Guo Hanxue smiled bitterly as she desperately fought off the zombies. She had never expected that the person she had been chasing would be devoured by zombies in order to save her. At this moment, her heart was torn with guilt and regret…
It was over now. Since he died because of her, she would repay him with her own life.
With numerous wounds all over her body, Guo Hanxue gradually gave up resisting. Seeing the zombies closing in, their sharp teeth ready to sink into her, she closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out, and a zombie's head flew off, landing right in Guo Hanxue's hand.
Startled, she opened her eyes and saw that, not far away, the group of zombies surrounding Jiang Yi was now being torn apart in a bloody frenzy. A black blade gleamed in the air, each swing shattering the zombies into pieces.
Jiang Yi's eyes were bloodshot, and the black skull-cutting knife was once again firmly gripped in his hand. With every strike, not a single zombie could withstand the blade's sharpness. In no time, the five zombies surrounding him were completely dismembered.
With murderous intent, Jiang Yi advanced, swinging the blade as if it had a mind of its own. The zombies were no match for his speed, and the skull-cutting knife lived up to its name.
Watching Jiang Yi fight with such ferocity, Guo Hanxue no longer had thoughts of dying. Taking advantage of the rare moment of respite, she picked up her longbow and aimed it at a zombie's neck. With a mighty pull, the sharp string pierced the zombie's throat, and its head rolled away.
Jiang Yi, observing her, couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. Summoning the last of his strength, he plunged the dark blade into the last zombie's eye socket. His energy depleted, he collapsed into a pool of blood, unable to hold onto the blade. He gasped for air, feeling as if his body was about to explode.
Guo Hanxue wasn't in any better condition. Both of them were covered in dark red blood, with barely any intact flesh left—scratches and bite marks everywhere.
Luckily, the zombies on the fourth floor had been completely dealt with. Otherwise, after the two of them had spent their energy, even a single zombie could have finished them off.
After resting for a while, Guo Hanxue felt a little strength returning to her body. She used her longbow to prop herself up and staggered over to Jiang Yi, who was still lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
Jiang Yi felt like his body was in excruciating pain. In addition to the wounds, the most unbearable part was the immense physical and mental exhaustion. Just as he was regretting his hasty decision, he noticed Guo Hanxue approaching him. His face went pale. "Damn it, you're coming here again?" he muttered, struggling to grab the black knife that was lodged in the zombie's skull but was too weak to move.
Guo Hanxue rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, fine. Don't worry, I'm not planning on killing you right now. But do you really want to just lie here?"
Jiang Yi's face stiffened. He looked at her with frustration. "Then you have to promise you won't make trouble for me anymore!"
Guo Hanxue glared at him with annoyance. "If you don't want to get up, just die here then!" She turned to walk away, but Jiang Yi quickly called out, "No, no! I don't want to lie here with all these rotten corpses! Please, show some mercy! Don't hold it against me—just help me up!"
Guo Hanxue, with a mixture of fury and frustration, finally turned around and reached out her hand.
Jiang Yi blinked in surprise, but quickly grabbed her hand.
In that instant, both of them froze for a moment. Despite both their hands being dirty and weak, they somehow felt like they were supporting each other.
Neither Guo Hanxue nor Jiang Yi had ever experienced such an atmosphere before.
Fortunately, this fleeting feeling quickly passed. They helped each other as they stumbled up, Jiang Yi pulling out the skull-cutting knife. He glanced at the blade but said nothing, allowing Guo Hanxue to help him climb to the fifth floor.
The door to Room 508 was slightly ajar, and the two of them easily walked in. Guo Hanxue threw Jiang Yi onto one bed while she collapsed onto the bed opposite him. Both of them were panting heavily, glancing at each other. Their eyes met, and for some reason, they both smiled.
Guo Hanxue's smile was a bit bleak, while Jiang Yi's seemed to be one of relief from surviving the ordeal.
After not resting for long, Jiang Yi stood up, gritting his teeth as he began to remove his bloodstained clothes. Guo Hanxue, with lifeless eyes, looked at him. "What are you doing?"
Jiang Yi carefully separated the fabric from his wounds as he spoke. "I'm treating my injuries and stopping the bleeding. If I keep losing blood like this, I'll either die in the zombies' mouths or bleed out."
Guo Hanxue scoffed bitterly. "It's useless. Don't waste your effort. Once a zombie bites or scratches you, you'll turn within hours. What's the point of treating it?"
Suddenly, Guo Hanxue seemed to get agitated and looked at Jiang Yi with pleading eyes. "Promise me, if one of us turns into a zombie, the other one should end it for them. I don't want to become a zombie after I die." As she spoke, tears began to fall down her cheeks.
Jiang Yi blinked, then turned to face her, eyes full of surprise. "Don't you know? The zombie virus has no effect on us ability users."
Guo Hanxue was heartbroken, but when she heard Jiang Yi's words, her eyes lit up with surprise. "What did you say? Are you saying we can't die?"
Jiang Yi, who had been admiring her appearance as she spoke, gave a slight nod while continuing to remove his clothes. "Of course, we don't know for sure, but I'm sure I won't die."
"You mean this power?" A gentle breeze blew across the room as Guo Hanxue spoke, her right hand lifting, a faint azure light swirling around her fingers.
Jiang Yi looked up in shock and saw a strange power emanating from her hand. His heart skipped a beat. "You're an ability user?"
In truth, Jiang Yi had already suspected that Guo Hanxue might possess some kind of special ability ever since he saw the power behind her archery. However, he thought it was something that enhanced her bow's power, as her close combat abilities had seemed lacking.
But now, witnessing an ability almost identical to Chen Jiazhi's, Jiang Yi couldn't help but be stunned.
Guo Hanxue nodded, her energy fading as the blue light around her fingers dissipated. "I'm not sure. About a week ago, after I recovered from a fever, I discovered I could summon wind energy. It's just that the power is so weak, I can barely use it... So, will I really not die?"
Despite her curiosity about her newfound power, Guo Hanxue was more concerned about her own survival.
Jiang Yi glanced at her, a little envious, but still maintained a calm expression. "Zombies won't turn you, but if you don't stop the bleeding, you're still going to die from blood loss."
At the mention of blood loss, Guo Hanxue was too frantic to focus on her newfound powers. She panicked and screamed, "Then stop the bleeding, quickly! But I don't have any medicine here, what should we do?"
Seeing her in such a frantic state, Jiang Yi couldn't help but chuckle. He couldn't quite reconcile the person in front of him with the one who had been trying to kill him not long ago. "Alright, I have medicine. Just take off your clothes. I'll go get it!" Saying that, he grabbed his knife and walked out, completely ignoring the hopeful look she gave him.
The zombies on the fifth floor had already been dealt with, and the same was true for the sixth floor. So, it took Jiang Yi less than a minute to return to his room. His eyes immediately fell on the arrow stuck in the doorframe, and he couldn't help but gulp, cursing inwardly. Guo Hanxue sure knew how to hit hard!
Having lost a significant amount of blood, Jiang Yi grabbed some bottles of water from his bag and quickly used them to rinse his body, wiping off the bloodstains with a bedsheet. After repeating the process a few times, he finally found a first aid kit and sprayed medicine on his wounds.
Almost every part of his body was injured, the worst being a torn piece of flesh on his shoulder, with scratches and bite marks covering the rest of him. But, considering the threat of the zombie virus, these wounds wouldn't be lethal to a normal person.
Once the medicine was applied, it felt as though the wounds had been sealed in a layer of gel, and there was no need to bandage them.
While the medicine dried, Jiang Yi hungrily ate some Jade Fat Meat. It had healing properties, and though it was likely more of a psychological comfort, it made him feel a little better. His wounds didn't seem as painful after eating.
Packing everything back into his bag, Jiang Yi stood in front of the knife sheath on the ground, staring at it for a moment. Curiously, he reached down and tried to grasp it. To his surprise, the sheath suddenly jumped and disappeared, reappearing in his hand as if by magic!
Even though Jiang Yi had suspected this, he was still startled. The skull-cleaving knife could really appear at his call!
He thought back to the time when he was almost eaten by zombies while trying to rescue Guo Hanxue. In that critical moment, he had wished for the knife to appear, and sure enough, it had materialized in his hand just like that.
If it hadn't been for the knife, their outcome could have been disastrous.
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Yi couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Now he understood what "indestructible" and "irretrievable" meant when it came to the skull-cleaving knife. This blade was a true apocalypse weapon. Compared to it, the weapons made by Gao Wei were nothing.
Filled with excitement, Jiang Yi headed back to the fifth floor. With a small lamp powered by a battery in hand, he entered the room and saw that Guo Hanxue was wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the bed. Her discarded clothes were piled on the floor.
When she saw Jiang Yi return, she let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. After all, she was almost completely naked beneath the blanket...