As they descended further, the number of zombies invading increased. By the time they reached the twenty-first floor, the hallway was almost entirely filled with zombies.
Upon seeing living beings, they immediately lunged forward, pushing and shoving each other, crowding the already narrow corridor, yet persistently reaching out with their hands, attempting to grab them.
High Xin kicked a zombie away and looked at the blocked hallway door. He quickly stepped forward, wielding his knife lethally. Soon, a portion of the zombies were cleared out, but with that, the space for zombie movement increased, and they surged forward.
Others joined the fight, the sound of clubs and daggers piercing flesh mixing together.
A zombie whipped its long tongue, entangling a henchman's arm. After hearing his scream, he wildly swung his steel pipe, banging it against the wall a few times before the pipe slipped out of his hand.
Watching this, Hu San, leapt forward, and after a strike, the zombie's head caved in, but despite that, it still wriggled forward, mouth gaping towards the henchman.
The horrifying scene left the henchman petrified. He trembled, nearly falling, and just as he was about to have a close encounter with the zombie, a knife flew in, the tip poking out from the zombie's chest.
The zombie lunged forward, landing on the henchman, pinning him down.
Frantically kicking his legs, the henchman struggled as Hu San lifted the zombie and threw it back into the crowd of zombies, cursing, "Useless."
As the henchman slowly regained his senses, trembling, he picked up the steel pipe from the ground and continued fighting the zombies.
Finally, the zombies crowding the hallway were nearly all killed, their bodies piling up, blocking the path of the remaining zombies.
The henchman headed towards the hallway door, suddenly shouting, causing everyone present to furrow their brows.
"You're scared by just a few zombies!"
Hu San, angry, kicked the henchman, causing him to collapse.
The henchman quickly got up to explain, "Over there, there are eyes!"
His words instantly heightened the tension in the air.
Following the direction of his finger, they saw nothing through the open door crack.
"Damn it, are you trying to fool me?"
Hu San glanced and raised the steel pipe, ready to strike. At this moment, a creaking sound came from the hallway door.
The door was pushed open, making a squeaking noise, and a figure slowly emerged from behind it.
"Song Qing?"
High Xin was the first to recognize her. The woman who emerged from behind the door was indeed Song Qing.
She looked very disheveled, her clothes torn, and her face marked with scratches.
"You're not dead after all. What about Sun Hao?"
High Xin looked at her in astonishment, then glanced behind her.
"He was killed by the zombies."
Song Qing, looking disheveled, seemed unwilling for them to see her condition and slightly turned to avoid their gaze.
"Jiang Qiqi said you closed the door and almost killed them. Could it really be you?"
High Xin squinted, sizing her up.
"It was indeed me who closed the door, but the situation was critical at the time. If I hadn't closed the door, more zombies would have rushed out!"
"Why say more."
Gu Jingyong gave her a cold glance, his eyes filled with a chilling intent that made people shiver.
"Song Qing is from the Northern Association. It's not your turn, outsider, to deal with her."
Hu San stood up straight, with Song Qing hiding behind him, a moment of panic on her face.
"Northern Association member, hiding pretty deep, huh?"
High Xin glanced at Song Qing coldly, sneering.
Seeing the killing intent in Gu Jingyong's eyes, Song Qing knew he truly intended to kill her to avenge Tan Xinger.
With no way out, Song Qing had to come forward. She rolled up her right sleeve, revealing an "N" symbol on the inside of her arm.
The sound of zombies grew closer. Gu Jingyong glanced downstairs before walking straight into the 20th floor. As he passed by Song Qing, he whispered something.
Song Qing looked at him incredulously, her whole body stiffening, a chill creeping up from the bottom of her heart.
"You're doomed."
Gu Jingyong's chilly words seemed to linger in the air as Song Qing hadn't even had time to react before she was pushed against the wall, crashing heavily into it.
The pain made her snap back to reality, and she looked at Hu San in panic.
"Idiot," Hu San spat contemptuously, his anger making him look fierce.
"Tiger, I was originally undercover among the members of the Southern Association. I didn't expect those two to join midway and ruin my plans," Song Qing explained, but Hu San had no time to listen to her ramblings. Leaving with a curt "We'll settle this later," he motioned for the henchman to follow and left.
Song Qing's previously pitiful expression turned dark, gradually revealing a hint of malice. Her eyes, as sinister as a snake's gaze, lay in wait for an opportunity to strike.
Following his memory, High Xin led Gu Jingyong to the fire equipment room. Upon seeing Hu San and the henchman, he slammed the door shut.
Leaving Hu San outside, wearing a disgruntled expression.
"Tiger, I know there are some useful things over there too," Song Qing immediately stepped forward. Hu San glanced at her and didn't say anything, indicating for her to lead the way.
As they heard the commotion of the others leaving, High Xin, while packing, glanced at Gu Jingyong and said, "Song Qing is from the Northern Association. Killing her will cause trouble."
"The Northern Association isn't worthy of my consideration," Gu Jingyong's words came, calm but filled with disdain. High Xin paused in his packing, then resumed.
Underneath the seemingly calm words, one could discern Gu Jingyong's contempt. To him, the Northern Association seemed like it could be destroyed in an instant.
High Xin couldn't afford to be dismissive, though. His gaze fell on the knife at Gu Jingyong's waist, already with numerous notches, but High Xin knew that knife could end his life in an instant.
The highly aggressive knife technique and aura made High Xin vaguely think of someone, but he shook his head immediately.
That person was famously known as the King of Hell. Except for a few executives from the Western Association, no one else had ever appeared with him, let alone taking care of a girl like that. It probably wasn't him.
Gu Jingyong paid no attention to High Xin's scrutinizing gaze. When they were almost done packing, he slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out.
High Xin hurried to catch up. Just as they reached the hallway, a zombie lunged at them.
The zombies that had blocked their path earlier had already been devoured by others.
More and more zombies poured in from the first floor. Gu Jingyong looked at a zombie that had already climbed up. With a step forward, the knife in his hand plunged straight into the zombie's heart, and he casually tossed the corpse down.
High Xin was entangled with two zombies, one wrapping its tongue around his arm. Before he could free himself, another zombie lunged at him.
Thinking he was about to lose his life, he didn't expect a body to be thrown down from above, smashing the entangling zombie.
Once free, High Xin swiftly dealt with the two zombies and turned around to see Gu Jingyong wiping his knife on the stairs. After a grateful glance, High Xin continued carrying the bag and headed upstairs.
The zombies were endless, and the two didn't intend to linger in the fight. They quickly made their way upstairs and soon reached the rooftop.
Knocking on the door according to the agreed rhythm, Si Qiao looked at them as they returned, ensuring they were uninjured, then took the items and went to tidy up.
The other Northern Association members, upon seeing them return but not seeing Hu San, couldn't help but ask, "Where's our leader? Weren't you two together?"
"We got separated, but they should be back soon," High Xin replied hastily. Though the henchmen were unhappy with the answer, they didn't say anything more, just stood by the door, listening to the sounds outside.
After giving Jiang Qiqi a glance, High Xin pulled her aside. Whatever he said made her face change drastically, looking somewhat excited.
"What did she say?" Tan Xinger noticed something unusual happening over there and looked around.
"Song Qing isn't dead, and she's a member of the Northern Association," Gu Jingyong explained when he saw her confusion.
"The Northern Association!"
It wasn't entirely impossible for Song Qing to be alive, but what surprised her even more was that Song Qing turned out to be a member of the Northern Association.
From her limited knowledge of the Northern Association, she had thought they were all ruthless thugs, but it seemed that even someone as seemingly upright as Song Qing was among them.
"Judging people by their appearances without understanding their hearts, the Northern Association is not as simple as it seems on the surface," Gu Jingyong saw through her astonishment, as if he had thought of something. He looked towards the distant horizon, silent for a moment.
"Indeed," Tan Xinger nodded. At this moment, Jiang Qiqi appeared, looking furious.
The first thing she said was, "Song Qing isn't dead."
Jiang Qiqi's eyes held both hatred and joy. She grabbed Tan Xinger's hand and said, "Does that mean Sun Hao might still be alive?"
"It's possible. After all, Sun Hao is more formidable than Song Qing. Perhaps he's trapped somewhere," Tan Xinger reassured, also hoping that Sun Hao would survive.
Before the conversation could continue, they heard a commotion at the door, a series of urgent knocks or rather, bangs.
The henchmen looked at each other and shouted at the door, "Tiger, is that you?"
"Tiger, Tiger?"
There was only the sound of a struggle outside, no one responded. One of the men outside hesitated for a moment, then reached for the door handle, preparing to open it, but was startled by a scream.
"Ahhhh!"
Even through the heavy door, the man's screams were audible to everyone, startling them. The hand on the door handle was quickly withdrawn.
"Damn it, open the door!"
Hu San shouted angrily, kicking at the door while dodging the approaching zombies.
"I know," one of the henchmen inside quickly responded. Just as he was about to open the door, a clear voice rang out.
"Do you want to let the zombies outside in as well?"
Although it was just a simple sentence, it sent shivers down the spines of the men outside. Of course, they knew there were zombies outside, zombies that would eat them, that would kill them!
Tan Xinger looked at Gu Jingyong. His few words had shaken the hearts of several people, yet his face remained expressionless.
Honestly, she didn't want to let the zombies in either, but the decision to open the door lay with those men. It was irrelevant whether they opened it or not.
"We can't open it!"
One man suddenly stepped back, his face full of panic as he looked at his hands. The others looked at him, unsure what to do.
"What are you trying to do, Zhigang?"
A thin man glared angrily at him, stepping forward to open the door, but was stopped by Zhigang.
"What if the zombies come in? Will you save me?"
Zhigang stared at the others, his tone resolute.
"Betrayer, do you want to die?"
Another man stepped forward, seemingly angered by him. He looked around, trying to remind Zhigang.
"Die? I don't want to die."
Zhigang stared straight at him, trying to gain some support.
"Bang, bang, bang."
There were more banging sounds from outside the door. After a slight startle, Zhigang rushed forward and pushed one of the men who was about to open the door.
"Song Zhigang, you're asking for death!"
The short man seemed to be provoked by him, stepping forward to grab Zhigang's collar and pinning him against the door.
"I will report to Tiger exactly what you've done."
After the short man finished his sinister words, he pushed Zhigang aside and opened the door.
After falling to the ground, Zhigang slowly raised his head and looked at his hands.
Murmuring something, Tan Xinger tried to listen and could make out intermittent words.
Open the door... Tiger, dead...
At the same time, there was another pair of eyes staring at the man.
Gu Jingyong looked at Song Zhigang calmly, his eyes deep like ink, as if he saw something he had been anticipating. A faint smile appeared in his eyes, quickly returning to normal.