Ch 111: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

With a thunderous bang, Bai Xianglei was kicked square in the chest by Fu Qing. His hundred-plus kilograms of weight seemed as light as a drifting leaf as he was sent flying backward. He smashed through the partition of a cubicle behind him without stopping, his back slamming heavily into a desk hard enough to crack its surface.

He swallowed the metallic sweetness rising in his throat and planted his right hand on the desk to push himself up. The moment he exerted force, however, a tearing pain exploded across his back, freezing him in place. Bai Xianglei clicked his tongue involuntarily.

Just how much strength had she used?

Fu Qing gave him no time to recover. Another flash of blade cut toward his face. Bai Xianglei snatched up a mug from the desk and hurled it. Midair, the cup was split cleanly in two by the knife’s edge, fragments scattering into the walls on either side and shattering into countless pieces.

Fu Qing’s movement paused for the briefest instant. Seizing the chance despite his temporarily restricted upper body, Bai Xianglei leaned sharply backward, bracing on his elbow against the desk for leverage, and swept the hard sole of his military boot toward Fu Qing’s temple.

She had no choice but to withdraw, barely blocking the strike with her arm at the last moment. She slid back half a meter, while Bai Xianglei used the momentum to flip upright again.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his fighting spirit now fully ignited.

Across from him, Fu Qing lowered the arm that had guarded her face. Her expression, however, was the complete opposite of his. Translated on Hololo novels. Her dark eyes resembled a bottomless, silent pool, reflecting Bai Xianglei’s figure while giving him the unmistakable sensation of being locked onto by a master predator.

Once the battle began, Bai Xianglei seemed to boil with energy, utterly different from his usual self.

Fu Qing, on the other hand, showed almost no visible emotional stimulation. Even in the midst of life-and-death combat, she remained extraordinarily calm, as though fighting were simply the most ordinary state of existence for her.

Only occasionally, when her blade swept close, would a sharp glint flash in her eyes, reminding Bai Xianglei that she was taking this seriously.

He keenly sensed that such composure could only be forged by years spent walking the edge between life and death.

It might sacrifice a certain explosive battle state, but it allowed her to remain clear-headed at all times, capable of making the most precise judgment in any moment.

It was as if combat itself was never her true goal. To her, fighting was merely a necessary step on the path toward an end.

…

Their mastery of both hand-to-hand combat and blade technique was extraordinary. For both groups watching, this should have been the perfect learning opportunity.

Yet no one could devote their full attention to the duel.

Unconsciously, they counted down in their minds.

Twenty… twenty-one… twenty-two…

Fu Qing’s earlier prediction of fifty seconds, whether intentional or not, intensified the psychological pressure once more, like a deadline hanging overhead.

Perhaps it was imagination, but when half the countdown had passed, Zhou Lingxi felt the floor beneath her begin to tremble faintly.

She had been the first to approach the window and still stood closest to it. Unable to resist, she tore her gaze from the fight and glanced outside.

That single look nearly made her cry out.

In less than thirty seconds, the number of zombies below had multiplied several times over.

The fastest climbers had already reached nearly the twentieth floor. Beneath them, the lower levels of the building were completely submerged beneath countless zombies. They piled atop one another into a grotesque “mountain of corpses.” Those behind climbed over the bodies in front, only to be crushed by those following after, growling as they became stepping stones for the mass ascending upward.

If anyone had been hiding on the lower floors, every gap beyond the windows would have been filled with dense, writhing figures, blocking out even a trace of sunlight.

Zhou Lingxi could not count how many zombies there were. More continued to pour in endlessly. At this rate, before long the sheer height of the corpse mountain might rival the building itself.

These zombies, perhaps long dead, no longer resembled the typical television image of the undead. They looked more like mummies, or the desiccated corpses of ancient legends drained of life essence.

Their flesh had long since rotted away, leaving only loose, shriveled skin draped over skeletal frames like sun-dried husks.

Because of this, despite their numbers, the wind carried no smell of blood or rot, only a musty scent like an abandoned warehouse gone moldy.

Zhou Lingxi’s face paled as she once again felt the terrifying realism of the simulation pod.

The battle behind her still raged with no sign of ending soon. She glanced back once, then drew her knife from her lower back.

A duel this spectacular deserved a proper conclusion. She resolved to buy them more time, even if only a second.

Besides, opportunities like this were rare. She could take the chance to further train her ability to face zombies head-on.

The other team members noticed her actions. After a brief hesitation, they abandoned watching the match and gathered beside her one by one.

The first zombie lunged up, gripping the window frame as it tried to leap inside. Zhou Lingxi kicked it straight back down, sending it silently plunging into the horde below.

The ever-growing corpse mountain churned like a living creature, swallowing the falling zombie whole.

But more and more zombies soon appeared at the windows. The highest point of the corpse pile had already reached the twentieth floor, and each time one fell, the time it took to climb back grew shorter and shorter.

Before long, Zhou Lingxi and her companions began to feel the strain.

Just as she finished off one zombie, another climbed up. Her teammates were still entangled with others nearby. Translated on Hololo novels. Her expression tightened. Gritting her teeth, she sped up her movements. As the newly arrived zombie lunged forward with jaws wide open, she prepared to roll aside.

Suddenly, a blade shot in from the side, plunging straight into the zombie’s eye socket.

With a flick of the wrist, the heavy body toppled aside and lay still.

Zhou Lingxi froze for a moment, then turned to see Song Rushuang beside her.

“To be honest, I’ve already been bitten to death by these things countless times in this instance. I wasn’t planning to waste energy,” Song Rushuang muttered. “But just standing there watching you all fight felt kind of weird…”

After thinking for a moment, she decided not to waste the opportunity and simply began teaching Zhou Lingxi about the characteristics of different zombies and her own combat experience.

The other students joined in as well, following her example. Each picked a partner, forming small groups here and there, and the battle abruptly turned into an impromptu teaching session.

From the corner of her eye, Fu Qing noticed and could not help laughing helplessly. “These kids…”

Even with two groups working to hold them back, more and more zombies continued pouring in.

The first to fall was Liang Yi. Unlucky enough to be surrounded by three zombies at once, he had no time to react before being bitten several times and collapsing with a grimace. A special forces member went down next, followed soon after by Su Huaijin…

The number of people left in the room dwindled rapidly. Inevitably, the zombies’ attention shifted toward the two still locked in combat. Almost at the same moment, seven or eight zombies let out low growls, leaping over cubicle partitions as high as a person’s chest and lunging straight toward them.

Looking past Fu Qing’s shoulder, Bai Xianglei saw the scene and felt his mind explode into alarm.

Before he could think of a response, the person in front of him actually smiled.

As if she had eyes in the back of her head, Fu Qing swung her blade backward without turning around, striking at the zombie rushing toward her back. The blow forced the creature to twist direction midair.

Watching the zombie’s agile movement, Bai Xianglei suddenly recalled Chu Hai’s earlier fight with the runner-type zombie.

That zombie had also dodged a blade midair.

But Chu Hai had faced it head-on and been stunned when it evaded him. Fu Qing, however, had her back turned. Her seemingly casual strike looked completely avoided, yet…

“Holy—!” Bai Xianglei blurted despite himself as the zombie smoothly redirected and lunged at him instead, jaws wide open.

He raised his arm in panic. With a clang, his military knife jammed between the zombie’s teeth at the last possible instant. The bite force was so immense that the blade became stuck, impossible to pull free.

Bai Xianglei froze in disbelief. He had never imagined his weapon would one day be wedged between someone’s teeth.

That split-second shock stiffened his movements, and the culprit had already withdrawn her blade and rolled sideways, slipping perfectly through a gap in the encirclement.

Not daring to waste time, Bai Xianglei kicked the zombie in the chest while gripping the knife’s handle, narrowly avoiding shattered teeth snapping toward his face. He yanked the blade free and tried to retreat, but that single moment’s delay was enough for several agile zombies to pounce.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fu Qing land, immediately push off the ground, and reenter the encirclement herself, joining the swarm.

Bai Xianglei, who had been fighting a one-on-one duel that somehow gained several extra opponents on the other side: “???”

At last, he understood what Fu Qing meant when she said the incoming horde would place him at a greater disadvantage.

The evenly matched duel collapsed instantly once the zombies entered the fight. Amid the chaos, Bai Xianglei did not even know which one bit him. With lingering frustration, he was eliminated from the instance.

As darkness swallowed his vision, a single thought flashed through his mind:

Damn it. Those students’ ridiculous tactics really did come from their principal…

Su Huaijin had only just reached the stage of recognizing runner-type zombie traits and dodging in advance.

Fu Qing, however, had already learned how to exploit their agility in real combat.

And judging by her proficiency, this was clearly not her first time doing so.

For a brief moment, watching her move among the horde, cooperating seamlessly with the zombies as they attacked him together, it almost looked as if they were on the same side.

Bai Xianglei: …Shameless!

When his figure respawned in the multiplayer lobby, both the special forces team and the students were already waiting.

They had charged forward earlier and thus died before Bai Xianglei and Fu Qing.

Seeing Bai Xianglei appear first, the team immediately understood the outcome.

The soldiers paused, exchanging complicated looks, while the students wore expressions that suggested they had expected this all along.

If pure combat skill alone left the two evenly matched, then once the zombie horde arrived, the result had never been in doubt.

No human could defeat their principal in that kind of environment.

Two seconds later, Fu Qing also returned to the lobby. According to the system display, however, she had not died but logged out voluntarily.

The moment she appeared, her gaze met Bai Xianglei’s.

The normally stoic, iron-willed captain revealed a rare trace of undisguised grievance.

Fu Qing: “…”

It had been a long time since her rebirth that she had enjoyed such a satisfying fight, and she still felt she had not quite had enough. So she kindly suggested, “How about we switch to a setting without interference and have another round?”

Between the psychological pressure of the apocalyptic environment and the introduction of the zombie horde, she did not consider her victory improper, but strictly speaking, it had not been a fair duel.

“No,” Bai Xianglei said unexpectedly, shaking his head. “Even if we fought again somewhere else, I’d probably still have a hard time beating you.”

He could clearly feel the difference between their fighting styles.

He had practiced martial arts since childhood, trained formally in the military, and followed a disciplined, orthodox path. Fu Qing’s style, by contrast, resembled that of someone self-taught through harsh experience. Her movements bore little trace of formal training, each strike focused solely on killing efficiency.

Whenever she could deliver a fatal blow, she never stepped back to merely disable an opponent.

It was not a fighting style forged in peaceful circumstances.

Even as a special forces soldier who frequently faced death, Bai Xianglei still trained with comrades. For him, martial arts were not always about killing. But the cold decisiveness behind Fu Qing’s attacks made him suspect that her usual opponents had never been living people.

That alone explained why every strike she made carried lethal intent without hesitation.

Yet his admission was not only about stylistic differences. Even setting those aside, Fu Qing’s technique, strength, agility, and tactical thinking were all extraordinary, surprising him again and again during the fight.

He was thirty-six years old and had trained for over thirty years, honing his skill and physical strength through relentless daily effort.