Chapter 80: None of Your Business

Jiang Ye hesitated. “Shall we go upstairs then?”

“I’ve lost all interest anyway.” Bai Chen Zhu had never felt so clear-headed after being thrown like that. He brushed Jiang Ye aside, stood up, and straightened his clothes. “Fix the table, or you’ll have to explain it to them later.”

“Huh?” Jiang Ye tried to lift the table, but one leg was broken. It fell again less than a minute after he propped it up.

He squatted on the ground, looked at the broken table, then at Bai Chen Zhu, frozen like a statue. “There’s no way to explain this.”

Bai Chen Zhu spread his hands, passing the buck. “That’s not my problem. You handle it.”

He stood there with his arms crossed, thought for a moment, waved his hand, and turned toward the door. “You almost distracted me. I had something to do outside anyway.”

They had just finished lunch, the weather was perfect, and it wasn’t raining—ideal for going out.

The past few days had brought several rains, leaving even the air damp. Bai Chen Zhu felt like he was turning into a big mushroom in a humid corner.

Jiang Ye clicked his tongue, simply clamped the entire round table under his arm, took it out, and dumped it—destroying the evidence. He dusted off his hands and quickly caught up to Bai Chen Zhu.

Jiang Ye whistled a winding tune, hands in his pockets as he walked backward. “What a coincidence! Handsome, where are you headed? Mind giving me a ride?”

Bai Chen Zhu glanced at him, not surprised that he would follow. He could only add another item to his mental plan: get a dining table on the way back.

“The day I was chased by that snake, didn’t I tell you I encountered it in a bookstore?” Bai Chen Zhu recalled. “When I left, I saw an iron door that looked just like a garage door.”

He had gotten soaked in the rain afterward, caught a cold, developed a fever upon returning, and then confirmed his relationship with Jiang Ye. Everything had come so hurriedly that he forgot about it.

Until that morning, when Sister Zhuohua mentioned the car.

Bai Chen Zhu said, “We’ve been looking for a usable car for a long time, but they’re either damaged, broken, without keys, or already taken. This place is worth checking out.”

“Aren’t you afraid of running into another snake?” Jiang Ye asked curiously.

Bai Chen Zhu smiled faintly. “Didn’t you just follow me?”

Jiang Ye froze in place, pondering the words for a moment before chasing after him. “Hey! You did that on purpose?”

Bai Chen Zhu had already sat in the passenger seat of the sightseeing cart at the entrance, leisurely patting the spot next to him. “Driver, give me a lift?”

Jiang Ye stood outside the cart with his arms crossed. “That’ll cost you.”

Bai Chen Zhu replied without changing expression, “Shouldn’t I be charging you rent then?”

Jiang Ye looked puzzled, then realized, then paled in shock.

He stiffly climbed into the seat and patted his pocket. “I didn’t bring the keys.”

Bai Chen Zhu casually pulled the keys from his own pocket and inserted them.

“Wait, why do you have the keys on you?” Jiang Ye grew alert.

“Oh, I took them from your clothes before we left.” Bai Chen Zhu leaned lazily against the backrest. “I was planning to drive myself.”

Jiang Ye’s expression shifted slightly. “Haven’t you not driven in a long time? It’s dangerous, and you still…”

“Hm?”

Jiang Ye swallowed his words, started the cart, and said, “Someday, I’ll definitely teach you how to drive!”

Bai Chen Zhu shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I have you as my personal driver anyway.”

He watched Jiang Ye’s complicated expression, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.

The cart bumped along the small road, knocking aside the lifeless walking corpses.

Bai Chen Zhu gave directions and finally arrived at the Timelight Bookstore from that day. After confirming the location, they found the garage in his memory.

The iron door was indeed large, matching the image of a garage perfectly.

Bai Chen Zhu observed the metal garage door for a moment and pointed to the second-floor window. “Jiang Ye, try climbing over from up there.”

“You sure know how to boss me around.” Jiang Ye didn’t move.

The words took Bai Chen Zhu back a few months, leaving him momentarily dazed. Then he admitted frankly, “Yeah, no need for excuses now—I can boss you around freely. So, are you going to listen?”

Jiang Ye grew curious. “What happens if I don’t?”

Bai Chen Zhu rolled up his sleeves and pushed open the cart door.

Jiang Ye’s face changed as he hurried after him. “Wait, what are you doing?”

The second floor had an ordinary residential window without iron bars. Bai Chen Zhu dodged a zombie, looked up, took a few steps back for a running start, and prepared to climb the drainpipe. Unexpectedly, Jiang Ye grabbed him from behind.

“Ancestors! Grandpa!” Jiang Ye was both anxious and exasperated.

“What?” Bai Chen Zhu shrugged indifferently. “You won’t go, so I will.”

Though his physique couldn’t match an ordinary ability user, climbing to the second floor was worth a try.

These days, he had climbed more buildings and leaped more ditches than he could count.

Jiang Ye shoved him back into the cart and slammed the door shut with such force that it made a huge bang. “Don’t come out!”

Bai Chen Zhu watched as he scaled the drainpipe in a few moves and slipped through the window. His movements were agile, as simple as skipping two stairs.

Bai Chen Zhu had always envied such a physique.

Strange cries echoed from inside the room.

Bai Chen Zhu tapped on the cart door with his finger, counting the time.

The sightseeing cart was enclosed, with thin doors—glass on top, metal below. A passing zombie’s sharp claws scraped harshly against it, and its stench seemed to seep through the cracks.

Bai Chen Zhu examined the zombie up close.

Yep, still as ugly as ever.

The shutter door rattled, and Jiang Ye opened it from inside.

Sensing human mental power, the zombie turned and took two steps toward Jiang Ye before Bai Chen Zhu kicked it aside from behind as he exited the cart.

Seeing a fuel car truly inside the garage, Bai Chen Zhu perked up. “Where are the keys?”

Jiang Ye pointed upward. “There’s a zombie nest on the ceiling.”

“Let’s go.” Bai Chen Zhu followed him up the stairs from the garage to the second floor, where three zombies lay in various poses, black-red blood pooling around them. The floor held the murder weapon—a broom.

Bai Chen Zhu’s gaze shifted as he quickly assigned tasks. “You search the left one, I’ll take the right. Ignore the small one.”

Car keys would logically be on an adult.

He squatted down and searched from top to bottom. The dry, limp feel was like handling rotten mud, the rotting stench assaulted his nose, and the inhuman sight polluted his eyes. Enduring the disgust, he searched the entire body and looked at Jiang Ye, who shook his head.

Clearly not on them.

“Let’s check the room.” Bai Chen Zhu stood, grabbing some tissues to wipe his hands.

He scanned the area, imagining where the owner would put the keys upon returning from outside.

Bai Chen Zhu rummaged through the TV cabinet and table before half-kneeling to fish a keychain from the sofa cushions.

“Pretty lucky. No more walking now.” Jiang Ye extended a hand to him. “Tang Zhao and the others will be thrilled.”

Bai Chen Zhu rose using Jiang Ye’s hand. “How about you drive the car back, and I take the sightseeing cart?”

“No way!” Jiang Ye’s face changed abruptly. “You said you haven’t driven in a long time.”

Bai Chen Zhu hadn’t realized Jiang Ye’s protectiveness was this strong. “I’m rusty, but it’s not hard to pick up. We can’t just leave the sightseeing cart here, right?”

He figured operating the cart was simple enough.

Seeing his insistence, Jiang Ye said, “You drive a bit first; let me watch.”

“No big deal.” Bai Chen Zhu chuckled lightly.

Less than five minutes later, as he turned to reverse, the sightseeing cart slammed butt-first into the wall.

Bai Chen Zhu: …

Jiang Ye: “Heh.”

Without a word, Bai Chen Zhu quietly moved to the passenger seat of the car. Jiang Ye drove it out of the garage, ignoring the sightseeing cart, floored the accelerator to smash through approaching mutants, and hummed a tune all the way back to their neighborhood.

Jiang Ye parked the car at the fence closest to their house, pocketed the keys as he opened the door, and said, “I’ll go fetch that sightseeing cart. You head back first.”

“Got it.” Bai Chen Zhu waved him off, and Jiang Ye soon vanished at the end of the road.

Bai Chen Zhu took two steps toward the house but suddenly remembered the wrecked table. In a few seconds, he decided not to go back and instead looked around for a restaurant.

Speaking of which… he hadn’t picked up that thing, so where did Jiang Ye hide it?

After walking about two or three hundred meters, he spotted a small restaurant tucked in an alley.

After skillfully prying the lock, Bai Chen Zhu walked a circle inside and regretfully found the tables all welded to the floor—impossible to lift for normal people, though ability users could manage.

Bai Chen Zhu planned to return and get Tang Zhao to yank one out like pulling an onion from dry land. He went to the kitchen to wash his hands and heard voices.

The kitchen had a window overlooking a bluestone alley adorned with colorful decorations—quite pretty.

“Be careful, shh, don’t let anyone spot us.”

“What’s there to fear? I’ve scouted this path; it’s hidden well, no monsters around. Once we’re out of the city, they won’t catch up easily.”

…

Chaotic footsteps echoed in the alley.

In this city, besides their group of five, the rest were ability users led by Liang Zhi—of course, most ability users were outsiders. Having escaped danger, they prepared to return home and no longer obeyed orders, repeatedly challenging the pre-apocalypse “order.”

Fortunately, they were the minority; most stuck together conservatively for warmth.

This group’s mental power felt somewhat familiar, and few people gave Bai Chen Zhu that sense. He narrowed his eyes and yanked open the blinds, vaulting out the window.

“Who’s there!”

The group heard the noise and turned warily.

Bai Chen Zhu stood, scanning the six people. His gaze landed on the leader’s back. The other five carried bundles, but the leader had a little girl on his back.

It was Bai Tao, whom Liang Zhi had invited, now with her mouth sealed by tape and unconscious.

“Where are you taking her?” A thin anger surfaced on Bai Chen Zhu’s face.

He had already noticed their mental power was far superior—clearly thanks to Bai Tao. Yet now they bit the hand that fed them, selfishly trying to abduct her after benefiting.

“None of your business!” the leader barked arrogantly.

A young man with a baby face recognized Bai Chen Zhu and shrank back timidly. “Boss, he’s from Jiang Ye’s group.”

Jiang Ye? The leader vaguely recalled Bai Chen Zhu but saw him as insignificant, without any notable abilities, assuming he was ordinary. He decided quickly. “Can’t let him call for backup. Get him!”

As the words fell, everyone except the one carrying Bai Tao drew weapons from their waists and charged.

Bai Chen Zhu dodged a punch upward, grabbed a bamboo pole with a colored flag, and snapped it across one man’s neck. He spun, gripped the end, released—its springiness smacked another in the face, hitting the eyeball. The man screamed, clutching his eye as he retreated, knocking over the one behind.

Bai Chen Zhu used the pole as a pivot on the ground and flew into a kick that sent the young recognizer flying.

The one carrying Bai Tao abandoned his comrades and fled without honor.

Bai Chen Zhu was caught off-guard as someone seized the pole, tugging like a tug-of-war to pull him in.

The strength was inhuman; Bai Chen Zhu stumbled.

He eyed the fleeing man and simply let go.

As the five rushed to surround him, thinking they could finish him on the spot, their minds went blank as if hammered—total whiteout.

When they recovered, the encircled man had vanished into thin air.

Vanished into thin air?!

“Where’d he go?” They looked left, right, up, down, all baffled—he’d been right there.

“Ghost?!” The young man was terrified.

Bai Chen Zhu ran fast, but the guy with the burden wasn’t slow.

As the distance widened, Bai Chen Zhu had no choice but to use mental power to attract nearby mutants, using them to trip up the man.

With him chasing from behind and a horde blocking ahead, any smart thief would head his way.

It worked well; in this zombie city, zombies were the one thing in endless supply.

Burdened, the thief had only two legs and soon halted, spooked by the surging zombie mass ahead.

He had never seen zombies so concentrated. Had another zombie king appeared?

The thief had no choice but to abandon the small path. At a fork in the road, he panicked and fled blindly onto the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there were only three or five shadowy figures loitering about. The thief did not want to keep playing the game of you chase me, I run, so he chose to stop.

“Stop!” The thief turned around, set the person on his back down, pinched Bai Tao’s neck, and warned, “If you don’t want her to die, then stand still!”

Under the pressure of suffocation, Bai Tao coughed muffledly twice, opened her eyes, and saw Bai Chen Zhu in front of her. Her first reaction was to shout for help, but she discovered her mouth was sealed tightly. She could only widen her eyes and ‘mmph mmph’ call out.

Bai Chen Zhu braced his knees and exhaled two breaths before straightening up. His black eyes were icy cold. “If you kill her, you won’t get away either.”

“Then you try it.” The thief was utterly fearless with his hostage. He retreated to the edge of the bridge while holding her. Below surged the river’s waters. Given that Bai Tao’s mouth was sealed and her hands were bound, she would have a hard time saving herself even if she knew how to swim.