Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The day before Lin An left the house, Shen Xiuzhe was being hunted by former comrades who, confident in their numbers, believed they could surely kill him. Instead, Shen Xiuzhe lured them to a secluded spot and eliminated them all.

Of course, he too was seriously injured and fell unconscious, only to sense others' presence upon awakening.

Tense and ready to unleash his lethal intent, Shen Xiuzhe thought the traitors had survivors.

But then, in the next second, the person nestled at his neck panicked and fled.

Since becoming a zombie, Lin An had stopped aging, his bangs still covering his eyes just as they had that evening. The little zombie typically brushed his hair aside when it obstructed his vision, but today, in his haste to eat, the bangs had naturally fallen, allowing only Lin An to peer through the gaps at those murderous eyes, while the other saw only a fuzzy head.

Just roused from unconsciousness, Shen Xiuzhe hadn't even made out the other's pale grey skin before witnessing the frantic escape.

As long as it wasn't those traitors, it was fine.

His wounds were all dressed; had he been saved by this person?

Shen Xiuzhe slowly got up, surveying his surroundings with caution.

"Hiss~"

Frowning, he reached for the back of his head, puzzled by the pain when there had been no head injury before he passed out.

As he rose, the white towel slid off, revealing his bare, muscular body. Staring at his own nakedness, Shen Xiuzhe was silenced.

While grateful to his rescuer, he wondered if it was necessary to be undressed so thoroughly. And why was he on the dining table? What had that person been intending to do at his neck?

Some kind of... special kink?

Wrapping the lower half of his body with the towel, Shen Xiuzhe rolled off the table and began to closely inspect the room.

A light coffee-colored sofa, warm-hued floors, a white coffee table, and a large dog wagging its tail as it emerged from the bedroom created a picture of warmth and tranquility.

Standing here, it was as if the recent betrayals, fights, apocalypse, and zombies were all just a bad dream, now awakened to a peaceful and serene life once more.

But the throbbing pain in his body and head served as a reminder that everything was real.

It was then he noticed the anomaly; the city had been without running water and electricity for months, with only the secure bases providing limited utilities. Why then was this residential area so clean?

Shen Xiuzhe checked the bathroom only to confirm there was indeed no water.

The furniture was dust-free, towels neatly draped on racks appeared clean and soft, and even the pet dog's fur was fluffy and smooth.

His clothes were hanging on the balcony, now dry to the touch and all stains removed.

Could it be water-based abilities?

He immediately considered this possibility.

Dressing himself, despite serious injuries, his movements were unhindered. His narrow phoenix eyes slanted upwards, sharp as swords, and his expressionless demeanor made him seem particularly unapproachable.

Touching the pocket of his clothes, Shen Xiuzhe's brow furrowed sharply, and he quickly strode in the direction where that person had fled.

Xiao Fu, having finished its meal, emerged from the bedroom to find a stranger pacing around the home, recognizing the scent as the one their owner had brought back, so it simply sat down in the living room, watching curiously.

Only when the stranger headed towards the owner's bedroom did Xiao Fu slowly follow.

The bedroom offered no place to hide except for the wardrobe, which Shen Xiuzhe approached and opened, exposing the little zombie hidden inside.

*

Lin An, shivering within the closet, could smell the food that bore the scent of flesh and blood moving about outside. The little zombie was too frightened to emerge, the gaze from earlier more terrifying than the five people he had encountered upon opening the door.

So hungry, the zombie sat huddled in the corner of the wardrobe, feeling utterly forlorn.

A small black satin box at his feet caught his attention; it had fallen from the food earlier and Lin An had pocketed it, only for it to fall out again now.

Picking up the box slowly, the scared little zombie, too afraid to go out and eat, began fiddling with it and opened it.

A rich aroma wafted out, indescribable yet deeply alluring to the hungry little zombie, who couldn't take his eyes off the pigeon egg-sized red gemstone inside the box.

It smelled so good.

Lin An swallowed hard, extracting a ruby from the box and persistently sniffing it.

Even when compared to the fragrance of this gemstone, the food that previously had the little zombie drooling now seemed as tasteless as clear soup noodles, a stark contrast was established.

He opened his mouth to eat the gemstone but stopped just a second before he could put it in his mouth.

It seemed it hadn't been washed yet.

The next moment, the tightly shut wardrobe was abruptly opened, and light flooded into the dark, safe closet, revealing the terrifying food standing before it.

"What are you doing?" the man barked.

The frightened little zombie gulped down the gemstone in a single swallow, and before it could react in horror, it was lifted by the neck by the other.

Shen Xiuzhe watched helplessly as the other swallowed the meteorite and was too late to stop it, and at this moment, he also noticed the other's pale grey skin.

It was a zombie!

Half a year of fighting had caused him to detest zombies deeply. And that stone was a meteorite he had gone to the wilderness to pick up six months ago.

Although there was no concrete evidence, many believed that the apocalypse was related to that meteor shower, and this red meteorite was found by him in the wilderness after he saw a red fireball in the sky out of boredom that night.

It was initially kept as a souvenir, but the city's transformation the next day left him no time to care for it.

The anomaly of this meteorite was discovered while being chased by zombies, as they always outnumbered those who pursued and cornered him, and after several verifications, he realized that the zombies were interested in this meteorite.

The only food for zombies was fresh flesh, with humans being the best source, followed by other creatures, yet the allure of this meteorite to the zombies evidently surpassed that of human flesh.

He didn't know if his dual special abilities were related to carrying this meteorite for a long time, but if he could research this meteorite, it might be possible to find the cause of the mutations.

He had also searched the wilderness later but never found the same meteorite again.

This was the only one.

And now it had been eaten by a zombie.

Since it had just been swallowed, it couldn't have been completely digested; if he were to open up the stomach, it should still be there.

Shen Xiuzhe was not what one would call a truly good person; as a former adventurer, he had killed a mountain of wild beasts in the wilderness, not to mention the countless zombies that had perished at his hands in the past six months.

Now, slicing open the belly of a zombie was a task he found effortless.

The unmistakable aura of killing intent immediately unsettled Xiao Fu, who, seeing his master restrained, suddenly let out a threatening growl at the man, followed by a barrage of barking.

Since becoming a zombie, Lin An no longer breathed; even when his neck was constricted, it caused no breathlessness, but he was in discomfort, feeling as though there was a fire burning inside his stomach, and the man's murderous gaze only intensified his fear.

Instinctively lowering his head to avoid eye contact, Lin An began to struggle faintly in discomfort.

His strength was feeble, and no matter how he writhed, he could not free himself from the other's grasp.

Shen Xiuzhe looked at the dog on the ground with puzzlement, wondering why it was still alive despite sharing a room with a zombie. Could it be that the zombie had only recently turned and had not yet had the chance to devour the dog?

The action of lying on him earlier was not due to any peculiar fetish but simply a zombie's preparation to feed.

With this thought, Shen Xiuzhe applied even more force.

A sudden chill touched the back of his hand; turning, he saw the choked zombie had started to cry.

Tears slid down its cheeks, dropping onto his hand from its chin, and although they were but a few cold droplets, they caused Shen Xiuzhe to unconsciously loosen his grip.

The released zombie did not lunge with a roar but instead crouched down, hugging its head, looking fearful of being hit.

The dog, seeing its master freed, immediately leapt into the wardrobe and sat next to its owner, growling protectively at the intruder.

Yet its legs trembled, betraying an appearance of false bravado.

The two small creatures huddled closely together looked pitiful.

How could a zombie display such human-like behavior?

All the zombies he had encountered were driven by a bloodthirsty instinct, whether their legs were broken or their heads bashed in, they would twist and contort in an attempt to continue tearing at their prey, never crying or showing fear.

Doubting what he had seen, Shen Xiuzhe squatted in front of the little zombie, pried away its hands from its head, and forcibly lifted its chin.

Xiao Fu tried to bite him but was stopped by Shen Xiuzhe's stern glance, and the once valiant dog quickly buried its head into its owner's chest in fear.

There are three typical characteristics of zombies: ashen grey skin, sharp fangs, and blood-red eyes.

But this zombie was indeed different, with its faded grey skin not only lacking disgust but also possessing a unique aesthetic.

Prying open the little zombie's mouth, I found his teeth neat and clean, with two small canines that looked almost naturally so, possibly too weak even to tear into raw flesh, and his eyes...

Lifting the hair from his forehead, a pair of misty, tear-filled eyes were revealed, reminiscent of rubies.

Shen Xiuzhe let go, allowing the hair to fall back over those eyes.

Lifting the hair again, the same misty, tearful ruby eyes gazed back.

He dropped his hand once more.

He looked several times, partly in astonishment—the youngster was indeed good-looking, arguably more so than anyone Shen Xiuzhe had seen in all his travels.

The other part was the realization that he truly was a zombie, possessing all the typical traits, yet he felt more human.

It was as if he had mutated but the mutation was incomplete.

Now, Shen Xiuzhe found himself unable to proceed.

Against a zombie devoid of humanity, he could slaughter without reservation.

But this zombie, which would shed tears at the slightest movement, how could he possibly bring himself to cut open its stomach?

Withdrawing the hand that was holding the chin, Shen Xiuzhe's gaze moved downward, contemplating the little zombie's belly.

Feeling the intense gaze upon his stomach, the entire zombie shrunk even tighter into the wardrobe corner.

His gaze moved from the zombie's belly to other parts, seeing no obvious wounds; theoretically, only the first wave of zombies mutated spontaneously, while subsequent humans turned only after being bitten.

Considering a possibility, Shen Xiuzhe grabbed the zombie by the collar and lifted him out of the wardrobe, pressing him onto the adjacent bed to search for any wounds.

Lin An panicked, flailing helplessly, looking like an upturned turtle, his pale grey face flushing with the effort of his struggle.

Perhaps it was fear, or maybe something else, but Lin An, who hadn't spoken since becoming a zombie aside from growling at Xiao Fu, suddenly burst into tears.