Chapter 117: Speechless, Even Not Leaving the House Is Wrong

Chapter 117: Speechless, Even Not Leaving the House Is Wrong

"Meng, did something happen?"

As Li Qiang retreated, Duan Yan and Cheng Yu gradually came into view.

The stairway leading downstairs was closer to Duan Yan's side, so after hearing the sound of someone running away, they both grabbed their knives and opened the door to check the situation.

Meng Ci had already opened the iron gate and walked out.

Shen Que, who was training the eggplant, heard the commotion outside and came out as well, standing behind Meng Ci.

Seeing that its owner wasn't stopping it, the eggplant pushed against the door and squeezed out.

Li Qiang and the man in the hat swallowed nervously and kept retreating.

As the man in the hat continued to retreat, he suddenly felt something sharp pressing against his back. Instantly, he dared not move any further and even thought about moving forward.

"Don't move!"

Just as the man in the hat took a step forward, he felt the knife behind him follow closely, even closer than before.

Hearing this command again, he immediately stopped.

"Brother, brother, we didn't recognize you."

"We won't come here again. Please let us go this time."

Despite the temperature being forty degrees below zero, the man in the hat was sweating profusely.

Li Qiang, now pressed against the wall, also pleaded for mercy.

"We, we were just looking around."

"Brothers, please spare us."

Ignoring the two men, Meng Ci spoke to Duan Yan and Cheng Yu.

"Teacher Duan, Teacher Cheng."

"These two guys tried to break our lock just now."

"Luckily, I discovered them in time, so no major disaster occurred."

"Thank you, teachers, for your help. The rest is up to us."

"It's cold outside; please go back."

Duan Yan nodded and, before leaving, instructed, "If you need anything, speak up."

Meng Ci acknowledged.

Seeing that the man named Li Qiang attempted to escape after Duan Yan left, Shen Que patted the eggplant squatting beside him.

The eggplant immediately got up and ran quickly to Li Qiang, growling, which made Li Qiang's legs tremble.

"Help! Help!"

"I won't do it again. Please spare me."

Li Qiang never expected that someone would keep a wolf at this point, especially one of such size, making him no match.

Meng Ci threatened the man in the hat with a knife, forcing him to stand next to Li Qiang.

"Tell us, why did you try to break our lock?" Meng Ci asked.

For no reason, these two men came to break the lock, which must mean something had been exposed.

Since this was the case, they needed to know the reason and prevent it from happening again.

Li Qiang's eyes darted between the eggplant and the knife in Meng Ci's hand, swallowing nervously before explaining.

"We, we observe. Some houses have living people inside."

"But if no one enters or leaves for a long time, we assume the people inside are dead."

"So we break into their houses to take things."

Li Qiang and the man in the hat lived in this building. After returning from the refugee settlement, they found out there were twelve households in the building.

The seventeenth floor counted as two households, while the sixteenth and fifteenth floors each had four.

On the fourteenth floor, only Li Qiang and the couple lived.

Recently, the couple hadn't left their house for five consecutive days.

Worried that something might have happened to them, Li Qiang and the man in the hat decided to break in, hoping to report any issues promptly.

The man in the hat had learned some lock-picking skills before the apocalypse, so he used a piece of wire to attempt opening the lock.

Click.

Hearing the lock open, the two men were overjoyed and entered the house.

They searched the house for the couple and eventually found them in the bedroom.

Their faces were contorted, and the exposed skin had turned blue-black.

Judging by the state of the bodies, they had likely been frozen to death for several days.

Li Qiang remembered that five days ago, the temperature had dropped sharply again at night. He estimated that was when they froze to death.

In the post-apocalyptic world, life and death had become commonplace to them.

So he pulled the door open and planned to leave.

But when they saw the firewood in the living room, both of them had second thoughts.

They carried the firewood back to their homes bit by bit. Then they rummaged through the couple's house, finding several cans of rat meat, a small bag of rice, and many seeds.

These supplies would last them for a few days, so they wouldn't have to go out into the icy wilderness to chop wood or catch rats.

With these newfound benefits, their searches outside became half-hearted.

Instead, they focused on observing which households hadn't left for days, and after confirming, they started prying open doors to take things.

As for houses where people frequently came and went, they dared not touch.

After all, neither the military nor the security teams were to be trifled with.

Thus, Meng Ci and Shen Que, who hadn't left their home for ten consecutive days, caught Li Qiang's attention.

The lock on the door at the stairwell entrance on the seventeenth floor was easily picked by the man in the hat.

Seeing both doors on the north and south sides closed, Li Qiang heard sounds from the southern unit, so he decisively headed to the northern one with the man in the hat.

When they saw an additional wall built on this side, they were elated.

Such strong protection indicated there must be many valuable items inside.

They listened at the door for two minutes, confirming no sounds within, before the man in the hat began prying it open.

And when Meng Ci heard the reason, he was quite speechless.

He thought that keeping a low profile would prevent trouble, but he never expected that rarely leaving the house could also be a mistake.

"Brothers, I promise, I won't do this again!"

"Please spare us; we won't dare come here again."

Meng Ci nodded: "To spare you, sure!"

"But if there are conditions, you need to offer something in exchange."

"What do you think?"

Li Qiang understood: "We still have a few cans of cockroach meat at our place. If you need them, I'll bring them up later."

Cockroach meat cans were something Li Qiang and the man in the hat dared not eat.

Moreover, the taste wasn't great, so they wouldn't eat them unless they were starving.

At this moment, if offering them could save their lives, they were willing.

Meng Ci nodded: "Fine."

"But!" Meng Ci stroked his chin: "Can you just bring them up later as you say? What if you don't come back or run away? Who will I find then?"

Li Qiang suggested leaving the man in the hat as collateral or having him go down to fetch the cans.

Thinking about how they had each fled for their own lives earlier, Meng Ci naturally disagreed.

"You, lead the way!" Meng Ci pointed his knife at Li Qiang.

"We'll follow you and get them from your home ourselves."

Li Qiang and the man in the hat were reluctant, fearing that inviting wolves into their den might result in more than just losing cockroach cans!

Meng Ci's knife poked at Li Qiang's neck.

"What, unwilling?"

"If you're unwilling, then die here."

Although Meng Ci's knife didn't wound Li Qiang, the cold blade still frightened him.

"Willing, willing!" Li Qiang hurriedly said.

"Lead the way!"

"Yes."