The Situation

"But a year ago, everything changed. A plague suddenly broke out in the city..."

As Little Green spoke, he drew a yellowed sheet of paper from his wide, plain sleeve.

Xia Lun took it and looked down. The writing was still a blur, yet somehow he understood what it said.

It was an official notice from Sorrow Hill City. Its heading was written in bold, blood-red ink: "Beware the Skinned Corpse Plague."

Below it, the main text used dense, tortuous language to detail the symptoms of the plague and its possible routes of transmission. It ended with an appeal for everyone to stand together through the crisis. A square red official seal had been stamped beside the signature.

"I used to be a minor clerk at the Prefectural Office. I wrote most of that notice, so I know more or less how it all happened," Little Green explained.

You were sharp enough to be a clerk? Xia Lun thought. He could not help glancing at Little Green.

"Once someone catches the plague, their skin slowly peels away, like the shell of an overripe lychee. It takes a long time, and the pain is unbearable. When all their skin is gone, they die. But the worst part is that seven days later, they rise again as mindless Skinned Corpses driven to attack."

Little Green glanced at the Skinned Corpse beside him, then stole a cautious look at Xia Lun.

When Xia Lun's expression did not change, Little Green went on. "There's no cure for the Skinned Corpse Plague. Once you catch it, all you can do is wait to die. But worse than its fatality rate was the fact that, at first, no one knew how it spread.

"Some people were bitten a dozen times by Skinned Corpses and came away