At noon, the vicious sun blazed down upon the earth. The street lay silent and chaotic, still bearing the traces of the survivors’ hurried evacuation long ago.
A red garbage bag was lifted by the wind. As it passed the end of the street, it seemed to brush against some invisible thread. With a sharp hiss, it was sliced cleanly in two, the charred, curling edges drifting slowly to the ground.
Inside a dilapidated building nearby, a group of people lay in ambush. Because of the stifling heat and their tension, everyone was breathing heavily, sweat pouring off them as though it cost nothing.
Someone whispered, “Second Brother, will that thing really show up?”
The man called Second Brother replied hoarsely, “Haven’t we been observing for days? That thing still keeps her habits from when she was alive. She passes through this street every day at noon.”
He spat under his breath. “Damn brat. Even dead she won’t give us any peace. Turned into a zombie and still won’t stop chasing us. Today we’ll finish her off for good!”
As he spoke, strange footsteps echoed from around the corner—an uneven dragging sound, like one leg being pulled along the ground. The sole of a shoe scraped against the pavement with a dry rustle.
“She’s here! Get ready!”
The ambushers instantly sharpened their focus, staring at the street corner. The sunlight reflected off shards of glass on the ground, stabbing painfully into their eyes, but no one dared blink.
At last, a figure stepped into the sunlight.
She wore clothes stained with dried blood. Her hair was tangled and disheveled. Her neck tilted slightly to one side, her skin bluish-white, her eyes reduced to only a tiny point of black.
Her left arm was clearly broken, curled against her side. Her right leg was injured as well, dragging weakly along the ground, the sole of her shoe nearly worn away.
Clearly, this was a zombie.
Compared to ordinary zombies, however, she looked far more presentable. Her skin was not rotting, her body had not deformed. She did not gape with drool spilling from her mouth. Her face could even still be described as beautiful.
If not for her eyes and her overly stiff posture, one might mistake her for an ordinary disabled person.
Yet the moment the zombie appeared, the hidden ambushers felt their breathing hitch, their entire bodies tightening involuntarily, as if they were facing something truly terrifying.
“It’s really her!”
“She’s here!”
“Quiet!” Second Brother hissed. “What are you panicking for? Want to lure her over?”
He stared as the zombie drew closer, excitement and tension mingling in his voice. “That trap was set by that expert. This time she’ll definitely—whoosh—be separated head from body!”
Hearing this, the others regained some confidence and watched eagerly.
One step. Two steps. Three steps…
She finally reached the spot where the plastic bag had been sliced open. Everyone held their breath. Just two more steps. Only two more—
But the zombie stopped.
As if sensing something, her slightly crooked head straightened a little. Her bead-like black pupil fixed forward. Her stiff nostrils twitched twice.
Then, as though confirming something, she let out a hoarse roar. Her uninjured right hand shot up, releasing from her fingertips a streak of light blended with several colors. It slashed upward through the space before her.
Several thin silver strands, like fishing lines, instantly revealed themselves, trembling in the air. Each one shimmered with a deadly cold gleam.
The zombie stared at the silver threads and reached out. Her right hand abruptly hardened into a stone-like texture. She seized the threads and tore them apart by force.
Inside the buildings on either side, Second Brother cursed. “Damn it! She found it! Move!”
In an instant, the ambushers rushed out from both sides. Various ability powers flared in their hands and shot toward the zombie. Several people raised guns and unleashed volleys of bullets.
As the attackers emerged, the zombie grew even more violent. She opened her mouth and let out a fiercer roar. An invisible wave of sound burst from her throat, forming a barrier that blocked all the abilities and bullets outside it.
At the same time, her right arm swung, streaks of multicolored light shooting toward the ambushers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Abilities collided in midair. Some people were blasted backward. Nearby houses were caught in the shockwaves; doors, windows, and outer walls collapsed with crashing sounds.
Second Brother condensed his ability into a metallic shield, blocking this wave of attack. He roared, “Keep attacking! Don’t stop!”
Countless abilities and bullets poured toward the zombie again. Someone even hurled incendiary bombs and grenades at her.
The zombie fought back furiously. She tried to charge forward and tear them apart, but constant attacks restricted her movements.
Clearly, they were using an unceasing barrage to pin her in place.
After several exchanges, the zombie seemed to realize this. She immediately attempted to leave her position—
Only to discover her feet would not move.
Looking down, she saw strands of silver thread had somehow crawled up from beneath the ground, wrapping around her feet and ankles, creeping toward her calves.
She began to struggle at once, but the silver threads were unbelievably tough. She couldn’t break them. Instead, the more she struggled, the tighter they bound, cutting deep into her skin.
Second Brother’s face lit up with joy. “The trap worked! She’s trapped! Quick—everyone together, kill her!”
As he spoke, his hands abruptly transformed into launcher-like devices. He leapt high into the air, aimed at the zombie, and from the launchers sharp spikes shot out one after another with whistling force.
Just as the metal spikes were about to pierce the zombie’s skull, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slammed hard into Second Brother’s body mid-air.
Bang!
Second Brother crashed to the ground. The sharp spikes instantly lost their aim, grazing past the zombie’s body and embedding themselves in the dirt.
He rolled once on the ground and sprang up. “Who?! Who the hell hit me?!”
Before he could fully get to his feet, he was knocked down again by a hard, ice-cold body. He looked at the one pinning him beneath it.
A bluish-gray zombie face. Shrinking, tiny pupils. Black hair like tangled weeds covering most of the face—but beneath it, one could vaguely make out handsome, familiar features.
“Wen Heyu! You again—ruining my business!”
He braced both hands against the other, but the zombie’s fingernails suddenly lengthened. They were about to pierce his face—the icy tips had already touched his skin.
If he got scratched even once, he’d turn into the next zombie in minutes!
The extreme danger made his hair stand on end. His launcher-shaped hands suddenly blasted out two shells. The tremendous impact sent the young zombie on top of him flying three or four meters into the air before he crashed heavily back down.
Second Brother scrambled up, panting, repeatedly touching his face to make sure his skin hadn’t been broken. Relief quickly turned into boundless fury.
His hands transformed into a long metal spear. He rushed forward and hooked the zombie up with a single thrust, then turned to the female zombie and shouted, “Wen Zangyu! Look what I’ve got! Your little brother’s in my hands—surrender now!”
The zombie who had been under siege turned her head. Seeing the young boy skewered on the spear, dangling in the air like a rag doll, her already narrow pupils shrank even further.
An anxious, furious roar tore from her throat. She tried to charge over—but her feet were nailed firmly to the ground. In that moment of distraction, several waves of abilities struck her body, bullets slamming into her one after another.
Her gaunt frame looked as if it were about to be torn through and shredded. She collapsed in a miserable heap.
Second Brother burst into triumphant laughter. “Hahaha! Finally, you’ve fallen into my hands! Cut her head off—I want to see how she can keep acting tough without claws or a body!”
As he spoke, he gave the spear a violent shake. The zombie on it was flung high into the air. In the next instant, the spear transformed into countless blades standing upright, waiting for the falling body—ready to slice him into pieces the moment he came down.
He watched the scene with savage satisfaction. This pair of zombie siblings who had haunted him, seeking revenge—today they would finally be dealt with!
But in the next moment, a streak of black mist shot in from the distance, catching the falling zombie mid-air and suspending him there.
The smile on Second Brother’s face froze. What the hell?
He looked toward where the black mist had come from. Before he could see clearly, a second streak of black mist slammed into him. With a crash, he was sent flying straight back, smashing into a building, plowing through an entire row of exterior walls before slamming heavily into the ground.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone. They instinctively stopped and looked toward the source of the attack.
A figure wreathed in roiling black smoke swept in from afar and landed atop a high-rise building.
Tall and slender, clad in a long trench coat whipping in the wind. Black mist churned endlessly around her. Her long hair seemed to be lifted and cradled by the dark vapor, floating in the air. She looked both unreal and deadly.
She should have belonged to the darkness—yet standing under the blazing sun, she showed not the slightest sign of being suppressed.
On the contrary, standing against the light, it was as if the golden sunlight itself were a cloak crowning her. The entire world seemed to lie prostrate at her feet.
She lowered her head slightly, looking down at the crowd. No one could see her face clearly, yet a shuddering sense of being judged by a demon crept into their bones. They felt an overwhelming urge to kneel, utterly unable to muster the slightest thought of resistance.
She spoke at last. Her voice was cold—like having a bucket of razor-sharp ice dumped over one’s head in the height of summer.
“Whose head were you just saying you’d cut off?”
Jiang Fu had to say—having once had her own head cut off, she truly couldn’t stand hearing such words.
She raised her hand. Shards of glass, metal fragments, and broken stones on the ground began to tremble as if summoned. In an instant, they rose to a height of two meters above the ground.
With a push of her hand, the fragments pivoted instantly and blasted toward Second Brother’s limbs as he lay on the ground.
“AAAAAHHHHH—!!!!”
His scream was unimaginably shrill and agonized. His hands and feet were shredded into four mangled masses of flesh that could never be pieced back together.
Listening to his screams, Jiang Fu finally felt a measure of relief.
She turned her gaze to the female zombie sprawled miserably on the ground and curved her lips slightly.
“Zombie King, Wen Zangyu. I’ve finally found you.”
Then she glanced at the half-dead zombie youth still suspended in mid-air by her resentful energy.
She had never heard that Wen Zangyu had a younger brother.
…
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