Chapter 24: The Real Deal
The two walked for another half hour or so before coming across a small convenience store.
Shattered glass from the front door littered the floor, and the interior was in complete disarray. Several display racks had toppled over, and discarded wrappers and empty cans covered the floor—a clear sign that survivors had already swept through.
“Sigh, looks like another place that’s been cleared out by a zero-dollar shopping spree.”
Chu Yang kicked an empty tin at his feet, sending it clattering across the tiles. “How many stores is that now? Food in this apocalypse is getting harder and harder to find. If this keeps up, we’ll be chewing on tree bark next time.”
Jiang Jue scanned the aisles with a sharp gaze and said in a low voice, “Let’s check the back. Find the storage room.”
The two navigated the fallen shelves and found a small door tucked away in the rear. Pushing it open revealed a modest stockroom. Tucked into the corner were several sealed cases of bottled water, alongside a few bags of rice and assorted vacuum-packed dried vegetables.
“A real haul! Looks like the heavens aren’t ready to let us starve just yet!”
Chu Yang’s eyes lit up, and he hurried over immediately. Reaching out to touch the supplies, he focused his thoughts and swiftly swept the items into his storage space.
Jiang Jue stood guard by the entrance, listening intently for any movement outside.
They had barely packed away half the goods when Jiang Jue’s eyes suddenly narrowed. He raised a hand in a silencing gesture and whispered, “Someone’s coming.”
Chu Yang froze on the spot and held his breath. Sure enough, heavy footsteps were approaching from the shop floor.
“Damn it, every shop in this district has been picked clean! We’ve been running around half the day and haven’t found a single useful scrap!” a coarse voice barked from beyond the partition.
“Boss, there’s a back room over here,” another voice chimed in eagerly. “Let’s check it out—maybe someone left something behind!”
Jiang Jue traded a quick look with Chu Yang. Before they could find cover, the stockroom door was kicked open with a loud bang, and five men barged inside.
The leader was a burly man with thick, flabby features and a jagged scar running from the corner of his eye down to his chin. He carried a heavy steel pipe, while his companions brandished machetes and iron bars, looking thoroughly dangerous.
Catching sight of the supplies stacked in the corner, the scarred man’s eyes gleamed with undisguised greed. “Well, look at that! There really is loot left over! Luck is on our side today, boys—this trip wasn’t a waste after all!”
His lackeys chuckled maliciously as they fanned out, blocking the narrow exit and trapping Chu Yang and Jiang Jue inside.
Jiang Jue tightened his grip on his straight blade, stepping across to shield Chu Yang behind him. His gaze turned razor-sharp and frigid as he uttered a single, chilling word: “Scram.”
The scarred man sized them up. Seeing two young men—and noticing that Jiang Jue still looked slightly pale from his recent ordeal—the thug sneered with open contempt. “Hah! A couple of greenhorns who haven’t even seen real trouble yet, and you dare talk tough with me? If you know what’s good for you, leave the food right where it is. Then drop to your knees, kowtow three times, and call me Grandpa! If I’m in a good mood, I might just let you walk away with your lives!”
Chu Yang wasn’t about to take that lying down. He poked his head out from behind Jiang Jue, holding his chin high as he fired back, “In your dreams! Kowtow to that ugly mug of yours? With a face like that, you should carry a censor bar everywhere you go so you don’t scare the neighborhood! And you have the nerve to ask for respect? A zombie must’ve kicked your head around like a soccer ball—you’re completely out of your mind! Want the supplies? You’ll have to ask our blades first!”
“You’re asking for it, you little brat!” The scarred man’s face twisted with rage. He roared to his men, “Get them! Break their legs and teach these punks some respect!”
The fight erupted in an instant.
Jiang Jue moved like a shadow, diving straight into the group. His straight blade cut through the air, carrying crackling arcs of fierce blue electricity.
With a series of sharp, buzzing pops, two thugs were struck down, collapsing to the floor with agonized wails.
Chu Yang didn’t hesitate either. Combining a focused spatial pulse with a clean swing of his Tang dao, he dropped a third attacker in the blink of an eye.
Seeing his men fall so effortlessly, the scarred leader panicked. In a frantic move, he yanked a handgun from his waistband and fired point-blank at Jiang Jue!
BANG!
The gunshot tore through the cramped storage room with a deafening roar.
Everything froze for a heartbeat. All eyes locked onto the firearm smoking in the leader’s grip. In this ruined world, guns were an extraordinary rarity—and an absolute threat.
Chu Yang’s heart seized. He spun around frantically. “Brother Jiang! Are you hit?!”
Jiang Jue had already reacted the moment the trigger was pulled, shifting his stance so the bullet merely grazed his sleeve before slamming into a cardboard box behind him.
He gave a slight shake of his head. His eyes remained as cold as frost, locked onto the scarred man with an icy, lethal intensity.
Surprised that the shot had missed, the thug quickly regained his swagger, bolstered by the weapon in his hand. A cruel, arrogant smirk spread across his face as he aimed the barrel directly at Jiang Jue’s head. “You little bastard! Think you’re tough? Think you’re fast? Try moving again! One more twitch and I’ll blow your brains out! Hand over all the food right now! Then get on your knees and beg!”
Chu Yang’s face darkened, and he tensed to lunge forward. But before he could take a step, Jiang Jue’s fingers twitched slightly.
A sharp, crackling arc of blue lightning shot from his fingertips, striking the scarred man’s gun hand with pinpoint accuracy!
“Aaaargh—!”
The thug shrieked in agony as the gun clattered to the floor with a loud metallic ring, thin wisps of smoke rising from the scorched barrel. Clutching his violently trembling wrist, cold sweat pouring down his face from the blinding pain, he stared at Jiang Jue in sheer horror. “You… you’re a Lightning Ability user?!”
The only remaining lackey on his feet collapsed to his knees, his voice quivering in panic. “A-An Ability User! Boss, he’s an Ability User! We messed with the wrong guy!”
Jiang Jue took a calm, deliberate step forward. The cold ruthlessness in his eyes was like a physical blade, making the scarred man’s skin crawl. The thug scrambled backward in terror until his spine hit the concrete wall. Trapped and trembling uncontrollably, he raised his hands in desperate surrender.
“B-Big brother! Boss! Spare me! Please spare my life!” the scarred man stammered, all his previous bravado shattered into pure dread. “I was blind! I didn’t know who I was messing with! We don’t want the food—take it all! Just show some mercy and let us go!”
Jiang Jue’s blade swept forward in a clean, effortless arc. Without a shred of hesitation, the steel opened the man’s throat in a single, fatal strike.
Dark crimson spilled across the floor. The scarred man’s eyes bulged, a wet, rattling gasp catching in his throat as he slumped against the wall and slid down into a pooling stain on the concrete.
The room fell dead silent, thick with the sharp copper scent of fresh blood.
Only then did Chu Yang let out a long, heavy breath, realizing his back was drenched in cold sweat.
He walked over, nudged the man’s cooling hand aside, picked up the pistol, and checked the magazine. His eyes instantly lit up. “Holy crap, it’s the real deal! That gave me quite a scare—I didn’t expect these guys to actually be packing heat! Look, Brother Jiang, there are four rounds left in the mag!”
Jiang Jue flicked the dark droplets from his blade, the cold tension in his face softening slightly. “Keep it. For self-defense.”
Chu Yang nodded eagerly and tucked the handgun into his storage space, his usual cheerful chatter returning in full force. “Awesome! That gives us another trump card! A real firearm! Before all this, I’d only seen these in movies and video games. I never thought I’d actually hold one myself! We should keep an eye out for more ammo down the road, or maybe other models… Next time someone tries to act tough, we can just flash this to scare them off!”
Chatting away, he quickly collected the remaining water and food into his spatial dimension, then followed Jiang Jue as they swiftly made their way out of the store.
