Chapter 37: Spiritual Encouragement Counts as Help

“No limits on food and drink—training intensity doubled!”

At Zhang Su’s command, the two women exchanged bewildered glances.

"Bro Su, I still dreamed of being a cute, soft girl—you're pushing me straight toward a muscular beauty!"

Zheng Xinyu offered a forced smile, gently voicing her inner lament.

“Cute, soft girl?” Zhang Su shook his head and chuckled: “If we ever step out of this compound, you two will wear the ugliest clothes possible and get yourselves as filthy as you can! Cute, soft girl? Dream on!”

“Why on earth?”

“Why is that?”

A streamer who relied on looks over skill and a mistress who climbed the social ladder through her body and face both immediately voiced their intense dissatisfaction upon hearing Zhang Su’s words.

Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette, tapped it on the coffee table, lit it, drew a deep breath, and exhaled smoke: “I don’t have time to explain now—go replenish your energy and train. You’ll understand later.”

Without caring for their puzzled stares, he walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and silently smoked.

A scene straight out of hell came into view; Zhang Su turned his gaze again toward the spot where someone seemed to be hiding. Lowered by three floors, his new angle revealed a leg clearly.

“Why hide there? You’ll be trapped alive—how are you supposed to get out?”

As Zhang Su pondered this, a line of text appeared in his mind.

【How to treat the hidden man: A. Rescue him, B. Offer help, C. Watch him die】

【00:01:29】

Zhang Su turned back and saw that Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan were gone—likely changed into their workout clothes in the bedroom.

“So no one seeing me is the trigger for the challenge? But I’ve been alone plenty of times—there must be other conditions. Interesting…”

He briefly mused on it, then snapped his focus back to the choices—time was running out.

“Rescuing him is impossible…”

Zhang Su immediately ruled this out. Looking down at the dense crowd of at least a hundred zombies, he winced—Option A was the hardest, but this was absurdly hard.

“Still… if he triggered the challenge, he must be special. Even if I can’t rescue him, I can still offer some help.”

Zhang Su made up his mind and decisively chose B.

【Challenge deadline: A. Three hours, B. Twelve hours, C. Forty-eight hours】

Zhang Su glanced at his wristwatch—it was nearly noon. If he was to offer help, daytime was definitely better.

“A and B aren’t much different—go with A. Let’s risk it!”

【How to help: A. Lure away the zombies, B. Drop water, food, and weapons within three meters of the target, C. Offer encouragement】

“What the hell is ‘offer encouragement’…?”

Zhang Su’s mouth twitched violently—he couldn’t fathom why such an absurd option existed, yet it was strangely compelling…

He thought about it, but had no intention of just offering encouragement.

“Drop supplies within three meters of him…”

Zhang Su estimated the distance—it wasn’t far, but accuracy would be tricky. As he squinted one eye to aim, a sudden idea struck him: “A—I choose A!”

【Challenge generated: Within three hours, help the hidden man lure away the zombies. Difficulty: A. Timer started: 02:59:59】

The countdown began. Zhang Su heard Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan mumbling complaints—he knew the magical bubble had vanished.

“Ha! Difficulty jumped straight from C to A—this is exciting!”

Zhang Su felt a quiet thrill—he’d already figured out how to attract zombies. What seemed hardest was actually easiest for him!

“Hey, weirdo, you make us train like maniacs, then just stare at the sky with poetic sadness?”

Zheng Xinyu stepped out of the bedroom in a fitted workout outfit, saw Zhang Su slumped by the bay window, and snapped irritably.

Zhang Su gently let the curtain fall and said seriously: “I noticed the temperature’s dropping fast—even sunlight doesn’t warm it. Winter’s coming early.”

In past years, Qin Cheng residents wore shorts comfortably by late September, and even early October was mild.

But this year’s weather was bizarre—before October even arrived, it was already as cold as early November. No weather reports, but by feel alone, it was barely above ten degrees.

Using a serious topic to shift focus was a highly effective trick.

Zheng Xinyu was instantly distracted: “Yeah, we’ve had to pull out our heaviest quilts—colder than winter with heating! And we haven’t even opened the windows—if we did, it’d be worse!”

“I… was just going to say this,” Zhong Xiaoshan stammered. “Could I… sleep over here? My quilt’s too thin—I’m freezing.”

Zhang Su shook his head: “This cold isn’t that bad. I’ll give you a thick quilt—still sleep on the other side.”

Hearing this, Zhong Xiaoshan’s spirits sank. She’d thought she’d earned his trust—but apparently not.

With one sofa removed, the living room had much more open space—three people trained without crowding.

Yet after hours of grueling effort, Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan realized Zhang Su hadn’t moved from the window.

“Bro Su, what are you even doing?”

Zheng Xinyu, flushed and panting, plopped onto the floor and tilted her head to ask.

Zhang Su turned and waved them over.

“So mysterious…”

The two women got up and walked to the window.

“Look over there!”

Zhang Su pointed to the man’s hiding spot.

“Huh? That’s… someone really hiding there!”

“Yeah, why hide under there?”

Earlier, they’d thought Zhang Su was hallucinating from stress and teased him—but now, it was unmistakably real.

“No idea how long he’s been there, but with temperatures dropping, even with water and food, he won’t last long.”

Zhang Su said grimly.

Zheng Xinyu looked sorrowful: “Yeah, nights are colder—probably single digits. We can’t save him.”

“If he were under our building, we could toss stuff down. This distance is too far—we can’t help.”

Zhong Xiaoshan frowned and shook her head.

“Is there really no way to help him?” Zhang Su murmured—as if to himself, or perhaps asking.

The two women bit their lips and shook their heads, helpless.

“Can’t you two think for once? If I were trapped out there, you’d just watch me die?”

Zhang Su glanced at them sideways—he still had a lot of training to do with these two.

(End of chapter)