Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Zombies can drive, understand human speech, and communicate—if this happened anywhere else, no one would believe it.

But this camp housed Wen Yi's research team.

The soldiers responsible for protecting Doctor Wen knew that there were still zombies who retained human thought and rationality. There was one in their group at the moment.

Because of this, Xue Ling was not immediately shot by the snipers; instead, a group of soldiers surrounded her car and positioned themselves around the car.

Wen Yi, wrapped in a coat, made her way through the armed soldiers and approached the stopped vehicle.

The soldier who had come to report to her, clutching his gun, followed closely behind.

"The zombie that can drive is in this car?" Wen Yi said. "Get the person out so I can examine them."

Another soldier standing by the car said, "Doctor Wen, we asked the person inside to come out, but they refused to cooperate."

"Should we forcibly open the door and get them out?"

Before the last word had even faded, the tightly closed car window rolled down, revealing a pale, greenish face.

The face of a young woman who was once beautiful had a pair of dark red eyes that looked at the protected Wen Yi.

The soldier who had spoken thought that the person in the car had come out because of his threat, but instead, he saw her staring intently at Wen Yi, as if confirming something. She suddenly became agitated.

She turned back and searched frantically inside the car, found a writing board, and began to write on it.

Soon, she extended the board out of the window, with the crookedly written characters "Wen Yi" and a question mark.

"You know me?" Wen Yi asked, somewhat surprised, taking two steps forward.

Xue Ling finally reached for the door handle, but before the door could open, a livid, male hand rested on the window.

Ignoring the tense soldiers around her, Wen Yi approached the window to look inside. From this close range, she saw Wen Jiuze in the car.

Her eyebrows twitched in surprise, but her expression remained neutral. "Wen Jiuze?"

Her gaze shifted to Xue Ling, and she finally remembered who she was: "You're Wen Jiuzhe's girlfriend from Yu City."

She remembered that Wen Jiuzhe was very fond of his girlfriend, which had surprised her, so she took a deliberate look.

Xue Ling nodded, looking at Wen Yi with a glimmer of hope amid despair.

Wen Yi took the stick from the soldier next to her and used it to raise the hand that was resting on the edge of the window.

"Wen Jiuzhe is infected with the zombie virus? It seems the infection has been present for some time... Is he still conscious?"

"Yes!" Xue Ling immediately wrote.

He just made a sound a moment ago!

She pushed open the door and, in frantic handwriting, wrote on the board: "Save him! Help!"

A vaccine, the *Tai Sui*... anything, just save Wen Jiuzhe!

Wen Yi carefully poked Wen Jiuzhe with the stick. "Wen Jiuzhe, are you still conscious? Speak."

Wen Jiuzhe slowly raised his head, his dark red eyes gazing at her.

After a moment, he twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Wen... Yi."

Wen Yi withdrew the stick. "Have two people bring him back to the camp."

"You’re coming with us," she said to Xue Ling.

A short while later, inside a temporary tent, Wen Yi looked at the two people opposite her and said, "I had the *Tai Sui*, but it has already been consumed."

Ignoring their disappointed expressions, she turned and retrieved a refrigerated box. "However, I have two types of medication here."

"The one on the left is a zombie virus vaccine developed by a team led by my mentor, with my assistance. It's our latest achievement."

"It should be administered as soon as possible after infection. In your current state, there’s about a one in ten chance of recovery, but it’s more likely that you'll turn into an ordinary zombie."

"The serum on the right was extracted from Wen Xuan’s body."

"This is the only dose that hasn't been tested, and I have no idea what will happen after the injection, but based on my speculation, there's a high chance you'll become a rational zombie."

"The two doses will have a rejection reaction if used together, so you can only choose one. Make your choice."

Wen Jiuzhe's condition was already very bad. He was helped to sit in this spot inside the tent and showed no reaction when Wen Yi spoke, making it unclear whether he understood her.

Sitting next to him, Xue Ling, still handcuffed to him, couldn't help but grip his hand tightly, fearing the worst.

She stared at the two syringes in front of her, feeling that both choices were uncertain dead ends.

She tried to calm down and think logically about which option might be better.

However, Wen Jiuzhe didn't leave this difficult decision to her. With great effort, he reached out and grabbed the syringe on the right, injecting it directly into himself.

As the liquid in the syringe drained, Xue Ling closed her eyes and rested her head on Wen Jiuzhe's shoulder.

Seeing this, Wen Yi put away the other syringe, stood up, and said, "Then you will remain here. We'll discuss what happens next after we see the results in a few hours."

If it succeeded, there might be room for cooperation. If it failed… there would still be something to learn.

"Wen... Yi," Wen Jiuzhe suddenly called out before she could leave.

Wen Yi paused at the door, her expression indifferent as she waited for him to continue.

Wen Jiuzhe said, "Please, don't... hurt her."

Wen Yi was taken aback, a faint, almost imperceptible smirk appearing on her face as she looked at Xue Ling. "You're begging me? We share the same family name, Wen. You never begged for mercy, even when you were nearly beaten to death. And yet today, you've learned to beg."

She didn't give him a promise, and she left without saying anything else as she walked out of the tent.

Xue Ling overheard her say to the soldiers outside, "Keep an eye on the experimental zombie inside. Let me know if there's any change. If he fully turns, contain him first."

"Yes, Doctor Wen!"

The tent was now left with only Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe.

Exhausted, Xue Ling slumped onto the table. It had been an incredibly exhausting day, with intense emotions draining her.

Wen Jiuzhe's hand gently rested on the back of her head.

They sat in silence, awaiting their final verdict.

Xue Ling didn't know what the outcome would be, but she had stopped considering the "what-ifs" and the future—she was simply awaiting it.

As daylight broke, sunlight fell directly onto the table through a transparent section of the tent roof.

The camp was active, and outside the tent, people passed by from time to time, whispering. Footsteps came and went, but no one opened the tent door to check on them.

Wen Yi didn’t come by, and as the sunlight began to slant, they were left to be forgotten.

Xue Ling moved her hand and gently tugged at Wen Jiuzhe.

That injection had already sealed his fate—he was destined to become a zombie; the only question was whether he would retain his sanity.

His appearance had completely turned into that of a zombie by now, yet he remained seated without any response.

Xue Ling felt restless once more.

Did he still retain his sanity?

"Ahh," she called out, waving her hand in front of him.

His dark red eyes followed her hand and glimmered in the sunlight, just like hers.

Suddenly, he made a menacing expression, reaching out towards her with a zombie growl, as if he had gone mad.

He had always been fierce-looking, and in this state, he appeared even more terrifying. Xue Ling was startled and nearly burst into tears again.

He had lost his rationality! It was useless!

Just as Xue Ling felt a pang of heartache, she realized something wasn't right. Her furrowed brow smoothed out, and her eyes shifted from sorrow to suspicion.

Zombies only reacted like this when they encountered humans, right? If Wen Jiuzhe had truly become a zombie without consciousness, how could he show signs of "attacking" her, another rational zombie?

Wen Jiuzhe continued to wave menacingly at her but didn’t actually touch her.

Xue Ling: "..."

Damn you, Wen Dog.

She also shouted back, her expression turning fierce as she raised her hand to punch Wen Jiuzhe. Wen Jiuzhe's zombie growl stopped as he lifted his arm, hesitant about blocking or dodging.

Xue Ling now understood clearly—he still had his rationality; he had just deliberately scared her earlier.

In her rage, Xue Ling pounded on him even harder, the sound of her punches becoming louder.

If not for the guards outside who rushed in upon hearing the zombie growls, Xue Ling might have kept hitting him for a while longer.

When Wen Yi walked in hearing the noise, Xue Ling, still fuming, turned and fiercely punched Wen Jiuzhe twice more.

Wen Yi paused for a moment, then casually walked in and sat down opposite them, separated from them by the table.

"Congratulations," she said as she sat down, "even though you've turned into a zombie, it's fortunate to retain your rationality and thoughts, compared to those who are completely deceased."

Wen Yi pushed a specially designed tablet computer over. It had a large screen and came with a stylus, allowing even someone with stiff zombie hands to quickly write and input text.

"Now, let's have a chat," Wen Yi said, "You should know that there’s a price to be paid for the medication."

Wen Jiuzhe was well aware of this. Wen Yi wasn't the type to help others out of the goodness of her heart. She was a cold and rational person, who didn't even care much about her own younger sister.

Since she used that precious serum on him, she would definitely want something in return.

If Wen Jiuzhe fails, he believes both he and Xue Ling will become her experimental subjects.

Of course, they might still be experimental subjects.

Rather than asking about the price, Wen Jiuzhe used the tablet in front of him to ask a question: "You said, the serum I injected was extracted from Wen Xuan's body."

The tablet emitted a clear, standard female broadcast voice.

Just as Xue Ling found the scene a bit amusing, she was immediately drawn back to the content of the conversation, recalling information she had previously overlooked.

When Wen Yi introduced the vaccine, she mentioned it in passing, but Xue Ling's mind was in chaos at the time and didn't pay attention.

"Yes, I went to Anxi City and returned to Qiu Zhuang Wen's family," Wen Yi said.

She went back for the ginseng-like herb, as her research had hit a bottleneck. Just as her teacher received her message and sent someone to take her to the northern base, she took the opportunity to ask them to drop her off at Qiu Zhuang.

"When I arrived at Qiu Zhuang, I discovered that Wen Xuan had consumed the ginseng-like herb and become a rational zombie, but unfortunately, his zombie identity was exposed and he was killed," Wen Yi said, her tone indifferent as she spoke of her cousin's death.

"Fortunately, the body hadn't decomposed yet, so we brought it back to process and extract the medication used on you."

Wen Jiuzhe, as if he were very concerned about the Wen clan, asked, "What about the rest of the Wen family?"

Wen Yi said, "There was an accident. Wen Xiang died, Second Uncle also died, and most of the Wen clan is dead."

Xue Ling, remembering Wen Jiuzhe’s visit to the Wen family last year, instinctively turned to look at him.

After becoming a zombie, his face became even more expressionless.

But Xue Ling, based on her understanding of him, was certain.

The incident involving the Wen clan could be linked to Wen Jiuzhe.

Wen Jiuzhe displayed no hint of guilt, but Xue Ling started feeling guilty on his behalf, hiding her hands under the table and staring at the tabletop.

Wen Jiuzhe asked only these two questions before returning to Wen Yi’s earlier topic.

"So, what’s the price for saving me?"