Chapter 9 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution

He yearned to be enveloped in that warm embrace once more...

The virus had swept across the globe, bringing the world to a standstill. After the initial chaos subsided, people began to adapt to their new way of life. The neighborhood had been peaceful these past few days, and with no work or school, everyone was starting to discover the simple joys of staying home.

For instance, Lin Jiajia from Unit 207 decided to revive her weight loss efforts—a goal she had abandoned countless times before. First, she changed into workout clothes, laid out her yoga mat, sat down, and picked up her phone to search for suitable workout videos.

After typing in her keywords, Lin Jiajia clicked on the first video that appeared. It was incredibly popular, featuring a muscular man exercising on his balcony. While the routine itself was fairly standard, the video's high popularity largely stemmed from the clever camera placement the blogger had chosen—it captured both himself and the zombies gathering behind him.

The blogger lived on the third floor, and with the music blasting loudly, five or six zombies had gathered below, frantically waving their arms upward as if cheering him on.

"Lin Jiajia, weren’t you going to exercise? Why are you lying down now?"

Yue Shaolin saw that Lin Jiajia, who had just declared her intent to lose weight, was now sprawled on her yoga mat, phone in hand, legs crossed, and a bag of potato chips resting on her stomach. She was happily munching on chips while scrolling through videos, occasionally bursting into loud laughter.

With complete seriousness, Lin Jiajia declared, "I’m just checking out the tutorial first."

Yue Shaolin was speechless.

Meanwhile, the twin brothers in Unit 102 weren’t as fortunate. Both were in their second semester of high school, preparing for next year’s college entrance exams.

Tao Hongyan strictly adhered to their school schedule, waking the boys up on time and sitting with them throughout their online classes to ensure they stayed focused.

The twins tried to seek help from their father, but Wang Yongzhi was busy with household chores. Realizing he was no help, the twins attended their online classes with unprecedented concentration—far more focused than they ever were at school, where they could slack off. At home, if they dared to slack, Tao Hongyan wouldn't hesitate to turn them into a "twin fish hotpot."

In Unit 107, Kahn was leaning against the sofa, watching a video of Wu Feng’s daughter that had been shared in the group chat. The little one, eyes closed, was sucking on a bottle almost as big as she was, her chubby cheeks puffing in and out—utterly adorable.

Kahn was deeply curious about human infants. He hadn't seen many babies before; those he'd encountered in the orphanage during his childhood either died young or were disfigured and not at all pleasant to look at. Suddenly, he wondered what his own child would look like. Would they be this adorable too?

Behind him, Bai Suizhi was braiding Kahn’s hair. Noticing Kahn’s distraction, he gently tugged on his hair and asked, "What’s on your mind?"

Kahn came back to himself. "I was wondering if my future child would be this cute."

To boost the birth rate, Omegas were required to register with matchmaking services once they turned 18. If chosen, they were required to give birth within two years or face legal penalties. For Bai Suizhi, a 22-year-old from Earth, this wasn't something he'd ever considered.

Bai Suizhi paused his braiding. "Do you want to have children?"

Kahn replied, "Well... I’m not sure. I've heard it's painful, but I like babies. Little ones like this are so cute." He pointed to Guo Nianan in the video.

After a pause, Bai Suizhi responded, "Any child of yours would definitely be as beautiful as you are."

Kahn smiled, starting to turn around to look at Bai Suizhi.

"Don’t move," Bai Suizhi warned. "You'll mess up the braid." Since the day Bai Suizhi had promised to learn how to style Kahn’s hair, he had spent every day watching tutorials on his phone. Once he felt confident, he had Kahn sit still so he could practice.

Bai Suizhi was getting really into it, no longer satisfied with simple ponytails. He was now trying out a fishtail braid, the latest technique he’d mastered. Kahn had gotten used to Bai Suizhi using his hair for practice and even enjoyed it—no one had ever braided his hair before, let alone created such intricate and beautiful styles.

Once Bai Suizhi finished, he stepped back to check out his work and nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect." He then asked Kahn to turn around. The silver fishtail braid looked sleek and elegant, accentuating his sharp, striking features usually hidden by his long hair.

Just as Bai Suizhi was admiring his handiwork, his phone buzzed with a message. Kahn handed him the phone. "You have a message."

Bai Suizhi glanced at it—it was from Shi Mingshan. Shi Mingshan had been cooped up at home lately, getting really depressed. He was the type who couldn’t go a day without socializing with friends.

After bothering all his other friends, he’d now turned to his quiet roommate. In a teasing voice note, he asked, "Miss meeeeeeeee?" The fake-sounding tone was so gross that Bai Suizhi almost lost his lunch.

Bai Suizhi didn’t reply, knowing Shi Mingshan was just bored and trying to bother him. He handed the phone back to Kahn so he could continue watching videos of the baby.

Bai Suizhi picked up his tablet to study more braiding tutorials, but Kahn set the phone aside and said softly, "I'm going to take a nap."

Without looking up, Bai Suizhi replied, "Okay."

Kahn went back to his room, lay down on the bed, and pulled the covers over himself from head to toe. When he started to feel suffocated from lack of oxygen, he yanked the covers down and gulped in air.

Even after catching his breath, Kahn’s heart kept aching with a dull swell of pain. Hearing Shi Mingshan’s message to Bai Suizhi had brought on a weird feeling that spread from his chest throughout his entire body. He could barely keep his expression neutral.

Kahn couldn't figure himself out. Before, he’d feared Bai Suizhi would abandon him for friends or family. But now, what was this? Bai Suizhi had already promised they would live together in the future. What more was he unsatisfied with? The thought of that message and its intimate tone made his heart ache.

In the living room, Shi Mingshan was still relentlessly spamming emojis. Finally annoyed, Bai Suizhi replied, "Busy."

This got Shi Mingshan's attention. "Busy with what? There’s nothing to do now. I’m so bored at home I’m going stir-crazy."

Bai Suizhi: "Learning to braid hair."

Shi Mingshan: "?"

When Bai Suizhi didn’t respond further, Shi Mingshan finally sent another message: "Give me back my account, bro!"

Bai Suizhi: "My account wasn’t hacked. Kahn’s hair is too long, so I’m learning how to braid it for him."

Shi Mingshan was totally shocked. Even zombies weren't as weird as this—Bai Suizhi learning to braid hair? For a man? Too weirded out, Shi Mingshan set his phone down and decided to read a book. He must have been staring at his screen for too long, making him see things.

After finishing the tutorial, Bai Suizhi rehearsed the steps in his mind a few times. Noticing an hour had passed, he went to check on Kahn. Napping for too long wasn’t good, and Kahn usually didn’t sleep this long. Bai Suizhi worried he might be sick but not saying anything.

Bai Suizhi knocked on the guest room door. "Kahn, are you awake?"

Kahn’s voice came out muffled. "Yeah, I’m up."

Bai Suizhi: "Okay, get up then. Don’t go back to sleep, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight."

"Okay." Rustling sounds followed from inside.

In the living room, Bai Suizhi fiddled with fabric strips he’d cut from shirts—various sizes and dimensions. He’d initially wanted to cut a few different colors, but Kahn thought it was wasteful and stopped him.

When Kahn came out, he looked out of it. Bai Suizhi asked, "Did you not sleep well?"

Kahn walked over and sat on the sofa next to Bai Suizhi, nodding slightly. The already loosened braid swayed with the movement.

Bai Suizhi reached out and gently patted Kahn’s head, assuming his low mood was due to poor sleep. "Why didn’t you undo your braid before sleeping?"

Kahn instinctively reached back to touch his braid, brushing against Bai Suizhi’s hand before quickly pulling away. "I forgot."

Bai Suizhi re-tied the messy braid and was about to say something when a sudden scream echoed from below.

They exchanged a glance, sensing something was wrong, and immediately rushed to the balcony.

In Unit 102, Tao Hongyan, Wang Yongzhi, and their twin sons were jabbing downward with long spears. Everyone was confused until they looked closer and realized with horror that a zombie was climbing up!

Previously, zombies had only wandered around below, moving stiffly and seemingly incapable of complex actions like climbing. Now, for some unknown reason, they had started scaling the walls. Bai Suizhi frowned. "They’ve evolved."

Starved for too long, the zombies had tapped into their latent potential. Devoid of human thought, they clumsily mimicked movements they’d seen before—and it worked. Instinctively, they sensed the sweet, enticing flesh drawing closer and closer...

As people in other buildings realized what was happening, they immediately looked down, a chill shooting from their soles to their brains. The zombies from Building 4 were the fastest—one had already reached a hand toward the balcony railing!

The residents of Unit 402 grabbed whatever tools were handy and frantically struck at the zombie. But the zombie’s hand seemed numb to pain, continuing its upward climb without hesitation. Soon, its other hand joined in.

Despite their efforts, the residents’ fear and despair grew as the zombie persisted, unaffected by their attacks. In a moment of panic, the female homeowner got caught by the zombie’s sharp, long nails. She screamed in pain, and her husband and daughter immediately stopped to pull her back.

But the zombie’s grip was firm. Its fingers slowly wrapped around her wrist, and with a forceful yank, she was pulled straight out over the balcony. She crashed to the ground, her body convulsing from multiple fractures. The impact split her head open, and the blood attracted a horde of hungry zombies that swarmed over her, reducing her to a skeleton adorned with scraps of flesh in seconds.

Overwhelmed by immense grief, they failed to notice that the culprit had already climbed up. They had long lost the ability to act, left as helpless as sitting ducks.

The situation in the other buildings wasn't any better than in Building Four. Unit 102, having prepared spears in advance and used them skillfully, managed to keep the zombies from climbing up. The other residents, however, were filled with regret. They had previously watched the people from Buildings One and Two busily helping others and had muttered to themselves about how foolish these people were, then happily took the kindness of these "fools" for granted. Now, lacking practical combat experience, they were helpless against the evolved zombies. Their handling of tools was clumsy, and the zombies clearly weren’t going to stand still and wait for them to get familiar with their weapons.

Just then, another wave of zombies surged in through the main gate. Earlier, when they had retrieved supplies, they had casually locked the door. It was now obvious how the zombies had gotten in.

The situation grew even worse. Everyone felt as though they had returned to the first day, watching helplessly as their companions were infected and devoured. A sense of powerlessness and rage washed over them.

Bai Suizhi suddenly thought of something and shouted loudly, "Those who have firecrackers at home, use them to blast the zombies! They’re afraid of fire." Only then did everyone remember that the notice had mentioned using fire to repel zombies. At the time, everyone thought this method was too difficult and hadn’t even considered it as an option.

Those who had firecrackers brought them out, lit them, and tossed them downstairs. Instantly, the crackling of firecrackers filled the air, creating a cacophony of noise. Some firecracker heads hit the zombies, immediately igniting flames. The smoke and fire made it hard to see what was happening below, but the residents on the second floor remained vigilant, guarding against any zombies that might climb up at any moment.

When the smoke cleared, everyone was astonished to find that the zombies that had been clustered together climbing the building had scattered. The firecrackers really worked!

Someone asked Bai Suizhi, "How did you know the firecrackers would work?"

Before Bai Suizhi could answer, another person complained, "Why didn’t you say so earlier? So many people got infected because of you…"

Yue Shaolin was displeased by this: "What kind of talk is that? Could you have thought of this method? Everything happened so suddenly—who could have reacted immediately? He saved you, and instead of thanking him properly, you’re blaming him for not warning you sooner. You're like the snake in the story of the farmer and the viper."

Bai Suizhi explained, "I was also stuck in a certain way of thinking earlier, thinking that fire attacks had to involve big flames like those from explosive packages. But then it occurred to me that the zombies hadn’t eaten or drunk for so many days, so their skin was probably dry. Even a small spark touching their skin, even if it didn’t burn them to death, would be enough to drive them back. Besides, their hearing is no different from that of normal humans, so the sound of firecrackers could also serve as a deterrent."

After this explanation, everyone fell silent. In such a critical moment, he had managed to think so clearly and come up with such an effective solution. They asked themselves: could they have done the same? The answer was clearly no. If they could have thought of it, they would have done so earlier—they wouldn’t have waited until the zombies were almost on top of them.

Bai Suizhi added finally, "I’m sorry for reminding everyone so late."

The others fell silent, feeling deeply uncomfortable and ashamed. He had saved them, and now he was apologizing to them. Everyone turned to look at the person who had questioned Bai Suizhi, only to find that he had already retreated into his room. Yue Shaolin spat, "What an asshole." Then he turned to Bai Suizhi: "Bro, it’s not your fault. Don’t take to heart what that scumbag said."

The twins from Unit 102 stuck their heads out and shouted upward, "You're amazing, mister!"

Others also chimed in, expressing their gratitude to Bai Suizhi.

When Bai Suizhi and Kahn returned to the living room, Bai Suizhi was feeling down and full of self-reproach. He thought he should have figured it out sooner—maybe then so many people could have survived. He sat on the sofa with his legs apart, head bowed low, elbows resting on his knees, hands rubbing his head hard.

When Kahn heard that person questioning Bai Suizhi earlier, he had wanted to rush over and tear that person apart. Seeing Bai Suizhi so disheartened and filled with self-blame, Kahn slowly walked over, stopped in front of him, gently pulled Bai Suizhi’s head toward him, and softly stroked Bai Suizhi’s hair with both hands, as if comforting him. Kahn, who wasn't good with words, expressed himself through actions.

Bai Suizhi initially wanted to pull away from the embrace, but he also craved Kahn’s gentle comfort. So he raised his arms and wrapped them around Kahn’s waist, burying his face in Kahn’s chest. He allowed himself to sink into this warm embrace, using it to ease the overwhelming guilt that was suffocating him.

The two held each other for a long while. Only after Bai Suizhi had calmed down did he slowly let go, and suddenly felt embarrassed. What was he doing, acting like a child who needed to be held and comforted?

Bai Suizhi spoke with an unnatural expression, "Thank you, Kahn."

Kahn ruffled Bai Suizhi’s hair and looked intently into his eyes, saying, "Bai Suizhi, I think you’re amazing."

Bai Suizhi was stunned. He wanted to bury himself in that warm embrace again.