Chapter Five: A True Villain

"Deng Xiu, what are you doing? Let go, let go now!"

To Yang Fan's left, a girl was being bitten by a boy while the other classmates struggled desperately to pull him away. After exerting all their strength, they finally succeeded, but as soon as they did, everyone gasped in horror.

The boy, Deng Xiu, had fingernails as long as his fingers, sharply pointed, his eyes rolled back, and his teeth had grown into terrifying fangs stained with blood. The sight was ghastly.

"Ah! Ghosts! There are ghosts!" the class screamed, while elsewhere more zombies were biting people, their shrieks echoing through the room, sending the surrounding students stumbling back several meters in terror.

Zombies? That was everyone's first thought. Then Deng Xiu fixed his gaze on someone and lunged forward, baring his fangs. The boy he attacked tried to push him away, but Deng Xiu's sharp nails tore his skin and locked his hands in a death grip.

The zombie bit deep into his throat. Agony shot through him; he howled and thrashed, eyes wide with terror, pleading with the others for help, but no one moved—everyone was frozen in shock.

Yang Fan strode over, wasted no words, seized the zombie by the neck and twisted sharply. Crack! The neck snapped. Ten apocalypse coins were gained. As for the boy with the torn throat, he collapsed, struggling soundlessly. Yang Fan showed no mercy and broke his neck too.

He then approached the girl, who stood there in a panic, unaware she would soon turn into a zombie—until Yang Fan snapped her neck as well.

"Run," Yang Fan ordered, grabbing Liu Qiaoqiao’s hand and sprinting out. Stay here? That was a joke. With this useless group, infection was inevitable. If the whole class turned, he’d be dead for sure. The school would be overrun with zombies in three days.

No. 8 High School was already near the city’s edge, so it would take about ten days for the number of zombies on campus to decrease. Right now, Yang Fan was weaker than ordinary people—fighting zombies was a fool’s errand.

Seeing Yang Fan flee, the others hesitated for a few seconds before following. Many were so scared their legs gave out, like Wu Yinmei. Qi Hai, a bit braver, left the classroom quickly. At the door, he saw Li Huiqi, now a zombie, biting a security guard’s arm. Summoning his courage, he broke her neck, then led the stunned Bai Su and Wu Yinmei away.

Inside the classroom, shrieks of terror resounded. About ten students managed to escape, crowding at the door with no thought of courtesy.

Picture dozens of people crammed at the exit, instantly blocking it. Some at the back suddenly felt a chill, then searing pain and overwhelming terror as former friends—eyes rolled back, mouths filled with blood and flesh—grabbed their hands and tore into them.

"No! No, don’t bite me! Don’t kill me!"

"Go! Please, go!"

The screams were harrowing; some escaped, but most were bitten.

No. 8 High School’s teaching building had eight stories; senior classes were on the third floor. Yang Fan’s target was the music room on the seventh floor—few zombies would be there. In his previous life, he and Qin Ziwen had hidden in the seventh-floor music room. Now, Yang Fan led the way, with Qi Hai and the others close behind.

Simultaneously, students from many classes began to flee, screams rising and falling as this sudden catastrophe struck with deadly force.

At the stairwell, a zombie was descending slowly. Liu Qiaoqiao blanched in terror, and Qi Hai and the others froze, wanting to flee but trapped. Yang Fan saw the zombie—a female teacher in professional attire, probably delivering documents—now a zombie progenitor.

"Do or die," Yang Fan muttered, grabbing an axe from the nearby fire cabinet. It weighed about seven or eight pounds—heavy, but the best weapon available. Without hesitation, he swung the axe down. The zombie wasn’t decapitated but was knocked aside, just as a bespectacled student ran out of the classroom—right into her arms.

Without a word, the zombie bit him.

"Ah!" the boy screamed, never expecting to escape one horror only to fall into another. The pain made him howl. Yang Fan could only mutter, "Sorry," before pulling Liu Qiaoqiao away; he had no obligation to shout warnings to others.

The others watched the boy’s agony with terror, swallowing hard. Seeing Yang Fan fleeing upward, Qi Hai immediately followed, and the rest gradually caught on. But some zombies surged out, and those who reacted slowly were surrounded, their screams piercing the air.

The school was in chaos—screams, panic, hysteria.

Yang Fan reached the fifth floor; the way was blocked. Four sluggish zombies descended from above—luckily, there were no progenitors among them.

He glanced at Qi Hai and sneered, "Coward."

Qi Hai’s anger flared but he held back—Yang Fan was ruthless, even if only to zombies. Qi Hai couldn’t be so heartless, but Yang Fan, axe in hand, could not be trifled with.

Bai Su, meanwhile, snapped out of her daze, watching Yang Fan with awe—he seemed like a different person.

Yang Fan stood below and hacked viciously at a zombie, smashing its head with the axe handle. He then swung back and decapitated another. The axe was sharp enough, but the attacks slowed him down. The other two zombies lunged at him, and a single slip would have spelled his end.

With a physique below ten, Yang Fan couldn’t resist the zombie virus. He dared not get cocky—he retreated a few steps, then dispatched the remaining two zombies with calculated blows. It took effort, but he killed all four.

Eight apocalypse coins were gained.

"Zombies have the lowest drop rate. Damn it," Yang Fan grumbled in a phrase no one else understood, seeing the corpses yielded nothing extra.

He didn’t bother explaining, just led Liu Qiaoqiao onward.

They quickly reached the sixth floor. Those with Yang Fan included Qi Hai, Bai Su, Wu Yinmei, the discipline director, and several other boys and girls from different classes—seven or eight in total. Yang Fan frowned; such a group could easily attract zombies.

He said nothing. Reaching the sixth floor, he saw zombies descending the staircase—these were higher-level zombies. The seventh floor was rarely used, protected by a metal door that was only opened for special occasions, like inspections.

That’s why hiding on the seventh floor had worked in his previous life.

Yang Fan worked hard to eliminate the zombies, then led the group upward. However, some zombies had followed, and those at the rear were caught and killed amid screams.

On the seventh floor, a silver metal door blocked their path. Fortunately, the school hadn’t invested much in it—it wasn’t fully sealed, just secured with a thick iron chain. The zombies were closing in; every second counted.

"Who has the key?" Yang Fan asked the discipline director. If not, he’d break the chain.

"I do, I do!" The director, stripped of all authority by fear, fumbled out a set of keys, hands trembling as he tried and failed to unlock the chain. Hearing the screams below grow louder, Yang Fan shoved him aside and twisted the lock. Click—the chain fell away.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Inside!" Yang Fan ordered Liu Qiaoqiao in first, then the director. Qi Hai tried to follow, only to be kicked aside by Yang Fan.

"You still want in?" Yang Fan’s voice was grim. He pointed the axe at Wu Yinmei and Qi Hai. "Everyone except these two can go in."

The others immediately surged through the doorway, babbling in panic. Qi Hai, furious, pointed at Yang Fan and shouted, "You’re going too far!"

"Too far? I am, so what?" Yang Fan replied icily. He was no gentleman—he never repaid kindness with kindness. Quite the opposite, a true scoundrel. He’d learned this a month ago from Qin Ziwen and Qi Hai themselves.

Screams intensified, zombie footsteps echoed closer. Qi Hai’s face paled; he tried to negotiate, "Fine, I was wrong. Please, let me in. I beg you." Anyone would fear death, and Qi Hai was no exception.

"No," Yang Fan said simply, stepping through the door, the axe glinting coldly in his hand, making Qi Hai hesitate.

"You’re ruthless. Bai Su, Wu Yinmei, let’s go," Qi Hai called, glancing down at the approaching zombies. He tried to sound tough.

But Bai Su and Wu Yinmei ignored him…