9: Chapter 9 The Cowardly Yang Wei

"Are you even a man?"

This sentence is inherently extremely hurtful to any man, but for Yang Wei, it seemed to carry an extra hint of something else.

"Wang Yalan, what did you say? Who are you calling not a man?"

Yang Wei was like a cat that had its tail stepped on, instantly bristling with rage.

"You bitch, tell me the truth! Is it because you think I'm too old, and now that you've seen someone younger, you want to latch onto him?"

Without waiting for Wang Yalan to explain, Yang Wei continued to scream hysterically, his voice drowning out the roars of the zombies.

"Ha! I knew it, I knew it! You and that guy surnamed Chen have been flirting and up to no good! You said you made an agreement with him before, but I bet you hooked up with him long ago!"

"How the fuck can you do this to me? You, a woman from the backwoods—I provided for your food, drink, and education, and now, after all that, you say I'm not a man?"

Wang Yalan was both angry and anxious, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yang Wei, you are simply unreasonable! What time is it now? The zombies are right outside, we could die at any moment, and you're still talking such nonsense!"

"I'm talking nonsense? Hmph! When you stopped me during the day, I found it strange—how did you know that kid had an ace up his sleeve? So, you two had already hooked up!"

Yang Wei grabbed Wang Yalan by the neck, his palm trembling slightly from using too much force.

"You bitch, if I hadn't called out to you just now, would you have moved straight into that kid's Blockhouse? Tell me, answer me!"

Wang Yalan found it difficult to breathe from being choked, but she didn't struggle, her eyes filled only with endless disappointment.

It was this very man before her who had supported her for over a decade without asking for anything in return, allowing a girl from the backwoods like her to have the chance to leave the mountains, receive an education, and live a life she never dared to imagine.

She had always been grateful to Yang Wei, and even when she learned he was impotent, she had no complaints and resolutely married him.

But now, at this critical moment of life and death, he was still suspecting her.

Compared to being torn apart and eaten by zombies, perhaps dying like this wouldn't be so bad?

Thinking of this, she could no longer hold back her tears, and they fell in torrents.

"Drip, drip!"

Hot tears fell onto Yang Wei's arm, acting like a shot of potent sedative for him.

Looking at the desperate expression of the beautiful woman before him, scenes from the past surfaced, and Yang Wei's heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Most importantly, if he really choked Wang Yalan to death, he was afraid that the young man named Chen Ze would definitely not help again, and at that point, he would surely be torn to shreds by the zombies!

His hand loosened unconsciously, and Wang Yalan collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, staring blankly ahead as if her soul had been drained away.

Yang Wei looked at his trembling hands, full of regret; he had been too emotional. Fortunately, he hadn't accidentally killed her, otherwise, he would definitely not survive the night.

"Xiaolan, I… I'm not human, it's all my fault, it's all my fault!"

He fell to his knees, almost crawling to her.

Seeing that Wang Yalan looked deathly pale and wouldn't even glance at him, he actually began slapping his own face.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

"Xiaolan, I was wrong, I was too impulsive, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Yang Wei slapped himself while tears and snot flowed down his face. Wang Yalan saw this, and in the end, her heart softened.

But she understood that regardless of whether she could survive the night, her connection with the man before her had completely come to an end.

"Enough!"

Wang Yalan stopped Yang Wei, her voice not loud, but filled with a cold sense of finality.

She leaned against the wall and shakily stood up, walking straight toward the kitchen. When she returned, she had two kitchen knives in her hands.

"Xiaolan, what are you doing? Those are zombies! If you get scratched or bitten, you'll likely be infected, and that will be worse than death!"

Yang Wei said in terror.

In his impression, his little wife had always been a good girl; when did she develop such a fierce side?

Wang Yalan glanced at Yang Wei, didn't speak, and just let out a cold hmph, her tone filled with disdain.

The affection from before was gone!

Now, she had to live for herself!

Wang Yalan no longer hesitated, raised the kitchen knife with one hand, and slashed at the zombie closest to the window.

"Splurt!"

The kitchen knife accurately hit the zombie's skull, half the blade sinking into it, and dark green blood instantly gushed out.

"Awoo!~"

That zombie didn't die immediately; it stared fixedly at Wang Yalan with its murky eyes, its terrifying mouth roaring crazily, emitting a foul stench.

Wang Yalan couldn't help but retreat, and the kitchen knife stuck in the zombie's skull almost slipped from her hand.

"No! I cannot be scared off like this, I want to live!"

Wang Yalan roared in her heart, gripped the kitchen knife tightly, stomped her feet, and used the reactive force to forcibly pull the knife out of the zombie's skull.

Seeing the food right before it about to run, the zombie immediately waved its claws to grab, but it was already slow to move, and now its brain had been damaged.

(The zombies in the early stages of this story are slightly stronger than those in The Walking Dead, but as the Fortress survival game progresses, the zombies will gradually become more agile, possess more intelligence, and even supernatural abilities.)

This grab was not only aimless, but due to excessive force, it lost its balance and tipped directly from outside the window into the room.

"It's over!"

"The zombie is in!"

At the same time, this terrible thought flashed through the minds of both Yang Wei and Wang Yalan.

If they were separated by a wall over a meter high, they might still be able to barely defend themselves by relying on the terrain, but once the zombie entered the room, the two of them would be completely plunged into a situation of hand-to-hand combat; if they were careless, they would be scratched or bitten, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Ah! Run, run!"

Yang Wei reacted extremely quickly; he didn't even look at Wang Yalan, scrambling directly toward the bedroom, which was the final line of defense for the entire room.

"Bang!"

The bedroom door was ruthlessly slammed shut, followed by the sound of it being locked from the inside.

"Yang Wei, heh, you really are not a man!"

Wang Yalan laughed out of extreme anger.

She didn't even look at the oncoming zombie, because she knew she couldn't possibly be a match for it.

It was too difficult to deal with this zombie without suffering any injuries—so difficult that even a strong man couldn't easily do it, let alone herself, a woman with no strength to truss a chicken.

"Xiaolan, don't blame me, I had no choice. Once that zombie gets in, we'll both die! I don't want to die, I still want to go back to Earth, I still want to live!"

"If you want to blame someone, blame that Chen Ze! Yes! It's all because of him! If that guy hadn't been dragging his feet and unwilling to help us, how could the zombie have gotten in? It's all his fault!"

"Damn Chen Ze, since you have a gun, why can't you help us!"

Yang Wei's voice came from behind the door; although every word was Chinese, when strung together, they made Wang Yalan feel so strange and absurd.

"Yang Wei, I must have been blind to have married you!"

Wang Yalan gripped the kitchen knife tightly and held it directly against her own neck.

She no longer had any attachment to this man, and she didn't want to become one of those man-eating monsters.

Turning her head, her gaze passed directly over the zombie that was inches away, casting straight toward the window; she wanted to take one last look at the world outside.

"Goodbye!"

Just as the kitchen knife was about to touch the skin of her neck, a bullet trailing fire accurately hit the zombie's skull.

"Bang!"

The zombie didn't even make a sound before it fell straight down, dark green blood flowing along the floor, spreading all the way to Wang Yalan's feet.