The fourth floor of the library had been cleaned up, and one person was lost because of a bite from a zombie. The rescue team still did not show up. Since the three helicopters left H City one by one with the roaring propeller sound eight days ago, there had been no movement except for the zombies howling outside day and night.

Hunger, panic, helplessness and anger made the survivors’ emotions more irritable, like explosives that would explode with just a little touch. Some people cut the line when they were collecting water, some people made noises when they sleep, and some had to wait to go to the toilet for too long. Any trivial matter could ignite the fire, turning the whole scene into a mess.

In just a few days, there had been three serious brawls in the library. This sturdy, large building seemed to be increasingly becoming a cage, inspiring the fierce animal nature that people originally hid behind the civilized order.

Regardless of whether it was arguing or fighting, it had nothing to do with Shen Shian for the time being. After seeing his skill and the power of the sharp thorn stick, no one was willing to provoke him. It seemed that no matter whether it was a civilized society or an animal cage, the strong will be kings.

Shen Shian and Shen Xun sat opposite each other. He took out a cup of eight treasure congee from the backpack, a bottle of canned peaches, a pack of compressed biscuits, two braised eggs and two sausages and placed them on the coffee table.

“Let’s eat.” Because the child was determined not to eat in the space, Shen Shian could only rely on this method to ensure his nutrition as much as possible. He had thought about taking the opportunity to go to the toilet or hide in a corner of the library with the child to enter the space. But it couldn’t work.

First, although it doesn’t take much time to enter the space and eat, it was not a matter of a few minutes to wait for the smell of food to completely dissipate.

Second, maybe because his backpack was too eye-catching, or because his ability was too strong, from the second day after he entered the library, no matter where he went and what he did, there always seemed to be someone watching him. There seemed to be a few people, even when going to the toilet, there would always be people going back and forth to the toilet. There was no opportunity to enter the space.

Fortunately, his backpack was large enough, and he could gain something every time he cleans up the zombies. The items taken out of the space should be as small as possible and high in calories. So after one week, he had only lost a third of his backpack. It was impossible to be full, but it was more than enough to ensure basic energy requirements. What’s more, compared to most of the survivors, their meals were already extravagant, and every meal brought a large number of meaningful eyes.

Shen Shian didn’t care about this. While telling the child to eat slowly, he took out a thermos cup from the bag. The thermos cup contains tomato juice. Unlike food, he could take out unlimited amounts of tomato juice from the space. All of the bottles that were filled with tomato juice were the same. After drinking a bottle, he would fill the bottle with tap water. He then would take another bottle from the bag and no flaws could be seen unless they came over and looked into the bottle mouth.

The reading room was still quiet. Within a few days, the survivors had started to form small groups. Among them, the group led by Zhang Ze had the largest number and the strongest physical fitness. Almost all of them had participated in the zombie cleanup operations on each floor.

Relying on the outstanding personality charm and strong action shown in several incidents, Zhang Ze had now gained a group of loyal fans. Right now, he was sitting around a round table without knowing what to discuss until he noticed Shen Shian and showed an extremely gentle and friendly smile.

Shen Shian looked back and continued to eat. Although there was no direct evidence, the people following him might be related to Zhang Ze. He just hadn’t figured out why he wanted the stuff on his bag? Was he worried that he might be a threat to him? Either way, this person must be more guarded against.

After Shen Xun ate his share, he secretly left several peaches for Shen Shian and walked over to sit next to him. “An An, when are we going to leave here?” A lot of people were very annoying and noisy all day long. If only he could eat them all.

Shen Shian took another bag of milk from his backpack and rubbed his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave soon.”

It had been a week since Mr. Gu’s phone call. Shen Shian was full of worries. He wasn’t sure whether he had missed any information or whether Mr. Gu had encountered any trouble that caused the rescue team to be late.

If he had heard wrongly and that no rescue team would come, it wouldn’t matter. He had planned to go to Beijing by himself. But if something had happened to the rescue team that made them late and Shen Shian left at this time, he wouldn’t meet the rescue team. Once he did that, when he wanted to contact Mr. Gu on his way to Beijing, it would be hard to determine each other’s location.

Not only that, it wasn’t easy to leave the library because of the zombies outside. His internal energy in the lower abdomen had not disappeared, which meant that the process of advancing was not yet done. Waiting for him to advance would undoubtedly increase his and Shen Xun’s survival chances.

Of course, whether it was waiting for the rescue team or leaving the library, he had to prepare in advance.

After eating, Shen Shian led the child to walk and went out from the reading room on the second floor to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was cleaned up the day before yesterday. The maps of the provinces and cities were the main purpose of Shen Shian to come to the library. Because of someone tailing him, he couldn’t expose his purpose too obviously. Fortunately, it was much easier to collect books into the space than a large living person. There was also the child, who he could use as a shield. Every day, he would find him a storybook or Tang poem{n1}. Song Ci’s{n2} name was everywhere. There were so many books in the library that no one would realise if a book was gone.

Note1: Poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China’s Tang dynasty
Note2: A Chinese physician, judge, forensic medical scientist, anthropologist, and writer of the Southern Song dynasty

Shen Shian pushed the cart as usual, mixed in several stacks of books of what he really wanted, and suddenly heard the cry of a man across the bookshelf.

He knew that there was someone on the opposite side. With Shen Shian’s ear sensitivity, he could hear the opponent’s heartbeat every minute at such a close distance. But the sudden cry was unexpected.

Shen Shian wasn’t the type to gossip, especially in the current tense atmosphere of the library. But considering that the other party was on their own travel route, he glanced at the child sitting on the cart and sucking milk and pushed the cart over.

He knew the crying person. Let alone be an acquaintance, it was the middle-aged man who survived the last when the survivors fled into the library.

He hadn’t seen him for a few days. The middle-aged man who was slightly fat that day was obviously thinner by two circles so the crumpled suit finally fit in. He hid in the corner of the bookshelf. The other person obviously didn’t expect anyone to come over. He was very embarrassed. He raised his hands and wiped away his tears. When it was all almost wiped, his adam’s apple bobbed and he began to cry again.