“Stop worrying about others. Show me your hand,” Yu Sen grabbed Si Xuanyang’s elbow.

“It’s nothing serious…” Si Xuanyang resisted and took a step back.

“What? What’s wrong?” Si Nan, looking anxious, leaned in and saw the scratch on Si Xuanyang’s hand. His face immediately turned grim, “Yang Yang! You got scratched by a zombie?”

“Ah… I got scratched by accident. It’s okay. We’re here now, and we still have time.” Si Xuanyang spoke quickly.

“Damn zombies!” Si Nan cursed under his breath.

Why not tell the truth? Yu Sen was a bit confused, staring into Si Xuanyang’s eyes, but Si Xuanyang quickly averted his gaze and withdrew his hand: “Let’s hurry up and go up.”

The man who set the fire had already entered the elevator, and the numbers on the display were steadily rising.

The man and woman nearby, not daring to stay any longer, though the fire was blocking the way, who knew if the increasing number of zombies would eventually break through this line of defense. The woman supported the burned man and, without looking at Yu Sen and the others, directly entered another elevator.

“Let’s go!” Yu Sen patted Si Xuanyang’s shoulder. Upon closer inspection, it was already evident that Si Xuanyang’s face was gradually turning pale, and around the wound on his hand, purple-black veins were becoming more pronounced and spreading like vines up his arm.

In the company’s lobby, there were still two vacant elevators. They entered one of them. Just as they were about to press the close button, a loud rumbling noise came from afar, growing louder as it approached.

Then, a black heavy motorcycle zoomed through the flames and crashed heavily into the lobby.

The motorcycle skidded sideways and crashed into the front desk with a loud bang, shattering into pieces. The person on the motorcycle was flung off by the impact and rolled on the ground like a sandbag, finally landing right in front of Yu Sen’s elevator.

“Luo Yu!?” Si Nan exclaimed in shock.

The person on the ground was covered in injuries and blood, clothes in tatters, with part of his hair burned off by the flames. He lay motionless on the ground, unsure if he was alive or dead.

From the appearance, it was the student they first encountered in this world, Luo Yu, who was riding the motorcycle.

Yu Sen frowned, “Quickly drag him inside, and let’s leave immediately!”

He gripped Si Xuanyang’s wrist tightly, but no matter how tight he held on, he could clearly feel the warmth in his palm rapidly dissipating, turning colder like ice, and the coldness was spreading further.

No more mistakes could be afforded.

“I’m fine, don’t worry too much.” Perhaps sensing his tension, Si Xuanyang forced a smile.

“Stop smiling. It looks awful.” Yu Sen glanced at him, clearly his face was as pale as a sheet, and how uncomfortable he must be was obvious. How could someone usually so irritable endure so much at this moment?

“How do you feel now?” Yu Sen hesitated to ask.

“Hmm… Honestly, I feel a bit hot and cold,” Si Xuanyang closed his eyes tightly, sweat dripping from his lashes, “Other than that, I’m okay.”

Yu Sen pressed his lips together and said nothing, not entirely believing what he said.

Si Nan quickly dragged Luo Yu into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor—43rd floor.

Probably just a brief shock, Luo Yu started coughing violently after being dragged into the elevator, coughing so hard he nearly coughed up his lungs before he finally stopped, collapsing on the floor, gasping heavily, with sweat continuously pouring from his forehead.

“Luo Yu, are you still conscious?” Si Nan asked anxiously, holding a steel rod.

“Yeah, I’m conscious… I’m still a person,” Luo Yu gave a bitter smile, his voice a bit hoarse, “Did you save me? My savior, oh my luck is really good. I’ll definitely repay you when I get back…”

“Let’s go back first. You have so many injuries, were they all caused by zombies?”

“Some of them, yes. Others were from crashing with the motorcycle,” Luo Yu said weakly.

“Can you still hold on?” Si Nan’s face was worried. “Don’t turn into a zombie too soon, I’d feel guilty about killing you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve timed it,” Luo Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand. “If you hadn’t saved me, it would have been very close to dying. But now that we’re in the elevator, it should be okay.”

“That’s good. How do you feel now?”

“Pain! It hurts so much!” Luo Yu’s eyes were as red as if he’d been crying blood. “The wounds from the zombies hurt so badly, like being stabbed with needles. I’ve never felt such pain even when I had a tooth extracted!”

Yu Sen tightened his grip on Si Xuanyang’s wrist.

“… That’s actually a pretty good comparison,” Si Nan said dryly. He wiped a tear from Luo Yu’s eye, hesitated, and rubbed his singed hair, comforting him. “It’s okay, it’s okay… You’ll get better soon.”

Si Xuanyang lifted his eyelids and looked disapprovingly at Si Nan’s actions. He then stole a glance at Yu Sen’s expressionless, frosty face. They were both leaning against the elevator wall, very close to each other, with their blood surging and feeling extremely uncomfortable. Si Xuanyang didn’t bother to maintain distance anymore.

His tone was light, almost as if he were exhausted. “Aren’t you jealous?”

Yu Sen gave him a sidelong glance. “Finally gossiping when death is imminent?”

“Damn!” Si Nan only heard the latter part and complained, “Yu Ge, don’t curse my brother! He won’t die!”

“Hmph,” Yu Sen tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I won’t let him die.”

If he really did die, it would mean carrying an innocent life for a lifetime, wouldn’t it?

Moreover… Having such an interesting person to tease was more fun when alive.

The thought of Si Xuanyang turning into a soulless zombie filled Yu Sen with an uncontrollable panic and dread.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look too good.” Si Xuanyang’s head rested against the wall, which put his line of sight directly on Yu Sen’s face. He knew it wasn’t polite to stare, but his body was already exhausted from the zombie injuries. Moving even slightly consumed his energy. With this excuse, he managed to push away his discomfort.

Yu Sen closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his chest. “I think I might have a heart attack from the shock. I’ll need to go to the hospital for a check-up after we get out.”

Si Xuanyang: “…” Damn, what a drama queen!

The elevator was moving fast, and they soon reached the 43rd floor.

Yu Sen was still anxious, raising his crossbow cautiously as the elevator doors slowly opened.

He was stunned when he saw the scene outside the elevator.

The man who had gone up first after setting the fire was now lying on the ground with his head smashed in, like a pile of mush.

The man and a woman who had taken another elevator were there. The woman, facing away from Yu Sen and the others, was sitting on the ground in a dejected manner.

In front of her was her companion’s still-fresh corpse, with his neck almost completely bitten off. Fresh blood mixed with flesh, slowly forming a thick pool of blood.

“It was that man. He was bitten too early, probably turning into a zombie in the elevator,” Si Xuanyang’s eyes were filled with sadness.

“You won’t end up like that,” Yu Sen said firmly.

He glanced at the couple, probably lovers. When the elevator doors opened, they were caught off guard, and the man was bitten to death by the person who had turned into a zombie. The woman was also injured but had not yet transformed.

The 43rd floor was a large laboratory, a stark contrast to the rough wasteland outside. It was clean and precise, filled with cold experimental tables and various glass bottles and instruments.

“That operating table in the middle! Those green liquids in the test tubes!” Si Nan’s sharp eyes spotted it at once.

“Let’s go!”

Yu Sen helped Si Xuanyang as they passed the woman. Si Xuanyang’s gaze fell on her with a touch of sadness, but he said nothing.

Tsk! Soft-hearted people are really troublesome!

Yu Sen pursed his lips, handed Si Xuanyang over to Si Nan, and crouched to examine the woman carefully.

Yes, she hadn’t turned into a zombie yet; she was still conscious and could be saved with some guidance.

“Is it worth it to die together at this point?”

The woman did not move.

“I’m not going to say anything about whether your boyfriend would want you to live or not. In my view, death is death; thoughts and souls vanish into nothingness. There are no myths or fairy tales. He won’t be watching you from the sky or waiting for you on the Naihe Bridge.”

The woman stiffly lifted her head, her eyes filled with bloodshot anger.

Yu Sen ignored her and continued, “But if you die, everything he went through here—the pain, the courage, the effort to live—will be forgotten.”

“In the real world, he might be seen as having died suddenly or gone missing, and all his true experiences in his final moments will be buried here.”

The woman’s expression turned blank.

No more words were needed. Yu Sen stood up, his face cold as he left a final comment. “Then why not… try hard to survive and help him remember these things.”

He turned around. Si Xuanyang was standing a few steps away, holding three test tubes and looking at him with an expression as soft as a white cloud, perhaps due to exhaustion.

“Found the antidote serum.”

Yu Sen left one test tube next to the woman and drank the remaining three with Si Xuanyang, Si Nan, and Luo Yu.

The cold liquid flowed down his throat and into his body, making Yu Sen feel increasingly dazed. It was as if the building had turned transparent. He was floating in mid-air, seeing the clock reappear, and below, zombies pouring in like a dirty tide, piling up from the bottom floor and forming a decaying city wall.

Above the clear sky, the sun’s rays poured down like molten lava, as if the last dazzling brilliance of the apocalypse were engulfing the entire world, melting everything in its path.

Yu Sen closed his eyes, his consciousness returning to darkness.