C90 The Sound of Gunshot Echoed in the Library.(2)

The sound of crying emanated from a small library on the street corner. Tang Bing quickly made his way to the entrance.

A sedan was wedged against the library's front door, making entry impossible.

It seemed the car had careened down the street in a frenzied escape from zombies, only to crash into the library's entrance. The front end was jammed in the doorway, while the rest of the vehicle blocked the exterior.

Tang Bing attempted to reverse the car out, but soon realized that even with the keys, the engine wouldn't start.

As he was dealing with the car, several zombies sprang out in an attempt to ambush him. But against Tang Bing, armed with his keen senses, their attack was doomed to fail.

He deftly dodged the zombies, swinging his mace into battle. After a strenuous fight to take them all down, he quickly began searching for another way in.

His perception allowed him to "see" a child-like presence in a room on the library's second floor—the source of the crying, he surmised.

The child was alone, with no adults nearby, yet numerous zombies roamed just outside the room.

This heightened Tang Bing's urgency. An adult's presence would have been reassuring, but an infant alone was in grave danger.

He was also puzzled. Where had the child's parents gone? Why would they leave their infant in the library and just walk away? If they were indeed such parents, their callousness was unfathomable.

Though it was a possibility—human nature is often unpredictable, and the world is not without its share of cruel parents—it seemed unlikely. Maybe the child was too much of a handful, and, unable to cope, the parents abandoned him to save themselves.

But Tang Bing suspected that if parents had indeed left their child, they couldn't have gone far. Judging by the child's loud cries, he didn't seem to be suffering from prolonged hunger. His voice was strong, not at all weakened by extended crying or hoarseness.

Meanwhile, another peculiar thought crossed Tang Bing's mind.

The child's arrival was so out of the ordinary, it defied all reason. Could it be possible that this child was actually a zombie?

The thought of a zombie infant wasn't out of the question!

But regardless of whether he was right or wrong, he had to see for himself to be sure.

The car was stuck; there was no way to enter the library through the main entrance.

He sprinted to the back only to find the rear door securely locked—a solid security door that his tools couldn't breach in a hurry.

He considered the windows, but they were barred with steel—no chance there.

After much searching, he settled on the second-floor balcony, where the wooden door seemed more vulnerable.

Tang Bing surveyed the area carefully. With no zombies in sight, he found a large plastic trash bin by the road, emptied its contents, and dragged it to the library window. He then cautiously climbed atop it and leapt, grasping the balcony railing firmly.

With a swift motion, he hoisted himself up, toes digging into the railing for leverage. It took considerable effort, but he eventually clambered over the railing and onto the balcony.

In the process, he scraped his knees, gave them a cursory wipe, and then delivered a forceful kick to the balcony door.

With a loud "Bang!" the lock gave way under his strength, and the door swung open.

At the sound, several zombies charged toward him. Tang Bing, cool and collected, swung his mace. Each zombie met its end with a single blow, and if one wasn't enough, he'd strike again. He dispatched them with ease.

Using his heightened senses to verify the second floor was clear of zombies, he rushed inside, mace in hand, and made his way to the room where the baby's cries were coming from.

Indeed, the cries were incessant. Through his perception, Tang Bing could see a small child lying on the bed.

His senses couldn't provide a complete picture, only a blurry silhouette, similar to what one might see through a thermal imaging camera—a vague shape of energy.

Tang Bing could distinguish between zombies and humans by their energy signatures, and at close range, he could even "see" their expressions. But at this distance, with a wall in the way, discerning the condition of the baby was impossible.

Despite suspecting that the idea of a baby zombie was a figment of his imagination, he gripped his mace with both hands, adopting a stance of extreme caution. He lifted his foot and slammed it against the door.

"Bang!" The door didn't budge on the first attempt. Tang Bing gathered his strength for another forceful kick.

On the second try, the door burst open.

The room appeared to be a modest break area for library staff, sparsely furnished.

But Tang Bing's focus was solely on the infant. He stepped cautiously into the room.

There, on a wire-frame bed in the corner, was an infant lying on its side, facing the wall, wailing with its back to Tang Bing.

The baby, swaddled in an oversized garment with its back to him, heightened Tang Bing's anxiety.

He watched the infant for a long while before finally taking a deep breath. Clutching the mace tightly in his right hand, he reached out with his left to gently touch the baby, then carefully turned it over.

The chill of the infant's clothes against his fingertips sent a surge of tension through him, his nerves instantly on edge.

In the next instant, the infant turned its head, revealing a face so grotesque and rotten it made his skin crawl. It was indeed a baby turned zombie.

"Quack!" The infant zombie snapped viciously at Tang Bing's left hand. Alert and quick, Tang Bing withdrew his hand in time, thwarting the bite.

The thwarted infant zombie writhed, trying to launch an attack. But its small body was swaddled so tightly in the thick clothes—how its parents had bound it before death was a mystery—it couldn't break free, only rolling around futilely.

The sight before him allowed Tang Bing a moment of relief. He hastily retreated from the room, pulling the door shut behind him. But the door was damaged, unable to close properly. His only option was to secure it with a rope, tying one end to the door handle and the other around an exposed iron nail in the wall.

Inside was a zombie, albeit in the form of an infant. Tang Bing was aware of the danger it posed, yet he couldn't bring himself to crush it with his spiked club. Despite his deliberation, he couldn't harden his heart.

Initially intending to exit via the balcony, he paused midway, reconsidering. He scoured the area for pen and paper. Leaving the infant zombie behind was risky; it could attract other survivors. He might not be able to deter them, but he felt compelled to leave a warning.

Being in a library made finding writing materials easy. As he opened a drawer, an unexpected find caught his attention—a skill book.

The book, titled "Mining Experience," contained the insights of a seasoned miner. Studying it would enhance one's mining skills by a level and increase yields by an additional 10%. Tang Bing wasted no time in using the book, activating a passive mining skill. He then penned a cautionary note, "Beware: Terrifying baby zombie inside. Please proceed with extreme caution!" and affixed it to the door with glue.

This way, any survivors drawn to this place would see the warning and, hopefully, be more alert—perhaps it would even save a life.

With time to spare and faced with the futility of his encounter with the baby zombie, Tang Bing's attention shifted to the library's bookshelves. If a random search yielded a skill book, what other treasures might he find?

Determined to scour the small library before dusk, he sprang into action, starting with the closest shelves. But the first item he stumbled upon was a pristine smartphone, still in its original packaging. Likely a recent purchase by the shop owner or an employee, it had been abandoned on the second-floor counter amidst the chaos of the zombie outbreak.

Powering it on, Tang Bing found the battery fully charged, the phone unused. Yet, in his current situation, the device was meaningless—he had no one to contact and no means to recharge it. After briefly entertaining himself with the phone, he contemplated discarding it.

However, a thought soon struck him. Clutching the new phone, he made his way to the room housing the zombie infant. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, ready to capture the scene on camera.

He planned to take the footage back with him to show the others, dispelling any doubts they might have about his inaction in the face of death.