When Chu Jiangyue was about to jump down, Shen Zhigui instinctively wanted to step forward and catch her, but fortunately, his rational mind stopped him in time.
After all, they were at most just ordinary friends now, and stepping forward to catch her would be crossing the line a bit.
However, when Chu Jiangyue jumped down from the wall, Shen Zhigui still approached immediately with concern, "Are you okay?"
Chu Jiangyue shook her head; this height was still within her tolerance range.
"Let’s listen for sounds first to confirm where the zombies are."
Otherwise, if they encounter zombies as soon as they enter, they might get accidentally hurt.
Chu Jiangyue nodded, agreeing with Shen Zhigui’s suggestion.
The two of them stood at the entrance of the main building, concentrating intently to listen to the noises inside.
"Hoo... hooo..."
"There should only be one zombie. I feel... it should be at the top."
Chu Jiangyue expressed her judgment.
The villas in the Prosperity Heights District have two or three floors. The place they entered was a three-story villa.
"Then shall we... open the door?"
Shen Zhigui looked at Chu Jiangyue to seek her opinion.
Chu Jiangyue nodded; they were already here, so they couldn’t give up halfway.
Shen Zhigui tried the lock of the main entrance, then found a piece of wire from somewhere and started working on the lock like a locksmith.
"You know how to do this?"
Given Shen Zhigui’s usually very steady personality, it was surprising to see he had such a skill.
"I learned it during a rebellious phase in my childhood, to sneak out."
Shen Zhigui was happy to let Chu Jiangyue discover this side of him, hoping it might touch a soft spot in her heart.
"You can’t judge a book by its cover. To think Mr. Shen, such a steady person, also had a rebellious phase."
Discovering another side of Shen Zhigui, Chu Jiangyue found it a bit unbelievable.
"Everyone has a rebellious phase, sooner or later."
Shen Zhigui never thought of himself as different from anyone else, having gone through various stages in life.
The calmness he has now was developed step by step.
"Enough talking, focus on picking the lock."
Chu Jiangyue watched Shen Zhigui’s movements with curiosity, leaning in closer without realizing how close they were getting.
Shen Zhigui noticed Chu Jiangyue’s proximity, feeling an unprecedented nervousness, even causing his hands to become unsteady.
Fortunately, Chu Jiangyue was just leaning in without physical contact, allowing Shen Zhigui to quickly calm down and focus on picking the lock.
About five minutes later, with a "click," the front door of the villa was unlocked by Shen Zhigui using the wire.
"Watch out!"
In a moment of urgency, Shen Zhigui grabbed Chu Jiangyue by the waist and pulled her to the side of the door.
At that moment, Chu Jiangyue also heard several whizzing sounds.
When she came to her senses, she saw three arrows precisely embedded in the trunk of the now-withered tree across from the main entrance.
"Are you okay?"
Shen Zhigui spun Chu Jiangyue around, checking if she was injured.
"I’m fine, you acted swiftly to dodge with me in time, thank you."
If it weren’t for Shen Zhigui, even if she hadn’t been shot through the throat by those arrows, she would have certainly been injured.
"No need to thank me. It seems whoever keeps zombies here doesn’t want others to discover his actions."
"Of course it’s hidden. Breeding zombies is such a perverted thing that no normal person would agree to it."
One can only wonder what the person hiding zombies is up to.
"Should we head upstairs now?"
Shen Zhigui lowered his head to ask for Chu Jiangyue’s opinion.
Hearing Shen Zhigui’s voice, Chu Jiangyue instinctively looked up, only to realize that she was still in Shen Zhigui’s embrace.
Chu Jiangyue’s entire face turned crimson as she quickly backed up a step.
"Uh... I didn’t notice just now, sorry."
With a smile on his face, Shen Zhigui clenched and unclenched his fist at his side, "It’s okay, I didn’t notice either. It should be safe now, shall we go in and have a look?"
Chu Jiangyue nodded, despite the slightly awkward atmosphere, the matter of privately raising zombies still needed to be dealt with.
Shen Zhigui walked in front, instinctively shielding Chu Jiangyue.
Entering the main entrance, Chu Jiangyue was almost overwhelmed by the stench.
"Are you okay?"
Shen Zhigui struggled to suppress his own urge to vomit, raising his hand to gently pat Chu Jiangyue’s back.
『Little Fox, do you have any masks? Your host is about to be gassed to death!』
Since the store hadn’t unlocked the corresponding items, Chu Jiangyue turned to Little Fox to pull some strings.
Little Fox was a string of data, and blocking out the sense of smell was a simple matter for it, but it was beyond Chu Jiangyue’s capability.
"If the host wants to unlock items, the first-time unlock requires one Gold Coin. Does the host want to unlock?"
『Unlock!』
For Chu Jiangyue, a single Gold Coin was nothing to worry about.
"Okay, host, one Gold Coin has been deducted, and the anti-poison, anti-odor mask is unlocked, feel free to purchase!"
Chu Jiangyue immediately ordered two masks, wearing one herself and handing the other to Shen Zhigui.
"Put it on, the smell is too strong."
The mask was black, but upon closer inspection, there were silver threads interwoven within.
Shen Zhigui didn’t refuse and put on the mask immediately.
"Phew! Finally, I can breathe properly."
With the mask on, Chu Jiangyue felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
Shen Zhigui chuckled softly, "Let’s go see what’s going on."
The two of them ascended the stairs, with Shen Zhigui in the lead and Chu Jiangyue close behind.
The higher they went, the clearer the sound of zombies became, and their expressions grew heavier.
Carefully, Shen Zhigui ascended, ensuring each step was safe before moving upward.
When they finally reached the second floor, several minutes had passed.
"Let’s pick up the pace. There shouldn’t be any other threats."
An average person would have already been dealt with upon entering the main building.
Chu Jiangyue doubted that the person hiding zombies here would have the energy to set up another trap.
With resources scarce, even if he wanted to, he might not find suitable materials for a second trap.
Shen Zhigui nodded, "Then I’ll hurry up."
"Who are you!"
Just as they were about to head to the third floor, a voice demanded sharply.
Chu Jiangyue and Shen Zhigui exchanged glances, internally lamenting about their bad luck today.
But with the two of them against one person, Chu Jiangyue was confident they could deal with him.
"Let’s restrain him first."
Even if he hadn’t returned, they would have sought him out after dealing with the zombies.
Shen Zhigui nodded, agreeing with Chu Jiangyue’s suggestion.
The two then quickly went downstairs, using their superpowers liberally to attack the man.
Little Vine saw this as its chance to shine, jumping from Chu Jiangyue’s wrist and extending, reaching for the man.
With two superpower users and a mutated plant, they forced the man into retreat.
Although he had a Fire Ability and a fairly strong attack power, he couldn’t compete at their level.
After discussing with Little Vine, Chu Jiangyue decided to use its strong vines to tie the man up.
"You’re... too much!"
Even after being tied up, the man showed no remorse, complaining instead about Chu Jiangyue and Shen Zhigui winning by outnumbering him.