But Xu Yan knew she couldn't appear so calm.
So she held Yueyue tightly, like everyone else, fearfully curling her body into a corner.
Yueyue's small body trembled incessantly in Xu Yan's arms.
Xu An covered Yueyue's eyes and ears completely, but it was still a step too late.
Yueyue's tiny hands clutched Xu Yan's clothes tightly.
Seeing the pool of red on the ground, her body trembled continuously, but she suppressed her panic as much as possible, not daring to cry out.
Xu Yan wanted to comfort the child in her arms, but the crowd was in chaos. All she could do was hold Yueyue tightly and whisper in her ear.
"It's okay Yueyue, it's okay, don't be afraid."
Xu Yan's voice entered Yueyue's ears like a magical charm.
Yueyue's panicked heart was instantly soothed.
Her anxious emotions also seemed to be relieved.
The man with the dagger saw everyone cowering in fear in the corners, showing no thought that he was the culprit behind the situation.
Instead, he turned around nonchalantly, preparing to open the door.
As he moved, he muttered, "Damn it, if it had been like this earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."
When he opened the door, the man's eyes lit up upon seeing the two people at the entrance. In the apocalypse, women were rare, perhaps only one in ten people you met would be female.
Beautiful women were even rarer.
And the two women before him were both exceptional.
Although the short-haired woman in front of him had dust on her face, obscuring her features, her bone structure alone indicated that her face wouldn't be unattractive.
His gaze drifted down Xu An's face, a lewd expression appearing.
Xu An sensed the man's gaze.
She showed a hint of disgust, but Xu An lowered her head. It wasn't the time to fall out with him yet.
"Can we go in now?"
Although Xu An was eager to know the situation inside, she hadn't forgotten her persona was that of a helpless, innocent waif.
So Xu An obediently asked the man standing before her.
"You guys take out your supplies first, then you can go in after we've distributed them."
What he said was already very clear.
Zhou Haimei then stepped forward, "Big brother, what happened inside just now? I thought I heard someone shouting about murder."
Zhou Haimei pretended to be frightened and deliberately brushed her hair aside casually.
The man raised his eyebrows, "If you want to know, you'll find out when you go inside. Take out your supplies first. We're all sensible people, no need to play dumb here."
The man was blunt. The moment he saw Xu An and Zhou Haimei, he was not only stunned by their appearance but also knew that these two women were definitely not as fragile as they appeared.
They also absolutely couldn't be, as they claimed, people who had nowhere else to go.
Xu An nodded, took out the small bag she was carrying, and handed the pre-portioned food to the man.
"We've already divided everything. This portion is for you."
The man took the bag and weighed it.
"Aren't you going to check it?"
"No need, I trust you." The man said casually, then moved aside, making way for Xu An to see the scene inside.
Xu An and Zhou Haimei hurried forward.
The first thing that greeted them was a large expanse of red, followed by bodies lying motionless on the ground.
People around were huddled together in small groups, covering their heads.
Xu An immediately pulled Zhou Haimei, and the two of them hugged each other as if scared.
"Why are there dead people here?"
The man said nonchalantly, "Just killed. And this person died because of you."
Xu An suppressed the killing intent in her heart, "What does this have to do with us?"
The man's lecherous gaze constantly roamed over Xu An and Zhou Haimei.
"Because they didn't intend to let you in, and they weren't willing to part with your belongings, so they planned to tie you both up. I felt sorry for you two young ladies being outside, so I had to play the righteous protector and punish him."
These words were utterly shameless.
Clearly, this man had intended to kill, but he was shifting the blame onto Xu An and the others.
He wanted to increase their guilt.
You see, I killed this person for you.
You must be grateful to me.
If it weren't for saving you, this person wouldn't have died...
And so on and so forth.
If it weren't for Xu An being here today, but rather some truly helpless young girls, this man's words might have caused them immense guilt.
It might even make them develop a sense of dependence on this man.
Fortunately, however, this man was facing Xu An.
"But, big brother, how could you kill someone? That's a life. There are very few zombies outside now, and we could hide somewhere else. But you've got blood on your hands. If the enforcement team finds out about this, you'll be expelled from the lighthouse!"
Xu An deliberately feigned innocence, completely ignoring his words.
Instead, she used the method he intended to manipulate her with and sent his words back to him.
Xu An sneered inwardly.
"Heh, you want to moralize me?"
"Sorry, I have no morals!"
Heh, the best way to deal with a shameless person is to be even more shameless than them.
As soon as Xu An finished speaking, the surrounding crowd began to stir.
Everyone suddenly remembered that this was not a lawless, chaotic world after all. If this man killed someone here, when the lighthouse's rescue arrived and the zombies were cleared, reconstruction would inevitably follow.
At that time, they could all be witnesses, proving that this man was a murderer.
They then remembered that, at least at this moment, they were still protected by the laws of the lighthouse.
Their fear of the man seemed to lessen slightly.
At this moment, everyone firmly believed that someone would save them.
Their gazes met in the air, as if encouraging each other, and instantly, the fear and tension on their faces disappeared.
The man, seeing that Xu An had dismantled all his hard-won authority in just a few sentences, felt a great alarm.
Even the gaze that had been lingering on Xu An and Zhou Haimei became heavy.
Hearing Xu An's words, Xu Yan was also delighted. From an angle no one else could see, she secretly looked at her daughter.
While she was happy, the heavy weight on her heart finally lifted.
She knew that since Xu An had found her here, she must have a way to get them out.