"Why are you apologizing?" Tan Xinger looked at him with confusion.
"I promised to ensure your safety, yet I let you face danger alone," Gu Jingyong said apologetically. The thought of running through every floor but still not finding her made his inner turmoil almost reach its peak.
"It's nothing, just a small matter," Tan Xinger replied, not understanding why Gu Jingyong felt guilty about this. She couldn't quite grasp why Gu Jingyong had made promises to her in the first place.
"But there are variables in everything. As long as you didn't deliberately abandon me, everything is normal in my opinion," Tan Xinger added.
"If we encounter danger again in the next few days, go find Si Qiao," Gu Jingyong said, putting some ointment on her neck.
"Okay." Tan Xinger touched her neck, feeling the soreness, then knelt down, her back facing Gu Jingyong, as she waited for him to apply the medicine.
After a while, when the bottle of red flower oil was almost empty, Tan Xinger stood up, feeling a bit numb in her legs from kneeling for too long. She stumbled a bit, but Gu Jingyong quickly supported her.
As Tan Xinger tried to steady herself, she noticed a pair of black sneakers approaching. When she lifted her head, she saw a man with an ordinary appearance, but the scar on his face made him look fierce.
"Hu Ge asked me to bring some water over," the man said with a smile, handing over a bottle of water.
High Xin took the water and exchanged some pleasantries, pretending not to understand the man's implicit meaning.
After the man left, Tan Xinger couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity, but the prominent scar on his face made her think she should remember him.
Unable to find any memories after searching her mind for a while, Tan Xinger gave up.
Seeing the water left on the ground, the group looked at each other and silently agreed to ignore it.
"Who knows if something has been added to this water? Xing Zi, don't drink it," Jiang Qiqi warned Tan Xinger as she reached for the bottle.
"It's okay, I just want to wash my hands," Tan Xinger said, twisting open the bottle and handing it to Gu Jingyong, who had residue from the ointment on his hands.
"Thank you," Gu Jingyong said, taking the water and pouring some onto his hands.
As the group finished preparing, night had fallen.
The sun was setting, painting the sky red. From the rooftop, they could see the zombies below, gruesome and bloody in the twilight.
It was the fifth day of this instance, and almost all the zombies had completed their initial mutations.
Their corrosive slime had become highly corrosive, consuming all the organs like supplements to the heart.
Only a thin layer of skin covered their bones, and the hearts in their chests were almost visible to the naked eye.
Their five senses were also evolving, gradually approaching the surviving humans.
For now, there was peace. Tan Xinger wrapped herself in the coat Gu Jingyong had given her and leaned against the wall to sleep. She woke up several times in the night, startled by the ubiquitous screams.
The sounds came from all directions, and countless people died on this night. In places untouched by sunlight, a dark transformation was taking place, plunging deeper into the darkness.
Half asleep, Tan Xinger felt someone lift the slipped clothing back onto her shoulders. The faint scent of oil was reminiscent of what was already on her. Her consciousness was muddled, and she gradually drifted back into sleep.
As dawn broke, Tan Xinger was awakened by Jiang Qiqi's call. She groggily stood up and looked towards the horizon.
The morning sun wasn't glaring; instead, it was warm and comforting.
Tan Xinger slowly regained her senses and returned the clothes to Gu Jingyong. He didn't take them, only gestured for her to put them on.
Looking at his black long-sleeved shirt, which covered his wrists, Tan Xinger realized how inadequate her short sleeves were in comparison.
Without further ado, Tan Xinger put on Gu Jingyong's coat. It was wide on her shoulders, making her look like a child wearing oversized clothes.
She ran to Jiang Qiqi and waved her sleeves, imitating a singing opera actress, but her singing was off-key.
Occasionally, their laughter could be heard, reaching the ears of another group of people.
"Hu Ge, that little girl looks pretty good," a man with a sharp face and prominent cheeks said, staring at Tan Xinger with a smirk. There was no partition in the middle of the rooftop, so they could clearly see what was happening on the other side.
"The other one is not bad either, both are fresh meat," another man said, his face wrinkled with a lecherous grin as he looked at them.
Hu Ge chuckled at their words, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and walked towards them.
Tan Xinger saw him coming and quietly pulled Jiang Qiqi back.
Hu Ge didn't do anything, just asked if they had any plans to leave. If they didn't, they would go downstairs to gather some supplies in the next two days, and they could join forces later.
High Xin didn't directly refuse, just said they would discuss it later.
Watching Hu Ge leave, Tan Xinger emerged and asked, "Our food can last until the last day. Do we still need to go down?"
"Having food is far from enough. Once the escape door is not opened here, we need to leave here as quickly as possible. Without equipment, it's impossible," High Xin said, and the others understood his meaning.
Tan Xinger walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down. The densely packed zombies were like black insects, crawling together.
Actually, she didn't need to look down to feel the tension in the air.
In the neighboring building, the scenes behind the glass were clearly visible, and the zombies seemed to notice them, pressing against the floor-to-ceiling windows and howling at them.
Overnight, the instance had entered another level, giving the feeling that hell was about to open.
"Time waits for no one. High Xin and I will go down. You wait here," Gu Jingyong said, gazing at the distant skyscrapers, after a few seconds of silence.
"Be careful," Tan Xinger said. She wasn't worried that he would get hurt, but she still didn't want him to. She could only pray that the zombies wouldn't swarm the high floors for now.
Watching them leave, Tan Xinger saw Hu Ge also taking a few people downstairs. She silently prayed for everything to go smoothly.
The rooftop door opened and closed like a giant mouth, swallowing and closing in one motion.
Leaning against the railing, Tan Xinger suddenly felt like she was back a few days ago. She didn't want to live anymore and almost jumped from the rooftop, but she spotted Gu Jingyong in the crowd.
She had survived until today, and even discovered a shocking secret.
As the scene replayed, Tan Xinger lazily looked down, feeling the stench of the zombies being carried up by the wind. She furrowed her brows, about to turn around, but a figure in the crowd once again caught her eye.
It was another black figure, and it was even someone she knew well. Tan Xinger was surprised, her mouth wide open. She hadn't expected to see Jiang Nan again.
In the midst of the zombie tide, Jiang Nan jumped out of the car and ran straight towards the opposite building. Zombies chased after him, trapping him without an escape route.
He was almost caught several times, and a misstep would have led to falling into the zombie horde, ending in a gruesome death.
The whole process was like a movie fight scene, extremely thrilling, and not much worse than Gu Jingyong's.
Tan Xinger silently evaluated, but before she could watch further, she couldn't find Jiang Nan's shadow anymore.
All she could see was the zombies rushing in one direction, most likely chasing after him.
Without a live broadcast, Tan Xinger wasn't interested in staring at those zombies. She sat down next to Jiang Qiqi.
Jiang Qiqi was feeling a bit down because she was thinking of Sun Hao again. She didn't want to believe that he had died like this. Perhaps she might still encounter him as a zombie.
"If we see him among the zombies, should we kill him or not?" she asked.
"Of course we should kill him," Tan Xinger replied without hesitation. She didn't want Jiang Qiqi to have any unfinished business with him.
"Okay."
!ChatGPT
Jiang Qiqi sobbed quietly, leaning into Tan Xinger's embrace without saying a word.
Si Qiao glanced at them without speaking, just standing there, seemingly casual but attentive to the surroundings, maintaining vigilance like an experienced guard.
On the other side, Gu Jingyong and High Xin were slowly descending the stairs, with Hu Ge and one of his lackeys ahead of them, holding steel pipes that occasionally struck the walls, making clanging sounds.
"Hey, where are you guys headed?" Hu Ge turned around to look at them, his eyes smiling but hiding something behind them, like a smiling tiger.
"The 20th floor," High Xin said casually, passing by them and continuing downstairs.
Gu Jingyong remained silent, his duckbill cap shading his eyes, making him appear even more elusive in the dimly lit corridor.
"How coincidental. We're also going to the 20th floor," Hu Ge said with a smile, tapping the steel pipe in his hand, exchanging a glance with his lackey.
The journey was interrupted by the presence of zombies as they reached the 25th floor.
The zombies, catching their scent, rushed towards them, their long tongues flicking out and aiming for their faces.
Leading the way was High Xin, who swiftly dodged the long tongues and then swiftly struck, slicing off one tongue in mid-air.
One zombie, particularly ferocious with sharp teeth like a vampire, lunged at Gu Jingyong's arm. Before it could reach him, Gu Jingyong grabbed the zombie's clothes, kneeled, and pressed the zombie's stomach with his knee, then kicked it towards the wall.
The zombie's mouth, still open, sank its sharp teeth into the wall. In an instant, its teeth fell out, leaving only a small dent in the wall.
With blood oozing from its mouth, the zombie hadn't even managed to stand up before its head was smashed with a steel pipe, then lifted by a large hand and thrown down through the gap in the staircase.
"Not bad, you two," Hu Ge rolled the steel pipe against the wall, wiping off the fluid stuck to it, and glanced at them.
"Can't compare to the North Club's Hu Steward," Gu Jingyong looked at Hu Ge, his cold gaze concealing a storm underneath.
"You know me?" Hu Ge, or rather Hu San, his eagle-like eyes immediately locked onto Gu Jingyong, his grip on the steel pipe tightening.
"Hu San, joined the North Club a year ago, became a steward three months ago thanks to a Level 1 instance," Gu Jingyong brushed off the wall dust from his sleeve, looking at Hu San's increasingly serious expression, and sneered.
"If you don't want to die, don't entertain thoughts you shouldn't," Gu Jingyong coldly glanced at him before walking downstairs, ignoring Hu San's reaction.
High Xin followed behind him, both dressed in black, exuding a somber aura.
"Hu Ge, what's so surprising about him knowing your identity?" the lackey, not understanding Hu San's seriousness, found it odd.
"There are many who know I'm a steward, but few who can match my real name with my appearance," Hu San glanced at the man, his dark eyes making the lackey tremble.