Lin Jue stared at Song Hanzhang in despair until he remembered about the antibody.
It was fine! As long as the antibody was there, everything was fine. Now, it was about Liu Shan and Gao Yifei who were standing in the way of him and Song Hanzhang.
Lin Jue glared at the two, guarded. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”
“Antibody… Give me the antibody…” Liu Shan muttered and took a lost step forward.
“Stop right there!”
Lin Jue sneered. “Stop dreaming. You had some hope before, but now I’ll never give it over!”
“Why do you trust Song Hanzhang this much? Even though you’ve only met each other for one single night! What’s so good about him?! That cold-blooded, selfish man, why do you trust him?” Gao Yifei looked at him mournfully and slowly got up from the ground.
“Shut up or I’ll kill you first!” Lin Jue cut her off.
Gao Yifei stared at him, her eyes wide, as if unable to comprehend his sudden change from indecisive hestitation to a determined monster.
Liu Shan’s face was pale, his empty and lost eyes reminding Lin Jue of before Zhou Yuxiu had mutated. He didn’t have much time left.
What should he do? He couldn’t go past Gao Yifei and Liu Shan to give Song Hanzhang the antibody unless he was able to somehow hit both of them. That would require luck like the kind he had on the rooftop.
That kind of luck, he didn’t dare bet on it twice.
During the stalemate, he suddenly met with Song Hanzhang’s eyes.
He was awake.
Lin Jue continued pointing the gun at the other two, as if he hadn’t seen Song Hanzhang at all. He started speaking again to gain their attention. “When were you bitten?”
Liu Shan frowned and snarled, “None of your business, just give me your antibody! Where did you hide it?”
Song Hanzhang soundlessly pushed away the corpse on top of him and after checking his wound, slowly got up from the ground. His wounded ankle made him lean heavily on one side, but not so much that he couldn’t move. Liu Shan and Gao Yifei didn’t know he was conscious yet, and were still talking to Lin Jue.
“Just then, you’ve already searched my pockets. It’s not there. I’ve already used it.” Lin Jue touched his right shoulder with his left hand, as if there was a non-existent wound there.
“Don’t lie to us, both your hands are moving perfectly fine, you couldn’t have been bitten!” Gao Yifei immediately saw through the lie. “If the antibody isn’t in your pant pockets or in your jacket… His shirt! It must be in the pocket on the shirt!”
Liu Shan’s cold eyes moved to Lin Jue’s chest, as if piercing through the jacket to see the antibody hidden in there. He grinned and was just about to speak when a sharp dagger pressed itself against his neck.
Liu Shan’s eyes immediately widened, his lips quivering, unable to speak.
Song Hanzhang’s voice sounded. “Be careful of Liu Shan. He has an ability similar to teleportation, that was how he got me. Gao Yifei’s reward is still unclear so don’t let down your guard.”
Lin Jue narrowed his eyes. So that was how it was.
The showdown between the four had been reversed. Now it was Song Hanzhang’s dagger on Liu Shan’s neck, and Lin Jue’s gun pointed at Gao Yifei.
The antibody was still in Lin Jue’s hands.
No matter how you looked at it, they had won.
Liu Shan’s face grew paler, his body trembling, but he still stared unmovingly at Lin Jue. “The… the antibody.”
Lin Jue tightened his grip on the gun. “I told you, stop dreaming. I won’t give it to you.”
Song Hanzhang still needed it.
“Would you rather save the Judas than a normal person?” Gao Yifei lowered her head and asked mournfully.
“Oh? In the few minutes I’ve been unconscious, I’ve not only been bitten by a zombie, but become the Judas as well?” Song Hanzhang looked coldly at Gao Yifei who stared back, determined.
“Stop arguing! Do you think that you can string everyone along in your game? I’m not an idiot like Lin Jue!” Gao Yifei suddenly shouted at Song Hanzhang in bitter resentment with a burst of energy.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in explaining to everyone, especially to those harboring ill intents.
Gao Yifei sneered. “Sure, keep pouring dirty water on us. Now that you’re bitten as well and we’ve only got one antibody, will you give up on your chance? You’re probably completely focused on how to get rid of Liu Shan and I!”
“It has nothing to do with whether I was bitten or not.” Song Hanzhang took a look at the time. “It’s already five. We left the maze at 4:30 and spent at least twenty minutes at the card game. There’s no saving Liu Shan. It was written clearly in the directions that the antibody is only effective within forty-five minutes. It’s too late.”
“No! Impossible!” Liu Shan shrieked shrilly, reaching out to Lin Jue, forgetting completely about the dagger on his throat. His numb, pale fingers shook midair, as if grasping onto the last of his hope. Fangs had already pierced his blue lips and the faint scent of rot reeked off him, signifying the death of another living being. No, something that might be even more terrifying than death.
Lin Jue realized that he was a lot calmer than he expected. Compared to his indecision at Zhou Yuxiu’s mutation, what he felt right now could even be described as peace.
They were once of the same kind, with the same doubts and concerns. They were supposed to be friends.
But some people weren’t worthy of his trust.
Some people should even go die.
At that moment, Gao Yifei suddenly rolled forwards, her left hand grabbing onto the right wrist and her right hand picking up the wooden pole Lin Jue had thrown onto the ground, throwing it towards him. He instinctively shot at her but a sphere of pale light surrounded her, and as if hitting some metal machinery, the bullet made a clear ‘ding’ sound and bounced off. Gao Yifei was completely unharmed. She smiled maliciously and slammed the wooden pole hard down onto his hand- the gun slipped.
With a sweep of the pole, Lin Jue fell onto the ground, taken by surprise. He was tossed around a few times and the antibody slipped out from his shirt pocket, rolling onto the ground.
Lin Jue reached out for it but Gao Yifei reacted even faster. She threw the wooden pole towards the antibody and under the impact, the bottle rolled away under the railing of the skybridge and over its edge, disappearing with it, everyone’s hope.
“No——!” Liu Shan shrieked in despair as he stared in disbelief at where the antibody disappeared.
Lin Jue’s heart sank.
“Instead of letting you use it on him, it’s better if no one can get it. Hahaha, isn’t that great? Liu Shan’s going to die, but you, Song Hanzhang, you have to die with him!”
Gao Yifei held her wrist with her left hand. There was a ring of black inscriptions on her wrist and she was surrounded by a sphere of pale light, extra bright in the darkness.
“What skill is that? A psychic barrier? An absolute defense?” Song Hanzhang’s voice sounded cold.
Lin Jue couldn’t help but turn and looked at him. Compared to Liu Shan, kneeling on the ground, on the verge of a breakdown, he appeared far too calm, so calm that it was like he didn’t even know he was going to die.
“Take a guess!” Gao Yifei giggled and retreated as she spoke until half her body was under the shadow of the corridor. “No need to try again, you’ve already tried just then. Bullets can’t pierce through.”
“But there’s a time limit,” Song Hanzhang pointed out.
“There’s enough time for me to get through the crowd. Instead of me, you should worry about yourself.” Gao Yifei looked coldly at Song Hanzhang, not bothering at all to hide her malice. “And Liu Shan, if you’re still conscious, use this chance to bite them a few more times. Maybe you’ll get to drag another one down with you. Wouldn’t it be better to have someone walk the road down to hell together with?”
With a bang, the bullet was deflected once again by the barrier. Lin Jue held his gun and glared at her.
Gao Yifei smiled lightly before running into the corridor. The faint circle of light lit up the darkness before disappearing from sight.
Lin Jue slowly lowered the gun and turned expressionlessly at Liu Shan.
The anger and intent to kill flowing inside him made him shake. It had nothing to do with fear.
“No, don’t kill me!” Liu Shan’s voice was like a hiss being forced out of a broken vocal cord. He clambered along the ground, his face a mixture of fear and terror.
Lin Jue said nothing and looked at him quietly.
The pressure from the silence and the suffocation of nearing the end of his life made Liu Shan start to lose his mind. As if keeping back some monster, he flailed the knife in front of his, his mutated face twisting and snarling underneath the moonlight.
Lin Jue picked the wooden pole up from the ground and walked towards Liu Shan, one step at a time.
Liu Shan suddenly let out a cry and pressed his right hand onto his left wrist.
“Watch out!”
Lin Jue immediately turned and with a sweep of the wooden pole, Liu Shan slammed into the railings, trembling as he begged for mercy.
“You wanted to kill me?” Lin Jue asked faintly, pointing the polearm to Liu Shan, its nails stained red by zombie blood glinting underneath the moonlight.
Half of Liu Shan’s body was over the railing, his mouth muttering unclear pleas for mercy. “No, I won’t cause you any trouble! Let me go, please let me go!”
“No.” Lin Jue calmly, even gently, rejected him. “I’ll be very busy after this, so busy that I won’t have time to deal with rubbish like you. But if I leave you along, you’ll come out of nowhere and bite me. I won’t be able to relax like that.”
Lin Jue looked up slowly, his face expressionless underneath the moonlight.
He sighed. “I’m really regretting this, really.”
“If only I killed you earlier.”
The nail stopped inches before Liu Shan’s face. His already bulging eyes and twisted face still showed his terror and fear of death.
“I’ve killed quite a lot of zombies with this move. Now, here’s one more,” Lin Jue said lightly.
With a sickening crunch, the metal nail pierced into Liu Shan’s eyes, pushing more than half his body over the railing. He leaned back, feet off the ground, his hands and their black nails flailing about.
With a twist of his wrist, the nail immediately destroyed his brain and Liu Shan fell over the railings.
A heavy thud, followed by the growls of zombies and footsteps. Cries that grew weaker mixed in with the growing sound of feeding. Lin Jue looked calmly at the crowd of zombies feasting on the grassy ground and felt disgusted.
But he could no longer find what he had felt back at the library.
There was no going back.
Vera’s Notes:
How spicy… It seems our protagonist is becoming a little more cold-hearted haha! I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Vera & Luci Translations 