When Yan Shi came to her senses and tried to call her family, she couldn't get through to any of them. Later, she saw news online that her parents' factory had caught fire and no one had survived.

There were many factories that caught fire because of zombies, and for a moment she didn't know who to blame for this tragedy.

Thinking about the future and getting married, people in their early twenties don't really think about what will happen if their parents are gone. Even if they have to work and can't go home for the New Year, or even if they don't call for months, they know their parents are there.

Now it's all gone, I'm all alone.

Yan Shi sat by the river in a daze. Occasionally, zombies would follow the scent and come over, only to be kicked into the river by Yan Shi or swallowed by the black hole in her palm. There were several pretty stones at her feet.

She even considered whether kicking the zombies down into the river would count as littering, and whether they would cause pollution if they went into the river. However, her thoughts didn't stop her from continuing to kick them down.

The black hole in the palm of the hand works intermittently, and besides, it's unknown whether it comes at the cost of overdrawing one's life force, so it's best to use it sparingly.

Just when Yan Shi thought she was going to starve to death, a girl with her hair tied up came over and greeted her. She told her that the black hole in the palm of her left hand was a power she gained after mutation, and explained how to use it and the possible adverse reactions. She also told her that the man-eating monster was called a zombie, and its weakness was its head...

It turns out that the appearance of zombies was a natural disaster, not a man-made one. It turns out that zombies existed thousands of years ago. It turns out that in addition to eating other living beings, humans also have the fate of being eaten.

But what does all this have to do with her? She's all alone now, she can't even cook, how could she possibly survive?

"You must live on, and you absolutely can live on. Very few people who are bitten by zombies don't turn into zombies themselves and instead mutate and gain abilities. God made you mutate so that you could live. I'm not forcing you to be a kind and good person, but at least don't let down those who weren't chosen. Try your best to live on."

The girl said her name was Sangzhi, and she was a sorcerer skilled in forming arrays. She had set up a barrier at a middle school and taken in some survivors; if she didn't know where to go, she could go there.

Two days later, the night was over.

A few days later, Sangzhi left, and no one knew where she went. Yan Shi also wanted to leave, but they saw her as a lifeline and didn't let her go.

They missed the government's rescue and were trapped in Huaicheng, unable to move forward or backward. They could only survive by relying on Yan Shi, a monster who could come and go freely, to bring back food.

Even though Sangzhi said that Yan Shi wouldn't turn into a zombie and attack them, they still couldn't completely trust this monster who always smelled of zombies.

Yan Shi was in a daze. Having lost her parents, she had become neither human nor ghost. To be honest, the disdain on people's faces and the wariness in their eyes didn't really hurt her. She no longer cared about those things.

What hurt her the most was that these people only knew how to cook instant noodles and fried rice, and that eating frozen dumplings or a low-budget hot pot was considered a feast.

The vegetables had long since rotted, and the city had no food supply. After a month, all we could eat were packaged fast food, which made us nauseous.

During the day, Huai City was as quiet as a deserted city. The car sounds that used to be heard all the time were no longer heard. Instead, the occasional roar of zombies could be heard. It was hard to tell whether they were fighting amongst themselves or happy to have found humans.

Yan Shi was kicking a small stone when she heard a crow cawing overhead. She looked up but couldn't tell if it was the same one from yesterday.

Yan Shi remembered a scene from an anime she had seen before, where a crow was training an eagle. She stretched her right arm out in front of her and before her arm got tired, she saw the crow that had been perched on the street lamp spread its wings and fly over. It circled her twice, landed on her outstretched right forearm, and even pecked at the flesh on her arm. It didn't peck too hard, and she didn't know if it wanted to eat her.

The crow tilted its head and looked at her, its round eyes filled with great confusion.

"What? You thought I was a corpse, rotting flesh? You're stupid, you've been fooled. I'm a real, living person, probably."

The crow turned its head away, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge what she had said.

"This little thing has quite a few ideas." Yan Shi reached out to touch its head, but it dodged.

Yan Shi lamented that he was now not only disliked by everyone, but even crows disliked him; he was worse than a rat crossing the street.

"I should think about my own business first." Yan Shi said, and began to walk through the streets and alleys to collect supplies. If he was going to leave, he should prepare in advance, such as shaving his head.

Washing my hair is such a hassle.

As soon as he returned, he heard the people inside discussing leaving the city. Yan Shi pushed open the door and went straight in, without even looking at them. He threw the food on the table and went back to his room.

Yan Shi had only brought back very little food for several days, which further fueled the discontent of those people. During another round of veiled criticism, Yan Shi picked up his luggage, casually tossed out a sentence, and left.

"I'm not playing along anymore, you guys have fun by yourselves."

Those people looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they knew they would have to leave her behind, this was not the time. If she left now, how would they survive?

Someone chased after them.

"I knew she was heartless!"

"Let's say less. They weren't obligated to take care of us anyway."

"Who's taking care of whom? If we hadn't taken her in, she might be under some bridge."

"It's not that bad. I think it would be much better for Yan Shi to be alone than to be together and accommodate us."

"Yan Shi." Yan Shi didn't expect Guan Shu to follow them.

"You've come here as a mediator? I'm not on your side, so it's best to part ways as soon as possible." She couldn't say anything too harsh to Guan Shu; perhaps that was an inherent advantage of being good-looking.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!