Lu Dongnuan’s hair fell loosely around her, and the searing pain in her abdomen almost made her lose consciousness.
She clutched her stomach, only to feel a hollow emptiness.
Her scalp tingled uncontrollably, and it seemed as if every bone in her body had been shattered.
The monster stood before Xiao Fang, its twisted limbs bulging with knotted muscle, no skin left exposed.
In its once-cloudy eyes, a pair of black vertical pupils gleamed with the chilling light of a predator.
Slowly, it brought the claws that had pierced through Lu Dongnuan’s body up to its mouth.
Its barbed tongue stretched out, impossibly long, licking up all the blood from its claws with a teeth-grinding “creak.”
With this horrifying sound, its body swelled again, joints crackling with dislocated pops that echoed through the dead silence of the hallway.
Something black, like strands of hair, sprouted from the top of its head.
Shreds of pink clothing hung loosely over its shoulders, calves, and thighs.
“Cough… cough,” Lu Dongnuan spat out blood mixed with bits of mangled viscera.
Her body began to go numb, losing all control.
She watched helplessly as the monster’s gaping jaws inched toward Xiao Fang.
She was going to die—she could truly feel death drawing near.
She tried to open her mouth again, but realized she no longer had any control over her lips.
Her body began to lose weight—not floating, but sinking, as if the floor had turned to quicksand.
Her vision was the first to blur, narrowing into a tunnel and finally shrinking to a single point of light, until all was swallowed by darkness.
Sound became distant and warped, as if heard from beneath the water, voices muffled on a distant shore.
Both her lives flashed before her eyes like a movie on fast-forward.
Every important—and unimportant—memory flitted by, strangely clear and yet hazy, unreal.
“Huu—” She heard her own heavy, bubbling breath.
Just as her consciousness was about to dissolve completely into that darkness, her heart suddenly clenched, sending a wave of ripping pain through her chest!
A surge of power yanked her back, rude and violent.
“Haa—!”
She gasped deeply, greedily for air.
Her lungs burned, but the pain in her stomach had vanished, leaving only torn clothes and, beneath them, flawless skin.
Only the gaping hole in her clothes proved how terrifying her wound had once been.
The Blind Monk hadn’t noticed the commotion, still lost in its own evolution.
Xiao Fang’s wound was just as horrifying, blood surging from him like a breached dam, pooling in a widening dark red stain beneath him.
His face was ashen, and only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was alive.
He quietly watched Lu Dongnuan get to her feet, making no sound.
Lu Dongnuan glanced at him, then slowly started to back away, moving her feet with the utmost care, afraid to disturb the evolving predator.
Her eyes swept over the corridor, searching for any possible escape.
‘The air duct? No, too far, too noisy. The emergency exit?’
The door they’d used to come up was locked, and who knew how many zombies might be drawn upstairs.
The only hope seemed to lie at the end of the corridor, in that unexplored darkness.
Just as she was about to turn away and leave behind the idiot who called her “senior,” mumbling dreams about establishing “Noxus”—
Xiao Fang’s lips moved, ever so slightly.
No sound came out.
But Lu Dongnuan could clearly make out the shape.
Not “help me.”
Not a curse.
It was a silent, heartbreaking word—
“Go… ah…”
He didn’t even look at her.
His gaze was unfocused, fixed on the ceiling, as if using his last shred of consciousness to urge this “liar,” this “scammer,” to run for her life.
Lu Dongnuan’s footsteps came to a sudden halt.
It was as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart, a suffocating feeling even worse than being run through moments before.
The smile frozen on his face—relieved, a little silly—and his silent urging, burned into her soul like two brands of searing iron.
‘Idiot… idiot! Trying to play the good guy even when you’re about to die!’ she cursed him madly in her heart, her teeth grinding so hard it was almost audible.
“When disaster comes, everyone looks out for themselves. Don’t blame me.” With that, she broke into a run.
Xiao Fang’s eyes focused for a moment as he watched Lu Dongnuan’s retreating back.
He seemed to sigh with relief, mustering the last of his strength.
Trembling, he raised his middle finger at the Blind Monk.
“C! N! M!” He forced out each syllable, voice weak but full of defiance and contempt.
“ROAR!” The Blind Monk was completely enraged by the taunt.
With a deafening roar, it bared its mouthful of sharp teeth and lunged at him…
“Click.”
At that moment, a crisp sound like a lock being opened rang out.
The Blind Monk froze, turning its head slowly.
There stood Lu Dongnuan at the fire door by the stairwell.
Seeing the monster look her way, she flashed a mischievous, triumphant grin.
She grabbed the doorknob and, with every ounce of strength, pulled it open!
Then, facing the stairs leading down, she let out the loudest, most piercing shout of her life: “Full assault!”
The cry echoed fiercely through the empty stairwell, like a massive stone thrown into dead water, shattering the silence and despair in an instant.
Then she pointed at the monster🫵🏻.
“The enemy will arrive at the battlefield in thirty seconds. Crush them.”
The first to answer the call was Sister Jing.
Lu Dongnuan had to admit, her teammate never missed a fight.
Sister Jing scrambled up, hands and feet together, the first to charge to the fourth floor.
She glanced at Lu Dongnuan, then at the Blind Monk.
The Blind Monk seemed startled by Sister Jing’s arrival, a low, warning growl rumbling from its throat.
But Sister Jing, already ruled by the virus, paid no heed to such pitiful threats.
“Roar—!”
With a piercing, grating shriek, she pounced as if she’d found an even more valuable prey.
Her hind limbs tensed and she launched herself like a cannonball, straight at the Blind Monk!
The two monsters collided at once, like runaway heavy trucks, crashing together with a dull, thunderous bang!
Taking her chance, Lu Dongnuan ran to Xiao Fang’s side, grabbed his clothes, and dragged him toward the rooftop with all her strength.
Pulling him was like dragging a sack of water-soaked sand, so heavy that even her newly restored body was nearly overwhelmed.
A bloody trail marked their path across the floor.
Xiao Fang let out unconscious, agonized gasps, but his eyes stayed tightly shut—he had lost all awareness.
“Kang Classmate, please don’t die. I didn’t sell you out this time!”
Sister Jing was just the beginning.
Downstairs, Zombies began pouring up the stairs, breaking through obstacles, and the ones outside the Mall would soon be drawn by all the noise.
The place would be flooded by a corpse tide in no time—they couldn’t afford any delays.
Lu Dongnuan grit her teeth, veins bulging at her temples, each step as grueling as slogging through a swamp.
“Kang Classmate… instant noodles! Put your back into it! Noxus is waiting for you to lay the foundation!”
“Roar—”
Several Zombies rushed from the stairwell at a speed that stunned Lu Dongnuan.
Their bodies were nimble, movements swift.
The vanguard of the first wave of Zombies had already reached the fourth floor landing.