Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Jiang Nian put down his phone and snacks and stood up, walking cautiously toward the door. He peered through the modified night-vision peephole on the main entrance and confirmed that someone—or something—was knocking on their outer gate.

The sound was loud and forceful, but the door didn’t budge. All those tens of thousands he’d spent reinforcing it hadn’t been wasted.

There was some distance between the outer gate and the main door, and the space between them held various self-defense tools—knives, baseball bats, steel pipes, stun guns, and more.

It also served as a storage area for trash. Since Jiang Nian hardly ever went out, Cheng Jing would take it downstairs every couple of days when he left to go out.

The original main door had been reinforced with steel frames, while the outer gate was made of reinforced stainless steel in a double-layered door system:

The outermost layer consisted of steel bars as thick as an arm, while the inner layer was a solid steel plate. Part of the steel plate formed a small door that could be opened from the inside to see outside.

The knocking kept going without pause. After a while, a man and a woman’s voices came through:

"Hello, I know you're home. We're your neighbors from downstairs..."

"Your boyfriend is part of the rescue team. He gave us supplies just a couple of days ago..."

Before the apocalypse, Jiang Nian had memorized the residents in their building. And since joining the rescue team, Cheng Jing had regular contact with the neighbors while delivering supplies.

So upon hearing the man’s voice, Jiang Nian immediately recognized who they were. Though they said they were from downstairs, they were actually two floors below—a couple on the eighth floor, about their age.

Too much noise at night could attract trouble. Jiang Nian carefully opened the main door, leaving it cracked open. He grabbed a headlamp, but finding it too bright, switched to a tiny flashlight instead. Stepping forward, he demanded coldly:

"Quit banging! What do you want?"

In total darkness, pounding on the door like that was either stupid or shady—maybe both. He'd seen plenty of that in his past life.

The knocking stopped, and the woman spoke again:

"Look, our lock's busted. Can you let us stay for tonight?"

"Not happening. Figure something else out or ask someone else."

Jiang Nian refused without hesitation.

Then the man chimed in:

"Bro, just one night. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow. Won’t even bother you."

"No way. There aren’t many zombies here. The rescue team took them out recently when they dropped off supplies. Just barricade your door and make do for the night. Don’t sleep too deeply."

Jiang Nian didn’t waver. In terms of safety, their building was way safer than most places—thanks entirely to Cheng Jing. Back in the early days of the apocalypse, before the zombies mutated, dealing with them was easy for someone like Cheng Jing, who had awakened supernatural abilities.

"You’re by yourself, right? Let us in. We won’t get in your way—we’ll just crash on the balcony tonight. We can give you supplies."

The woman’s pleading tone carried a note of desperation.

Jiang Nian clenched his jaw.

"Not a chance. Get lost. I’m not opening this door. It’s late—you should go back and figure out how to block yours."

With that, he turned to go back inside. If he hadn’t been reborn, if he hadn’t lived through the betrayal of his past life, maybe he’d have felt sorry for them and opened the door. But now? No. Even though he pitied them, there was no way he’d let anyone in.

But just as he rejected them again, the people outside started pounding on the door—no, smashing it. Clearly, they were using something heavy. So much for an emergency.

The man’s voice turned aggressive:

"Everyone's neighbors, how the fuck can you be like this? You're a member of a rescue team’s family—we just need one night in your solid safehouse and you won't even do that! Fuck you!"

The woman had also dropped her earlier soft tone; her voice was sharp as she chimed in:

"Right, you're part of the rescue team—what's it to you to help us out a little? We're not trying to mooch, we'll trade supplies. What are you, afraid of something? Come on, you're a grown man!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Jiang Nian was never someone who could be pushed around or walked all over. His temper flared instantly:

"Cut the moral crap! It's the apocalypse—don't try to guilt-trip me into helping. Helping is kindness; not helping is my right. Do I even know you? Get lost! Keep shouting, and if something shows up because of you, you die!"

Being a saint starts at zero—you either are or you aren't. If he let these two idiots in today, tomorrow someone else would come with the same goddamn blackmail.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The man slammed something hard against the door, cursing furiously:

"What the hell makes you so special? Just because your boyfriend in the rescue team hoards all the good stuff? Nothing but a gold-digging fag! What the hell gives you the right to act so high and mighty?"

Jiang Nian laughed angrily:

"Fuck your mother! My man provides, and I'm proud of it! You've got a girlfriend too—if you had any spine, you wouldn't be dragging your bitch around at midnight banging on strangers’ doors. Who the hell do you think you are, talking shit to me? Go get eaten by zombies already!"

With that, he ignored their continued yelling outside, turned back inside, and locked the door behind him.

If not for the situation calling for restraint, he'd have thrown open the door and smashed that idiot’s face in! Who the hell did they think they were, daring to mouth off to him like that?

His phone pinged repeatedly with messages—Cheng Jing had sent several asking what he was doing, how his psychic training was going, what he’d had for dinner...

Before he could reply, his phone rang.

The phone rang a few times before Jiang Nian steadied himself, smirking slightly as he answered:

"Hey, Brother Jing, I was busy earlier and couldn’t reply."

"I thought something happened..."

Cheng Jing paused mid-sentence, then asked after a moment:

"What’s that noise over there?"

The couple outside was still pounding on the door, ranting loudly. Jiang Nian glanced toward the entrance and replied:

"That couple from the 8th floor. Said their lock broke and wanted to crash here for the night. I said no, now they’re throwing a fit, banging on the door, calling me a kept man and trying to guilt-trip me into helping."

"Don’t open the door, don’t even bother. I’ll deal with them when I get back. These idiots won’t last long anyway—fuck them, they’re not worth the breath."

Cheng Jing’s tone was icy. Anyone who lashes out and starts door-banging after being refused help at this hour was clearly no good—fuck them!

Jiang Nian knew he was worried he might go out and fight. He chuckled:

"Don’t worry, Brother Jing, I’m not gonna do anything stupid. Besides, being spoiled is pretty sweet—I’m enjoying it. You and the team stay safe out there."

"Yeah."

Cheng Jing probably meant his squad was listening, so he didn’t say much more. Jiang Nian hung up first and went back to munching snacks.

The noise outside kept going, but he couldn’t be bothered to even look.

Meanwhile, in a tricked-out van on its way back, Cheng Jing had just ended the call when he caught the shit-eating grins from his squad.

Sitting in the front passenger seat with Huang Qian driving, the always-dramatic woman at the wheel spoke up first:

"Your hamster having trouble?"