The electric tricycle couldn’t pass through the forest, where trees and bushes of varying sizes grew in chaotic density. So even though they knew there were infected people at Shanjian Xiaoyuan, they still had to pass near the area.
“Does your e-bike have a speed limiter?” Chen Yunhao asked Qin Liangyu.
Wearing a small helmet, Qin Liangyu replied while riding, “My cousin repairs e-bikes. He already unlocked it for me—it can reach 60 km/h at max speed.”
Deputy Township Head Zhang silently turned his head away, pretending he heard nothing. Tonight, he could neither see nor hear any violations.
“Then let’s ride ahead to check. If the infected are still there, we’ll draw them away first so the tricycle can pass safely,” Chen Yunhao said.
After several twists of fate, he had gradually calmed down and started thinking rationally.
After all, the electric tricycle was limited to about 30 km/h, while the infected seemed quite fast once they broke into a run. It was safer not to let the whole vehicle be chased down.
They still needed to evacuate more villagers along the way—otherwise things could turn into a full-blown infected swarm.
Eighteen- or nineteen-year-old Qin Liangyu was fearless. Finding the idea exciting, he immediately agreed:
“Alright! Mom—we’ll go lure away the infected! You guys go to the next house to call people, we’ll catch up soon!”
Aunt Qin hesitated slightly.
Suddenly, the great-grandfather in the back of the cart spoke in a booming voice:
“When I was nineteen, I was already fighting in the Korean War! And you, at nineteen, still need to ask your mom for everything? Useless!”
Aunt Qin: “……”
She then decided her electric tricycle wasn’t fast enough to worry about, and she trusted her son’s skills. She agreed:
“Be careful! Don’t get bitten!”
Deputy Zhang, listening, hesitated too, but since Aunt Qin agreed, he didn’t stop them.
“Be careful! It’s raining heavily—don’t ride too fast or you’ll crash! Don’t fight them—just lure them and catch up immediately!”
As the village house appeared ahead, Qin Liangyu twisted the throttle and rushed forward.
Chen Yunhao tightened his grip on the pitchfork, rain blurring his vision. The headlight quickly attracted the infected.
In the distance, three infected lay face-down on the ground, necks twisted unnaturally, bodies stiff with faint movement. Four adults and two children stood under a small shelter at the entrance of the inn, avoiding the rain, eerily motionless like they were switched off.
But the moment the light hit them, it was as if they were activated. They slowly moved toward the source.
Through the rain, Chen Yunhao also saw Old Man Li.
Half of Old Man Li’s face had been bitten away, the sight horrifying.
Yet Chen Yunhao felt no fear—only anger and resolve.
This was a senior who had once risked his life to protect others. He was already effectively dead—what stood before them was merely a body controlled by the virus.
Where did this virus come from? Why had such a disaster appeared in their once peaceful village?
Qin Liangyu’s gaze was fixed on the two infected children.
They were relatives—children he had played with during summer vacation. Now they had turned into monsters.
A bitter hatred rose within him.
Who the hell created this virus?
The e-bike sped forward at 30 km/h.
“Come on! Chase us!” Chen Yunhao shouted.
The infected roared and sprinted after them.
“Damn it—speed up!” Chen Yunhao yelled.
The speed quickly rose to 50 km/h. The sensation pushed them back hard into their seats as the bike surged forward.
Behind them, Aunt Qin rode the tricycle, heart pounding. Thankfully, the boys had gone ahead to draw them away.
She quickly turned into a side road.
Qin Liangyu swerved sharply, then shouted:
“We can’t let them scatter! They might infect others!”
“Then what do we do? I’m not local—should we lock them back inside the inn?” Chen Yunhao suddenly suggested.
For a brief moment, the two impulsive young men reached the same reckless conclusion.
Their minds simplified everything: lure them back and lock them inside.
Without thinking further, they rushed back toward the inn.
They rode straight into the courtyard, even bumping up the steps, then crashed inside—
Only to immediately slip on the blood-soaked floor and fall hard.
“Ahh—this is bad!”
Qin Liangyu landed face-to-face with a half-eaten dog corpse.
He froze in horror.
“Get up! Upstairs—break the windows and escape!” Chen Yunhao shouted.
They rushed upstairs.
The moment they entered a room, a foul stench hit them like a wall—rotting blood, animal remains everywhere: cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese. Blood stains layered thickly across the bed and floor.
A horror scene.
Footsteps echoed from the stairs.
“There’s no door—it’s broken from the outside!” Qin Liangyu shouted.
The infected were already approaching.
“Run upstairs!” Qin Liangyu said urgently.
They reached the third floor.
Then Chen Yunhao suddenly realized something:
Where was the foreign woman staying here?
His intuition told him—this disaster might be connected to her.
He rushed toward the room he remembered.
Qin Liangyu followed.
They entered a room filled with a suffocating stench.
Inside, animal corpses and blood-covered bedding filled the space. The window was wide open, rain and wind pouring in.
A nightmare scene.
Then they heard footsteps on the stairs.
The infected were coming.
“Go to the stairs! Push them down!” Chen Yunhao shouted, handing over the pitchfork.
Qin Liangyu charged without hesitation and stabbed an elderly infected at the stairwell, knocking him back and toppling others behind him.
Meanwhile, Chen Yunhao stuffed valuables into a red suitcase and shouted:
“Where do we run now?”
“This way!” Qin Yunhao replied.
They escaped via a rooftop, climbed down a ladder, and fled back outside.
As dawn approached, a large rat emerged from underground, cautiously approaching the corpses. After confirming decay, it took a bite.