Chapter 584: You

The Land Cruiser FJ rolled down the mountain; Zhang Su fastened his seatbelt, leaned back in the passenger seat, and enjoyed the scenery as the car moved at a leisurely pace.

Though corpses of zombies littered the wasteland—hardly beautiful—it didn't stop him from savoring the open wilderness, even as dark clouds piled overhead, lifting his spirits considerably.

"Why didn't I ever realize how much more comfortable outside the city is?"

Zhang Su sighed. Before the disaster, he'd spent every day rushing through the urban sprawl, content amid steel and concrete jungles—but returning to the city now, an empty ghost town felt suffocating, a bizarre, unsettling illusion.

"No cars on the road, and you've got this whole highway to yourself. Don't panic, go slow."

Seeing Zheng Ziwen gripping the steering wheel tightly, eyes locked on the road ahead, Zhang Su offered reassurance.

"Mm, okay."

Zheng Ziwen gave a brief reply; at first, he didn't relax from just one sentence—but soon he felt a genuine easing, his tension melting away, even surprising himself. He silently marveled that his driving must've improved.

"Turn right up ahead."

Zhang Su casually pointed down the road, then turned to gaze out the window. Their goal was to capture zombies; he scanned the distance, while mentally reviewing all he knew about Qiu Hui.

Driving on the highway, Zheng Ziwen had no idea where they were headed, keeping speed at twenty to thirty kph, crawling forward. After gaining a little confidence, he finally dared to glance sideways—and nearly jumped out of his skin!

"Holy shit, there's a, a huge hole over there!"

Zheng Ziwen stared, dumbfounded, at the distant abandoned farmland: beneath the gloomy sky, a dark, circular pit jutted abruptly from the earth, glaringly obvious.

"Keep your eyes on the road!"

As the car veered toward the roadside, Zhang Su grabbed the wheel and corrected its course. "That's a crater from the bomb we used on zombies a few days ago. Keep heading north. Probably… wait—turn left at the next intersection."

Zhang Su had been about to say there'd likely be no zombies nearby, but when he glanced toward Niuziquan Town, he spotted four zombies shambling aimlessly in circles across the open land.

This place was only five or six kilometers from Tianmayu, less than four in a straight line. Hundreds of people now gathered there—and yet these zombies hadn't sensed them. Clearly, their long-range perception was gone.

Human abilities vary in strength; so do zombies.

"A bomb? Did I hear right? A bomb made that crater? That's insane."

Zheng Ziwen nodded repeatedly, praising it enthusiastically.

"What did you do in Qincheng before?"

"Huh? Me?" Zheng Ziwen was caught off guard, flustered: "I, I didn't have a steady job."

"Oh, unemployed bum."

Zhang Su dismissed him casually.

"Well… not exactly. My buddy works at a funeral parlor—he sometimes calls me to help out at wakes. It brings in some pocket money."

Zheng Ziwen forced out the explanation, then slowed the car and smoothly turned onto the side road.

"Helping at wakes? Isn't that more common in the countryside? Funeral homes usually have their own staff. Your buddy's pretty thoughtful to remember you. So what exactly do you do? Tell me."

Zhang Su suddenly perked up. He'd assumed Zheng Ziwen was a lazy, spoiled brat living off his parents—but apparently, the guy actually earned money.

"There are staff at the funeral home, but they're expensive. Families want affordable options, so I just run errands, do night watches, and occasionally cry at funerals—but that's rare. Mostly I carry flower wreaths, do chores, run back and forth, keep watch."

Zheng Ziwen gave a general rundown, a nostalgic look on his face. Funeral homes were full of ghost stories—but none were as terrifying as the real world now.

"Making money's good enough… hey, pull over here." Zhang Su didn't want to alert the zombies; he stopped the car about a kilometer away.

Beep!

Zheng Ziwen fumbled to park and accidentally hit the horn—the melodious blast echoed across the open land.

Zhang Su's hand froze mid-reach for the door, staring at Zheng Ziwen with a "What the fuck are you doing?" expression.

"Shit, no, sorry, I'm not very good at this…"

The horn had stopped. Zheng Ziwen panicked, babbling excuses, unsure what to do—so he turned off the engine, silencing the last sound, trying to make up for his mistake.

"What the hell are you doing? Why turn it off? If there's danger, you need to be ready to flee! Start it again! Start it!"

Zhang Su sighed, giving instructions.

Vroom-vroom.

The engine rumbled back to life. Zheng Ziwen glanced awkwardly at Zhang Su, unsure what to do next.

"Why are you staring at me? Get out! Get ready to deal with zombies!"

Zhang Su watched the distant zombies, muttering curses at Zheng Ziwen. That one horn blast had drawn attention: four zombies began shambling toward the car, slow and sluggish—no blood scent yet, so no urgency.

"Oh, oh oh!"

Zheng Ziwen didn't dare delay. He jumped out, snatching his dagger, heart pounding with fear.

Zhang Su scanned the area. The horn had only drawn those four distant zombies—or perhaps no other zombies roamed within several kilometers. He relaxed.

"I'm here to capture zombies alive. You handle two, I'll take the other two."

"Huh?"

Zheng Ziwen was stunned. He'd assumed they were out to catch wild animals—never imagined it was zombies!

Images of the frenzied zombies he'd encountered at dawn flashed in his mind. He blurted: "I—I can't! How am I supposed to capture them?"

"How? You think you'll grab them barehanded? Use tools! I told you to bring the riot fork—use that. As for handling two at once, use your clever little brain. Can you manage? Your uncle asked me to bring you out. You didn't think this was a sightseeing trip, did you?"

"Oh, oh."

Zheng Ziwen hurried to the trunk, pulled out the riot fork, and quickly reassembled its two sections. Holding the three-meter-long weapon, he felt no safety—only dread over how to use it.

Zhang Su slipped on gloves, gripped his dog-leg combat knife, and assigned roles: "You take those two—yeah, the ones with no sleeves. I'll handle the other two."

"Okay… should we wait? Or can we go on the offensive?"

Zheng Ziwen watched the zombies still hundreds of meters away, feeling the wait was torture.

"On the offensive?" Zhang Su glanced at Zheng Ziwen with surprise. He thought the guy was a total rookie. He shrugged: "Your call. Do whatever you think you can handle. I'll follow you."

Zheng Ziwen grimaced. Going after zombies with the King of Hell? This was pure fantasy. He gritted his teeth, dagger in one hand, riot fork in the other, and marched forward step by step.

Zhang Su watched Zheng Ziwen trudge like a Macedonian phalanx soldier and couldn't help laughing. This guy would never catch zombies—he'd just feed them!

Still, he followed silently behind.

(End of chapter)