Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Where Did the Key Come From? (Part 2)
Everyone turned to look toward the sound and was taken aback.
"Is it true that Father is dead?" With eyes wide open, Acheng looked terrified.
His words were spoken softly, almost like a murmur, but landed on the ears of both Wang Qiang and Tang Xiaoquan with an indescribable feeling.
"I’m sorry, Acheng. I didn’t mean to kill your father, the circumstances at the time were really..." Wang Qiang couldn’t finish his sentence. It wasn’t because he was unwilling to speak, but because he truly didn’t know how to say it.
After all, he was the one who killed the man, and in the face of this ironclad fact, any explanation seemed weak and powerless.
Watching Wang Qiang’s expression of wanting to say something but hesitating, Tang Xiaoquan felt equally uncomfortable.
Once again, the room fell into silence, the oppressive atmosphere was suffocating. Everyone hung their heads in silence, only Acheng’s increasingly heavy breathing echoed in the air.
"Acheng," after a period of silence, the big man finally spoke to break the death-like stillness.
He slowly approached his nephew and gently stroked his head, softly saying, "Child, don’t be so stubborn. Your father’s death, although related to them, we can’t blame them. After all, we all saw the situation at that time. Your father wanted to eat us; he was controlled by that damned virus. He changed, he was no longer the father you knew, so..."
Taking a deep breath, the man seemed to have made a huge decision before continuing, "So, we have to thank them, because they restored your father’s dignity, restored the dignity of a human being."
He forcefully pulled Acheng into a hug, closing his eyes, and a stubborn tear unwillingly rolled down.
The scorching sun continued to lavish heat outside, and the dazzling sunlight spread across the entire city, but even so, it couldn’t dispel the gloom in everyone’s hearts inside the small room.
The person who had just experienced the blow of losing a loved one undoubtedly needed rest and adjustment, so Acheng was led to the bedroom by the big man. Meanwhile, Huang Yaru, being the only woman in the team, naturally took on the responsibility of caring for Acheng.
Returning to the living room, the big man and the others gathered around the table once more, the sorrowful emotions still lingered in everyone’s mind.
But sorrow can’t be eaten, especially in the apocalypse where negative emotions can directly strike down your will to survive. That’s why the fourteenth rule of the Law of Survival is clear: never be excessively sad over one thing. The correct way should be to turn grief into strength, summarize experiences to prevent tragedy from happening again.
For Tang Xiaoquan and the others, summarizing experiences was no longer necessary since the big man had clearly stated before. He had already recalled in detail the entire mutation process of Acheng’s father, so the pressing issue before Tang Xiaoquan was still the supply of resources.
"Brother Wang," without giving everyone time to adjust their emotions, Tang Xiaoquan straightforwardly said, "As I said earlier, the food we brought with us is not much, barely enough for me, Qiang, and Yaru to last three days. But now that you’re included, this timeframe will probably..."
"Tighten it up, we should be able to manage one meal a day, right?" Wang Qiang hastily suggested, misunderstanding Tang Xiaoquan’s intention, worried that his brother might cut off supplies due to the scarcity of food.
Tang Xiaoquan was slightly startled, giving Wang Qiang a surprised look, but then his expression turned into a smile.
This brother of his is just like that, when he dislikes you, he wishes he could kill you, but once familiar, he’s a friend you can entrust your life to.
Seeing Wang Qiang caring so much for the big man, Tang Xiaoquan was naturally overjoyed.
After all, Wang Qiang’s proactive goodwill also meant that potential conflicts with the big man were eliminated.
And the elimination of conflict is undoubtedly great news for the entire team.
So Tang Xiaoquan feigned difficulty and followed Wang Qiang’s lead, saying, "If we have one meal a day, we can sustain ourselves for three days, but after three days..."
"After three days? We’ll worry about what happens after three days then. Worst case, we’ll go out and fight those bastards to the death!" Wang Qiang appeared indifferent, as if those zombies were as easy to deal with as ants.
With this, Tang Xiaoquan could only shake his head speechlessly. He didn’t pay attention to Wang Qiang’s reckless words and continued, "Considering the current concentration of zombies, I estimate they might not leave within three days, especially those trapped next door. With their current intellect, they probably can’t even find the door, unless a miracle happens."
But where in this world are there so many miracles? Humans mention this word when facing despair, merely to find some ethereal solace for their hopeless hearts.
Listening to Wang Qiang and Tang Xiaoquan’s conversation, the big man propped his chin and appeared thoughtful.
"I think Brother Wang’s suggestion is not without reason. If we indeed run out of food, rather than staying inside waiting to die, it’d be better to fight outside. Who knows, we might break out?" The big man suddenly looked up after some thought.
"But... sigh~" Tang Xiaoquan sighed lightly. He didn’t want to dampen the group’s mood, but outside was full of zombies that couldn’t simply be charged through.
"By the way, Quan, didn’t you lead away the zombies with sound last time? So why can’t we do it again now?" An idea flashed in Wang Qiang’s mind as he recalled the events from a few days earlier.
Regarding this, Tang Xiaoquan had thought about it, however... "I’ve thought about your method too, but doing so would only draw away the zombies in the corridor. As for those next door..."
"Bang!" A crisp sound, the big man smacked the table, then smiled and said, "Those beasts next door aren’t difficult to handle. We just need to do this and that... and it’s done, right?"
After carefully considering the big man’s suggestion, Wang Qiang and Tang Xiaoquan exchanged glances, their eyes shining with a hint of excitement. They almost simultaneously exclaimed, "Great idea, let’s do it!"
With the survival problem resolved, everyone finally showed long-lost smiles. In such an excited mood, time seemed to fly by, and soon the sky was enveloped by a dense night.
Night had fallen!
According to the afternoon’s agreement, only one meal was provided daily. This meant that since everyone had eaten lunch today, they were not to have dinner.
Everyone understood this, as staying inside, even if hungry, was clearly more viable than fighting for life against the zombies outside.
Since there was no dinner, everyone went to wash up and sleep early. They were indeed exhausted, needing rest to relieve the hunger in their bellies.
Given that King Tang and others had expended much physical strength and energy fighting the zombies, the night guard duty naturally fell to the big man.
He opened his shirt, revealing his thick chest hair. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept in, followed by the roaring sound echoing across the sky.
The storm approached...