She jumped off the plane, and ahead was the kindergarten’s teaching building, designed like a miniature castle, exquisite if one ignored the corpse impaled on the lightning rod, still quite beautiful.
"How did that person get impaled like that?" Su Mo squinted her eyes.
"Parachuting," Lu Chen moved slightly to the side where he could see the parachute hanging from the dome structure.
Su Mo gave a sigh of dismay, "No wonder, it’s all rotted like that."
She took out the family photo, memorized the image of the little boy, then looked at the name on the back, "His name is Jin Chenchen, let’s go in and look around; the class is listed above."
The two circumvented some corpses and entered through the main gate.
The empty corridor stretched out, walls on both sides plastered with cartoon wallpapers obscuring numerous large and small bloody handprints as Su Mo and Lu Chen tread softly up the stairs.
"Senior class, class 3, where is it? This place is too big."
"Young children aren’t suited for climbing stairs, older grades should be on the upper floors."
Along the way, there was an abundance of blood traces on the floor, chaotic bloody footprints everywhere, making Su Mo suspect that it had been washed with blood here.
The kindergarten was eerily quiet, making the sound of high heels walking all the more sinister.
Listening carefully, it sounded like four feet tapping on the smooth marble floor, the crisp sounds echoing throughout the corridor.
The moment they reached the third floor, they stopped, waiting for the sound to slowly fade away. Su Mo turned to Lu Chen, signaling with her eyes and whispered, "Did you hear that? Four feet? Or two zombies?"
The man edged past her, pressed against the wall, and peered into the second floor’s corridor. The floor, covered with bloodstains, had many shoe prints, making it unclear just who had passed by.
"We should go upstairs first to look for people," he turned back and said in a low voice.
Su Mo nodded, and they lightened their footsteps even more.
On the third floor, much cleaner than below, there weren’t excessive bloodstains. Su Mo immediately spotted the door marked "Third Year Class A."
She looked down both corridors on either side but didn’t find anything unusual, so she walked out.
The click-clack of her heels on the floor was faint, yet the creature lurking in a classroom below slowly raised its head, its bulging eyes rotating in different directions.
The creature’s limbs made a da-da-da sound as they moved out.
Su Mo wandered around the classroom and found a name tagged on a small desk, Jin Chenchen, in large, somewhat staggered font.
"Where has the person hidden?" She bent down to look inside the drawers, all empty, with no idea where the small backpack had been put, only a toppled mini Winnie the Pooh statue inside.
Su Mo took the item and tossed it into Space, figuring that if the child was dead, this might serve as some closure for the middle-aged man.
The sound of some shell-like object tapping on the ground attracted Su Mo’s attention again, she twitched her ears, and Lu Chen pulled her, hiding behind the lectern together.
There was movement outside.
The man quickly covered her mouth.
The sound, growing closer and closer to them.
Behind the lectern, there were some broken glass shards on the floor. Lu Chen picked one up, angling it toward the doorway.
The reflection in the mirror made Su Mo gasp.
The monsters they had encountered were already extremely bizarre, but this was the first time they had seen something so special.
Unlike other zombies whose mouths contained a long, hooked tongue, this creature’s facial structure featured a pair of sharp fangs similar to those of a snake, except magnified dozens of times. Its mouth couldn’t close completely, revealing a purple tongue inside.
The structure of its face above the nose was as if it had been forcefully squeezed together.
What kind of zombie was this?
Su Mo couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
It had no ears, yet its head trembled as if searching for the source of a sound.
It stood by the classroom window, separated by a pane of glass, and raised its hands — though they could no longer be called hands. They were more like the forelimbs of a wild beast, with all fingers fused together and sharpened into a claw-like state.
So, was it the tapping sound of its hardened arms hitting the ground?
Su Mo felt a chill down her spine.
Both remained breathless and quiet, having never seen such a creature before. They didn’t know its weaknesses, so naturally, they were hesitant to reveal their position and make a move.
After its head trembled for a while, the creature continued to stagger away.
As it passed in front of the teacher’s door, Su Mo also saw a glimpse of its three legs, which seemed to have mutated from two and grown anew. The skin was degenerated, utterly disgusting.
Su Mo hid behind Lu Chen, staying quiet for a while before speaking in a hushed tone, "It’s a zombie but very different from any type we’ve seen before. I think this child definitely won’t survive."
Even if it did survive, it definitely wouldn’t be here.
Lu Chen, "Since it’s not here, let’s go."
Su Mo nodded, and they both stood up and walked to the door.
The tapping sound came directly from the next classroom. The monster slammed into the wall; its chest was severely degenerated, and one could clearly see its stomach organs connected to the esophagus, filled with yellow fluid swaying inside.
Its mouth opened nearly 180 degrees and sprayed a stream of yellow fluid at them.
Lu Chen immediately formed an Ice Shield in front of him. The intercepted fluid splashed onto it, emitting yellow bubbles that fell to the ground, causing severe corrosion.
Su Mo immediately held a Tang Blade in her left hand and formed a wooden shield with her right, ready to fight. But Lu Chen pulled her arm and ran towards the back door, quickly saying, "Its whole body is filled with corrosive fluid, don’t engage in close combat."
Su Mo realized, "So that’s why the skin is degenerated."
The two dashed out of the classroom and ran along the corridor, with the monster pursuing them on its three twisted legs. Its two mantis-like forelimbs swung through the air like scythes, the sound of cutting air reaching Su Mo from afar.
Lu Chen occasionally turned his head back to release a few Ice Blades.
It was a Level 5 zombie capable of spewing corrosive fluid. Although he had the ability to fight, the acid of the fluid was too strong; the Ice Blades hardly affected it, and the gaping wounds would close up almost immediately with the flesh tumbling, healing at an astonishing rate.
The two quickly ran through the stairwell, but the zombie leaped into the air, jumping down directly.
Its sharp claws reached towards their backs.
Just this morning, having eaten venison allowed 2 teleportations within 24 hours, each spanning 5 meters. Lu Chen grabbed Su Mo by the collar and jumped to the ground floor. Triggering the status, they teleported 5 meters out, nearing the main door.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just one creature blocking their way.
Out of nowhere, another blocked their exit.
"Don’t get splashed," the man cautioned in a deep voice as he quickly formed an Ice Giant Sword in his hands.
Su Mo nodded, gripping the Tang Blade tightly in her left hand.