IDMLA 25

The apocalypse was a place that tested people’s hearts. With food becoming harder and harder to find, the darker side of people could easily come out, and even grow worse.

No one knew whether someone who treated you like a brother one moment would betray you the next. All you could do was protect yourself as much as possible and try to stay alive.

Everyone here understood this truth, even the knife-wielding man who had always disliked Tang Tang.

They were all shocked. Even if some of them didn’t show it on their faces, they were still surprised inside. After all, having a storage space filled with supplies was almost like having a cheat in the apocalypse!

Tang Tang pressed her lips together. She didn’t really understand why Jiang Zhu had asked her to stay, but since she had already agreed not to leave when they were at the supermarket, she could now be considered part of their group.

Among the seven people here, there were three she didn’t know at all, while she only knew the other three a little.

But looking at them now, they seemed so hungry that Tang Tang felt she had to give them something to eat. Otherwise, they might faint from hunger before the zombies even got the chance to bite them.

Jiang Zhu took the food from Tang Tang’s hands and gave her a long, deep look.

His stare made Tang Tang feel a little guilty, as if he had seen through her somehow.

The other three probably remembered that they had just been talking badly about Tang Tang. If they accepted her food now, wouldn’t that be like slapping themselves in the face?

The three looked at each other, but none of them reached out.

Tang Tang pressed her lips together again. If they weren’t going to take it… should she just put everything back?

Jiang Zhu glanced at the three men. Seeing that they really had no intention of accepting the food, he didn’t try to convince them. Instead, he stepped forward and faced Tang Tang.

“Put the rest away for now. There should still be something left in the vending machines around the gym. They can look for food there.”

Is that so?

The gym didn’t seem badly damaged, but some areas had clearly been attacked. It was obvious that other people had been here before.

Surely anyone who came here would have checked the vending machines?

Still, if those three really didn’t want her food, then so be it. With that thought, Tang Tang put all the food and drinks in her arms back into her storage space.

The three men watched everything disappear right in front of them.

They swallowed.

Then their stomachs began to growl.

“We’ll go check the vending machines.”

With that, the three quickly ran off.

“Let’s go.”

Once the three had disappeared from sight, Jiang Zhu spoke.

Tang Tang nodded and walked back to their seats with him. Now she needed to think carefully about why she had suddenly become dizzy.

She hadn’t been bitten or scratched by a zombie, so she could probably rule out being infected.

Then what was causing it?

What had she done over the past few days…?

Oh!

She suddenly thought of something.

She had been soaked by the rain and hit by the cold wind. Could she have caught a cold?

No, that didn’t seem right. If it was a cold, why was dizziness her only symptom?

Then what could it be?

Could Zheng Xue’s ability somehow make people dizzy…?

As Tang Tang thought about it, her eyelids slowly grew heavy. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep, slumped over the back of the chair.

By then, Jiang Zhu had finished eating. He looked at the delicate girl sleeping beside him for a while. Then he moved his chair a little closer and sat up straight before gently resting Tang Tang’s head on his shoulder.

Why did she tell everyone about her hidden space?

Was it because of me…?

he wondered.

In the end, the other three somehow found a few small bags of food scattered in some corner of the gym. The three grown men shared what little food they found, but even after eating everything, their stomachs continued to growl.

They were still hungry.

Tang Tang’s storage space had limited room. Although she had plenty of supplies inside, they wouldn’t last forever.

Besides, those supplies belonged to Tang Tang. The others would feel bad if they kept eating her food. Because of that, staying inside the gym forever wasn’t realistic. They would eventually have to go outside and search for more food.

When Tang Tang woke up, she smelled something familiar.

She opened her eyes and realized her head was tilted to the side.

She was resting on Jiang Zhu’s shoulder.

…Why is my head here?

Tang Tang quickly sat up and shook her head to wake herself up.

“Are you dizzy?” Jiang Zhu asked from beside her.

“No.”

She shook her head.

There were currently eight people in their group. Six of them had already awakened abilities. Yan Chen was still in the middle of awakening his, while Tang Tang didn’t even know if she had an ability yet.

Food was obviously extremely important right now.

But because food was so valuable, finding it was also very difficult. They could search outside for days and still come back with nothing.

So deciding who should go out to search for food was important.

Tang Tang herself had a hidden storage space with enough food to last her for quite a while. She didn’t have to worry much about running out of food.

Her main concern was making sure no one killed her just to steal her supplies.

But staying safe from something like that wasn’t easy either.

Tang Tang listened to the others discuss their plans.

Then that familiar heavy feeling returned to her eyelids.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

It didn’t help much.

Frowning, Tang Tang even held her head up with both hands to keep herself awake.

But in the end, the strange sleepiness won.

Her head tilted to the side, and she fell asleep against the back of the chair once again.

Jiang Zhu frowned when he saw this.

“The three of us are planning to check the supermarket warehouse,” the knife-wielding guy said. “Jiang Zhu, do you guys want to come?”

“There might still be people in the warehouse,” Jiang Zhu said, sounding concerned.

“Then we can look outside the campus. Maybe some small stores still have food left,” one of the three suggested.

The three were very serious about finding food.

Unlike Jiang Zhu’s group, they had nothing to eat.

Jiang Zhu thought for a moment before nodding.

“Okay.”

The three then asked, “What about you guys, Jiang Zhu? Are you coming with us to search?”

Jiang Zhu hesitated. He looked at Tang Tang, who had fallen asleep again. Something about her condition felt strange. If he left and something happened to her while he was gone, what if he couldn’t make it back in time?

“I’m not going,” Jiang Zhu said. “Yan Chen is still awakening his ability. He and Tang Tang will stay here, and I’ll stay behind to protect them.”

The others looked at each other.

Qin Zhang quickly agreed.

“Alright. Then the five of us will go out and look for food!”

When Tang Tang woke up again, it was already the next morning. She couldn’t believe it. She had only fallen asleep twice, yet somehow she had slept from yesterday afternoon all the way until now…

Qin Zhang and the other four planned to leave that night. For now, they were practicing with their abilities inside the gym so they wouldn’t make mistakes once they were outside.

Tang Tang remembered that before she fell asleep, everyone had been discussing who would go out to find food.

So had they already decided?

Jiang Zhu was still sitting beside her.

“Aren’t you going to warm up and get ready?” she asked.

“I’m staying here. I’m not going.”

Tang Tang looked confused.

“Why?”

Jiang Zhu was the male lead. His ability was probably the strongest among everyone here.

No one knew how dangerous it would be outside. If Jiang Zhu didn’t go with them, their chances of successfully finding food might be lower.

“We talked about it earlier,” Jiang Zhu explained. “You, Yan Chen, and I will stay here. I’ll protect both of you.”

Tang Tang nodded. Since everyone had already agreed on it, she didn’t think she should argue.

When night came, the five others walked over.

“We’re heading out now. Jiang Zhu, are you really not coming with us?” one of the three men asked.

Huh?

Tang Tang turned toward Jiang Zhu.

Hadn’t they already decided?

After thinking about it for a moment, she understood the reason. If someone else stayed behind and danger appeared inside the gym, that person might only be able to protect one of them. Both Tang Tang and Yan Chen were weak right now. If only one could be protected, then the other would be left in danger. But if Jiang Zhu stayed behind, he could probably protect both of them.

…Why does he seem so different from how he was described in the original novel?

Tang Tang finally realized that Jiang Zhu was worried about her safety. But understanding that was one thing. Knowing why he had changed so much was another.

She had followed the original plot all this time. Even if things had started changing now, they shouldn’t have changed this much. It seemed that everything she knew about Jiang Zhu was still based on the version of him from the original story.

Tang Tang couldn’t quite describe how she felt. But if something happened to the other five outside because Jiang Zhu had stayed behind for her, she would feel guilty.

After all, she was the outsider here.

“I’m staying,” Jiang Zhu said.

“You should go with them.”

Tang Tang poked Jiang Zhu’s arm with her finger.

“The gym should be pretty safe.”

Jiang Zhu frowned and was about to shake his head when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

He looked down.

Tang Tang had grabbed his sleeve and was shaking it back and forth.

“Go with them! We’ll definitely be fine here in the gym!”

Tang Tang had done it without even thinking. Jiang Zhu’s frown softened. It was a little habit of hers that he had always liked. But even so, he still couldn’t feel comfortable leaving her here with someone else.

So he firmly shook his head.

“I’m not going. I’m staying here.”

Tang Tang opened her mouth. Realizing there was probably no way to change his mind, she closed it again.

Qin Zhang said, “Then we’re leaving. We’ll definitely bring back lots of food for you guys!”

With that, the five of them left the gym.

Not long after, Tang Tang began feeling sleepy again. Her little head slowly nodded up and down as she struggled to stay awake. But in the end, she couldn’t fight it. She fell asleep again.

Just before losing consciousness, she vaguely wondered—

Do I have… narcolepsy or something…?

When she woke up again, her eyes weren’t even fully open before she heard a strange mix of noises.

There were many footsteps hitting the floor, mixed with strange cries and growls.

It sounded like…

Like…

It sounded exactly like the noises she had heard when she fought the zombies before!

Tang Tang’s sleepy mind instantly cleared when she realized this. Her eyes flew open.

Then she discovered that both of her feet were hanging in the air. She was floating about ten centimeters above the floor. Jiang Zhu was less than half a meter away from her. Beside her was Yan Chen, who was also floating in the air, wrapped in Jiang Zhu’s starry ability.

Tang Tang’s mind, which had been somewhat foggy, snapped awake the moment she realized what was happening. She opened her eyes and saw that she was floating about ten centimeters above the ground, her feet dangling in the air. And Jiang Zhu was no more than half a meter away from her. Closer to her on the other side was Yan Chen, who had also been lifted up by Jiang Zhu’s starry-sky ability. Around the three of them, however, zombies were now packed in tightly from all sides.

What happened?

Tang Tang looked toward the gym entrance and saw that the door, which they had blocked with heavy objects, was now wide open. The heavy objects that had been holding it shut were scattered all over the floor.

And zombies were still pouring inside.

Why are there so many?

At this rate, even if Jiang Zhu’s ability was powerful, there was no way he could handle so many zombies by himself.

Tang Tang looked around anxiously. She even searched through her hidden space, hoping to find something that could attack a large group at once.

Jiang Zhu noticed that she was awake.

“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid,” he said in a low voice.

…I’m not afraid. I’m just a little panicked.

Jiang Zhu’s starry bands formed a large circle around the three of them. Whenever a zombie came close, he immediately sent out small points of light. Tang Tang noticed that wherever the lights touched, they left small holes about the same size as the lights themselves. The holes weren’t very deep, though.

Are they corrosive?

But the damage was too weak.

Even when several lights were gathered together, they still weren’t enough to stop the zombies from moving.

Worse, there were simply too many zombies.

There seemed to be a limit to how many lights Jiang Zhu could create at once, so he couldn’t release enough to deal with all of them.

This fight wasn’t looking good.

Tang Tang grew more anxious.

If this continued, all three of them were going to die here.

Suddenly, an idea came to her.

“Can you wrap yourself up too?” she shouted at Jiang Zhu. “Can’t we just fly out together?”

Jiang Zhu’s ability could make people float. If he wrapped all three of them in his ability and lifted them high enough that the zombies couldn’t reach them, couldn’t they slowly move their way out?

Jiang Zhu shook his head.

“No. I can’t make us float very high.”

Tang Tang felt a little discouraged, but quickly thought of something else.

“Maybe we didn’t cover our scent well enough, and the zombies can still smell us?”

She pulled out a bottle of perfume.

“Do you want some?”

Jiang Zhu paused, then moved closer, silently allowing her to spray him.

Tang Tang didn’t hesitate. She quickly pulled out another bottle and sprayed him all over. By the time she finished, Jiang Zhu smelled strongly of perfume.

Actually, it was a little too strong.

The smell was so sharp that it made her want to turn off her sense of smell for a while. After covering Jiang Zhu in perfume, Tang Tang sprayed Yan Chen as well. Finally, she added another generous amount to herself.

But something strange happened.

Even though the three of them now smelled so strongly that it was almost painful, the zombies only hesitated for a moment.

Then they continued attacking.

Tang Tang froze.

Why?

Did the zombies level up too??

The apocalypse had only just started. Could they already have crystal cores in their heads?

Jiang Zhu hadn’t expected the perfume to fail either. His expression grew even more serious. About half a day earlier, roughly two hours after Qin Zhang and the other four had left, stiff footsteps had suddenly appeared around the once-quiet gym.

It was a sound that was hard to forget once you heard it.

The footsteps were too strange and unnatural. They were the slow, stiff footsteps of zombies.

Jiang Zhu had immediately sensed that something was wrong. He used his ability to wrap Tang Tang and Yan Chen in the starry bands.

Soon, the footsteps grew closer.

And louder.

From the sound alone, it seemed as though the entire gym had been surrounded.

He couldn’t even imagine how many zombies were outside.

His worries had been right.

The zombies had come directly for them.

No matter how strong the gym doors were, or how heavy the objects blocking them were, they couldn’t withstand the force of more than a hundred zombies crashing into them.

Before long, the doors were forced open.

Even the gym’s windows were smashed. The gym only had one entrance. There were several floors, but because the building needed enough room for large sports equipment, each floor was much taller than a normal building.

If someone jumped from the second floor here, even if they survived, they would probably be badly injured. With Jiang Zhu’s current ability, he couldn’t guarantee that all three of them would make it down safely. And even if they managed to get outside, there were just as many zombies out there as there were inside.

No matter how he looked at it, there seemed to be no way out.

So there was only one choice.

Hold on for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, abilities couldn’t be used forever.

Jiang Zhu had carefully controlled every use of his power, trying to waste as little energy as possible. But after fighting for half a day against an endless stream of zombies, he had still used up a large amount of his ability.

If this continued…

All three of them would die here.

Tang Tang stared at the zombies that were still desperately trying to break through the starry bands and reach them.

If the zombies had come here on their own, then they only had to worry about fighting this huge horde. But if someone had deliberately brought the zombies here…

Then somewhere out of sight, an even more dangerous enemy might be hiding and watching them.

But who could control so many zombies?

Could someone actually have an ability that makes zombies obey them??

Tang Tang speculated, turning her head to scan the area, but aside from the dense, surging crowd of zombies, she found no trace of any person. Were they really hiding in a corner? That would be troublesome…

Jiang Zhu’s ability continued to weaken. Tang Tang noticed that although the starry band wrapped around her still held plenty of power, the small specks of light he had released, originally glowing a bright yellow, were gradually dimming. As their glow weakened, the damage they dealt to zombies upon contact lessened as well.

If this continued, they would have no way to deal with the zombies at all!

Tang Tang leaned over the edge of the starry band.

“Put me down. I can fight with my knife.”

When she had bought her half-meter blade, she had chosen a light, thin one considering her strength, making it easy to carry. Unfortunately, it had no sheath, so she had wrapped it in layer after layer of bedding to ensure she wouldn’t hurt herself, and carried it on her back.

She had done this during the brief gaps between sleeping and waking after arriving at the gymnasium. Thinking about it now, she was very glad she had.

After all, there might still be an enemy hiding nearby. If she suddenly produced a large blade from her hand at this moment, the secret of her hidden space would likely be exposed.

Jiang Zhu’s ability was being drained constantly, while the number of zombies showed no sign of decreasing. They also had no idea where the hidden enemy was. Instead of staying protected while Jiang Zhu fought alone, she might as well go down and help him.

Her half-meter blade was quite sharp, it couldn’t cut through Zheng Xue’s thin thread, but it could still handle zombies. He was about to turn toward Tang Tang when another zombie pushed forward, forcing him to deal with it instead.

Without looking back, he said, “It’s too dangerous.”

Tang Tang took a deep breath.

“It’ll be even more dangerous if I don’t help! There are only three of us. Keeping me wrapped up like this is constantly using up a big part of your ability. And you’re protecting Yan Chen too!”

“Your power isn’t unlimited. I’m awake now, so there’s no reason to keep wasting it on me!”

Jiang Zhu frowned, thinking about her words.

She was right.

Two people fighting would be better than one.

But what if a zombie scratched her…

Jiang Zhu immediately stopped himself from thinking any further. He still wasn’t strong enough. That was why they had ended up in this situation.

In the end, Tang Tang was lowered to the ground.

She took off the quilted sheath strapped to her back, peeled away layer after layer of bedding, and finally, the half-meter blade appeared once more.

“Attack the zombies’ heads,” Jiang Zhu reminded from the side. “Stay as far away as possible and don’t let them touch you.”

“Mm-hmm!” Tang Tang quickly nodded.

Although she had dealt with zombies before, back then she had used a stabbing motion. Even when Jiang Chi had blown her away with wind, she had held the blade, but because her human scent had been masked, she hadn’t actually needed to fight the zombies. This was the first time she would use the large blade for direct combat.

To be honest, she was nervous.

So nervous that her hands began trembling worse than ever before.

Tang Tang took another deep breath.

Stay calm.

I have to stay calm!

With a whoosh, she raised the half-meter blade with both hands and swung it swiftly and forcefully at the nearest zombie.

It didn’t miss, the zombie fell to the ground with a thud.

Whoosh—

Tang Tang let out a long breath, feeling that in those few short seconds, sweat had nearly soaked her clothes.

Jiang Zhu kept stealing glances at her. Seeing Tang Tang successfully take down a zombie, her hands still shaking badly and sweat beading on her forehead, but her gaze firm, he couldn’t quite describe what he felt.

He still didn’t know her well enough.

After that, with the two of them working together, each handling half, the earlier frantic pace of being pressed by zombies eased somewhat. Jiang Zhu’s ability was also being drained much more slowly now.

Perhaps they could hold out until Qin Zhang and the others returned.

But finding food outside was already difficult. Even if the five of them came back, they would probably have used up a lot of their abilities along the way. They might simply return and become trapped here with the three of them.

The best option was for the three of them to save themselves.

But given the situation, who knew if that was even possible.

After her first success, Tang Tang did not rest but quickly moved on to attack the next zombie. Her initial trembling hands gradually eased with each swing of the blade. Just as she had done by the dormitory window, repeatedly stabbing at zombies, she slowly began to find a method that suited her.

Now that Jiang Zhu no longer needed to keep Tang Tang wrapped in the starry bands, he had more power available for fighting. He first used the bands to tie several zombies together. Then the small points of light surrounded them. Once the zombies were dead, Jiang Zhu kept them tied together and threw their bodies directly into the horde that was still rushing toward them.

The bodies crashed into the crowd. A large group of zombies fell at once.

There’s hope.

Tang Tang and Jiang Zhu had the same thought.

But at that exact moment, the zombie horde, which had calmed slightly after they sprayed themselves with perfume, suddenly became violent again. Even more violent than before.

The zombies went completely wild.

Even the circle of starry bands Jiang Zhu had placed around the three of them began to shake under the force of their attacks. Tang Tang and Jiang Zhu both turned their heads.

Their eyes met.

Then, because the situation had suddenly become even more dangerous, they both immediately turned back toward the zombies.

“Someone is messing with us,” Tang Tang said.

Jiang Zhu nodded.

“Yeah. Can you still keep going?”

Tang Tang swung her blade down.

“Of course.”