Trembling At A High Altitude

The others still raised no objections.

So everyone began the first step of the plan, which was to look for suitable tools for hunting.

Li Teng had already checked the workshop on the third floor; it was empty.

They cautiously made their way to the second floor, but similarly came up empty-handed.

When they descended to the first floor, the doors of the tea house's main hall were closed. After some tiptoeing around and searching, they still found nothing.

"Actually, the wooden stools we're sitting on are the best weapons. The legs are about 0.8 meters long, a good length to hold, and the tops are thick enough to smash a zombie's head," Number 2 suggested to the group.

In the absence of any other suitable weapons, wooden stools indeed became their only choice.

The idea to lure and trap the zombies was also quickly conceived.

Someone was arranged to stand on the second floor to observe the distribution of zombies in front of the tea house. They would try to attract one of the zombies to the first-floor entrance by splashing water from a tea cup. If successful, the person standing in the stairwell would be responsible for signaling.

If it wasn't successful and too many zombies were lured at once, they would throw a tea cup to a distant place from the second floor to draw the zombies away from the front door.

Then they would repeat the previous steps until they successfully lured a single zombie.

Two people would stand by the door on the first floor and open it when a zombie approached. After it rushed in, those who had opened the door would be responsible for closing it. Several others waiting inside would then cooperate to beat the intruding zombie to death with the stools.

The plan was that everyone would begin the second phase of work only after they had successfully hunted at least four zombies: they would smear their bodies with the zombies' bodily fluids and then set off together, crossing the Great Iron Bridge teeming with the undead, to reach the safe house on the opposite side.

If anyone was found deliberately sabotaging others during this process, they would immediately be ostracized from the team and would no longer receive any help from the group.

Regarding the specific task distribution, most people thought of luring zombies from the second floor, as it was the safest job among all the tasks.

Most were not eager to take on the job of killing the zombies because it was the most dangerous.

For the sake of fairness, the group decided to draw lots to determine the allocation of tasks.

Under everyone's supervision, Number 5 wrote eight lots on pieces of paper. Everyone drew in turn, and after they had all drawn, they opened and revealed their lots together.

Two people were responsible for luring the zombies from the second floor, one person for signaling from the stairs, two for opening and closing the door on the first floor of the tea house, and the remaining three for killing the zombies.

Of course, after closing the door, those who had opened it were also expected to pick up stools and help the three beat the zombies to death.

It didn't take long to finish drawing lots, and everyone opened theirs together.

Li Teng drew the task of killing the zombies.

He was not at all surprised by this outcome.

With the distribution of tasks complete, everyone took their positions to implement the first step of the plan: luring the zombies.

The person on the second floor did an excellent job, attracting one of the zombies to the door of the tea house with the splashed water. The person at the stairs swiftly signaled, and the two by the door rapidly pulled it open.

Li Teng and the other two, clutching their stools, were on edge waiting for the zombie to rush in, so they could crush its skull.

Actually, Li Teng had experience in this...

Guo's mother's head had been smashed by him with a High Stool.

And the High Stool was much heavier than this wooden stool and not at all easy to handle.

So for him, the task was not that challenging.

But after the door was opened, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations.

The zombie that had been attracted by the water from the second floor to the door saw the wide-open entrance and the people inside, yet showed no interest in entering. It was as though it had seen nothing at all and turned around, walking back onto the main street!

Several attempts were made on the second floor, all resulting in the same outcome.

"I've got it, the tea house where we were born is also a safe house. Zombies can't enter the safe house where our spawn point is," said No. 3, sharing his speculation.

To confirm this, everyone decided to open the front door of the tea house on the first floor.

They then started making all sorts of strange noises at the zombies on the street outside the tea house...

The zombies on the street paid no attention whatsoever, not reacting at all.

"It's a very powerful safe house setting. Whatever you do inside it, the zombies won't barge in," everyone concluded after some experimentation.

However, this safe house setting increased the difficulty of the performance the group was tasked to complete.

Since the zombies wouldn't enter the house, they couldn't be hunted down one by one.

If everyone went out to hunt, it was likely that all the zombies on the street would rush over.

Determined to test this out, No. 2 conducted an experiment.

He stretched one leg out of the tea house and then stuck his head out and shouted.

As a result, all the zombies on the entire street charged towards him.

He quickly pulled his entire body back into the tea house. Then, the zombies lost their target and stopped gathering in that direction.

"Since the safe house is absolutely safe, we could try luring the zombies to the door on the second floor and then smashing their heads in at the doorway, dragging their bodies inside afterward," No. 3 came up with an idea.

"Who's going to do the smashing by the door?" No. 5 asked.

"Obviously, the three of them," No. 3 pointed at Li Teng and his two companions.

"I refuse! We previously agreed to lure the zombies inside one by one, and only then would we hunt them. Now the risk has increased. We need to draw lots again," No. 1, who was with Li Teng, objected.

Li Teng and another teammate expressed their agreement.

So everyone drew lots once more.

This time, they would only select one person to stand by the door on the first floor to fight the zombies.

Because... the space by the door was limited, and two people might get in each other's way, whereas one person could move more freely.

But this also meant that the person would bear all the risk.

The result of the draw came out quickly.

Li Teng was surprised that he didn't end up drawing the lot to fight the zombies by the door; No. 8 did.

It seemed his luck wasn't the worst.

"I won't go. What if you shut the front door while I'm standing there smashing zombies, trapping me outside? Then I'd be the only one eliminated. I'm not that stupid," No. 8 began to balk.

"We can place two tables to block the double doors on each side. We couldn't possibly trap you outside then. Plus, you'd be standing inside swinging a stool outside to smash the zombies, which is basically safe," No. 3 suggested after some thought.

"The risk is still too high," No. 8 continued to shake his head, though he couldn't specify what the exact risks were.

"Then please leave our team. You won't be able to participate in any of our actions from now on," No. 5 said somewhat angrily.

"Whatever, I'll go it alone if need be," No. 8 was prepared to be stubborn to the end.

"Fine then, No. 8 is expelled. Let's draw lots again," No. 5 declared.