Yun Huacen munched on a roasted bun while watching the battle outside. Those people were indeed well-trained. After the initial panic, they quickly steadied themselves, pulling out daggers to hack at the rose vines wrapped around their ankles. To their surprise, the seemingly fragile vines took considerable effort to cut through, and even after being severed, the vines remained alive, continuing to tighten relentlessly, as if determined to crush their legs. To save their limbs, they had no choice but to slice at the vines clinging to their legs.
Watching such a bloody scene, Yun Huacen suddenly found the bun in his mouth tasteless.
“Forget it, let’s get out of here first!”
Everyone snapped back to reality. Ignoring the pain in their legs, they scrambled to their feet and tried to run. But before they could take more than a few steps, a dark shadow suddenly descended from above, slapping them squarely in the face. Their bodies spun like tops, whirling five, six, seven, eight times before finally coming to a stop. When they recovered from the dizziness, each of them was bound tightly by rose vines, trussed up like zongzi.
It had to be Cabbage, who would have thought a cabbage could move with such speed and strength?
Seeing the crisis resolved, Yun Huacen finished his last sip of porridge and finally revealed himself. Looking at their miserable state, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. He turned to the rose garden, unsure which plant had gained sentience, and tentatively said, “Roses, loosen up a bit. Such good test subjects, it’d be a shame if they were crushed to death.”
As soon as he spoke, the rose vines stopped tightening. The captives breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The middle-aged leader eyed Yun Huacen warily and asked, “Who exactly are you?”
“What does it matter to you who I am?” Yun Huacen turned to look at the group, his expression turning cold. “Judging by your methods, you must have done plenty of murder and robbery.”
Guo Xiaoting forced a smile and said, “Handsome, you’ve misunderstood. We’re all good people. We were chased by zombies and fled here, hoping you’d take us in. We can be your bodyguards and help you search for supplies.”
“Good people would barge in without permission and try to destroy my garden?” Yun Huacen sneered at them and commanded, “Tell me everything you’ve done recently, in detail!”
Their minds went blank, and their mouths moved uncontrollably, spilling every detail of their recent deeds. Just as Yun Huacen suspected, they had indeed committed numerous acts of murder and robbery. The most heinous of all was their method of stealing food and valuables: they would break into people’s homes, lure zombies inside to devour or turn the occupants into zombies, ensuring that any investigation afterward would blame the zombies, leaving them completely unconnected to the crimes.
Yun Huacen called Potato and Cabbage over and asked, “Do you know why they’ve become like this?”
Staring at Potato and Cabbage nestled together, the group looked utterly bewildered.
“The reason they’ve become like this is because they were infected with the zombie virus, which caused them to mutate.”
The group froze, their expressions shifting.
“Soon enough, you’ll turn into zombies too.”
Yao Shan stared at Yun Huacen and asked, “Why do they obey you? Who exactly are you?”
“That’s a rather difficult question to answer.” Yun Huacen pondered for a moment before continuing, “But you don’t need to know too much anyway. After all, it won’t be long before you turn into zombies.”
“You’re the one spreading the zombie virus!” Yao Shan thought he had uncovered the truth.
“What a huge accusation! I can’t bear that responsibility.” Yun Huacen stood up and walked toward the storage room. He found several ropes, tied them up again, and then led them one by one to the laboratory.
Hearing the commotion, Yue Zirui looked toward the door and saw Yun Huacen pushing a man inside. The man was tightly bound and covered in blood. Yue Zirui couldn’t help but ask, “Is he the one who broke in?”
“One of them. From now on, he’ll be your neighbor.” Yun Huacen locked the man in a cage and then headed back toward the door.
“What do you mean by that?” Yue Zirui followed him. “Are you planning to use them for clinical trials?”
“They’re already infected with the zombie virus. It won’t be long before they turn. Why not use ready-made lab rats?” Yun Huacen opened the laboratory door and pushed Yue Zirui, who had followed him, back inside. “Go back to your room and stay put. Don’t wander around.”
“But they…” Yue Zirui wanted to ask more, but the laboratory door had already closed. He couldn’t help but mutter, “Seriously… can’t you just finish what you’re saying?”
“Hey, handsome.”
Hearing the voice, Yue Zirui turned and saw the man locked in the cage looking at him. He walked over and asked, “Who are you? Why did you break into the villa?”
“We were just trying to escape from zombies and accidentally entered the villa. We meant no harm.” Qiu Xu smiled ingratiatingly. “Handsome, what is this place? What did you mean by clinical trials?”
“Accidentally entered?” Yue Zirui sneered at him. “Do you think I’m a fool? That’s such a lame excuse.”
“We really did enter by accident, with no ill intentions.” Qiu Xu sized up Yue Zirui. “You’re trapped here too, aren’t you? Since we’re in the same boat, why don’t we work together to find a way out?”
“Did he just say you’re infected with the zombie virus?”
“He’s lying. I’m not infected.”
“Take a look at your wound.”
Qiu Xu instinctively looked down and saw that the wound caused by the rose branch had turned dark green, exactly the same color as the wounds on zombies. His face paled, and he said in disbelief, “How is this possible? What he said is actually true!”
“What happened up there? How did you get those injuries?”
Qiu Xu’s wounds weren’t from zombie bites, nor did they look like scratches. They appeared particularly strange. Moreover, there were many needle marks on his body that were barely noticeable unless examined closely. It was impossible to tell what had caused them, which was why Yue Zirui asked.
Qiu Xu seemed thoroughly frightened and didn’t hear Yue Zirui’s question, instead repeating “impossible” over and over. Yue Zirui wanted to ask more, but the laboratory door opened again, and another man was brought in. He was also covered in wounds, with his legs being the most severely injured.
Yun Huacen locked the man in another cage, then turned to Yue Zirui and said, “This has nothing to do with you. Go back to your room now, or I’ll lock you in a cage too.”
Yue Zirui rolled his eyes at him and reluctantly walked back to his room. As the saying goes, “A wise man knows when to retreat.” With a private room available, only a fool would want to stay in a cage.
To be safe, Yun Huacen made eight trips, finally transporting everyone to the laboratory. He told the children to go upstairs and carry on with whatever they needed to do, while he himself plunged into the task at hand.
Yun Huacen swept his gaze over the group and said, “Do you want to die, or do you want to live?”
“I want to live!”
“I want to live!”
All eight people eagerly voiced their stance, if they could live, no one was willing to die.
“You’ve all seen it. This is a medical laboratory, and I am the owner of this lab. I happen to be researching the zombie virus, and I’ve just made a breakthrough.” Yun Huacen took out the prepared serum. “This bottle can suppress the spread of the zombie virus, but the quantity is limited. It can only treat three people at most. Who wants it?”
Everyone stared at the serum in Yun Huacen’s hand, their minds filled with doubt. For a moment, no one spoke.
“The two who were brought in first, you should remember the young man you met earlier.” Yun Huacen glanced at the two of them and smiled. “A month ago, he was also infected with the zombie virus.”
“Did you get my permission to use me for advertising?” Yue Zirui shouted loudly.
Qiu Xu was the first to react, rushing to say, “I’ll take it! Give it to me!”
“And me, I want it too!” Han Cheng, the second person brought in, hurriedly spoke up.
“And me!” Guo Xiaoting quickly followed.
“Alright, then whoever speaks first gets it.”
Yun Huacen turned and left, returning shortly with a case. When he opened it, inside were various syringes and bottles of all kinds. Yun Huacen first drew blood from each of the three, labeled the samples, and carefully stored them in the case. Then, he took a scalpel and collected some decayed flesh from each of their wounds, labeled the samples again, and stored them in the case. Finally, he injected each of them with the serum.
The three who received the injections screamed in agony, writhing on the floor in convulsions. The others were terrified, looking at Yun Huacen as if he were a devil. Yun Huacen ignored their stares and calmly recorded the data. With limited energy and his body already severely exhausted, he couldn’t handle continuous observation alone, so he called Yue Zirui out to take shifts monitoring the patients.
Two days later, the other four infected with the zombie virus turned into zombies one after another. Only one person, Lin Na, showed signs of turning but remained conscious, just like Yue Zirui had been earlier.
Yun Huacen drew Lin Na’s blood for research and discovered that her blood also contained antibodies capable of suppressing the zombie virus. As for the three who received the injections, they endured excruciating pain over those two days but showed no signs of turning into zombies. This excited Yun Huacen immensely. After drawing their blood for testing, he found that the zombie virus in their bodies was gradually decreasing, and he believed they would recover fully before long. The three of them, upon hearing the news, were also overjoyed, thinking they had been saved. Unfortunately, a week later, Qiu Xu suddenly died, catching Yun Huacen completely off guard.
Yun Huacen looked at the cat and asked, “What do you think happened?”
The cat had returned on the second day, still covered in bloodstains. It was Potato who turned on the faucet and helped wash the cat clean. Yun Huacen noticed its return three days later and promptly brought it into the laboratory.
The cat typed, “Maybe he was already sick before he got infected with the zombie virus.”
Yun Huacen looked at Lin Na in the cage beside him and asked, “As far as you know, did Qiu Xu have any illnesses?”
Lin Na shook her head and said, “I never heard him mention any. Guo Xiaoting is his girlfriend, you could ask her.”
Yun Huacen walked over to Guo Xiaoting’s cage and asked, “Did Qiu Xu ever suffer from any illnesses?”
Guo Xiaoting looked at Yun Huacen with a numb expression and shook her head slightly. “No.”
“Think carefully. This is very important, it concerns your life.”
Guo Xiaoting thought for a moment and said, “He had kidney problems. Does that count?”