Chapter Twenty-One: Visitors to the Safe Zone, Guilt by Possession

The young men all held sticks in their hands, clearly acting as the village’s guards.

Gu Lang appeared calm; he had anticipated this. It made sense for there to be such safe zones in the wilderness.

He spoke in an even tone.
“Survivors from the city. Is this a neutral safe zone?”

The young man leading them nodded, his face full of vigilance.
“What’s going on with those women by your side? Why do they all have their heads covered?”

Gu Lang smiled. If they didn’t cover their heads, wouldn’t their identities as zombies be exposed?
“They were burned in a fire. Their faces are a bit unsightly—if you don’t mind.”

The young man quickly waved his hand.
“Forget it! You can go in. You can trade supplies inside.”

“But let me warn you! Outsiders aren’t allowed to spend the night or fight inside the village. Otherwise, don’t expect to leave here alive!”

Such was the state of the apocalypse: laws no longer existed, and only force could keep people in line.

Gu Lang entered the village safely.

The village was small, but bustling with people—surprisingly, all of them alive.

Clearly, they were the lucky ones.

But not everyone qualified to settle in the village.

Many people wore tattered clothes, their bodies gaunt and frail.

In the apocalypse, everyone was barely scraping by.

On either side of the road, various stalls were set up, selling all kinds of goods.

There was even roast rat and roasted frog on offer.

Gu Lang walked among the stalls, his eyes scanning constantly.

He had come to the safe zone with a purpose this time.

The dog system’s task was particularly difficult.

Facing the zombie queen was bound to be life-threatening.

Gu Lang needed to prepare some supplies.

But as for what exactly to trade for, he was still undecided.

However, he did have medicine—hard currency in these times.

Soon, Gu Lang stopped at a stall.

The stall was filled with bullets, and even homemade guns.

The vendor was a burly middle-aged man who grinned broadly.

“Hey, young man, want to try one? I made these myself—not as good as real guns, but better than just using sticks.”

Gu Lang nodded. That was the truth.

In the apocalypse, one had to avoid getting injured at all costs.

Ranged weapons had real value.

Especially when fighting Chosen Ones—a surprise shot could make all the difference.

Gu Lang had skills, but his wives did not.

He couldn’t use his skills everywhere—that would be far too conspicuous.

So Gu Lang took out two bottles of antibiotics from his coat.

“How much can I get with these?”

The vendor’s eyes widened instantly—medicine! It could save your life at a critical moment!

“I’ll trade, I’ll trade! I’ll give you half of what I have here!”

“That’ll do, but this stuff is precious. You’ll have to throw in some extra bullets for me!”

Gu Lang put on a show of reluctance.

Of course, he was only pretending.

He actually had plenty of medicine—whole crates of it in the pharmaceutical factory.

Soon, Gu Lang handed each of his wives a homemade gun and some bullets.

With that, their small group grew significantly stronger.

But just then, Li Xiaoxiao sidled up to Gu Lang and whispered,
“Brother Gu Lang! Someone was watching us just now. I think they’re getting greedy.”

Gu Lang’s expression didn’t change. He answered quietly,
“Looks like they’ve taken the bait. Let’s go—let’s head out to the outskirts.”

The group left the village again.

Their visit was brief and hurried, but their goal was achieved.

Gu Lang hadn’t come just to buy supplies.

He had deliberately displayed the medicine to attract attention.

He wanted to grow stronger and arm himself.

Ordinary guns alone wouldn’t cut it.

What he truly wanted were attribute points—and innate skills.

Zombies with skills were rare, but every Chosen One had one.

That was why Gu Lang had traded the medicine—to lure in a Chosen One.

The principle of “a man’s wealth is his own ruin” rang especially true in the apocalypse.

Now that Gu Lang had left the village, quite a few people trailed behind him.

But he pretended not to notice.

Only when they reached a secluded forest did he turn and sneer.

“Well, since you’re here, come on out!”

As soon as he spoke, five figures emerged from the bushes behind him.

One of them was the gun vendor.

“Well, kid! You’re not as dumb as you look…”

Before he could finish, a shard of ice shot through the air.

A bowl-sized hole burst open in the vendor’s chest, blood gushing out.

“You—you’re a Chosen One? There’s actually a Chosen One here?”

Clutching his chest, the vendor was stunned. A Chosen One? How unlucky could he get?

The remaining four were shocked, immediately pulling out their homemade guns.

Clearly, none of them were Chosen Ones—just ordinary people, eyeing Gu Lang’s medicine.

They were from the same village.

United against outsiders, they would rob anyone who caught their interest.

Such was the apocalypse—there was little difference between a safe zone and a bandit den.

Gu Lang let out a cold laugh.

“No Chosen Ones? Then let’s not waste words—kill them all.”

The little girl stuck out her tongue, and five zombies leapt out from the bushes.

Gu Lang summoned five more himself.

There was no need for them to lift a finger; the group was slaughtered on the spot.

The guns never even had a chance to fire.

Gu Lang stepped forward and gathered up all their homemade guns.

Yu Qiuchi stood with her hands on her hips, indignant.

“They really underestimate us, sending just ordinary people. Does the village not even have any Chosen Ones?”

Gu Lang shook his head.

“They must have some. They just didn’t think much of us. After all, Chosen Ones are rarer than zombies. Who would expect that all of us are Chosen Ones?”

“Let’s go. We’ll find a place to spend the night, and worry about the rest tomorrow.”

…

At the village chief’s house, dozens of strong men had gathered.

At their head was an old man who looked over eighty.

Though he seemed frail, he was the leader of all these men.

But he was not a Chosen One.

“My friends! You trusted me and elected me village chief, so it’s my duty to protect you. If you follow my lead, our safe zone will become more stable step by step!”

“What we lack now are Chosen Ones. The Zhang family’s child has good potential—could be a future Chosen One!”

“If we succeed this time, our village could have three Chosen Ones. Speaking of which, why hasn’t Old Zhang come back yet?”

Old Zhang was the burly, middle-aged gun vendor.

A tall, thin young man raised his hand.

“Chief, they went to chase down those outsiders but haven’t returned. Could something have happened?”

The chief frowned.

He wasn’t a Chosen One, but he ruled over them with intelligence and trust.

Old Zhang, as the village’s craftsman, was crucial and couldn’t be lost.

“Hurry! Send a Chosen One to look for them. We can’t afford to lose the skill to make homemade guns!”

Soon, torches lit up the night, and dozens of people set out.

Following the trail, they quickly found the corpses of Old Zhang and the others.

“What! The guns are gone! And these wounds—done by a Chosen One!”

The squad leader, Zhang Erniu, looked grim.

He was a bronze-level expert, highly respected in the village.

He had a mission to accomplish and couldn’t let the village down.

Gritting his teeth, he roared,

“Keep after them! Whoever dares kill our people—even if it’s Wang Ping’an—will pay dearly for it!”