“A-Rui, what on earth are you trying to do!”
Sun Qi had been cooking when she heard the commotion upstairs and saw Yun Huacen’s grim expression. She vaguely guessed what was happening and hurriedly turned off the stove to go upstairs, just in time to hear Yue Zirui’s words.
“We grew up together. You know very well how I’ve treated you all, I would never harm you. He’s really not a good person. He let us in just to use us as lab rats to study the zombie virus. Those cages are proof!”
“Uncle did lock us up, but he never hurt us. Not only did he give us food, but he also let us stay in such nice rooms.” Sun Qi looked straight at Yue Zirui. “A-Rui, Lanlan is only seven, and they’ve just turned twelve. How long do you think we’d survive out there facing those zombies if we left this place?”
“If we could escape from the orphanage, we can definitely survive!”
“Have you forgotten Aunt Yao and Aunt Xiaomei?” Sun Qi’s eyes reddened. “Why were we able to escape? Have you forgotten all that?”
Yue Zirui was momentarily speechless, then argued, “It’s precisely because they risked their lives to save us that I can’t stand by and watch you all be deceived. Otherwise, I’d be letting them down.”
Sun Qi silently watched Yue Zirui for a long moment before finally saying, “We’re not leaving. If you want to go, then go.”
Yue Zirui was taken aback, then turned to the others. “You’re not leaving either?”
“Brother Rui, there are zombies everywhere outside. Leaving means certain death. If I’m going to die either way, I’d rather stay here.” Yu Lei made his stance clear.
“We’re not leaving either.”
Yue Zirui looked at them, both angry and hurt, and said, “Fine. If you won’t leave, I will. I hope you won’t regret it.”
Shao Lan stepped forward to stop Yue Zirui. “Brother Rui, Uncle is a good person. If you apologize to him, he’ll forgive you.”
Yue Zirui pushed Shao Lan aside and turned to walk out.
“Brother Rui…”
Shao Lan steadied the nearly pushed-over Shao Lan and said disappointedly, “Forget it. You know what his temper is like, you can’t stop him. I just hope he realizes the reality of the situation soon.”
“But it’s dangerous outside.”
“That’s his choice.” Sun Qi sighed and patted Shao Lan comfortingly. “Come on, let’s go downstairs and help me cook.”
Yue Zirui walked downstairs under Yun Huacen’s cold gaze. Yun Huacen pressed a button to open the living room door, then the villa’s main gate, allowing Yue Zirui to leave.
Sun Qi came downstairs and glanced at Yun Huacen sitting on the sofa. She wanted to speak up for Yue Zirui, but when her eyes fell on the finger marks on Yun Huacen’s neck, the words died on her lips. With a despondent expression, she headed toward the kitchen.
Driven by the anger in his heart, Yue Zirui walked two miles before stopping. Just as he was about to sit down to rest and figure out where to go, a zombie suddenly lunged out from the nearby woods. Yue Zirui was startled and took off running. It was as if the zombies had a tracker on him, no matter where he went or how fast he ran, they could pinpoint his location with precision, and their numbers kept growing.
Yue Zirui was exhausted, utterly spent. Ever since he fled the villa, he had been running nonstop, not daring to pause for even a moment. He had run through the entire night, all on mountain paths, until his legs felt as heavy as lead, each step a struggle. The zombies, however, mindless and unfeeling, showed no sign of fatigue, relentlessly pursuing him. Already weakened by illness, this grueling chase finally pushed him beyond his limits. His vision darkened, and he collapsed into unconsciousness. The zombies trailing behind closed in, but instead of attacking, they gathered around him, patrolling back and forth like sentinels.
Yun Huacen was sleeping soundly when a sudden scratching noise against the glass, a grating, squeaky sound that set his teeth on edge, jolted him awake. He opened his eyes and looked toward the floor-to-ceiling window, meeting the dark, gleaming eyes of the cat. His groggy mind cleared, and half an hour later, he was in his car, driving away from the villa.
After half an hour of driving and another half-hour trek through mountain trails, he finally reached his destination. Yun Huacen, still recovering from a serious illness, was feeling the strain. Ignoring the zombies around him, he plopped down on a tree stump, panting heavily. “That brat really knows how to run!”
The cat lifted its head to gaze at the sky. The sun had risen, its rays filtering through the dense layers of leaves and falling on Yun Huacen’s face, lending a healthy flush to his otherwise pale complexion.
Once he caught his breath, Yun Huacen moved forward to check on Yue Zirui’s condition. Unable to question the patient and lacking any medical equipment, he could only rely on surface observations and Yu Lei’s description of the symptoms, tentatively diagnosing it as gastroenteritis.
As Yun Huacen began feeding medicine to Yue Zirui, the cat frowned slightly and meowed, signaling for Yun Huacen to hand over his phone. Yun Huacen passed it over and continued administering the medicine. After half a bottle of water was poured down, Yue Zirui’s eyelids fluttered, and he seemed on the verge of waking. Yun Huacen tensed and quickly commanded, “Don’t wake up!”
Yue Zirui’s eyelids stilled, and his furrowed brow gradually relaxed as he slipped back into a deep slumber.
Yun Huacen sighed in relief and turned to the cat, which nudged the phone back toward him. Looking down, Yun Huacen couldn’t help but frown. “Why does he hate me? Don’t you know better than anyone? It’s because of your inhuman actions. Even if he killed you, it would be justified.”
The cat typed back: “He already killed me.”
Yun Huacen was taken aback for a moment before understanding its meaning. “What, do you want to repeat the same mistakes?”
The cat stared at Yun Huacen in silence.
“You’re a medical professional, after all. You should know what ‘a doctor’s compassion’ means, right?”
“Do you have any idea how many people could be saved if this research succeeds?”
“Don’t try to guilt-trip me with morality. All I know is that doctors are meant to save lives, not take them. Even if you succeed, it’ll be by climbing over others’ corpses. This achievement would be stained with blood.”
“If it were me, I’d be willing.”
“Those children aren’t willing!” Yun Huacen’s tone was firm and unyielding. “This body is mine now, and things will be done my way. Get rid of those twisted ideas in your head!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the cat’s mind went blank, and it looked at Yun Huacen with utter confusion.
Yun Huacen was taken aback for a moment, somewhat awkwardly shifting his gaze away. He couldn’t help but grumble inwardly: right now, he only knew that the use of his ability was limited in frequency, yet controlling it was incredibly difficult. If he wasn’t careful, he’d exhaust his ability count, and when he truly needed it, he’d be left helpless.
Yun Huacen took out a syringe, drew 200 milliliters of Yue Zirui’s blood, carefully stored it in the medical kit, then placed the prepared food and medicine to the side before standing up to leave.
Uneasily, Yun Huacen glanced at the cat and said, “Don’t you dare set your sights on him.”
The cat gave him a sidelong glance and continued walking forward.
Yun Huacen didn’t say anything more. Scanning the surrounding zombies, a sudden idea popped into his head. “Do you think I can control these zombies?”
The cat stopped and turned to look at the nearest zombie.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yun Huacen walked toward the zombie. With the cat’s higher-level suppression, even if the zombie smelled living flesh, it wouldn’t dare harm him. Yun Huacen approached closely, staring into the zombie’s grayish-white eyes, and commanded, “Lie down!”
The zombie’s eyes shifted, then it stiffly lay down on the ground.
Yun Huacen excitedly turned to the cat and said, “It worked!”
The cat nodded calmly.
Suddenly, Yun Huacen remembered that the cat was also a zombie, a mutated one at that. If his ability worked on it, how much more so on these ordinary zombies? At this thought, his excitement faded, and he said irritably, “Were you just waiting to see me make a fool of myself?”
The cat looked at him in confusion.
“My ability works on you, let alone these ordinary zombies.”
The cat’s eyes flickered. It found a patch of clear ground without weeds and wrote, “Ordinary zombies have no consciousness.”
Yun Huacen was momentarily stunned, then understood its meaning. It hadn’t been trying to mock him but genuinely wanted him to test his ability. He gave an awkward smile and said, “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry, or we’ll miss breakfast.”
The cat watched Yun Huacen walking ahead. He was such a timid person, initially even afraid to meet its gaze, yet he dared to take on a zombie alone and successfully killed it. Later, he even led a group of children to move food right under the noses of zombies. Such a contradictory person, yet so naturally contradictory, it couldn’t help but pique its curiosity.
With the cat by his side, Yun Huacen safely returned to the villa. After breakfast, he entered the laboratory and got to work.
…
By the time Yue Zirui woke up, it was already noon. He opened his eyes, staring blankly at the sky. It took a while before his memories slowly returned. He abruptly sat up, his vision suddenly darkening, forcing him to close his eyes. Once he recovered, he cautiously scanned his surroundings and, after confirming it was safe, let out a long sigh of relief.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a black backpack. Yue Zirui frowned slightly and walked over. It was a brand-new backpack, clean except for a bit of dirt on the bottom. He opened it and was overjoyed to find food and medicine inside. Without hesitation, he took out a packet of instant noodles and began eating.
Starving since yesterday afternoon, he couldn’t hold out any longer, filling his stomach came first. After wolfing down half a pack of instant noodles with a crunch crunch, he unscrewed the cap and gulped down two mouthfuls of water, glug glug. The feeling of having something in his stomach was especially grounding. Tucking the remaining half-pack of noodles and the water into his bag, Yue Zirui slung it over his shoulder and scanned his surroundings. His muddled mind cleared, and countless questions flooded in.
Why was he still in one piece after being chased by so many zombies yesterday? And what about this food and medicine, how did they get here?
A vague image flashed through his mind. Yue Zirui froze, trying to grasp it, but it slipped away. During his unconsciousness, he seemed to have woken up briefly and glimpsed a figure, though the image was too blurry to make out clearly.
With zombies roaming everywhere, food and medicine were scarce resources. Who would be kind enough to leave these things for him? Could it be… them?
Yue Zirui first thought of his companions from the orphanage, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He had nearly died at the hands of the zombies, how could they have managed? Could he really have encountered a good Samaritan who took pity on him and left food and medicine?
Though only sixteen, Yue Zirui had already experienced the harsh realities of human nature. He hardly believed such a good person existed and soon rejected that possibility too. Then, a face surfaced in his mind. “Could it be… him?”