"One more left."
The two had successfully killed their way to the school gate, and the number of mutant crystals had reached nine.
The group of girls from earlier was just a small interlude, and neither of them took it to heart - it was merely the impotent rage of the weak.
"If we kill all the zombies at the gate, ten-something, that should be enough. We can then avoid the zombies and hurry back."
They definitely had to return to the hotel. Xiao Jun had prepared a large quantity of food there, and having a lunchbox and water bottle didn't mean you were set for food and water. If they were unlucky enough to not come across a good airdrop box later, running out of supplies was a possibility.
Moreover, there were two of them now. The food and water they currently had could last them at most twenty days.
Most importantly, the zombies would greatly strengthen at night. At that time, hiding in the hotel would provide more security.
Under Xiao Jun unleashing his full firepower, the dozen-something zombies at the gate were finished off in a matter of minutes. Wan Qianya rushed up first to start looting.
"Got it."
She hit the jackpot with the very first one. This girl really had good luck, bringing her along was undoubtedly the right decision.
After groping the corpses of six zombies in a row, unexpectedly, Wan Qianya found another crystal.
"Let's go, back to the hotel."
The purpose of coming out today had already been overfulfilled. After killing so many zombies, Xiao Jun was also somewhat tired. Now he just wanted to go back to the big bed in the hotel for a nice sleep.
There were many more zombies on the streets compared to inside the campus, so the two advanced carefully, fearing that a moment of inattention would attract a large horde.
Xiao Jun already had abundant apocalypse experience to begin with, and had perfect control over maintaining the aggro distance from the zombies. Wan Qianya was also clever, with strong physical flexibility.
After over an hour, the two returned to under the hotel without incident.
"Brother Jun, it looks like there are also zombies inside the hotel."
The two were hiding behind a large pillar at the hotel entrance, observing the situation inside.
It was estimated that someone had gone out scavenging last night. When the zombies descended, they panicked and ran towards the hotel, attracting some zombies, and even turning into zombies themselves.
"There's no way around it. Stay close to me, I'll hack my way in."
The hotel lobby was not small, roughly estimated to contain at least twenty zombies. This was still not enough to stump Xiao Jun.
He took out another combat knife from his ring, wielding a knife in each hand. For this battle, speed was paramount. If it dragged on for too long, it could alarm the zombie horde outside, which would spell trouble.
After taking a deep breath, Xiao Jun rushed into the hotel lobby with two steel knives in hand. This commotion immediately attracted the attention of the zombies in the lobby, which came staggering towards him.
Xiao Jun did not fully enter the hotel, instead standing at the entrance, exhibiting the imposing manner of a one-man checkpoint.
The two steel knives in his hands were swung continuously without pause, smashing any zombie that attempted to approach him.
"Brother Jun, it looks like the zombies outside noticed this place."
Wan Qianya spoke nervously. She kept a close eye on the movements of the zombie horde outside.
"Come over to me."
Xiao Jun took three steps forward, opening up a space for Wan Qianya to enter.
"Hurry, shut the glass door."
Wan Qianya hurried to both sides of the doorway, forcefully pushing the hotel's glass doors.
"They're here, brother Jun."
Even Wan Qianya's voice was somewhat trembling now. The zombies outside really came. If they got surrounded front and back, Xiao Jun might survive, but she would certainly die.
"Is the door shut properly?"
"Shut... Shut properly."
Although afraid, Wan Qianya still seriously completed the task Xiao Jun had instructed.
"Brace against the door, quick."
Wan Qianya firmly braced her back against the glass door. The zombies outside had also arrived at the entrance, and started to randomly pound on the glass.
"Can't hold on!"
The tremendous impact made Wan Qianya's petite body somewhat unable to withstand it. Just then, a suffocating sensation came over her as Xiao Jun's back tightly pressed against her body.
[I'm done for, my panda is going to be crushed flat!]
Xiao Jun was annoyed but also felt it was funny. What was this girl thinking?
It wasn't that Xiao Jun deliberately wanted to lean on her. Doing so was to protect her.
If the both of them braced against the door side by side, Xiao Jun couldn't guarantee the zombies inside wouldn't injure her.
"Endure for a bit, it'll be over soon."
After another bout of slashing and hacking, the last zombie in the lobby met its end at Xiao Jun's blades.
He turned around and used both hands to brace firmly against the glass door, not letting the zombies outside push it open.
"Brother Jun, what should we do?"
Constantly bracing against the door was obviously not a solution. Humans would eventually tire out.
"First go and search all the corpses, don't be afraid."
Xiao Jun had just mentally ridiculed Wan Qianya in his heart, yet now took the lead to showcase his own greedy behavior, still wanting to search for crystals even while facing death.
Wan Qianya also had no other choice, she could only listen to Xiao Jun and first go search the corpses.
In two minutes, Wan Qianya had finished searching everything. From the twenty-something zombie corpses in this spacious lobby, she had actually obtained four crystals. She really loved these lucky hands of hers.
"Do you see that small door over there? That's the stairwell."
"I see it." Wan Qianya nodded, not knowing what Xiao Jun's intention was.
"That door can be deadbolted. Go over first and lock half the door, leave the other half open. After I come in, immediately shut it."
There was another sentence Xiao Jun didn't say. Even if all these zombies rushed in, he was confident in getting away from them and escaping. This one step was the final test for Wan Qianya.
"Don't worry Brother Jun, I'll wait for you at the door. You must get over here."
Wan Qianya only hesitated for a second before agreeing.
She was of no help here, and still needed Xiao Jun's protection. Just a few hours ago she had said she wouldn't drag him down, yet was now going back on her word so quickly.
She hurriedly ran to the stairwell at the hotel entrance. As Xiao Jun said, the door could indeed be locked.
Wan Qianya closed half the door first and locked it, then went out to give Xiao Jun an OK gesture.
After a three second countdown, Xiao Jun suddenly released his hands and dashed madly for the stairwell entrance.
One second later, the door was shoved open by the surging zombies. Xiao Jun displayed physical capabilities far beyond normal people, instantly arriving at the stairwell entrance.
Wan Qianya anxiously waited there, uncertain whether the one entering next would be Xiao Jun or the zombies. Yet she still did not choose to shut the door.
"Brother Jun!"
Wan Qianya called out joyfully. At this moment, Xiao Jun was the strongest man in her heart.
"Shut the door, stupid woman!"
Xiao Jun brushed past in a flash. Wan Qianya hurriedly reacted, also securing the other half of the door.
"Thump thump thump!"
That was the sound of zombies smashing against the door.
"Shhh."
Xiao Jun put his index finger to his lips, signaling Wan Qianya not to make any noise.
Unable to hear movement or smell live humans, these zombies would leave after a while.
Sure enough, after a few minutes the banging on the door stopped. The two breathed sighs of relief, carefully climbing upstairs.
21st floor.
All room doors were still tightly shut, but the corpses in the corridor had been cleared away.
Now with so many zombies around, casually tossing a corpse downstairs would leave not even bone fragments after a minute.
"Beep, fingerprint verified successfully."
Fortunately, the hotel room used fingerprint locks. This type of lock ran on batteries, so power outage wouldn't affect it. As long as the batteries had charge it was fine.
They were finally safe.