The sky gradually darkened.
Lu Feng had his cousin drive him to Roya Cosmetics and Beauty Salon in the North City District. It was a one-stop shop for makeup and beauty treatments.
Yang Qingxue worked at this Roya Cosmetics and Beauty Salon. She had basically mastered makeup and was now learning cosmetology.
Sometimes, makeup and beauty treatments go hand-in-hand. After a treatment, female clients would often get their makeup done as well.
When Yang Ming arrived with Lu Feng, she was already waiting. She had also gone back to her dorm to change, clearly having dressed up specially for their date night.
She wore a white shirt, a knee-length skirt, and stockings—an outfit similar to what an office lady might wear.
Lu Feng's gaze turned fiery, brazenly scanning Yang Qingxue from head to toe. It was as if his eyes could pierce through her clothes to see what lay beneath.
Yang Qingxue shot Lu Feng a look, then sat down next to him with a hint of smug satisfaction.
Most women would find such a lecherous, burning gaze from a man utterly repulsive. But it was different when it came from your own boyfriend; in fact, you might even wish for that gaze to be a little more shameless.
"Xiaofeng, should I drop you off first?" Yang Ming asked as he started the car.
Lu Feng nodded. "Yeah. I worked up a bit of a sweat roasting the tea. I want to go home, shower, and change."
Back at the apartment.
Yang Qingxue surveyed the small, messy apartment without a hint of disdain. Instead, she started rummaging through the kitchen and fridge. "Lu Feng, let's just cook something at home. We don't need to waste money eating out."
She knew her boyfriend was working hard right now. A meal out would cost over 200 yuan, but for just a few dozen yuan, she could cook a meal that would leave them both stuffed.
Lu Feng grabbed a change of clothes and smiled knowingly. 'Yang Qingxue will definitely be a virtuous and caring wife someday.'
He was about to step into the bathroom when he heard Yang Qingxue complain, "Lu Feng, you don't have anything in your house! Just a few eggs and some dried noodles. I'll make you some noodles!"
... (Per review requirements: 10,000 words omitted) ...
At high noon the next day, Lu Feng and Yang Qingxue were finally woken up by the incessant ringing of a cell phone.
It was Yang Qingxue's phone.
She groggily answered the call, and a moment later, she was rushing to the bathroom. "Lu Feng, I have to go back to my dorm. Jiajia is crying her eyes out. She and Chi Cheng broke up for good. She just caught him on an intimate date with two other women."
"Ugh!" Lu Feng couldn't believe it was that Lin Jiajia's drama again.
He hadn't expected it, but it turned out Xiaoyao wasn't wrong to splash that stuff on Chi Cheng's face after all.
The guy really was a scumbag.
For some reason, he felt a bit of schadenfreude. After all, she had been trying to set Yang Qingxue up with that Chen Yong guy. As a man, he wasn't about to be that magnanimous.
But Yang Qingxue cared so much about her best friend, so he had to do his best to keep from laughing. He followed her into the bathroom and reassured her not to worry.
... (Omitted) ...
After getting dressed, Lu Feng first took Yang Qingxue back to her dorm, then went to the hospital to see his mom, and finally returned to his apartment after buying a large bag of bread and mineral water.
After deadbolting the door, he entered the game with a single thought.
The night before, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin had said they'd found a large jewelry store with a good amount of Gold. Naturally, he planned to take everything inside.
When Lu Feng appeared, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin were drawn over to him.
They were no longer surprised by their mysterious boss's habit of appearing out of thin air.
He was a superhuman, after all.
But what drew their attention even more was the food their boss had brought.
Lu Feng placed the bag of food on the tea table. "Tell me about the jewelry store."
Lin Jiao grabbed a bottle of mineral water and a piece of bread. She spoke between bites. "The jewelry store is on the sixth floor. It's pretty big—bigger than this Qingfeng Tea Shop. The only problem is it's too close to the lower levels, so there are zombies that need to be cleared out."
Lu Feng nodded. He had seen the dense horde of zombies at the base of the building.
It made sense. When the apocalypse began, everyone in the building had run outside. And as Lin Jiao had mentioned, their previous battle with the Mutant Beast had attracted all the nearby zombies, which were now gathered at the bottom of the building.
Once Lin Jiao and Xu Bin had nearly finished eating, Lu Feng said, "Let's go check it out."
As he spoke, he picked up the steel knife he had left in the tea shop, put on his military camouflage and gloves, but didn't bother with any other protective gear.
First, it would restrict his movement.
Second, he didn't want to look like a coward in front of his two employees.
Third, after several encounters, he had a good grasp of the zombies' strength. As long as he had enough stamina and wasn't completely surrounded, they were easy enough to deal with.
And fourth, with two employees to take the brunt of it, all he had to do was pick off the stragglers. Only an idiot would charge ahead.
Xu Bin hefted his large axe and took the lead.
His physique and strength clearly made him suitable for clearing the path.
Lin Jiao brought up the rear, protecting their boss, Lu Feng, from both the front and back.
She held a long spike fashioned from a sharpened iron pipe. It was perfect for piercing a zombie's head with a single thrust.
The three of them quickly reached the next floor. As they passed the stairwell, they moved swiftly. A pile of zombie corpses lay on the landing, clearly the work of Xu Bin and Lin Jiao's earlier cleanup.
The next few floors were the same.
When they reached the eighth floor, Xu Bin led the way down to the landing, only to quickly turn and retreat. "Boss, we've got to fight! There's a lot of them!"
Lu Feng peeked out and saw the next landing packed with a dense crowd of zombies.
He immediately pulled his head back.
'The stairwell is a bad place for a fight.'
So, Lin Jiao reached the landing and tapped lightly on the wall.
The sound wasn't loud, just enough for the zombies on the landing below to hear.
They all turned toward Lin Jiao and lunged forward.
Lin Jiao immediately ran back upstairs, luring a group of zombies after her.
Just as she passed the upper landing, a large axe swung out, cleaving through the zombies behind her. The first three zombies were instantly decapitated by Xu Bin and collapsed to the ground.
It was a testament to Xu Bin's immense strength.
Then, Lin Jiao also turned on the pursuing zombies, accurately plunging her steel spike into one's head.
There's a saying that practice makes perfect, and these two were clearly seasoned experts when it came to slaughtering zombies.
Lu Feng immediately recognized their tactic. 'Pulling mobs, huh?'
It was just like in a video game: when you can't handle a huge mob of monsters, you lure them over a few at a time to be destroyed.
He immediately found an opening between the two of them to land some finishing blows and steal a few kills.
After all, the monsters gave experience, and leveling up was always good for him.
[Congratulations! You have slain a zombie and gained 5 EXP!]
...
[Congratulations! You have slain a zombie and gained 5 EXP!]
...
Once one wave of zombies was dealt with, Lin Jiao would go down to lure another. Using this method, they cleared all the zombies from the seventh-floor entrance, clearing their path to the next level.
The entrance to the sixth floor was also swarming with zombies.
The trio used the same method again, slowly whittling down the zombies around the sixth-floor entrance.
Naturally, both Lin Jiao and Xu Bin were panting with exhaustion.
Their stamina was running out.
This was exactly why everyone feared being swarmed by zombies.
Once your stamina ran out, it was game over.
And what survivors feared most was severe exhaustion. Without food to replenish their stamina, they weren't far from their own end.
Lu Feng had naturally managed to steal quite a few kills—over twenty of them.
He checked his character status panel. His experience was now LV 3: 265/400.
Lin Jiao sat on the floor, took out a bottle of mineral water, and chugged it down. "Boss, the jewelry store is just around the corner from the entrance. We've cleared out the surrounding zombies. You can go take a look."
"Okay." Lu Feng nodded. He hadn't expected it to go so smoothly.
Since the nearby zombies had been cleared and the others were still far away, he rounded the corner and saw the jewelry store Lin Jiao had mentioned. Its floor space was indeed larger than the Qingfeng Tea Headquarters upstairs.
His eyes were met with display counters full of Gold jewelry. However, this was a large, comprehensive jewelry store; besides Gold, there were clearly other products like silver, watches, and handbags.
Just as Lu Feng was about to open the door and walk in, a piercing sound suddenly rang out.
BANG!~
The next moment, every zombie in the entire Department Store became agitated!