Chapter 23: Repayment, A Well-Intentioned Reminder

(from *Restarting the Farm at the End of the World*)

She spoke in the tone of a pure realist—a woman who admired strength, invested in the strong, and was happy to attach herself to them.

The man outside the door was debating: if this woman opened the door too easily, could it be a trap? After all, she hadn’t even acknowledged Awen earlier—Awen being the one who’d called for help and then flew into a rage. But if she didn’t open the door, was he really going to break it down?

But as soon as she spoke, he understood: this woman wasn’t sympathetic, but she was pragmatic. That made her easier to deal with.

He glanced down at himself. Although his strength had surged overnight, his muscles hadn’t changed much—at a glance, he didn’t look like a powerhouse. He’d have to convince her to open the door. Just thinking about all the food inside, and the smell of hot rice wafting out since before dawn, made his mouth water.

Looking around, he signaled discreetly to his companion, Awen, who was crouched by the door, ready to act. Then he walked over to the stairwell window, grabbed a steel pipe, and with a show of strength, snapped it in half right in front of the peephole. “Miss, I may not look strong, but I’m very powerful,” he said.

Bian Changxi raised her eyebrows slightly. Another strength-type mutant. What about the other one? Or even a third?

But worrying too much was pointless. If she didn’t open the door, they’d just break it down anyway. Besides, the apartment was already stripped bare—she couldn’t let anyone see that, and she had no interest in dragging this out.

She said, “Looks like you’re telling the truth. Fine, come in.”

She unlocked the three deadbolts one by one. As the last lock clicked open and she pushed the door outward, a woman’s voice urgently cried, “Don’t open it!” At the same time, a figure lunged eagerly through the gap, grabbing the doorframe and trying to force his way in with a vicious look.

Bian Changxi instantly recognized him as the one who’d called for help. She smiled faintly, raised her fire axe, and brought the blunt end down hard on his skull.

Awen collapsed to the floor without a sound.

Bian Changxi kicked him aside, darted out the door, and slammed it shut behind her. Only then did the strength mutant at the door react, swinging the two halves of the steel pipe at her. Bian Changxi spread her fingers, and a vine shot out, wrapping around his ankles. She sidestepped, and he fell face-first onto the spot where she’d just been standing, his forehead slamming into the security door with a deafening bang.

Bian Changxi strolled over, smiling at the dazed man. “Rob me? Maybe in your next life.”

She straightened up and brought the axe down. The man screamed and passed out, eyes rolling back. In truth, her axe only struck the tiles beside his neck.

She curled her lip. With that little courage, he dared to act tough?

She waited a moment. No one else came out from upstairs or downstairs—seemed these two had no other accomplices. She turned to look at the door of apartment 304. The “Don’t open it” had come from inside. She remembered a family of four lived there, and as far as she knew, they’d survived both waves of the zombie outbreak unscathed.

Bian Changxi felt it would be rude to just leave after their warning. She knocked on the door. “Hello, thank you for your warning earlier.”

After a while, a man’s weak but forcedly calm voice replied, “No need to thank us. We saw those two through the peephole, and my wife called out. Hope you don’t mind us meddling.”

Bian Changxi pointed at the two unconscious men on the floor. “They’re just knocked out for now. When they wake up, they might take it out on you. And since they didn’t get anything from me, they might start bothering the neighbors. Be careful.”

With that, she locked the door to 303, slipped the key into her pocket—actually, into her jade bracelet—and turned to leave. Just then, the door to 304 cracked open. A boy of about thirteen or fourteen, eyes bloodshot and wide, peered out. “Big sister, are you leaving?”

Bian Changxi nodded. She could tell the boy was badly dehydrated.

“You’re not coming back?”

“No.”

“Then… where are you going?”

Bian Changxi didn’t answer.

The boy grew anxious, stammering, “We—we’re almost out of food and water. My parents want to go out to look for supplies, but don’t know what to do. Big sister, you’re strong—do you know how to deal with those monsters? And where should we go if we leave?”

His parents quickly pulled him back, opening the door a bit wider. Bian Changxi saw a young couple with a little girl of about seven or eight behind them. All of them looked exhausted, though the children were in slightly better shape—clearly, the parents had been saving what little food and water they had for the kids.

The couple bowed their heads, apologizing repeatedly. “Sorry, our boy’s always been a handful.”

Bian Changxi felt the adults were less calm and courageous than the children, which made her a bit annoyed. In seven years of the apocalypse, people like this—timid and hesitant—were always at the very bottom. Judging by their clothes, they hadn’t even gone out to fight zombies. It was already the fourth day—if not for themselves, they should at least try for their children’s sake.

But they hadn’t. It wasn’t just about courage; it was about responsibility.

She looked at the little girl clutching her doll, eyes hollow, clinging to her father’s clothes in terror. Bian Changxi sighed and said, “To deal with zombies, first, you can’t be afraid. The goal is to take off their heads. The danger is, if you’re bitten or scratched, you’ll be infected and turn into a zombie yourself. As for where to go, the government broadcast said survivors should head to the new resettlement zone. If necessary, the military will lead people to the base in Sucheng.”

She paused, looking at the boy. “If you’re going to act, do it soon. The number of zombies will only increase. This place will soon be a sea of corpses. The government and military won’t wait for everyone, and don’t count on anyone coming to save you. The world has changed.”

The boy seemed to be thinking hard. He looked at her hopefully. “Big sister, are you going to the new zone too? Can you take us with you?”

Bian Changxi shook her head coldly. “I don’t travel with the incompetent.”

The family flushed with embarrassment, but Bian Changxi walked away without a second thought.

With those words, she’d repaid their warning. She hated owing favors, and always paid back more than she received. Besides, their situation was pitiful, but there were millions of families just as desperate. Bian Changxi wasn’t about to play the saint, but having seen it with her own eyes…

Well, Zhu Yunhua had always said she was cold, decisive, and vengeful, but sometimes she couldn’t help showing compassion at the wrong time—a frustrating flaw.

His betrayal had made her even colder, but it hadn’t erased that flaw. Bian Changxi thought, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. She’d offer advice, but she’d never be foolish enough to take those four with her. As for why she didn’t leave them any food—her hands were empty, she couldn’t take things out of her jade bracelet in front of them, and those two unconscious men probably had some supplies on them. If the boy couldn’t get them, there was nothing she could do. As long as she kept her boundaries, a little humanity wasn’t a bad thing.

There were no zombies in the stairwell, nor any signs of fighting—so the strength mutant had been bluffing.

Bian Changxi took a black hiking backpack from her jade bracelet, stuffed some food in for show, then discreetly took out her motorcycle. There were plenty of zombies wandering the compound, but she didn’t have time to tangle with them. She rode out of the apartment building, skillfully broke through the encirclement, and sped toward her first destination.

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