That’s how information asymmetry worked.
Everyone knew—only in cases where a living person happened to have their neck bitten through by a zombie, severing the connection between the brain and the body, could a living person be “bitten to death” by a zombie.
Otherwise, even if they had huge chunks of flesh bitten off, even if they bled profusely, even if they looked like they were already dead—they would still mutate into second-generation zombies.
Everyone knew this.
Everyone except this doctor, who had been locked in that tiny room since the zombie virus first broke out.
He’d dropped his phone while fleeing for his life. The treatment room had no TV, only a landline. He’d made countless calls for help, and had finally gotten through once—only to be told they could only rely on themselves for now.
The four or five zombies that had been chasing him didn’t leave after things quieted down; they kept wandering around outside the door.
He couldn’t get out and couldn’t get any information from the outside world. His understanding of zombies was still stuck at the most basic, intuitive impressions—”man-eating monsters,” “sensitive to sound.” He had no deeper knowledge at all.
He’d told a lie that he thought was flawless, but everyone saw through it in an instant.
Li Feng was in the New Tech District during the day.
He’d brought supplies over in the morning, and volunteers were there to take over coordination.
Jiang Cheng had assigned the stock clerks from Buy Duo Duo to help him out, leaving only the cleaners and Guo Jun—the all-purpose handyman—to continue working in the neighborhood.
The stock clerks had only agreed to go work at Buy Duo Duo after Jiang Cheng promised they could continue living in the neighborhood.
They knew the warehouse, shelves, and equipment better than anyone. With them around, everyone could stay busy without things descending into chaos.
The empty trucks weren’t idle either—they had to haul away zombie corpses.
There were just too many bodies now. Strangely, when zombies were “alive,” their skin had mutated to a dark, livid gray, but even with wounds, their bodies wouldn’t continue to rot.
But once they were truly “dead,” their bodies rotted just as quickly as any human corpse, and maggots appeared.
If they didn’t deal with so many bodies, an epidemic was right around the corner. And they couldn’t just burn all these zombie corpses on city streets either. Higher command had arranged for the supply trucks to bring goods in, then after unloading, the empty trucks would haul the corpses back for centralized disposal.
The big trucks made several trips back and forth every day.
Zhao Yi had been pestering Li Feng all day about the trucks’ disinfection procedures.
Li Feng didn’t know much about that either, but after two days, he and Zhao Yi had gotten familiar, and Zhao Yi had helped him out a lot, so he answered as best he could: “They wear masks. They use high-pressure water hoses first to spray all the gunk off. Then they carry big tanks and spray again—probably disinfectant or something. Then they use huge industrial fans to dry everything. It has to be completely dry before they load anything else on.”
Zhao Yi insisted on asking what kind of disinfectant.
Li Feng said: “I don’t know. They spray several kinds—one person finishes, and another goes up with a different one. The tanks they carry look the same, but the labels are different. I think one said something like ‘di-‘ or ‘-di’? Something aldehyde?”
Zhao Yi: “Glutaraldehyde?”
Li Feng: “That’s it!”
He added: “Don’t worry—we have experts.”
Zhao Yi was reluctantly satisfied with the disinfection procedure, but still said: “Even if they disinfect every night, they shouldn’t use the same trucks for corpses and food.”
Li Feng didn’t like hearing that, and shot back: “Well, what other option do we have right now?”
Zhao Yi was stumped.
Because there really wasn’t any other option. The truck drivers were working nonstop, absolutely exhausted.
Zhao Yi sighed.
Just then, Jiang Cheng called Li Feng, and he quickly seized the chance to shake off Zhao Yi, stepping aside to take the call: “Hello? Jiang Cheng?”
Jiang Cheng asked: “Are you still around?”
“I’m here.”
“You’d better wait for us—don’t leave yet. I’ve got someone to hand over to you.”
Renxin Hospital had been successfully taken.
When Jiang Cheng led the team back, she brought someone to Li Feng.
They’d tied the man’s hands behind his back. Because when he realized his lie had been seen through, he’d tried to make a run for it, but everyone had subdued him.
Li Jiangbing had pinned him to the ground and shouted: “You’re running? Where are you gonna go! There are still zombies everywhere out there! If you’re not afraid to die, then run!”
It was the first time the male doctor had heard the term “zombie,” but he immediately understood it referred to those biting, mutating monsters.
He didn’t dare run anymore. But since this was someone who’d dared to kill, everyone kept his hands tied just in case.
Jiang Cheng briefed Li Feng succinctly.
Li Feng fell silent.
Jiang Cheng said: “We can’t find the police right now. We don’t want to let him go either. Take him back with you.”
Li Feng nodded: “Alright.”
He asked: “Was the hospital operation smooth?”
Jiang Cheng replied with a pleased expression: “We’ll organize everyone tomorrow to clean up the hospital, disinfect it, and call all the nearby doctors back—then we’ll have a working hospital.”
When this girl talked about such things—even with stains on her clothes and sweat-soaked hair plastered to her forehead—she still radiated light.
No trace of fear, disgust, or revulsion toward the zombies. Her eyes were bright and spirited.
Her vitality was extraordinary.
Li Feng felt that, as the official representative, he should say a few words of praise to commend such an outstanding civilian.
But for some reason, the mouth that was usually so articulate just wouldn’t open properly around Jiang Cheng.
He stammered for a moment, and only managed to squeeze out a single word: “Keep it up.”
Jiang Cheng smiled in acknowledgment, then was called away by someone else. She was extremely busy.
Li Feng felt incredibly stupid. He yanked his cap brim down to cover his eyes in frustration.
But when Jiang Cheng called him over to discuss tomorrow’s arrangements, he hurried over in big strides.
Thanks to the supply line being opened, there was basically no one going hungry in the New Tech District anymore.
Zhao Yi told Jiang Cheng and the others: “The people from Shanshui Yayuan have come too.”
They’d come to collect supplies. There weren’t many of them, and they stuck together—only interacting with people from their own neighborhood. Their faces changed when they saw the Deqingli people.
The Deqingli people looked equally uncomfortable around them. Many turned their heads away.
Zhao Yi said: “I saw one of them looked like he wanted to go talk to Li Feng, but the others held him back and talked him out of it.”
“I happened to be pulling a hand truck past and overheard a bit,” he said.
They were telling him: Hold on for now. Wait until later…
They’d have to wait until later. It wasn’t the time yet. The supply channel was open, but the state’s coercive apparatus hadn’t been restored yet.
Li Feng only had a few soldiers guarding the trucks.
And they were soldiers, not police. Police handled criminal cases.
More importantly, Deqingli had brought so many people to collect supplies. They outnumbered the Shanshui Yayuan residents by a huge margin.
It really wasn’t the time yet. The people from Shanshui Yayuan decided to swallow their grievances.
Everyone also told Zhao Yi about the doctor they’d brought back.
Zhao Yi—the kind of person who waited for the green light even when crossing the street—was silent for a long time, then asked: “So… will he face legal punishment?”
As he said this, his eyes unconsciously drifted toward the Deqingli people who hadn’t left yet.
Judging by the Shanshui Yayuan residents’ reactions, there must be murderers among those Deqingli people too.
Would all these people face legal punishment someday?
Zhao Yi felt a little lost.
Because he’d seen the horrors of Lecheng Garden. Humans—carbon-based life—could truly die of starvation.
When people did things driven by such a survival crisis, should they be judged guilty or innocent?
Would the principle of necessity apply?
“That’s not something to think about right now. And it’s not something we can decide.” Jiang Cheng said. “Let’s talk about tomorrow’s arrangements first.”
She waved at Li Feng and called out: “Li Feng, come over and discuss tomorrow’s plans.”
Li Feng strode over.
That day, Li Feng took the male doctor away with him.
When he came back on Sunday, one of the four trucks was fully loaded with disinfection supplies. After the other three trucks unloaded their supplies at Buy Duo Duo, all four trucks followed the volunteers to Renxin Hospital.
As soon as he saw Li Feng, Li Jiangbing asked about the man from yesterday: “What happened to him?”
“Haven’t dealt with him yet,” Li Feng said. “But he’s been interrogated.”
The man and a nursing assistant had been fleeing together from zombies, ended up in that treatment room in the outpatient area, and got trapped there by several zombies outside.
Unable to contact anyone for rescue, after starving for days, his evil impulses took over—he killed the nursing assistant and ate his flesh.
“He confessed to everything,” Li Feng said. “The interrogator told me he had a mental breakdown afterward—he’s a bit unhinged. No one has time to deal with him right now, so he’s locked up for now. We’ll handle it later.”
Everyone was too busy right now.
Today, everyone who came was a volunteer.
Although by the end of yesterday, even using the loudspeaker couldn’t lure out any more zombies, they were still cautious today—armored fighters checked every room on every floor first. Only after confirming it was safe did the volunteers move in with the disinfectant solution they’d gotten from Li Feng.
Zhao Yi was taking the lead on the specifics. A girl from the neighborhood who was an intern at Renxin Hospital worked alongside him. The two of them consulted each other on any issues.
All the corpses were loaded onto the trucks. The government would handle centralized disposal later.
Jiang Cheng told Li Feng: “We’ve already confirmed and contacted twenty-two medical staff members yesterday.”
How fortunate that so many doctors had bought homes in the New Tech District to be close to work. Every specialty was covered.
“Once we get the hospital cleaned up today, we can start seeing patients tomorrow.”
Li Feng stood in the hollow, square-shaped corridor, hands on his hips, looking up and down.
People were busy on every floor above and below.
After so much death, this was the vitality the masses had erupted with.
“Good,” he said. “I’ll write all of this into my report later.”
Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow: “You have to write a report?”
“Not yet,” Li Feng grinned. “Once this is over, they’ll definitely make us write one.”
Like the other soldiers, his skin was tanned dark from the sun, making his white teeth stand out even more.
From Thursday to Sunday, he’d become completely familiar with the key personnel around here.
The situation in the New Tech District was getting better and better. The main residential area was basically a safe zone now, and even Renxin Hospital had been retaken.
People’s moods were lighter too—they could talk with smiles on their faces again.
Song Jingshuo and his team finished sweeping the building and met up with Li Jiangbing before going to find Jiang Cheng.
As they arrived on this floor, they could see from a distance that Li Feng was grinning and grinning at Jiang Cheng.
Look at that stance—hands on his hips, showing off both his chest muscles and his biceps. What a show-off.
Li Jiangbing furtively glanced at Song Jingshuo.
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