck inside the shop—unfortunately, its battery was dead. But that wasn't a problem—a tow rope solved it.

All types of rebar, scaffolding, and supplies were loaded onto the vehicles. Liu Tianji had specifically requested a cutter—they found two. Many ordinary tools were also discovered—all vital for base construction.

Though they'd cleared seven or eight shops, the supplies from just this one construction materials yard couldn't fit—even with the pickup truck added, it still wouldn't fit...

The other shops would have to wait until next time.

By the time everything was done, it was already afternoon.

Zhang Su helped Zhao Dezhu into the vehicle, and the two cars started up one after another, slowly leaving Ni Quanzi Town. Since they were towing a pickup truck, they couldn't go too fast.

About five minutes after Zhang Su's group departed, two figures emerged from the feed store across from the bombed-out mobile phone shop, their faces filled with terror and panic.

After confirming the RV was long gone, the two figures stepped out of the feed store, hurried to the bodies on the opposite street, glanced at them, then casually swept the deeper alleyways before leaving the town.

They'd come here with over two hundred zombies and had to ensure the horde didn't block their return route, so they'd taken a detour. But on the way back, they could simply follow the original path.

On the road, Zhang Su used the radio to inform Zhong Xiaoshan about Zhao Dezhu being shot, so she could prepare in advance.

They could've used the radio to contact the camp while in Ni Quanzi Town, but since they were busy working, they didn't notify them—avoiding unnecessary worry and distraction.

When the three vehicles returned to Tianma Island, everyone rushed over.

"Where's Zhu? Boss Zhang, where's Zhu?"

Yu Qing ran fastest, urgently climbing onto the vehicle.

Though she usually acted indifferent toward Zhao Dezhu and often teased him, it was only because she found him crude—deep down, she had long accepted this rough man.

Upon hearing he'd been shot, she'd wanted to drive out and bring him back for treatment herself.

"In the vehicle," Zhang Su gestured behind him, stepped out, and met Zhong Xiaoshan right behind him, carrying a medical kit.

"Hehe, honey, I'm here!"

Pang Dakun helped Zhao Dezhu walk out of the bedroom, hopping on one foot, looking comical.

"How did this happen? Quick, let Sister Er treat your wound—thank you, Xiao Pang."

Yu Qing hurried forward to support Zhao Dezhu's other arm.

"Come, sit right here—we'll treat the wound right on the RV sofa!" Zhong Xiaoshan gestured for Zhao Dezhu to sit down.

"Sister Zhong, make sure you use the best medicine—I've got insurance, we'll bill it."

"Insurance your big head! Shut up and don't delay Sister Zhong!" Yu Qing scolded him with a glare.

"Yeah, don't use the good stuff—it won't be covered in the budget."

Zhao Dezhu grinned through the pain, lightening the heavy mood.

"Come on, everyone—back to work, no gawking!"

Zhang Su waved everyone away from the vehicle and directed them to begin unloading.

"Mr. Zhang, what exactly happened?"

Yu Wen walked up beside Zhang Su, asking with concern.

The others worked while straining to listen, waiting for Zhang Su to recount today's ordeal.

Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette and lit it: "We circled around to Ni Quanzi Town—everything went smoothly. After clearing the zombies, we moved the vehicle and started loading. Suddenly, a lunatic jumped out from the second floor of a shop and fired at us—a crappy shotgun, didn't even know who he was aiming at—just hit Zhu's leg."

"Do you know which faction they belonged to?"

Chen Hanzhou asked, face dark.

"Hehe..." Lu Yu Bo grinned: "Didn't get a chance to ask. Boss Zhang gave them a grenade."

Everyone looked at Zhang Su with strange expressions—his decisiveness and ruthlessness had just gained new recognition.

"Mr. Zhang's decision was correct. No one knew what might've happened if we'd stalled. They fired first—we responded with thunder! Good!"

Yu Wen grew more passionate with age.

Zhang Su exhaled smoke: "We did learn something useful—one guy, right before he died, said he mistook us for the United Village..."

"United Village?"

"Shit, these are Hutugui."

"Whoa, they didn't even know who they were shooting at and opened fire? Real life doesn't have friendly fire!" Zheng Xinyu stuck out her tongue—she couldn't believe such reckless people existed. Clearly, their impulsiveness cost them their lives.

"Now that this happened, this mysterious faction will surely think the United Village killed their three men—won't that make their relationship with the United Village even worse?" Zhang Ya asked with a strange expression.

Zhang Su shrugged: "That's not our concern. Zhu's revenge was settled on the spot. That's it—everyone, get back to unloading!"

(End of Chapter)