Chapter Sixty-Three: Lessons in the Field

Liu Hao ultimately proved himself—he truly was an orthopedic doctor. Unfortunately, Fan Li had used a bit too much force. Though he managed to reset Liu Hao’s broken left leg in the end, a persistent numbness and soreness left Liu Hao limping, his movements awkward and uncoordinated.

The world was shrouded in gray. It was five in the morning. After a brief rest, Fan Li and Liu Hao set out on their way home.

Fan Li collected anything that might help them survive—food, weapons, monsters, and people alike were all resources to him. Though he was remarkably timid, crossing the threshold from intern to full-fledged doctor had undeniably granted him valuable skills.

Clearly, mastery of a craft is of utmost importance.

Being a doctor is no easy feat: irregular meals, erratic hours, and, perhaps most vexing of all, the fraught relationship between doctors and patients. After years on the job, Liu Hao had come to agree with the old adage: “To advise someone to study medicine is to invite heavenly wrath.” Yet now, he was grateful for his choice. The countless dull days and nights had given him the chance to seize a glimmer of hope.

Later, Liu Hao recounted how he had survived the apocalypse.

When disaster struck, they were in the middle of an academic quiz. Interns, once diligently taking notes, suddenly went mad—throwing themselves at their classmates and tearing into them with frenzied bites.

As the crowd responded, trying to pull the attackers away, it became clear this was no isolated incident. Security guards, patients, and doctors alike were overtaken by madness. Their faces twisted, pupils clouded over, and guttural, raspy noises issued from their throats. Their strength was monstrous—a petite girl flung a guard who tried to restrain her to the ground with a single motion.

Liu Hao and a few others, realizing they could not resist these mutated maniacs, hid in a ward on the third floor. There, they survived until now, subsisting on drinks and snacks from vending machines in the corridor.

They hoped for rescue, but the fabric of order had unraveled. The entire county was shrouded in a mist of blood; no helping hand reached out to them.

Despair, pain, and confusion reigned. Even doctors, dedicated to saving lives, grew neurotic—some wept day and night, others stared blankly, and some were plagued by constant nightmares. These were the signs of overwhelming anxiety.

Already under pressure, they faced an unprecedented horror yesterday—a monster, mutated through countless deaths, burst into their room and slaughtered nearly everyone. Of seven people, Liu Hao alone survived.

Afterward, he had the luck to encounter Fan Li.

Because his skin had petrified, Fan Li no longer needed heavy clothing. He covered his face and gave the rest of his garments to Liu Hao. With another person to help, all remaining food was packed onto Liu Hao’s back.

Chen Hao, bundled in a down jacket, hobbled down the street. Though his medical skills had been tested the previous day, though he bore many burdens and his leg ached so that he could not walk properly, he still looked with gratitude at the figure ahead—who limped just as he did.

At least, the man hadn’t abandoned him.

For nearly a month, Liu Hao had watched from the window and seen what transpired outside. The anatomy teachers, even with throats pierced or hearts ripped out, would soon rise again and join the next hunt.

But he had never actually faced a zombie. Whether monsters or unmutated hunters, he had survived by dodging and hiding. Now, with his leg injured, his hope of surviving the apocalypse was gone; his only chance lay with the man ahead, wielding a katana.

Terrified, Liu Hao stuck close behind Fan Li. Fortunately, Fan Li seemed to have a leg injury too, so Liu Hao didn’t have to struggle to keep up. Their pace was just a bit slower.

Click, click, click!

A short distance ahead, the unsettling sound of twisting bones made Liu Hao’s scalp prickle.

He looked up in terror, body trembling. A twisted figure emerged from around the corner—the very source of his fear. The creature’s face had been bitten, one eye socket empty and hollow like a cave, so dreadful that no one dared approach for fear of what might lurk within.

Long, disheveled hair, a lifeless face, and a single glaring eye fixed on Fan Li and Liu Hao. Excited to discover prey, it stretched out an arm stripped of flesh to the bone, clawing toward them.

A zombie!

It was the reanimated anatomy teacher!

Liu Hao had participated in dissections before—an essential rite of passage for any medical student. But he had never imagined that those corpses, defined as dead on the operating table, would one day rise and walk again.

The dead returning to life—this was the root of the disaster.

Hiding in the ward, Liu Hao had no experience fighting zombies. Instinctively, he reached out and tugged Fan Li’s sleeve, voice trembling. “Let’s run!”

“Let go,” Fan Li said calmly, glancing back.

Still too timid—Fan Li sighed, watching Liu Hao’s shivering hand release its grip. Then, with a casual air, he strolled toward the zombie.

This zombie, neither advanced nor unscathed—its body ravaged during its own consumption—was clearly one of the lowest class among hunters.

People are divided into tiers, and so are zombies.

Fan Li drew closer and closer.

Liu Hao’s face drained of color. He tried to speak, but his terror left him mute and quaking.

The scarf offered scant protection against the stench. When Fan Li was just a meter away, the rotten, fishy odor was overwhelming.

The zombie rasped, its voice hollow and inhuman, like a soulless puppet. Swinging its arms, it advanced. In Liu Hao’s eyes, those hands were about to seize Fan Li’s face when, with a swift and almost imperceptible motion, Fan Li raised his katana and beheaded the zombie in a single stroke.

The grotesque head, twisted in a permanent snarl, rolled into a corner as if kicked away.

“It’s over already?” Liu Hao stared in disbelief at the scene before him. Just then, Fan Li’s cool voice reached him.

“Zombies are not invincible. If you want to survive, you must learn one thing: how to kill them.”