Chapter 36

Chapter 36

As the bespectacled man breathed his last and fell to the ground, Qin Yue, the round-faced woman, also collapsed to the ground in a daze, dropping the dagger and embracing the barely breathing Little Cloud, weeping bitterly.

Honestly, Wu Yin had no clear preference about which of these people to keep. His earlier statement about leaving only one survivor was a spontaneous idea, but he wouldn’t hesitate to change his mind and decide to spare none if he found them all unsatisfactory.

However, one thing was certain; he would never let Li Ruida survive to the end.

It wasn’t that Wu Yin particularly disliked Li Ruida, but having someone like him – scheming, ruthless, outwardly warm but cold inside, physically strong and capable of fighting – was enough with Jie Linyuan around. Any more would be superfluous…

He, too, would die.

It's fun to be on guard and plot against one person, but with two, three, or a group... it becomes exhausting, and there's the fear of dying too soon.

So...

Wu Yin glanced at Qin Yue, pondering if occasionally dealing with someone of her type wouldn't be so bad.

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard a moan of pain from below. Looking down, he saw the thin man, drenched in sweat, sitting up and clutching his twisted broken hand, his face contorted in agony.

Noticing Wu Yin's gaze, the thin man, disregarding his pain, hoarsely shouted, "I can drive, only I can drive, hiss — I can do it with one hand!"

Wu Yin: "..."

Even though Li Ruida, the man with glasses, had already pointed out the crux of the rule early on: it didn't matter who could drive, what mattered was that only one person among them could survive to the end. Yet, the thin man remained unwavering, fixated solely on the notion of driving.

...Does he really excel at driving?

"So, you'll drive?" Wu Yin decided nonchalantly.

Overjoyed, the thin man immediately began kowtowing in gratitude to the black-haired man before him, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his current plight was also caused by this very person.

Seeing that Wu Yin had had his fill of amusement, Jie Linyuan spun out a long knife in his left arm, emotionlessly asking, "What about the other one, kill her or let her go?"

The cold words sent a shiver through Qin Yue. The will to die and the instinct to survive intertwined in her heart, leaving her unable to decide. Silently holding the barely breathing Xiaoyunduo in her arms, she regretted being deceived by Li Ruida's façade of righteousness and kindness, pondering how Xiaoyunduo might have been mistreated by him without being able to speak; hating herself for being too cowardly to act when the knife was at her throat, and for Xiaoyunduo having to suffer so much before her death.

The sudden diversion of the zombie horde forced her, Xiaoyunduo, Li Ruida, and a few "neighbors" to leave the basement they had lived in for nearly a year. Seeking a new shelter, they were captured by a terrifying cannibalistic gang. Some escaped, some died, leaving only her, Li Ruida, and Xiaoyunduo to rely on each other.

Now, the inhuman Li Ruida was dead, and Xiaoyunduo was trembling, spitting blood, leaving her alone...

"Kill me," Qin Yue made the bravest decision of her life. She closed her eyes. "I only ask one thing of you: after I die, bury my body with Xiaoyunduo!"

"Wishful thinking," Wu Yin frowned. "In this heat, who has the energy to dig a hole just for you?"

Qin Yue: "..."

Wu Yin asked curiously, "Not struggling anymore, just seeking death? If you beg me, I might even spare your life."

After all, everything stemmed from his whim. He was the rule maker, and no one could question him if he changed his mind on a whim.

"No need," Qin Yue straightened her back, letting the little girl, already showing early signs of infection, rest on her lap. "My mind is made up. Since I promised Xiaoyunduo never to leave her, I will keep my word."

Jie Linyuan watched, eyes slanted, as Wu Yin smiled mischievously at her words, guessing what the bad guy would do next. As expected, Wu Yin clapped his hands in pleasure: "Fine, then I definitely won't let you die."

Qin Yue, Thin Man: "..."

Jie Linyuan sighed deeply.

Holding back her emotions, Qin Yue, now bolder with the intention to die, retorted, "Are you sick? If you won't let us live, do you think you can stop us from dying?"

As it turned out, Wu Yin could indeed stop them. Sitting on a lounge chair, arms crossed without moving, he casually said to Qin Yue, "Death is too easy for you. You need to live on, atone for your Xiaoyunduo in this harsh world. She died protecting you. If you give up your life so easily, she won't forgive you."

The moral coercion in his words was overwhelming. If it were Jie Linyuan, he'd simply let it in one ear and out the other, doing whatever he pleased, certainly not bothering himself with such dubious moral standards.

Qin Yue, like a grass snake held at its vital seven inches by Wu Yin, murmured with her lips, tears filling her eyes, before burying her head and breaking down into sobs again.

"Too easy," Wu Yin thought to himself, wondering why Jie Lingyuan couldn't be as simple and easy to handle as them.

In the following time, Wu Yin had Jie Lingyuan bandage the straw man’s wounds, while ordering the Black Knight and Qin Yue to dig a grave for Xiao Yun Duo. He, meanwhile, lounged in his chair, engrossed in playing Tetris with great effort.

The slim chance of immunity did not materialize; an hour later, Xiao Yun Duo was completely contaminated. Her fingers turned into claws, her eyes bulged, and she bared her teeth at her beloved Sister Yue Yue. Qin Yue, with tears in her eyes, watched Jie Lingyuan skillfully drive a knife through the little girl’s temple, drawing the blade out and flicking a dark trail of blood on the ground.

Qin Yue had cried herself dry. She took a piece of jade from Xiao Yun Duo's neck, tied it around her own, and devoutly placed her in the pit, shoveling soil herself. She then carved a tombstone with a dagger - so crudely that the characters were barely legible, and felt embarrassed when it toppled into the mound.

She left reluctantly, looking back three steps at a time, still immersed in memories of Xiao Yun Duo even after getting into the car.

The new car was far inferior to the SUV they had driven out of the Wolf Smoke Shelter. It was a battered, second-hand, seven-seater minivan, somehow managing to carry over ten people for such a long distance. The Black Knight’s huge body took up most of the space inside, his legs cramped, and his two heads squeezed together.

Wu Yin naturally occupied the most spacious co-driver’s seat. As a modern-day miser, he showed no sympathy for the wounded, immediately sending the straw man with a freshly bandaged arm to the driver's seat, who now sat there, sheepishly awaiting his orders.

The straw man, named Hu Hongbo, asked timidly with his head bowed, "Sir, where are we heading?"

"To the Southern Camp," Wu Yin replied.

Old Hu had never heard of the Southern Camp but didn’t dare to ask further. He cautiously turned his gaze to Jie Lingyuan in the back seat, asking carefully, “Brother Jie, this Southern Camp...?”

"Brother Jie?" Wu Yin frowned. Why was he suddenly ‘Brother Jie’? Why did they act like a mouse seeing a cat around him, yet so cordially with Jie Lingyuan? Could he be more intimidating than this humanoid weapon, a half-mechanical being capable of making grenades with bare hands?

Jie Lingyuan sat up straight and explained gently, “Currently, in the Hua District, there are two large human bases known as Survivor Camps. To distinguish them easily, we usually refer to the one in the south as Southern Camp, and the one in the north as Northern Camp.”

The Mechanical War God series of half-mechanical experimental subjects originated from the Northern Camp, while the Southern Camp is the Black Knight’s hometown.

Hearing the keyword, the Black Knight immediately barked excitedly, its large canine body suddenly lying on the back of the seat, panting and baring its fangs, howling, startling Qin Yue immensely.

"A single journey begins with a single step."

After seeing the map projected on the car window by Jie Linyuan, Old Hu roughly understood the direction they were headed. He assured Wu Yin repeatedly, "Sir, rest assured, I will drive carefully and get you to your destination as soon as possible."

"No rush," Wu Yin yawned, "just drive slowly with one hand. If there's an accident, only you and Qin Yue will die."

Although he was stating the truth, to Old Hu, it sounded like a threat.

The poor, stick-thin man trembled even more, his face ashen and lips pale, fumbling several times without being able to release the handbrake.

Seeing that an accident was inevitable if this continued, Wu Yin frowned, got out of the car, and swapped places with the bewildered Qin Yue.

"Am I really that frightening?" Wu Yin was truly perplexed. He turned to Jie Linyuan sitting beside him and asked, "And you're not scary? Why is he afraid of me but not you?"

"How am I as scary as you?" Jie Linyuan said with a smile.

Of course, Jie Linyuan wouldn't tell Wu Yin how, while bandaging Old Hu's severed hand, he had sketched a pitiful image of himself as being forced to do evil, with half-truths and exaggerations. He easily gained Old Hu's trust by implying they were on the same side, secretly uniting against the evil landlord Wu Yin.

Watching Wu Yin's dissatisfied gaze, Jie Linyuan couldn't help but chuckle, "When I kill, I have to do it with real weapons. You? Just a few words from your mouth and you slaughter people effortlessly."

Wu Yin clicked his tongue, "Don't make me sound so terrifying. I didn't think much of it at the time, just trying to amuse them with some topic. Who knew they had internal conflicts, and my casual remark led to infighting, resulting in their own destruction."

Jie Linyuan: "..."

Wu Yin yawned again and put the gaming console in the bag behind the seat, "I'm really sleepy, move over a bit, I'll take a nap."

Jie Linyuan obediently shifted, sitting in the corner. The next second, Wu Yin's head rested on his thigh. Jie Linyuan was momentarily stunned to see Wu Yin comfortably kick off his shoes and stretch out on the seat, finding a comfortable position to close his eyes.

"You," Jie Linyuan moved his leg uncomfortably, "what?"

He wanted to ask Wu Yin, who was clueless about love, why he thought of using his thigh as a pillow. But then he thought, perhaps it was precisely because of his ignorance of love that Wu Yin rested so unguardedly on his leg, unaware of the implied intimacy and affection in the gesture.

"Perhaps he just wanted a pillow?"

"What?" Wu Yin opened his eyes and asked.

The Black Knight's two heads poked through the gap between the seats, capturing Jie Linyuan's hesitant expression.

In the end, Jie Linyuan didn't tell Wu Yin anything. "It's nothing," he said, "Go back to sleep."

Just when he had finally settled his thoughts, the others in the car thought differently.

About two hours later, Lao Hu parked the car on the roadside to relieve himself. Turning around, he saw the posture of the two bosses and was so scared that his bladder nearly shrank, losing all urge to urinate.

Qin Yue also intended to get out of the car to look for wild vegetables and fruits for lunch. Turning around, they saw the black-haired one lying on the white-haired one's legs, sound asleep, while the white-haired one was also dozing off with his head slightly lowered, his hand still carefully supporting the black-haired one's head to prevent a fall.

She paused for a moment, then realizing something, she hushed Lao Hu and they both tiptoed out of the car.

As Lao Hu was unbuckling his belt, he suddenly thought that now would be a perfect opportunity for a sneak attack. Why not kill the black-haired one in his sleep?

But then he remembered the large wolf-dog in the back seat, with its ears still perked up, probably ready to bite off his arm before he could even move. Besides, if a sneak attack was feasible, his position next to Jie would have been the most convenient. But even Jie didn't dare to touch him, so it was better for Lao Hu, a mere delivery man, not to think too much.

Lao Hu left in high spirits but returned disheartened. Back in the car, he saw Wu Yin already sitting up, half-asleep and swaying in his seat. Feeling guilty as if his thoughts had awakened Wu Yin, Lao Hu didn't dare to look up, shivering in the driver's seat, wishing he could shrink into an ant.

"Why is he even more afraid of me now that he's awake?" Wu Yin wondered, full of questions.

Soon, Qin Yue also returned to the car with a plastic bag full of green vegetables. Her spirits lifted, she spoke to Wu Yin more fluently and naturally than Lao Hu: "We're in luck, I found a lot of shepherd's purse near the parking spot. We can have shepherd's purse soup for lunch. Ah, Xiao Yun loves shepherd's purse..."

This news somewhat improved Lao Hu's mood. In such chaotic times, having something to eat was a blessing. "Don't be sad, girl, we still have to live our lives."

However, Wu Yin was unhappy to hear that lunch would be vegetable soup: "I don't like shepherd's purse, I want meat."

At his words, Lao Hu immediately curled up again, while Qin Yue awkwardly replied, "But meat is really hard to come by... Tricholoma mushrooms taste a bit like meat, I'll keep an eye out on the road..."

"You're so useless," Wu Yin judged ruthlessly.

“……”

Old Hu nervously whispered a defense for Qin Yue, "She's useful. These days, I've seen her recognize all sorts of plants, spotting wild bamboo shoots hidden in the ground with just a glance."

"Yeah, I lived with my grandparents in the countryside as a kid, often going into the mountains and fields. I know a lot of crops," Qin Yue said, quite proud of this skill. It was because of her knowledge of what's edible and what's not that she, Xiao Yun Duo, and a few friends managed to survive in an abandoned building's basement in this post-apocalyptic world. She even cultivated a small field.

The place they chose to live was rarely frequented by zombies. If not for that damned accidental diversion of a zombie horde, they might have continued to live there in peace.

For most people, Qin Yue's survival skills were far more valuable in this post-apocalyptic world than Old Hu's mere driving ability.

But Wuyin didn't belong to this majority. Squinting his eyes, he asked, "That's all?"

Old Hu, Qin Yue: "……"

"Then I wasn't wrong, she really is useless," Wuyin said, scratching his head. These skills were something Jie Lin Yuan also had, and he did them better. After all, how could a human brain, no matter how brilliant, compete with a mechanical body loaded with an encyclopedia database and equipped with scanning and analysis functions?

"I hope you can show me your unique value before the sun sets today," Wuyin said indifferently to Qin Yue, "Otherwise..."

"What will you do? Kill me?" Qin Yue, having already resigned to fate, lifted her chin defiantly.

Wuyin glanced at her, "Otherwise, I'll dig up Xiao Yun Duo's grave."

Qin Yue: "……"

Dejectedly, Qin Yue put her shoes back on.

Jie Lin Yuan, who had been previously chastised by Wuyin, watched him disciplining others without a hint of sympathy, even feeling a bit of schadenfreude. He reflected on how he really wasn't a good person, remembering how his former team had viewed him as a monster. Yet, he thought... this guy claims he's not scary?