Chapter 1 A Sorrowful Tune

The desolate suona drowned out the children's cries within the dining hall. The zombies blocking the entrance immediately turned and swarmed towards the caregiver.

The zombies were too fast, and the caregiver, needing both hands to play the suona, couldn't fend them off. Moreover, he'd twisted his ankle when he jumped down, severely impacting his speed. He didn't get far before the zombies caught up and knocked him to the ground.

Before falling, the caregiver desperately twisted, turning himself face up, letting the zombies tear a bloody strip of flesh from his arm. His cheeks remained puffed, and the suona's sound never ceased…

The old director shakily climbed the ladder, watching the caregiver in the distance until his body was completely submerged by the zombies, and the suona's sound vanished entirely.

"Good heavens! Save us, please. If we've done something wrong, just punish us, but don't turn the whole world into this!"

The old director raised his head to the sky, lamenting. Tears streamed down his wrinkled face.

"Those children are innocent! They haven't seen the beauty of this world yet, haven't experienced the joys of life. They've already been abandoned once by their parents. Must… must they be abandoned by the world too?"

The gloomy sky offered no response. The old director was silent for a long while before slowly climbing down the ladder. He looked at the last remaining caregiver beside him, then turned to face outside.

Through the precarious gap in the iron gate, he saw the zombies had dispersed, and a few wandering towards them. Hearing the faint sound of children crying, they accelerated again!

"Alas!"

The old director sighed deeply, turning to the caregiver and saying:

"Let's go… Let us give the children one last lesson, to add a little more joy to their brief lives!"

With that, the old director led the caregiver into the dining hall. No one knew what method he used, but soon, the crying in the dining hall gradually disappeared, replaced by the innocent sound of singing…

The four teenagers on the roof saw the caregiver's actions. They even saw the caregiver, his body exposed bone from the bites, somehow stand up again, now frantically pounding on the gate. The gate swung wider and wider.

Just then, one of the teenagers suddenly pointed in a direction. The other three immediately looked that way as well.

It was a residential complex not far from the orphanage, located beside the road. They had seen it before, with many zombies wandering in its courtyard.

But now, those zombies had all fallen to the ground. About seventy or eighty people stood in the courtyard, and two men in black, one fat and one thin, were standing in front of them, saying something. Then, the two directly left the complex, heading towards them.

"Hey! Over here! Help!"

The teenagers jumped and shouted, but the people over there didn't react at all. They were too far away; their voices couldn't carry!

"They're coming! We're saved!"

One of the teenagers said with a sob, while also looking down at the iron gate.

"They won't come!"

Another teenager said:

"That's a complex right beside the road. They only rescued people there. Look at the complex behind us; they have no intention of going there! We're also far from the road. They won't turn in here!"

"No! They will! They'll definitely come to save us! We won't die!"

The first teenager shouted hysterically.

Listening to them, another teenager looked at that complex, then at the road leading to them. The two men's figures were obscured by the roadside buildings, completely out of sight.

The teenager suddenly turned and ran downstairs. The other three teenagers all turned to look at him, one shouting:

"Tianya! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find them! You guys stay here and watch. If you see them, shout loudly!"

The teenager called Tianya didn't stop, running down the stairs while shouting his reply.

"Tianya is… is going out?"

Hearing the teenager's reply, the other three teenagers looked at each other. The one who had been insisting that the two men would come to save them suddenly broke down, covering his face and crying on the ground.

Tianya finally ran into the courtyard. But as soon as he stepped out, he saw that the iron gate was leaning even further, seemingly about to collapse at any moment.

He stopped immediately, turning and running back. He soon rushed out again, now carrying a gong and a mallet.

"Hey! I'm over here!!!"

He climbed the ladder to the top of the wall, then lightly jumped down, looking at the zombies less than ten meters away. He suddenly shouted loudly and struck the gong hard with the mallet, then took off running.

The zombies crowding in front of the iron gate heard the sound and immediately charged over, chasing after the teenager. Inside the orphanage, the singing from the first floor continued to drift out, and the teenagers' cries from the roof could still be faintly heard…

"Please! Save us! That gate probably can't hold on anymore!"

By the time Tianya finished speaking, this teenager, who had been banging the gong all the way here without shedding a tear, even while being chased by a horde of zombies, was now in tears. He knelt before the Fatty and Li Chenzhou, who had finished off the zombies and were looking at him.

"As long as you save the director and those younger siblings, I'll do anything!"

"Fatty, you guys follow behind and protect this little guy!"

Looking at Tianya, Li Chenzhou remained noncommittal, but he picked up his long staff and walked into the alley, saying those words.

"Get up and let's go!"

Hearing that, Fatty immediately grabbed Tianya by the collar and lifted him up, saying:

"Stay by my side. Don't run around!"

Then, the two of them followed Li Chenzhou into the alley.

Since Tianya had been banging the gong all the way over, there were no zombies to be seen in the other forks of the alley. However, there were many survivors watching them from the residential buildings beside them, and some even waved at them, begging for help.

Li Chenzhou pretended not to see them, simply moving forward quickly. When he reached another fork in the road, Tianya suddenly said:

"Turn right here. The four-story building on the right is our orphanage!"

Li Chenzhou turned into the fork and indeed saw the orphanage Tianya had described, as well as the iron gate that was truly about to completely detach from the wall.

However, there were no zombies at the iron gate now. They had probably all chased after Tianya and then been killed by Li Chenzhou.

"They're… singing?"

Arriving at the iron gate, Li Chenzhou immediately heard the singing coming from inside. He couldn't help but be surprised and looked at Tianya.

"They're singing!"

Tianya nodded and said:

"The old director probably told them to sing. Before, they were all crying in fear. Uncle Liu risked his life to lure the monsters away, but their cries attracted them back!"

Li Chenzhou was taken aback. At a time like this… they still had the mind to sing? He reached out and pushed hard. With a loud bang, the iron gate finally fell. Then, Li Chenzhou stepped into the orphanage…