Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Xia Shenshu shrugged, but no one in the room could muster a smile.

Regardless of why the zombie king in this city hadn't killed them, it didn't change the fact that there was still a lured zombie king in the city.

Zombie kings were absolutely powerful beings. After two mutations, they possessed abilities far beyond human comprehension. They were bloodthirsty and cruel, finding joy in slaughter. Some of them had even lost their humanoid forms.

"Is the zombie king that was chasing you nearby?" Ji Yanqing asked.

"Yes, but I don't know exactly where he is now. We got separated from the others."

The room fell silent.

Xia Shenshu and the others didn't look too good. They glared at the person, but they all knew that killing him wouldn't help. Ever since the zombie king entered the city, they couldn't remain uninvolved.

"Bang... Bang..."

Gunshots suddenly rang out.

Everyone in the room looked in the direction the gunshots came from.

The gunshots came from the other side of the glass, some distance away.

The people in the room exchanged looks, unsure of how to feel.

The zombies in the school had already been alerted, and with these gunshots, regardless of what was happening over there or whether there was a zombie king, the people over there would surely die.

Xia Shenshu looked at Ji Yanqing. "What should we do?"

Ji Yanqing checked the time, then stood up and approached the window, peeking outside from the side. The sunlight was blindingly bright, like midsummer. In the courtyard, several zombies were wandering around. "Wait."

This brief delay brought the time to ten o'clock, the hottest part of the day.

Xia Shenshu hesitated, his words dying on his lips.

Ji Yanqing was right. Even if they could withstand the high temperature and move, there were zombies everywhere outside. Once they were discovered by the zombies or made any noise, they would likely attract the zombie king. At that point, they would only face certain death.

It was better to stay put.

Ji Yanqing moved away from the window and returned to the room.

This building had been converted into rental accommodation for parents of students, with a cramped layout of two bedrooms and a living room. The small living room was cluttered with items, leaving little space.

Their current room was just like that.

Unable to leave, Ji Yanqing sat down next to Ji'an. He took off his jacket and wore only a T-shirt.

The others sat against the walls, also removing their outerwear.

The outdoor temperature had exceeded fifty degrees Celsius, and the indoor temperature with only one window open wasn't much better. Under such high temperatures, they couldn't help but feel hot even when sitting still.

Ji Yanqing looked at Ji'an, who had already taken off his outerwear due to the heat, revealing his thin and emaciated body. His dirty little face was flushed red, but he looked more spirited than before.

Ji Yanqing touched his head. "Thirsty?"

Ji'an shook his head, but his Adam's apple involuntarily slid.

He knew that Ji Yanqing had no water left to give him.

He looked at Ji Yanqing with guilt. Ji Yanqing didn't have to share his water with him.

Ji Yanqing's eyes softened behind his goggles, and the faint smile in his eyes belied his cool and distant facade, making him warm and gentle.

After taking off the outerwear of another child he pulled out of his backpack, Ji Yanqing remained silent.

The others in the room also leaned against the walls, closing their eyes to rest.

The harm caused by high temperatures to the human body was far greater than imagined, and it couldn't be endured anymore.

Once the human body reached thirty-eight degrees Celsius, symptoms of heatstroke, such as sweat gland failure, dizziness, and blurred vision, would appear. Forty-two degrees Celsius was the limit, and anything above seventy degrees Celsius for an hour would be fatal.

The outdoor temperature had long surpassed fifty degrees Celsius, and while it was slightly cooler indoors, it was certainly no lower than fifty degrees Celsius. Their body temperatures had naturally exceeded thirty-eight degrees Celsius.

Under extreme heat, fatigue, drowsiness, thirst, and hunger all came at once, causing confusion and disorientation.

In the silence that seemed to stretch on endlessly, Ji Yanqing noticed the wall behind him gradually becoming scorching hot. He tried to move but found himself unable to muster the strength.

He felt like he was in a sauna, not just his skin but even his internal organs were burning. His entire abdomen felt like it was about to explode.

Ji Yanqing's Adam's apple slid. His dry and painful throat made breathing agonizing. He desperately wanted to jump into a cold pool and take a refreshing bath.

Imagining the feeling of icy water flowing over his body, Ji Yanqing felt even thirstier.

A slight movement echoed in the room.

Ji Yanqing opened his eyes and saw someone unable to bear the heat, using something to fan themselves. This could provide temporary relief from the heat but would accelerate dehydration.

Ji Yanqing glanced at the two children beside him. The younger one was still unconscious, while Ji'an was so hot that his consciousness was hazy. His little head nodded, wanting to sleep but too hot to do so.

He didn't disturb them. In this situation, being half-asleep made it easier to endure, while staying awake would only increase the suffering.

Ji Yanqing closed his eyes, his consciousness growing hazy along with the rising heat.

"Bang!" A loud noise suddenly sounded nearby, shaking the entire building beneath them.

Hearing the deafening sound, everyone in the room, who had been dozing off, woke up, their scalps tingling and their limbs turning cold.

They tried to figure out what was happening, but before they could get up and reach the window, another loud noise echoed.

"Bam!"

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The sounds of buildings shattering mixed with gunfire erupted near the building they were in. The commotion was like thunder out of clear skies, causing everyone's hearts to race.

"Roar!" Amidst the chaos, a beast's roar shook their eardrums and shattered all nearby glass.

Blood surged, heads buzzed, and the already drowsy group's minds went blank. For a moment, they stood stunned.

Ji Yanqing endured the discomfort, grabbed his axe, and rose to his feet. He tried to approach the window to understand what was happening.

Just as he managed to stand despite the shaking ground, another loud noise sounded, and the building beneath them swayed and tilted to one side.

Ji Yanqing only had time to turn around and hug Ji'an and another child before everything spun around him.

In the chaos, he felt repeated impacts on his body before his consciousness faded completely.

At the bottom floor of the construction site, in front of a pile of debris.

Standing his long knife beside him, Feng Yimo's dark eyes showed a faint confusion. He was pondering over the city's issues when a deafening roar suddenly came.

Feng Yimo slowly raised his gaze toward the direction of the sound.

He wondered how a city could do all this; now he knew.

Ji Yanqing didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it couldn't have been long. When he regained consciousness, things were still sliding down the walls of the upside-down room.

Ji Yanqing looked at the two children in his arms; both were unharmed.

He then looked at the others, who lay scattered among furniture and rubble, their fates unknown.

"Roar!"

The roars and gunshots continued. The roars were powerful and filled with anger and killing intent, while the gunshots gradually weakened.

Things were heading in the worst possible direction. They were already running out of time and needed to find water soon, but the Corpse King had just arrived at their location.

"Wake them up!" Ji Yanqing growled at Lan Zi, who had also regained consciousness.

Turning back, Ji Yanqing quickly placed the smaller child into his backpack. The child had woken up, looking around fearfully.

"Stay quiet." Ji Yanqing only had time to say that before he slung the backpack over his shoulder.

After stuffing all the food from his other bag into the backpack, Ji Yanqing picked up his axe and carried Ji'an, surveying their surroundings.

"We need to leave here!" Ensuring everyone was staggering to their feet, Ji Yanqing stepped onto the sofa and headed for the wall that used to be the floor. There was a crack there through which they could escape.

Reaching the edge of the crack, seeing no Corpse King, zombies, or humans outside, Ji Yanqing went out.

Looking around, the once neatly planned houses, streets, and even the nearby school had collapsed and were destroyed, resembling an earthquake aftermath.

The vibrations and roars continued, but the gunshots had stopped.

"This way!" Ji Yanqing glanced back at the others and led them away from the source of the roars and vibrations.

The others followed, gritting their teeth.

Most of them had internal injuries from the fall, and the intense pain made their vision blurry and their feet feel like they were stepping on cotton. Only Ji Yanqing seemed unaffected, carrying one and running with another at a fast pace.

Running over a thousand meters through the ruins, they finally reached a cluster of undamaged buildings and stopped to look back.

The battlefield was on the opposite side, and from their vantage point, they could only see a rapidly moving, massive black figure.

The creature resembled a wild beast but towered three stories high. It roared wildly, exuding brutality and ferocity.

Its icy killing intent was so thick and tangible that even a kilometer away, they felt submerged in water, their limbs weak.

Despite the scorching heat, the group felt a chill to their bones.

"That is..." Xia Shenshu ignored his bloody nose, his eyes wide with shock.

They had heard of the Corpse King but never seen one before. This was their first encounter.

Witnessing it firsthand, seeing the expanding ruins and the steel buildings easily destroyed, they realized it was far more terrifying than they had imagined.

They could no longer be defined as living beings; they were pure monsters. Such monsters were beyond the capabilities of ordinary survival teams, and even a heavily armed battalion might not be able to handle them.

Only something similar could possibly stand against such an entity that defied common sense.

"Let's go." Ji Yanqing led them in the opposite direction. They needed to put distance between themselves and the city as soon as possible.

For a moment, Ji Yanqing even hoped there was another Corpse King in the city, hoping it would appear now because only it could kill that monster.

"Damn..." Xia Shenshu wiped away the blood from his nose and followed, gritting his teeth.

The others followed as well.

Their limbs still trembled, and their heads buzzed, but they didn't want to die here.