“What exactly have you done to me?”
To confirm the cat’s speculation, Yun Huacen decided to use Yue Zirui as an experiment, making him do somersaults and push-ups. Though Yue Zirui verbally refused, his body obediently carried out the instructions, leaving him in a state of extreme shock and panic.
Looking at Yue Zirui’s furious expression, Yun Huacen couldn’t contain his excitement and exclaimed, “I can actually control others!”
Yue Zirui was momentarily stunned before asking, “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know how it happened either. I just woke up with this ability.” Yun Huacen was so overwhelmed with excitement that he started coughing. “Go… cough… get me a glass of water, cough…”
Yue Zirui remained where he was, looking down at his hands and feet. Unlike before, he didn’t follow Yun Huacen’s command.
After catching his breath, Yun Huacen ordered, “Go get me a glass of water!”
As soon as the words were spoken, Yue Zirui’s body moved uncontrollably. He picked up the glass from the bedside table, walked to the water dispenser, filled it with warm water, and then returned to the bed, handing it to Yun Huacen. Once the command was completed, he regained control of his body.
“How is this possible? What have you done to me?” Yue Zirui was both shocked and furious.
“I haven’t done anything to you.” Yun Huacen drank the water, and his coughing gradually subsided. “It’s not just you, it’s the same with others. I suddenly gained this ability, like some kind of superpower from a movie.”
“Do you think I’d believe that?” Yue Zirui glared at him with a hostile expression. “You must have done something to us to control us like this.”
“Then tell me, what did I do to you?”
Yue Zirui opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.
Seeing this, Yun Huacen rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Paranoia is an illness. You should see a psychologist when you get the chance. I’m tired. Leave. I’m sick of seeing you.”
Yue Zirui silently stared at Yun Huacen, showing no intention of leaving.
Noticing this, Yun Huacen commanded, “Disappear from my sight immediately!”
This time, Yue Zirui’s body didn’t move, but it began to slowly fade away.
Yun Huacen was taken aback before snapping back to reality and hurriedly said, “Stop!”
Although the fading stopped, Yue Zirui’s feet had already vanished. He stared in horror. “My feet!”
Yun Huacen felt a splitting headache, as if someone had struck him with an axe. “Restore him to normal!”
As soon as the words were spoken, Yue Zirui’s feet slowly reappeared until they were fully restored. However, Yun Huacen’s vision went dark, and he fainted. Yue Zirui moved his feet, feeling no abnormalities, and let out a long sigh of relief. When he looked at Yun Huacen again, his eyes flickered uncertainly. He stepped forward to the bed, reached out toward Yun Huacen, and wrapped his hands around his throat, slowly tightening his grip.
“A-Rui, what are you doing?” Sun Qi’s voice rang out from behind.
Yue Zirui’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively released his grip, turning to look at Sun Qi.
Sun Qi set down the tray she was holding, quickly walked over, pulled Yue Zirui away, and checked Yun Huacen’s condition. Anxiously, she called out, “Uncle, Uncle, wake up, wake up!”
No matter how much she called, Yun Huacen showed no signs of waking up. Sun Qi turned around angrily and demanded, “Uncle just woke up with great difficulty. Why did you come to hurt him again? A-Rui, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Yue Zirui argued, “Qiqi, don’t be fooled by him. He’s not a good person. He kept us here just to control us.”
“We’re just a group of helpless orphans. What is there to fool us about?”
“He wants to use us for experiments, to study the zombie virus!”
“Uncle did lock us up, but it was to ensure his own safety. Afterward, he not only released us but also let us take shelter in the villa. If it weren’t for Uncle’s kindness in taking us in, where could we kids go? Who else would be willing to shelter us?” Sun Qi looked at Yue Zirui. “A-Rui, you’ve always been our role model, but today you’ve truly disappointed me.”
“Qiqi, there are things you don’t know. He just controlled me earlier.”
“Uncle had a high fever for seven days and was unconscious for four. How could he have the strength to control you?” Sun Qi’s gaze at Yue Zirui was filled with disappointment. “A-Rui, leave. We don’t need you here anymore. Starting today, I’ll take care of Uncle.”
Yue Zirui stared at Sun Qi in disbelief. “We grew up together. You don’t believe me, but you believe him?”
“If I didn’t trust you, why would I have let you come up to take care of Uncle? But what did you do? A-Rui, you betrayed our trust!”
Yue Zirui glanced at Yun Huacen, then back at Sun Qi, and said, “You’ve all been brainwashed by him!”
“A-Rui, I can’t impose things that haven’t happened on Uncle just because I trust you. He’s our benefactor, not our enemy.”
“What if I insist on killing him?”
Sun Qi was stunned for a moment, then resolutely stepped in front of Yun Huacen and said, “Unless you kill me first, I won’t let you harm Uncle again.”
Yue Zirui looked at Sun Qi, his heart filled with indescribable emotions. “Fine, very well! You’ll regret this!”
With that, Yue Zirui turned and left. Seeing this, Sun Qi couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. She truly couldn’t understand why Yue Zirui was targeting Yun Huacen, even to the point of trying to kill him.
…
To the east of the town, there was a food factory that specialized in producing small biscuits in various flavors. Although it wasn’t large in scale, it was quite famous in Haining. Every child who grew up in Haining had eaten them.
To attract attention, the factory decided to invite an internet celebrity to host a live stream and chose a recently popular anchor with the online name “Xiao Ke Loves Eating.”
On the day the zombie outbreak occurred, he happened to be visiting the factory and ended up trapped inside. There was plenty of food there, but there were also many people. With only consumption and no income, they couldn’t hold out for long.
Moreover, wherever there are people, there are conflicts. For a short time, the factory leadership managed to keep things peaceful, but as time went on, trouble was bound to arise.
Ke Yufei was a drone enthusiast who carried his drone wherever he went, and this time was no exception. He repeatedly used the drone to attract zombies, creating opportunities for them to search for supplies, but this also drew the envy of many. Ke Yufei knew in his heart that it was better to leave this place sooner rather than later. Using the excuse of scouting the surrounding area, he searched for a new place to stay and eventually found this villa. Ke Yufei didn’t tell anyone. As the saying goes, “People’s hearts are hidden behind their chests.” especially in such an environment, it was always wise to be extra cautious.
The next day, they were scheduled to go out to search for supplies. As he had done several times before, Ke Yufei operated the drone to attract the zombies’ attention. However, instead of heading to the predetermined location, he drove toward the villa. Soon, someone realized what was happening and wanted to stop him, but they were too afraid of the zombie horde and could only watch helplessly as he drove away.
Ke Yufei sped all the way toward the villa, but the closer he got, the more zombies there were, dense and swarming, as if every zombie in the entire town had gathered on the mountain.
“That’s strange. There weren’t any zombies on this road yesterday.”
Ke Yufei grew uneasy and had to find a relatively safe place to park. He tried using the drone as before, attempting to lure the zombies elsewhere so he could drive to the villa. But the method that had always worked before failed this time, the zombies ignored the drone.
“What’s going on?”
Ke Yufei became even more puzzled. Before he could figure it out, the zombie horde suddenly began moving, heading swiftly in his direction. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly started the car, turning around to drive back down the mountain. He couldn’t return to the food factory, but fortunately, he had a backup plan; otherwise, he wouldn’t know where to go.
Watching Ke Yufei’s car disappear into the distance, the cat let out a low growl toward the zombie horde before leaping down from the large tree and quickly making its way to the villa. When it arrived, it found no one to open the door for it, so it skillfully jumped onto the balcony and scratched at the glass with its paw.
Sun Qi, who was keeping watch by the bed, looked over at the sound and saw the black cat. She stood up and walked over, saying, “Little Black, it’s you. How did you get outside?”
Not hearing Yun Huacen’s voice, the cat frowned and let out a meow.
“Do you want to come in?”
“Meow.” The cat responded with another meow.
“Uncle fainted, and we don’t know how to open the door.”
Hearing this, the cat’s frown deepened. Before it left, Yun Huacen had been fine, why had he fainted again? Unfortunately, Yun Huacen was unconscious, and no one could answer its question.
Yun Huacen remained unconscious for another day and night. The first thing he did upon waking was let the cat in. Sun Qi didn’t hide anything and recounted everything that had happened after he fainted. Yun Huacen had clear finger marks on his neck, so even if she hadn’t said anything, it would have been impossible to hide. Sun Qi spoke up for Yue Zirui, hoping Yun Huacen would give him another chance and not drive him away. Yun Huacen was too weak to do anything about Yue Zirui, so he decided to set the matter aside for the time being.
Yun Huacen’s throat had already been uncomfortable, and now it was injured, making it impossible for him to speak. Like the cat, he could only communicate by typing on his phone.
“How was the drone situation handled?” With the cat around, Yue Zirui posed no threat to him. What he feared was trouble from the outside.
“It’s been resolved. But we still need to deal with Yue Zirui as soon as possible.”
“How? Lock him up again? In my current condition, I can barely get out of bed. How am I supposed to lock him up?”
“Take a good look at the security system.”
Yun Huacen opened the security system and carefully examined it, discovering that the locks on every door in the villa could be controlled through the tablet.
“Those children are Yue Zirui’s companions. If I lock him up, over time they’ll grow dissatisfied with me, which won’t be good for my relationship with them. On the other hand, if I go easy on him, their dissatisfaction will shift toward Yue Zirui. When similar incidents happen in the future, they’ll definitely side with me, making it much easier to control Yue Zirui.”
“You have supernatural abilities now, so there’s no need to go through all this trouble.”
“I do, but there are limitations. I fainted, probably from using them too much. Besides, this ability is a life-saving measure, the fewer people who know about it, the better.”
The cat hesitated for a moment before typing, “Should I get you some zombie brains to eat?”
“Stop right there, no need. I’m fine as I am.”