More than a dozen men and women with knives and swords rushed in just as Zhang Cheng put away the crystal core.
The burly man leading them, with a face full of thick flesh, said sternly, "This is our territory, get out!"
Liang Xinhui said indignantly, "All the zombies inside and out were killed by us, my husband and I. How did it become your territory?"
"If I say it is, then it is," the burly man said with a fierce look. "Do you have any objections?"
An ice bullet rose in Liang Xinhui's palm, and a golden light flashed on Zhang Cheng's saber.
"Hahaha!" The burly man roared with laughter. "Since you don't know what's good for you, then let us stretch our muscles."
After speaking, he let out a loud roar, and his whole body expanded by a circle, making him look even more imposing.
The people behind him also took out their weapons, and four of them activated their special abilities.
Zhang Cheng frowned, his opponents were not weak, no wonder they dared to seize territory.
Thinking of the possibility of getting injured and delaying his search for his daughter,
Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth and said softly to his wife, "Wife, let's go."
Liang Xinhui looked at the supermarket that hadn't been searched yet and replied with a pained "Okay."
Facing them, the couple slowly retreated towards the outside of the supermarket.
"Boss, a mutated zombie," one of the men suddenly pointed at the corpse of a Licker on the ground.
The burly man's eyes darted, and he said in a deep voice, "You can leave, but leave the treasure chest and crystal core dropped by the mutated zombie behind."
"Don't push your luck, we'll fight you to the death if necessary," Zhang Cheng said angrily.
The burly man said sinisterly, "Leave the items, or leave your lives."
At first, it was just a searched supermarket, and he didn't intend to fall out with people of unknown depth. Now that there was loot from a mutated zombie, it was worth a fight.
"They are hindering us from finding our daughter, let's fight them," Liang Xinhui said coldly.
They had snatched the supermarket's supplies, forcing them to spend more time looking for food, and now they were being robbed of treasure chests, preventing them from becoming stronger with the aid of the chests.
All of this would hinder their search for their daughter.
Thinking of their daughter, whose life and death were unknown, Zhang Cheng and his wife's killing intent grew.
After Liang Xinhui finished speaking, she threw an ice bullet into the crowd, and Zhang Cheng also flashed and attacked a person he had already locked onto.
Zhang Cheng and his wife were quite strong, but the opponents were numerous. After killing five of them, they were injured and fled.
"Chase them, cut them down!" the burly man said angrily, leading his subordinates in pursuit.
...
Zhang Qiang, who was driving ahead, suddenly said to the back of the car, "It looks like a group of people are chasing a middle-aged couple ahead. Should we stop and let them pass before we go?"
Qin Shilei looked forward through the glass and nodded. "Yes, as long as they don't provoke us, we shouldn't meddle in other people's business."
Hearing this, Zhang Qiang stopped the armored vehicle by the roadside.
Zhang Xiaoli glanced at the other side of the road.
Seeing the middle-aged couple running past on the other side of the road, she exclaimed, "Dad, Mom!"
Zhang Xiaoli stood up with a whoosh, pushed aside the crowd, and ran out of the car.
Qin Shilei and An Qian quickly followed her out.
As soon as they jumped out of the car, they saw from a distance that the middle-aged couple had been caught up by the people behind them and were already knocked to the ground.
"Die!"
The burly man raised his great saber and ferociously slashed towards Zhang Cheng's neck.
"No!"
Zhang Xiaoli cried out with a heart-wrenching scream.
Her closest loved ones were about to die before her eyes, and her activated vines were still four or five meters away.
Was this the farewell after just being reunited?
"Whoosh!"
An arrow flew past the vines and, at the last moment, directly hit the burly man's neck, protruding from his throat.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
As the sound of arrows breaking through the air echoed, the remaining group of people were all shot in the legs and fell to the ground.
Zhang Xiaoli saw the burly man who was about to strike her father shot dead by Qin Shilei. She felt as if she had returned from hell to heaven. She turned and nodded gratefully at Qin Shilei before rushing towards her parents.
"Dad, Mom, I missed you so much!"
"Li'er, Mom and Dad missed you too!"
The three of them hugged each other, tears flowing uncontrollably.
After a while, their emotions slowly calmed down.
Qin Shilei took the opportunity to ask, "Xiaoli, what are you going to do with them?"
The situation had been critical earlier, so he had shot the leader dead. Now, these were Zhang Xiaoli's parents' enemies, so they should decide their fate.
"Spare us, we only attacked you because we were intimidated by Lin Sen's power."
"Seeing that you are not seriously injured, please spare us."
"My three-year-old daughter is waiting for me back at the base, please spare my life."
The people lying on the ground cried and begged for mercy.
"Hmph!"
Zhang Xiaoli said coldly, "You almost caused my father and daughter to be separated forever, and you still want me to spare you? Dream on."
She paused and then turned to her parents, "Mom and Dad, you and Brother Qin go back to the car first. I'll be back soon."
Zhang Cheng, however, said to his wife, "Wife, you and Li'er should step aside. Let us men handle this dirty work."
Zhang Xiaoli looked at her father with surprise, not expecting her usually kind father to willingly take on the role of a killer.
"Be careful, they can still resist," Liang Xinhui reminded her husband, then turned and walked towards the armored vehicle with her daughter.
The group on the ground still had the strength to resist, but within the range of Qin Shilei's short bow, it was all a joke.
When Qin Shilei and the others returned to the armored vehicle, Luo Hongyi and the others were already standing by the car.
Luo Hongyi said gratefully, "Mr. Qin, thank you for your help all this way. We should leave now. We will always remember your kindness."
Although the armored vehicle was quite spacious, with the addition of Zhang Xiaoli's parents, they would be crammed together. Therefore, Commander Luo and his group wisely chose to leave.
Professor Yu and the others also expressed their thanks before turning and walking towards a discarded car not far away.
An Qian asked, "Qin Shilei, where are we going now?"
Their original goal was to escort Zhang Xiaoli back to Tongquan City to find her parents. Now that she had found them, there was no need to go to Tongquan City.
Qin Shilei said with a smile, "To celebrate Xiaoli's reunion with her family, let's find a place to celebrate properly before deciding our next move."
Everyone found a relatively clean small building by the roadside to serve as a temporary resting place.
The hall was brightly lit by storage battery-powered lights.
Several women worked together to prepare eight dishes and one soup, filling the dining table.
Everyone sat around a large round table, with a can of iced beer placed in front of each of them.
With Little Qiang guarding outside the building, everyone's tense nerves relaxed, and faint smiles appeared on their faces.
This warm scene was like a small gathering before the apocalypse.