Le Rui didn’t sleep very soundly; a nightmare easily startled him awake.
When he opened his eyes, the only one beside him was Pang Cancan, quietly eating spicy sticks.
“Sister Cancan, why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I’m on night watch.”
Pang Cancan originally wanted to share her spicy sticks, but after glancing at little Le Rui’s thin figure, a sudden wave of guilt rose in her heart.
It was one thing for her to eat junk food, but how could she let a malnourished child eat it too?
Pang Cancan took out an egg and stuffed it into Le Rui’s hand.
“A late-night snack. Your Sister Su Su boiled it for you earlier.”
Le Rui obediently held the egg in his hand, turned his head to look around, but didn’t see Su Su’s figure.
“Where’s Sister Su Su?”
“She went to the bathroom.”
“She hasn’t come back yet?”
“Yeah, she still hasn’t…” Pang Cancan’s chewing suddenly stopped, and her expression gradually became serious. “Yeah, why hasn’t she come back yet?”
She pulled out the electronic watch she had scavenged from a toy store earlier and realized that more than twenty minutes had already passed.
That was indeed too long.
Pang Cancan casually tossed the spicy sticks on the ground, walked out to the back corridor, and peeked into the hallway.
No one was there.
When she came back, her expression was exceptionally heavy.
“There shouldn’t be any danger inside the gymnasium, right?”
As she said this, Pang Cancan was looking at Le Rui, and Le Rui was also looking at her, his lips moving uneasily. “The window.”
“What window?”
“The bathroom has a window too.”
A sudden realization struck Pang Cancan like a heavy blow—she suddenly recalled what had happened during the day. Even though Le Rui had been hiding inside the lounge, zombies had still managed to squeeze their way inside with surprising agility.
What if a zombie had climbed in through the bathroom window?
Pang Cancan couldn’t sit still anymore. “Wait here. I’ll go check.”
Le Rui quickly stood up as well, tugging at the corner of her clothes. “I want to go too.”
“You…”
Pang Cancan looked at the hallway, then at the two former companions who had been awakened by the commotion, suddenly caught in a dilemma.
If she took Le Rui with her and ran into danger, she wouldn’t be able to protect him.
Not taking him along was one thing, but leaving him with these two bastards was even less reliable.
After thinking it over again and again, Pang Cancan finally came up with a compromise.
“You have to stay here,” she said seriously. “If Sister Su Su didn’t run into trouble, we’ll be back soon. If she did, and even she couldn’t handle it, then you wouldn’t be able to do anything either.”
This was the truth. Le Rui thought of his ability and instantly fell into frustration.
Pang Cancan patted his shoulder. “I’ll leave a venomous insect with you. If those two don’t behave, just let it bite them to death!”
As she spoke, her gaze slanted toward the two ability users in the corner.
They had already been awakened by the commotion. But under these circumstances, they didn’t dare to act out and were behaving exceptionally well.
Le Rui nodded despondently. “I got it.”
Only then did Pang Cancan feel reassured. Taking her little poison bug, she strode into the hallway.
Le Rui watched her back eagerly. After hesitating for a few seconds, he still got up and walked to the end of the corridor, repeatedly poking his head out to look toward the hallway.
He had been abandoned before. His sense of unease was stronger than that of an average person. Even a brief separation made him panic.
Standing there, he only wished to see them return as soon as possible.
—
With several powerful individuals leaving one after another, the two ability users left behind exchanged a glance.
— Should we run?
— Run where? Out there to get bitten to death by zombies?
— Either way, I don’t want to stay here anymore. How about guarding the front entrance instead?
What’s the difference? That team doesn’t like us either.
The sharp-tongued man who had mocked Pang Cancan earlier let out a silent sigh. He reached into his pocket, intending to check the time on his electronic watch, but his fingertips brushed against something unfamiliar.
What’s this?
He pulled out a strange keychain. It held only a single key, along with a yellow talisman paper sealed in transparent plastic and a slightly yellowed bamboo whistle.
It looked like something someone had carried close to them, but it definitely wasn’t his.
The other person gave it a casual glance. “No idea, maybe something Lin Wenzong left behind?”
At the mention of their deceased teammate, both of them lost interest in talking.
The sharp-tongued man found it even more ominous.
He tossed the keychain away without a second thought, letting it slide to the farthest corner.
The sound caught Le Rui’s attention. However, he turned his head a moment too late and didn’t see what had been thrown. He only heard them muttering something about Lin Wenzong’s belongings.
After confirming they weren’t up to anything, Le Rui turned back and continued staring down the hallway, waiting.
—
In front of the bathroom.
A zombie appeared silently.
Faced with such a horrifying sight in the middle of the night, Su Su stumbled backward in fear.
“Hiss!!!”
The black snake in Su Su’s arms reacted first. Its mouth split open ferociously, and a surge of blue flames roared toward the zombie hidden in the darkness.
The zombie had already been on guard. With a speed nearly imperceptible to the human eye, it dodged the attack while retreating several meters, swiftly escaping the flashlight’s direct beam and once again vanishing into the darkness.
That speed… Su Su’s heart pounded violently.
Suppressing her fear, she lifted the flashlight again, chasing the zombie’s silhouette with its bright white beam. The light struck its face directly, without deviation.
The zombie, long devoid of human sensitivity to light, stared at her unwaveringly with its milky-white eyes from several meters away.
Su Su tried to activate her ability. “Go back.”
Return to the men’s restroom. Climb back out the way it came in.
It was the simplest command. Yet, the zombie remained completely unmoved.
What’s going on?
Panic crept into Su Su’s heart. Intense white light surged relentlessly into the zombie’s body, trying to force it back, to drive it out of the gymnasium.
The aged zombie finally lifted its foot.
But instead of retreating, it ignored her command entirely and continued moving in the direction it originally intended to go.
Su Su’s face changed drastically. “What’s happening?!”
She instinctively looked down at the Xiao Hei snake in her arms. It had already tensed its entire body, its vertical pupils locked onto the approaching threat. Perhaps the enemy was too powerful—despite not having fur, its scales had bristled.
“Hiss!”
There was no way her ability had no effect. And even more alarming, Xiao Hei’s reaction was completely off!
Su Su stared in shock at the zombie’s retreating figure. Suddenly, a horrifying realization struck her—Could it be a Tier 4, or even Tier 5 zombie?!
The thought made her scalp go numb.
She followed its movement as it left the restroom, turning right, passing through the long, winding hallway. It didn’t stop at any of the resting rooms along the way, moving with unmistakable purpose—toward the back door.
Pang Cancan and Le Rui are there! She couldn’t let it get to them!
“Stop right there!”
Su Su chased after it, unleashing an overwhelming flood of white light. Within her vision, the suspected Tier 4 zombie suddenly seemed to wade into a quagmire, its forward steps finally slowing.
“Xiao Hei.”
Having been with her for so long, the black snake understood her intent.
Before she even finished speaking, it had already slithered to the ground. A wave of searing blue flames erupted, instantly engulfing the struggling Tier 4 zombie.
“Roar!!!”
A frenzied howl shook the entire hallway. An invisible barrier blocked the blue flames from reaching its body. Su Su watched in disbelief as a dark silhouette burst from the fire, charging straight toward its attacker.
How is that possible…
It was completely unharmed!
“Roar!”
With another deafening roar, the zombie lunged at the black snake, its outstretched arms appearing as if they would tear it in half.
“Hiss!”
The black snake swiftly slid behind the zombie, its tail narrowly brushing past the zombie’s outstretched hand.
Such a close call—Su Su had no doubt that if it were caught, with the sheer strength of a Tier 4 zombie, Xiao Hei would truly be torn in half!
The black snake dodged, leaving the aged zombie to face Su Su directly.
Those grayish-white eyes locked onto her, staring unblinkingly. It hadn’t even moved yet, but Su Su was already drenched in cold sweat.
What do I do?
She and Xiao Hei were equivalent to two Tier 3 ability users, yet they were completely powerless against this Tier 4 zombie!
“Go back. Return outside. This is not a place you should have entered.”
Su Su tried again, but all she managed to do was slow the zombie’s steps for a few brief seconds.
As if realizing that its thoughts were being manipulated by a human, the aged zombie suddenly became agitated.
“Roar!!!”
Its long arm stretched out, aiming to seize the human blocking its way!
Su Su wanted to run, but her speed was no match for a Tier 4 zombie. Just as it was about to catch her, in a crucial moment, Xiao Hei bit down on its lower leg from behind, desperately dragging it backward.
With a human blocking its front and a python latching onto its rear, the aged zombie was thoroughly enraged!
It let out an earth-shaking howl, and in an instant, the zombie horde outside the gymnasium came to life. They began ramming against the front and back doors in a frenzy, their deafening roars even penetrating the sealed gymnasium.
Pa!
Xiao Hei was viciously flung aside. With the obstacle removed, the aged zombie shot toward the back door at an incredible speed.
Just at that moment, Pang Cancan appeared at the central corner of the C-shaped hallway—colliding head-on with it!
“Fuck!”
Su Su immediately shouted, “Be careful! It’s probably a Tier 4 zombie!”
From the moment she stepped into the hallway, Pang Cancan had already heard the zombie’s roar. Her worst fears were confirmed, but instead of retreating, she charged forward bravely.
“Babies! Eat its brain!”
The venomous insects had multiplied again. Over twenty of them swarmed toward the zombie, aiming for its mouth, nose, ears—any openings they could burrow into.
Sensing the threat these insects posed, the aged zombie’s movements slowed once more.
But unlike the Tier 3 zombies they had encountered before, this one didn’t waste time grabbing at them one by one. Instead, it opened its mouth—
A deep, reverberating sonic wave rippled outward.
The venomous insects surrounding it burst into pulp in an instant, wiped out completely in a single clash.
“Fuck!!!”
Under the assault of the sonic attack, both Su Su and Pang Cancan clutched their ears, dizziness and nausea overwhelming them as they collapsed to their knees.
“It has a soundwave-type ability.”
Su Su finally understood why Xiao Hei’s flames couldn’t even get close to the Tier 4 zombie!
But then… what about her ability?
Even if there was a gap between Tier 3 and Tier 4, it shouldn’t have no effect at all!
The two women and one snake had suffered consecutive setbacks. Yet, the aged zombie’s goal remained unwavering—it was headed straight for the back door.
And Pang Cancan lay directly in its path.
Am I going to die here?
Fear gripped her as she instinctively scooted backward. Her hand accidentally bumped against the flashlight that had fallen to the ground, its glaring white beam illuminating the aged zombie’s face from below.
Pang Cancan froze.
This aged face—likely before mutation—hadn’t been gnawed on by other zombies. Aside from its ghastly pale complexion, it remained intact.
She stared at the zombie’s face for several seconds. Suddenly, a bolt of white light flashed through her mind, and memories of her childhood in the village surged forward like a tidal wave.
“Old Man Le! Is that you, Old Man Le?!”
The zombie, now even older than she remembered, continued stepping toward her.
Pang Cancan called out anxiously, “It’s me, Cancan! Ten years ago, when you were driving corpses, you used to pass by our village all the time! Back then, I was mischievous and let my venomous bugs bite the corpses you were transporting. You scolded me for it! You even said your grandson was more obedient than me… Wait a minute!”
She instinctively shifted her gaze and locked eyes with Su Su, who had just rushed over.
— My name is Le Rui.
— Huh? That’s such a rare surname. I’ve only heard it once in my life.
The words they had exchanged in the past echoed in both of their minds at the same time.
“You’re Le Rui’s missing grandfather?!”