Leaning slightly, Tang Xiaoquan pressed his face tightly against the window screen, ignoring the thick dust on it, and stretched his head to observe the situation inside the room.
Inside the small house, it was unusually quiet, the empty living room showing no sign of any living creature.
However, no living creature doesn't necessarily mean there's no dead object.
After all, zombies, those beasts, move by sound, so there might be some unfortunate mutated creature inside, gathering at the front door in response to the call of its companions, happily joining the party.
Sweeping his eyes casually across the balcony, Tang Xiaoquan pondered for a moment, and a scheme suddenly sprang to his mind.
He bent down to pick up a piece of broken stone from the ground and then used the sharp tip of the "Snake Spear" to forcefully poke through the window screen.
Accompanied by a slight tearing sound, a hole with a diameter of about 5 centimeters appeared in response.
Without delay, Tang Xiaoquan reached through the hole and then slid the bolt along the window frame.
"Click!" The window screen opened.
Everything went very smoothly, at least it had been so far.
Tang Xiaoquan wiped the sweat off his forehead with his wrist and then pushed open the dirty window screen that had long since lost its original luster.
It must be said that he was lucky because the owner of this rental house in front of him hadn't locked the window glass.
So this saved him the trouble of breaking the window to enter, especially at this critical moment when zombies were blocking the door, "quietly going in, without making a sound" was the first choice.
With a bold heart, Tang Xiaoquan bent down and squeezed half of his body inside, then used the strength of his waist and abdomen to look out into the living room.
Due to limited vision, he could only barely see the situation on one side of the entrance hall.
So to ensure that nothing could go wrong, he took out the piece of broken stone he had just picked up and threw it towards the wall inside the house.
"Tap~" The stone accurately hit the target, then bounced and fell, rolling a few circles on the ground before slowly coming to a stop.
Focusing intently, Tang Xiaoquan knew the crucial moment had arrived, and he quickly retracted his body, then flashed to the side of the wall.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, silently counting the time in his mind, Tang Xiaoquan kept his eyes fixed on the narrow living room door that allowed only one person at a time.
"What is he doing?" the man, who had always remained calm, asked anxiously, because at this moment the situation at the front door was becoming extremely precarious.
Wang Qiang didn't answer; he also looked serious, but he firmly believed that with his brother's cautious style, he would certainly not do anything meaningless.
However...
"A'cheng, come over here!" The man waved at his nephew and then pointed to the board on the balcony, saying, "Climb up it!"
Slightly stunned, the young man called "A'cheng" was dazed for a few seconds.
Because he clearly remembered that according to the plan they had just devised, they were supposed to wait for a safe signal from the man across the room before proceeding.
But now...
"What are you still standing there for! Come over quickly!"
Faced with his uncle's increasingly stern face, A'cheng had no choice; he hurriedly responded, followed his orders, and ran over, then flipped himself onto the board.
"Hey, what are you doing!" Seeing the actions of this uncle and nephew pair, Wang Qiang quickly extended his hand to stop them.
But the man, whose mind was already chaotic with the urgent door-banging sound outside, wouldn't heed his stop, immediately glaring his eyes and flinging away Wang Qiang's wrist, then said ruthlessly, "What are we doing? Of course, climbing over, or should we just wait here to die!"
"You..." Wang Qiang was anxious to say something more, but the man, once free from restraint, wouldn't give him the chance, already climbing away quickly.
The dispute behind also caught Tang Xiaoquan's attention, although he still didn't know what had happened on the other side, he could roughly guess the reason from the tone of the arguing parties.
Perhaps to verify his conjecture, the uncle and nephew's crawling speed was very fast; within moments they had climbed to the end of the board.
Damn it! Glancing back at the man and his nephew who had both jumped to the ground, a burst of anger surged in Tang Xiaoquan's heart.
"What the hell are you doing! Why haven't you entered the room yet! Do you know the zombies are about to break the door over there! Are you deliberately trying to get us killed!"
Afraid of god-like opponents, hoping for pig-like teammates; listening to the man's righteous words, Tang Xiaoquan really wanted to rush up and slap him hard in the face.
But could he? Obviously, he couldn't!
Because the Law of Survival clearly states in Article Thirteen, at any time, internal strife will be the beginning of the team's annihilation.
So...
Grinding his teeth in hatred, Tang Xiaoquan suppressed the anger in his heart and said, "I haven't figured out the situation inside yet, rushing in might..."
"Might, my ass! Don't you see what time it is! By the time you figure out what's going on inside, everyone will have to die!"
After speaking, the man ignored how Tang Xiaoquan reacted, reached out and pushed him aside, then found the doorknob and turned open the back door.
In the face of absolute strength, Tang Xiaoquan was powerless, he could only let the man open the door and enter.
At the same time, seeing the situation change here, Wang Qiang also immediately dragged Huang Yaru over.
Upon landing, without a word, holding a knife, Wang Qiang was about to confront the man.
Being straightforward by nature, what he couldn't stand most was such bullying by force behavior.
And the man not only ignored the team's interests but also pushed his brother.
Just on these two points, Wang Qiang's explosive temper was already set off.
"Wait, Qiang!" Tang Xiaoquan reached out and grabbed Wang Qiang, then frowned and shook his head, indicating him not to act impulsively.
But Wang Qiang, overwhelmed by rage, could not easily swallow this anger, and immediately struggled to break free from Tang Xiaoquan's restraint.
In this situation, Tang Xiaoquan only felt a sense of helplessness envelop him.
In just ten minutes, their hastily assembled team was facing the danger of collapse.
For this, he was confused; he really didn't know what to do!
Looking at the man stepping into the house, at Wang Qiang's murderous face, at Huang Yaru's helplessness, Tang Xiaoquan resigned himself and lowered his head.
Perhaps from the beginning, he shouldn't have been the one to make the plan;
Perhaps without his intervention, the team wouldn't have ended up like this;
Perhaps...
The tangled mindset made Tang Xiaoquan continually negate himself.
And his dejected gaze caught Wang Qiang's attention: "Hey, brother, what's wrong? Did that bastard hurt you just now? You wait, I'll go avenge you right now!"
In the midst of his words, Wang Qiang ferociously prepared to leave, but just as he was about to step away, Tang Xiaoquan's large hand pulled him tightly back...