Translator: transcendent.wings
Editor: phizzlepop
TW/CW
brief mentions of suicide and rape
A swarm of seventeen healthy young men was no joke. Two rows of shelves were almost swept clean like strong winds scattering the clouds or locusts laying waste to the fields as they glided by. Within just a few minutes, the floor was littered with various wrappers and empty bottles.
Eventually, the male students who’d filled up their stomachs flopped haphazardly to the ground where they stood, slowly digesting how it truly felt to survive a purge.
“F*cking hell, I’ve been revived at last…”
“If I’d known better, I would’ve left much sooner ah. I’ve really suffered these past few days in the dorms…”
“Good thing all of us can run fast. 317 was in the back and none of them made it out.”
“This college experience has really shaved years off my life…”
Song Fei’s group was sitting in the daily necessities area, not too far, yet not too close to the food area. However, with countless aisles separating them, they were basically worlds apart. They could vaguely pick up snippets of conversation on that side, but not every sentence was readily discernible.
Qiao Siqi picked up a can of Fanta Apple from the floor, and popped the tab open with a pa, tilting his head back to chug it. After he finished, he noticed that his five companions hadn’t moved an inch. He burped and encouraged them: “Hurry and drink some, ba. If you wait too long, there might not even be any left in a few days.”
Everyone fell silent.
Qiao Siqi had stated a fact.
Opening the window to save them had been an act of basic human decency. But, decency couldn’t be converted into food and water. In circumstances like these where there was a fixed quantity of food, the larger the population, the smaller the rations.
“I really don’t want to relocate if we can help it,” Zhou Yilu stated honestly, “Us making it all the way here from the dormitories can be considered dumb luck. If we charge out again… we might not be so fortunate this time.”
“Not so fast,” Luo Geng also opened up a drink, the sweetness accompanying the fizzy carbonation blooming on the tip of his tongue, refreshing both his body and mind, “Including the fava beans, spicy strips, melon seeds, and peanuts, if we carefully ration our food, it should still last us at least one to two weeks. If we haven’t been rescued by then, and we’re actually backed into a corner, then we can talk about moving bases.”
“Sure,” Song Fei slapped his thigh, summarizing the gist of their current situation, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there!”
Qiao Siqi’s concerns weren’t completely alleviated, but hearing his companions say so, he felt that it made sense. After thinking it over for a while, he couldn’t come up with any good ideas, so he simply shook his head, flinging all of those messy thoughts to the back of his mind as he bucked up: “What now, continue our happy Christmas night?”
Song Fei facepalmed: “You don’t need to be that easygoing!”
As their group continued chatting, no one noticed that someone had come their way until that person gave them a chipper greeting: “You guys are pretty lively.”
The visitor was precisely the one who’d exchanged a few words with Qi Yan back then. At that time, everyone had been standing up so it’d still felt fine, but now that they were all sitting on the ground looking up at him, they could feel a sense of oppression.
Fortunately, that person was extremely extroverted. He plopped himself down on the blankets without reservation and gave them an amicable smile, revealing a set of white teeth: “Yu Zisheng.”
They were all from the same school trying to survive under such circumstances, so no one would nitpick too much. Since he’d taken the initiative to greet them, the companions readily expressed their goodwill—
“Qi Yan.”
“Zhou Yilu.”
“Song Fei.”
“Luo Geng.”
“Lin Dilei.”
Yu Zisheng was dazed by their response and could only scratch his head in the end: “I really can’t remember it all.”
The group made a face, then realized it a moment later. This did appear to be the case, so they subconsciously let out a few chuckles.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Yu Zisheng furrowed his brow: “You guys shouted from your balcony? Why didn’t we hear anything?”
Song Fei: “Which building were you guys in?”
Yu Zisheng: “Building 5.”
Song Fei: “No wonder. We were in Buildings 2 and 3. If our shouts had been able to reach you guys, then the zombies probably would’ve come rushing in instead.”
“Those f*cking idiots. Not leaving with you guys and staying inside the dorms is just asking for death.” Yu Zisheng had evidently sensed Song Fei’s downcast mood, so he very naturally stood in his camp and spoke in support of him.
However, Song Fei just felt that something sounded off.
He snuck a glance at his buddies. Everyone’s expressions also appeared quite complicated. No one spoke for a while, so the atmosphere became somewhat strained.
“How’re the dormitories now?” Struck with inspiration, Qi Yan found a topic that could interest everyone and help continue the conversation.
Yu Zisheng didn’t notice anything wrong. Hearing Qi Yan’s question, he immediately put down his drink like he had a bellyful of sorrow to dump out: “It’s f*cking crazy out there. There’s nothing to eat ah, who can stand being that hungry. At first, some people snuck onto balconies to steal food, but later on, all of them started robbing others in broad daylight, might is right, so f*cking inhumane. There were always jumpers at night too. F*cking hell, what a sight. You guys managed to leave just in time. If you’d waited two more days, who knows if you would’ve made it out of there alive.”
Yu Zisheng was very blunt and direct. He didn’t go out of his way to exaggerate anything, but a few simple sentences was more than enough for the six of them to picture that hellish scenery. Although they hadn’t been on the scene, they still felt as though they’d experienced everything firsthand. They weren’t sure whether they felt more perturbed or more sorrowful as a myriad of emotions roiled through them, keeping them from saying a word.
“What’s with the looks on your faces ah,” Yu Zisheng was amused, “Look how lucky you guys are ah, there’s plenty of stuff to eat and drink over here. Lighten up ba.”
“For now there is,” Luo Geng sighed, “Who knows when we’ll be rescued. Having a finite amount of resources leaves me with no sense of security ah.”
“It’s not like we’re somewhere dangerous. It’s just flat land all around us, so someone will definitely come for us soon.” Yu Zisheng sighed, “The scariest thing is people turning their backs on each other. When I was banging on that door, I was really worried you guys might turn a blind eye.”
“Unless someone is bitten,” Song Fei lowered his voice, clearly enunciating each word, “Everyone will forever be human beings.”
Yu Zisheng was taken aback, then gave Song Fei’s shoulder a playful shove: “Don’t give me that sh*t, haha.”
After chatting for about ten minutes, Yu Zisheng went back. Not long afterwards, a crowd of people came over with a hula and swept the remaining bed sheets, pillows, and AC units from the shelves. By the looks of it, they were also going to set up camp on the floor.
It was just a pity that Song Fei’s group had already claimed most of the blankets, so the ones left on the shelves were all thin and impractical. A few of them even looked rather dissatisfied, reluctant to tear their eyes away from their group’s blankets.
The six of them were all well aware of this, but lowered their gaze, feigning ignorance. Opening the window to save them had been the right thing to do, but gifting them blankets just to catch a chill themselves would be over the top. Besides, the supermarket itself had heating, so it wasn’t cold at all. It might be a bit chilly sleeping on the floor, but a bunch of hot-blooded young men wouldn’t freeze to death or anything.
Perhaps the process of escaping from the dormitory had been too thrilling for this group of students, so it was difficult for them to calm down and slip into slumber. They could still hear the sounds of them chattering and horsing around deep into the night.
Song Fei and the others weren’t actually asleep either.
This was a particularly delicate situation, suddenly having to acclimate themselves to sharing what they already considered to be their own territory with some newcomers. Logically speaking, of course they knew that this supermarket was a communal space, so the idea of staking a claim to it was wrong from the outset. But emotionally, being faced with a new group of students who outnumbered them would make anyone feel threatened.
Not being able to fall asleep had resulted in multiple trips to the bathroom instead. Song Fei had already crawled out of bed three times tonight.
Song Fei’s harrowing experience in the bathroom last time had left a psychological shadow in his heart. Anytime he went back in, he’d tread quietly, all eyes and ears.
There were people inside the bathroom.
Song Fei was two meters from the door to the bathroom when he caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. By the time he’d reached the doorway, he’d come within earshot of a conversation from the people inside—
“Did you guys see that chick? I swear on my life that she’s the Mass Comm department beauty. I got a good look at her during the sports meet when she was the placard bearer.”
“Only a blind person would miss those big boobs of hers. Tsk, they got real lucky.”
“Five of them and one of her. Is there even enough of her to go around?”
“Sh*t, stop f*cking talking about it. I’m getting hard just thinking about it.”
“Hahahaha, nothing I can do about that. Go deal with it yourself ba.”
“Ai, do you guys think I’ll get a chance to bang her?”
“No way. The five of them haven’t gotten their fill yet. You think they’d let you have a turn?”
“Being a girl is great ha. You don’t have to worry about anything. Just spread your legs and let someone else do all the work…”
Song Fei silently backed away. It wasn’t like he really had a dire need to use the bathroom. By his estimation, he could still hold it in for about an hour or so, so he’d just hold it in ba. He’d wait until those people had left before going back in again, otherwise he’d be sick.
Having sexual fantasies was a biological instinct. Sometimes, after lights-out, 440 would discuss attractive girls in their department or secretly gossip about so-and-so sleeping together. Their humor was playful, frivolous, and lighthearted, peppered with the occasional crude or coarse joke. After all, they were behind closed doors, so they could just say whatever they wanted to bei.
But, that was just some YY in their heads. With actual girls in real life, that was a different story.
When they’d saved Lin Dilei, everyone, including a gay man like himself, had been awed by Lin Dilei’s breathtaking beauty. She truly was gorgeous. But, after saving her, aside from Luo Geng, no one thought of her as anything other than a fellow classmate. Even Luo Geng was openly wooing her with a firm determination to make his affections and intentions known.
Perhaps because he already considered Lin Dilei as one of their own, Song Fei felt he had to leave this place quickly, lest he failed to hold himself back and charged in to beat them all up.
Song Fei didn’t manage to fall asleep until just before daybreak. Consequently, he remained groggy throughout the rest of the day. Fortunately, the day was rather uneventful, although when the six of them went to the food area to look for something to eat, they all sensed the unsettling atmosphere. In the end, while everyone still maintained a semblance of friendliness on the surface, most of their time was spent in separate locations, the well water not disturbing the river water.
It hadn’t even hit seven o’clock yet, but Song Fei was already so sleepy he directly lay down and slept all the way until the sun rose this time.
And then, he was startled awake by a banging sound so loud it sounded like artillery fire.
His five companions had already gotten up and were all sitting in the vicinity. Song Fei looked around with a dazed expression, still confused about the current situation.
Zhou Yilu patted him on the head, sighing as he reassured him: “There, there, don’t be scared.”
Song Fei was still befuddled: “What’s going on?”
Qi Yan responded lightly: “They’re ramming the warehouse door ne.”
Song Fei became even more bewildered: “We have the warehouse key ah.”
Lin Dilei let out a sardonic laugh: “They didn’t come to us. No, there was no communication at all. They probably just assumed that there was no key ba, so now they’re trying to break down the door.”
Song Fei: “…”
How you start your day is how you live your day. Since this day was off to such a bad start, it wasn’t surprising at all for Song Fei to hit a wall when he went to the food area at noon to look for some Eight-Treasure Congee.
Just like yesterday, the dozen-or-so students nearly filled up the entire staple food area, leaning against the shelves with some standing and others sitting, while the rest of them were sprawled across the aisle. They were obviously scattered about in various positions, but when Song Fei walked over, they all fixed their gazes on him in concert, instantly erecting an invisible impregnable metal fortress barring entry.
Just like yesterday, Song Fei paid them no mind and went on ahead. But, once he arrived in front of the shelves, he discovered that they were as empty as could be. Even if he cultivated to the level of a Divine Immortal, there’d still be nothing he could do.
Internally, he thought, the food on the shelves might be gone, but the warehouse would still have some in stock. However, when he reached the door to the warehouse, he caught a glimpse of Yu Zisheng through the half-open door that was only hanging on by a hinge.
Besides Yu Zisheng, there were also two other students inside. All three of them were just sitting on the ground, acting like they owned the place.
“Song… Fei, right ba. See, my memory isn’t too bad ha.”
Yu Zisheng sat on the floor without moving, while his greeting, however, was still brimming with enthusiasm.
“Not bad.” Song Fei gave him a perfunctory smile, intending to bypass the three of them and head further inside. But, just when he walked by Yu Zisheng, he tripped right over the leg he’d suddenly stuck out.
“F*ck, what’s your problem!” Song Fei was a little pissed. It was impossible for him to just grin and bear it in this kind of situation.
Yu Zisheng gave him an apologetic look: “So sorry, but there’s nothing left to eat inside. Go look outside ba.”
Song Fei felt that he’d just suffered a great affront to his IQ. Because it was too outrageous, for a while he wasn’t even sure if he should get angry or just laugh: “All those boxes, and you’re telling me there’s nothing left to eat?”
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” Yu Zisheng leisurely stood up and dusted off his pants, then shot Song Fei a smile, “We found this place. We broke down the door. So, everything inside is now our private property. There is food, but not for you guys.”
Song Fei really was amused this time: “Ai. What do I look like, an idiot?”
Yu Zisheng tilted his head thoughtfully, as though he really was giving it some serious consideration. In the end, he looked at Song Fei sincerely: “If you want to pick a fight with us, then it wouldn’t just be ‘look like’.”
Rather, it’d be ‘yes’.
But, Song Fei wasn’t actually an idiot. It wasn’t just a question of whether or not he had a chance of winning against them, one-vs-three, but rather how many problems would crop up in the future for a brief moment of satisfaction. With one-against-three, at most he’d walk away with minor bumps and bruises. But, with seventeen-against-six, perhaps it’d really end up becoming a matter of life or death.
The five companions all knew that Song Fei had gone to look for some Eight-Treasure Congee. However, he’d left for the food area, yet had returned in the direction of the warehouse, empty-handed and ashen-faced. Everyone understood in a heartbeat.
But, understanding it and accepting it were two separate matters.
“They really won’t share?” Zhou Yilu asked in a very soft voice, so light that he could hardly suppress the rage beneath.
Song Fei shrugged as he sneered: “They said that they found the place, and they broke down the door, so everything inside is now their private property. There is food, but not for us.”
“F*cking hell, what kind of godly f*cking logic is that ah!”
Luo Geng was about to stand right up when Lin Dilei firmly grabbed onto a corner of his shirt. He was still raring to go, and kept trying to break free, finally prompting Little Landmine to stare daggers at him as she barked an order: “Sit down!”
Luo Geng immediately glued his buttocks to the blankets, no longer moving even the slightest bit.
“If using force was the answer, I would’ve started fighting with them in the warehouse back there.” Song Fei was also saying this for Luo Geng’s benefit.
However, Luo-laoshi didn’t understand: “If we don’t use force, then are you planning on having a battle of wits with them instead? In a small space like this, after they’ve claimed some stuff, do they think others can’t take it from them?”
“How about… we butter them up, and ask them nicely?” Qiao Siqi murmured.
Zhou Yilu shot a baleful glance in his direction.
Qiao Siqi shrank back and stopped speaking.
As someone who’d once experienced his dorm room being ransacked, Zhou Yilu hadn’t believed that things would turn out well from the very start, just that he hadn’t expected things to go south so quickly either.
After a moment of thought, Zhou Yilu abruptly picked up his sushi knife that had transformed into a sushi bayonet, calmly running the pad of his finger along the edge of his blade as he narrowed his eyes: “If worse comes to worst…”
“No!” Although Qiao Siqi had decided not to speak again, since this touched his bottom-line, he still had to say something even if he was glared to death, “As trashy as that group of thugs might be, they’re still living, breathing human beings. We can’t off them in the dead of night and toss their bodies out for them to become zombie chew toys. Even if no one ever finds out about it, we’ll still have to bear these debts of blood for the rest of our lives!”
Song Fei: “…”
Qi Yan: “…”
Luo Geng: “…”
Zhou Yilu: “I just meant if worse comes to worst, then we should just run away while we still can!”
Lin Dilei: “Also, why was your attempt at dissuasion filled with such detailed, feasible suggestions…”
Author's Chapter Summary: Warmth is fleeting like a white horse galloping by, great danger dogging their steps like a shadow.
The translator has something to say: Song Fei’s animalistic instincts awaken! He’s scary perceptive when it comes to social intelligence. And Yu Zisheng reveals his true colors!
The editor has something to say: wait, go back to those detailed, feasible suggestions, i kinda rlly like this idea…
wow such asshole. they really shouldn’t save them at all. took all the food from them without even sharing. such ungrateful people.
Thanks for the chapter
You’re welcome~ And I agree to a certain extent, but saving them wasn’t wrong because if they didn’t wouldn’t our beloved crew be the same as them? So I’m glad that our author-dada had this contrast here as it shows the brighter side and the darker side of human nature which adds to the depth for the story as not everything is sunshine and rainbows. What’s life without a few roadblocks and crooked paths?
at that point you just gotta torch the warehouse and dip. Maybe even open the doors too
Haha, another very detailed and feasible suggestion. And while the zombies are busy, they could make their escape and probably have a higher chance of getting though it all unscathed as well.
Light those mofos on fire 🔥🔥🔥
That statement combined with that profile picture makes this so much more funny
I really hate ungrateful people. If I was there I would have started beating people up already. My hand is itching right now😡
Thank you for the chapter!
ugh, middle of the zombie apocalypse and gross men will be gross men.
thanks for the chapter <3
Oookay~ na, who is surprised? No one? No one? Good readers :3
I like QSQ’s idea too >D
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
Thank you for the chapter 💜
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
… I’d knife them as well
I wouldn’t have let them into the store to begin with. After all, as a girl it’s already lucky to find good companions, why should I trust a huge group of jocks that could easily overpower my group? The fear of being forced to become a whore is too real. I don’t feel the need to treat every person I meet kindly since so many of them are going to betray my expectations anyway. lol That’s my take if I was in that situation!