“Roar!!!”
The only response to the two was a roar.
The figure standing before them was neither the Old Man Le that Pang Cancan knew nor Le Rui’s grandfather, but a Tier 4 zombie with no trace of human intelligence.
In almost an instant, it swept past the two of them, moving so fast that only an afterimage remained.
“Old Man Le!”
Pang Cancan’s shout did not make it pause for even half a second.
Su Su suppressed the metallic taste of blood rising in her throat. “No matter whether he was Le Rui’s grandfather or not, he has now turned into a zombie. No one knows if he will harm Le Rui. We have to catch up.”
“Mm!”
The C-shaped corridor almost completely blocked the view from both ends. As soon as the zombie dashed past the largest bend and lifted its head, it saw a small head sticking out from the right passage at the corridor’s end.
The flashlight beam had yet to shine over, so Le Rui could only see a blurry figure rushing toward him at high speed.
“Sister Cancan? Sister Su Su?”
Just as he called out, he realized something was wrong.
Neither of them was as tall as this charging figure!
“Le Rui! Hide quickly!”
The shout came from further down the corridor, and in an instant, Le Rui realized something had gone wrong.
He had nowhere to hide and could only retreat into the passage in a panic.
But the passage was not safe either. The two Tier 1 ability users inside were powerless to hold their ground. The metal door was constantly being slammed by zombies outside—not only was the door panel beginning to deform, but even the metal hinges at the joints were starting to loosen!
The Sour Chicken Man also heard the roars echoing through the corridor. He turned his head in terror. “What’s happening? Why do I hear zombies inside the gymnasium…?”
His confusion was cut short the moment he saw the aged zombie rush into the passage.
“Zombie! There’s a zombie!!!”
In the narrow passage, there was a Tier 4 zombie in front and a massive tide of zombies behind.
It was a death trap.
The two weaklings shrank into a corner, and a faint stench of urine began to spread.
The only one who remained somewhat calm was the young Le Rui. He stared blankly at the dark figure not far away.
The latter did not continue chasing. Instead, it stopped in a corner and bent down to pick up a key ring.
At that moment, Su Su’s flashlight beam swept into the passage, illuminating the key ring—and at the same time, revealing the zombie’s figure.
The instant he saw the zombie’s face clearly, Le Rui’s eyes filled with tears.
“Grandpa!” He rushed forward without hesitation. “You promised me you would come back! You finally came back!”
“Le Rui!”
Su Su reacted swiftly, grabbing him and pulling him forcefully to her side.
“Don’t go over yet. Your grandfather has already turned into a zombie.”
The words were cruel, but they were reality.
The Tier 4 zombie before them had clearly heard his grandson’s cries, yet it showed no reaction at all, its entire attention fixated on a small key ring instead.
Le Rui’s tears flowed even more fiercely. “That’s Grandpa’s key ring! It has the talisman paper left behind by my great-grandfather, and the bamboo whistle I made for him.”
Su Su instantly connected this to Zhao Zhenyu!
So it really was him! He must have stolen something from the Tier 4 zombie from somewhere, luring the entire zombie tide here!
Not only that, before dying, he even left it inside the gymnasium.
He was the true culprit behind everything!
Su Su glared hatefully at the key ring in the zombie’s hand, only to suddenly notice that the bamboo whistle on it… had already been shattered.
Not good!
Sure enough, at the same moment, the aged zombie also discovered that its bamboo whistle had broken into several dried, yellow fragments.
It erupted in fury, throwing its head back in a long howl:
“Roar!!!”
Outside, the zombie tide instantly boiled over, their roars surging like crashing waves, each one louder than the last.
Bang!
The metal door was broken through, and countless zombies trampled over the shattered door panel, swarming into the gymnasium.
The two weaklings huddled in the corner were the first to suffer. In the blink of an eye, over a dozen zombies pounced on them, tearing and gnawing at the rare, fresh flesh.
“Help! Save me! Aaaaah!!!”
“Don’t bite me! I want to live, I don’t want to die!”
The screams lasted only a few seconds before falling silent forever.
Su Su gasped sharply and scooped up the black snake from the ground. “Xiao Hei, we have to stop them! Cancan, take care of Le Rui!”
The back door was much narrower than the front, limiting the number of zombies that could rush in.
Su Su’s ability and Xiao Hei’s blue flames barely managed to hold off this wave of attacks.
In comparison, the Tier 4 zombie behind them—one that had never shown any desire for human flesh—was actually the safer presence.
But human strength was ultimately limited. Once their abilities were exhausted, they would all become a feast for the zombie tide.
Su Su glanced back and was struck by sudden inspiration.
“Le Rui! Your grandfather is likely the zombie king of this horde. Only he can make them retreat. Try to wake him up!”
Trying to wake up a zombie was no different from a fool’s dream.
But if it could resist the craving for human flesh and had chased them all the way here just for a key ring… then perhaps—just perhaps—some trace of its consciousness still remained!
A surge of hope burst into Le Rui’s eyes. He desperately wanted to bring his grandfather back—to restore his self-awareness.
“Grandpa, it’s me, Le Rui! Do you really not recognize me?”
“When you left, you clearly promised me that you would be back soon. But why have you been missing for so long and never came to find me?”
“I’ve been here all alone, waiting for you for two months! I thought you would never come back!”
By the end, Le Rui’s voice had turned into uncontrollable sobs.
Holding his hand, Pang Cancan also tried persuading him: “Old Man Le! If you still can’t remember, your grandson is about to be eaten by zombies!”
“You’ve been a corpse herder for so many years, and now that the apocalypse has come, you’ve somehow turned into a Zombie King. Since you have such great abilities, hurry up and make that horde of zombies outside leave, will you?”
One spoke with deep emotion, the other with earnest persuasion.
At last, the Zombie King turned his gaze toward them.
Pang Cancan was overjoyed and quickly led Le Rui a few steps forward. “Old Man Le, look, this is your grandson, you—ah!”
The aged zombie not only remained unmoved but even roared furiously and sent the noisy humans flying without hesitation.
But in the next moment, a small figure suddenly clung tightly to his leg.
“Grandpa! It’s me, Le Rui! Grandpa!”
“Roar!!!”
The Zombie King let out a few enraged howls. He seemed to have grown impatient with these insignificant ants blocking his way. Grabbing the child’s neck, he lifted him high above his head.
The overwhelming strength instantly caused Le Rui’s face to flush red from suffocation.
He weakly pounded on the zombie’s arm, his eyes wide open as tears streamed down in an endless flow. “Gran… grandpa…”
Su Su turned her head just in time to see—Pang Cancan clutching her ears in pain, writhing on the ground, while Le Rui was on the verge of being strangled to death by his own grandfather!
“Xiao Hei, hold them off for me.”
The black snake glanced at her twice.
“Hiss~”
The blue flames expanded once again. The dozen or so zombies that had just rushed in were instantly reduced to ashes.
It answered Su Su’s command with action.
Without wasting another second, she turned to rescue Le Rui, whose cheeks had already turned blue-purple from lack of oxygen.
“Let him go!”
Using all her strength, she forced the Tier 4 Zombie King to slightly loosen his grip.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Su forcefully pulled Le Rui down from his grasp.
The little boy erupted into a violent coughing fit, sobbing as he coughed. “Grandpa doesn’t recognize me! He doesn’t recognize me!”
Su Su also realized—the appeal to family bonds had completely failed.
But before she could change strategies, the Zombie King, restrained for only a few seconds, had already broken free from the “quagmire” of white light.
Enraged by the fact that he had been controlled by a human, his blue-purple arm grabbed the frail and delicate figure.
Su Su barely had time to release Le Rui.
“Sister!!”
“Roar!!”
Su Su was lifted into the air, facing the Zombie King’s powerful sound waves head-on. The shockwave rattled her internal organs, causing a trickle of fresh blood to seep out. “Ugh!”
She began struggling wildly, unleashing her ability without restraint. Sometimes she could control it for a few seconds, but other times, it had no effect at all.
Even in such a dire situation, she caught a glimpse of the black snake slithering toward her from the corner of her eye.
“Don’t come over! Xiao Hei! Guard the door!”
Her hoarse command did nothing to control the cold-blooded creature that refused to obey orders.
It knew exactly what she was worried about—she was afraid that if the corpse tide rushed in, they would first tear apart the other two useless humans.
But it had no such concerns! Even if all the zombies swarmed in, it would still follow her and fight its way out!
A wave of despair surged in Su Su’s heart.
Don’t come over… Xiao Hei, don’t come over… If you do, we’ll all die here together…
At that moment of crisis, Le Rui’s voice rang out again.
The little boy sobbed miserably, as if making the hardest decision of his life.
“Sister, the talisman paper! The talisman paper left by Great-Grandfather—it can burn the strongest living corpse!”
The corpse-herding trade had always been filled with widowers, orphans, and the lonely.
His grandfather’s wife had died in childbirth, his son had met a violent end, and his daughter-in-law had fled without a trace, leaving behind only a grandson barely three years old.
Ten years ago, after guiding his last corpse, his grandfather had decided to leave this profession behind for good.