Translator: transcendentwings
The sun set while the moon had not yet risen.
The two most hazy times of the day, one was when the sky was about to light up at dawn and the other was at this moment when dusk was about to arrive.
Connecting the main campus and the living quarters was a small foot-trodden path. Winding gullies were dug out, framing both sides of the road where water drawn from who knows where slowly flowed into it, day and night continuously and paired with the lush vegetation growing along the road, it was decorated with a hint of antiquated times.
It was only a pity that the grass and trees were all withered now, leaving only dry branches behind, casting faint shadows in the mottled brightness of the street lights scattered about like the stars.
Tonight, the clouds were all scattered, the wind was calm, and the shadows of the trees seemed as if they had been painted on the ground, motionless, thus the four restless shadows attempting to mix in became even more eye-catching.
They tried to conceal themselves into their fellow shadows, but also couldn’t achieve the task of completely staying still, so the shadows could only follow their masters silently and noiselessly glide forward like ghosts.
Shasha.
The sound of clothes scraping against bushes rose from an unknown place, but they could guarantee that it was very closeby!
The four shadows stopped abruptly and their owners looked at each other, instantly coming to a tacit agreement as they chose the nearest tree to scale!
Shasha.
Da, da, da. . .
As soon as the four of them lithely climbed onto a tree, three zombies popped out from the bushes not too far away. One was dressed as a security guard, and the other two were dressed casually and seemed like graduate students or young professors at a glance. The wounds from getting attacked were marred all over their faces, but it seemed that they hadn’t suffered from any further assaults after being bitten making their faces still recognizable.
This further confirmed Qi Yan’s point of view, their purpose was transmission and not to hunt prey.
The four of them split up to settle on two trees, and the three zombies swiftly drew close to the area below the tree that housed Song Fei, Qi Yan, and Wang Qingyuan, but continued past just as quickly, obviously unaware of the living people perched on top of it.
Then there was the tree Luo Geng was on.
Luo-tongxue was originally very confident, after all, three living people put together weren’t detected through smell, thus as a singular, isolated force, the scent of the living would be even thinner.
However, the zombies did in fact stop at the base of his tree.
Luo Geng’s eyes widened in astonishment, but he didn’t dare to make a sound. He could only hold his breath, pretending to be a contemporary Chinese university student as silent as a chicken the entire time and watch as the zombies sniffed a little here then snuffled a little there.
Fortunately, the zombies ultimately didn’t raise their heads in the end, most likely because they couldn’t pinpoint the source of the scent accurately. After searching all over on instinct, the two casually dressed zombies stiffly shuffled away and then after another two minutes, the most persistent security guard zombie also gave up and departed in anger.
It wasn’t until all three figures disappeared in the direction of the main campus that Luo Geng finally was able to let out a deep breath.
He wasn’t afraid of going head-to-head with these zombies, but once he was engaged in combat, whether it was the sound of trading blows or the howling of the zombies, it would only serve to attract more zombies which would then bring about endless troubles. The purpose of their trip was to retrieve the medicine and return as quickly as possible, not to begin slaughter mode in all directions. This was also the reason why the mere presence of three zombies forced the four of them to ascend a tree first—For the sake of avoiding conflict as much as they could and to maximize efficiency at the same time.
“They’ve gone far ba. . .” Song Fei asked in a weak voice.
Luo Geng’s tree was the closest to the main campus, so the question was naturally thrown to him.
“I can’t see them anymore. . .” Replying in the same breath, in the end he still wasn’t able to hold back after answering and posed another question, “Why was it that the three of you together weren’t detected through smell, but I was almost exposed despite being by my lonesome ah.”
“3>1, and you call yourself a mathematics major ne when you don’t even understand that principle.”
“That’s right ah, you guys carry a greater scent of the living, so it doesn’t make any sense even more ah.”
“Three times the smell of human beings, yet it’s also triple the amount of perfume ne.”
“. . .”
“Serves you right for backing away when you were getting sprayed.”
“I’m unused to the smell, who knew that it would be superior to the Hualushui ah.”
“One is ten yuan while the other is worth ten thousand yen, which one do you think would be more effective?”
“. . .”
“F*ck me, isn’t that sh *t way too expensive!!!”
“D*mn, keep your voice down.”
“I can’t help being agitated, chasing girls burns way too much money!”
“Then just give up ah.”
“I refuse.”
“So determined?”
“Now even when I dream, it’s chock full of Little Landmine and I wake up to being blown up every morning. It’s etched into my bones and engraved in my heart, I can’t let go.”
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.
“. . . As long as you’re happy.”
Ktf wbbc tecu tlut lc atf cluta rxs ja jc ecxcbkc qblca lc alwf jcv ja olgra uijcmf, la ibbxfv ufcaif jcv ygluta, yea joafg j ibcu alwf, la ofia mbiv jcv jilfcjafv.
“Let’s continue ba.” Qi Yan whispered.
Qjcu Hlcusejc vlvc’a rjs jcsatlcu, yea tf tjv jigfjvs rilqqfv vbkc atf agff rbecvifrris.
Pc atf yilcx bo jc fsf, atf obeg gfeclafv ecvfg atf agff jujlc.
Luo Geng sighed softly: “I have forgotten when was the last time I came out during the day to play gaily. I miss sunshine ah. . .”
The familiar mix of Chinese and English brought a smile to Song Fei’s face: “If it weren’t for his height, I would’ve mistaken the one standing off to the side as Qiao Siqi.”
Luo Geng was also amused: “Hanging out with each other every day, it’s unavoidable for you to get used to it. . . Hold on a moment,” Luo-tongxue narrowed his eyes dangerously, “Repeat the first half of that sentence again.”
“. . .” Song Fei abruptly patted his BF’s shoulder, “Ai, Qi Yan have you noticed, the fragrance of this perfume changes.”
“Of course,” Qi Yan went along with the topic change with a good-natured smile, “It’s divided into top notes, heart notes, and base notes. . .”
Changing the topic was an extremely shameless thing to do, especially when the husband and wife duo teamed up!
He shot a pitiful glance at their one and only objective and neutral comrade-in-arms: “They bullied me. . .”
“My apologies,” the objective and neutral comrade Wang provided Luo-tongxue with the final blow, “I am part of the bride’s relatives and friends circle.”
At the end of the little path, it was like the Peach Blossom Spring described by Tao Yuanming, where the sky and earth suddenly opened up, the land was flat, and the houses were distinct and neatly arranged.
The architectural style of the living quarters for family members in the distance were completely different from those of the main campus. It was just like the mid-range community that could be seen in any city. The buildings were all neatly arranged, multi-leveled with a narrow build, and at a glance, there were many densely packed windows and balconies, but most of the balconies were sealed and just became a part of the interior.
The distance was far and the night was dark, so at most, they could tell that the balconies were closed off, though it wasn’t absolutely clear, making it harder to tell whether people still resided within them.
The only thing that was certain was that no one had opened their windows to call for help. The entire building complex was lifeless, just like the university hospital before them.
The hospital had one door and was only one building, erected on the right hand side as soon as one entered the living quarters for family staff and was still a distance away from the actual residential houses for the faculty. It was the structure that would be seen at a glance the moment one alights off the small path connecting to the main campus.
The structure of the building was a capital I, with two horizontally parallel structures. The hospital wing near the road had two levels and belonged to the outpatient clinic, also serving as the main entrance to the hospital, while the one behind possessed three floors and belonged to the inpatient area. Finally, there was a corridor between the two sides to connect them.
The four of them didn’t encounter too many zombies along the way, and further into the university hospital, not even half a shadow of a ghost could be captured. It was just empty and desolate in front of its tall revolving door.
Yet their mini squad still didn’t dare to act rashly.
According to their previous combat experience, most zombies liked to remain indoors at night while only a small group of outliers would be hanging out outdoors, occasionally setting up an ambush together.
They didn’t know which kind of situation the one before them was or whether it was a combination of both. In short, a careful person was able to steer a ten-thousand-year boat without sinking.
The university hospital was also designed with a curtain of glass as its exterior wall, which was smooth and seamless, offering no footholds to climb. Fortunately it was only two floors and a magnificent revolving door was built, above which was a semi-circular and fully transparent glass canopy.
Qi Yan shot Luo Geng a look, the latter understood and swiftly approached the revolving door while sticking to the shadows. In the blink of an eye, he took up position right next to the door with his ten fingers intersected and palms facing up, positioned before his body. Without waiting for him to give a signal, Qi Yan already rushed over like the wind. Stepping on Luo Geng’s palm with one foot, the latter’s muscles tensed and launched himself upwards forcefully!
Qi Yan’s entire body was airborne before both hands firmly grasped the edge of the canopy, then using the strength of his arms, he propped himself up, his right leg hiking up accordingly and in a flash, after the tip of his toes were hooked onto the glass, he flipped upwards and his entire body was on top of the canopy.
Qi Yan was proficient in the ability to scale a roof and taking apart its shingles, but this prowess was also inseparable from Luo Geng-tongxue’s talent and supernatural powers.
Song Fei was naturally very familiar with Qi Yan, but the last time he saw Luo Geng displaying his might was back when they first met in the dormitories, and then when they fought together later, the advantage of weapons was more prominent than the demonstration of raw power. So this was only the first rerun, making him feel astonished once again.
Luo Geng had never known what it meant to be arrogant, he had always been low-key and down-to-earth, never considering that he had any special characteristics, nothing more than an ordinary man of science. Thus upon seeing that Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan had already gone up and Song Fei was still in the same spot scrutinizing him with a weird look, he immediately urged the other with an intelligible noise: “Xuxu—”
No matter how one listens to it, it was the method used to lure kittens and puppies over.
“Okay la, I’m coming.”
En, Song-tongxue had been successfully summoned.
Supported by Luo Geng and the pulling and hauling forces of his roommate and BF, Song Fei easily clambered onto the canopy.
Just as Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan were about to reach out once again to grasp Luo Geng, the sound of the revolving door rotating rang out from under the awning.
In the next second, two zombies were spun out from the door wings, this scene was clearly captured from above the glass canopy!
It was too late to climb up, Luo Geng gritted his teeth and whipped out his military knife.
The zombies had already been brought right before him!
Six eyes were staring off at each other and the distance was so close that Luo Geng could even see his own reflection in the other’s eyes!
With his arm raised high, the military blade was slashed downwards!
Hu—
Ai?
The murder weapon flashing with a cold glint ultimately pierced through nothing but air.
. . . The zombies f*cking followed the swiveling door and turned back in!
The other companions quickly took this opportunity to drag the other up.
Luo-tongxue, who collapsed onto the awning on his butt, was still in a trance laced with a hint of grievance: “They played with my feelings. . .”
Song Fei, who had a panoramic view of the whole process, patted the other’s head to express his understanding and comforted his comrade: “They are all scumbags, let us not hold them to it.”
Wang Qingyuan didn’t give up this opportunity to shoot Qi Yan a pointed look.
Qi Yan’s eyes widened, this was simply the most painful shot he took lying down in this life.
Among the four, only Luo Geng, a third year student, came to the university hospital to see a doctor and had medication prescribed for legitimate purposes, furthermore it hadn’t even been for himself but a roommate he had accompanied due to the other’s acute appendicitis. The other three had only gone through this procedure hastily during physical examinations and couldn’t tell where was what department. Fortunately, they had a multitude of companions, specifically Zhou Yilu, who was already so ill, yet when he realized that they were conducting an intensive examination of the university hospital’s structure, he forced himself to struggle into a sitting position and sketch out the floor plan, really moving.
According to Luo Geng, the few windows for retrieving medicine were very narrow and were unlike the payment windows which were all made of transparent glass where the actions of making payments and getting change were all clear at a glance, instead it was just a normal wall with a few rectangular windows. One would slide the prescription through one-way from the outside and someone would pass the medicine over from the inside. Simple medications contained in boxes were directly handed to you, while others such as IV bags were packed in small, but deep trays before being presented to you. In short, you wouldn’t be able to see the face of the pharmacist who retrieved the medicine for you without bending down making it all a rather mysterious affair.
And the pharmacy was hidden deep behind this peculiar space. Anyway, when Luo Geng was retrieving the prescriptions for his classmate, he had taken quite a few peeks inside, but still all he could see was an inscrutable door. Later his classmate was transferred to the inpatient department and he wasn’t able to obtain an opportunity to further explore again.
Obviously, even if someone was as thin as Qiao Siqi, it would be difficult to slip through the prescription retrieval window, not to mention that they’d have to take down all the zombies that might be in the corridor first. Besides, in a place like the pharmacy, it was guaranteed that the door wouldn’t be able to be opened casually and was also most likely to be locked. In contrast, finding the window of the medication vault directly from the outside of the building and then breaking through said window at once was probably the most time efficient and least labor intensive method.
The awning had limited space and so the four of them used the same method to ascend to the roof.
Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan had a thorough understanding of the floor plan and after reaching the roof, they both swiveled around and headed east without hesitation, arriving at the location where the pharmacy was located swiftly.
According to Zhou Yilu’s blueprints, the pharmacy was on the first floor, but its window was behind the building, specifically the fifth one counting from the east side and was directly opposite the windows of the inpatient department.
Song Fei and Luo Geng arrived soon after, but their two comrades Qi-Wang had already jumped down and their speed was so fast that the two of them couldn’t catch a glimpse of their shadows!
Guang—
Guang—
Two loud noises suddenly rang out in the silent world, and when they were stacked together, it became even more deafening.
Then came the sound of shattered glass.
Luo Geng and Song Fei didn’t even get to clearly capture how everything occurred when they saw their two comrades-in-arms, who were as swift as the wind and as quick as lightning, knocking on the two lower corners of the tempered glass using a hammer and wrench they had found in the toolbox that was left in the kitchen warehouse. As soon as their focal length was stabilized and their vision was clear, the fractured glass was already breaking off in large pieces onto the ground, scattering onto the ground in countless fine particles.
While Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan had already climbed in through the window.
In the air where the dust had yet to settle, there was only Qi Yan’s authoritative urging: “Quick!”
Of course Song Fei and Luo Geng knew that they had to be swift. It took mere minutes for this kind of racket to attract zombies, so it was natural that this was a race against time. However, is still wasn’t f*cking necessary to fast forward at X32 speed ba, the two of them couldn’t keep up ah!!!
The two vanguards who jumped into the prescription warehouse had no time to spare dealing with the underachievers. Wang Qingyuan flipped the lights on as soon as he entered and when the room was flooded with light, Qi Yan had already located the medicine cabinets. He overlooked the refrigerated pharmaceutics section without a backwards glance, and made a beeline for the section housing ordinary medicinal tablets and capsules.
Orally-disintegrating Azithromycin tablets, Ankahuangmin, Cephalexin tablets, acetaminophen tablets. . . Song Fei, who arrived later, watched as Qi Yan rapidly determined whether or not the medication should be tossed into their bags just based on the names of the medication and felt so blessed that he wanted to weep.
How was this just a matter of the name of pharmaceuticals, this was a life-saving grace ah! If they didn’t bring Qi Yan along, only ghosts would know what was what!
Ganmaoling ahhh!
Among the spoils of war, Song Fei finally spotted one he knew, making him feel like he had finally been reunited with a relative.
Qi Yan’s backpack was rapidly filled to the brim. Song Fei wasted no time to offer up his own and even helped the other keep the mouth of it open, allowing Qi Yan to swipe everything continuously inside.
In addition to anti-inflammatories and cold remedies, Qi Yan also pilfered some drugs for diarrhea and some Yunnan Baiyao. These few, Song Fei could recognize and also understood the other’s good intentions—Roughing it by dining in the open air and sleeping outdoors, enduring the hardships of an arduous journey, these two therapies were essential in a struggle for their lives.
The sounds of conflict sounded by the window!
Song Fei turned back and saw four or five zombies trying to crawl into the room while Luo Geng and Wang Qingyuan were guarding the window vigilantly, resisting them head-on!
“How much longer!” Wang Qingyuan wasn’t one to speak up so freely, but with his urgent tone at this time, it was obvious that the situation was already very dangerous.
With a sweep of Qi Yan’s arm, he swept a great many into the bag with a huala and shot to his feet, armed with his spear.
Song Fei instantly sealed the zipper of the bag and hauled it onto his back.
Within these few seconds, the number of zombies storming the window soared to the point that even with Qi Yan’s timely aid, they couldn’t hold the position any longer!
“Song Fei open the door—”
Qi Yan seldom addressed him with his full name directly, making Song Fei react immediately as he raced over to the enigmatic door between the pharmaceutical warehouse and the pharmacy window in a flash!
The moment the lock on the door was unlocked and the door was slightly pulled ajar, the wave of zombies broke through the human wall and poured in!
Song Fei quickly entered through the door, followed by Qi Yan, Wang Qingyuan, and Luo Geng, who charged through like a whirlwind. Song Fei followed up almost seamlessly and slammed the door shut with a guang, nearly trapping Luo Geng’s down jacket between the door and the frame as he came in last.
The moment the door was closed, Song Fei saw that the zombies that came in first were overwhelmed by the ones who came in later and the ones that came in later pounced onto the zombies that came in first, layer upon layer, creating a spectacular sight.
The moment the door was locked, it was violently rammed, fortunately Song Fei was still 0.01 seconds faster.
The heavy and continuous dongdong sounds represented the unremitting desire of the zombies to hunt.
The not-too-thick door panel was crumbling under the unrelenting forces of the virus.
The medication collection room was different from its storage area as the lights were already on. They didn’t know if it was turned on by the people who stayed here briefly after the zombie outbreak or if it was already night time when the virus was finally transmitted to this place.
All in all, everything seemed as usual.
There were no traces of long-term living and also no hint of a struggle against zombies. It was just an ordinary office space with a few desks and corresponding windows.
The drug storage room only had one door, which was the wooden one that they were pushing against now. That was to say, if one wanted to enter the medicinal storehouse, it couldn’t be entered directly from the corridor and could only be accessed by the pick up area. Therefore, there must be a door leading to the corridor outside in this pharmaceutical retrieval area which was the real main door.
Which they found to be a tightly sealed thick anti-theft door, its safety factor was very gratifying upon visual inspection.
Qi Yan shot an enduring look at his comrades and walked off towards the pick up windows personally to catch a glimpse of the situation in the corridor through the glass. After that, he started off towards the anti-theft door and gently pressed down on the doorknob. . .
Kada.
The crisp sound of the door bolt retracting rang out.
Qi Yan swiftly lifted the door knob up again and pulled the door closed securely after getting a full handle on the situation.
The door wasn’t locked, it was simply casually shut. But with this sort of anti-theft door, even if it was mindlessly pulled close, as long as the bolt securely fit into the box, it couldn’t be opened from the outside.
Next, Qi Yan ran to the window and peered out through the gap between the curtains. The zombies lured over by his and Wang Qingyuan’s action of breaking the glass of the next room were still closing in on all sides outside, but the windows of this office were all locked from the inside.
Perhaps that would explain why the lights were brightly lit here—Someone had briefly taken refuge here, switched on the lights, locked the doors, and drew the curtains. Then maybe later, they had found an opportunity to escape and the anti-theft door was probably closed reflexively, resulting in this empty office where everything was as normal.
“What’s the situation?” Wang Qingyuan knew that Qi Yan was brainstorming an escape route when he saw Qi Yan finish peeking out the prescription pick up window and double backed to peer out the window.
Qi Yan shook his head: “The sound of the window shattering was too loud, both sides are surrounded by zombies who were lured over.”
Wang Qingyuan frowned: “Which side has less?”
Qi Yan answered decisively: “The hallway.”
Luo Geng’s shoulder was pressed against the door panel so hard that it hurt: “Then what are we waiting for, head towards the corridor ah!”
Qi Yan: “The timing is wrong.”
Wang Qingyuan: “Hold on for a while longer.”
Qi Yan: “Now is the time where there is a high volume of zombies, no matter which side.”
Wang Qingyuan: “The zombies in the hallway haven’t seen us directly, they will give up sooner.”
Luo Geng: “. . . Song Fei, what do you think?”
Song Fei: “I think their tacit understanding makes them seem like they are the couple.”
Wang Qingyuan: “Please don’t use your preferences to make things up regarding me.”
Song Fei: “The hell, what is wrong with my Qi Yan, I’ll count you as the victor as long as you give me one reason!”
Wang Qingyuan: “Male.”
Song Fei: “. . . Other than gender.”
Wang Qingyuan: “Self-righteous.”
Song Fei: “. . . Also excluding this.”
Wang Qingyuan: “Too good-looking, attracting bees and butterflies, strict self-discipline, even harsher on others, right or wrong is clear-cut, impersonal, inept at courtships, arrears in emotional intelligence.”
Song Fei: “I suddenly feel like getting back together with him might’ve been a mistake.”
Qi Yan: “Luo Geng.”
Luo Geng: “Bro, I just casually asked him for his opinion. . .”
Dear god, why didn’t you strike me awake with a thunderbolt when I initially chose to come to the university hospital with these three people ah!!!
Author's Chapter Summary:
The medication is at hand but it’s difficult to retreat, the three-person shura field ends in defeat!
The translator has something to say: the relationship gags are so funny, between the trio + LG and between LG and the zombies in the makeshift merry-go-round (who said zombies didn’t have a childlike heart?)
Shura field can also refer to a tricky romantic situation esp. multiple people fighting for the love of one person lol
Also, thanks for the translation!