In the apocalypse, aside from food and water, medicine was the rarest resource of all. When they reached the nearest supermarket, Lu Shuangshuang awkwardly leaned closer and whispered that she wanted to grab some bread.
Su Mu glanced at her coolly.
“Isn’t there plenty at home? If you want to eat—”
“Mu Tou!”
Noticing that the others were starting to look their way, Lu Shuangshuang hurriedly cut him off. She leaned in and whispered into his ear, “I mean… I want to grab some female products.”
She quickly pulled back. Her delicate face had turned bright red, making her look especially cute.
Su Wanmei’s eyes widened in shock. This was…
“…?” Su Mu frowned slightly. Staring at Lu Shuangshuang’s flushed face, it took him a moment to process what she meant.
“…Oh.” In the end, Su Mu told the others to stay in the vehicle while he got down to help her. Lu Shuangshuang tried to follow, but he stopped her.
“Stay in the truck. I can go alone.” As he spoke, he waved briefly at Su Wanmei in the car and walked straight into the supermarket without looking back.
Lu Shuangshuang glanced nervously at Su Wanmei. “Aunt Su… Mu Tou, he—”
Su Wanmei smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. Mu Tou wouldn’t go alone unless he was confident.”
She said that, but the hands resting on her knees were clenched tightly.
What parent could truly feel at ease letting their child walk alone into danger? But she knew Su Mu’s temperament well. He had been stubborn since childhood. Even if he seemed like a completely different person now, that hadn’t changed. If she could have stopped him, she wouldn’t have let him go so easily.
Inside the supermarket, Su Mu’s long fingers tapped lightly against the cold shelves. He was carrying a bulging bag. After a brief moment of thought, he swept everything from the shelf into his spatial storage.
It might come in handy someday—when he has a girlfriend.
When he returned to the truck, Lu Shuangshuang, red-faced, accepted the overstuffed bag and thanked him before climbing back into the passenger seat.
There weren’t many zombies along the way. They parked the truck not far from a pharmacy and got out together. Su Mu tore a bunch of plastic bags from the counter and handed them out.
“Grab cold medicine, fever reducers, heatstroke prevention, antidiarrheals, and sleep aids. The shelves are categorised.”
In the apocalypse, medicine was far more valuable than food or water. Early survivors focused on stockpiling food and water, rarely thinking about drugs. As a result, medicine became vastly valuable in the later stages.
Su Mu had been born into the apocalypse. He knew the value of medicine better than anyone. A single small box of cold medicine could be traded for half a sack of fresh vegetables.
He already had plenty stored away. Big cities had plenty of pharmacies, and since he didn’t know which brands worked best, he’d taken a bit of everything. As he filled the bags, he discreetly slipped more into his spatial storage.
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They were almost done when a series of shrill zombie howls suddenly rang out.
The sound wasn’t close—but it was unmistakably large in number.
Everyone’s expressions changed. They grabbed their bags and ran for the exit. Just as they burst out of the pharmacy, several dishevelled survivors came sprinting out of the hospital across the street—followed by a dense, black mass of zombies. Bloodied. Mangled. At least a hundred of them.
Not only numerous, but clearly faster than the zombies they’d encountered before.
“Help! Please help us!”
One of the survivors shouted desperately upon spotting Su Mu’s group—while deliberately veering toward them, trying to draw the zombies over so he could escape.
Su Mu ignored them. Face taut, he urged his people toward the truck. The hospital was only two streets away—by the time they climbed in, the zombies would already be on top of them. The pharmacy had a rolling shutter, but there was no time to close it.
“Who can drive? Take my spot,” Su Mu said. “I’ll hold them off.”
With that, he raised his long blade, adjusted his stance, and charged straight toward the horde.
The survivors were momentarily stunned by his sudden advance, but there was no time to think. With nowhere left to run, they turned and fought alongside him.
If they were going to die, then killing one zombie meant breaking even—two meant profit. And if they somehow lived… unlikely as that was, it was better than being torn apart without resistance.
Facing so many zombies, despair surged in Su Mu’s chest. Though he had extensive combat experience, the moment he chose to stay behind, he hadn’t expected to survive.
He couldn’t even imagine how Luo Beiyao had once slaughtered a tide of a hundred thousand zombies alone. Just the number itself was enough to crush one’s spirit.
“Mu Tou! We’re coming to help!” Lu Shuangshuang jumped down from the truck, iron rod in hand.
Footsteps thundered behind him. Su Mu’s face darkened instantly. Without turning back, he decapitated a zombie and snapped, “Why did you come back?”
Su Wanmei swung her long blade, severing a zombie’s neck.
“What kind of mother leaves her son alone in a pile of zombies?”
Su Mu said nothing. His brows knit tighter.
More people made things easier—but also more dangerous. He couldn’t help worrying. He kept glancing toward Su Wanmei, afraid she’d be hurt.
There were simply too many zombies.
Even with everyone focused, blind spots were inevitable. Su Mu kicked away a zombie that Su Wanmei hadn’t noticed, then turned and killed another lunging at Lu Shuangshuang. That split second of distraction cost him—he barely avoided a claw raking his right shoulder, but another tore brutally across his back.
Pain drained the colour from his face—but his movements never slowed.
This wasn’t the worst injury he’d ever suffered.
He had once continued fighting after a Zombie Emperor punched straight through his abdomen. He’d injected a virus suppressant to prevent infection, then undergone wound suturing without anaesthesia.
But this body—compared to his previous one—was far too fragile.
Not resilient at all.
Just a clawed wound across his back hurt unbearably.
Nearby, Su Wanmei heard the sound of fabric tearing. When she saw him injured, she was about to speak—but Su Mu, expression cold, cut down the zombie attacking from behind her and said sharply, “Focus.”
It was the first time Su Mu had ever spoken to Su Wanmei like that.