Rotting Land: Survive

In order to allow the brothers behind to catch up, Old Xu slowed down the car after driving a certain distance and waited until he saw Jianghuai’s car in the rearview mirror before gradually increasing his speed.

They quickly navigated two streets, and upon entering the third street of the Earth Realm, Old Xu used the tail lights to signal Luo Baochun to stop.

Seeing the order from Old Xu, Luo Baochun immediately conveyed it to Hu Xiaodong behind him. Then the two cars, after trailing for a short distance, found a quiet corner convenient for observing the street corner and parked together.

Old Xu made a right turn into the target street following the words of the man with the ear stud.

Sure enough, after turning, he immediately saw a storefront 300 meters ahead.

Even though the sign on the front had become unclear from the ravages of time, Old Xu could still recognize the text. It was the meeting point address given by the remaining thugs: Harmony Noodle House.

"These guys have some brains. Both of the ambush locations are places that survivors often need to visit." Staring at the noodle house sign ahead, Lei Tong murmured to himself.

Old Xu exhaled upon hearing this and immediately instructed, "Get ready; we’re getting out of the car now."

To avoid attracting zombies with the sound of the car, Old Xu didn’t drive directly to the noodle house but parked on the street side further away.

From observing the situation on the road, it was clear that the zombies in this alley had obviously been cleared out by the thugs.

Their purpose for doing this was undoubtedly to lure survivors into their trap.

After all, people’s choices usually gravitate toward safety, so places with relatively fewer zombies are often their best choice for gathering supplies.

Especially for those weaker teams or individuals, the place where the ear stud man’s group set the ambush is their favorite place to visit.

This also explains from another perspective why the ear stud man’s group has always been successful.

But how could they have anticipated that their usual bait for small teams or traps would attract a "lion".

Continuing to rely on roadside obstacles to avoid wandering zombies, Old Xu and Lei Tong headed toward the Harmony Noodle House.

At this moment, the noodle house’s door was tightly closed, and the doors and windows were sealed shut, causing Old Xu’s idea of peering from the outside to come to nothing.

With no choice, he could only tightly grip his weapon and step forward toward the noodle house.

Reaching the outside of the noodle house’s door, Old Xu immediately heard voices coming from inside.

The sounds seemed to be scolding and beating.

"Looks like these guys succeeded!" Lei Tong muttered quietly.

Old Xu frowned slightly at the words, turned his head to glare at Lei Tong as a signal for him to keep quiet.

After all, they’re in the thugs’ territory, and if they were to notice anything strange at this critical juncture, even though Old Xu is of military background, facing the weapons in their hands, he probably wouldn’t fare well.

Being cautious can make a ship last for ages; taking a deep breath, Old Xu mentally rehearsed what he would say upon entering before knocking on the door.

"Knock knock knock!" The door trembled very slightly, showing Xu Renjie’s extreme caution in avoiding disturbing the zombies.

As soon as he heard the sound of the door, he immediately stopped knocking, and then he and Lei Tong waited.

The curtain was drawn open just a slit, and upon making eye contact with the person inside, Old Xu quickly put on a silly grin.

Squeak, the door opened, and immediately a skinny man invited sternly, "Come in, both of you!"

Upon receiving the directive, Lei Tong and Old Xu didn’t dare delay, both walked in with their knives.

Well, once inside the room, a slew of figures came into view. Old Xu didn’t need to recognize them; from their flashy outfits, he could easily determine their character.

Typical worshippers of the XG hooligan style, albeit only copying the style and failing to grasp the essence.

"Who are you people?" A low, commanding voice rose from the crowd.

Old Xu raised his head, quickly searching for the source of the voice, only to see a muscular man leisurely seated, puffing clouds and mist.

No doubt, from the fearful glances the other thugs cast at the man, Old Xu immediately deduced that this was the boss mentioned by the ear stud man.

"Boss! We’re here to help."

In terms of age, the man and Old Xu were about the same, but Old Xu, who has long dealt with non-normal humans, knows well that in Jianghu, in the underworld, hierarchy is not determined by numbers; gang status is what matters.

If you have a high status, even those much your elder must call you "boss."

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This simple title from Old Xu revealed his sincerity and also clarified his stance.

However, the man didn’t seem to react much to this, perhaps because he was accustomed to flattery and didn’t feel much anymore.

He slightly lifted his body to lean his back against the chair’s backrest, then tilted a 45-degree angle glance at Old Xu and Lei Tong.

Old Xu, with a square face, lean build, and moderate height, was definitely the type who would be overlooked in a crowd.

And Lei Tong, although tall and heavyset, had intentionally adopted a foolish appearance, immediately reducing any vigilance toward him.

"Are you the ones recommended by Xiao Guo?"

Xiao Guo? No surprise, this should be the ear stud man’s name.

Due to previous focus being on the meeting, Old Xu forgot to ask the ear stud man’s name.

But given the man’s current status, he shouldn’t use the name as a test on them.

With this person in mind, Old Xu nodded, "Yes, Brother Guo sent us."

"I heard he encountered zombies, and you saved him?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"What exactly happened?"

"Well, I’m not sure how Brother Guo ran into zombies. My brother and I were planning to go to the gas station for fuel and happened to meet Brother Guo fleeing. We picked him up in our car. Afterward, Brother Guo told us about your situation, so we decided to join you." Old Xu, having already thought of a cover story beforehand, spoke smoothly without hesitation, making it impossible to detect any flaws.

The man exhaled a smoke ring, then chuckled, "Haha, join us? You want to join us?"

"Yes, Boss, we want to join you. I’ve thoroughly considered it, and surviving in this world with just my brother and me is really tough. If we could join your group, we’d have some security."

"Hmph, do you know what we do?" The man asked with interest, his lips curving higher.

"Well..." Scratching his head, Old Xu feigned ignorance and shook his head, "Brother Guo is injured, and we didn’t talk much; he just told us brothers to come here to help, nothing more."

"I see!" With these words, the man stood up, flicking away the cigarette butt, stomped it out, and swaggered over to Old Xu: "Alright, I understand everything. Since you two want to join us, as a trial before joining, I need you to do something. How about it, are you brave enough?"