(Interlude, unrelated to the main story. Li Wen is a later supporting character. These two chapters can be skipped.)
Li Wen dragged his body, tired from a day of being tormented by knowledge at school, back home. He looked at the pitch-black windows devoid of any light and thought his mother must have gone to his sister's to take care of his nephew. He opened the slightly old wooden door. With a creak, Li Wen returned home, inhaling the faint dampness mixed with the smell of decay characteristic of the first floor. He wrinkled his nose, skillfully fumbled for the light switch in the darkness, and sat down at his desk. He took out his math test papers and resumed writing. However, the strong urge to sleep made his eyelids droop. He shook his head, trying to stay alert. For the college entrance examination, he continued to work on math problems, his pen moving continuously. The wall clock ticked away. Li Wen felt his eyelids growing heavier as if they were filled with lead. Finally, his head tilted, and he fell asleep. The only sound in the silent room was the pen falling to the ground.
"Crack!" Like the small sound of a cheap light bulb's filament burning out, it startled Li Wen, who had dozed off at his desk. He raised his head in a daze, his vision blurring then clearing. He looked around blankly. The light had just gone out, still emitting a faint glow. The sky outside had brightened but was still somewhat dim.
Wait, dawn? Li Wen jolted awake, all sleepiness gone. He muttered, "Could it be almost seven o'clock? I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late, I'm going to die, I'm going to die."
Not being able to see the time gave Li Wen a sense of unease. While packing, he casually turned on the television to check the time. Li Wen didn't have a phone, so he usually turned on the TV to check the time on the 13 News channel when he couldn't find it. But after pressing the power button several times, the TV still wouldn't turn on. This struck Li Wen as strange. Although this was a rural area, the school was right across the street. It shouldn't be a power outage. However, Li Wen didn't dwell on it. Power outages were rare, but not unheard of. He sighed and, not bothering to check the time, quickly packed his books, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and prepared to leave. But as he placed his hand on the doorknob, Li Wen suddenly realized something was amiss. It was this late, and although it was still early, according to the habits of his landlord and his family next door, they should already be awake, washing their faces, brushing their teeth, and cooking. When they were home, Li Wen was never late for school because he was woken up around 6:30 AM, just as dawn broke, by the cooking sounds from next door. It was like an alarm clock. But today, it was a bit too quiet. The more Li Wen thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He couldn't even hear a bird chirp outside. Could something have happened?
Feeling that something was definitely not right, and to be safe, Li Wen decided to take something for self-defense before going out to check the street. If nothing happened, he could just put it in his backpack. Li Wen used a Swiss Army travel bag, which was larger than a regular backpack. It was originally used by his brother when he was in the army. After his brother retired, he gave this bag to Li Wen, along with a suitcase, which made Li Wen feel a bit embarrassed.
Li Wen searched his home for a long time and only found a baseball bat. He had bought it when he went out with his fashionable relatives and played baseball for a long time, finding it quite fun. But after buying it, he suddenly felt foolish. There was nowhere to play with it, and no one to play with him, so it had accumulated a thick layer of dust. It was a shame about those banknotes. He didn't feel anything about it before, but now it truly looked like a formidable weapon. Cast from pure steel, half a meter long and weighing about eight pounds, it could be held with one hand but not swung for long. It was just right with two hands. With a weapon in hand, Li Wen felt more confident. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard a hysterical scream from not far away, followed by pleading sounds. In the quiet environment, it sounded exceptionally abrupt.
"Ahhh!!!!! Don't come any closer, don't come any closer, I... hck ah..."
The screams stopped abruptly. This thoroughly frightened Li Wen. Li Wen was a high school student in modern society and had never witnessed such a scene that clearly sounded like a murder. Just listening to the screams made him feel that the person must have died, and died miserably.
The bloody and cruel scenes that kept popping into his mind made Li Wen tremble all over. The silence that returned amplified his fear infinitely, and he could barely hold the baseball bat.
"What on earth happened? Why were there screams? Why was someone killed?"
Li Wen muttered to himself, let go of the doorknob, and retreated, his eyes darting around. Suddenly, Li Wen's gaze swept outside the window, as if he had seen something even more terrifying. Li Wen was startled back several steps, bumping into the bed. The baseball bat fell powerlessly to the ground. He saw someone staring at him from outside the window in front of his desk. The sky was too dark to see his face clearly, only a faint glimpse of his upturned mouth and the dark things inside his mouth. His figure resembled the landlord somewhat, yet also felt different. Could it be the murderer from just now?
The person made no move, uttered no words, just stared at him quietly. However, the malice in their eyes was almost tangible. Li Wen felt a chill at such unreserved gaze. He swallowed hard, a feeling washing over him that this person wanted to kill him. No, not kill him, but eat him. The gaze was too terrifying, like the look of someone who hadn't eaten in a long time suddenly spotting a chicken – greedy and full of killing intent.
Looking at the person outside the window, Li Wen struggled internally. He, who had never even stepped on an ant in his life, was about to face a vicious thug, no, a madman. What should I do? Should I kill him?
Just as Li Wen was engaged in an internal battle, he suddenly realized the figure outside the window was gone. Then, with a "boom" sound, the wooden door of his house burst open from the middle. The loud noise stunned Li Wen, making him jolt and pick up the baseball bat he had just dropped, brandishing it wildly in front of him while closing his eyes and shouting, "Don't come any closer, don't come any closer!" After swinging for a while, Li Wen didn't hit anyone. He then opened his eyes to see a person stuck in the gaping hole of the broken wooden door, struggling, their hands flailing in the air, their face covered in blood and dirt, and their teeth bared.
Li Wen cautiously approached and took a closer look. He realized that this person, who seemed to have gone mad, was none other than the landlord from next door. What had happened to him? Why had he become like this? Before Li Wen could figure it out, the landlord, who had been stuck in the door, struggled more fiercely. The landlord's stomach was even cut by the nails on the wooden door, and his intestines were spilling out, blood gushing out. However, he seemed completely unfazed, struggling continuously, his hands flailing towards Li Wen. This scene, which could only be seen in a horror movie, caused Li Wen's brain to freeze for a moment. Li Wen felt as if he had encountered a biohazard. The landlord stuck in the door was like a zombie from a biological hazard movie.
Logically, the correct choice would be to pick up the baseball bat and smash the landlord's head. However, Li Wen didn't do that. Li Wen, who had lived a normal and uneventful life, had never seen anything more bloody than a nosebleed from a street fight. He couldn't bring himself to smash someone's head with a baseball bat, even if that person had turned into a man-eating monster. As Li Wen closed his eyes, unsure of what to do, he heard a tearing sound, like clothes ripping, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling. Li Wen knew the monster had entered. He opened his eyes and looked at the monster climbing up from the ground. His trembling hands gripped the baseball bat, his mouth quivering. His mind was blank, and he didn't know what to do. But the situation didn't allow him any more time to think. The landlord who had gotten up had a huge wound on his chest, extending from his heart all the way to his thigh. It was very wide, and Li Wen could even see the pale bones. The wound on his stomach was even larger, with intestines spilling out and his stomach hanging in the abdominal cavity. If he were a normal person, with such severe injuries, he would have died long ago. But the landlord was completely fine and even quickened his pace, hobbling towards Li Wen. In his panic, Li Wen could only block with the baseball bat. But Li Wen, a student, was no match for the strength of the reanimated landlord. He was immediately knocked to the ground. The landlord grabbed the baseball bat, stretching his neck out long, looking as if he wouldn't be satisfied until he had gnawed Li Wen clean. Looking at the landlord's head getting closer, Li Wen could even see the blood and flesh on his teeth. In a moment of life-or-death crisis, Li Wen didn't know where the strength came from. He fiercely shoved the landlord to the side, nimbly got up, and before the landlord could get up, Li Wen's ferocity surged. He raised the baseball bat and smashed it down on the landlord's head. Li Wen kept smashing until, with a thud, it hit the floor, and he snapped back to reality. Looking at the bloody mess on the floor, the landlord was unrecognizable, smashed beyond recognition. At this moment, the intense smell of blood entered Li Wen's nostrils, along with psychological nausea and guilt that made him want to vomit, but he couldn't. After a moment of silence, Li Wen, without a word, picked up the baseball bat and rushed out of the door. There were no shouts, no tears. Going downstairs, Li Wen found two zombies wandering in the yard, blocking the path to the main gate. After thinking about it, Li Wen decided not to force his way through.
Li Wen's house had two levels of flat ground, connected by stone steps. The two zombies were on the lower flat ground. Li Wen thought, these zombies shouldn't be able to climb stairs, right? Aren't zombies in movies like they have rheumatoid arthritis? And they have no brains. With this thought, Li Wen tapped the ground with the baseball bat, making some noise to attract the two zombies below. As expected, the two zombies were attracted and charged towards Li Wen. Seeing this, Li Wen panicked. What happened to the promised rheumatoid arthritis? Why were they still like normal people? However, heaven seemed to want Li Wen to live. The zombies didn't manage to charge up. Both zombies tripped on the steps and didn't know how to get up. Li Wen saw that this was an opportunity. He gripped the baseball bat with both hands, hesitated for a moment, then hardened his heart. He swung the baseball bat over his head like playing whack-a-mole, smashing their heads one by one. Then, the entire yard was filled only with Li Wen's heavy breathing. Looking at what he had done, Li Wen remained silent.
"It's like playing whack-a-mole, isn't it?"
Li Wen comforted himself in this way, then walked out of the door without looking back. He needed to find others. Li Wen admitted that he wasn't very good at fighting, and killing three zombies was just a stroke of luck. At this time, there were more people, and more strength. There wasn't a soul on the small road leading to his house, and there weren't many sounds either, except for the occasional "ho ho" sound, like a tiger's roar. There weren't many bloodstains on the road, so it seemed this disaster hadn't broken out for long.
Reaching the main road, it was early morning, so there weren't many cars on the road. There was smoke in the distance at the intersection, likely a car accident. Li Wen didn't look at the tragic situation there and went downhill to the road outside the school. He wanted to go to the school to see. Although there were many people at the school, not many should have arrived by now. The auntie at the dormitory building should not have opened the iron gate yet. There shouldn't be too many people at the school, and he might even encounter surviving students. The main reason was that Li Wen believed the virus or whatever caused this situation had just broken out, so he went to the school with hope.
He didn't see any students on the way and reached the school gate smoothly. Seeing the electric gate wide open, Li Wen's heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong. Why had classes started so early today? The school was silent, not a sound. No, there was a sound, like someone walking softly. Li Wen didn't know why he heard this sound at the school gate, but he still entered the school to take a look. Unaware of the situation, Li Wen still felt uneasy. As he went up the stairs and turned a corner, he found something was wrong. There was something under his feet. He looked down and saw a pool of viscous blood that was almost coagulated. Looking up, the playground in front of him had turned into a living hell. Various dismembered limbs and severed arms were scattered everywhere like discarded garbage. The blood had almost stained the entire playground brown. At this moment, Li Wen only had one thought: escape, as far away as possible. As Li Wen turned to run, a large group of zombies suddenly appeared at the school gate. He could see more than two hundred of them, and he didn't want to look at the ones behind. Li Wen couldn't understand why so many zombies had suddenly appeared. Could they be from another route? Although they wouldn't walk up stairs, with so many, they could pile up. With wolves in front and tigers behind, Li Wen didn't know what to do. Just as Li Wen was in despair, a faint shout came from the teaching building behind him.
"Old Li, come up quickly!"
Li Wen turned his head but saw nothing.
"Here, fifth floor, hurry up!"
Li Wen looked up and saw a figure on the fifth floor of the teaching building waving at him. Without further thought, Li Wen ran directly towards the stairs of the teaching building, and he casually closed the iron gate at the entrance of the stairs. He ran all the way up to the fifth floor. Looking back and seeing no zombies chasing him, he finally felt relieved. Leaning against the wall, he took a slight breath. At this moment, the person who had called him up quickly walked over and said, "Little Wenzi, are you alright? Are you injured?" The voice of the person who came was pleasant and somewhat androgynous. Li Wen recognized it as his good friend Yu Xiao Hao's voice when he was downstairs. So Li Wen said without lifting his head, "Dead fish eyes, are you out of your mind? Didn't you see that your brother Wen barely escaped death to get here? Let me catch my breath first." Hearing Li Wen say this, Yu Xiao Hao rolled his eyes and punched Li Wen twice without saying anything. After waiting for Li Wen to rest, he looked up and his eyes widened in disbelief. Who was this person in front of him? Did I transmigrate? Where is Dead Fish Eyes? Where is my Brother Hao?
In Li Wen's impression, Yu Xiao Hao was a proper girl with a bit of a reserved personality who could also get along well with boys. At most, they were good friends who could put their arms around each other's shoulders. But the person in front of him was dressed in a black gothic style, carrying a giant black scythe on her shoulder. Li Wen could tell with just a glance that this weapon was longer than Yu Xiao Hao herself. He didn't know how she managed to carry it, and she looked relaxed and at ease. Seeing Li Wen's shocked expression, Yu Xiao Hao directly slapped him on the forehead and said irritably, "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a beautiful woman before? Are you rested? If you are, come with me." After saying that, she hooked her arm around Li Wen's neck and dragged him away. Li Wen was stunned. When did Brother Hao become so overbearing? But Li Wen didn't pay much attention. He simply hooked his arm around her shoulder and followed her. Even he found it strange why he accepted Yu Xiao Hao's appearance so quickly. It must have been a psychological change after the disaster. Didn't Li Wen also change? At least his courage had increased, right?