Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Encounter – The Gate of Rebirth in the Apocalypse – Full Novel Website

Encounter

In a scene where even the wind carried the stench of decay, suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder!

Gu Ning’s entire body bristled with fear. She grabbed the wrist of the hand on her shoulder, spun around, and twisted it! Just as she was about to deliver a crushing blow, she heard a series of cries: “Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!”

A human?

Gu Ning instinctively let go.

Upon closer inspection, the owner of the hand was a middle-aged man in his forties with a goatee, wearing a dirty grayish-blue robe. His hair was slicked back with gel, and he was clutching his right wrist, hissing in pain.

Gu Ning stood to the side, feeling both awkward and puzzled. Had she really used that much force?

“Young lady, how can you be so rough at such a young age?” the man growled in a low voice.

“Sorry, I thought you were a zombie,” Gu Ning replied honestly.

“If I were a zombie, would I just tap your shoulder? I’d have bitten you already…” Before he could finish, he saw the girl’s expression change as she snatched the knife from his hand and thrust it into the darkness behind him!

A piercing scream echoed from behind.

Trembling, he turned around and nearly died of fright. In the darkness, a grotesque face was less than a meter away from him. If the knife had been a second later, he would have been bitten.

Before he could even thank her, he heard the girl’s tense voice: “Run, there are more coming.”

More coming?!

What could possibly be coming at this time?!

Without a second thought, he lifted his robe to his knees and sprinted after the girl into the darkness, not even questioning how she could see so many zombies approaching in such pitch-black conditions.

He hadn’t run far when he saw Gu Ning’s golden hair about to disappear into the darkness. Panicking, he tried to catch up, but with no streetlights and only the faint moonlight above, he tripped over something and fell flat on his face. When he looked up, the girl was gone. Hearing the zombies’ footsteps scraping closer, he felt a chill run down his spine. He scrambled to his feet and ran, only to realize his knife was missing. “Damn it! She took my knife!” he muttered under his breath.

Gu Ning, barefoot and in her pajamas, ran through the debris-strewn streets with the knife in hand. She didn’t stop until she reached a relatively safe area two blocks away.

When she finally stopped, she realized she had lost the goateed man and was still holding his knife.

But Gu Ning had no intention of going back to find him. At this point, he would have to fend for himself. After all, she had already saved his life, and the knife could be considered his thank-you gift.

Thinking this, Gu Ning looked around for a safe place to spend the night.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a vehicle speeding towards her. A van stopped less than five meters away, and before she could react, a bright light shone on her.

“What are you waiting for? Get in!” a girl’s impatient voice called from the van.

Gu Ning hesitated.

Then, a boy popped out from the other side of the van, exclaiming in surprise, “Senior Sister Gu Ning?!”

A young man in his early twenties jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran towards her.

“Senior Sister Gu Ning, is that really you? What are you doing alone in such a dangerous place?” His excited voice trailed off as he gave her a strange look.

Gu Ning suddenly realized she was still in her cartoon pajamas, barefoot, and holding a knife. The first thought that crossed her mind was, “Thank goodness I have the bad habit of sleeping in my underwear.” After a moment of confusion, an absurd idea flashed through her head.

“Senior Sister Gu Ning?” Seeing her lost in thought, Cheng Ming couldn’t help but call out softly.

Gu Ning snapped out of it and looked at the concerned young man in front of her.

“Sorry, who are you?”

Cheng Ming was slightly disappointed but still smiled. “I’m Cheng Ming. A junior at Linchuan University. You picked me up at the train station when I first arrived.”

“Oh, really? Hi.” Clearly, Gu Ning didn’t remember him at all.

But this wasn’t the time for small talk. The people in the van were growing impatient. “Cheng Ming! Can you catch up later? Get in the van!”

Cheng Ming quickly said, “Senior Sister Gu Ning, let’s get in the van first. It’s safe inside, and these are all my classmates!”

Gu Ning didn’t hesitate any longer and decided to get in. After all, this place wasn’t safe.

As soon as she got in, a chilling voice came from behind her.

“Little girl, we meet again…”

Gu Ning was startled and turned to see the middle-aged man in the robe staring at her.

Gu Ning forced a smile. “Uh, yeah.”

The man said, “Can I have my knife back now?”

Reluctantly, Gu Ning handed the knife back.

“Everyone, this is Senior Sister Gu Ning, a year above us. She’ll be staying with us from now on,” Cheng Ming announced as he drove.

There were already three boys and two girls in the van, and they all exchanged greetings.

“You can call me Jia Daozhang. I used to be a Taoist priest at Guanyun Temple,” the middle-aged man said.

No wonder he was wearing a grayish-blue robe—he was a Taoist.

The guy with the crew cut and sportswear was Yang Wei, the one with black-rimmed glasses and a plaid shirt was Zhang Chao, and the boy with bangs covering half his eyes was Xie Yuhong. The two girls were quite pretty: Huang Mengyao and Xiao Yunyun. However, Gu Ning couldn’t help but find their hairstyles amusing—one had straight black hair parted in the middle, and the other had long, curly hair, both left loose. While these styles might have been trendy before the apocalypse, they now seemed impractical.

After Cheng Ming finished the introductions, Yang Wei smirked and said, “Cheng Ming, you never mentioned having such a pretty senior sister before.”

In truth, Gu Ning wasn’t particularly beautiful. She took after her mother, with delicate features that could be considered pretty upon closer inspection, but she was otherwise unremarkable in a crowd. However, her once messy black hair had turned into a smooth, golden mane, making her stand out. Her hair, cut short to her shoulders with uneven edges, had a casual beauty to it.

Suddenly, Huang Mengyao, with her straight black hair, asked curiously, “Did you wash your hair?”

“Yeah, it smells nice,” Xiao Yunyun added, sniffing Gu Ning and giving her a strange look. “Where did you get shampoo and water?”

“Seriously? Water is so scarce now, and you used it to wash your hair?” Xie Yuhong couldn’t help but comment.

Gu Ning was at a loss for words.

Cheng Ming stepped in to defend her. “Hey, she didn’t use your water. Why do you care so much?”

Huang Mengyao sneered, “Cheng Ming, what do you mean it’s not our water? The whole world is short on water. If she uses some, there’s less for us. How is that not our business?”

This was a bit of a stretch.

Gu Ning, however, had no interest in arguing and closed her eyes.

Huang Mengyao wanted to say more, but Xiao Yunyun tugged at her sleeve. “Enough.” Huang Mengyao snorted but didn’t continue.

The atmosphere in the van grew awkward.

The rest of the ride was silent.

The van eventually stopped outside a hidden small garage, and they began unloading the supplies from the trunk.

Cheng Ming walked up to the iron gate of the garage and knocked in a specific rhythm.

Huang Mengyao suddenly turned to Gu Ning with a sarcastic tone. “By the way, Senior Sister Gu Ning, we don’t have much food to begin with. I was worried you’d take a share when you got in the van. But since you have water to wash your hair, you must have plenty of food, right?”

It was obvious that Gu Ning had no food on her, making Huang Mengyao’s comment particularly harsh.

Gu Ning acted as if she hadn’t heard, keeping her eyes down.

Jia Daozhang remained silent on the sidelines.

A voice came from behind the iron gate. “Who is it?”

“Cheng Ming.”

The gate slowly rose to about half a person’s height and stopped. Gu Ning followed Cheng Ming, bending down to enter.

Inside was a small parking lot that could hold about ten cars, but there were no vehicles in sight. Instead, the place was packed with people—around two hundred, young and old, all sleeping on the floor with makeshift bedding.

The sound of the gate opening woke many, who silently watched the newcomers.

After the gate closed, the man who opened it, in his late twenties, shone a flashlight rudely over everyone, paying particular attention to Jia Daozhang and Gu Ning. “Newcomers?”

Huang Mengyao smiled meaningfully. “Xiao Chen Ge, this is a senior sister from our school. Not bad-looking, right?”

The man known as Xiao Chen Ge’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked at Gu Ning, nodding with hidden meaning. “Quite pretty.”

“Xiao Chen Ge, these are the supplies we found today,” Cheng Ming interjected, stepping in front of Gu Ning, his tall frame shielding her completely.

“That’s it?” Xiao Chen Ge said, dissatisfied. The sack contained only four or five large bottles of water, a few bags of chips, a dozen small bread rolls, and some loose cookies.

“Xiao Chen Ge, there are more and more zombies outside, and a lot of people are scavenging. Most stores have already been looted. We could only pick up what others left behind… We really couldn’t find more,” Cheng Ming explained.

“Fine, fine, same as usual,” Xiao Chen Ge said, gesturing to a few young men nearby.

The young men began searching everyone. Huang Mengyao and Xiao Yunyun were groped repeatedly but seemed unfazed, clearly used to this treatment.

Jia Daozhang also cooperated, spreading his arms and letting them search him thoroughly.

“Hey, Xiao Chen Ge,” Huang Mengyao suddenly asked with feigned confusion. “Aren’t you going to search Senior Sister Gu Ning?”

Gu Ning, in her thin pajamas, clearly had nothing to hide, so no one had thought to search her. But with Huang Mengyao’s reminder, everyone turned to look at Gu Ning, who stood expressionless.

Cheng Ming shot a disbelieving look at Huang Mengyao, then immediately turned to Gu Ning.

Jia Daozhang also gave Huang Mengyao a surprised glance.

Xiao Chen Ge was momentarily taken aback but then chuckled and said to Gu Ning, “Sorry, miss, but it’s the rules here…” He moved to search her.

Both Cheng Ming and Jia Daozhang stepped forward to stop him, but Gu Ning took a step back and said, “Excuse me.” She asked, “Does everyone who joins here get searched?”

Xiao Chen Ge nodded. “Of course!”

“Good,” Gu Ning said, looking relieved. “I wasn’t planning to join, so no need to search me.”

Author’s Note: As usual, please leave comments and add to your collections. QAQ

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