C110 The Storm Forced the Restaurant to Temporarily Hide the Dogs Ran for Their Lives(2)

The shovel's purpose? Simple: to dig holes!

A pickaxe can shatter tough rocks to reveal the precious ores within.

Scissors are, of course, meant for cutting things!

And a watering can is for sprinkling water.

Tang Bing packed his backpack with vigor, stuffing it until nearly every compartment was full before finally exiting the hardware store.

The store still had an abundance of tools, but alas, his virtual backpack couldn't possibly accommodate any more!

Surely this village couldn't be without a single car, could it?

Tang Bing meandered down the village's gravel path, constantly scanning his surroundings and intermittently wiping the rain from his face.

His clothes were soaked through, but that was unavoidable.

Approaching a pond in the center of the village, he suddenly felt the presence of something fast approaching from behind.

Whirling around, Tang Bing gripped his Wolf Fang Stick and swung it with determination.

With a roar, a zombie dog riddled with rotting wounds narrowly avoided the blow, dodged the Wolf Fang Stick, and lunged at him again.

Tang Bing fought back with the stick, exchanging blows with the zombie dog. Realizing it was too nimble to hit, he resorted to a tactic often used by Zhao Dagang: he offered his left hand for the beast to bite, then brought the Wolf Fang Stick crashing down with his right.

The zombie dog's skull shattered, and after a few spasms, it lay still on the ground.

Having dispatched the sudden threat, Tang Bing inspected his scrap iron glove. Dented and battered, it had thankfully not been breached.

His relief was short-lived, however, as he sensed more canine-like creatures converging from all directions, closing in on him.

The countryside seemed to be a haven for dogs! A chill ran down Tang Bing's spine.

Zombie dogs were quicker and more ferocious than regular zombies, posing a far greater threat!

Against a horde of zombies, Tang Bing could easily dispatch them with a kite-flying tactic given his speed. But a pack of zombie dogs? That was no laughing matter.

Still, escaping should be manageable.

Knowing he was outmatched, Tang Bing didn't hesitate. He turned on his heel and sprinted towards the edge of the village, racing to outrun the encroaching pack.

"Woof! Woof! Woof..."

"Roar~!!"

"Aooo~!!"

Among the horde of zombie dogs, some retained the barks of their former lives, while others could only muster guttural roars, and a few sounded like ferocious wild wolves.

The cacophony surrounded Tang Bing, as the frenzied pack converged on him from every direction.

With incredible speed, Tang Bing sprinted away, the relentless swarm of undead dogs hot on his heels. In no time, they swarmed into his field of vision.

A motley crew of over a hundred zombified mongrels, large and small, was in hot pursuit.

If they caught up to him, he'd be torn to shreds in an instant!

Casting a quick glance over his shoulder, Tang Bing summoned every ounce of his energy to maximize his speed.

Man and a hundred dogs burst from the village, taking to the highway in a desperate dash for survival.

Tang Bing's decision to enhance his agility paid off. Initially, the dogs were closing in, but his remarkable speed and will to live allowed him to shake them off after a grueling half-hour chase.

But even out of sight, he couldn't afford to let his guard down. Exhausted to the point where catching his breath was a struggle, sweat and rain indistinguishable on his skin, he pressed on with unyielding determination.

He ran until his legs felt like lead and he thought he couldn't go on. Only then did he stop by the roadside, seeking temporary refuge under a large tree to rest and escape the rain.

As they moved further from the city center, zombies were sparse on the roads.

And in his current resting spot, not a single one was in sight.

Under the tree, he refueled with some food and water. Once his strength returned, Tang Bing rose and continued his journey through the rain.

With zombies on his tail, there was no time for other thoughts—only the drive to keep moving.

He followed the road, conserving energy by sidestepping zombies rather than engaging them, leaving them in his wake.

After what seemed like an eternity, he stumbled upon a blue pickup truck by the roadside, keys still in the ignition.

The pickup's tank was dry, likely the reason it was abandoned.

But fuel was the least of Tang Bing's worries—he had plenty.

Good fortune had finally returned!

He hastily retrieved gasoline from his virtual backpack to fill up the tank, then climbed into the driver's seat and fired up the engine.

The sound of the engine roaring to life thrilled him, bringing with it a wave of relief.

His weary body wouldn't hold up much longer; it was the vehicle that reignited his hope.

Driving the pickup truck, he pressed on towards the city's outskirts. After navigating through hordes of zombies for four or five hours, he managed to leave behind all traces of human civilization, finding solace on a secluded forest trail just as dusk began to settle in.

As he had anticipated, the further he distanced himself from the city, the fewer zombies he encountered. Though there was a chance of running into zombified animals, they were scarce in the suburban wilds, and this area seemed less affected by the contamination. Once on the narrow, rugged mountain path, he scarcely detected any zombies at all.

The rain persisted, and the darkness deepened.

Tang Bing had escaped the zombie clusters, but now faced a different challenge.

Soaked to the bone and exhausted from his escape, he needed to find a place to change into dry clothes and build a fire for warmth.

With the rain intensifying and showing no signs of letting up, the dense forest offered no refuge. And with night approaching, the risk of encountering even a single zombie animal loomed—however unlikely it might be.

Absent of any human inhabitants, there were no buildings to seek shelter in. Inside the truck, he could change, but without a fire, there was no way to warm up—especially since the pickup lacked a heater.

As the night promised more rain and colder temperatures, the threat of illness or greater danger from the cold was very real.

He needed to find a habitable place quickly, somewhere that could shield him from the elements and allow him to light a fire.

Tang Bing stopped the truck by the side of the road and scanned his surroundings. But in the desolate wilderness, what shelter could there be against the wind and rain?

The encroaching darkness was relentless. Had he really escaped the zombies, only to face death at the hands of nature's wrath?

Was leaving the team truly a mistake? Was his own selfishness now drawing divine retribution?

The more Tang Bing's anxiety grew, the wilder his thoughts became. The light before him dwindled, darkness encroaching ever closer. In an attempt to regain his composure, he slapped his head vigorously.

Panicked, he rifled through his virtual backpack for anything that might extricate him from his predicament. His eyes locked onto the tools he had picked up at the hardware store, sparking a sudden realization.

He had a game system at his disposal—why was he still measuring his actions against reality? What would he do in a game faced with a similar situation?

A stroke of genius struck him, and he swiftly grabbed the shovel, starting to dig horizontally into a small mound of earth by the roadside.

"Message: Backpack full, unable to acquire soil."

A few shovelfuls in, the mound caved, revealing a heap of soil now available for collection.

It was possible! Fueled by this success, Tang Bing dug energetically into the mound. After about a dozen squares, he was a good distance from the entrance and began to dig outwards.

By nightfall, armed with nothing but his iron shovel, Tang Bing had carved out a ten-square-meter space beneath the mound, tall enough to stand in.

The entrance, however, remained exposed, looking precarious. After a moment's thought, he retrieved several wooden planks from his virtual backpack and barricaded the entrance.

He had no choice; he hadn't learned to craft a wooden door yet. He had invested all his skill points in Agility and had only unlocked the tool bench and furnace. It was a makeshift solution, but it would have to do.

With the entrance sealed, the wind and rain were kept at bay. The elevated floor he'd created while digging also prevented rainwater from seeping in, ensuring a dry shelter for the night.

Tang Bing quickly chopped wood with his axe, stacking it neatly. A splash of petrol and a flick of his lighter, and a comforting bonfire blazed to life, soothing Tang Bing into a sense of security.