Chapter 3

The corridor on the fourth floor once again returned to calm, as if the intense battle that had just taken place never happened.

Only the thick, indelible bloodiness in the air reminded Shi Ruoyu that the world he knew was no longer the peaceful one he was familiar with.

The two people following behind Shi Ruoyu seemed unchanged. Ren Guobin held his homemade weapon, occasionally letting out a few "hehe" laughs. He very "professionally" pushed open each ward door to investigate, collecting various useful items, especially food and medicine. It seemed that Comrade Guobin was thoroughly enjoying his current "behind enemy lines" work.

Ye Yizhou, on the other hand, had a indifferent look on his face. He returned to the room, took down the poster of Dami Mi, carefully put it away, and then silently followed behind Shi Ruoyu. A bulldog closely followed at his heels, and he carried a large backpack on his back. Inside, besides Dami Mi's poster, the rest of the space was filled with essentials by Ren Guobin.

Shi Ruoyu was almost envious of these two guys. They were still living in their own world, while many normal people were terrified by the sudden apocalypse.

Shi Ruoyu shook his head, dispelling all negative emotions, and forced himself to calm down. He came to the iron door at the deepest part of the fourth floor, his heart rate unconsciously accelerating. Behind this iron door was the most terrifying patient in the entire Beixi Town Mental Hospital!

Shi Ruoyu hesitated for a moment, then slightly raised his finger. Two invisible threads drilled into the lock, and with a few "click" sounds, the iron door opened.

The room was small, about ten square meters, but it had its own bathroom. The furniture was simple, but there were a large number of plush toys, and the room was filled with a colorful, girlish atmosphere.

To Shi Ruoyu's relief, a small figure was indeed curled up in the corner, trembling!

When she saw the door open, she was initially startled, but then, upon recognizing the person, she quickly pounced into Shi Ruoyu's arms!

It was a very pretty, petite girl in her early twenties. She burst into tears in Shi Ruoyu's arms: "It's so scary, Brother Ruoyu, it's so scary! I saw from my window that so many people turned into monsters, and they eat people! It's so scary, so scary! Waaah..."

Shi Ruoyu lovingly stroked the girl's long hair, soothing her gently: "Don't be afraid, Wenwen. I'm here to save you!"

The girl, Shen Wenting, who was the hospital's most dangerous patient, nodded vigorously. She bit her lip and quickly rushed back into the room. When she returned, she had an old Nokia phone in her hand. She then tightly clutched the phone in one hand and held onto the hem of Shi Ruoyu's clothes with the other, timidly greeting the other two: "Uncle Ren, hello... Brother Yizhou, hello... Ah Chou, hello..."

However...

The brave proletarian fighter, Ren Guobin, upon seeing this delicate girl, clearly showed a hint of unease on his face. But he didn't want to appear weak, so he cautiously asked Shi Ruoyu: "Comrade Zecheng, are you sure she's one of us? This girl is a bit... difficult to handle."

While Ye Yizhou didn't speak, his eyes were fixed on the little girl, Shen Wenting. Even his bulldog, Ah Chou, who was fearless in the face of zombies, took several steps back, timidly hiding behind Ye Yizhou...

Shi Ruoyu ignored the two of them. His gaze fell on the phone that Shen Wenting was tightly clutching, and he sighed softly. He knew it was a Nokia 3300, an old model, and it was the very reason for her condition!

This phone was the first one Shen Wenting received when she entered junior high school many years ago, in 2008.

Her hometown was Wenchuan. On May 12th, Shen Wenting received two messages.

One was sent by her father around noon: "Daughter, I caught a big fish. We'll have braised fish when you get home. Dad will cook for you to nourish your body!"

The other was sent by her mother around 9 PM: "Good daughter, Mom can't hold on anymore. You must be obedient and live well... Mom... can't bear to leave you..."

Many years have passed. Suffering from severe autism and depression, Shen Wenting, using the money she earned from part-time jobs, bought over thirty Nokia 3300s with an unusual obsession. Her sole purpose was to ensure that the phone had enough replacement parts to repair the original one when needed. She just wanted to keep those two messages forever.

However, one day, an accident happened. About two years ago, she encountered a robber on her way home. He snatched her bag, which contained the phone.

Taking away the phone was like taking away Shen Wenting's last hope. At that moment, she finally broke down. A few days later, she was sent to the mental hospital.

Incidentally, in the two years following that incident, almost no one dared to rob on the streets of that city, and the crime rate dropped significantly.

Regardless, after rescuing Shen Wenting, Shi Ruoyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and instructed: "You three, and Ah Chou, follow me closely. We'll take one last look at the fourth floor to see if there are any other survivors, then we'll go down to the first floor to meet up with the dean and the others. Then we'll figure out how to survive. Got it?"

Ye Yizhou: "..."

Ah Chou: "Woof woof!"

Shen Wenting: "I'll follow Brother Ruoyu..."

Well, the opinions of these two and the dog could be ignored. So Shi Ruoyu's gaze fell on Comrade Ren Guobin...

The old comrade pondered for a moment and said excitedly: "Are we heading back to the base next?"

Shi Ruoyu nodded repeatedly, and Ren Guobin nodded in agreement: "Good, then let's meet at the secret rendezvous point first. Hey, Comrade Zecheng, I have a question..."

Shi Ruoyu replied seriously: "What question?"

Ren Guobin pointed at a zombie wobbling up the stairs: "Why did the enemy of the Military Intelligence Bureau turn into this?"

Shi Ruoyu's mouth dropped open, and after a long pause, he said: "...You just noticed?!"

Working together, the four people and the dog posed little threat to the lone zombie. The process was basically: Shi Ruoyu used his ability to trip the zombie, then Ren Guobin rushed over and stabbed it in the head, followed by Ye Yizhou smashing its head with a stick.

They didn't find any other survivors on the entire fourth floor. The only thing that made Shi Ruoyu a bit uneasy was the most luxurious room on the east side of the hospital. Everything inside was neatly arranged, and its owner, the proud and cold Xiao Wanqing, was nowhere to be found. What slightly comforted Shi Ruoyu was that he didn't see Xiao Wanqing's body among the nearby corpses.

Speaking of Xiao Wanqing, this young lady from a prestigious family suddenly arrived at the mental hospital one day, inspected the place, and then confidently told the dean that she wanted to knock down the walls of three rooms on the fourth floor, renovate them, and move in soon.

The dean was stunned. He stammered, asking why she would choose to stay in a mental hospital instead of a luxury hotel.

Xiao Wanqing, with a proud look, replied: "The world is too chaotic. I just want a quiet place to study general relativity, quantum mechanics, and watch American TV shows."

The dean was speechless for a moment before processing her admission...

Xiao Wanqing's whereabouts were unknown, and Shi Ruoyu didn't have the time to continue searching. He led the three patients and the dog, dealing with several zombies along the way, and was about to go down the stairs. The corridor on the third floor was in sight, but Shi Ruoyu felt uneasy... He signaled everyone to stop because it seemed too quiet...

Just as he cautiously stepped onto the third floor, Ah Chou suddenly barked fiercely! Almost immediately, nearly ten zombies rushed out from both sides of the stairs, attacking them from all directions!

Caught off guard, Shi Ruoyu, despite being warned by Ah Chou, could only manage to entangle one zombie with his threads and kick another back!

Although Ren Guobin and Ye Yizhou were strong, and Ah Chou performed admirably by biting a zombie attempting to sneak attack Ye Yizhou, even tearing off its already rotten leg...

However, no one was there to protect Shen Wenting. A high-pitched scream echoed as her small body was thrown by a zombie, and her Nokia 3300 flew out of her hand, crashing into the wall with a loud crack!

"No!!!!" As the phone hit the ground, both Shen Wenting and Shi Ruoyu let out a loud cry, but the meanings behind their cries were entirely different. The former was filled with extreme anguish, while the latter carried a deep sense of horror.

The zombie that had knocked Shen Wenting down and caused her to drop the 3300 continued its attack, ready to feast on the fallen girl. But it was wrong...

Shi Ruoyu, in the midst of the fierce battle, quickly glanced back and saw Shen Wenting suddenly lift her head. Her originally clear and bright eyes were now coated with a terrifying crimson!

He mentally screamed, "It's over! What I feared has come true! The most terrifying patient in the entire mental hospital has awakened!"

Shen Wenting, who was described by the dean as the most severe and terrifying case of dissociative identity disorder he had ever seen, let out a deafening roar!

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