"If there really is a survivor hiding here, the most likely scenario is that they're holed up in one of these apartments. I just need to make a bit of noise, and they should react."
Su Li pondered briefly, stopping in front of the second apartment's security door. He raised the cleaver and began tapping rhythmically against the door.
As he tapped lightly, he kept his eyes on the door in front of him while focusing his hearing to detect any sound from inside.
Unfortunately, there was no response at all.
Su Li frowned slightly.
Based on his guess, there was a high probability that a survivor was hiding here—if not in this apartment, then in another. After all, this floor had only three units, and he had already checked the first one, finding no one.
If someone was here, the sound of him knocking on the security door would surely alert them. That person would inevitably peek through the peephole to observe the hallway and see him.
"I don't look like a corpse beast. As long as they see me, they should know I'm a survivor. Logically, they'd open the door or make a sound to respond... Why is there no reaction? Are they being overly cautious? Still watching from the shadows?"
Su Li frowned again and finally spoke aloud.
"Anyone there?" he called out, raising his voice, and knocked on the door once more.
He had made his presence known with sound—surely he wouldn't be mistaken for a corpse beast now.
Su Li called out twice more, but the area remained utterly silent, with no response.
"That's strange." Su Li looked at the corpse beast with its smashed skull on the ground. This was undoubtedly the work of another survivor. Could it be that survivor had also left this place, just like him?
"Not even bothering to clean up these bodies—that doesn't look like someone planning to stay here." Su Li mused, a hint of disappointment welling up inside him. If he were staying here, he definitely wouldn't leave these corpses lying in the hallway; at the very least, he'd pile them together.
From this detail, it seemed the one who killed them had indeed left, and in a hurry at that. They might have even fled right after slaying these corpse beasts, leaving no need to deal with the bodies.
Letting out a sigh, Su Li headed toward the third apartment at the end of the hallway.
Though he knew the chances were slim, he decided to knock on that security door too, to see if there was any response.
As he approached, however, he noticed a key inserted in the keyhole of the security door, stained with blood.
"Hmm? This is the key to the security door." Su Li's heart stirred. He thought that if a survivor lived here, they might have left the key in the door to prevent it from slamming shut due to wind or other reasons—a perfectly reasonable precaution to avoid trouble.
After all, the city was submerged by the flood. There was no longer any fear of burglars breaking in; in fact, they'd be welcome, if any burglars still existed.
And corpse beasts couldn't use keys to open doors.
Staring at the key in the security door, Su Li didn't open it immediately. Instead, he knocked.
"Anyone there?"
He called out twice, paused for a moment, and after confirming there was no response at all, he reached out and turned the key.
The key rotated, and Su Li confirmed it was indeed the key to this security door. He could clearly feel the door unlocking.
Taking a deep breath, Su Li stepped back slightly, adopting a defensive and alert stance. The security door opened inward. Su Li extended his leg to brace the door and pushed it inward, peering through the widening gap while gripping his knife and hammer tightly. If anything unexpected happened, he was ready to react instantly.
A thick smell of blood hung in the air. The first thing Su Li saw was a toppled shoe cabinet, shoes scattered everywhere, shards of glass, splatters of blood, and several human corpses.
A thin, vertical mark like an eye appeared between his brows as the "Peeping Rune" activated. He focused on the corpse closest to the entrance.
"Corpse Beast: a low-level infected spirit-source beast. Through mutual devouring, there is a certain probability of evolving into an advanced corpse beast. Other: None."
Looking at the corpse's shattered skull, Su Li could have guessed it was a slain corpse beast even without the "Peeping Rune."
The security door swung fully open, revealing a living room in utter disarray. The room was spacious, covered in bloodstains. Three corpses with crushed skulls lay on the floor, and another was sprawled over a large leather sofa, its head similarly smashed.
Without needing to examine each one closely, Su Li knew these four were all killed corpse beasts.
Su Li stepped inside slowly. The floor was littered with debris, and signs of a fierce struggle were everywhere. It seemed a brutal fight had taken place here. Splashes of blood stained the white walls in every direction.
Su Li suddenly stopped, staring at one particular wall, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Besides the glaring bloodstains, the wall bore deep grooves, as if clawed by sharp talons.
"How did these marks appear? These low-level corpse beasts don't have claws. Strange..."
Su Li studied the claw marks on the wall, his vigilance immediately heightened. But the fight had happened at least a day ago, and now the place was silent. Even if some clawed creature had been here, it likely wouldn't still be around.
Across the living room was a bedroom, its door shattered and lying on the floor. Bloodstains trailed all the way into the bedroom, indicating the battle had been intense, spilling from the living room into the inner room.
Su Li slowly approached the bedroom doorway. The fallen door beside it also bore claw marks.
Looking up, he saw the bedroom was equally chaotic. A table had collapsed, a broken lamp lay on the floor, flower pots on the windowsill had toppled over, and the once-blooming flowers were now withered.
In this messy bedroom lay another corpse.
It was a middle-aged man in his forties, slumped in front of a white wardrobe, head drooping, covered in blood. A massive gash split his chest, through which his internal organs were faintly visible.
Though dead, his right hand still tightly gripped a bloodstained iron rod.
Seeing that iron rod, Su Li's eyes lit up.
Calling it an iron rod was accurate—it was actually a thick steel rebar, about a meter long and as thick as an egg. This rebar was heavy, and if swung with enough strength, its lethality would be terrifying.
Su Li now had the strength of seven hundred jin in his arms. He had always felt his cleaver and hammer were too light to fully utilize his power, but he hadn't found a suitable replacement. Now, seeing this iron rod, a surge of joy filled him.