Chapter 52: Ambush and Counter-Kill

Sure enough, when they reached a vantage point from which they could see the second floor, the zombies outside were, as Jiang Yi had guessed, pitifully few!

All the zombies had been lured into the large cafeteria by the earlier commotion! Light on his feet, Jiang Yi sprang forward, pouncing on a zombie on the second floor whose back was turned to the corridor. Before the creature even had time to hit the ground from the impact, Jiang Yi's blade had driven straight through its temple from behind.

Carefully lowering the completely dead zombie to the floor, Jiang Yi led Li Gang step by step toward the cafeteria!

The second floor was not entirely safe; scattered zombies still lingered outside the cafeteria, having failed to squeeze inside. Jiang Yi did not let Li Gang make a move, fearing he would cause too much of a commotion!

With swift strokes of his blade, after harvesting over a dozen zombies, under Li Gang's shocked gaze, they actually arrived outside the cafeteria doors with astonishing ease! From a distance, they could see the wide-open cafeteria doors teeming with throbs of heads, much like the old days of queuing up for meals. Unfortunately, the ones waiting for a meal inside were not their lovely fellow students, but ravenous zombies.

A flash of excitement crossed Jiang Yi's eyes. As long as they locked the doors from the outside, zombies, incapable of opening doors, wouldn't be able to rush out for a short while!

Luck does not always favor humanity. Just as the two thought things would go smoothly, the zombies inside directly spotted the humans approaching them step by step. Immediately, the ones on the very outside roared and bolted toward the exit!

Jiang Yi's expression changed drastically. He rushed forward in big strides, kicked a zombie that had just burst out back into the room, and roared at Li Gang, who was standing dazed behind him, "Close the door, fast!"

Li Gang snapped out of it, fiercely suppressing the terror in his heart. Dropping the iron rod in his hand, he ran forward with long strides.

Jiang Yi frantically slashed at the escaping zombies. Not only that, he actually charged right into the cafeteria!

After all, the zombies near the door had to be eliminated, otherwise Li Gang would never get the chance to pull the doors shut! The zombies throughout the entire cafeteria were frantically trying to squeeze out!

Jiang Yi had transformed into a god of slaughter. The black blade in his hand was like the Grim Reaper's scythe; with a single sweep, at least one zombie was cut in two! Jiang Yi was killing with his eyes red, hacking his way forward step by step, forcefully pushing the horde of corpses back into the cafeteria!

Li Gang stood behind him, his expression complex as he grabbed the inward-opening doors. Looking at the figure fighting inside the cafeteria, he suddenly spun around and pulled the doors outward!

The cafeteria doors were extremely heavy, emitting a creaking sound as they swung. Possessing immense strength, Li Gang pulled both sides shut with a single hand!

Just as the doors were about to slam completely shut, a figure suddenly burst out through the narrow gap remaining, slipping right past underneath Li Gang's arm!

"Boom!" As Li Gang slammed the door completely shut, a flurry of violent pounding echoed from inside!

Jiang Yi, who had squeezed out, grabbed a thick chain lock from the side and immediately thrust it through the door handles, locking them tight!

At that exact moment, a fierce rush of wind came from the back of his head!

Jiang Yi sneered, instantly whipping his left hand holding the black blade back to parry! The immense force made the iron rod terrifyingly powerful!

Yet Jiang Yi's body merely sank slightly as a section of the iron rod smashed to the ground! With a kick of his foot, he struck Li Gang squarely in the lower abdomen!

Li Gang's face turned pale as he clutched his stomach, retreating step by step. He stared with utter shock at the solid barbell rod that had been cleanly sliced in two!

Jiang Yi looked coldly at Li Gang. "Did you really think I would lower my guard and expose my back to you so easily?"

Li Gang gritted his teeth. Although Jiang Yi's physical strength wasn't overwhelmingly high, it was comparable to that of a robust man. Having caught him off guard with a heavy kick to the stomach, the blow left Li Gang in severe distress.

Struggling to straighten up despite the discomfort, Li Gang brandished his broken rod. "You knew all along I was going to turn on you? Who told you? Was it Li Huiyu?!"

Jiang Yi wrapped the leather cord of his left hand around his wrist, circle by circle. "Li Gang, ever since we arrived at the gymnasium, I have never dropped my guard against you and Dongfang Tian. Because I knew we were never walking the same path, and a showdown was bound to happen sooner or later. I just didn't expect you to make your move against me at a time like this! Let me guess, what was the reason?"

Li Gang flicked his hand. "No need to guess, I can tell you—it's because of Dongfang! Because of your appearance, Guo Hansheng and Dongfang's relationship has hit a crisis. Jiang Yi, I truly underestimated you. If I had known it would come to this, I never should have let you in to begin with!"

Jiang Yi shrugged. "Save those words for when you see Dongfang Tian and Guo Hansheng!"

Li Gang suddenly swept his rod forward. "No need, you won't live long enough for them to come down anyway!"

Jiang Yi took half a step back. The tiger-like whistling wind of the rod brushed past the tip of his nose, and the blade in Jiang Yi's hand stabbed toward Li Gang's chest with eerie precision!

Li Gang was, after all, the vice president of the martial arts club! When it came to hand-to-hand combat, how could Jiang Yi possibly be his match? When the strike missed, Li Gang reacted instantly, blocking with his long rod. The silver rod and the black blade collided, scraping against each other and sending sparks flying!

Li Gang looked at Jiang Yi's black blade in utter disbelief. "How can your blade possibly be this sharp?!"

Right on his own rod, a deep cut had nearly severed the iron bar once again!

Jiang Yi shook his hand. Li Gang's strength was too formidable. Judging by Jiang Yi's data comparisons of their levels, Li Gang's strength attribute was at least around 30 points!

However, compared to his terrifying strength, Jiang Yi's speed held the greater advantage. Without answering Li Gang's question, Jiang Yi closed in and charged forward once more!

Jiang Yi was no longer the model student he had been before the apocalypse. Facing any opponent who threatened his life now, he was entirely capable of striking them down with a single blow! "Bastard!"

Realizing there was no longer any room for reconciliation with Jiang Yi, Li Gang roared furiously, unleashing the martial arts staff techniques he had learned to launch a frenzied attack! Jiang Yi was extremely fast, but Li Gang's attacks were impeccably disciplined. For a moment, in the wide corridor, neither could do anything to the other!

With an ugly expression, Li Gang looked at the battered rod in his hand. He hadn't expected that someone as well-versed in martial arts with a strength ability could fail to take down Jiang Yi, a guy whose only notable trait was speed!

Jiang Yi wasn't having an easy time either! Relying solely on the indestructible skull-severing blade, he had narrowly avoided having his neck smashed by Li Gang's staff! Even so, several exchanges had made him suffer the bitter consequences of a disadvantage in physical strength!

With a strength stat of only 7, he was simply no match for Li Gang. By now, his entire left arm had been jarred completely numb. Squinting his eyes, Jiang Yi knew he had to kill Li Gang, even if it meant risking injury...

Despite his seemingly frail and scholarly appearance, when Jiang Yi resolved to be ruthless, he was entirely willing to risk his life! Having made his decision, he suddenly abandoned all defense and charged straight ahead without hesitation!

Li Gang's eyes lit up. With a technique resembling a cleaving mountain split, he aimed a devastating blow straight at Jiang Yi's head! Jiang Yi raised his head slightly and suddenly dodged to the left! The iron rod brutally smashed into his shoulder!

Amidst a teeth-grinding sound of shattering bone, Jiang Yi let out a muffled groan as his entire right arm was instantly fractured!

Yet he didn't hesitate for a moment. Seizing this life-or-death opening, he drove his blade straight into Li Gang's stomach!

Li Gang's eyes bulged wide. He looked in sheer disbelief at Jiang Yi's cold, gloomy gaze!

Vomiting a mouthful of dark blood, and watching as Jiang Yi slowly pulled the blade out from his abdomen, Li Gang collapsed heavily onto his knees!

Dropping the iron rod to the side, he tightly clutched the wound on his stomach! Jiang Yi wasn't faring much better; the full-force strike had shattered his shoulder blade and even bruised his lungs. Yet compared to Li Gang, his injuries were not fatal!

Watching Li Gang, who was bleeding profusely yet still desperately clinging to life, Jiang Yi sneered. Ignoring the useless state of his right arm, he walked toward Li Gang step by step!

Panicking, Li Gang tried to cover his wound, but blood continued to spurt endlessly between his fingers. Looking at the approaching Jiang Yi, Li Gang was finally terrified. Kneeling on the ground, he tried to crawl away, but his strength ability seemed to have completely vanished!

The blade-wielding Jiang Yi brought an overwhelming wave of pressure. Facing him, Li Gang could no longer muster a single shred of resistance. Terrified of dying, he backed away frantically. "Jiang Yi, no, don't kill me! You can't kill me, I was wrong! I beg you, spare me!"

Enduring the pain, Jiang Yi raised his blade and rested it against Li Gang's neck! The sharp edge immediately drew a thin line of blood, instantly freezing Li Gang in place, too terrified to move.

Jiang Yi sneered. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!" Li Gang could only plead; he was terrified. For the first time, he realized just how desperately he feared death!

After waiting a few seconds, Jiang Yi suddenly smiled. "It seems you can't think of a reason. Then go to hell!"

Just as he raised his blade, a sharp, piercing sound sliced through the air, followed by a fierce roar: "Stop!" Jiang Yi spun around and slashed backward, shattering an ice spike with a single blow!

Dongfang Tian, holding another ice spike, flashed a look of shock in his eyes! But another spike was already lunging straight toward Jiang Yi's heart!

"Whoosh!" A beam of purple light suddenly cut between the two of them, obliterating Dongfang Tian's ice spike, grazing Li Gang's ear, and embedding itself deeply into the wall!

Jiang Yi and Dongfang Tian leaped backward, separating.

Li Gang's eyes lit up brightly. Ignoring his bleeding ear, he cried out, "Dongfang, save me! Jiang Yi is going to kill me!"

Looking at Li Gang, whose stomach was continuously spilling blood, Dongfang Tian's expression turned grim to the extreme.

At that moment, the rest of the group gathered around. Li Huiyu glanced briefly at the heavily barricaded doors—still under relentless bombardment from within—and then looked between Jiang Yi and Li Gang!

Meanwhile, Qingdou had already drawn his blade, watching Dongfang Tian with wary vigilance. "Dongfang Tian, what do you think you're doing?!"

Dongfang Tian was exceptionally furious as well. "You're asking me what I'm doing? Are you blind? He was just about to kill Li Gang! He's a murderer!"

"Enough!" Guo Hansheng, holding her golden bow and bearing a frosty expression, walked forward step by step. Her cold gaze swept over Jiang Yi, Li Gang, and Dongfang Tian. "Jiang Yi, what on earth is going on here?!"

Instinctively, Guo Hansheng was still more inclined to trust Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi sneered. "You'll have to ask President Dongfang that. Why would his subordinate try to lock me inside the cafeteria, and when that failed, resort to a cowardly sneak attack behind my back?"

The crowd was shocked, staring in utter disbelief at Li Gang, who was kneeling on the ground drenched in blood.

Panicking, Li Gang clutched his stomach. "Dongfang, save me, I'm dying!"

Dongfang Tian's eyelids drooped heavily. He lowered his hand, and the ice spike in his grip instantly dissolved into a mist of frost! Kneeling down and pressing his hands onto Li Gang's wound, a flurry of freezing mist gathered. When Dongfang Tian finally pulled his hands away, Li Gang's endlessly bleeding wound had actually been sealed shut by frost!