A lifetime of illustrious reputation ruined by the burning of his corpse

Can something stink more than a zombie? The facts tell me it can.

The dimly lit factory had no ventilation holes and was filled with a strong stench. It was different from the pure stench of zombies; it was a mixture of body odor, the smell of corpses, the stench of feces, the stench of urine, and some other indistinguishable odors, all mixed together, making it almost suffocating.

What happened? Just one day later, after a fierce battle, this factory had become a biological weapon, so powerful that... it was like pouring canned herring into a septic tank and then heating it up.

Li Tonggu said, "I can't beat them. They have urine, they have feces, and some people even grab poop and throw it at me."

I'm absolutely furious! What kind of people are these?! If you can't beat them, just kneel down! Why do you have to be so disgusting and spew shit and piss everywhere?!

I covered my nose and tears streamed down my face. Zhao Zhuobao, walking beside me, was also in tears. Li Tonggu asked, puzzled, "Why are you crying?"

Zhao Zhuobao squinted and replied in pain, "It stinks so damn bad! It's going to blind me!"

Li Tonggu, without stopping chewing his food, sniffed and said, "It's alright, you'll get used to the smell."

Zhao Zhuobao and I looked at him with admiration while tears streamed down our faces. Not only did Xiao Li have extraordinary eyesight, but his sense of smell was also exceptional!

Ninety percent of the supplies had already been transported away. The factory was empty and filthy. Two male corpses lay on the ground, one shot dead and the other with his throat slit, their deaths gruesome.

"It wasn't us who did it, right?"

Li Tonggu nodded: "They wouldn't let us surrender, so they killed us and ran away."

He wasn't very articulate, but I understood what he meant. These two wanted to defect, but were killed by the ruthless leader, who then escaped. All the other prisoners in the yard were spared; these two were just unlucky enough to run into trouble.

"Sigh, another hidden danger has been left." I sighed. Of all things, the one that ran away was the most ferocious. Things can never go as planned.

Hearing sobbing coming from the small room to the south, I asked Li Tonggu, "Weren't those women released?"

"The back door wasn't locked, so nobody's leaving."

I can't understand it. The environment is already so bad, and freedom is right in front of them. What are these girls thinking?

"I'll go take a look."

Zhao Zhuobao couldn't contain his agitation at the sound of a woman's voice, but I grabbed him and said, "No, you don't resist when you should, and you don't run away when you can. We can't afford to support someone like that."

Zhao Zhuobao looked at me disapprovingly: "Women are weak and should be protected. Aifeng, you have no compassion."

I wiped away my tears: "Really? Your existence has already proven that I am very compassionate. Don't try to provoke me, Zhuo Bao, you're playing with fire."

Li Tonggu couldn't drive, so Zhao Zhuobao drove him home to rest, while I stayed alone at the auto repair shop.

The guard was replaced by a woman, and she no longer patrolled from a high position. The prisoners, whose hands and feet were bound and mouths gagged, immediately began to move squirm. They exchanged glances, rubbing their buttocks as if they had sores, and slowly moved towards the center.

I knew perfectly well what they wanted to do. They were just huddled together, covering each other's movements, trying to find a way to untie the ropes in my blind spot. Even if they could only untie one person, dealing with a woman would be a piece of cake.

Ridiculous. The combat team dares to leave only one person to guard the position because they have the confidence to do so. Without tools, how could you country bumpkins possibly untie the sophisticated knots Han Bo tied?

I remained expressionless, carrying my gun and pacing back and forth in front of the prisoners twice, ignoring their subtle movements. Then I hid in a corner where there was no sun and lit a cigarette.

Seeing my carelessness, these people moved around even more energetically. The initial bewilderment and fear on their faces disappeared, replaced by an undisguised smugness and ruthlessness in their eyes. In the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, several people had indeed quietly gathered together.

Gangs are ultimately different. I exhaled one last smoke ring into the sky and slowly flicked away the cigarette butt. Seeing the prisoners staring intently at my actions, I actually felt a sense of accomplishment in showing off.

It should feel the same way I do every time I see Yu Zhongjian flicking his cigarette butt to show off.

With my gun on my shoulder, I wandered around inside and outside a few times, found half a box of engine oil, a dozen rolls of toilet paper, and some broken wooden crates, and threw them haphazardly in the yard.

The size of their movements fluctuated with my movements; when I walked away, they swarmed together like madmen; when I returned, they pretended to be nonchalant, glancing around. This continued until I dragged the two corpses out of the factory and straight to the prisoners.

Their small movements stopped. They stared wide-eyed at their comrade's gruesome corpse, watching me pour engine oil on the dead man's clothes and pants, light toilet paper and wood scraps, and once a flame was lit, throw it directly onto the body.

Engine oil is hard to ignite, and the temperature isn't high enough to start a big fire. Even with those dozen or so rolls of toilet paper, the flames could only be kept burning, barely alive.

I squatted to one side, spitting out ash, and piled firewood onto the corpses like I was tending a rural earthen stove. Thin wisps of black smoke drifted by, burning through their clothes and reaching their flesh; the sizzling sound of oil seeping into our ears, and a strange smell lingered in everyone's nostrils. I squinted at the pile of prisoners; they were all intently watching me roast the corpses over the small fire, not a single person making a sound or moving.

I was satisfied with their quietness but not with the fire. At this rate, it might not even finish burning a single corpse by midnight. There weren't many flammable items in the factory, so I set my sights on the prisoners.

After a few terrified screams, I sheathed the bayonet from my gun, took a few pieces of clothing used in dismemberment, and returned to the roasting area. I lit a fire and added fuel. When it was almost done burning, I picked out a few more who were dressed more warmly and began to skin them. If any of them resisted or struggled too much, I would poke them with the bayonet three inches below their navel twice, and they would calm down.

As the sun set, the prisoners in the courtyard had been almost all stripped naked, and the fire still burned slowly and steadily. I finished the remaining half pack of cigarettes, and my legs were numb from squatting. The corpses were completely burned and unrecognizable, but their figures remained unchanged.

It was unlucky, disgusting, and half-baked. Without proper hardware support, this was a complete failure. If I had known it would turn out this way, I shouldn't have confidently told Li Tonggu, "Go back to sleep, leave the burning of the dead to me."

In a fit of anger, I didn't care about the corpses anymore; I just left them there in a mess, letting them burn as they pleased. My attitude towards prisoners was no longer as lenient as before. I paced between the two rows of people, carrying a fire poker, observing everyone's little movements with a hawk-like gaze, thinking to myself, "If anyone gets a sore under their butt and can't stay put, I'll beat them up with this poker until they're covered in blood."

Most of the group were young men in their twenties, with a few who looked either particularly mature or particularly youthful. Strangely, I didn't recognize a single one of them. Huaicheng is a small place; I've at least run into some of the more notorious local scoundrels, even those I don't know personally. It's unbelievable that I didn't recognize a single member of this scumbag gang. Where did they come from, and how did they get together?

The plan to deal with the prisoners was unanimously approved at home at noon. If my father hadn't insisted on his bottom line, I would have thought it was too lenient. Shooting innocent civilians, imprisoning and humiliating women, torturing and severely wounding soldiers—the mastermind certainly deserves to die, but everyone present was also scum, all involved, all guilty, and no punishment was too much.

I didn't think I showed my hatred on my face, but the prisoners suddenly became unusually docile. Wherever I went, they trembled and fell silent. At first, I thought they must have sensed the overwhelming murderous aura emanating from me, but then I realized it was more likely that it was getting dark, the temperature was dropping sharply, and they were freezing since they weren't dressed in any clothes.

The fire on the corpse was almost extinguished. I pointed my stick at the only man who still had his trousers on, and he closed his eyes in despair.

Do you think I want to pull down your pants? With all that poop and pee, what else can I do but burn it? I'd find it disgusting!

During that time, a young woman came out of the factory, and perhaps more than one. They peeked at me from the gate, but when I turned around, they shrank back like startled rabbits.

The words were harsh, but if they had begged me for help and pestered me to come with them, I might have given in. But I didn't.

The confinement has been broken. Instead of calling for help or running away, they prefer to stay in this stinking factory. I can only guess that the person they are waiting for is not me.

When Han Bo and Zhou Yi came to relieve me, I was walking around among a bunch of naked men in the yard, occasionally throwing a stick at a few guys who dared to make a sound.

They remained silent for a while, then quietly handed me the car keys and took the fire poker I threw to them.

I gestured towards the ground with my lip: "I've done my best. The task of cremating the body is now yours."

Han Bo stammered, "What...what are you doing?"

Zhou Yi grinned lewdly: "Hey girl, taking your measurements? Got a size that fits?"

I glanced at the naked men on the ground, then at the two of them, and suddenly realized what was happening. I angrily spat at him: "Disgusting!"

Time flies when you're busy. With the relocation plan in mind, everyone in the family was busy with their own tasks. The sick and wounded were cared for, and my parents, along with the girls, took care of the logistics. I and the other able-bodied men joined in the work of clearing out the veterans' quarters.

It sounds daunting that a dozen or so people have to eliminate hundreds of zombies, but in the relatively closed environment of the veterans' camp, it's not actually that difficult.

A small portion of the zombies released by Zhao Zhuobao were scattered in various open corners, while a large portion returned to the inpatient and outpatient buildings to avoid the sunlight. That night, Yu Zhongjian, armed only with a gun, infiltrated the hospital, sealed off all four entrances on both floors, and then let his teammates in to clear out the zombies scattered in the courtyard, killing more than fifty and basically ensuring the safety and cleanliness of the external environment.

In other words, the bulk of the money is still inside the building.

This is where the scum gang from the auto repair shop came in handy. They divided them into two groups of ten, taking half away and leaving the other half behind. The ones left behind were guarded by the lightly wounded Wu Bainian and Li Qiang, while the rest were escorted to the veterans' ward. They could choose any weapon they wanted, and any inpatient or outpatient department they wanted. Once inside, they could report to the guards outside to request rest. They were given water every two hours and compressed biscuits every three hours. If someone didn't come out by the designated time, or came out injured, well, sorry, they'd be reborn as a good person in their next life.

Being cannon fodder is indeed a sad thing, but we didn't sit outside smoking and drinking tea watching them go to their deaths. Except for Zhao Zhuobao and Fatty Luo, who were assigned to guard the gate and distribute supplies, everyone else went inside.

Zhang Yanhuang and I went into the outpatient department, while Yu Zhongjian led Han Bo, Zhou Yi, Li Tonggu, and Xiao Hei to the more challenging inpatient department.

The outpatient building had four floors, with most of the zombies concentrated in the lobby. We were well-equipped and had plenty of ammunition. Zhang Yanhuang was in charge of sniping and providing cover, while I led three mentally unstable scumbags in the charge.

Their stomachs were full, and they were dressed, but their spirits were really low. They were sneezing as they fought off the zombies with axes and machetes, their limbs weak and limp. What would normally be a single blow to a zombie required much more effort, which made my job much more difficult.

"Damn trash!" I kicked a zombie off a scumbag, shoving a sharpened steel bar into its skull. Turning back, I snarled, "If you don't put in the effort, you're all dead!"

"Achoo!" The scumbag, still shaken, sneezed back at me, blowing a clear snot bubble from his nostril, which infuriated me.

The cleanup operation concluded that day, and personnel were evacuated; there were no casualties reported. As the prisoners were being led back to the auto repair shop, Wu Bainian said to us anxiously, "Two of them have high fevers; could they be infected with the zombie virus?"

Han Bo laughed: "You're sick, aren't you? Anyone would get sick if they were naked and freezing in sub-zero temperatures all night."

The crowd looked at the casually dressed and listless prisoners, puzzled. Zhou Yi chimed in with a cheeky grin: "Before the big wind, one guy stripped all the men in the yard naked, including two with their bare bottoms. It was so exciting, hehehe."

Shock, fear, disgust, disbelief—I endured the various ambiguous gazes directed at me, remaining silent with a somber expression. It's over. Something even worse than my idiotic ex-boyfriend has happened, hindering my search for a partner. My reputation, ruined by the burning of his corpse.

They killed and cleared out the remaining zombies. A few days later, firewood was piled up and a large fire was lit in the small square in front of the hospital. The prisoners, wearing medical masks and rubber gloves, carried the zombies out of the building one by one and threw them into the fire. The sense of smell was once again assaulted by the strong and irresistible shockwave of a biological weapon. Even though I was wearing three masks, I couldn't stop the fumes from making my head ache.

Most of the zombies being carried out were wearing striped uniforms, with the occasional one or two wearing black coats—their white clothes stained black with blood. Having mutated for so long, their features were deformed and their bodies damaged, making it almost impossible to identify them. Were they doctors, nurses, or the caregivers who had once fought alongside me?

I watched them become them, one by one thrown into the raging fire, their fragile and broken bodies charred, curled up, refined into dust, and finally turned into a wisp of black smoke drifting into the sky, existing only in the memories of the living.

All I can do is offer a sigh.

Yu Zhongjian approached me, puffing out large wads of smoke, seemingly trying to block out the stench of the corpse: "What are your plans for the next step?"

I stared blankly at the fire and whispered, "Live, live well."

Yu Zhongjian coughed and said, "Stop being so vague, let's get down to business."

I stroked my chin and thought for a moment: "The next plan is to establish ourselves in Huaicheng, compete for the provincial capital, liberate the capital city, sweep across Asia, unify the world, and become the master of the planet. What do you think?"

Yu Zhongjian pursed his lips, looked at me, and remained silent.

I glared at him and said, "Do you need to ask me if you're just going to do whatever you want? Just do it! But let me tell you, the gang leader has run away, and the whole family has to be on guard. If we don't catch him, we can forget about any further plans!" As I spoke, I patted his shoulder and said in a very sincere tone, "Xiao Yu, I'm only being blunt with you because I consider you one of my own. Don't forget, I'm not a lone wolf like you guys. I have parents too. Can we not be so impulsive and take too big a step? It's easy to make a mess of things."

The smoke obscured Yu Zhongjian's expression. I finished speaking and went back to work, not having time to pay attention to his reaction. Later that day, Han Bo told me that the exceptionally talented Yu Zhongjian had unusually consulted him, asking for advice on communication skills with women in hopes of improving their misunderstandings. Han Bo expressed his bewilderment, saying he had never seen Yu Zhongjian speak to any women before; who was he trying to communicate with?

The anger that had been building up inside me for days burned even brighter. So this bastard thinks I can't understand him?

It snowed lightly the night before Labor Day, and the next day the sky cleared up and the temperature rose sharply as if by magic. I went to sleep in my thick cotton pajamas, and after waking up, I took a shower and changed into a short-sleeved T-shirt and cargo shorts.

Ma Li was mopping the floor downstairs, her long, glossy black hair draped over her left shoulder, her profile captivating. Seeing me come down, she greeted me shyly, "Sister Feng." We'd been living together for a while now, and I'd stopped trying to correct her use of respectful terms. We were like people from the martial arts world, not bound by formalities.

The house was unusually clean and tidy. All supplies had been transferred to the veterans, and the household items that had been squeezed into corners were back in their places, restored to their pre-apocalyptic state.

My dad stood facing the wall next to the TV, sighing deeply as he looked at a calendar. In the end, he tore off the page for "April 30th".

Binbin ran in from outside the gate: "The car's here! The car's here! Let's move my dad first!"

The folding bed was already prepared. Zhao Zhuobao and Zhang Yanhuang moved their second uncle, while Liu Meili, carrying a backpack full of medical supplies, helped Binbin carry the person out.

The only person left in the ward was the company commander, who had been in a coma for several days. I hadn't had time to check on his condition since I rescued him that day. There was no one in the room at the moment, so I approached the bedside with my hands behind my back.

He was well taken care of by Zhang Yanhuang. His head, face, and neck were clean. The small cuts on his face had healed and scabbed over, and the bruises had turned dark purple, which was a sign that he was getting better. Apart from not waking up, he looked alright.

I bent down and took a closer look at the scars on his face. As I looked, I couldn't help but smile: "Your eyelashes are so long, and your nose is so straight. You're quite handsome, little soldier. Do you have a girlfriend? Wake up quickly, and I'll introduce you to one."

While spouting nonsense, he reached out and touched his forehead; the skin was warm, and he didn't have a fever. He then reached down the back of his neck, trying to feel the lump on the back of his head.

I had just lifted his head an inch when a pair of eyes suddenly opened right in front of me, meeting my gaze directly; the pupils were jet black.