Chapter 118: Heresy

August 16: I don’t know what’s happening outside. I woke up, and everything seems changed.

August 20: No work today. Finally, I can sit quietly and think about myself. I miss Dad. The last time I went home was during the New Year. Mom left early. He always urged me to come back sooner, but I was busy with work. I only get one annual leave a year. I have to earn money and support the family.

August 23: I heard cries for help outside. A middle-aged woman was shouting, seeking shelter. But I just stood quietly by the window watching. I didn’t dare go downstairs. I have no courage at all.

August 26: I ate the last piece of cheese. I swear, there’s no food left in this house. If I had known a day like this would come, I would have stocked up more. I’m so hungry now, I just want to eat something—even those century eggs I hate so much.

August 27: I’ve been starving for two whole days. I’ve never endured such pain before. I think I should go out to find food, but there are still many zombies wandering outside. Maybe I can wait a little longer... just a little longer...

August 28: There were only three zombies yesterday, but today there are even more. I can’t go out. If I do, I’ll die. I’ll die terribly.

August 29: I’m so hungry I even ate half a belt. But that ten-yuan belt isn’t real leather. My stomach hurts badly, and my whole body feels awful. I know it’s over for me. There’s no chance to survive. I want to die. I can’t bear this pain any longer!!!

August 30: I miss Dad...

Fan Li closed the diary and placed it on the dust-covered table. The diary’s owner was a resident here, and that resident had chosen to slit their wrists in the bathroom.

In peaceful times, many things can bring down an adult—houses, cars, a decent job, or a family member’s illness.

But in the apocalypse, what can defeat an adult is far simpler; sometimes, just fifteen days.

Fan Li had long since accepted death calmly because he had adapted to this end-of-days life, filled with despair, darkness, and endless battles.

If in peaceful times the world still offered many colors—the bitter, the spicy, the sour, the sweet—all tasted in small measures, then in the apocalypse, only a hopeless gray remained.

Leaving the classroom, Fan Li headed toward the hospital. Buttons, the obsessive notebook, Ellie—all needed “kill points” to heal. Even the butcher’s favor had to be fed to thaw their relationship.

Fan Li was now on the blacklist for broken promises. To quickly repay his “debt,” he had to speed up his scavenging.

Outside, zombies roamed in packs. Any loud noise could cause an ambush. So Fan Li chose to return to his old routine—searching apartment buildings.

He had some experience in this. Since leaving the school, he had explored two apartment buildings and collected 18 kill points.

Monsters too have their distances; kill points must not be wasted recklessly. So Fan Li prioritized healing Ellie. After using 30 points, his current kill points stood at 410.

Just a bit more effort—killing the monster Liu Hao mentioned—and the next summoning would not be far off.

Fan Li stepped out the door, gently closing it behind him. This was someone else’s tomb; he needed to show some courtesy and grant the deceased their final dignity.

There was still time; he could try exploring a few more homes.

The door opposite opened simultaneously. Ellie emerged holding a bag of spicy snacks. As a little monster with intelligence, Ellie understood Fan Li’s special care. After healing its teeth, their favor had risen to 80.

No one was home across the hall. Perhaps because of children, the place was well-stocked with food. Splitting up—one person, one monster—they set off in different directions. Judging by Ellie’s bulging cheeks, it had also completed its own search.

The building wasn’t too dangerous. Fan Li didn’t let Ellie lead but cautiously observed as he ascended the stairs.

He reached the upper floor, but just as he tried to open a door to explore, faint moaning came from a resident above.

This was the apocalypse; even seeking thrills wouldn’t produce such sounds.

Fan Li stepped upward.

The door was ajar.

Such a careless mistake should not happen in a dangerous apocalypse.

Fan Li was not a peeping tom, nor had the apocalypse twisted his nature. He simply refused to overlook any suspicion. Holding his katana, he slowly entered.

Inside, he saw a woman.

To be precise, a man and a woman. The woman buried her head in the man’s neck. The man struggled but to no avail. Bright crimson blood soaked his clothes and dripped onto the floor.

Fan Li moved lightly, but the woman was startled. She slowly turned around. Her youthful face looked about eighteen or nineteen, her complexion normal, but her mouth was smeared with fresh, still-wet blood.

She didn’t show the panic of a guilty child caught in wrongdoing. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, as if appraising Fan Li.

Fan Li did not approach.

He merely stood at the doorway, watching this abnormal scene from a distance. The woman did not seem to be a zombie, yet her behavior was not human.

She was feeding—drinking the blood of the living—just like the vampires in horror stories.

A brief silence fell.

The woman, seemingly drawn by the attention, no longer cared about the still-warm man on the floor. She stood up, her mouth opening and closing after long silence, uttering broken words:

“New food...”

“She can talk!”

Fan Li tensed. At first, he suspected she might be some mutated creature. But her intact body and faint breathing meant she was human, not a zombie.

Yet, how could a human take such a form?

As Fan Li hesitated, the woman’s body began to change. Her lips curled into a high, unnatural grin. Veins, like writhing centipedes, crawled across her forehead—only seen on champion bodybuilders.

A tearing sound broke the silence. Two bloodied, slimy arms stretched out from her waist.

In just seconds, the woman transformed from a person into a complete monster.

Fan Li could feel the life force emanating from her but knew she was no longer purely human—an aberration with a grotesque form.

Suddenly, Fan Li recalled something, hesitating as he whispered in disbelief:

“Only a monster can defeat a monster...”