The doctor stared at Chu Tian with a strange expression, then turned his head and walked ahead on his own.
With Bai Mingxi supporting him, Chu Tian quickly followed, while Quan Xiaoyu stayed close behind them.
The group from upstairs hesitantly followed as well, keeping a neither-too-close-nor-too-distant distance.
The three groups looked clearly divided from one another.
When they arrived at the hospital’s main entrance, the doctor waited there. Only after everyone had arrived did he turn around, revealing his signature wicked smile, and said gently, “Everyone, listen carefully. In a moment, stay close behind me. One command, one action. If anyone disobeys or becomes a burden, I’ll push them out to feed the zombies. Is that clear?”
The people who had come down from the third floor all showed extremely unnatural expressions upon hearing this. Some were angry but dared not speak up, some were frightened, some were embarrassed, and some were guilty.
Quan Xiaoyu now more or less understood how the person who had fallen from the building had died. He was probably someone who had “disobeyed” or “become a burden.” No wonder the doctor alone had been able to subdue a group of people whom Bai Mingxi had described as ungrateful bastards.
Evil people really did need to be dealt with by other evil people!
Quan Xiaoyu seemed to have understood some profound truth about life.
The doctor apparently did not need anyone’s answer. Standing in front of the main entrance, he raised both hands and made a gesture as though embracing the sky.
Then, two vine-like plants suddenly shot up from beneath his hands, breaking through the glass doors and shooting rapidly outward.
Most of the zombies had already been lured away earlier. The two vines seemed to have minds of their own, skewering the zombies wandering around in front of the entrance one after another, like skewering pieces of meat on a barbecue skewer, before violently flinging them into the distance.
A wood-type ability user!
Compared with most ability users in the early stages, the doctor’s control over his ability was already extremely advanced. He used his ability with ease, without showing the slightest sign of strain.
“Their weakness is in their heads,” Quan Xiaoyu said.
The doctor had an extremely firm grasp of his ability, but apparently did not understand the zombies’ weakness very well. Otherwise, just now, he only needed to control the vines to smash through the zombies’ heads. That was why Quan Xiaoyu spoke up to remind him.
Chu Tian and Bai Mingxi stared at the doctor in astonishment. This was their first time witnessing such a strange power. It seemed like something that only appeared in novels.
Sure enough, the world was going to descend into chaos. Even something this fantastical had appeared. The future of humanity held infinite possibilities.
Chu Tian mocked himself inwardly.
The people from the third floor seemed to have already witnessed the doctor’s abilities, so they did not react too strongly. They merely nervously moved closer, afraid of being abandoned or pushed outside.
Because of the crowd’s approach, being this close to so many people made Quan Xiaoyu extremely uncomfortable. Thus, he raised his sword and walked over to the doctor.
“I can clear the way.”
The doctor nodded to indicate his permission.
Quan Xiaoyu shot forward like a sharp sword. With every rise and fall of his blade, several zombies were instantly separated from their heads.
He was too fast. Chu Tian did not even have time to reach out and stop him.
The doctor stared at Quan Xiaoyu’s back for several seconds, deep in thought. Then he turned around and said to Chu Tian, “You were right. An injured person really doesn’t have any say.”
Chu Tian responded with a fake smile.
Some things were understood without needing to be said.
Thus, Quan Xiaoyu cleared the way ahead while the doctor’s vines provided support. Before long, the people behind them followed the footsteps of those in front. No one spoke, no one ran around randomly, and the entire group maintained a steady rhythm as they quickly left the hospital grounds.
Once they reached the road, there were suddenly far fewer zombies. After several days, they had all gathered in places where humans were present. The few scattered zombies were quickly cleared out.
There were plenty of cars on the road, both good and bad, mixed together.
After leaving the hospital, Quan Xiaoyu naturally felt there was no need to continue following the doctor’s commands. A dangerous person like that was better avoided by parting ways as soon as possible.
Relying on his experience, Quan Xiaoyu quickly picked out a relatively intact vehicle from the large number of cars. It was an SUV, a good helper for everyday life, though it did consume a bit of fuel.
Without hesitation, he pried open the car door and was about to climb inside.
But in the next second, someone pressed down on the door and pushed it shut.
Quan Xiaoyu angrily looked up and glared fiercely at the doctor blocking him.
The fact that everyone had escaped together in the hospital did not mean he was afraid of him. So what if he was a wood-type ability user? Quan Xiaoyu might not necessarily be unable to fight him. If he still had his fire-type ability from his previous life, he could burn all of the doctor’s vines to ashes with a single blaze.
“Don’t be angry, little brother. I’m just trying to say a few words. Don’t get so worked up.”
The doctor smiled lazily, the corner of his eye glancing at Quan Xiaoyu’s hand gripping the katana, which was already itching to move.
“Say it!”
“Looking at you, little brother, you seem to live nearby, right? The rest of us either came from elsewhere or have homes very far away, so—please help us find somewhere to stay.”
The doctor spoke lazily, almost helplessly.
Quan Xiaoyu was furious.
What did he mean by that? Was he trying to latch onto him?
“What does that have to do with me?” he said coldly, already deciding in his heart that if the doctor insisted on pestering him, they could simply fight again.
The doctor pretended to be surprised.
“You’re not planning to stand by and watch people die, are you? There are so many lives here. We finally escaped from the hospital. Wouldn’t it be a shame to die here?”
What a shameless bastard!
He wasn’t the one who had brought these people out!
Besides, they were temporarily safe now. These people had hands and feet, and they even had a wood-type ability user among them. How could they possibly die here?
Quan Xiaoyu was angry, but he was not good at arguing with people. He merely gritted his teeth and said, “It’s safe here. Drive away. You won’t die! Move!”
The doctor’s shamelessness had exhausted Quan Xiaoyu’s patience, and he issued his final warning.
“Fine.”
The doctor made an indifferent gesture and removed his hand from the car door. He stepped back, crossed his arms over his chest, and said with a half-smile, “Whether this place is safe or not is up to me. They can leave with me completely intact, or every single one of them can die here. Either way, it has nothing to do with you, right?”
His tone was almost threatening. At the same time, he cast a cold glance at the group of people.
They immediately fell silent like frightened cicadas.
They had sensed the threat to their lives, yet not a single person dared to resist or run away. Even now, they still remembered clearly what had happened to the first person who had resisted.
Besides, what that perverted doctor said wasn’t wrong.
Among them were college students, employees, businessmen, and migrant workers. Most of them were from other places. Even the few who were locals would need an hour or two by car to get home—and that was assuming the roads were still normal.
Now, the roads outside were covered with monsters, clogged with all kinds of vehicles, and filled with unknown dangers. Everything made them hesitate to take a single step.
Although this doctor made them feel danger and threatened them, he was also the only person they could rely on at the moment.
“You—”
Quan Xiaoyu was so furious that he was almost about to draw his sword.
What kind of moral kidnapping was this?
He had suffered plenty of losses from this sort of thing even before the apocalypse. And now they were trying the same trick after the apocalypse?
Sorry, but he wasn’t taking this burden!
Seeing that things were going badly, Chu Tian hurried forward several steps and pressed down on Quan Xiaoyu’s hand as he was about to draw his sword.
“Wait a moment. Let me talk.”
Chu Tian used his eyes to soothe Quan Xiaoyu.
This habit of drawing his sword whenever he couldn’t win an argument really was—
A little headache-inducing.
Chu Tian’s way of handling things was completely opposite to Quan Xiaoyu’s. The best solution was naturally to resolve a problem without spending a single soldier.
“Brother White Robe, let’s be reasonable here. Saving people is a doctor’s professional duty, but you can’t dump that responsibility on this little guy. Besides, you were the one who brought these people out. Otherwise, we’d have already left.”
Chu Tian spoke to the doctor.
“Brother Broken Leg, have you forgotten? An injured person has no say.”
The doctor spoke coolly.
Chu Tian continued grinning shamelessly, completely unaffected by those words.
“Let’s be reasonable. If you two start fighting, we won’t be able to leave either. Why waste our time here? If you don’t mind, Brother White Robe, could I have a few words with the little brother alone?”
Seriously, what was wrong with this doctor? Why did he have to keep provoking the guy until he got angry? What was the point?
Looking into Chu Tian’s eyes, the doctor pursed his lips and snorted coldly. He turned and walked backward, stopping only after reaching the group of people. Then he stared coldly at Chu Tian, temporarily giving them a relatively private space.
Bai Mingxi also wisely moved farther away.
The important decisions could be left to the boss. He would simply follow along and didn’t need to worry about them.
Seeing that everyone had moved away, Chu Tian gave the doctor a smile before saying to Quan Xiaoyu, “I know you don’t want to cause trouble. These people aren’t your responsibility either.”
Quan Xiaoyu frowned and nodded.
He did not mind helping with a small favor that was within his ability, but he would never allow these people to disrupt the life he had planned.
There was still Li Nan at home, and he needed to protect and take care of him.
“Okay.”
Chu Tian nodded. He noticed that his words had made Quan Xiaoyu relax a little before continuing.
“What the doctor said just now is actually true. Some of those people are my classmates. They’re all college students, and their homes are in other places. There are also the others. I’m afraid that at this point, most of them won’t be able to get home anymore. You know that too, right?”
Quan Xiaoyu fell silent.
He didn’t want to answer.
It was the truth, but it wasn’t his responsibility.
“Of course, the others aren’t important,” Chu Tian continued. “But the doctor probably doesn’t think that way. Regardless of what his purpose was in saving everyone, the current situation is that he won’t let any one person leave alone. He wants to find a safe place. You could also fight him. Maybe that would solve the problem.”
He paused, giving Quan Xiaoyu some time to think before continuing.
“But are you certain you’ll win? Is it worth spending your combat strength here?”
Yes, he indeed might not be able to defeat the doctor.
But—
“So I have to save them and take them home?” Quan Xiaoyu suppressed his anger and said reluctantly.
Chu Tian suddenly burst out laughing.
“My God, did you misunderstand something?”
He laughed uncontrollably.
“I only want you to provide a possibly safe place. It can be anywhere nearby that you know of—somewhere away from the zombie hordes, where they can hide. Having food and water would be ideal, but if there isn’t any, that’s fine too. That’s something they have to figure out for themselves.”