Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Homemade Iron Crossbow

Qin Fei retraced the path he had taken earlier, making his way back to the Baishui River General Store.

By the time he reached the shop’s entrance, the sky had grown mostly dark.

In the post-apocalyptic town, there was no electricity. The streetlights along the road remained unlit, making the area around the Baishui River Store almost pitch-black.

Only the entrance was faintly illuminated by firelight.

Someone had placed an empty oil drum outside the door, and inside, a feeble flame flickered—evidently for lighting.

The sentry atop the wall was no longer the bearded man from earlier; now a young man with a nose ring stood watch.

Qin Fei waved the medicine bottle in his hand, displaying the antibiotics he had retrieved. After this, the sentry let him in.

Once inside the camp, Qin Fei noticed a small bonfire burning in the open area within the Baishui River Store.

A group of people gathered around the fire.

Perhaps out of fear that too large a fire would attract zombies from afar, the bonfire was pitiably small, no larger than the rim of a bowl.

Nearby were pieces of roasted meat, though Qin Fei couldn’t tell what kind of animal they came from.

The female doctor he’d met during the day, along with the bearded man, sat around the fire.

Seeing Qin Fei return, the female doctor rose and approached him.

She gave him a once-over, her eyes betraying a hint of surprise.

Despite his journey to retrieve antibiotics, Qin Fei’s clothing was intact, unscathed, and not a trace of blood could be seen on him.

He had left empty-handed, yet returned not only with the antibiotics but also without the slightest injury.

That he had accomplished the task so effortlessly was naturally astonishing to the female doctor.

In truth, she somewhat overestimated Qin Fei’s abilities. With the help of the system’s yellow markers and the bow and arrows he’d brought from the previous world, retrieving a bottle of antibiotics was well within his reach.

Qin Fei tossed the antibiotics to her.

She caught the bottle, opened the cap, sniffed its contents, and praised him, “Well done, you’ve passed the test!”

After some introductions, Qin Fei learned her name.

She was Joanna, the only doctor at Baishui River Camp and its leader.

Including Qin Fei, there were currently nine people in the camp—all survivors from various regions, taken in by Joanna and gathered together.

The members of the camp obtained food primarily through trading with other survivors, but occasionally ventured out themselves to scavenge supplies.

The distribution of resources at the Baishui River Store followed a private ownership model—everyone kept what they found.

If someone didn’t want to starve, they had to help with chores or go outside to scavenge valuable items to bring back.

There were three rules for anyone wishing to stay here long-term.

First and foremost: never light a fire without permission.

Even at night, the camp only allowed a small fire in the yard, barely enough to light the area for everyone.

The reason was simple.

In the world of “Seven Days to Die,” zombies rely on two senses to find the living: hearing and the ability to detect sources of heat.

Whether from electricity or fire, once a certain temperature threshold is reached, zombies from several miles away can sense it and be drawn in.

Privately lighting a fire was strictly forbidden.

The second rule: no shouting or making loud noises.

The third and final rule: under no circumstances was anyone to open the camp gate at night.

At night, zombies could run.

This rule needed no reminder—unless someone was tired of living, no one would open the gate after dark.

Upon returning with the antibiotics, Joanna rewarded Qin Fei with a can of macaroni and two hundred casino tokens for completing the task.

[Can of Macaroni: Authentic Italian flavor! Delicious beyond compare!]

After stowing away the can and the tokens, Qin Fei headed to a makeshift room pieced together from sheet metal.

The space was tiny, no more than ten square meters, long and narrow—likely once a garage.

It was empty, not even a bed.

Qin Fei didn’t mind. In his backpack was a sleeping bag from the previous world—worn but still serviceable. At least he wouldn’t have to sleep on the bare floor.

Such was life in the apocalypse.

Most survivors barely scraped by, struggling just to stay alive; no one had the energy to care for others.

Qin Fei opened the can of macaroni and took a couple of bites.

Inside were pieces of food reminiscent of prawn crackers—made from flour and fried, with added salt and seasonings, and a hint of tomato sauce.

This kind of pasta was characteristically Western in its sweet-and-sour flavor. The first taste was acceptable, but Qin Fei suspected he’d soon tire of it.

After eating, he lay down to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Upon waking, Qin Fei planned to buy some weapons from Joanna.

The Baishui River Camp was well-stocked with supplies.

Clothing and fabric were the cheapest—most could be had for just a few dozen tokens.

Food was somewhat more expensive.

The can of macaroni Qin Fei had received the previous day would have cost about twenty tokens.

Canned beef or mutton, even rarer, was priced higher still.

Though the price of a can matched that of clothing, clothes could be worn repeatedly, while a can would be gone in a day.

Weapons, however, were the most expensive.

Most melee weapons cost at least several hundred tokens.

Guns started at over a thousand tokens.

High-quality compound bows and crossbows were especially in demand, since they were silent when fired—making them even more valuable than firearms.

With only three hundred tokens or so, Qin Fei could barely buy a handful of bullets.

So he decided to make an iron crossbow himself.

He was already proficient with hunting bows, so he would have no trouble adapting to a crossbow.

Moreover, he still had birch-wood arrows from his previous world, so he could skip making bolts.

The crossbow string required far greater toughness and strength than a standard bow.

But this was not a problem—Qin Fei could simply twist several animal intestines together to make a thicker, stronger string.

He still had plenty of dried animal intestines in his pack—no need to worry about materials for the string.

The most challenging part was crafting the crossbow limbs.

Usually, these were made from ox horn or tough bamboo, but Qin Fei had neither. He had to use iron bars instead.

He had a crowbar in his pack, which could serve as the iron bar.

To reduce the carbon content of the crowbar, Qin Fei would need to heat it to a high temperature and hammer it repeatedly.

So he gathered some tools and coal, preparing to reforge his crowbar.

Since private fires were forbidden in camp, Qin Fei would have to find a safe spot outside to work slowly on his project.