"Dang dang dang dang!"
Baiyin leaped onto the roof of a BMW in the blink of an eye. A loud thud echoed. The noisy sound attracted nearby zombies, who turned their gaze towards Baiyin one after another. With a confident smile, Baiyin struck a muscular pose.
"Shurima, your emperor has returned!"
However, what awaited him next was not applause from any audience. On the contrary, the zombies, upon seeing Baiyin, showed no interest and continued with their own business. It seemed that in their eyes, Baiyin's allure was not even comparable to the noise just now.
"Sigh."
While being considered as one of their own by the zombies was a good thing, the loneliness and boredom of traveling without anyone to talk to was inevitable. Baiyin just sighed and then jumped off the car roof in the next moment, continuing on his journey to the destination.
"Oops."
Ahead, an elderly zombie was chasing after a garbage bag blown away by the wind. Accidentally stumbling on a stone, the zombie fell to the ground with a clumsy thud.
"Tsk tsk tsk!"
Watching this scene, Baiyin shook his head, wearing a wooden expression, and said,
"You should respect your age, old man. Being so reckless... Oh, damn!"
Because his gaze was entirely on the old man, he didn't notice a rotten puddle underfoot. Stepping on it, he slipped and fell flat on his buttocks, feeling like his butt had been split in half, in excruciating pain.
[Ding! Task issued: Respect the elderly, help the old man up, reward: nearby food location!]
As he climbed up from the ground, the system suddenly issued a task in his mind. Baiyin glanced at the zombie old man lying on the ground in front of him, struggling to get up.
"Why not just give me food directly? I just want to know how the system plans to deliver it to me."
Baiyin was actually quite interested in getting things directly from the system. It's not like he cared that much about the food. Just purely wanted to know how the system will convey it to him.Would a time-space rift open up and a black hand reach out from it to give him things? Or would a skydrop come down, containing rewards from the system? Of course, all of this was just boring speculation.
Baiyin found a long stick nearby and inserted it into the old zombie's clothes. Then, with effort, he managed to lift him up using this laborious method. If he accidentally scraped some skin and got infected while helping, it wouldn't be worth it. So Baiyin had to take this slightly safer approach.
The zombie old man, now standing up again, groaned and went away without any gratitude towards Baiyin. But Baiyin was already used to it. If zombies were truly interactive, he wouldn't be so bored, presumably.
[Ding! Task completed, now providing food location!]
[Left front, Heiku Supermarket, basement!]
Following the system's instructions, Baiyin headed towards the Heiku Supermarket to the left. It was only a mile away. The supermarket's door was wide open, its glass shattered, and there were several customer corpses, now skeletons, scattered around the entrance. Outside the supermarket, a few zombies were wandering, while inside, there was a makeshift barricade made of tables and chairs, forming a high barrier. Was there someone guarding inside? Seeing this barricade, Baiyin couldn't help but wonder.
However, upon closer inspection, he found several openings in the barricade. From the dust and dried blood on the ground, as well as the rusty legs of the chairs, it was easy to tell that this barricade had not been maintained for a long time. Most likely, it was a temporary barricade set up during the initial outbreak of the zombies. And it didn't seem to have any effect now. Today, it only held some sentimental value and had lost any practical value.
Attempting to enter through one of the openings, Baiyin accidentally discovered a muddy fresh footprint on the ground. It seemed to have been stepped on not long ago, looking like a woman's footprint. Baiyin didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it might be left by a female zombie. However, driven by curiosity, he followed the footprints into the interior of the supermarket. Upon entering the supermarket, he found that the food on the shelves from other places had already disappeared. Only some non-edible daily necessities were scattered around, untouched. It seemed that this place had been thoroughly looted.
Baiyin temporarily ignored it and continued to follow the footprints. Eventually, he found that the footprints led up the stairs to the second floor. Something was amiss... Baiyin realized something. If these footprints were left by zombies, their walking trajectory wouldn't be so natural.
Zombies usually wandered around aimlessly. Furthermore, why could they naturally go upstairs like this? It didn't make sense. Baiyin became increasingly suspicious that the owner of the footprints was a living woman.
He followed the footprints up to the second floor. Along the way, the shadows of the footprints became fainter and fainter. After following for a while, the footprints disappeared completely. But fortunately, the target had already come into view.
The second floor was quiet, with no sign of zombies. And lying ahead on the ground was a woman, her hair disheveled, dressed in ragged clothes. Baiyin hesitated before approaching. Then, he squatted down, brushed aside the hair covering her face, and found a human woman. She looked to be in her early thirties, slender, and quite beautiful, with long black hair.However, obvious signs of malnutrition were present, with her being a bit pale and skinny, and her hair splitting.
The woman was wet all over, despite having been washed by rain, but her clothes still emitted a strong, unpleasant odor. As a man, Baiyin knew exactly what that smell was.
Rape?
The word immediately came to his mind. Surely, something bad must have happened to the woman for her to be dressed like this. Otherwise, she wouldn't be wearing such clothes. This was a city. As long as one was willing, they could always find new clothes outside. Yet this woman didn't have any, and instead wore this stinky rag.
Baiyin speculated that the woman probably didn't want to appear too clean to avoid attracting unwanted attention from potentially dangerous men. Hence, she continued to wear this stinking garment. Her purpose was probably to deter any thoughts from men who might harm her.
Of course, all of this was just speculation. As for the truth, Baiyin couldn't say. But one thing was certain, the woman was still alive. Baiyin was more than happy to do a good deed and help her. Who knows, he might even get some useful information from her.
At worst, having someone to talk to as a companion was also good.