Chapter 533: I Will Never Let You Down! (5K Chapter, Please Subscribe!)

"Heh, a bunch of fools…"

"Hm?"

Zhang Su rubbed his slightly itchy eyebrow, about to speak, when the lead man let out a cold laugh—he ignored the insults outright.

"You seem resentful. Didn't you just say we'd be swallowed by the horde?"

Zhang Su stepped up to the man and asked.

"Hmph, don't you dare act tough with me. Bring me good food and drink, maybe I'll plead for you. Otherwise, in another meal's time, you'll be feeding the corpses—ha ha ha!"

The man laughed arrogantly, turning his head aside; though pinned to the ground, he acted as if he were the one on high.

"Bluffing, huh? I'll send you straight to hell!"

Yang Xinqi's rage flared—he drew his weapon, ready to pierce the man's skull.

"Hold on, don't act rashly!"

Zhang Su raised a hand to stop Yang Xinqi. Though a regular member had shouted earlier claiming to know Ding Wei's situation, people would say anything to save their lives—don't believe them all.

He slowly crouched, preparing to interrogate the man, when someone behind the cowering crowd called out.

"Big Brother Zhang, kill these beasts! We know a lot—we'll tell you everything!"

Zhang Su's ear twitched—he recognized a familiar voice. He looked up, quickly spotting the speaker. He couldn't see the face, the figure felt strange, yet the tone carried a hint of familiarity?

"Worthless trash, what are you babbling about? Ha ha! This guy's a broken-arm, blind-eyed lump—barely fit to eat shit in camp. What could he possibly know? Listen to him? You'll die without even knowing how!"

The man pretending to be Ding Wei panicked at the shout but kept up his defiant tone.

"All of you, we know everything—the Righteous Messengers are demons. We're just their slaves. Believe us!"

Another voice spoke—a middle-aged woman's, hoarse.

The Righteous Messengers' actions were unjust by any standard. Ding Wei was a master of reverse psychology.

"We were forced…"

"Save us—we'll tell you all their crimes!"

"Ding Wei hid a whole truckload of supplies in the development zone—we all know the way! I'll guide you!"

"You know shit? In this pitch darkness, you can even see a dog?"

As the two shouted, more voices erupted—another round of chaos began.

Zhang Su didn't stop the shouting this time. He exchanged a glance with Yu Wen—this was the result of control through oppression and fear. Once things broke, no loyalty, no cohesion—give them a gun and the first thing they'd do is kill their oppressors! Swish—thud…

"Ah!"

"Aaah…"

Zhang Su, too lazy to shout for silence, drew his sidearm knife, said nothing, and slashed the lead man's upper arm—severing it instantly. Blood sprayed five paces; along with the arm fell a walkie-talkie. 【96】 If not for their persuasion, he'd already planned to ambush Ding Wei.

He didn't need Ju Wuying to sense emotions—he saw the cold killing intent in the fighters' eyes. If someone claimed to know something, there was no point keeping such a man alive—but he could be used first.

The effect was immediate. After the slash, everyone except the man with the severed arm fell silent.

Zhang Su picked up the bloody walkie-talkie, pulled out his own device linked to Ding Wei, and spoke two phrases. A sound came from the severed man's waist—he smiled. "So this one's linked to Ding Wei?"

"You'll never get a word out of me!"

The man rivaled Da Gen in stubbornness—his bones were hard, or perhaps he figured since his arm was gone, life or death no longer mattered.

"Fine, no problem. I'm not in a hurry."

Zhang Su slipped the walkie-talkie into his pocket, didn't rush to contact Ding Wei, kicked the severed arm aside, and addressed the crowd: "You—the young one who called me Big Brother Zhang—raise your head!"

"Good man, he's here—he was the one shouting!"

Pan Guoliang spoke up, releasing his grip on the man's neck beneath him.

"It's me, Big Brother Zhang… I'm Tian Fan, lived in the building right in front of yours. Remember me? First time we met was on the rooftop—you threw your phone to save Brother Qin!"

With the pressure gone, Tian Fan struggled to lift his head toward the shadow approaching through the dark.

"Tian Fan…"

Zhang Su tilted his head toward the pitch-black ceiling—a familiar face surfaced in his mind, along with a memory.

"My god…"

Zheng Xinyu covered her mouth in shock—she never expected to meet this neighbor from the early days of the disaster.

"Old Pan, let him go."

Zhang Su waved his hand, signaling Pan Guoliang to stand.

"Got it! Come on, get up and talk!"

Pan Guoliang rose smoothly, then yanked Tian Fan up—but not out of kindness. He simply shifted his grip, keeping Tian Fan restrained.

Tian Fan didn't care about Pan Guoliang's motives. In the dim light, he could only make out Zhang Su's silhouette, tears streaming as he stammered: "Big Brother Zhang, I—I…"

"You've suffered a lot. Come on—tell me what happened."

Zhang Su saw Tian Fan's missing eye and severed arm. He remembered Duan Wuhu describing Tian Fan before this—clearly, the past days had been brutal. But after a brief word of comfort, he cut straight to the point—pleasantries could wait. He still didn't know if Tian Fan was friend or foe.

"Worthless trash, if you dare speak out, Brother Wei won't let you live—you'll be skinned alive!"

"Hey hey hey, are you guys from the Middle Ages? Skinning people? I'll beat you to death!"

Zhao Dezhu swung his arm and slapped the shouting man hard across the face—his groans turned to cries.

"Seal all their mouths, drag them to the toilets on the east end and lock them up! Take these others too—separate them!"

Zhang Su gave the order, then turned to Tian Fan: "Speak. No one here can threaten you."

"Little Fan, save us! Tell them we're not bad people!"

"Yes, Tian Fan, we never mistreated you!"

"You fools, he's already betrayed you! Ha ha! Just wait to die!"

…

"Big Brother Zhang, this… they…"

"Don't worry about them for now—they won't be dealt with yet. Tell me what you know."

Zhang Su waved him off silently—you're barely surviving yourself, yet you want to plead for others? Too much imagination.

"Yes yes… Big Brother Zhang, Ding, Ding Wei lured a huge horde—he plans to draw them here!"

Tian Fan spoke urgently.

"Ha ha ha, he's right! You're all dead! Twenty minutes—just twenty…"

Thud. Thud.

"Twenty shit! Get the tape!"

Unexpectedly, Tian Fan's words drew an immediate response—a Righteous Messenger being dragged away. Zhao Dezhu flew into a rage, punched him twice, then personally taped his mouth shut—so tightly his nose was blocked. He finally pried open two holes for air with his fingers.

Zhang Su frowned. Ding Wei was truly insane. Now that the corpses were as strong as dogs, he dared to lure them alone. But one thing puzzled him—he asked:

"If what you say is true, when the horde comes, you'll all die too. Why do they still follow Ding Wei?"

Tian Fan shook his head anxiously: "No, that's not it. They plan to take this place directly. If they succeed, Ding Wei will lure the horde away and come back. If things go wrong here, he'll draw the horde to attack! As for how they avoid the corpses—I don't know. They never mentioned it. Or maybe they don't avoid them at all?"

Confusion showed on Tian Fan's face.

"A classic 'Better to shatter than to bend'!"

Yu Wen spoke gravely. In the apocalypse, twisted human nature wasn't surprising—but this level of perversion? There were peaceful ways to coexist, yet they insisted on mutual annihilation. What a warped mindset.

Zhang Su pinched his brow, paced back and forth a few times, checked the time—it was already nine at night. Half a day had passed, and they'd endured so much—but clearly, this wasn't over. "Old Tan, wake everyone up. Prepare for battle against the corpses!"

He'd once pretended to be a fool and madman—and if not for his own strength, he'd have been crushed. This time, Zhang Su decided against any negotiation with Ding Wei. Let him lure the horde—he'd meet it head-on.

"Got it!"

Tan Hua nodded, lips pressed tight, and walked off.

"Tian Fan, no time for nostalgia. Three questions. First: you said Ding Wei hid a truckload of supplies—do you know where? Second: where is Ding Wei likely now? Third: are you and the other ordinary members truly aligned with those lunatics? Answer from last to first."

Tian Fan froze, his numb toes wiggling inside his ruined shoes. He sighed: "Big Brother Zhang, we're nothing but cattle to the Absolute Righteous—no, not even cattle. We're pure medieval slaves. The corpse threat is gone, but the Righteous Messengers are worse. Do you know how many of us fled the city this afternoon?

Eighty-plus. We started with over eighty running for our lives. Now only twenty remain. Some were truly trapped by corpses. About half were killed by them—just to slow the horde, they broke their legs and left them on the road. So cruel…"

Recalling the afternoon, Tian Fan's chest tightened, his face twisted in agony. He knew the Righteous Messengers were cold-blooded—but never this cold.

Zhang Su tried to sense Tian Fan's emotions—no unusual reactions—but by his own method, he felt the despair in his voice. The numbers matched what he'd heard from others.

"We all escaped from the same factory. We were all part of Absolute Righteous. But if you ask whether we're aligned with them—I swear I'm not."

Tian Fan gritted his teeth, then, without prompting, pointed southeast: "When we came, we hit a massive horde on Gangcheng Avenue. That's when Ding Wei left the convoy—he drove toward Minzu Road. That's all I know."

"Gangcheng Avenue… Minzu Road…"

Zhang Su murmured softly. His mind automatically summoned a 3D map of Qincheng—he'd delivered goods all over the city, knew it intimately. He quickly visualized the terrain. But with corpses being dragged around, uncertainty was too high—capturing Ding Wei would be difficult.

"Husband, don't go out. It's pitch black. Let's hold here. If that madman shows his face, shoot him. More corpses won't scare us—don't risk yourself!"

Zheng Xinyu stepped forward, staring at the ink-black sky above. She feared Zhang Su, in a rage, would drive out to hunt Ding Wei.

"I agree with Xinyu's suggestion, Mr. Zhang. Ding Wei is now a desperate fugitive. Don't chase a cornered beast."

Yu Wen also spoke up.

Zhang Su turned back with a strange smile: "I'm just calculating which direction he'll come from. In this darkness, I'm not stupid enough to go out. Don't worry."

Was that really true?

Of course not…

If not for their persuasion, he had already planned to ambush Ding Wei.

"You're… hey, you're Zheng—Zheng Xinyu? You're alive? That's wonderful!"

Tian Fan heard Zheng Xinyu's voice, then another man calling her name—he suddenly remembered their first meeting.

"Yes yes, I'm alive. Zhong Xiaoshanyi survived too, and Teacher Duan is with us!"

Zheng Xinyu, pleased he remembered her, spoke cheerfully.

"Teacher Duan's alive? Really? That's great! I thought he and Sister Yu Nuo were dead. If Teacher Duan's alive, then Sister Yu Nuo must be too!"

Tian Fan's remaining right eye glowed with excitement at the news of his old companion.

Tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap…

At that moment, the Lègòu Mall echoed with a flurry of footsteps; Tan Huajun relayed Zhang Su's order, and all personnel assembled in tense readiness.

"Cough!" Zhang Su cleared his throat, cutting off the chatter: "You haven't answered my first question yet."

"Oh, oh, right!" Tian Fan instinctively reached to scratch his head, then realized his intact right arm was still pinned behind him—he chuckled awkwardly and said: "This afternoon, someone drove a semi-truck back to the factory. They claimed they wiped out a survivor camp—full of supplies. But before they could unload, night fell…"

"When the zombies surged, Ding Wei fled in that semi. Earlier, while we rested at the McLeod Karaoke, when we left, Ding Wei rammed the trailer's container into the No. 9 Hot Spring Bathhouse beside the karaoke place—all the supplies we brought out are still there!"

After giving a concise account, Tian Fan took a deep breath.

Zhang Su saw how fluently the man spoke—his story seemed unlikely to be fabricated—but to verify it, one more step was needed.

"Tian Fan, I heard from Old Duan you've killed zombies. Let me ask you: since the collapse, have you ever killed a human?"

"Killed… people? No… never."

Tian Fan answered awkwardly, then added: "Mainly—I mean, I never had any reason to kill. Brother Zhang, you know I couldn't possibly slaughter the innocent, hehehe."

He chuckled nervously—he knew full well he had every reason to kill; he simply lacked the ability and the courage.

"Good. Now your chance has come. Do you want to slit the throats of those so-called 'Righteous Enforcers'?"

Zhang Su held out the dog-leg military knife before Tian Fan, its blade still stained with blood.

Tian Fan clenched his lips, staring at the knife's glinting edge in the dim light, then nodded fiercely: "Yes, Brother Zhang—I've wanted it too much. Will you give me this chance?"

Zhang Su's lips curled into a smile as he nodded to Pan Guoliang.

Tian Fan, now free, nervously took the heavy knife from Zhang Su's hand. He hadn't held a weapon in ages—he swung it twice at the air, then growled at Zhang Su: "Brother Zhang, when can we move?"

This time, he truly meant it.

"Anytime."

Zhang Su pointed toward the restroom.

"Good! Let's go now!"

Tian Fan thrust his neck forward and roared toward the restroom.

He had only one arm left; his blind eye looked horrifying—but his entire demeanor remained unchanged, like a fresh college graduate stepping into the world.

"How reassuring."

Zhang Su suddenly clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle toward the ceiling.

"So this is the first time someone who took a weapon from you didn't turn it on you?"

Zheng Xinyu watched Zhang Su with a sly expression.

"Huh? Brother Good, you've had experiences like this?"

Pan Guoliang asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

Zhang Su gave a wry smile and briefly recounted the two incidents.

The first: Ma Xuechuo at the gas station, pretending to kill zombies, took the pry bar from Zhang Su's hands and immediately tried to kill him. The second: Zhang Zhekai from Satellite Village, after making a mistake, feigned cutting off his own arm to get a weapon—and then slashed at Zhang Su with the knife.

"Good, good, good! You really are Brother Good—you're just too kind, haha."

Pan Guoliang burst out laughing after hearing Zhang Su's story.

Everyone around looked strangely uneasy—they had no idea Zhang Su had endured such things.

Zhang Su turned to Tian Fan: "So, Tian Fan, don't let me down."

"I won't let you down, Brother Zhang!" Tian Fan's tone was resolute.

"Good. Let's go."

Zhang Su motioned for Tian Fan to follow him toward the restroom.

(End of Chapter)