As they got closer and closer to Nanzhuang City, the vehicles on the road increased.
Some were out hunting zombies or scavenging for supplies, while others were refugees from nearby areas.
Despite the numerous vehicles, the road had clearly been cleared, allowing them to travel faster.
Half an hour later, Qin Shilei and the others passed through the checkpoint and entered Heshan District.
Qin Shilei said to Zhang Qiang in front, "Brother Qiang, let's find a place to stay first."
Zhang Qiang simply replied, "Alright."
However, they found several residential communities to be overcrowded.
Even the shops on the ground floor of the communities were packed with families.
Upon inquiry, they learned that people from the surrounding areas had fled here, having heard that this was a base established by the military and that food was being distributed.
The small Heshan District was probably teeming with hundreds of thousands of people.
Due to the lack of water and electricity, most people only lived on floors below the tenth, making it even more crowded.
Qin Shilei frowned and said, "Let's keep looking. Let's find a better place and go directly to buy supplies."
After another half hour of driving, Xie Haimei suddenly pointed to a luxurious residential community by the river and said, "Brother Qiang, that place looks nice."
It was a luxurious riverside community built right next to the Chiyuan River, called Chiyuan Haoting.
Within the community, apart from two high-rise buildings of over twenty stories, the rest were three-and-a-half-story luxury villas.
Zhang Qiang turned the steering wheel and drove towards it, "Hopefully, there are still empty houses."
As they reached the entrance of the community, a middle-aged man in his forties immediately stepped out to block them and said, "This place is already occupied, please leave."
Qin Shilei took out a pack of cigarettes, took one out, and offered it to him. "Uncle, we want to buy a villa here."
The uncle, agile, accepted the cigarette and quickly lit it.
After taking a deep puff and savoring it for a while, he replied in a low voice, "We don't sell villas here. You should look elsewhere."
Damn it, only taking gifts and not doing any work.
Qin Shilei suppressed his temper and continued to ask, "Are there any empty apartments in those two high-rise buildings?"
The uncle exhaled a ring of smoke, "Yes, no one lives above the twelfth floor."
He paused and then added, "Even though there are empty ones, we don't welcome you."
"Uncle, this is going too far."
Qin Shilei said in a deep voice, "You guys occupied this place too, didn't you? If there are empty houses, why can't we live here?"
Actually, he didn't want to live too high up, he was just indignant about the other party's attitude.
Currently, in the entire Nanzhuang City, except for a few places with large generators supplying electricity, all other areas had no water or electricity.
Let alone anything else, if you wanted to use the toilet, you had to fetch water from the Chiyuan River to flush it.
As for general drinking water, it was also drawn from the Chiyuan River, then simply filtered and distributed at certain locations.
You say, if there are zombie corpses in the river, and you drink it and turn into a zombie, what then?
Just leave it to fate.
Perhaps with the passage of time, and the absorption of crystal cores, human physiques were constantly strengthening, and so far, no one had turned into a zombie after drinking water.
It was also possible that there were fewer zombies submerged in the river, and thus less virus.
However, suffering from diarrhea or other discomforts due to drinking this water was common.
Alternatively, you could drink the previously available purified water or mineral water.
Getting back to the point, due to various inconveniences, people generally did not choose to live in high-rise buildings.
And yet, this uncle said they weren't welcome in the buildings above the twelfth floor.
"On what grounds?" the uncle sneered, "On the grounds that our Heavenly Wolf Gang has the strongest fists."
He paused and then rubbed his fingers together, "Of course, things are not absolute. As long as you are sensible, I can still show you a way."
Qin Shilei extended his palm, and a flickering lightning bolt appeared in his palm. "I wonder if my fists are strong enough."
The uncle's expression changed, and he said with forced bravado, "Don't try to scare me. Several captains and the leader of our Heavenly Wolf Gang also understand supernatural abilities."
He paused and then said, "As long as you join our Heavenly Wolf Gang, you can move into those two high-rise buildings."
Qin Shilei pointed at the villas. "I wonder if your leader is here. I want to buy a villa from him."
"Don't even think about it. Those are the residences of our Heavenly Wolf Gang's high-ranking members."
The uncle wanted to mock them again, but seeing the lightning in Qin Shilei's hand, he could only reply, "They've gone out to hunt zombies and will be back by nightfall."
"Maybe we should look elsewhere," An Qian said softly to Qin Shilei, walking up to him.
Qin Shilei frowned and was about to agree.
"Help!"
Suddenly, from the direction of the riverside at the back of the community, a tragic cry for help could be heard.
The uncle's face changed, and he turned to rush over, but after a few steps, he abruptly slowed down, climbed up a tall tree in the community, and looked over.
The more he looked, the more terrified he became. He quickly slid down and ran out of the community without looking back.
"Let's go, let's go take a look," Qin Shilei called out, and like a leopard, he dashed towards the direction of the sound.
Turning a corner around a villa, he was met with a gruesome scene.
A crocodile, three to four meters long, had bitten a woman in half, swallowing her upper body like a gluttonous shrew.
Just after swallowing the woman, it opened its mouth again and lunged at a little girl, about seven or eight years old, who was two to three meters away.
"Whoosh!"
Qin Shilei quickly drew his short bow and shot an arrow.
The fast-moving arrow shot in through the mouth, passed through the upper jaw, and exited from the crocodile's head.
The crocodile's open mouth weakly closed, and it lay on the ground motionless.
"Help!"
At this moment, panicked cries for help came from several surrounding villas.
"Let's split up."
Qin Shilei said to An Qian and the others who had just arrived, while running towards the nearest villa.
An Qian and the others also drew their weapons and ran in various directions from where the sounds were coming.
Qin Shilei rushed into the villa through the dilapidated door and immediately saw a crocodile chasing a middle-aged woman upstairs.
The crocodile was five to six meters long, its massive body filling the stairs.
With each stride of its thick limbs, it climbed seven or eight steps.
It was about to open its mouth and tear the woman in half.
"Whoosh!"
Qin Shilei shot an arrow at the crocodile's head.
A flash of sparks appeared, and the sharp arrow was actually deflected by the crocodile's tough hide, falling to the wall nearby.
"Roar!"
The crocodile shook its head, breaking the banister of the stairs, and roared ferociously at Qin Shilei.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Qin Shilei fired a series of arrows, aiming at the crocodile's eyes.
"Clang clang clang!"
The crocodile quickly closed its eyes, and its hard eyelids deflected each arrow.
Then, with a leap, it jumped down from the stairs and rapidly crawled towards Qin Shilei.
"Pfft!"
The crocodile sprayed a water jet towards where Qin Shilei was perceived to be.
Qin Shilei dodged the water jet to the side, drew his Jinghong Sword, and charged towards the crocodile.
The water jet behind him blasted a hole through the thick brick wall and shot out.