All Le Rui knew was that the talisman paper had been left behind by his great-grandfather, capable of repelling the strongest living corpse—a protective charm passed down through generations of corpse herders.
Now that Grandpa had become a zombie, he was also a living corpse.
The talisman paper might just be his death sentence.
But Le Rui couldn’t afford to care about that anymore. He wanted his grandfather back, but even more than that, he didn’t want Sister Su Su to die because of him!
His words rang clearly in Su Su’s ears.
Just as the Zombie King’s grip tightened around her throat, she managed to grasp the key ring in its hand and yanked off the talisman paper.
“Roar!!!”
Another wave of blood surged up inside her, but Su Su forced herself to swallow it down as she tore off the plastic casing around the talisman.
“Stick it to the living corpse’s forehead…”
Le Rui’s voice grew more choked with sobs, while Su Su, summoning all her remaining strength, slapped the talisman paper onto the Zombie King’s forehead.
The ancient vermillion symbols glowed with a brilliant red light. Though there was no adhesive, the paper clung tightly to its skin, refusing to come off no matter how much it struggled.
The Zombie King let out a furious, pain-filled roar and flung the human in its grip away.
Before she hit the ground, the black snake swiftly slithered over and cushioned her fall.
“Ugh!”
Su Su could no longer hold it back—blood gushed from her mouth uncontrollably. She barely had time to get up before she had to brace herself against the incoming zombies again.
As for that Zombie King… it let out roar after roar, its sound waves indiscriminately attacking everyone.
Even those who had retreated into the corridor—Si Zhe, Lin Weiran, and the others—were not spared.
The front door had fallen even earlier than the back. The stadium entrance had been designed extra wide to accommodate the crowd, and the moment the door panels crashed down, the number of zombies flooding in was several times greater than those at the back entrance.
They fought desperately while retreating, only to realize—when they reached the back entrance—that this place had already been breached as well!
“Si Zhe!” Lin Weiran coughed up a few streaks of blood from the shockwaves, turning toward him with disbelief in her eyes. “That’s a Tier 4 zombie!”
Si Zhe had, of course, noticed.
He had also realized something else—the Zombie King was already a spent arrow at the end of its flight.
This was the best opportunity! If he struck now, he could obtain a rare Grade 4 crystal!
Once he consumed it, he would have the strength to break through the siege and lead Weiran and the others out!
“Weiran, hold on for a bit.”
Years of teamwork made Lin Weiran instantly understand Si Zhe’s intentions.
“Alright.”
Si Zhe broke away from the group, charging straight toward the fallen Zombie King.
Lightning had already condensed into a blade in his hand. As long as he struck swiftly and accurately—just one clean cut to sever its head…
But just as he advanced, a thin figure suddenly blocked his path.
Si Zhe’s expression darkened. “Move!”
Le Rui stood firmly in front of the Zombie King. “My grandpa isn’t dead yet! You can’t kill my grandpa!”
Si Zhe lost all patience and shoved the obstructive child aside, swinging his lightning blade down with full force.
“Grandpa!!!”
It was only then that Su Su noticed his attempt to reap the spoils.
But it was already too late to stop him.
Facing imminent death, the Zombie King let out another deafening roar:
“Roar!!!”
This time, the sound wave was stronger than any before.
Si Zhe, standing closest, bore the full brunt of the attack. His body, still not fully recovered, suffered immense shock and damage.
Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth, his vision went dark, and before he could even process what had happened, his consciousness faded.
His body crashed heavily to the ground.
“Si Zhe!”
Lin Weiran’s heart clenched with panic. She wanted to rush to him but was completely entangled in the “surging” zombie tide, unable to break free.
At this moment, the only person still capable of moving freely… was Le Rui.
He pushed himself up from the ground, staggering as he ran toward the Zombie King.
Throwing himself onto it, he sobbed uncontrollably.
“Grandpa, don’t die! Don’t leave me all alone!”
“My… grandson…”
A frail, trembling voice sounded.
Le Rui looked down in disbelief and found that his grandfather, held in his arms, had miraculously regained a sliver of consciousness.
His eyes were still ashen gray, unfocused and empty.
It was as if he had merely responded to a familiar voice, reaching out with a shaky hand in his final moments, blindly stroking Le Rui’s cheek.
“Grandpa… is dying… Grandson… live well…”
He could no longer say more, nor did he have the strength to leave any further instructions.
This aged Zombie King only knew that before being bitten and turned into a zombie, his last lingering obsession had been to return to the stadium and take his grandson away. But once his consciousness had been eroded, even that obsession had faded, leaving behind only a key ring as proof of where he had come from.
After a lifetime of guiding corpses, even as a Zombie King, he had ended up managing the entire city’s zombies for X City.
Until fate, in an ironic twist, brought him back to his grandson once again.
“Grandson… crystal… swallow it…”
The Zombie King spoke his final words before his head drooped lifelessly, and his arm fell heavily to the ground.
As the last traces of vitality dissipated, the talisman paper on his forehead suddenly glowed with a brilliant red light.
The corpse in Le Rui’s arms ignited without a spark.
In an instant, all that remained was a pile of ashes. A yellow crystal stone tumbled onto the ground with a crisp “ding.”
The Zombie King was dead.
The corpse tide he had controlled hesitated for only a few seconds before surging forward once more, drawn madly by the scent of living humans.
Le Rui, tears still streaming down his face, picked up the Grade 4 crystal.
Grandpa’s last words were probably asking him to swallow this crystal.
He lifted his head and saw the endless wave of zombies ahead.
That older sister, Lin Weiran—her boyfriend had just tried to kill his grandfather for this very crystal.
And even now, her anxious gaze flickered between her fallen boyfriend and the crystal in his hands.
Le Rui wiped his tears away.
He stood up and pressed the crystal—something others would fight to the death for—into Su Su’s hand.
“Sister Su Su, if you swallow this crystal, will you be able to control the zombie tide like Grandpa did?”
Seeing the crystal, a flicker of shock crossed Su Su’s eyes.
“Le Rui?”
Le Rui forced out a smile that looked even sadder than crying.
“Grandpa wanted me to survive. Sister, take it. Only you can make them leave.”
Su Su fell silent for a few seconds before tightening her grip around the crystal.
“I will get you all out of here.”
“And I will make sure you live.”
The Le Rui standing before her hadn’t even broken into Tier 1 yet.
He didn’t know that crystals couldn’t be swallowed to surpass ability levels.
But Su Su didn’t plan to tell him that.
She quietly stared at the yellow crystal in her hand.
Consuming both a Grade 3 and a Grade 4 crystal in a single day—even though her ability could cleanse excess energy impurities—Su Su couldn’t guarantee that she would emerge unscathed.
But the crisis before her left no room for hesitation.
With firm resolve, Su Su shoved the crystal into her mouth.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
A massive surge of energy roared through her body. The overwhelming impurities instantly burst her capillary blood vessels, soaking her entire body in blood.
White light reappeared. As energy erupted within her, it simultaneously struggled to expel all impurities from her body.
With this painful give-and-take, Su Su barely managed to break through to Tier 4.
She forced her trembling body to stand upright, extending her ability over the entire stadium.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, every zombie fell under her control.
Su Su forced out three words: “Leave. This. Place.”
Her voice was not loud, but the moment her ability spread, every controlled zombie came to an abrupt halt.
First, the zombies flooding in from the back entrance began retreating. Then, the corpse tide that had burst through the front door turned around, pushing the uncontrolled zombies along with them as they moved away.
Su Su’s vision flickered between black and white, dizziness clouding her mind into hazy disarray.
She knew she was overexerting herself, but at this critical moment, she had to hold on—until the corpse tide completely retreated.
She absolutely could not collapse halfway!
Three minutes—The corpse tide fully withdrew from the stadium.
Ten minutes—The controlled zombies pushed the uncontrolled ones ten meters away from the gymnasium.
Twenty minutes—The zombie horde scattered in all directions.
…
Without the Zombie King’s command and the lingering scent of living humans to lure them back, this corpse tide would inevitably spread out across X City.
And at last, they… were safe!
Su Su could no longer hold on. Her eyes shut, and she fell into a deep coma.
The equally exhausted black snake slithered toward her, slowly curling up in its human’s embrace.
It had single-handedly slain hundreds of zombies, holding the back entrance on its own. Now, it could no longer muster even a flicker of blue flame.
“Hiss~”
Basking in the white light naturally radiating from its human, the black snake found a comfortable position and closed its eyes as well.
The greatest threat was gone.
The other team finally had time to breathe.
From several meters away, they silently watched this fragile and battered group.
Lin Weiran took a step forward, heading in their direction.
With the strongest two fighters in their group down, Pang Cancan could not allow them to become easy prey.
Clutching her chest, she struggled to rise from the ground.
The few remaining venomous insects took flight, hovering in the air in a defensive stance.
At the same time, Pang Cancan stepped in front of Su Su, glaring at Lin Weiran with fury.
“What do you want?”