Chapter 63: Differentiation

Jiang Yi felt as though his entire body had frozen stiff, pinned by the female zombie’s unblinking gaze, unable to even twitch. Gradually, however, as the zombie made no further move, he managed to catch his breath in his throat, only to realize that it wasn't him the zombie was staring at, but rather... the skull-cleaving blade!

Jiang Yi was stunned. His own sword? What was so interesting about it? Testing the waters, he shifted the black blade slightly, and sure enough, the female zombie's gaze followed the movement!

A sinking feeling gripped Jiang Yi's heart. Ordinary zombies possessed almost no vision, while evolved ones could vaguely perceive human shapes. Yet this orange-crystal zombie seemed to have fully recovered her eyesight, able to clearly make out even a blade as narrow as this!

Such a prolonged standoff took a heavy toll on everyone's stamina, and Jiang Yi's complexion gradually grew worse. If not for sheer willpower holding him together, he would have collapsed to the ground by now. "Damn it, I'll fight you to the death! Win or lose, it's all up to fate!" Knowing they could not afford another stalemate, Jiang Yi suddenly and fiercely raised the skull-cleaving blade and charged forward!

To his surprise, this sudden movement seemed to startle the female zombie. After letting out two furious roars at the elevated black blade, she flashed and vanished into thin air once again!

The group gasped in terror, dreading that her next appearance would be right beside them. Everyone nervously scanned their surroundings, but she did not reappear. Suddenly, Kaito spoke up, "Jiang Yi, the bodies are gone!"

As Jiang Yi was vigilantly surveying the area, Kaito's words startled him. Lifting his gaze, he discovered that Han Ya—whose heart had been gouged out—and the male student whose neck had been bitten were both completely gone!

It seemed she really had left. Loosening his grip with his left hand, the black blade clattered to the ground. Jiang Yi panted heavily, cold sweat dripping down in large drops as lingering fear washed over him. Guo Hansue finally snapped out of her daze. Staring at the half-torn, bloodied heart on the ground, she suddenly shrieked and lunged toward Dongfang Tian, screaming, "Dongfang Tian!"

With a flick of her hand, a blade of wind instantly slashed toward him!

"Hansue, have you lost your mind?!" The lingering terror in Dongfang Tian's heart had barely subsided when he saw the wind blade hurtling at him. Instantly, a layer of frost covered his right hand, and he managed to grab the wind blade bare-handed and crush it. Yet despite the protective ice, his palm was still sliced open with a wound deep enough to expose the bone!

"Don't call my name, you don't deserve to!" Guo Hansue raised her hand in fury, wind blades swirling around her palm.

Dongfang Tian roared back, "Are you blaming me? On what grounds? Did I ask her to come close? I was fighting at the time, and what about her? A woman who didn't even dare lift a sword suddenly threw herself at me! It was already a mercy that I didn't slice her down with a single stroke!"

Hearing Dongfang Tian's words, an uproar broke out among the group. Was this the Dongfang Tian they had revered? So this was how he truly viewed ordinary people like them!

"You're lying! If that's true, why did you keep stringing Han Ya along? You knew full well that she loved you, yet you exploited her feelings over and over again!" A student who had originally been loyal to Dongfang Tian suddenly roared. Judging by his bloodshot eyes, Han Ya's death had dealt him a devastating blow.

Dongfang Tian glared at him with murderous intent, but the male student did not cower in the slightest. "Dongfang Tian, I'm not afraid of you! Today, I'm going to make everyone see what kind of person you really are!"...

Listening to the student recount one dark and despicable deed after another committed by Dongfang Tian, Guo Hansue stood there in complete shock. She had never imagined that Han Ya—the shy girl who had always stayed quietly by her side—was actually Dongfang Tian's bed-toy.

What was more, Dongfang Tian had forbidden her from telling anyone, even forcing Han Ya to cozy up to Guo Hansue to spy on Jiang Yi's group and gather information.

"You really are a piece of trash!" Guo Hansue cursed bitterly, the wind blade in her hand finally lashing out toward him!

Dongfang Tian shattered the wind blade with a sweep of his sword, his expression extremely gloomy. "So what if I am? Guo Hansue, this is the apocalypse; put away your pathetic savior complex! As long as I'm strong enough, I can have any woman I want! A Han Ya dies, so what? Soon there will be a Wang Ya or a Zhang Ya!"

"I told you, don't call my name!" Guo Hansue gritted her teeth, snatching up the longbow she had laid aside. She nocked an arrow and pointed it straight at Dongfang Tian!

Kaito cried out in alarm, "President Guo!"

Dongfang Tian was even more terrified. Knowing Guo Hansue's exceptional archery skills, he didn't try to flee; instead, he lunged straight toward her, desperate to stop that shot!

Yet he had underestimated Guo Hansue. An arrow pierced the air. Even though Dongfang Tian had desperately tried to dodge, the whistling arrow instantly shot clean through his shoulder. Dongfang Tian tumbled to the ground as blood gushed out frantically!

Guo Hansue dropped the golden bow and walked step by step toward Dongfang Tian! Enduring the agonizing pain, Dongfang Tian thrust his sword forward in a desperate counterattack, but Guo Hansue simply parried and snatched the sword right out of his hand!

Dongfang Tian was horrified. He couldn't believe his own sword could be taken away so effortlessly!

Facing Guo Hansue, all his advantages seemed to have completely vanished!

Pressing him down firmly with her legs, Guo Hansue raised the sword—which had once belonged to Dongfang Tian—high into the air, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Dongfang Tian, go to hell!"...

"Guo Hansue!" Just as the sharp blade was about to plunge downward, a sudden shout caused Guo Hansue to hesitate for a split second. With a sharp cry, she drove the sword down fiercely. Afterward, she stood there panting heavily. Dongfang Tian stared blankly at the blade that had grazed his cheek, feeling as though he had forgotten how to breathe.

Struggling to her feet, Guo Hansue turned back to look at Jiang Yi, who was being supported by Kaito. Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she burst into tears!

Yanking the longbow up from the ground, she stared at the inscription carved upon it commemorating the founding of the martial arts club. With tears in her eyes, she said coldly, "You don't deserve to use it!" With that, she turned and strode toward Jiang Yi, thrusting the sword into Kaito's arms before turning away and walking off into the distance!

As someone helped Dongfang Tian back to his feet, Jiang Yi cast a cold glance at him before turning to Zhu Caijun. "There's no more danger here. Take the others inside and get some proper rest!"

Startled by the rapid succession of events, Zhu Caijun mechanically led the equally unsettled crowd into the medical building.

After dismissing Kaito as well, Jiang Yi slowly walked over to Guo Hansue, who was leaning against a tree, closing her eyes and weeping softly. He gently patted her shoulder. Guo Hansue opened her eyes and wiped away her tears forcefully. "I'm fine. I just can't wrap my head around it. Why did a perfectly normal world turn out like this? Will we ever be able to go back to the way things were?"

Jiang Yi sighed, gently pulling Guo Hansue into an embrace. "We will. Trust me, one day, the world will return to the way it used to be."

Being hugged so suddenly made Guo Hansue freeze for a moment. Hearing Jiang Yi's soft comfort, she slowly shifted from stunned stillness to raising her arms and wrapping them around him in return, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Tears streamed down continuously, soaking into his collar. After a long while, the two of them parted, feeling a touch of awkwardness. Savoring the lingering sensation of soft hair slipping through his fingers, Jiang Yi chuckled to break the tension. "Let's head inside too. It's almost time to go back!"

Guo Hansue understood what "going back" meant in Jiang Yi's words. Once they gathered enough medicine, they would be able to return to the cafeteria, and that place would be where the true struggle truly began!

Upon entering the building, reality turned out completely different from what Jiang Yi had anticipated. Instead of gathering medical supplies after resting, the groups were confronting each other, forming a faint three-way standoff!

One faction consisted of Zhu Caijun, Huang Yi, and their ten people. On the other side was Dongfang Tian, though he now had only three people left standing behind him, and even those three wore hesitant expressions!

As for the third faction, it came as a complete surprise to Jiang Yi. Standing at the front were the heavily injured Li Gang and the male student who had previously exposed Dongfang Tian's dark side. Most unexpected of all was that Li Huiyu was actually standing on Li Gang's side!

Kaito stood outside the circle, looking somewhat at a loss.

With a dark expression, Dongfang Tian glared angrily at Li Gang. "Li Gang, what is the meaning of this? Are you betraying me too?"

Li Gang shook his head. "Dongfang, it's not that I'm betraying you; it's that you abandoned me long ago."

Seemingly reminded of what had happened back at Cafeteria No. 3, Dongfang Tian said coldly, "What kind of tantrum are you throwing? You should know the circumstances forced me to say that! I've always taken such good care of you—how could you turn on me the moment I needed help the most? You're so disappointing!"

Li Huiyu crossed his arms and let out a disdainful smirk. "Cut the act, Dongfang Tian. Everyone knows your true colors by now!"

Seeing Li Huiyu only made Dongfang Tian angrier. He gritted his teeth and pointed at him. "This isn't your place to speak, Li Huiyu! My biggest regret was misjudging you. Don't forget, you're the one who killed Jia Chuan!"

Li Huiyu scoffed. "So what if I killed him? He was already infected with zombie venom back then. You clearly had a zombie core yet refused to use it on him, driving him to the point of wanting to drag everyone down with him. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"

Not wanting to bicker over those matters, Dongfang Tian turned back to Li Gang. "Li Gang, are you really going to betray me? You must know that once this passes, we'll be enemies!"

A flash of fear crossed Li Gang's eyes, but he still looked at Dongfang Tian with a firm gaze. "Dongfang, I don't want to be your enemy, but I have the right to make my own choices. My choice is to stay away from you, otherwise I really fear that one day I'll be the one who dies!"

"You!" Dongfang Tian trembled with rage, wishing he could curse aloud. But Jiang Yi had already leisurely walked into the middle of the three factions, casting a cold gaze around. "What? Are you done resting? Or do you feel like not enough people have died yet? I didn't bring you here to watch you carve out territories. I don't care what grievances you have—right now, I call the shots here. Does anyone have a problem with that? Step forward if you do."

As he spoke, Jiang Yi rested his left hand on the hilt of his saber at his waist, sliding it out of the scabbard by an inch! Seeing Jiang Yi forcefully intervene, Zhu Caijun—who had been watching the spectacle with amusement—immediately raised his hand. "Don't look at me, Captain Jiang, this has nothing to do with me! We're all schoolmates here, no need for fighting and killing—it ruins the friendship!"

Jiang Yi nodded, then turned his gaze toward Li Huiyu. It was clear the latter had made his own new choice; instead of siding with him, he had aligned with Li Gang, yet he still held influence here...