Translator: transcendentwings
The intermittent sleet drifted for an entire day, and when evening came, it quietly stopped.
At 8:30 in the evening, the fourteen members of the Wusheng Class readily set off. The air was still damp, and the thin layer of soil on top of the green belt was soaked until it was somewhat soft. The companions who liked it felt that it was comfortable to step on while those who didn’t appreciate it called it muddy.
But this conversation was rapidly drowned out in the gradually cooling night wind.
The vehicular entrance and exit to the underground parking lot was outside the main entrance of the university, but the two personnel entrances and exits originated from the inside. One was located in the Taoli Building, which was actually a teacher’s administrative office where one could directly go down to the B1 or B2 floors by using the elevators or stairs in the building; the other was at the Houde Building which was actually located behind the 1# general education building and possessed an independent entrance through a small greenhouse which could similarly reach the underground floors via the elevator or stairs.
Both the Taoli and Houde Buildings were the structures closest to the main entrance on the south side of the university. The former was slightly closer, it was pretty much directly on the left-hand side while the latter required one to enter then bypass the fountain before heading left. So in fact, the distance between the two buildings wasn’t very far. Basically, if they were able to reach those two buildings, just a mere step more would take them outside of the university grounds.
The canteen was in the northernmost residential area on the campus.
The path connecting the two points was enough to run through the entire university grounds.
Therefore, the members of the Wusheng class were prepared for a long struggle strategically, but tactically, they still chose “the shortest straight line path between the two points”.
The so-called direct shot referred to the main road found at the center of the university—Xuezi Avenue.
The fourteen companions were stepping on this wide road now.
The road was wide enough for more than a dozen people to walk side by side, but the companions didn’t dare to run such an operation. They stuck to either side of the path in a single file line, one following the other, tiptoeing in the shadows of the tree branches, advancing silently.
In the quiet breeze, there was only the slight noise from the wheels of the suitcase—Zhao He couldn’t carry it for too long. It was the new mission assigned to him after he became empty-handed, in which he began to seriously contemplate whether giving up the radio might’ve been a mistake.
As the old saying goes, the more dangerous the place, the safer it actually was.
The Wusheng class didn’t know if this old adage was a jack of all trades, but master of none, though at least for now, it seemed very appropriate—The spacious Xuezi Avenue was completely empty and devoid of all else, as if someone had cleared the field for them in advance.
Or maybe it was just cold at night and all the zombies were hiding indoors.
Just as Song Fei was troubled these thoughts, he spotted a dark shadow lying in the middle of their way not too far ahead.
He was the natural pick for second-in-command in the whole team, and Qi Yan, who was walking ahead of him leading the squad, obviously saw it too as his steps halted abruptly.
Seeing that, Song Fei also stopped nervously.
With one person ceasing to move, everyone would follow suit, this was an unstoppable chain reaction, but it didn’t mean that everyone understood why they all stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Qiao Siqi asked anxiously. He didn’t dare to use his actual voice and only used his breaths to huff it out.
Zhou Yilu, who was next in line behind him, had better eyesight and leaned forward slightly close to the other’s ear to remind, exasperated: “Diagonally ahead.”
When Qiao Siqi finally saw the stumbling block at the fore, Qi Yan had already probed forward with caution and Song Fei, who was worried, stuck closely behind the other.
The twelve companions didn’t dare to move until the two scouts in front waved at them, indicating that the danger was finally neutralized.
The so-called black shadow was just a corpse.
They weren’t sure whether it was infected or not, only that it was definitely deceased because its skull was shattered. Blood and brain matter were mixed together, dried up and completely oxidized.
Not even the zombies that Li Jingyu had bludgeoned with the big iron pot ended up in such a tragic state.
If the one before them was the body of a zombie, that could only mean that it had unfortunately entangled with a “classmate” who possessed incomparably superior combat strength.
Following this false alarm, the team continued to move forward, only that such carcasses lying in the middle of the path gradually became increasingly common.
After they crossed a short distance, there would be one or two, advance even further, and there were two or three more of them.
All of them had their brains destroyed without exception, some were utterly smashed like the first one while others were left with wounds similar to how the squad engaged in combat, leaving behind fatal wounds that would not be too shocking to see as if pierced through by a blade.
There was no doubt that these bodies were all zombies.
As for the one who took them all down, it was naturally students like those from the Wusheng class who counter-attacked.
The fourteen companions didn’t know who these classmates were, where they had gone, whether they were still within the university limits, or whether they had already broken out of the encirclement. However, when they imagined that there was another group on this campus who chose to fight like them, an indescribable feeling took over their hearts. They were a little excited, but more so felt at ease and encouraged.
It had to be said that these “fellow classmates” who they have never met before were indeed possessed outstanding combat abilities. Just when the team got used to encountering a few corpses every time after they advanced a certain distance, the obstacles that popped up before them formed a “corpse pile”.
There was a patch of densely packed carcasses with a visual estimate of about twenty or thirty of them, scattered across the ground in all directions such that none of them knew where they could put their feet down anymore.
The companions exchanged glances, their expressions were dark.
Despite being aware that these were all zombies, it still took time to digest the psychological discomfort triggered by the visual impact.
However, the most scarce thing right now was time.
Qi Yan could only bite the bullet and take the first step, and then the second. With a high level of vigilance like crossing a minefield, he carefully picked the gaps between the bodies to tread and forged ahead one small step at a time.
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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“You start walking ah.” Zhou Yilu waited for a long time until he saw Luo Geng, who was in front of Qiao Siqi, pull away several meters ahead of them and ultimately couldn’t stop himself from ushering the other.
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Under the pressure of the crowd, Qiao Siqi gritted his teeth and finally took a trembling stride forward.
One small step for John, a giant step for the squad. Zhou Yilu and Zhao He could breathe a sigh of relief at last.
Everything may begin in a difficult manner, but as long as the ball started rolling, than all that followed would be easier to handle.
After taking two steps, Qiao Siqi realized that it wasn’t as scary as he had imagined ma. As long as he didn’t take this as a sea of bodies, just treating it like a bunch of extras, then the horrifying atmosphere would also dissipate instantly. . .
“Ao—”
Holy sh*t, there was a disrespectful and unprofessional extra here who bit his shoe ahhhhh!!!
Qiao Siqi didn’t completely let his scream loose when he reacted and swallowed his voice abruptly, but just this half of a sound was enough to give his nervous comrades a shock.
What’s more, although he tamped down on the second half of his yelp, his foot still violently flew outwards in a kick as if he were given an electric shock!
The comrades who were walking in front all stopped and whipped their heads around sharply. Zhou Yilu, who was walking behind him, was the first to react as he threw his arms around the other’s body violently in an attempt to suppress the other’s sudden mania.
“What is wrong with you!”
Qiao Siqi almost wanted to beat the drums for the sake of his innocence: “It bit my shoe ah!”
Zhou Yilu’s first reaction was that Qiao Siqi was just overly tense, but when he glanced down and saw the ferocious face chomping on Qiao-tongxue’s toe, his arms loosened up immediately.
Qiao Siqi also calmed down from his initial instinctive reaction of terror and whipped out the Swiss Army knife, stabbing the zombie in the head.
The zombie twitched a few times and then ceased its death throes.
Qiao Siqi bucked his legs several times in a row before he was able to shake off the head that was nibbling at the toe of his shoe.
“Why are you so unlucky ne.” Song Fei didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry.
Qiao Siqi had a woeful expression on his face: “How would I kno. . .” Before he could finish pronouncing the word, the color of his face drained suddenly.
Not only him, the expressions of Zhou Yilu and the others who were bringing up the rear, Zhao He, Fu Xiyuan, and Wu Zhou also blanched!
The current situation was that the five students who were walking in the last section of the line were all facing forward, while the nine students in the front had all turned their heads around due to the commotion caused by Qiao Siqi just now.
Thus Feng Qibai, who was looking back at the five others just like Song Fei was, asked with an inexplicable expression: “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Siqi tremblingly stuck out a finger and pointed in the direction behind them: “Ex, The extras stood up. . .”
The nine comrades-in-arms who couldn’t climb into Qiao-tongxue’s head to comprehend what he was saying, had a face full of question marks. What the heck kind of code word was extras ah!
“Zombies!” Zhao He couldn’t bear it anymore and roared, “There are zombies behind you—”
The nine of them whipped their heads around simultaneously.
Only to see the “corpses” that were lying on the ground in front of them just now all stand up one after another!
At the same time, the “dead bodies” at Qiao Siqi and Zhao He’s feet also started to squirm!
It was only then that the companions realized that these “bodies” were different from the ones that they had seen in twos and threes earlier. They had no injuries on their heads.
These were not mere “corpses”, they were f*cking genuine zombies ah!!!
The one who stood up had even already lunged at Qi Yan!
The ones who got up last had also already started becoming lively one after another. Although their movements were still stiff and slow, it wouldn’t be long before they could fully start up their CPUs!
Qi Yan knocked down the zombie that pounced at him, but a wall of zombies had already formed before him, pressing towards him!
Zhou Yilu, Wu Zhou, and Zhao He behind him were also already entangled with the zombies around them.
They were about to sink into this wave of corpses!
They couldn’t break through ahead, and were unable to retreat back either. Qi Yan had no choice to dash towards the side: “Everyone, to me—”
The companions were in a chaotic mess while still dumbfounded, only fighting based on their survival instincts. When they heard their leading sheep’s command, they immediately complied!
Qi Yan fled to the west and the companions who finally got rid of their entanglements with the zombies also ran to the west, but in fact, they hadn’t really shaken off the zombies. On the contrary, after they staggered away and chased after them for a distance, they gradually recovered from their stiffness, recovering to a normal level and range of movement such that the fastest runner was even swiftly approaching He Zhiwen who was the slowest runner!
He Zhiwen kept glancing back while he ran, he was about to be driven insane!
“Climb up—”
Qi Yan’s shout pierced through his ears.
He Zhiwen quickly looked back and saw Qi Yan floating in the air!
He Zhiwen blinked hard in disbelief, then after several times he finally realized that Qi Yan had climbed onto the barbed wire fence outside the outdoor badminton court.
When He Zhiwen had reached the spot under the barbed wire, all his companions had already clambered up, with only Zhao He still waiting for him below it. Seeing the person he was waiting for arrive, he instantly acted, picking the other up and sending him upwards without wasting his time with any words!
He Zhiwen lived up to everyone’s expectations and hooked onto the opening in the fence.
As soon as Zhao He loosened his arms, He Zhiwen swiftly found a foothold and scrambled up desperately!
Zhao He followed closely behind.
Just when Zhao He climbed to about 1.7 meters, the fastest zombie already arrived and gripped his ankle.
Zhao He kicked the zombies in the head viciously.
The zombie was kicked to the ground and Zhao He seized this opportunity to swarm up to the highest point.
“What is going on, weren’t they all dead!” Zhou Yilu asked anxiously as he fixed his gaze on the approaching army.
“Not deceased,” Wang Qingyuan’s breath unsteady, “I’m guessing they stayed outside for too long and were frozen to the extent that they lost their mobility and just lay on the ground.”
“If they felt that it was cold, then they could’ve just sought shelter, would they not be cold if they simply laid on the ground?” Zhao He huffed angrily, “Sprawling on the ground will just make them stiffen up faster!”
“Maybe they did it on purpose,” Song Fei conjectured, “Like Venus fly traps, waiting for prey to throw themselves into their trap.”
Luo Geng: “They used to just hide in the bushes, but now they’re straight up prostrating themselves in the middle of the road, such a domineering stance?”
During the hasty discussion, the army of zombies had already arrived, but the barbed wire fence was 3.5 meters high, and the companions had already ascended to the highest point.
The zombies extended their arms and couldn’t catch anyone, so they abruptly switched to shaking and striking the barbed wire fence violently, infuriated from humiliation!
“This fence should be sturdy enough ba. . .” He Zhiwen grasped onto the fence tightly, his heart shuddering with each tremor.
Song Fei swept his gaze down below without blinking: “If they start to climb up, it wouldn’t be a good thing for the fence to be so strong ba. . .”
If the Wusheng class could scale the metal fence, naturally there are zombies who could also do the same!
What was more terrible was that in this hoard, it wasn’t just a few zombies who possessed this skill!
Originally they only wanted to sit back and relax, but now, they were drawing fire upon themselves.
Since the companions were latching onto the fence with their hands, they could only use their feet to fend off the zombies, yet the zombies that had been booted off all swiftly ascended again. Song Fei glanced around anxiously and suddenly noticed the track and field field not too far away!
The open-air badminton court was next to the circuit for track and field. From Song Fei’s perspective, he could tell that there was light shining at the track and field arena. Although it couldn’t be said that the lights were bright, one could still vaguely see the empty spectator stands.
“What should we do, guys, at least say something!” Qiao Siqi couldn’t bear it anymore, his thin arms and legs couldn’t help but tremble.
“Head for the track and field enclosure! Song Fei exclaimed firmly, but didn’t budge himself. Obviously, he still wanted to discuss it with everyone beforehand.
“We can’t,” Feng Qibai was the first to object, “It is only a dead end there and we will be trapped and slaughtered directly!”
“And what if there are already zombies inside ne!” Zhou Yilu also disagreed. At the moment, they could only vaguely catch a glimpse of the spectator stands above and couldn’t discern the things on the turf and the course at all.
“Not necessarily,” Zhao He harbored a different opinion, “It seems as if our nighttime training lights are lit up over there right now. If no one turned them on specifically, they wouldn’t be on. . .”
“Hei—”
A shout resounded from not too far away.
The hearts of all the companions skipped a beat. Following the source of the sound, they located Qi Yan, who had maneuvered away from the main force at some point and had now firmly planted his feet upon the ground!
The zombies watched as the living dropped to the ground and no longer paid attention to those hanging on the fence. All twenty or so howled and charged straight at Qi Yan instead!
“Quick, jump off, and run—” Qi Yan reminded them loudly and anxiously, while he swiftly started to circle around the perimeter of the barbed fence!
When the last zombie also began to pursue Qi Yan, Song Fei was the first to leap to the ground. Noticing that everyone was still in a daze, he couldn’t help but chide: “Hurry the f*ck up and get down ah!”
The companions came back to their senses and jumped down one after another.
“What about Qi Yan?” Wang Qingyuan asked.
“He’ll be fine.” Song Fei stated firmly.
On this side, Zhao He was dragging the suitcase to himself, and on the other, Qi Yan had brought the zombies army to the opposite side of the fence, and in another half of a lap, they would meet again.
But Song Fei knew that Qi Yan didn’t need them to wait for him, he only wanted them to take care of themselves.
“Go.” With this order, Song Fei was the first to move. Now that Qi Yan had led the zombies away, their desired direction was naturally due south towards the school gate!
If one wishes to reach the gate, then they must return to Xuezhi Avenue first!
Qi Yan watched Song Fei lead the companions back onto the main road and felt unprecedentedly relieved. At the same time, he was also taken aback that he shared such a tacit understanding with him without knowing since when. It wasn’t that Song Fei didn’t worry about him, but that the other believed that he could take care of it. Conversely, he was also sure that. . . Uh, wait a minute, why were those idiots heading back here again!!!
Qi Yan hadn’t even finished expressing his emotions over here, when the comrades who had headed for Xuezi Avenue on that side, turned back again, and just so happened to run into Qi Yan head on!
Before Qi Yan could protest, Song Fei had already grabbed his arm and whirled around. They broke away from the fence and made a beeline for the track and field venue!
Then behind Song Fei and the others, a large wave of zombies appeared out of nowhere. The zombies pursuing Qi Yan merged with them in no time at all and headed for the track and field grounds together as one!
This time, there were no objections from the comrades-in-arms because a group of zombies joining in on the way back left them with no other choice!
They didn’t even give them the chance to scale the big trees on the side of the road. Before they could even get close, they were deterred halfway!
The track and field stadium was Zhao He, Wu Zhou, and Fu Xiyuan’s home court. Going over there was like coming home. Besides, they have always been very concerned about the lights that were on and kept feeling as if there may be other students from the sports department inside, galvanizing them to gallop over wildly.
Zhao He almost turned the suitcase into a Hot Wheels.
The three of them reached the track field first.
As soon as they entered, the companions heard Wu Zhou holler: “There are people on the lawn!”
Before the last syllable of the word “people” faded out, Wu Zhou added hesitantly: “Let me take another look. . .”
The companions who came barreling over later almost vomited blood.
There were no people on the lawn, it was more d*mnable bodies strewn all over!
And who knew if they were real corpses this time or dormant zombies like before!
However, the alarming situation didn’t allow the Wusheng class to ponder over it too much.
They tried not to get too close to the lawn and just stuck to running on the track. There were eight rows in total and they were distributed onto 6-8 lanes.
It must be said that the quality of the university’s track field was still very good, it felt very comfortable for their feet to be pounding upon it. . . That wasn’t important right now!
The point was that the zombies had already filed in and were chasing after their footsteps!
Under the moonlight, under the lights of the nighttime training sessions, there were fourteen companions and a piece of luggage on the track while thirty or forty zombies trailed behind. At first glance it seemed like a concentrated training routine before the final physical education examination.
They sprinted in laps and the zombies also pursued them in loops. They were very disciplined and didn’t have the flexible planning of splitting up or having half of them run in the opposite direction to intercept them from the other side.
As for what the two teams were circling around, although one could call it the soccer field, it was actually a lawn densely packed with carcasses.
This time it really was thoroughly deceased bodies, otherwise the lawn wouldn’t have remained so motionless after the two played a few rounds of ring around the rosie.
The fact that the battalion of zombies didn’t understand that pursuit and interception was a good thing and that the turf was only densely packed with real zombie corpses, was also a thing to be very thankful for, but—
He Zhiwen: “I really can’t run anymore. This is already the third lap, I’ve reached my limit. . .”
Zhao He: “Bullsh*t, this is nothing, it hasn’t even been 1500 meters ne!”
He Zhiwen: “I never even passed the exam for 1500 ah—”
Zhao He: “Why didn’t you exercise on a regular basis!”
He Zhiwen: “Isn’t it too late to ask this question now!!!”
Song Fei: “Let’s lure the pursuers away together. He Zhiwen, you hide somewhere and take a break!”
He Zhiwen: “Where should I hide ah—”
He Zhiwen didn’t get an answer and only watched as Song Fei cut across the lanes and sprinted straight towards the lawn from the corner of his eye!
The rest followed him!
He Zhiwen was completely confused and subconsciously kept up, but after stumbling a few steps onto the lawn, his arm was abruptly captured by Lin Dilei, who was next to him, and he was unceremoniously tugged aside!
He Zhiwen only felt a force that could easily crush dry weeds and smash rotten wood when his entire body was brought forward obliquely, launching him straight into the densely packed “corpse pile” in front of him!
Author’s Chapter Summary
Densely packed bodies lying about, it’s difficult to distinguish whether they are zombies or humans without a doubt!
The translator has something to say: so not only are the zombies learning from the still living humans, the humans are also learning from the zombies, competing to see who would be the better “extra” *cry/laugh*
Lol at translator’s note