Chapter 12

Chapter 12

While Wen Jiuzhe sneaked into the Wen family to carry out some suspicious villainous activities, Xue Ling didn’t just sit obediently in the car.

The car was unlocked, and she simply pushed the door open and got out. She circled around the small yard, pressed herself against the wall, and listened closely for any sounds outside. Hearing nothing, she quickened her pace to push open the gate.

The yard gate was locked, but it didn’t matter. She turned around, pushed the door open to enter the house, and exited through the door on the other side.

Surprise! She knew how to open doors. Wen Jiuzhe, you were careless!

Xue Ling stepped onto the street and walked along the shadows cast by the buildings.

After a while, she spotted a pharmacy with its glass door shattered and bent down to squeeze through the broken entrance.

The shelves were almost empty. Xue Ling wandered around but couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she had no choice but to leave.

In the post-apocalyptic world, after so much time, the scarcest items were undoubtedly medicines. Small pharmacies like this one had been looted long ago.

So, she estimated there was no chance of finding anything useful in such a small pharmacy.

At a time like this, if there was any place that still had a complete stock of medicines—Xue Ling looked into the distance at the large sign of Anxi Wenkang Hospital.

Of course, it would be the large hospital, filled with zombies, that no one dared to enter.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far away, and since Xue Ling had nothing better to do, she decided to casually stroll over and take a look.

She had passed by the area just yesterday, and now, standing again on the street in front of the hospital, she saw it more clearly. At a glance, it was a sea of heads, with a high density of zombies.

A normal person would want to turn and run, but Zombie Xue Ling could walk sideways through here without a care.

Ever since becoming a zombie, every time she crossed the road, she walked sideways.

Of course, even if she wanted to crawl or hop around, no one would stop her.

Reaching the main entrance of the hospital, she saw the large iron gate tightly locked, with a large mess of fences in front of it.

Behind the gate, zombies were packed closely together, heads bustling, countless hands waving through the gaps in the iron gate.

For a human, the hospital was a den of dragons and tigers, but for Xue Ling, it was like a crowded supermarket on the weekend, just a bit more congested.

She had already scouted out the best entry point. Walking up to the security booth, she swiftly pushed open the glass window and climbed inside.

The security guard inside the booth swayed in the tight space and turned towards her upon hearing the noise.

Xue Ling picked up a dusty baton from the ground and used it to push away the approaching security guard, taking the conspicuous flashlight from him.

Click, click.

After testing that it still worked, Xue Ling kept it.

Turning the knob of the security booth door, she successfully entered the hospital. Of course, the first challenge was the large group of zombies crowded near the entrance.

Xue Ling was already accustomed to moving through a crowd of zombies; it felt similar to rushing to the station during the Spring Festival or visiting a popular tourist spot during a holiday.

As a fellow zombie, the other zombies weren’t interested in her. However, zombies were sensitive to sound, so quite a few zombies gathered out of curiosity.

The instinct to join in on the excitement was ingrained in their DNA, even after becoming zombies.

Xue Ling forced her way through the crowd of zombies, and if necessary, randomly selected an unlucky zombie to smash on the leg with the baton, creating a gap by taking one down.

Honestly, it was a bit easier than squeezing through crowds at tourist spots. After all, these zombies she pushed aside wouldn’t yell at her in anger, and no one would take the opportunity to grope her in the chaos.

Successfully breaking through the dense crowd of zombies near the entrance that could trigger anyone’s trypophobia, Xue Ling stiffly patted her dirty dress.

Then she wandered deeper into the hospital.

Pharmacy, where was the pharmacy?

Based on her previous hospital visits, the pharmacy should be next to the payment hall.

She glanced at the faded signs and entered the emergency hall directly opposite.

The glass door was locked, with the lock hanging half-broken outside. Xue Ling removed the lock and pushed open the door that had been sealed for three years.

The zombies wandering inside were generally fresher than the ones outside who had been exposed to the elements for three years; at least their clothes were less faded and tattered.

Xue Ling ignored all the zombies around her, naturally navigating the hall while looking up for signs.

A zombie who wasn’t paying attention stumbled towards her. Seeing the collision coming, Xue Ling stepped aside to let him pass and kept her distance.

It wasn’t for any other reason than that this particular zombie smelled especially bad.

Some zombies became more shriveled over time and hardly had any smell, but some zombies, whose bodies were more severely damaged, rotted and stank. This one was the latter.

Anxi Wenkang Hospital was huge and quite different from many public hospitals she had visited before. It took her a long time to find the pharmacy.

There was no one to ask for directions, so she had to search slowly.

The hospital, filled with zombies, was eerily quiet, with occasional noises caused by zombies accidentally knocking something over.

Groups of zombies, like sunflowers, turned their heads uniformly towards the source of the sound. Sensing no humans, they turned their heads back.

The light was gradually dimming, and it was becoming hard to see. The hospital’s power system had long since failed, and with no lights, Xue Ling clicked on her flashlight.

The swaying light made the hospital’s corridors appear even more terrifying. Occasionally, the flashlight would sweep across the faces of zombies, their faces bruised and damaged to varying degrees, casting eerie shadows everywhere.

A more timid person would have been scared to death standing there.

Xue Ling hadn’t been particularly brave before, but now accustomed to it, she remained calm in this horror-movie-like environment, focusing intently on finding the pharmacy.

Found it! In a good mood, she shook her flashlight, drawing a circle on the ceiling, and spent some more effort to enter the pharmacy.

A nurse in uniform moved slowly by the medicine shelves, her white uniform stained with large patches of blackened blood on her chest.

Xue Ling walked a bit faster than her, bypassing them, searching the shelves.

There were many kinds of medicines here, all sorts, and Xue Ling didn’t recognize most of them. She rummaged through, looking for medicines she was familiar with, and after a long time, she finally found some. But when she checked the production date and expiration, they were expired!

Can expired medicines still be taken now?

Xue Ling hesitated for a moment but chose to continue searching. Eventually, she found some medicines that had a shelf life of more than three years and hadn’t expired yet.

Then she looked at the large shelves of medicines.

Since she was already here, she might as well take more.

Although she initially just wanted to find one type of medicine, it was like going grocery shopping. Even if you intended to buy just a bottle of soy sauce, you’d end up leaving the supermarket with a big bag of things.

Xue Ling found a large bag at the prescription counter and started stocking up.

That night, both Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe had considerable gains.

As dawn approached, Wen Jiuzhe climbed over the tall base wall and left Qiu Zhuang Base.

He didn’t return to the small courtyard directly. Instead, he parked the random motorcycle he used for the trip in a wasteland, got off, and lit a cigarette.

The first light of dawn appeared on the horizon, and the wind blowing across his cheeks still carried a bit of the night’s chill.

Leaning against the car, Wen Jiuzhe slowly exhaled the white smoke, which was dispersed by the wind.

He stared at the horizon, lost in thought, and rubbed his cheek.

He had just confirmed the news of the Tai Sui repeatedly from Wen Xuan and Wen Xiang.

What could be preliminarily confirmed was that Wen Xuan’s mutation was due to the Tai Sui taken from the ancestral tomb by the Wen family.

Three years ago, Wen Yi, the eldest miss of the Wen family, who left around the same time as him, did take away part of the Tai Sui.

But she didn’t take much, which was something Wen Jiuzhe inferred from Wen Xuan and Wen Xiang’s words.

The remaining Tai Sui was eaten by Wen Xuan, who consumed more than Xue Ling, so his condition was better than hers.

Before leaving, Wen Jiuzhe pondered for a moment whether he should kill Wen Xuan.

In the end, he gave up.

Perhaps in this world, only Wen Xuan’s condition was the same as Xue Ling’s. If Xue Ling’s abnormality was discovered, having Wen Xuan around meant Xue Ling wouldn’t be the most dangerous one.

He thought of more. If Xue Ling’s condition wasn’t as good as he thought, he could try to get someone to study Wen Xuan and perhaps find a way to make Xue Ling better.

So Wen Xuan couldn’t be dealt with for now.

But before he left, he placed Wen Xiang’s neck next to Wen Xuan’s mouth.

It was time to test their sibling bond.

Would Wen Xuan bite Wen Xiang to keep his secret... he didn’t know.

Flicking the ash, Wen Jiuzhe smirked.

Wen Xuan couldn’t be killed for now, but he certainly didn’t want him to have it too easy.

On the way back from Qiu Zhuang, Wen Jiuzhe was eager to return, wanting to ask Xue Ling if she was still rational after hearing about the Tai Sui last night.

But halfway through the drive, with the night wind blowing, the burning emotion in his heart gradually cooled.

He began to calmly doubt Wen Xuan’s words. Was he really not lying?

Even though he had confirmed by repeatedly interrogating and threatening Wen Xuan, pushing him to the brink of collapse, maybe he still lied?

Or was it possible that Wen Xuan’s abnormality was due to other reasons, not the Tai Sui, and Xue Ling wasn’t as rational as he guessed?

What if he was wrong?

His luck had always been bad, making him think he couldn’t be so fortunate this time.

Wen Jiuzhe thought expressionlessly and took a deep drag on his cigarette. Leaning against the car, he looked at the road he came from and didn’t get back in the car to return for a long time.

Having not slept all night, his despondent and gloomy demeanor now carried exhaustion.

At twenty-four, Wen Jiuzhe looked like a mature and charming man.

But he hadn’t been like this a few years ago.

At nineteen, in his first year of university, he had been at his most frustrated and downtrodden.

His mother’s condition worsened, lying in the Wen family’s hospital, needing emergency care at any moment.

He had thought several times about taking his mother away, but Wen Laoye felt that as an adult, he wanted to escape control, so his supervision became even stricter.

The Wen family had vast business operations, with companies all over Anxi City and even Xia Province. On the surface, they had gone legitimate, but privately, there were still some shady businesses. Wen Laoye was unwilling to let his eldest grandson, Wen Xuan, take over, so he wanted to groom Wen Jiuzhe for the job.

In Wen Xuan’s eyes, Wen Laoye’s increasing regard for this illegitimate son was both an insult and a warning.

Wen Jiuzhe couldn’t resist, even though he could strangle Wen Xuan with one hand, when the other swung a bat at him, he couldn’t fight back.

Wen Laoye wanted him to be a loyal dog for the Wen family, and from the time he entered the Wen family at twelve, they had been grinding down his spirit. After several years, they were still not very satisfied with him.

Under the indulgence of Patriarch Wen, Wen Xuan's mistreatment of him became even more excessive.

Sometimes, when Wen Jiuzhe saw Wen Xuan's face, a surge of anger welled up inside him that he couldn't suppress.

Because he disliked Wen Xuan, he initially disliked Xue Ling as well.

Anyone who could be noticed by someone like Wen Xuan, could they possibly be any good?

He knew of "Xue Ling" long before she knew of him.

Initially, he overheard Wen Xuan talking about her with others.

Wen Xuan said, "It's Xue Ling from the External Relations Department of the Normal School. I like this type."

"These girls nowadays just don't know how to behave. What? Yang Siwei from the Arts Department? No, she's no good. She looks too seductive and isn't suitable for marriage..."

"What do you guys know? Just wait, if I want to pursue someone, I'll get them for sure."

He often spoke of Xue Ling, his words full of confidence.

Ever since he was young, once he wanted something, he had to have it, as if the whole world should revolve around him.

At an event, Wen Jiuzhe saw Xue Ling, the one Wen Xuan had spoken of.

She was pretty, not very tall, and had a gentle aura that felt non-confrontational.

Standing at the entrance of the event venue, she patiently answered everyone's questions, directed them, and handed out water.

Her colleague slipped away halfway, leaving her to manage alone. Though she frowned in difficulty, she still agreed and stayed there in the hot weather.

She seemed weak and lacking in personality, a bit more annoying than he had imagined, Wen Jiuzhe thought.