Ch 189: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Golden Tower Mall, Sixth Floor

After Chen Limin fell, the tense atmosphere didn’t ease up.

A group of over ten people huddled near the entrance of the outdoor camping gear store. Among them were Lu Yao’s clients, Xu Hongmei and Li Heping.

Half a month after the zombie virus outbreak, the gas supply in the Jintai Royal Garden neighborhood was cut off. Less than two weeks later, the electricity failed as well.

Li Heping, an avid outdoor enthusiast, had stocked up on various camping supplies at home—portable stoves, spare gas canisters, a barbecue grill with smokeless coal, and solar panels. They rationed carefully, cooking only one meal a day. With their supplies dwindling, the stockpile lasted barely a month.

As their provisions ran low, Li Heping suggested to his mother that they venture farther to gather resources. They had already tried scavenging nearby areas, but everything had been looted—supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, even discarded plastic bags were hard to come by.

From the beginning, Li Heping had his eyes set on the outdoor camping gear store on the sixth floor of the Golden Tower Mall. A regular customer of the store before the outbreak, he knew the store was well-stocked and catered to niche camping enthusiasts. He hoped it wouldn’t be on others’ radar.

The main obstacle was the store’s location: in a commercial district, several floors up, with the risk of encountering hordes of zombies along the way. After days of deliberation, Li Heping and Xu Hongmei decided to take the gamble. They packed two backpacks, a coil of rope, and two fruit knives before heading out.

What was once a ten-minute walk to the Golden Tower Mall took them half a day of sneaking and hiding to reach. It took another half-day to climb from the ground floor to the sixth floor, avoiding zombies. Luckily, the higher floors of the Golden Tower Mall had fewer zombies than other malls.

They wore thick masks to minimize exposure and avoided direct confrontations with zombies, fearful of triggering a larger horde they couldn’t escape from.

Initially, their ascent to the sixth floor seemed uneventful. The massive mall appeared untouched, with shelves fully stocked and no zombies in sight. Exhausted but elated, the pair felt their struggles had paid off when they reached the camping store. They eagerly tore off their backpacks and began stuffing them with supplies.

The store carried everything from camping gear to military-style rations. Li Heping swept an entire shelf of compressed biscuits into his backpack. The rations, though unappetizing, were filling, long-lasting, and a lifeline in worsening conditions.

The mother and son worked quickly, filling their packs in under half an hour. Still daylight, they planned to leave immediately, hoping to make it back home before nightfall.

However, as they tried to retrace their steps, they discovered the escalators they had used earlier had disappeared. Where the open stairways once stood was now solid, seamless flooring. Even the glass railings at the edges of the escalator shafts were intact, enclosing what was now an unbroken expanse of flooring.

Perplexed and increasingly uneasy, they searched the floor multiple times but found no way down. As night fell, the lack of lighting plunged the area into darkness.

Soon, unsettling noises began to echo around them: chilling growls, the creaking of bones, and slow, deliberate footsteps.

Desperate, Li Heping and Xu Hongmei huddled beneath the store’s cash register, barricading themselves with unopened tents and cardboard boxes. They braced themselves, trembling, and endured the terrifying night.

As daylight broke, the unsettling noises gradually subsided.

The mall remained eerily empty, but Li Heping and Xu Hongmei still couldn’t locate the staircase to descend.

Another day and night passed before they encountered An Xia and her squad from Jinyao City this morning.

An Xia’s squad, a group of sixteen people with three vans, had traveled across the city to reach Wanxin Mall, aiming to retrieve supplies from the sixth floor of the Golden Tower.

The man who fell earlier, Chen Limin, was one of their members.

Initially, they thought this mission would be like any other: clear out zombies, collect supplies, and leave. But they quickly realized something unusual was happening.

After gathering supplies and deciding to take along the two stranded locals, they discovered they couldn’t find the escalator they had used to ascend.

To make matters worse, during their search for an exit, a squad member was bitten by an unexpected zombie.

That person was Chen Limin.

An Xia’s Squad was well-known in Jinyao City for its high survival rate. On average, they might lose one member out of ten missions, so a bite was rare and alarming.

When the team saw Chen Limin’s injury, they immediately recognized the danger they were in.

The sixth floor of the Golden Tower seemed to be a strange, one-way space. After Chen Limin was bitten, it felt as if some hidden mechanism had been activated—zombies lurking in the shadows began to emerge.

The scattered team members hurriedly regrouped at the entrance to the camping store, discussing how to deal with the crisis.

Oddly, the zombies didn’t pursue the group but instead targeted Chen Limin.

Everyone watched helplessly as Chen Limin was cornered against the glass railing. At that moment, the faint outline of the escalator reappeared.

Chen Limin, pushed to the edge, lost his footing and fell over the railing.

As his body disappeared, the escalator’s boundary blurred once again. No one dared to move closer.

Xu Hongmei and Li Heping stood at the back of the crowd, their gaunt faces etched with fatigue and despair.

The arrival of the search team had briefly rekindled their hope, only for it to be shattered once again. A wave of deeper despair engulfed them, threatening to crush their spirits.

They only wanted to survive. Why was it so hard?

Xu Hongmei sighed heavily and murmured, “Looks like we’re not going back. Your father must be so worried.”

Li Heping was wracked with guilt. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have dragged you here.”

Meanwhile, one of An Xia’s squad members, overwhelmed, squatted down, clutching their head. They wanted to cry and scream but feared attracting zombies, so they buried their face in their knees and gripped their hair tightly.

The squad leader, An Xia, furrowed her brows, repeatedly reviewing past experiences to find a way to break the apparent maze they were trapped in. A steadfast, indifferent face suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Seeing her tense expression, Xie Yu whispered, “Thinking about the Instructor?”

An Xia’s shoulders stiffened slightly, and she shot him a glare. “Is this the time to talk nonsense?”

Xie Yu, looking innocent, replied, “I was just wondering how the Instructor would handle this situation. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying you’re incapable.”

An Xia growled, “Shut up. If you can’t say anything useful, don’t say anything at all.”

Xie Yu promptly fell silent, looking sheepish.

Suddenly, a team member exclaimed, “Someone’s coming in!”

An Xia and Xie Yu looked up toward the direction where Chen Limin had fallen. The space there warped and distorted, and two young women stepped through.

They were both very young. The taller one had black hair and dark eyes, with a striking golden earring on her left ear. Perched on her shoulder was a fluffy black object.

As they approached, everyone realized it was a small, feathered sparrow.

The shorter woman had eye-catching curly red hair, pinned with an exquisite emerald-and-pearl hairclip. Her ruby-red eyes sparkled, and her features were impossibly refined.

Xie Yu’s gaze locked onto her, awestruck. “She’s gorgeous—like a porcelain doll.”

Anxia focused her attention on Lu Yao. “Why is there a sparrow here?”

The rest of the team was equally puzzled. The timing, location, and manner of these two women’s appearance were all exceptionally odd.

Lu Yao and Tina walked a few steps further before stopping, turning back to look at the direction they had come from. The escalator had vanished.

Tina remarked, “There’s definitely something unusual here.”

On their way up, both Tina and the Dream Fulfillment System had noted the strange spatial anomalies on this floor.

The trio decided to leave Zhao Ye downstairs while Lu Yao and Tina, accompanied by one of the little sparrow scouts, ventured to the sixth floor.

Lu Yao raised her hand and rubbed her fingers together, sensing a faint, sticky residue.

Tina said, “I’ll look for an exit.”

Lu Yao nodded. “Then I’ll find our clients.”

She raised her voice as she moved closer to the crowd. “Is Xu Hongmei or Li Heping here?”

The group gathered at the store entrance remained wary, with no one responding.

Lu Yao repeated herself, “Xu Hongmei or Li Heping? We’re couriers sent to get you out of here.”

Xie Yu couldn’t help but interject, “You think you can get out?”

An Xia pointed behind Lu Yao. “The way you came in is already gone.”

Lu Yao turned to the two of them. “And who might you be?”

Xie Yu deadpanned, “I’m Li Heping.”

An Xia lowered her head slightly, attempting to hide her unease. “Xu Hongmei.”

Hiding at the back of the crowd, the real Xu Hongmei and Li Heping widened their eyes in shock, unsure of what to do.

Lu Yao looked at Xie Yu with a smile. “Your mother looks very young.”

Xie Yu’s face turned red, his expression awkward.

An Xia flicked her head irritably. “I’m An Xia, leader of the 10th Search Squad from the Jinyao City Hope Base. And who are you?”

Lu Yao countered with her own question, “What is Hope Base?”

She certainly understood the concept of a base but was surprised that a city had already established one with a search squad of such size.

Anxia insisted, “I asked first. You answer.”

Lu Yao, remaining patient, took a stack of flyers from her bag and handed them out to An Xia and Xie Yu before distributing them to the rest of the group, including the real Xu Hongmei and Li Heping, who were hiding at the back.

An Xia only read halfway before raising her head in disbelief. “You’ve opened a running service here and only accept gold as payment?”

The rest of An Xia’s squad also found it hard to comprehend. In a world like this, running errands seemed even more dangerous than their search missions, and these runners didn’t even ask for supplies—only gold, which was practically worthless now.

What was the point?

Lu Yao didn’t explain but called out again, “Xu Hongmei, Li Heping, your family contacted us and placed an order for us to get you out of here.”

Xu Hongmei hesitantly pulled Li Heping along, stepping out from the side. Her voice trembled. “I’m Xu Hongmei, and this is my son, Li Heping.”

Li Heping looked somewhat awkward, trailing a few steps behind his mother. Once closer, he stared at Lu Yao for a moment before asking in a low voice, “Did my dad send you?”

Lu Yao nodded. “We were sweeping the Gold Tycoon Residences when Mr. Li learned of us and placed a run request to have us come and get you.”

Xu Hongmei broke into tears upon hearing this. Ever since Lao Li injured his leg, he had become withdrawn, his temperament souring significantly. He always believed he was a burden to her and their child.

She never imagined that Lao Li would hire someone to come and rescue them.

Li Heping, after hearing Lu Yao’s explanation, found all the details matched. His wariness decreased, but the strange nature of the sixth floor made him uneasy again. “This floor is weird. Once you come in, you can’t leave. It’ll be the same for you.”

Tina returned after making a round, having familiarized herself with the floor’s layout, and approached Lu Yao.

Tina: “When do we leave?”

Lu Yao: “Got it all figured out?”

Tina nodded. “It’s nothing too complicated.”

Lu Yao raised a hand with a “wait” gesture and turned back to Li Heping. “Don’t worry. Do you have anything you need to bring? Pack it up; we’ll leave shortly.”

Li Heping hesitated, still skeptical. These women weren’t even listening to his concerns. Could they really get them out?

Xu Hongmei, however, didn’t overthink it. Grateful for the opportunity to escape, she turned and dragged out the pre-packed travel bags she had hidden in the shop. Worried about carrying too much, she began to take out a few items.

Lu Yao stopped her. “Two bags are fine.”

Li Heping remained unconvinced, but there was no better alternative. They had been trapped for two days, and these self-proclaimed runners seemed like their only hope.

Lu Yao pulled Tina aside to talk.

Tina: “This floor has a unique zombie, akin to a special entity in magical creatures. It’s likely treating this space as its hunting ground, setting traps for its prey. Everyone who enters becomes part of its reserve stockpile.”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️