Chapter 22: The Great Beast, Big Grey

Jiang Yi darted into the trees, weaving erratically to ensure the evolved zombie trailing him couldn't keep up. He even slammed into trees occasionally, barely having time to change direction.

Seeing this, Jiang Yi's eyes lit up. He sprinted a few steps and circled behind a tree. The evolved zombie, having crashed through the brush, roared and collided head-first with the tree Jiang Yi was hiding behind. Jiang Yi leaped out like lightning, slashing with his black blade. The speed-type zombie instinctively recoiled; the strike meant for its neck only grazed its skin. Missing his chance, Jiang Yi felt a pang of regret, but without lingering, he turned and ran again.

The incredibly fast zombie roared, madly tearing at the grass and branches beneath its feet. Even though its clothes were shredded into rags and its skin was left bleeding from the thorns of the bushes, it showed no sign of backing down.

Jiang Yi wasn't faring much better. Despite his best efforts to dodge, his body was covered in stinging scratches from the brush, and the new clothes he had put on that morning were now tattered.

However, possessing normal human intelligence, he consciously avoided most of the obstacles, not only easily dodging the evolved zombie's attacks but also occasionally turning back to counterattack.

Unfortunately, evolved zombies were not easy to kill. Even though Jiang Yi landed several counterattacks, his efforts were mostly futile against a creature faster than himself.

"Roar!" The kite-flying zombie became frantic. Its bloodshot eyes turned a terrifying shade of red. Regardless of its constantly worsening wounds, it was obsessed with devouring the annoying little pest in front of it.

Jiang Yi clearly felt the pressure behind him mounting. The evolved zombie was not only faster but had also grown significantly stronger. Every swipe of its sharp claws was enough to jar Jiang Yi's defensive blade aside.

"Roar!" Jiang Yi parried another strike, slicing off one of the creature's fingers, but his black blade was knocked off-course.

Exhausted, just as Jiang Yi was about to vault over a bush, he didn't notice his shoelace snagging on a branch. He lurched forward and slammed heavily into the ground.

His black blade flew from his hand, and Jiang Yi felt a suffocating pain in his chest, as if he had been struck by a car.

"Awoo!" As Jiang Yi fell, the zombie lunged, forcing its way through the brush to pounce on him. Jiang Yi scrambled in panic, but his shoelace remained caught on the tough wood; even his shoe was wedged into the shrubbery.

He tugged hard, but it wouldn't budge.

By now, the evolved zombie had pushed through the thorns and reached him. Terrified, Jiang Yi summoned the black blade back to his hand and hacked wildly at the dry vines entangling his foot.

The evolved zombie, refusing to let its long-teased prey escape, grabbed the blade's edge. Ignoring its nearly severed fingers, it opened its blood-stained maw to bite down on Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi felt the foul stench wash over him, and for a moment, all thoughts vanished.

The petite zombie lowered its head to bite, but in the next instant, Jiang Yi watched as its head exploded. A flash of red light spun past his head and slammed with a dull thud into the tree behind him.

Jiang Yi looked up, dazed, to see a fire axe, completely stained with blood, deeply embedded in the trunk.

As the headless zombie collapsed, Jiang Yi saw Guo Hanxue behind it, leaning against a tree, drenched in sweat and filthy blood.

Her right hand was still fixed in a throwing posture, and her entire body was trembling violently.

Only when she saw Jiang Yi sitting on the ground, seemingly unharmed, did she slump against the tree, as if all her strength had drained away.

Jiang Yi pushed the corpse off himself, hacked through the vines around his foot, and stood up. After glancing at the body and then at the still-recovering Guo Hanxue, he suddenly grinned. He yanked the axe from the tree and, under her gaze, dug out a glowing red crystal from the pulped head of the zombie.

It turned out that for zombies not killed by himself, the crystal core would not disappear.

The fading light on both him and Guo Hanxue wasn't as bright as before, and he wondered how much experience he had gained from the evolved zombie she had killed.

Jiang Yi and Guo Hanxue didn't realize that compared to Jiang Yi's changes, the sheer number of zombies Guo Hanxue had killed along the way had accumulated a vast amount of experience, slowly but steadily improving her overall strength.

Had it not been for this, she could never have landed that miraculous throwing axe into the back of the zombie's head at the last moment. The violent wind-element power on the axe had shattered the skull of the sturdy evolved creature, saving Jiang Yi's life.

"Are you alright?" When Jiang Yi patted her hand and pulled her up, they both spoke the same sentence at once. They paused, then couldn't help but chuckle.

He handed the axe and the crystal core to her. "Let's go quickly. It'll be trouble if we attract more zombies."

Guo Hanxue hesitated as she looked at the crystal in his hand, wanting to say something, but under his steady gaze, she finally took it and tucked it carefully into her inner pocket.

The two helped each other out of the woods and retrieved the backpacks they had discarded during the fight.

The supplies inside were precious; Jiang Yi wasn't willing to abandon them.

Fortunately, the bag containing their food had been tossed far away and hadn't been contaminated. As Guo Hanxue happily brushed the dust off the bag, Jiang Yi's motion of picking up his blade suddenly froze. His expression turned to shock as he stared into the woods they had just exited, where a massive shadow was lurking, watching the oblivious Guo Hanxue.

Watching her prepare to pick up the bag, he whispered, "Don't move."

Guo Hanxue stiffened, stopping her upward motion instinctively. Seeing the extreme seriousness in Jiang Yi's eyes, a wave of terror gripped her heart.

Jiang Yi kept his eyes locked on the shadow in the woods, his left hand gripping his blade so tightly that it was slick with sweat.

"Stand up slowly. Yes, slowly. Walk forward. Whatever you do, don't look back!" Following his instructions, Guo Hanxue stood mechanically and walked slowly toward him.

Jiang Yi was tense to the limit. Guo Hanxue could see the nervousness and fear in his eyes.

Yet, he didn't retreat. His gaze remained fixed on the forest. "Take my bag, don't look back, and run to the gymnasium. Don't stop!"

Seeming to realize it had been discovered, the giant shadow in the woods hesitated before slinking out from the dark brush.

Jiang Yi's pupils dilated to the limit. An irresistible pressure washed over him.

Guo Hanxue also heard the movement behind her. Although she didn't know what it was, she instinctively felt it wasn't one of the previous zombies.

"Roar!" Suddenly, a heaven-shaking beastly roar erupted, and the monster pounced.

Guo Hanxue tried to turn, but Jiang Yi grabbed her shoulder and shoved her behind him, swinging his black blade with all his might.

Guo Hanxue rolled on the ground clutching the backpack. Looking back, she saw a giant monster with its maw wide open, parried by Jiang Yi. Its pale fangs bit into the black blade, sending sparks flying.

"Woof!" Failing its first strike, the monster barked, its fan-sized paws swiping directly at Jiang Yi's shoulder.

Jiang Yi was horrified and quickly retreated to deflect the force.

With a sickening tearing sound, the monster's sharp claws raked across Jiang Yi's chest. He turned pale, nearly fainting, as blood streamed from six deep gashes down to his waist.

Guo Hanxue only saw Jiang Yi step back before being lunged at; she didn't see the severity of his chest wounds. Gritting her teeth, she tried to stand, but her hands went limp, and she nearly dropped the axe.

Jiang Yi didn't look back, his eyes locked on the monster circling him. "Hanxue, go!"

Guo Hanxue wanted to argue, but the void in her body proved he was right—her energy was completely depleted. Staying would only be a burden.

Thinking of this, despite her reluctance, she grabbed the backpack, turned, and sprinted into the woods, shouting as she ran, "Jiang Yi, I'll wait for you at the archery range! You must come back!"

Seeing one of its prey fleeing, the giant monster couldn't help but pursue. But then, a flash of black light caught its eye. A sharp blade grazed the beast's eye, and a primal sense of danger forced it to dodge, narrowly avoiding being blinded.

Jiang Yi was covered in blood. He ripped off his shredded clothing.

A manic look appeared on his face, as if he weren't facing a fierce beast, but a nemesis. "Come on, Da Hui! It's been over ten days. Let me see how much you've evolved!"

Seeming familiar with the name, the giant beast displayed a flicker of human-like confusion, but quickly bared its menacing fangs again.

Jiang Yi certainly recognized the terrifying beast—or rather, he recognized it from ten days ago.

Though it had grown several times in size, Jiang Yi guessed what it was from the unique notched right ear.

Da Hui had been nothing more than a small stray dog hiding in the university woods before the apocalypse.

Their first meeting hadn't been friendly. Bitten by other strays and starving, it had attacked Jiang Yi as he passed by with takeout.

Jiang Yi had been terrified, but luckily, Da Hui was only interested in the food. Aside from warning him not to get too close, it hadn't attacked him further.

Still, losing dozens of dollars worth of food to a dog had infuriated him, and he had wanted to kill it.

However, seeing that notched ear and the hunger for life in its eyes, he hadn't reported it to the school and had even given it the name "Da Hui" because of its unique grey fur.