Crimson blood splattered across the pale pink sheets, forming a vast, grotesque map.
The vibrant, contrasting crimson seemed to vibrate, sending a dizzying shock through Ling Yechen’s mind.
Yet, a surge of electricity seemed to course through the arm holding the knife, propelling her slender hand.
The blade detached from the man’s vital area, then, in mere seconds, plunged into his abdomen three more times.
The man, blood beginning to well at the corners of his mouth, stared wide-eyed, a guttural gurgle trapped in his throat.
Finally, he mustered his strength, raising his right hand to snatch the knife from Ling Yechen.
As if her vision possessed a built-in crosshair, the blade plunged directly into the man’s palm, piercing between two metacarpal bones.
With an upward flick, his hand split open into two ghastly halves, his index and ring fingers dangling uselessly to either side.
Too consumed to marvel at her suddenly awakened combat prowess, Ling Yechen felt the fear and fury that had simmered under the man’s oppressive presence now erupt in a torrent.
She tightened her grip on the hilt, continuing to stab at the man’s chest.
“I was wrong!” the man wailed, tumbling from the bed onto the floor.
“Don’t kill me! I won’t *you anymore! I won’t dare!”
The thought, ‘Is killing someone against the law?’ barely flickered in Ling Yechen’s mind.
However, remembering Teacher Luo’s popular science explanation of legitimate self-defense, her resolve hardened, her hand steadied.
She followed him, leaping off the bed, and aiming precisely for You Bing’s chest, she plunged the knife in three times.
One strike must have pierced a lung, for You Bing shrieked, spitting frothy blood from his mouth, choking and coughing a few times before his eyes slowly rolled upwards.
Ling Yechen trembled as she stood, the knife clattering to the floor.
She looked up, catching sight of her blood-soaked reflection in the mirror.
Her shirt was speckled with sprayed bloodstains, and even her disheveled white hair was matted with crimson, making her look like a small, blood-spattered witch.
Her face in the mirror was more unfamiliar than ever before, as if it belonged to someone else.
Staring at it, she even momentarily imagined that person was about to kill her.
She gently wiped a drop of blood from her cheek with her finger, only to leave behind streaks like crimson meteors.
She had never imagined she would one day take a life so cleanly, so decisively.
Leaving aside her physical condition, she had never harbored any interest in tangible acts of killing or combat.
Her fondness for Paradox Interactive games? That was an entirely different matter.
She also understood that the simulated violence in games likely only made people more oblivious to real brutality.
Therefore, now that she had truly enacted violence, she felt as though her body did not belong to her.
Though, in truth, it didn’t.
****
With a soft creak, the door pushed open, and Du Lan tentatively poked her head inside to investigate.
She seemed utterly incapable of comprehending the arrangement of the corpse, the bloodstains, and the white-haired girl staring at her with such detached indifference.
For several seconds, she scrutinized the scene with the meticulousness of someone trying to decipher a piece of modern installation art.
Then, a sudden, profound horror seized her.
Her slightly stout calves trembled, and she nearly bolted.
“Come in.”
Perhaps realizing she had nowhere else to run, Du Lan entered the room, her head bowed.
Ling Yechen sat on the edge of the bed.
She felt utterly lost, unsure what her next steps should be.
Regardless, she wanted nothing more to do with this girl she had once thought could be a friend.
“Ye, listen to me…”
“I won’t harm you.
But I also have no desire to hear any of your excuses.”
In the dim room, the two sat in silence for a long while before Ling Yechen finally stood up.
“Thank you for the clothes, the glasses, the food, and for saving me.
I’ve now helped you get rid of a troublesome problem, though I don’t know if that’s enough to repay you.
Or perhaps you would have preferred this man to live, coming over every day to ‘clear your pipes,’ hmm!?”
“No! Never! Thank you for killing him for me!”
Du Lan clasped her hands together above her head.
It was remarkable that she could still manage such a pose, clearly borrowed from a Japanese anime.
Considering the fact that Du Lan had deceived her, Ling Yechen felt a surge of anger.
Though the sudden outburst of combat power had seemed a complete accident to her, believing herself still a small, helpless girl, Du Lan certainly wouldn’t see it that way.
She surely thought Ling Yechen was a skilled fighter, capable of snapping and killing her in a fit of rage.
Ling Yechen had also considered this, but she was naturally too lazy to explain, ‘Don’t worry, I accidentally killed him.’
It was better to let Du Lan remain fearful of her.
So Ling Yechen deliberately straightened her face, lowered her voice, and asked with a chilling undertone, “Tell me everything you know.”
****
It turned out that Du Lan and Li Zilin were classmates in their undergraduate years, sharing an apartment here while preparing for their postgraduate entrance exams.
Li Zilin seemed well-suited to living alone; her study progress was remarkably fast, and it was said her initial exam performance was excellent.
Du Lan, however, struggled to get out of bed each day, scrolling through social media until ten in the morning before finally starting to review vocabulary.
In the afternoon, she would study her specialized subjects, then inevitably open her computer to play otome games.
Evenings were spent engaging in flame wars on Weibo, arguing until midnight, only to finally collapse into bed, consumed by regret.
‘I’ll deal with it tomorrow,’ she’d tell herself, closing her eyes.
Each time she was invited to Li Zilin’s room for snacks and saw the neatly organized notes and meticulously planned schedules on her walls, Du Lan grew frustrated and anxious.
The mere thought of her parents’ suspicious gazes after she failed the exams, perhaps even uttering words like, ‘Look how Little Li managed to get in,’ filled her with overwhelming shame.
About a month before the postgraduate entrance exam, one evening, Li Zilin sought out Du Lan to confide in her.
Her boyfriend, You Bing, seemed to have gotten involved in online gambling, repeatedly coming to her for money.
Du Lan could tell that Li Zilin wanted her to help her make a firm decision: to break up with her boyfriend completely.
But by some perverse impulse, a wicked idea sparked in Du Lan’s mind: why not persuade Li Zilin to stay with her boyfriend?
Perhaps this way, she could teach her a ‘lesson.’
What kind of lesson?
To stay away from scumbags?
To not be consumed by love?
These were the excuses Du Lan gave herself.
The lesson she truly envisioned, of course, was, ‘a lesson for living a better life than me.’
What Li Zilin saw in You Bing might forever remain a mystery.
In any case, after three consecutive days of Du Lan’s patient and artful persuasion, Li Zilin and You Bing actually got back together.
The three of them shared a meal.
You Bing then demonstrated an online ‘game,’ surprisingly earning two hundred yuan.
Du Lan almost wondered if it truly was a good way to make money.
If this couple managed to get rich from it, and Li Zilin also passed her exams, Du Lan might as well just jump into the Lancang River.
Fortunately, Du Lan had received anti-fraud education and knew that such online gambling was an absolute bottomless pit.
So she steadied her resolve and continued to encourage the couple to live well.
Predictably, a month later, arguments began to erupt from the adjacent room.
As for the eventual escalation to knives, that was even more unexpected.
After all, the zombie outbreak itself was unforeseen.
Without this incident, You Bing might have shown some fear of legal repercussions and calmed down slightly, and they would have gone their separate ways peacefully.
However, when their fierce argument erupted, and Li Zilin ran to Du Lan’s door, crying, “Sister Lan, help me! You Bing’s gone mad! He’s stabbing me!” Du Lan had just finished a phone call with her parents.
Her vague answers about her performance had aroused her parents’ deep suspicion, leading them to question if she had wasted her time again, culminating in an argument over the phone.
A malicious thought instantly bloomed in Du Lan’s heart.
‘If you die, my parents will at least think I’m alive and better off than you.’
Perhaps at the most desperate moment of Li Zilin’s cries for help, Du Lan had hesitated whether to open the door.
But when You Bing’s knife plunged down fiercely, and Li Zilin let out a strangled ‘ugh!’ Du Lan merely shrugged.
‘Forget it,’ she thought. ‘Too late.
Her own fault.’
Then she opened a certain forum on her phone to find out what was causing the incessant screams and sirens on the streets.
Upon learning that a ‘biochemical crisis’ had actually occurred, she suddenly felt a sense of liberation.
‘Hey, nothing else matters,’ she thought.
‘I can just relax and enjoy myself.’
‘The exam results will definitely be voided anyway.
Or maybe, since most of the excellent candidates will have turned into zombies, after the biochemical crisis ends, even with a lower score, I, as a survivor, might still secure a spot?’
Thinking this, a wave of satisfaction washed over Du Lan.
There was no need to elaborate on what happened next.
“I know I’m despicable.
Lazy, stupid, and wicked.
Even saving your life, my motives were impure.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been born, Ye.
This world is only fit for beautiful and powerful people like you.”
Ling Yechen could discern Du Lan’s underlying meaning—that as a rat-like person, one could only achieve their goals through sordid, rat-like methods.
Of course, Du Lan knew explicitly stating this might enrage Ling Yechen, so she didn’t.
“So what?” Ling Yechen’s deep blue eyes flickered, devoid of emotion.
“Now everything is over.
I can’t film you for a short video to post online.
I can’t call the police to get justice for Li Zilin.
I can’t invite reporters to turn you into a cautionary tale on a legal program, forever tainting your name.
“The reality is, you’re still alive.
The Li Zilin you disliked is gone, You Bing is gone.
You can freely use the supplies in You Bing’s apartment upstairs.
Tens of thousands of people across the city may have died, and yet you are alive.
“Given all of this, what good does it do to label you a scumbag now?”
‘Perhaps you’re even secretly pleased.’
Du Lan seemed to have missed Ling Yechen’s true meaning, likely interpreting her words as, ‘It’s normal for humanity to degrade during a disaster, sister, I don’t blame you.’
She chuckled awkwardly.
“Right, right, as long as we’re alive, that’s what matters.”
“But I truly wish you would die.
I’m purely disgusted by the sight of you.”
Ling Yechen took the keys from You Bing’s body, then had Du Lan lead the way upstairs to You Bing’s room, where they ransacked the place.
Ling Yechen only took some crackers, giving the rest to Du Lan.
“I don’t want to see you again.
I’ll continue to try and contact others, and if that fails, I’ll run away,” Ling Yechen said before driving Du Lan out of You Bing’s room.
“If you need my phone…” Du Lan still tried to offer a bargaining chip.
“I don’t f***ing need it! You Bing’s phone is right here!”
Du Lan bowed repeatedly.
“Alright, alright, I’m going, I’m going.”
She softly closed the door, then scurried down the stairs.