Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 80: Chapter 75: Change and the Unchanging

’How did he escape?’

In the surveillance room... five zombies. And they were elite zombies like Xufeng, Ding Ming, and Sister Zhang. With no preparation, Lin Xiaojun had to face five of them.

Yu Dong couldn’t see any possible way for him to escape!

But now, the three bodies on the ground and the disappearance of Lin Xiaojun proved that he had indeed escaped the deathtrap Yu Dong had laid for him.

’Building Two... was that Lin Xiaojun?’

Building Two had been cleared ahead of time. The person hiding in the shadows, the brutal methods...

The others didn’t know what Yu Dong was pondering. They had no idea that on the day the apocalypse began, Yu Dong had passed judgment on the Lin Gang from the story he’d told yesterday... Aside from leaving Liangzi a sliver of a chance to survive, the other three were handed a death sentence.

Yu Dong hadn’t told them any of this.

But the perceptive Zhao Youcai heard Yu Dong mention Lin Xiaojun. He connected it to the story Yu Dong told last night about the Lin Gang, and the strange tasks Yu Dong had Xufeng and Ding Ming perform before the apocalypse. He... was starting to put the pieces together.

"Dongzi, that Lin Xiaojun guy was supposed to be in there too... but he killed Xufeng and the others and escaped, right?"

"Yeah."

"He’s one ruthless character, then..."

Zhao Youcai sucked in a sharp breath. Now *that* was a truly ruthless character—fighting five against one, killing three, and still getting away.

"No way, was he even human? Is it possible... they ate him completely, and he was so much to eat that he made Xufeng burst?"

Huang Zhiqiang couldn’t imagine how one person could be so formidable.

Even Tyson would probably get a couple of bites taken out of him before he got away, right?

"I don’t know. My head’s a mess, I need to think... Let’s call it a day for now. We’ll go bury Xufeng and the others first, then deal with the zombie corpses below Building One."

"Boss, shouldn’t we take care of Building Three first, then clean up all the bodies at once?" Yan Yikai asked.

Yu Dong looked at Building Three, its ground-floor main entrance still wide open. After a moment of thought, he shook his head.

"Forget it. Some other day."

...

Yu Dong, Huang Zhiqiang, and Zhao Youcai used sapper shovels to dig a grave and bury their two good friends, Xufeng and Ding Ming. They placed a wooden plaque over it.

[Here lie our dear friends, Xufeng and Ding Ming.]

[Erected by Yu Dong, Huang Zhiqiang, and Zhao Youcai.]

"Xufeng, Ding Ming... my good friends, rest in peace... If there’s a chance, I’ll see you in the next life."

The two had put in money and effort to prepare for the apocalypse, and in return, Yu Dong’s group had given them a final rest, freeing them from being shambling corpses.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jian Country, Yan Yikai, Shen Xinyi, and Liu Ye’ye had dug another grave and buried Liu Ye’ye’s father.

"Dad, you were right. Senior Yu Dong is a good, trustworthy person. You can watch over us from here. We’ll live on and do our best."

Yu Dong turned and glanced at the softly sobbing Liu Ye’ye. It suddenly occurred to him that he’d apparently never even met her father.

He had just happened to miss him every single time...

When they were burying him just now, it was Zhou and Yan Yikai who carried the body. Yu Dong had only gotten a brief glimpse of a middle-aged man’s figure.

After burying the people important to them, the group was completely exhausted. They stared at the pile of corpses heaped on the greenbelt, their faces filled with despair.

"No way. Burying three people was tiring enough. With this many... how many days would we have to dig? I can’t do it, Dongzi." Huang Zhiqiang collapsed onto the greenbelt, unable to move a muscle.

Zhou chuckled. "Let’s just pile them here for now. Tonight, we’ll get some wood and accelerant, and tomorrow we’ll burn them all in one go."

After piling up the zombies, they all worked together to clean up the area around Building One.

Shen Xinyi pinched one disposable bag after another and tossed them into the pit, saying:

"From now on, no one is allowed to just toss their waste down here! Everyone has to take out their own bags every day."

Everyone else readily agreed.

But then, a glint appeared in Zhao Youcai’s eyes.

"We all know the rule now, but the ones on the second floor don’t... We can’t be cleaning up after them every day, can we?"

Shen Xinyi said, "Someone should go up and tell them. Have them find a trash can to store it in, and when they leave in a few days, they can take it all with them."

After all, those two had already been kicked out of the team. In a few days, they’d be thrown into Building Three.

Of course, they couldn’t be allowed to go now. After all, the supplies in Building Three hadn’t been moved out yet...

They couldn’t let those two get off easy.

"I’ll go!"

Zhao Youcai eagerly volunteered to go to the second floor.

The fire door on the second floor had been locked from the outside, so the people inside couldn’t get out.

BANG BANG BANG!

After he knocked on the second-floor fire door, Zhao Wenjie immediately appeared:

"What’s wrong? Are you short on people? Do you need my help?"

"If you guys are going to clear out Building Three, I can go with you. I don’t mean anything by it, just want to get used to the new place in advance, haha~"

"Oh, right, this is... the 3,000-word self-criticism letter Yiyi wrote. She knows she was wrong now. Please, you have to give it to Brother Dong. It doesn’t matter if we get back on the team or not; the main thing is that she recognizes her mistake."

Zhao Wenjie passed an envelope through the gap in the fire door.

Youcai casually stuffed it into his pocket and said impatiently:

"Get Yang Yi. I need to talk to her."

"Oh..."

Not knowing what it was about, Zhao Wenjie called Yang Yi over.

Yang Yi shuffled over reluctantly and snapped:

"What do you want? Didn’t you guys kick me out?"

Through the crack in the door, Zhao Youcai saw Zhao Wenjie standing nearby, listening intently.

"Wen Jie, go on back for a minute. I have something to say to Yang Yi alone."

"It’s fine, just say what you need to. I won’t bother you."

Zhao Youcai met Yang Yi’s gaze through the gap, looking at her pouting face. The corner of his mouth curved into a smirk.

"It’s about you. Don’t you want to hear it?"

Hearing this, Yang Yi turned and shot a glance at Zhao Wenjie.

"Go on back."

"But..."

"Ugh, are you annoying or what? Are you going to monitor me even when I’m just talking for two seconds? I’ve had enough of you, Zhao Wenjie."

"Okay... okay, baby. No matter what it is, I’ll be with you. Don’t worry!"

With that, Zhao Wenjie went back to the bedroom. He figured that after Zhao Youcai was done talking, Yang Yi would definitely tell him everything. This was just a temporary retreat.

’Zhao Youcai probably thinks he’s so smart... Tsk~’

Zhao Wenjie scoffed.

Outside, Yang Yi stood with her arms crossed, pushing her not-so-large chest together to create an impressive cleavage. With her fair, radiant skin and decent features, she could be considered a minor beauty.

It was just that in terms of both character and looks, she was completely overshadowed by the great beauties, Liu Ye’ye and Shen Xinyi.

But for Zhao Youcai, she was the best available option.

At least he didn’t want to raise another man’s child...

Yang Yi jiggled her foot incessantly, pretending to be nonchalant. "Spit it out. What do you want?"

"Yang Yi, you know who saved your skin the day before yesterday, don’t you?"

Hearing that, Yang Yi’s jiggling foot stopped. She was silent for a moment.

"You?"

"Not so dumb after all. Originally, according to Dongzi’s plan, both of you were going to be thrown out to the zombies. But I made Dongzi change his mind and let you two live."

Remembering Yu Dong’s icy gaze and his ruthless decision to expel them from the team, a trace of fear grew in Yang Yi’s heart. She started jiggling her leg again, faster this time, and said:

"Oh. So?"

"Shouldn’t you be a little grateful to me?"

"Thanks~ Anything else?"

After she spoke, her leg jiggled even faster. She acted as if she didn’t care, but inwardly, her thoughts were in turmoil.

"Is that all? I thought you might take this a little more seriously, seeing as I was about to help you get back on the team."

"Who needs it? We’ll just go live in Building Three. We don’t like hanging out with you guys anyway."

"Fine. Then when you’re kicked out of Building One with nothing and move into an emptied-out Building Three... don’t come crying to me when you’re starving and dying of thirst. Oh, right, maybe you two can consider taking over the convenience store outside the complex. After all, that scrawny weakling Zhao Wenjie is great at giving the zombies a light scratch."

"Kicked out with nothing??? Is he really that cruel?"

At this, Yang Yi panicked. Without food and water, what would she do?

To be blunt, she was still living off the resources of Yu Dong’s team.

The Energy Bricks she had originally refused to eat, after a day of hunger, now tasted amazing.

They had water, and they could start their own fire. That was why she could stand on the second floor and make snarky comments about Yu Dong’s group every day.

If they were really kicked out with nothing...

"I’ll say it again: without my help, you’d already be zombie food. You’d better think long and hard about whether you can survive in the future relying on Zhao Wenjie."

Yang Yi glanced inside at Zhao Wenjie, who was waiting for her while sunbathing on the balcony. Then she looked back at Zhao Youcai, his face hidden in the shadows on the other side of the fire door.

She gritted her teeth. "Zhao Youcai, what do you really want?"

"Leave him. Become my woman. For my sake, Dongzi won’t hold this against you anymore..."

"No way! I don’t even like you!"

"That’s fine. I don’t like you either. It’s just a transaction."

"What about Wen Jie?"

"Him? Would he have been kicked out if it weren’t for you? You’ve already ruined things for him once. If you really love him, you’ll stop holding him back. If you leave him, it might actually allow Zhao Wenjie to rejoin the team."

Seeing the conflicted look on Yang Yi’s face, Zhao Youcai pressed his advantage:

"Sometimes, letting go leads to a better life. Zhao Wenjie has done right by you. Cut him some slack. He wants to get back on the team, can’t you see that? Think about it... Oh, and starting today, no more throwing trash down. Find a place to bag it up yourselves."

Having said just enough, Zhao Youcai left.

When Yang Yi returned to her apartment, Zhao Wenjie immediately rushed over.

"Hey! Baby! What did Zhao Youcai say to you?"

"He said... we’re not allowed to throw our trash down anymore."

"That’s it? Nothing else?"

"Nothing else."

"Huh? He talked for that long about a stupid little thing like that? What a psycho..."

「That night.」

Yu Dong held the 3,000-word self-criticism letter that Zhao Wenjie had written for Yang Yi, reading it word by word.

Between the lines, Yu Dong could almost see the version of Yang Yi that existed in Zhao Wenjie’s mind.

Although Zhao Wenjie did his best to imitate Yang Yi’s tone, Yu Dong easily saw through the little trick. Yang Yi would only ever think from her own perspective, whereas Zhao Wenjie couldn’t help but suck up to women.

’A person’s language and handwriting can change, but their personality and way of thinking don’t...’

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration!

Yu Dong had a sudden realization about something.

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