Rotting Land: Survive-Chapter 467 - 462: The Crossbow Man (Part 1)

Old Xu’s words immediately drew the attention of the other survivors, all curious about how Xu Renjie was going to proceed with the climb.

A-Cheng looked up at the villa, nearly ten meters high, worrying about Old Xu’s safety.

Old Xu paid no mind to the others’ gazes, carefully inspecting the villa’s structure, soon spotting a drainpipe running up the outside of the wall to the roof.

"Let’s use this to get to the third floor, then push the window open to enter!" With the plan settled in his mind, Xu Renjie immediately began prepping.

"Damn! Lei, is your commander really planning to... climb up with his bare hands?" Seeing Xu Renjie’s actions, Wang Qiang asked Lei Tong inquiringly.

Lei Tong nodded calmly and replied as if it were the most natural thing: "Of course! What other way is there?"

"Damn! Really? Won’t it be dangerous? Can Old Xu handle it?"

Wang Qiang’s question echoed the concerns of the others.

But Lei Tong confidently reassured, "Don’t worry, our commander wins the model soldier award every year for a reason. Just watch and see!"

Lei Tong beamed with pride, fully confident in Xu Renjie’s success.

Not only him, but Wang Qiang also noticed that the remaining soldiers wore smiles, seemingly unfazed by Xu Renjie’s actions.

Yet, ultimately, this was a freehand climb, and while the soldiers were confident, the average survivor couldn’t help but worry for Xu Renjie.

With warm-up finished, Xu Renjie gathered his spirit, spat to the side out of habit, and jumped, grabbing the pipe.

Old Xu’s climbing method was simple, using hands and feet in coordination to jump upwards.

But despite the simplicity, without years of practice, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to accomplish it.

At that moment, Xu Renjie resembled a spiritual monkey, jumping with his legs and using the momentum to quickly release his right hand and then re-cling to the pipe, repeating the process.

All movements were fluid, prompting cheers from the watching survivors below, dispelling earlier doubts and worries.

"How about it, Qiang? Feeling reassured now?" Lei Tong smirked, a bit smug.

Wang Qiang’s response was straightforward: "Impressive, so damn impressive!"

By the time the words were spoken, Xu Renjie had smoothly reached the third floor. He stretched out his right hand, exerting force to push the aluminum window handle, but the tightly shut window showed no sign of moving, clearly secured from the inside.

But this wasn’t surprising, considering the villa’s remote location; the owners likely only visited during holidays, so keeping doors and windows locked was reasonable.

Since the window wouldn’t budge, Xu Renjie didn’t linger, adjusting his position as he moved towards the air-conditioning unit hanging on the wall’s edge.

For him, the move was quite effortless, but to the survivors below, it seemed incredibly risky.

Still, he successfully reached the unit, and after a brief rest, he leapt onto the third-floor balcony, pulling himself over.

"Phew!" Upon landing, Xu Renjie exhaled heavily. It had been a while since he last climbed, and the effort was evident.

But now wasn’t the time for rest. He composed himself and turned towards the sliding glass doors.

This appeared to be a scenic room, with an outdoor area of 40 square meters, nearly the size of an average rental apartment.

Moreover, the balcony was equipped with beach chairs and sunshade facilities, indicating that the owner knew how to enjoy luxury.

Xu Renjie reached the door handle and exerted force to push and pull, but to no avail; it remained closed.

At this point, Old Xu had no choice. He picked up a chair from beneath the sunshade and smashed it against the tempered glass.

"Bang! Bang, bang!" With several strikes, the sturdy glass finally began to crack.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Renjie used all his strength to hurl the chair.

"Crash!" With a series of crisp fracturing sounds, the glass couldn’t withstand the force any longer, shattering into pieces.

Xu Renjie was unfazed; after all, these glasses were meant for strengthening with metal plates, so breaking one wasn’t a big deal.

He swept away the shards and stepped inside, only to be suddenly confronted by a black shadow appearing from the corner crevice of the inner door, with a low voice commanding, "Don’t move! Hands up!"

The unexpected situation startled Xu Renjie momentarily, but upon seeing the face of the black shadow, he released his grip toward his waist and slowly raised his hands.

Before him stood a slender young man with trendy curls and a shining earring; if not for him speaking, Xu Renjie might have mistaken him for a "pretty boy."

This young man was aiming a hunting crossbow at Xu Renjie. Truth be told, someone like this wouldn’t require much effort for Xu Renjie to handle.

Moreover, if not for the youth confirming his human identity, Xu Renjie would likely have been shot by a Type 92 and fallen to his death.

Despite having the upper hand, Xu Renjie didn’t make a move; for several reasons: "First, the other was human, a child, and Xu Renjie didn’t want to kill him; second, he appeared to be the owner, and keeping him would help understand the situation; third, though they intruded, Xu Renjie, as a soldier, adhered to some principles despite the apocalyptic moral decay."

So, Old Xu tried to appear as friendly as possible, explaining, "Calm down, young man, I’m a survivor, with no ill intent. Could you please lower the crossbow?"

"Screw you, you say no ill intent, and I’m supposed to believe you? Don’t mess with me, I’m no idiot!"

Perhaps the young man’s tone was too high, causing the survivors below, ignorant of the situation, to shout:

"Old Xu, what was that noise, is someone in there?"

"Commander Xu, what’s going on? Do you need help from us?"

The abrupt clamor undoubtedly piqued the young man’s already strained nerves. He quivered, steadied the crossbow, and threatened softly, "If you don’t want to die, you need to tell them to shut up, or else, I... I’ll..."

With his finger tight on the trigger, the emotionally unstable young man seemed moments away from firing the crossbow. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly votes; your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)