Ren Nanying sprinted as if she were running in a 100-meter dash. After she ran out of sight, Jun Zishu climbed down the rope with her backpack. Then, Lin Su, Xu Qiu, and Liu Manman followed.
The four of them made for a big target. Fortunately, Ren Nanying had already led the majority of the zombies away.
Jun Zishu was also correct in her judgment in that the zombies relied on smell to determine whether a person was dead or alive. So, while there were still a few zombies lingering around the area, the cheap cologne the four girls sprayed themselves with prevented the zombies from targeting them. Meanwhile, after all four girls were on the ground, they made a mad dash for the distant food court.
Partway through their run, Liu Manman, who ran at the rear of the group, executed an emergency brake when she saw a zombie limbering into her way, and she stopped just five centimeters from the zombie.
When Xu Qiu heard the change in Liu Manmanâs footsteps, she turned around to take a look, only to nearly have her soul leave her body.
Liu Manmanâs legs also nearly went limp when she got a good look at the zombie. She didnât know what kind of inhuman tortures the zombie student before her had experienced, but half of the zombie girlâs face was covered with bloodied holes and rotten flesh, and only one of the zombieâs eyes remained. Liu Manman very nearly puked on the spot when she saw this.
Fortunately, Liu Manman had covered her scent with cologne, so she managed to sneak past the zombie without attracting the other partyâs attention.
Everyone sighed in relief at this sight, and they promptly resumed running.
After this little incident, Jun Zishu began clearing the path with her scissors, downing the wandering zombies one after another.
Seeing this, Lin Su couldnât help but inwardly cheer, feeling that she had made the right decision to follow Room 412âs boss.
Subsequently, Jun Zishu opened the path at the front, Xu Qiu ran in second place, Liu Manman ran in third place, and Lin Su ran in last place.
Xu Qiu had great stamina, and she was the fastest among the four of them when they ran 800 meters during their physical test, so it was reasonable for her to be in second place.
In contrast, Liu Manman was an indoor person obsessed with studying and reading. She rarely exercised, and her physical abilities were significantly inferior compared to Xu Qiu and Lin Su. However, because of the little scare she experienced just now, she performed much better than usual.
Sometime later, Lin Su suddenly let out a short scream. When Jun Zishu and the others turned around, they saw that a zombie was chasing after Lin Su, and it was very close to grabbing her shirt. Unfortunately, it would seem that the cologne wasnât a perfect solution to the zombies.
Seeing this, Xu Qiu gritted her teeth and began running back.
âSusu, run faster!â Liu Manman shouted.
Lin Su gritted her teeth and tried to run faster. Unfortunately, she and the zombie had entered a subtle stalemate.
âSusu! Think about your Band 8! If you die now, wonât all the preparations youâve made be in vain?!â Liu Manman shouted some words of encouragement.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lin Su shuddered at these words. Just when the zombie behind her was about to grab her hair, she suddenly pulled away from it with great speed.
âTo! Hell! With! Your! Band! Eight!â
A second after Lin Su finished cursing, she reached Xu Qiuâs side, and Xu Qiu yanked her hand and pulled her forward.
Meanwhile, Jun Zishu ran past the two and swung her backpack into the pursuing zombieâs face. Then, after grabbing the zombieâs long hair with one hand, she stabbed the scissors in her other hand into the zombieâs head.
At this time, other zombies from nearby also started lunging at Jun Zishu while baring their mutated jagged teeth and exhaling their fishy breaths.
With a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead, Jun Zishu twisted her back and deliberately fell on her side, causing the zombies to catch nothing but air. Then, she quickly got back on her feet and tripped one of the zombies with her feet.
Seeing this, Liu Manman tried to stab the fallen zombieâs head with her fruit knife. Unfortunately, she misdirected her knife and ended up stabbing it into the zombieâs right eye instead.
The zombie growled and tried to attack Liu Manman, so she hurriedly withdrew her knife, some blood splattering on her face in the process. Before fear could get to her, she promptly tried to stab the zombieâs head again. However, although she hit her mark this time, the zombieâs skull was too hard, so she couldnât pull out the knife after stabbing it in.
âAre you fuckingâ¦â
Liu Manman cursed and had an urge to cry because of this situation. Although the zombie bro on the ground had stopped moving already, she couldnât remove her knife from his head even after two attempts. She wouldnât be very far from death if she continued wasting more time here.
At this time, Jun Zishu had just finished dealing with the last of the attacking zombies, sending the zombie bro off to heaven with a stab from her scissors. Noticing Liu Manmanâs plight, Jun Zishu walked up to her roommate, stepped on the zombieâs head, and pulled out Liu Manmanâs fruit knife. Then, she dropped the knife by Liu Manmanâs feet and said:
âRun.
Afterward, the group continued running without ever looking back.
â¦
The good news was that the food courtâs back kitchen door wasnât locked. The bad news was that the back kitchen was infested with zombie sweethearts.
After Xu Qiu ran into the kitchen with Lin Su in tow, the two ran out of the kitchen as quickly as they ran inside, earning looks of confusion from Jun Zishu and Liu Manman.
Liu Manman: Whatâs wrong?
Xu Qiu: There are zombies inside.
Liu Manman: Go in and fuck them up!
Lin Su: ???
Liu Manman: I killed a zombie just now! Although itâs a little disgusting, stabbing their head works!
Lin Su: How strong of you.
Liu Manman had gained a lot of confidence after killing that zombie just now, so much so that she had the time to put her hands on her hips and puff up her chest.
âGo in,â Jun Zishu commanded.
Since their leader had spoken, the three other girls obediently walked into the back kitchen. Jun Zishu was the last to enter, and she closed the door on her way in.
The food court had a ton of zombies. When Jun Zishu checked the map in her mind, she saw that the dining area beyond the front kitchenâs counter was covered in red dots. There were also some red dots in the back kitchen, but the number wasnât particularly high.
The back kitchen door led into a corridor, and past the five-meter corridor was the back kitchen.
After entering the corridor, Jun Zishu walked past her roommates and killed the zombies in their way. Then, after getting rid of the three zombies in the corridor, the group entered the back kitchen and closed the iron door that led into the back kitchen from the corridor.
Before Xu Qiu and the others could catch their breaths, they heard the excited growls of over a dozen zombies coming from all over the back kitchen.
Subsequently, an exciting game of cat and mouse began in the back kitchen, the girls employing a hit-and-run tactic as they led the zombies around the large kitchen.
At one point, Xu Qiu attacked a zombie with her fruit knife and missed. However, just as she was about to run, she accidentally tripped and stumbled a little. Then, just when the zombie was about to reach her, she turned around and pushed against the zombieâs jaw with her hands, doing her best to keep the zombieâs mouth shut. At the same time, she also kicked the zombieâs stomach with her hand.
When the zombie was about to bite her, Xu Qiu grabbed an iron bowl meant for spicy hot pot and used it to cover the zombieâs mouth. Then, she randomly reached for a nearby cleaver and frantically hacked at the zombie.
Lin Suâs mouth twitched at this sight. After getting rid of the zombie chasing her, she circled to the zombified kitchen lady attacking Xu Qiu and stabbed her knife into the back of the zombie ladyâs head.
âYoung Warrior, were you perhaps trying to replicate the Blind Consortâs Tyrannical Thrashing that Consort Yu used on Xiang Yu after going blind?â[1]
âScrew off,â Xu Qiu said, laughing as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.
Everyoneâs fear disappeared at this moment as they all knew that there was no use being afraid. Instead, what they should do was to use their weapons to deal with the monsters before them.
Similar to their journey here, Jun Zishu remained in slaughter mode as she capitalized on her invincibility buff to one-shot the zombies one after another. Her body was soft, flexible, and powerful. Even when facing zombies taller than herself, she could effortlessly lock them in a chokehold and stab her knife into their heads.
Fortunately, the zombies they faced all used to be ordinary people. Out of the dozen or so zombies in the back kitchen, the one that was trickiest to deal with would probably have to be the head kitchen lady, also known as Big Momma.
Big Momma wore white kitchen overalls stained with blood. Despite her right calf being reduced to nothing but bones, it did not impede her movement.
Big Momma had a greenish-gray complexion, black and purple lips, and a pair of grayish-white eyes with red veins showing. Meanwhile, she repeatedly opened and closed her mouth as she chased Liu Manman around a stove. Even after all of the other zombies had been taken care of, the two continued circling the stove one time after another.
âAhhh! B-B-B-Big Momma, donât kill me! I-I-I-I donât taste good!â Liu Manman shouted as she ran.
However, Big Momma didnât seem to understand Liu Manmanâs words as she kept on chasing and growling.
Logically, this shouldâve been a very scary scene. However, Liu Manman had somehow turned it into a comedic scene.
âManman, run a few more circles and sprint away from the stove,â Jun Zishu said to Liu Manman. Then, she looked toward Lin Su and Xu Qiu and continued, âThe two of you, trip Big Mommaâs legs when she comes. Try to make her fall.â
âOkay.â
Lin Su and Xu Qiu nodded.
After running for so long, Liu Manman was already on the brink of exhaustion. Upon hearing Jun Zishuâs words, she promptly ran another circle around the stove before sprinting in Lin Su and Xu Qiuâs direction. While she did so, Big Momma continued running around the big stove out of habit. However, after Big Momma noticed that something was amiss, she promptly located Liu Manman and chased after her again.
Lin Su and Xu Qiu did as they were told and extended their legs to trip Big Momma. Although Big Momma stumbled a little, she did not fall due to the stability granted by her weight. Seeing this, Jun Zishu jumped into the air and tried to attack Big Momma from the back, only to get knocked away when Big Momma turned around toward Liu Manman.
Big Momma was a heavyweight fighter, so Jun Zishu stumbled a few steps back even after landing on her feet.
âBig Momma seems to be angryâ¦â
Liu Manman gulped, her voice trembling a little.
Afterward, four humans and one zombie started another game of cat and mouse inside the spacious kitchen.
âWhy is she chasing only me?! Why isnât she chasing you guys?! Is it because I look tastier?!â Liu Manman shouted while running, her heart full of grievances.
âItâs probably because she thinks the delicate body of a shut-in is easier to push down,â Lin Su said as payback for all the times Liu Manman had brought up her Band 8 to stimulate her.
âIt was a windy day that day. Liu Manman and the food courtâs Big Momma enacted an intense and sensational pursuit of love.â
âLin Susu! Do you want to die?! Save me!!!!â
While running, Liu Manman started grabbing everything she could reach and threw them at Big Momma.
âCome bite me!â
At this time, Xu Qiu the Cleaver Master made her reappearance as she brandished the cleaver in her hand at Big Mommaâs back. Unfortunately, due to the height and size difference, all Xu Qiu managed to do was anger Big Momma and caused the latter to chase after her instead.
Seeing this, Xu Qiu promptly fled, while Lin Su grabbed a mop and frantically tried to stuff it into Big Mommaâs mouth.
After observing the chaotic battle for a while, Jun Zishu climbed up a kitchen counter and held up the cleaver she had just found. Then, she waited for the right opportunity to strike.
Big Momma was currently being besieged from the front and back. Lin Su was viciously attacking her face with a mop, while Xu Qiu was ruthlessly hacking her body with a cleaver. As for Liu Manman, she was breathing heavily after her exhausting marathon.
When Jun Zishu finally found an opportunity to strike, she attacked with all her might. She was also using a cleaver this time, so her attack ended in a much more brutal way as the cleaver split Big Mommaâs head in half.
âUghâ¦â
When Xu Qiu saw this grotesque sight, she promptly set her cleaver aside and held her stomach, looking like she was about to puke.
After the tough battle, everyone sat on the ground, feeling exhausted. Out of the four of them, Jun Zishu was the only one who looked relatively fine.
Jun Zishu scanned the kitchen and looked at the many zombies crumpled across the floor. She also noted that both entrances into the back kitchen were closed and that there were freezers, pots, pans, and many other things in the back kitchen.
âIs anyone hurt?â
âNo.â
Everyone shook their heads.
âOkay. You guys tidy up this place. Iâll go and wait for Ren Nanying.â
After setting her backpack on a kitchen counter, Jun Zishu took out a towel from within and used it to wipe off the sweat and zombie brain matter on her face.
âHow should we deal with them?â
âDrag the zombies to the corridor. Make sure to be quiet,â Jun Zishu said as she opened the iron door and walked into the corridor they came in from. Then, she stood guard by the white stainless steel door leading outside.
Will she come back? Jun Zishu wondered to herself.
â¦
TL Notes:
[1]Blind Consortâs Tyrannical Thrashing, Consort Yu, Xiang Yu: These are references to a Chinese MOBA game called Honor of Kings (çè è£è). Itâs somewhat similar to League of Legends, but Chinese-oriented.
Consort Yu (Yu Ji) and Xiang Yu are characters in the game.