Chapter 348: The Full Story (Wishing Our Readers a Happy and Healthy Dragon Boat Festival)

"Stop!"

Zhang Su saw the situation turning bad and shouted out immediately; his companions raised their rifles and aimed them at the Japanese woman—should she make another move, the outcome was obvious; no matter how strange her movements, she couldn't escape the blockade of several rifles—even a legendary swordsman would be riddled with bullets!

Don't cling to principles when your life is on the line!

In the scene, time seemed frozen: the Japanese woman's right leg pressed straight against Lu Yubo's chest, while the steel bar she held slanted across his throat; Lu Yubo swallowed hard, his Adam's apple sliding up and down along the tip of the bar—he dared not move an inch, his food sampler trembling slightly in his right hand, betraying his inner panic.

If she'd used a food sampler instead of a steel bar, his throat would already be pierced through; all she needed was a light slash, and he'd be dead before he could even think of eating zombie brain matter!

The Japanese woman made no further move; she retracted both weapon and leg, then stepped back two paces and turned to look at Zhang Su, her gaze asking: Is this enough?

Lu Yubo rubbed his chest and touched his reddened throat, glaring at the woman two meters away with bitter humiliation—he wanted to pull his gun and shoot her, but that was clearly impossible.

"A real man knows when to yield and when to advance. You lost—admit it. Train harder next time. Come back!"

Seeing Lu Yubo's face darken, Zhang Su worried he'd do something reckless and called out to him.

"Damn it, I've never been so humiliated—I didn't even touch her, and some woman locked my throat! Guys… don't go blabbing about this when we get back, and you—got it?"

Lu Yubo glared fiercely at Su Xiaoya.

"Oh…"

Su Xiaoya nodded reluctantly, silently pouting.

"Bozi, you didn't lose unfairly—she's way beyond your level, not by two but by several tiers. Even if I fought her, the result wouldn't change much!"

Zhang Su handed Lu Yubo a cigarette, patted his shoulder, and sighed.

"No way, Brother Su—you can't even beat her?"

Lu Yubo, Zhang Su's number one fan, thought this was ridiculous.

Wu Lue, the number two fan, blinked and said: "Brother Su, I think you could take her easily!"

Wang Xin nodded vigorously, agreeing with Wu Lue.

Chen Hanzhou frowned silently, his expression grave; among the five, only he and Zhang Su had received formal martial arts training, so his perception was sharper—he saw the true skill in every move the Japanese woman made, and inwardly he admired her.

Zhang Su waved his hand and said: "We can be confident, but not arrogant. I know my limits—only in a life-or-death duel could I possibly end up wounded and wounded, or dead alongside her. In a match like this? I have no chance of winning. Her understanding of combat far surpasses ours. If I had to say who among us could kill her in a melee with cold weapons and survive…"

Here, Zhang Su's gaze unconsciously flickered toward Chen Hanzhou, then he realized he shouldn't continue—he changed the subject: "Anyway, this woman is no ordinary person. Let's talk about her later—first, deal with what's right in front of us!"

"Brother Su, are you planning to bring her into our camp?"

Wu Lue sensed Zhang Su's intention to recruit talent and asked quietly.

"Exactly. Such combat strength is rare—I'll get to know her first."

Zhang Su took the phone from Wu Lue and walked toward the Japanese woman, asking: "Where's your companion?"

The Japanese woman visibly froze—she'd expected questions about her name or background, but instead he asked about the one thing she cared about most, and she answered quickly.

"Not far from here, in a village."

"Village…" Zhang Su frowned at the familiar yet alien word. "Get in the car. But same rule—you hand over your weapons to us for safekeeping!"

The Japanese woman readily turned her wrist and handed him the slender steel bar—no resistance at all.

After the fight, their relationship had eased somewhat.

"Brother Su, damn it… this gun's fake!"

Seeing Zhang Su demand the woman surrender her weapons, Wang Xin and Wu Lue quickly moved to collect her other gear—when they picked up the pistol, they didn't even need to look: its featherlight weight clearly meant it was plastic.

Zhang Su stared blankly at the Japanese woman, then held the phone's mic toward her, silently urging her to explain.

"I cannot use firearms—including more powerful modern weapons. Not allowed." Zhang Su internally grumbled after reading the translation—this woman had too many quirks—but now wasn't the time to argue. He pulled a plastic zip tie from her bag and handed it to her: "Give me all your bags, then tie your hands. Come with me—guide us."

The Japanese woman stared at the zip tie, hesitated a moment, then complied—whether she was fearless or simply knew she had no choice, it was unclear.

Zhang Su took the bags, sniffed, and frowned: "Why so strong a smell of alcohol?"

The Japanese woman, still binding her own hands, pointed to one of the three bags.

Zhang Su opened the backpack—sure enough, inside was a canteen; even without opening it, the scent of alcohol filled the air.

"Alright, alright—cold weather, water freezes, so you bring alcohol instead?"

The Japanese woman shrugged indifferently and walked ahead toward the car.

Soon, everyone returned to the vehicle. Su Xiaoya, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat, moved to the back; the Japanese woman sat upright in the front, raising her hand to point in one direction.

"Xiaoya, read me the translation from the phone."

"Oh, okay…"

Zhang Su tossed the phone to Su Xiaoya, started the car, and asked: "Go on—tell me your full story: your name, why you came to our country, why you're here, everything. Don't lie."

Facing this barrage of questions, the Japanese woman fell silent for a moment, then tilted her head toward the phone's mic and began speaking slowly…

"She says… my name is Ju Wuying. I began my world tour at the end of June from Japan, departed from Korea at the end of August and came to your country—this is the final leg. I left Incheon, went first to Dalian, then traveled through several cities. The day after I arrived in Shanhai District, the disaster struck."

"Wow, traveling the world—so impressive…" Su Xiaoya murmured inwardly during a pause in Ju Wuying's narration. She too wanted to travel, but her farthest journey in life had been to Qincheng—she'd never even been to Shanhai or Beihe District.

"She says… after the disaster, I lived in a hotel for a long time. Then a group came and took all the supplies—I left the hotel and wandered until I reached this area!"

"Ju Wuying… what kind of surname is that? Ju? Or Juwu? Feels like Ju… such an obscure surname—I don't even know who has the surname Ju."

Zhang Su muttered softly. His knowledge of Japanese surnames was limited to Kurosaki, Yamamoto, Oda—he remembered Kudo, Sakuragi, Fujiwara best. As for Ju, it took him a long while to recall one vaguely familiar character: Ju Youjing.

"She says… the Ju family is ancient and extremely rare—even in our country, there aren't many with this surname. It's normal you've never heard of it."

Su Xiaoya dutifully served as the human translator.

"You're clearly skilled—why did others drive you out of the hotel?"

Zhang Su dropped the surname issue—he knew little about Japan, but focused on finer details. With Ju Wuying's ability, handling three or five thugs was effortless; even if they had firearms, she could have used her gender to deceive and outmaneuver them.

"She says… the hotel was chaotic then—not just outsiders, but internal conflicts too. I chose to leave."

"Didn't you ever think of uniting them and guiding them toward organized survival?"

Zhang Su asked curiously—he'd assumed Ju Wuying had been alone in the hotel, but now it turned out there were other survivors.

Ju Wuying gave Zhang Su a baffled look, then spoke at length.

"Hmm… I have no talent for leadership. Bringing people together would only make things worse. Language is also a barrier—they have their own ways of surviving; I have my own path to walk."

"It's been over three months since the disaster. How did you get from Shanhai District here? Didn't you join any survivor camps along the way? Where did your companion come from?"

Zhang Su realized: Ju Wuying was a classic lone wolf.

"She says… I was heading to the Qincheng port, but got lost and ended up here. Along the way, I never joined any group—but I clashed with two others. My companion was found in a town—she was alone too, searching for food."

Zhang Su understood. Whether the details were true or not, the story was plausible. Just then, they reached a fork in the road. He asked: "Turn there?"

Ju Wuying nodded.

The car turned onto a narrow road, slowed down. Zhang Su looked ahead toward the village and spotted faint black smoke drifting upward—so thin, it was nearly invisible unless you looked closely. Without doubt, that was where Ju Wuying and her companion were hiding. In this cold weather, without heating, they'd freeze to death.

(End of Chapter)