Following Yu Xiao Hao, Li Wen arrived at a classroom on the sixth floor. He initially thought Yu Xiao Hao was the only survivor, but to his astonishment, there were three other people in the classroom whom Li Wen knew: Wen Mu, Wen Yu, and Qing Xue. Even more shocking was that his seemingly normal friends were holding incredibly outlandish weapons. Wen Mu wielded a wolf-tooth mace reaching his eyebrows, Wen Yu carried two dark red samurai swords on his back, and most exaggerated was the silver spear stuck in the ground beside Qing Xue, its shaft adorned with coiling dragon patterns, exuding an imposing aura. This spear, in Li Wen's eyes, strongly resembled Zhao Yun's Dragon Gallant Silver Spear from the movies. Looking down at his own baseball bat, Li Wen instantly felt like a mere pawn. He couldn't comprehend when his classmates had become so formidable. He pinched his face hard, trying to wake himself up, hoping it was all a dream. Instead, his face swelled, and he remained in the same spot. The people in the classroom looked at Li Wen as if he were an idiot. Yu Xiao Hao even walked over and slapped Li Wen across the face, which, quite remarkably, made both sides of his face swell to an equal degree. Yu Xiao Hao clapped his hands and casually said, "What are you doing acting so crazy? We're all about to die, and you're still messing around. Figure out a way to escape with us first." The stinging pain on his face seemed to tell Li Wen to accept reality. The reawakened Li Wen quickly calmed down. It wasn't that Li Wen wasn't angry; it was just that anger was useless. He couldn't defeat the now formidable-looking Yu Xiao Hao. He analyzed the current situation: the teaching building was surrounded, and descending would be suicide. The most sensible approach seemed to be using curtains to fashion ropes and escaping through the windows to the back of the school, increasing their chances of survival. Li Wen then shared his idea with Yu Xiao Hao and the others. They listened in silence. Yu Xiao Hao pondered for a moment before speaking, "Your plan is good, but I think we should just fight our way out. It's faster and saves energy. What do you guys think?" He then looked at Wen Mu and the others. To Li Wen's surprise, Wen Mu and the others agreed with the idea, all of them picking up their weapons, appearing eager to engage. Qing Xue and Yu Xiao Hao glanced at Li Wen and then said, "Then let's break out! Xiao Wen Zi, keep up."
"Hey, wait..."
Before Li Wen could finish speaking, Yu Xiao Hao and the other three had already charged out. Thinking of the two hundred, or even more, zombies outside, Li Wen's scalp tingled. Frustrated, Li Wen smashed a table with his baseball bat and spat forcefully,
"Damn it, if we're going, we're going. Consider it accompanying you to the end."
He then rushed out. By the time Li Wen caught up with Yu Xiao Hao and the others, they were already near the bottom of the stairwell. He was about to suggest dealing with some zombies behind the iron gate, but unexpectedly, Wen Mu directly opened the iron gate, nearly making Li Wen curse. Wasn't this just pushing them into a fiery pit? However, the next moment, Li Wen was speechless. Wen Mu stood alone at the stairwell, his wolf-tooth mace a blur as he swung it, creating gusts of afterimages, effectively blocking the zombies outside. Any zombie that got close had its head smashed. Within a two-meter radius, nothing could approach him, displaying an invincible might. As Wen Mu advanced step by step, they all emerged from the stairwell. Except for Li Wen, everyone else began to slaughter. Yu Xiao Hao's scythe truly resembled the Grim Reaper's, harvesting zombie heads like wheat, stalk by stalk. Wen Yu's dual swords danced, his blade light a violent storm as he hacked at the zombies, a hint of deranged madness on his face, as if he were not cleaving zombies but sworn enemies from a bloody past. Qing Xue was even more ferocious. Her silver spear shot out like a cold dragon, spear shadows flying. She either casually impaled zombie heads like candied hawthorns or sent them flying with a direct strike, truly resembling Zhao Zilong who fought his way in and out seven times on Changban Slope. Li Wen, trailing behind the formidable group, trembled with his baseball bat. It was terrifying. How had he never noticed how fierce they were? Thus, Li Wen could only follow behind them, occasionally taking down a straggling zombie. In less than two minutes, Li Wen and his companions had fought their way to the school gate, leaving a trail of bloody corpses behind them, having truly carved a bloody path.
Emerging from the school gate, Li Wen and the others stopped and fled into the distance. Though the zombies were fast, their running speed was comparable to that of normal humans, far from sprinting. By the time they reached the bridge behind the school, the group seized the opportunity while the zombies couldn't ascend to rest. As soon as they sat down, Li Wen impatiently asked them why they were so powerful. Qing Xue directly retorted, "Can't we just be naturally gifted? Do you have a problem with that?" Li Wen could only raise his hands in surrender, indicating he had no objections, and inwardly grumbled that their tempers had also become fiercer.
Just as Li Wen was about to relax, he suddenly felt the entire bridge trembling, and the tremors grew increasingly violent, accompanied by a rumbling sound from behind. Turning his head, he saw a massive horde of zombies emerging from the dry riverbed of the moat, their numbers vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Moreover, they were incredibly fast, like a flood suddenly surging from a dried-up river. Watching the approaching zombie torrent, Li Wen let out a hysterical roar, "Run!!!"
Yu Xiao Hao and the others also noticed the surging zombies and, naturally, dared not delay. Wen Mu immediately grabbed Li Wen and sprinted towards the street. However, zombies also appeared in various parts of the street, filling Li Wen with despair. Was this where they would die? Just then, Qing Xue's shout interrupted Li Wen's despair.
"Upstairs, quickly, climb the pipes!"
Li Wen immediately slapped himself. That's right, why hadn't he thought of climbing the pipes? In their town, many buildings had external sewage or gas pipes secured with circular iron rings, making them easy to climb. With this realization, Li Wen no longer hesitated and followed Yu Xiao Hao and the others up a six-story building. Due to exhaustion, Li Wen almost got caught by the piling zombie mountain. Fortunately, Wen Mu pulled him up, or he would have been dragged down. Li Wen and his group reached the rooftop. However, the zombies below were virtually endless, and they were piling up like human towers, layer by layer. Although they were constantly falling, it was only a matter of time before they reached the rooftop railing. Furthermore, the door to the rooftop stairwell had already been broken open, not by them climbing the stairs, but by being forcefully piled up. Seeing this situation, Qing Xue and Wen Yu blocked the entrance and began to fight. Noticing Li Wen had arrived, Yu Xiao Hao directly told him to guard the rooftop stairwell entrance, and then the four of them each defended a side. The door to the rooftop stairwell was small, allowing only one person to pass at a time. However, Li Wen was also panicking. If he had Qing Xue's spear or Wen Yu's dual swords, he could surely defend it, but he only had the baseball bat in his backpack. How could he possibly defend it? As if sensing Li Wen's predicament, Wen Yu directly threw one of his swords over, signaling for Li Wen to use it to guard the stairs. Li Wen immediately understood, caught the dark red samurai sword, and walked towards the stairwell. Seeing Li Wen approach, Qing Xue, who was in the midst of killing, swept her weapon horizontally, knocking down all the charging zombies. She then cast a condescending glance at Li Wen before returning to defend her side. In response, after returning a glare to Qing Xue, Li Wen directly held the sword with both hands at his chest, bracing himself for the next wave of zombies. Not long after, the same zombie pile that had been knocked down began to pile up again. Zombies appeared at the turn of the stairs below. They charged up, stepping on their companions' bodies. They were not fast, and many even fell before reaching the top, but there were still many. The sheer momentum was enough to scare someone to death. Li Wen was also close to being scared to death, but he dared not relax, because relaxing would mean not only his own death but also the death of his companions. He could only repeat, "It's like chopping melons, isn't it?" Then, mechanically, he swung the sword in his hand, cutting down the charging zombies at his feet. Li Wen didn't know how many times he had swung or how many zombies he had killed until the corpses at his feet completely blocked the doorway. Only then did Li Wen have the chance to lean on his sword and look at Yu Xiao Hao and the other three. The small rooftop was already covered in blood, nearly half an inch thick. Each of the four was stained with large patches of blood, their expressions somewhat weary, but their hands did not stop, still fending off the zombie onslaught. Seeing this dire situation, Li Wen felt powerless. He was already very tired and just wanted to rest. He could only survey his surroundings, looking for anything useful. However, after searching for a long time, Li Wen only found a few wooden planks, made of sturdy hardwood, each about three meters long. Li Wen then looked at the adjacent houses. The closest one was about six meters away to the left, and it was adjacent to the next house. Then, crossing the bridge led to the other side, which was rural with complex terrain. These zombies couldn't navigate it, making it a potential escape route.
However, the most pressing matter now was how to join two planks together. There were no nails and no hammer, which made Li Wen anxious. The other four also had no time to help him, preoccupied with preventing the zombies from reaching the rooftop. Li Wen, extremely impatient, almost wanted to smash the planks he was holding. But just as Li Wen raised the planks to smash them down, his eyes happened to fall upon pointed objects on the planks – were they not nails? It turned out the planks already had nails. This almost made Li Wen cry out. Heaven truly provided a way! They had hope. There were nails, but still no hammer. Li Wen thought, right, the baseball bat was still in his backpack, and it could be used as a hammer. Li Wen directly took out the baseball bat and nailed one plank to another. With about three planks, the length exceeded six meters. Li Wen then carried the planks and said to Yu Xiao Hao, who was guarding to the left, "Brother Hao, clear the way quickly. We'll use the planks to cross to the other building." Seeing that Li Wen had found a way to escape, Yu Xiao Hao directly shouted, "Come here quickly, we can go now!"
"Alright," Qing Xue and the others said in unison.
Seeing this, Li Wen directly asked Yu Xiao Hao to cover him and then placed the planks he was carrying between the two buildings, calling out, "Quick, go!"
Yu Xiao Hao, being the closest, immediately leaped onto the planks and lightly touched them before reaching the other side. Then came Qing Xue, still using her toes to leverage herself across. Then came Wen Yu. When it was Wen Mu's turn, the zombies behind him had become numerous. He directly said, "Li Wen, you go first. I'll cover the rear."
Li Wen thought for a moment. With so many zombies, his going there would only be suicide. It was better for him to go first to avoid being a hindrance. With Wen Mu's strength, he should be fine. Nodding to Wen Mu, Li Wen directly leaped onto the planks and walked quickly across. He dared not risk imitating Wen Yu and others who leaped with just a touch of their toes, although their style was cool.
Seeing that Li Wen had crossed, Wen Mu also gave up the entanglement and leaped onto the planks. However, at this moment, an accident occurred. The zombie pile below had already grown very high. The uppermost zombie directly hooked the planks with its claw, pulling them to the side. Wen Mu, lacking any leverage, fell directly. At this distance, Li Wen and the others couldn't save him and could only watch helplessly as Wen Mu fell into the zombie pile, letting out a mournful cry.
"Old Wen!!!"
Li Wen reached out and grabbed the air.
A wave of grief washed over the group. Yu Xiao Hao patted Li Wen's shoulder and said, "Let's go. It's too late for sorrow now. Think about how to survive first." He then headed towards the adjacent building. Li Wen sighed heavily, cursed a few times, and could only run towards the back. By the time they reached the ground floor of the last building, the exit was again blocked by zombies, forcing them to fight their way out again. They continued until they reached the head of another bridge. This bridge was very narrow, only wide enough for one person. Wen Yu and Li Wen first let Yu Xiao Hao and Qing Xue go ahead, and then Wen Yu prepared to cover the rear. Li Wen did not refuse and directly ran onto the bridge. As he ran, Li Wen looked back and saw Wen Yu kneeling on one knee, his head bowed, stubbornly blocking the bridge entrance. This sight filled Li Wen with rage. Had Wen Yu already exhausted his strength? Seeing Wen Yu's body unable to hold back the zombie horde, the earlier departed Yu Xiao Hao and Qing Xue returned. They looked at Li Wen and said, "You go first. We'll cover the rear." Without waiting for Li Wen to speak, they directly charged towards the oncoming horde. Seeing this situation, Li Wen felt heartbroken. He tightly gripped the samurai sword left by Wen Yu, his eyes filled with madness, and directly charged into the zombie horde, shouting, "If we must die, I'll go first! You guys hurry and leave!" With some unknown sword technique and strength, Li Wen entered the zombie horde and began to kill wildly. However, one person's strength was no match for so many zombies. For every one he killed, a group surged forward. Soon, one of Li Wen's arms was torn off. Yet, strangely, Li Wen felt no pain, only knew to swing his remaining arm and be slowly consumed. Before the zombies bit through his throat, Li Wen looked around and saw that Yu Xiao Hao and Qing Xue had not left and were still killing non-stop. Li Wen wanted to call out to them to leave quickly, but only the sound of a leaky bellows came out. He then saw the zombies' mouths move towards his throat.
...
"Huff!"
Li Wen suddenly sat up from the bed, looking around and realizing he was in his own room, not the grand hall of the underworld. He felt a sense of loss. It was just a dream. He didn't want to think about it anymore and decided to sleep again, as he had class tomorrow.
At this moment, outside the window, the stars shone brightly.
...
(Can be skipped)