Chapter 31: Potato and Mushroom Platter

"Roar!!!"

The only response to them was a guttural snarl.

The figure standing before them was not the Old Man Le that Pang Cancan knew, nor was it Le Rui’s grandfather. It was a fourth-tier zombie, completely devoid of human consciousness. It darted past the two women in an instant, moving so fast that only a blur remained in its wake.

"Old Man Le!"

Pang Cancan’s cry did not make it pause for even a fraction of a second.

Su Su swallowed the metallic taste of blood rising in her throat. "Whether he is Le Rui’s grandfather or not, he has become a zombie now. No one knows if he might hurt Le Rui. We have to follow him."

"Right!"

The C-shaped corridor blocked the line of sight between its two ends. As the zombie surged past the sharpest bend and lifted its head, it spotted a small head peeking out from the right-hand passage at the very end of the corridor.

Before the light of the flashlight could reach them, Le Rui could only see a vague figure rushing toward him at high speed.

"Sister Cancan? Sister Su Su?"

No sooner had he called out than he realized something was wrong. Neither of them was as tall as this figure rushing toward him!

"Le Rui! Hide, quickly!"

The shout came from further down the corridor, and Le Rui instantly realized something had gone wrong. He had nowhere to run, so he panicked and scrambled back into the side passage.

But the passage was not safe either. Two first-tier ability users were struggling to hold the line; the heavy metal doors were being battered by the zombies outside, causing the panels to buckle and the hinges at the joints to loosen.

The "Acid-Tongued Man" also heard the snarling from the corridor and turned his head in terror. "What’s happening? Why is there the sound of zombies inside the gymnasium..."

His confusion was cut short when he saw the elderly zombie charge into the passage.

"Zombies! There are zombies!!!"

In the narrow passage, they were trapped between a fourth-tier zombie in front and a massive horde of thousands behind. It was a death sentence. The two cowards huddled in a corner, the faint, acrid smell of urine beginning to waft through the air.

The only one who remained relatively calm was young Le Rui, who stared blankly at the dark figure not far away. The latter did not pursue them; instead, it stopped in a corner, bent down, and picked up a keychain.

Just then, the beam of Su Su’s flashlight hit the passage, illuminating both the keychain and the zombie.

The moment he saw the zombie’s face, tears flooded Le Rui’s eyes.

"Grandpa!" He charged forward regardless of the danger. "You promised me you would come back! You finally came back!"

"Le Rui!"

Su Su was quick-witted and grabbed him, pulling him back to her side with all her might. "Don't go over there. Your grandfather has already turned into a zombie."

The words were cruel, but they were reality. The fourth-tier zombie before them had clearly heard its grandson’s cries but remained completely unmoved, its attention focused entirely on the small keychain.

Le Rui’s tears flowed even harder. "That’s Grandpa’s keychain. It has the talisman paper my great-grandfather left behind, and the bamboo whistle I carved for him."

Su Su instantly connected this to Zhao Zhenyu!

It was him, indeed! He must have stolen something from the fourth-tier zombie from somewhere, drawing the entire horde here! Not only that, but before dying, he had left it inside the gymnasium. He was the root cause of all this!

Su Su stared hatefully at the keychain in the zombie’s hand and suddenly noticed that the bamboo whistle on it... had been crushed.

Oh no!

As expected, the elderly zombie simultaneously discovered that its bamboo whistle had been shattered into several withered yellow fragments. It flew into a rage and let out a heaven-shaking roar: "ROAR!!!"

The horde outside the door erupted in response, their snarls rising in waves.

*Bang!*

The metal door was smashed open, and countless zombies trampled over the panels, flooding into the gymnasium. The two cowards cowering in the corner were the first to suffer; in the blink of an eye, they were tackled by a dozen zombies, who began tearing into the fresh flesh.

"Help! Save me, ahhhhh!"

"Don't bite me! I want to live! I don't want to die!"

The screams lasted only a few seconds before they were silenced forever.

Su Su gasped, scooping up the black snake from the ground. "Little Black, we have to hold them off! Cancan, take care of Le Rui!"

The back door was narrower than the front, limiting the number of zombies that could pour in. Su Su’s abilities and Little Black’s blue flames barely managed to withstand the assault. By comparison, the fourth-tier zombie behind them, which had shown no interest in human flesh, was actually the safer presence.

But human strength was finite. Once their abilities were exhausted, they would all become prey for the horde. Su Su glanced backward, and a flash of inspiration struck her.

"Le Rui, your grandfather is likely the 'Zombie King' of this horde. Only he can make them retreat. Try to wake him up!"

Waking a zombie was like speaking to a dream, but if it could resist the hunger for human flesh and track them down over a keychain... perhaps there was a shred of consciousness left!

A surge of desperate hope flickered in Le Rui’s eyes. He, too, longed for his grandfather to return and regain his senses.

"Grandpa, it’s me, Le Rui. Do you really not recognize me?"

"When you left, you promised me you’d be back soon. Why did you disappear for so long without coming to find me?"

"I stayed here all by myself, waiting for you for two months. I thought you weren't coming back!"

By the end, Le Rui’s sobbing had turned into a full-blown wail. Pang Cancan, who was holding onto him, also tried, "Old Man Le, if you can’t remember, your grandson is going to be eaten alive by these zombies!"

"You’ve been a corpse-driver for so many years; even after the apocalypse, you’ve managed to become a Zombie King. Since you have such great power, can’t you just make that horde outside leave?!"

One was an outpouring of raw emotion, the other a desperate plea. Finally, the Zombie King turned its gaze toward them.

Pang Cancan was overjoyed and quickly took a few steps forward with Le Rui. "Old Man Le, look, this is your grandson, you... ah!"

The elderly zombie remained unmoved, instead roaring and tossing the noisy human aside without mercy. But immediately after, the small figure lunged forward and hugged its leg tightly.

"Grandpa! It’s me, Le Rui, Grandpa!"

"ROAR!!!"

The Zombie King let out a few angry roars. It seemed annoyed by these ants blocking its path and lifted the child by his neck, holding him high above its head. The sheer force made Le Rui’s face turn bright red. He struck the zombie’s arm weakly, his eyes wide, tears streaming down his face. "Grand... pa..."

Su Su turned to see Pang Cancan clutching her ears, struggling on the ground in pain, while Le Rui was on the verge of being strangled to death by his own grandfather!

"Little Black, hold the line for me."

The black snake glanced at her twice.

*Hiss~*

The blue flames expanded again, and the dozen zombies that had just surged in were reduced to ash. It answered Su Su with action.

She didn't hesitate, turning to save Le Rui, whose face was already turning purple.

"Let him go!"

With every ounce of her ability, she forced the fourth-tier Zombie King to loosen its grip. Su Su seized the opportunity to snatch Le Rui away. The little boy burst into violent coughing, crying as he gasped for air. "Grandpa doesn't recognize me anymore! He doesn't recognize me!"

Su Su realized that the emotional approach was completely ineffective. But before she could change tactics, the Zombie King, having been restrained for a few seconds, broke free of the "quagmire" of her white light. It was furious at being controlled by a human and reached out to grab her with its purple-bruised arm.

Su Su only had time to push Le Rui away.

"Sister!"

"ROAR!!!"

Su Su was hoisted into the air, facing the Zombie King’s sonic wave head-on. The shock caused her internal organs to rupture, and blood began to seep from her mouth. "Ugh!"

She struggled frantically, unleashing her abilities with reckless abandon. Sometimes she could control it for a few seconds, but other times her efforts were useless. In this state, she caught a glimpse of the black snake swimming toward her.

"Don't come over! Little Black! Hold the door!"

Her hoarse command could not control a cold-blooded creature that refused to listen. It knew what she was worried about—she feared that if the horde poured in, the other two useless humans would be killed first.

But it had no such concerns! Even if all the zombies poured in, it would stay by her side and fight its way out!

Despair filled Su Su’s heart. *Don’t come over... Little Black, don’t come over... If you come, we’ll both die here...*

In the moment of crisis, Le Rui’s voice rang out again. The little boy was crying miserably, as if he had made the most difficult decision of his life.

"Sister, the talisman paper! The one Great-Grandfather left behind—it can kill the most powerful living-zombie!"

The profession of corpse-driving was a lonely one. His wife died in childbirth, his son died in an accident, his daughter-in-law vanished without a trace, and only his young grandson remained. Ten years ago, after his final trip, his grandfather had decided to quit the trade.

Le Rui only knew that the talisman paper was a relic from his great-grandfather, capable of warding off the strongest living-zombies; it was the protective charm of every generation of corpse-drivers. His grandfather had become a zombie, which was also a type of living-zombie.

The talisman might also be his death warrant. But Le Rui couldn't worry about that anymore. He wanted his grandfather back, and even more, he didn't want Sister Su Su to die because of him!

His words rang clearly in Su Su’s ears. Before the Zombie King’s arm could tighten around her neck, she strained to reach the keychain in its hand and ripped off the talisman paper.

"ROAR!!!"

Another wave of internal trauma hit. Su Su swallowed the blood, tore off the plastic casing of the talisman, and realized, "Stick it... on the living-zombie's forehead..."

Le Rui’s voice was choked with sobs. Su Su gathered her strength and slapped the talisman onto the Zombie King’s forehead.

The ancient vermilion characters glowed with a red light. Despite there being no adhesive, the paper stuck firmly to its skin, refusing to budge no matter how much it thrashed.

The Zombie King let out a guttural roar and flung the human in its hand away. As she fell toward the ground, the black snake slithered underneath to cushion her.

*Ugh!*

She couldn't hold back the blood any longer. Before she could even stand up, she had to prepare to resist the incoming zombies again.

As for the Zombie King... it let out one roar after another, its sonic waves attacking everyone indiscriminately, including Si Zhe, Lin Weiran, and the others who had retreated into the corridor.

The front door had fallen even earlier than the back. Designed to be wide for the crowds, the moment the doors were smashed in, the number of zombies that flooded through was many times greater than at the back.