Chapter 17: Fireball, The Tenth Zombie

She pressed her aching temples in frustration.

The key problem was—the farm still hadn’t been unlocked.

Ever since she realized she might not be in good shape for a while, she’d ramped up her zombie-killing efficiency, barely resting at all, throwing caution to the wind as she hunted down zombies. The apartment complex was only so big; if the people on other floors didn’t come out, she couldn’t get in, so she could only wander around downstairs. After killing two zombies, she ran back to Building 5, sweeping from the first floor all the way up to the fifteenth. She ran into another zombie, killed it, then checked out two apartments that seemed suspicious, and killed three more zombies. Just yesterday, she’d taken care of six zombies.

This morning, she knew there was no future in staying inside the complex, so she rode her motorcycle out. On the road, she took down one more, and just now, in the shopping street, she killed two more. That made a total of nine zombies.

One more to go. At least one more.

Bian Changxi decided to quickly make it ten, then try to see if she could unlock the farm. If she could, she’d immediately return to her apartment to rest properly. If not, she’d have to keep pushing herself.

She had to hold on. If she let up now, she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to get up before tomorrow ended. After these first three days, she had no idea what to do with the jade bracelet—maybe she’d really have to say goodbye to the farm for good.

She absolutely couldn’t let that happen!

She tried to psych herself up. In her dizzy state, she suddenly noticed several zombies staggering out from around a corner ahead. Crap, she thought, she must’ve stayed here too long and her scent had attracted them.

She quickly rode away.

Luckily, her bike had been modified to minimize noise. If it were a regular motorcycle, the whole street would’ve heard her start up, which would’ve been suicide.

But her luck wasn’t great this time. There were zombies everywhere along the way, but none of them were alone. She didn’t dare stop, just kept driving, looking for an opportunity.

Suddenly, she reached the edge of a plaza. Focusing her gaze, she realized it was the Student Plaza on the outskirts of University Town. The area was wide open, with no sign of zombies. She glanced around and turned to leave—just ahead were several universities, with tens of thousands of students, and thousands of zombies.

As she rounded a corner, she caught a glimpse of movement inside a phone booth next to a bus stop.

It was the back of an older woman, standing motionless inside the booth. From the side, her face was pale and rotting—a zombie!

Bian Changxi’s heart leapt. She looked around. This was the road to Jiangcheng Airport, which had been quiet even before the apocalypse. Now, there wasn’t a soul or a zombie in sight. A car was parked by the roadside—probably the one this zombie had driven here when she was still human.

A golden opportunity.

She got off her bike a hundred meters away, grabbed her axe, and crept closer.

The zombie was standing with its back to the phone booth door. Bian Changxi planned to quietly open the door and take it out from behind.

She tiptoed over, held her breath, and slowly opened the booth door, adjusting her grip, ready to swing her axe down. But just then, the zombie slowly turned around.

Bian Changxi pressed her lips together, about to strike, but suddenly froze.

The zombie in front of her had short, ear-length hair. Its horrifying, ruined face was unrecognizable, but perched crookedly on its nose was a pair of rimless alloy glasses, and its suit was soaked in filth.

She gasped. “Zh—Zhu Dao?!”

Wasn’t this Counselor Zhu, who’d been standing by her bed just two days ago, giving her advice and criticism?

The second person she’d seen after being reborn?

Bian Changxi shouldn’t have been so shocked—she’d seen enough life and death. In the apocalypse, people who were close as brothers one moment could be separated by life and death the next. The survivor didn’t have time for grief or pain; to stay alive, you had to rein in your emotions and keep moving forward, no matter what.

As long as it wasn’t Bai Heng or Bian Kuang, no matter who stood in front of her like this, she shouldn’t have hesitated. But damn it, she was feeling unwell, her focus was slipping, and this moment of distraction lasted half a second too long. By the time she came to her senses, zombie Zhu Dao was already lunging at her with a roar.

She raised her axe, pressing it against the zombie’s chest, but its long claws dug into her shoulders, piercing straight to the bone, while its bloody mouth lunged eagerly at her, reeking of death.

Bian Changxi dropped the axe, which was useless at such close quarters. One hand shoved at its neck, the other braced its chin, desperately trying to push it away. Zhu Dao might have been a slight woman in life, but as a zombie, her strength was monstrous. Bian Changxi was forced back several steps, the zombie’s fangs coming dangerously close to her skin again and again, only for her to push it away each time.

With a bang, her back slammed into the car, making her grimace in pain. She glanced at the window, then at the zombie, and suddenly ducked her head, letting go. The zombie, carried by its own momentum, crashed headfirst into the car window, shattering the glass.

Ignoring the claws still embedded in her shoulders, Bian Changxi twisted free, reaching for the straight sword on her back.

But as soon as she raised her arm, a wave of excruciating pain shot through both shoulders. She trembled, her arm dropping helplessly. Glancing down, she saw her clothes torn, flesh mangled, bone faintly visible. At the same time, pain flared from the wound on her left arm. Three places at once, pain interlacing like tangled nerves—she nearly blacked out, feeling as if something inside her was about to burst free.

This final stage of transformation was agony, tearing her apart from the inside out.

Don’t pass out! Don’t collapse!

She bit her lip hard, shaking her head to stay conscious. Zombie Zhu Dao pulled her head out of the window, glass shards stuck in her hair, and staggered toward her. Bian Changxi backed away step by step.

Suddenly, a low, cold voice barked from behind, “Get down!” Something whistled through the air, and a wave of heat surged toward her.

Bian Changxi instinctively turned. At the intersection, several shadowy figures had appeared, and a ball of blazing red and yellow fire shot through the air.

She squinted, then her eyes flew wide.

Holy crap! A fireball!!

It was actually a fireball!!

She almost wanted to curse out loud.

She’d started awakening her powers on the very first morning, suffering through endless pain, and hadn’t even managed to get a wood element—yet someone else had already awakened fire?!

Fire! The strongest of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth!

Her head spun. One part of her wanted to scream in frustration, another tried to analyze rationally, and realized that if the fireball hit zombie Zhu Dao, it would be over.

The tenth zombie. The tenth energy. The energy she needed to unlock her farm! Was it really going to be snatched away by someone else?

Without thinking, her body moved—she darted two steps sideways, blocking the oncoming fireball. As it slammed into her, she surged forward, drawing her straight sword in a flash, and swung it down from right to left with all her strength.

A spray of foul, viscous fluid splattered across her face.

She didn’t know if she’d hit the zombie, or killed it. She only knew that after pouring all her strength into that blow, she felt utterly drained, as if she were falling, falling, falling, the descent stretching on and on, her whole body feeling light, as if she were floating.

All the pain seemed to float away and vanish, while all the exhaustion she’d forced herself to suppress crashed down on her in an instant…"