Xu Hui’s gun roared again, the bullet burying itself accurately into the zombie’s left eye, exiting the back of its skull and spraying bone shards and shredded flesh, yet no blood followed.

The zombie’s forward leap hitched momentarily, but it showed no sign of falling.

Xu Hui’s shot had aimed squarely for the creature’s weak spot, but it seemed the only result was adding a couple of holes to the corpse; bringing it down looked impossible.

In the dim hallway, the zombie’s pale face, now sporting two black sockets, appeared even more unnerving.

Kuang Feifan and Xu Hui exchanged a glance. The hallway was far too narrow to charge through, but it was equally unsuitable for a confrontation with the zombie.

Just as the zombie was about to bound over them, the two men launched themselves sideways, diving into two separate rooms.

The zombie reached the end of the corridor, its two targets now split. This situation seemed to give the creature a moment’s pause—a very brief one—before it chose Xu Hui, spinning its body and lunging toward the room Xu Hui had just slipped into.

The closer it got to a living being, the faster the zombie’s leaps became; it was practically upon Xu Hui in an instant.

Just as Xu Hui prepared to raise his gun, the zombie’s hand shot up and clamped down on his wrist.

Instantly, Xu Hui felt as if his wrist were caught in an iron vise. He felt his bones were about to snap, and the intense pain made him cry out involuntarily, forcing him to loosen his grip. The gun clattered loudly onto the floor.

Xu Hui was known as a tough guy on the force, yet this simple grip had wrung a cry of agony from him, clearly demonstrating the zombie’s strength was beyond human measure.

Kuang Feifan, having just ducked into the other room, winced upon hearing Xu Hui’s shout. He gripped his wooden stool and charged back toward Xu Hui’s room, arriving just in time to see the zombie holding Xu Hui’s wrist with one hand while the other clawed toward Xu Hui’s throat.

At that moment, sweat poured down Xu Hui’s face, his features contorted in pain; it was evident that merely restraining his wrist had stripped him of his ability to fight back.

Hoo! Kuang Feifan swung the stool down onto the back of the zombie’s head.

The impact landed squarely on the creature’s skull, but the effect was negligible; the zombie’s head merely swayed from the blow.

Kuang Feifan was startled. The stool had smashed another chunk off the back of the zombie’s head, but it achieved no practical result—in fact, it seemed to infuriate the creature. The hand that had been reaching for Xu Hui’s throat swiped sideways, raking toward Kuang Feifan’s head.

Five fingernails, now hardened into blades, slashed toward Kuang Feifan’s face. He had no choice but to retreat several steps, the rush of air from the claws grazing past his cheek.

Kuang Feifan couldn’t help but think of the Nine Yin White Bone Claws.

The zombie, missing its mark, seemed intensely enraged. It suddenly released Xu Hui’s wrist, spun around, and lunged at Kuang Feifan.

There was no time to devise a strategy. Kuang Feifan could only backpedal, drawing the zombie—now revealed to be Shen Jun—step by heavy step into the other room.

Xu Hui cradled his wrist, taking a moment to regain some feeling. Five ghastly, bruised fingerprints circled his wrist, a sight that chilled him, and the recent admission of pain left him feeling thoroughly ashamed.

Seeing the zombie drawn away by Kuang Feifan, Xu Hui reacted almost instinctively. He stooped low and threw himself at the zombie from behind. Thankfully, he wasn't foolish enough to tackle its back; instead, he wrapped his arms around its calf and pulled with all his might, slamming it face-first onto the floor. He then dove on top, pinning the creature to its back.

“Tear this thing apart!” Xu Hui gritted out.

Seeing Xu Hui desperately grappling with the zombie’s arms, Kuang Feifan rushed over. Facing the head, which was practically malformed, he didn't hesitate. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and gripped the creature's head.

It was unbelievable that a zombie pieced together from parts that had once been violently dismembered was so structurally sound. Furthermore, its head twisted violently left and right in Kuang Feifan’s grip, preventing him from applying effective force, while the zombie’s body struggled fiercely beneath Xu Hui. The trio—two men and one corpse—were locked in a stalemate.

In the midst of this struggle, the zombie's head suddenly detached from its neck. Kuang Feifan, who had been applying maximum force, staggered backward and fell onto the floor. The severed head slipped from his grasp, hitting the ground and quickly rolling aside.

“Damn it…” Kuang Feifan stood up, watching the head bounce across the floor like a ball. A surge of frustrated anger rose in him. He snatched up the stool he had dropped earlier and charged toward the rolling head.

The head, however, seemed sentient, constantly flipping and rolling to evade him. Its violent tumbling scattered fragments of dried blood and tissue onto the floor. Kuang Feifan slipped on the slick spots several times, hindering his attempts to grab it, and the sight made him retch.

Xu Hui, meanwhile, felt the headless body beneath him thrashing wildly. Frustrated, he pressed down on the zombie’s flailing arms and drove his knees hard onto its spine, pushing downward with all his weight.

Finally, Kuang Feifan reached the head and kicked it.

His powerful strike sent the head flying off the ground, slamming heavily against the wall opposite before rebounding toward him in mid-air.

Kuang Feifan had been waiting for this moment. He calculated the distance and brought the stool down with full force.

The stool connected with immense power, driving the head straight down onto the floor where it paused momentarily. Kuang Feifan rushed forward and began smashing the stool down repeatedly upon the severed head.

Strike after strike, Kuang Feifan worked with grim focus, his expression ferocious, looking like a vengeful ghost in the dim room.

The head on the floor was almost pulverized into a pulpy mess of bone and tissue, barely recognizable anymore.

From the other room, Xu Hui bellowed, “Damn it, Kuang Feifan, are you embroidering? Hurry up…”

The booming shout made Kuang Feifan freeze momentarily. He stared blankly at the still, ruined head before him. Suddenly, the prayer beads on his wrist radiated a gentle warmth, snapping him back to reality.

Kuang Feifan jumped. Had he almost lost himself to frenzy just now?

He retrieved the gore-soaked stool and returned to Xu Hui’s room, where his partner was still locked in a desperate struggle with the headless torso. He rushed over and brought the stool down onto the zombie’s back as well.

Kuang Feifan now understood Xu Hui’s tactic: aim directly for the spine. Still, the initial impacts of the stool produced only hollow thuds.

But neither man had time for disappointment; they couldn't think of any other viable method.

They struck countless times until, with a sickening crack, the spine finally snapped under the relentless, angled blows of the stool.

Even a zombie possessing monstrous strength, deprived of its vertebral support, could only flail its limbs uselessly on the floor, unable to stand again.

“This isn’t work for human hands,” Xu Hui gasped, letting out a breath. Kuang Feifan dropped the stool, grabbed Xu Hui, and the two men staggered out into the hallway, leaning on each other, panting heavily, speechless.

After a long silence, Kuang Feifan suddenly rolled his eyes and offered a wry smile. “Damn it, we’re both pathetic failures…”