CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: THE SPARROW THAT SHOOTS ARROWS

Su Changxing cleared out the room on the second floor, closed the door, and crouched by the windowsill.

It was nine-twenty, with nearly three hours until the Mysterious Shop refreshed. He planned to wait here until it did, ensuring he could obtain the Speed Enhancement.

Only one person could enter the shop at a time, and there was only one Speed Enhancement. There was no guarantee that others wouldn’t target the Mysterious Shop.

Su Chang was hiding on the second floor above the Mysterious Shop, carefully observing the movements below. Around ten o’clock, someone did show up, as he had expected.

A man wearing a Zhongshan suit and green plastic shoes held an axe, exuding the aura of a seasoned old farmer.

Yet, he cut through the zombies with skillful and practiced movements, executing with precision, steadiness, and ruthlessness.

"This one is obviously a practiced fighter; he must have cut down more than a few people."

Su Changxing pondered what this man’s identity might have been to possess such skills.

After effortlessly dispatching the trailing zombies, the middle-aged man immediately lay down and crawled under a vehicle.

Su Changxing was somewhat surprised that someone else had the same idea as him — waiting here in ambush to react to whatever changes occurred.

Chen Qianwu skillfully crawled under the car, surveying his surroundings.

This wasn’t his first time doing this; he had done similar things when he was younger, only stopping after getting injured, retiring to farm in his hometown.

He had come here last night but arrived late, finding the food and water had already been taken. However, he did see the rare resource inside, the Speed Enhancement.

Even though he wasn’t much of a gamer, he knew what it was, an item that could enhance one’s body, and he was determined to acquire it.

A weapon was important, but the body was the most important weapon.

Soon after the middle-aged man crawled under the car, Su Changxing saw three people approaching from the other side of the street.

They were clearing zombies as they made their way over.

In the middle, a young man holding a steel rod was speaking confidently:

"Liu Zhonggang’s group is no longer a threat. I heard Liu Zhonggang was cut down in the house next door. We must obtain this thing. I’ll try it first, and if there’s another opportunity, you can go later."

The short and stout young man on the left smiled, "Big brother, don’t stand on ceremony. Us three meeting and forming a bond in this world is the greatest fortune."

The gaunt young man on the right echoed, "That’s right. As long as we work together, we can survive this apocalypse."

Chen Qianwu lay motionless under the car, listening expressionlessly to the young men’s conversation, merely gripping the axe tighter.

He was more adept with a gun, but unfortunately, he didn’t have one. If he did, there’d be no need to hide like this.

The three young men remained cautious as they stood in front of the Mysterious Shop, surveying the surroundings, aware that others might come.

It wasn’t until nearly eleven-thirty that they relaxed a bit, thinking they had secured the area, when suddenly a figure in a Zhongshan suit crawled out from under the car, raising an axe and striking towards the stout young man without any hesitation.

Caught off guard, the stout young man tried to dodge but couldn’t completely avoid it, taking a heavy hit on the shoulder.

He cried out in pain and collapsed on the ground, struggling.

This blow took him out of the fight.

Chen Qianwu raised the axe and charged at another person, knowing he was alone and had to take advantage of their shock to eliminate two of them quickly.

Facing them head-on in a three-on-one wasn’t to his advantage.

"Damn, this guy is arrogant, all alone. Let’s get him," the young man with the steel rod, clearly hot-tempered, yelled as he charged forward without hesitation.

The remaining young man initially hesitated seeing his overweight comrade hurt but followed his big brother into the fray.

This was the moment to decide the outcome for both sides.

Chen Qianwu’s target was the young man with the steel rod, clearly the leader and strongest of the three. The saying goes, capture the ringleader first.

He swung directly at the steel rod youth, ignoring the other coming at him with a wooden stick.

Both sides fought desperately, and in a flash, it was over.

The steel rod youth looked in disbelief at the axe in his chest, the warm liquid soaking his clothes along the blade. He didn’t understand how the opponent avoided his attack and took the blow from his teammate to bury the axe in his chest.

"The old still have their edge."

Chen Qianwu sneered, delivering another blow to the steel rod youth’s head, killing him brutally.

The only young man remaining standing was terrified. Forgetting about their sworn brotherhood, he turned to flee, terror and the fear of death consuming him.

For the first time, he felt so cowardly, running away with his brothers dead behind him, feeling as if he lost all his resolve.

Chen Qianwu watched the fleeing figure, not bothering to pursue, instead turning his gaze to the stout young man on the ground.

"Please, don’t kill me. I beg you. I don’t want anything..."

Amidst his pleas, Chen Qianwu plunged the axe into his neck, blood spurting, releasing his grip, leaving the stout young man lifeless on the ground.

Chen Qianwu casually shook the blood from his axe, not sparing a glance at the corpse, as if he had just slaughtered a pig.

Su Changxing observed solemnly, aware that this man was likely a real killer, slaughtering with impunity, unflinching as he cut down people.

Whereas Su Chang was largely putting on an act, his internal turmoil significant when killing someone.

If it came to close combat, this man might be as much of a threat as Wu Wenbi, even if he wasn’t a Superpower User.

Chen Qianwu scanned the surroundings, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, but he still felt something amiss, as if he’d overlooked something.

But with only ten minutes until the Mysterious Shop appeared, he’d be careful.

Su Changxing drew an arrow, ready to act, when suddenly another person dashed out from the darkness.

His face full of viciousness, wielding a wooden stick, he charged at the middle-aged man, the stick whistling through the air, aiming for his opponent’s head.

Chen Qianwu reacted quickly but was still a beat too slow, having to block the blow with his arm, kicking his attacker to the ground, recognizing him as the young man who had fled earlier, surprised he’d come back.

"Isn’t living good? I let you go, and you come back to die," Chen Qianwu rasped, puzzled why the young man returned to face him again, clearly no match.

While lying on the ground, the gaunt young man shouted hoarsely, "My two brothers are dead. Living means nothing to me now. Either you die today, or I do."

Chen Qianwu sneered, about to finish off the foolish young man.

Suddenly, he felt something strange atop his head, like an arrow...

Why was there an arrow?

Before he could comprehend the answer, his mind fell into complete darkness.