He had been staring there for a long time, just quietly watching. He knew that person held something that could hurt him. So he stayed still and silent, watching that person…
The “bang bang” sounds—each one killing one of his kind—finally stopped. He clawed a few times at the wall in front of him—now, it should be safe, right?
He was so hungry, so very hungry. He had been starving for a long time but didn’t want to leave to find food. And now, the food had come to him…
A long howl sounded, and Ling Qingyun felt a sharp pain in his head, his movements faltered for a moment, then he saw a figure leap down from the building.
The figure descended quickly, but he still recognized the shape—familiar clothes, familiar face—that was Zhuang Cheng!
“Chengcheng!” Ling Qingyun had recalled countless times how their meetings went, but never imagined it would be like this. He had wondered if Zhuang Cheng might have turned into a zombie. Now, the pale, bluish face and the curled, permanently unhealed wound on his right cheek told him everything.
Zhuang Cheng had turned into a zombie!
Before, he thought that if he ever saw Zhuang Cheng as a zombie, he would kill him to give him peace. But at this moment, seeing Zhuang Cheng lunging toward him, he didn’t even want to raise his spiked mace!
Maybe dying by Zhuang Cheng’s hands and then turning into a zombie himself would be a kind of relief…
Although only a brief instant passed, it felt like a very long time. Zhuang Cheng’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but his eyes and aura had completely transformed. The Zhuang Cheng he knew would never have shown him such an expression, nor looked at him with those eyes!
With a soft “pop,” Zhuang Cheng lightly landed on the hood of the SUV, tilted his head slightly, and then lunged at Ling Qingyun.
Unlike other zombies, Zhuang Cheng had long, sharp nails growing from his hands. His movements were incredibly agile—he had just dared to jump down from such a great height… Ling Qingyun knew that Zhuang Cheng’s mutation surpassed any zombie he had ever seen before. He didn’t know what had caused all of this, but he knew he had neither the strength nor the will to resist.
He had already killed so many zombies—hadn’t that counted as avenging Zhuang Cheng? Now, dying here would feel like a fitting end.
Those sharp claws were already reaching his face. Ling Qingyun didn’t close his eyes, instead, he opened them wide, wanting to see Zhuang Cheng’s face clearly. This was the first time he had seen Zhuang Cheng since realizing his own feelings.
Suddenly, everything went black. Ling Qingyun thought the next thing would be the tearing bite of death—but when his vision returned, what he saw was a vast grassy field, surrounded by a white expanse.
Where was this?
Landing on the now-empty car roof, Zhuang Cheng tilted his head slightly. Although his expression couldn’t change anymore, there was a visible hint of confusion on his face.
He didn’t understand what had just happened. He didn’t even know what that flicker of hesitation had been. Something had felt off the moment he jumped down.
That should have been his food, right? So why, when he thought about eating him, did his whole body feel wrong?
He sat down on the roof of the car. He liked this place—it had a scent he found pleasing, similar to the house he used to like.
Lying on the grass, Ling Qingyun suddenly didn’t want to move at all. He didn’t know what was going on anymore, but he also didn’t feel like figuring it out. He had already resigned himself to death, and after seeing Zhuang Cheng again, he had even less desire to live. Since he no longer wanted to live, what did it matter where he ended up?
“Hey! Aren’t you at least a little curious?” A dog-like creature suddenly ran up to Ling Qingyun and… spoke in human language.
“I’m kind of curious.” A talking dog… definitely fantastical. But considering that mysterious zombies existed, what was this in comparison?
“You don’t want to live anymore? Why?” the little dog squatted down and asked again.
“No reason,” Ling Qingyun replied. If it weren’t for the apocalypse, if Zhuang Cheng hadn’t been gone, he wouldn’t have thought about dying. But now, struggling to survive in this zombie-infested world, completely alone—what was the point?
“Don’t you want to know where this place is? Don’t you want to know what I am?” The little dog shook its head and asked.
Ling Qingyun turned his head to look at it. “Where is this place? Who are you?”
The little dog jumped up from the ground. “We’re inside the Merit Jade! I’m the spirit of the Merit Jade!”
“The thing on my forehead?”
“That’s right! That’s the Merit Jade! You’re so lucky—just happened to get hit by me!” The little dog wagged its tail proudly.
“Oh.”
Seeing that Ling Qingyun didn’t seem very interested, the little dog got annoyed. It circled around him a few times. “I’m super useful, you know! Merit is an incredible thing. For you to have gained over a thousand merit points in such a short time is really impressive!”
“What’s the use of merit?” Ling Qingyun’s mind kept flashing back to Zhuang Cheng’s face. He remembered clearly how Zhuang Cheng had paused slightly on the car hood, tilting his head… Even though he had already turned into a zombie, even though his face had no expression at all, Ling Qingyun still found him adorable.
Even if he had become a zombie, Zhuang Cheng was still the most adorable zombie… But he was a zombie now. Could a zombie… ever turn back into a human?
“You’ve heard of attaining sainthood through merit, right? With enough merit, you can become a powerful divine being in the future…”
“Can merit save people? I remember every time I kill a zombie, the prompt says ‘rescued a soul,’ right? So there are still souls inside zombies? Does that mean zombies can be revived?” Ling Qingyun’s mind suddenly cleared. He jumped up from the ground and asked urgently.
“Zombies? Are you talking about those people outside invaded by the demonic energy?”
“Demonic energy invasion? Is there a way to save them?” Ling Qingyun grabbed the little dog anxiously. If Zhuang Cheng could turn back into a human…
“Of course, but don’t think about it now. You need at least 100 million merit points first. When you have 100 million merit…” The dog suddenly stopped speaking.
“If I get 100 million merit points, I can save him?” Ling Qingyun felt his heart pounding fast. He wanted to jump up and laugh loudly, or hug the little dog and kiss it. He could save Zhuang Cheng—how great would that be?
“Yes! But 100 million merit points… people cultivating merit often spend their whole lives only getting tens of thousands,” the little dog hesitated.
“I will definitely gather 100 million merit points!” Ling Qingyun started calculating. Surely there are over a hundred million zombies in country Z. If not enough, then find zombies from other countries! But with his current strength…
“With more merit, will I only have better eyesight and hearing? Why did I suddenly come back just now? Where is this place? Shouldn’t I have died earlier?”
The little dog heard a flood of questions and paused for a while before answering, “You already have over a thousand merit points. Your hearing and eyesight aren’t just better, all your physical attributes improve! Although cultivating merit is harder and more troublesome than cultivating immortality, the benefits increase over time. Immortals who cultivate defy the heavens and face heavenly tribulations, but those who cultivate merit always progress smoothly. Of course, cultivating merit is tough. Few are as lucky as you. On some planets, getting merit is extremely difficult!”
Ling Qingyun estimated his strength—swinging the wolf-tooth club was indeed much easier now. He touched his forehead again—
Name: Ling Qingyun
Merit: 1234 points
Level: 3 (Level 3 functions unlocked)
“What are Level 3 functions?” Ling Qingyun asked again.
“Level 3 functions? Actually, the biggest benefit of unlocking Level 3 is that you met me awake! See, now that I’m awake, you can open the space inside the Merit Jade. If you’re ever in danger, just hide inside!” The little dog said excitedly, then hesitated, “Actually, I made this grading system just to make things easier. When the Merit Jade hit you, it also accessed your brain and learned about this place.”
No wonder it’s still in Simplified Chinese… but no matter what’s really going on, Ling Qingyun no longer cared—as long as he could save Zhuang Cheng, that was enough!
With this thought, Ling Qingyun continued asking questions. Some the little dog refused to answer, but others it explained clearly. He came to understand that cultivating merit basically meant doing good deeds—doing good deeds earns merit, while doing bad deeds reduces it!
As his merit increased, so would his strength. Eventually, he could have powers to move mountains and overturn seas. But for now, his physical abilities had only improved somewhat, roughly comparable to those “evolvers” he’d heard about.
As for this place, it was the space inside the Merit Jade. When merit reaches one thousand points, the spirit inside the Merit Jade recognizes its owner, and that’s when the little space inside the jade appears. At that critical moment of life and death, the spirit dog pulled him inside.
“Oh, I also have some merit-cultivating spells that you can practice when you have time. I’ll go get them for you!” The little dog suddenly said and then turned, rushing into the white mist.
Ling Qingyun walked over to the mist and reached out to touch it, but all he saw was thin fog and his hand passed through it. The grass not covered by the mist was only about thirty to forty square meters.
What he encountered today was so strange, but he was willing to believe it was all real! He didn’t know what the outside world looked like now, or if Zhuang Cheng was still alive.
As he thought this, the white mist in front of him twisted slightly, and the outside world appeared—the zombies around the SUV had dispersed, but Zhuang Cheng sat alone on the roof.
He sat down on the ground, staring at that incredibly familiar yet expressionless face that didn’t even blink. On that face, the black claw mark was clearly visible.
Zhuang Cheng… was different from the other zombies. Maybe it was related to him evolving before becoming a zombie, or maybe there were other reasons… Ling Qingyun looked at the figure sitting on the roof, whose clothes weren’t very dirty, and suddenly really wanted to reach out and touch him.
But now, even touching was a luxury. He wondered if there was another way for him to be with Zhuang Cheng… If he wanted to save Zhuang Cheng’s life, he couldn’t just leave him here. If someone else killed Zhuang Cheng, he would regret it to death!
Maybe he should lock Zhuang Cheng inside this space?