Book 1 Chapter 17: A RagtagGroup of Survivors!
With Ye Chen"s level of strength, he could dishout a formidable attack every second. Over the course of a minute, dozens ofzombie would be felled by his relentless slaughter. Therefore, it wasn"t surprisingwhen the battle ended after a few fleeting minutes.
"Harvest the corpses post haste, we leaveimmediately after." Ye Chen commanded coldly.
Ye Zhu and Bai long were still gawking at themountain of corpses in astonishment. Only after hearing Ye Chen"s voice didthey awaken from their shock. Immediately, they rushed to have the corpsesdissected in search of mutagenic flesh.
It didn"t take very long for them to finishtheir work. Bai Long took the role of slicing open the torso of each corpsewhile Ye Zhu searched the exposed innards for traces of mutagenic flesh. It wasa brilliant display of teamwork.
With dissection work done with, Ye Chen scannedhis surroundings once more to affirm that there weren"t any more incomingzombies. Walking carefully, he headed beside a gla.s.s window and peered throughfrom the corner. The zombies outside were shuffling about in an odd manner, eachwith their heads raised.
Ye Chen could tell that the zombies were actingthis way in order to heighten their senses when in search of fresh blood.
Upon further inspection of situation outside,Ye Chen was made aware that there were no other hiding spots other than aspa.r.s.e couple of cars parked nearby. With so many zombies outside and noconvenient source of cover nearby, they would be discovered almost instantly.
As Ye Chen understands it, first stage zombieshad eyesight three times better than the average man. Their sight was somewhatsimilar to infrared vision. It allowed them to see living creatures in shadesof red. However, anything that wasn"t alive would be perceived as a dull grey.
After surveying for a few moments, Ye Chenturned around with furrowed brows and headed towards the two by the elevator,saying: "We leave through the back door."
The two nodded in reply and followed Ye Chenfurther into the hotel. As they weren"t aware of where exactly the back doorwas, they had to investigate every pa.s.sageway they came across. Of course,these pa.s.sageways were infested with zombies, but they didn"t pose much of athreat for the trio.
Soon, they discovered the back door within asmall room at the back. The back door seemed to be locked and there was an oldsecurity guard zombie stationed by it. It immediately lunged forward in attackas soon as it laid eyes on Ye Chen.
With casual ease, Ye Chen buried his fireman"saxe between the zombie"s eyes and swiped the ring of keys conveniently strappedto its waist.
Unlocking the back door revealed a straightpath leading towards the main road. There were only seven or eight zombiesoutside. Not far in the distance stood a minimart with a dozen or so zombies shufflingabout its entrance.
Opening the door immediately drew the attentionof all the seven or eight zombies, causing them to attack. However, they weresoon dealt with after a few swipes of Ye Chen"s axe. As the three proceededdown an unoccupied lane, three figures came rushing desperately out of theminimart nearby. Behind the three escaping figures were a horde of more thantwenty zombies hot on their trail.
Yue Heng cursed his bad luck. It had alreadybeen a huge ordeal for him to infiltrate the minimart. Yet before he could evenindulge in what little food he swiped, he was discovered by a lone wanderingzombie. With no other choice, he was forced to retreat out the entrance in amad dash.
As he ran, he noticed a group of three peoplestanding before an opened back door in the distance. As he got closer, heidentified them as two men and one woman equipped with an a.s.sortment of bladedweapons. With a glimmer of hope in his eyes, he turned to his two companions,shouting: "Over there!!"
The two youths trailing behind who were each lugginga handful of food, nodded in agreement. They immediately turned to escape inthe direction of the hotel"s back door.
As he ran closer to the hotel"s back door, henoticed that the three armed strangers were still standing there in a daze. Itwas as though they failed to notice the horde of zombies behind scramblingtowards them in a ravenous frenzy. Frustrated, Yue Heng shouted: "Hurry up andRUN!! The zombies are coming!!"
However, it was as though even his shout failedto reach them. Just as before, they stood there motionlessly glancing at thehorde of incoming zombies.
"Dammit, they couldn"t have been shockedstupid, could they?" Yue Heng thought inwardly as he grinded his teeth infrustration. He rushed beside Ye Chen"s group and exclaimed: "Hurry up and getinto the building, or you"ll die!"
The sight of Ye Chen"s indifference towards hiswarning made him mad. Even though he wanted to scold the guy further, the hordeof zombies behind wouldn"t allow any more time. With no other choice, he dashedinto the building with his companions and proceeded to lock the door. One"s ownsurvival takes precedence after all!
However, soon after the door was shut, he hearda loud banging outside. Startled, he glanced out the small window in the door. Whatentered his sight shocked him to his very core. His eyes almost popped out oftheir sockets as he beheld the leading black haired youth brandish his axe ashe charged into the horde of zombies while wearing an icy glare.
These formidable and savage zombies fell likestraw under the cleaving axe of this mysterious youth. One cleave was all ittook to part two or three zombies at their waist. A one-sided slaughter ensued!
"Holy c.r.a.p! Is he still human?"
The three were dumbstruck as their perceptionof reality shattered.
The slaughter was over in under a minute. Themore than twenty zombies were undoubtedly slain as they lay inert upon thefloor. Ye Zhu and Bai Long had already begun dissecting the corpses.
Yue Heng scrubbed his eyes in bewilderment,doubtful of whether he had been hallucinating.
Good Heavens!
There were more than twenty of them; any one ofthem could squash him like a tiny insect. Yet that youth hacked them up like abunch of watermelons.
Yue Heng gulped nervously before carefullyopening the door. Along with his two companions, he timidly approached YeChen"s group. His scalp tinged with a throbbing numbness as he gazed upon thecorpses littering the floor. Stuttering, he said: "Y-you guys…."
Bai Long smiled cheerfully as he split open acorpse"s torso, saying: "You guy sure are lucky to chance upon us. With so manyzombies, that door wouldn"t have lasted for long."
Yue Heng knew that his words were true. Afteranother nervous gulp, he cautiously inquired: "A-are you people sent by G.o.d?"
Bai Long was taken aback, however he instantlyrecovered and laughed heartily while saying: "That"s right, I truly am THEsavior sent by the heavens. The impeccable yet elegant, devilishly handsome andtruly awe inspiring, Xiao Bai Long! Brothers, if you have any eligible older oryounger sisters, or perhaps an attractive cousin from a distant relative,please do not hesitate to have them introduced. I don"t mind introverted women;it"s all good as long as they"re pretty."
"I"ll introduce you your mother!" Yue Heng wasimmediately made aware that he"d been played, causing him to roll his eyes infrustration. Realizing that these strangers weren"t so difficult to get alongwith, he allowed himself to relax more and talk with a little more confidence.Curiously, he inquired: "These zombies are so strong, how"d you manage to killthem? Don"t tell me you"re not human? Are you perhaps a mythical werewolf, or avampire?"
Bai Long pursed his lips, saying: "Have youever seen such a handsome werewolf? Kid, you"ve read too many fantasy novels.Are you gonna ask me next if I"m a transformer, or even an ultraman orwhatever?"
Yue Heng was so overwhelmed that he could pukeup a mouthful of blood. Wordlessly, he glared at Bai Long.
"Enough, let"s go." Seeing how everything hasbeen taken cared of, Ye Chen turned and headed towards a narrow path. Ye Zhuand Bai Long immediately stood up to follow.
"See you around, friend." Bai Long waved hisarm as he left.
Yue Heng was startled at their suddendeparture.
"Boss, let"s go with them!" Immediately, onethe youths behind him exclaimed.
Yue Heng instantly awoke from his daze andhurriedly rushed over, saying: "Wait up, where are you going? Let us come withyou."
"Hm?" Ye Chen turned his head around. With aglance, he said: "We"ve no room for freeloaders here."
Yue Heng immediately said: "Relax, we won"ttouch any of your food. We have our own!"
Ye Chen shook his head, replying: "You"re muchtoo feeble, the lot of you. You"ll only weigh us down."
Yue Heng was astonished, seemingly on the vergeof tears, he stammered: "W-we won"t be a burden…."
"The answer"s still no." Ye Chen adamantlyshook his head.
Ye Zhu tugged on her brother"s sleeve, saying:"Brother, you"re afraid that they"ll perish sooner if they follow along. Butwith their strength, they won"t last much longer if they stay here either. Wecan protect them for a bit if they follow us."
Ye Chen hesitantly gave her a glance beforeturning to gaze at Yue Heng and his companions, declaring: "We"re headedtowards a very dangerous place. You may follow if the risk of death isn"tenough dissuade you."
Despite his harsh warning, Yue Heng and hiscompanions were overjoyed to be allowed into their group.
Immediately after, the group headed out alongthe narrow path. All the way, Bai Long, Yue Heng and the rest would beresponsible for killing the few zombies that strayed over. Ye Chen would stayback and watch, only encountering a horde of ten or more zombies would spur himinto action.
After walking for some distance….
Ye Chen suddenly caught the scent of a damp,rancid stench wafting out from around the corner. He instantly ceased advancingand peered towards the corner where the stench originated. There, beside anopen manhole, he spotted a pig-sized creature lying there. With pitch blackfur, razor sharp claws and a long, protruding set of front teeth, it wasundoubtedly a mutant rat!
"c.r.a.p!" Yue Heng widened his eyes as hehurriedly spoke, saying: "Retreat, that"s a mutant beast, they"re many timesstronger than those zombies!" After saying so, he turned to flee. Yet after afew steps, he was surprised that no one followed behind him. Doubtfully, heturned around, only to see Bai Long and the others huddling beside the wall,completely disregarding him. The shock almost made him puke out a mouthfulblood. From among them, Ye Chen headed out steadily towards the mutant rat withhis fireman"s axe in hand.
Translator"s Notes:
Yue Heng"s name means mountain peak andeverlasting.
Puking blood is a metaphorical way ofexpressing anger/frustration in Chinese. In some instances, it may even be usedto convey shock or amazement.
It seems like the author mistakenly numberedthis chapter 16 when it should be 17, making the actual chapters for book 1twenty three.