After finding Zhuang Cheng, Ling Qingyun’s heart finally settled completely. When he realized that Zhuang Cheng still had some memory of him and had even managed to suppress his instinct to eat humans, he practically wanted to throw his arms around him and kiss him all over!
But that little dog—Xiao Gong—had already warned him: Zhuang Cheng did indeed still have a faint impression of him, but if he provoked him, Zhuang Cheng would definitely eat him!
Would rushing up to kiss him count as provoking? Ling Qingyun felt overjoyed. Everything looked pleasing to his eyes, even the zombies around him drooling as they stared—he didn’t find them as disgusting as before!
On the first day of 2015, people all over the world were dying nonstop. Once-bustling cities had become zombie paradises and hells for humankind. But Ling Qingyun had found a purpose for living.
He wanted to bring Zhuang Cheng back to life. To save him, he needed to kill zombies and accumulate merit. And he didn’t want Zhuang Cheng, once revived, to still face this terrifying world of zombies… From now on, he couldn’t afford to ignore the state of humanity and the zombies. He needed to change his mindset. He needed to kill more zombies!
The sun gradually sank. Ling Qingyun hadn’t slept well the previous night, and he’d been busy the entire day. After experiencing such intense joy and sorrow, what remained was simply exhaustion.
But Zhuang Cheng was right beside him—the man he had yearned for day and night. And yet… also a zombie. Could he sleep peacefully?
Ling Qingyun wasn’t afraid that Zhuang Cheng would suddenly go mad and eat him. He was more afraid that if he died, they’d never have a chance to be together again… He still wanted to save Zhuang Cheng and personally tell him he loved him!
“Xiao Gong? Xiao Gong?” Ling Qingyun tried speaking in his mind. According to the little dog, he could use mental power to control the Merit Jade directly. But honestly, he didn’t even really know what mental power was…
“What do you want?” the little dog replied in a very grumpy tone. What kind of person was this?! In love with a zombie, no less. Wasn’t he afraid that the zombie would turn around and treat him like a snack?
Of course, he was also incredibly lucky. That zombie outside had just happened to be evolving when he was invaded by demonic energy, and had directly reached level 3. Since he’d been hiding in a place with no living humans and hadn’t eaten anyone, he wasn’t completely controlled by his instincts. But even so—without those few energy crystals earlier as a buffer, the little dog was sure that zombie would have eaten his newly recognized master without hesitation!
Right now, that zombie was probably busy digesting those dozen or so crystal cores—that’s the only reason he hadn’t eaten him yet!
“He still remembers me! Can I take him with me to kill zombies from now on? And… will he still try to eat me?” Ling Qingyun didn’t mind the little dog’s bad attitude at all. Even if someone cursed at him right now, he’d probably still greet them with a smile.
“Of course he’ll try to eat you! Unless you keep feeding him crystal cores. But there’s something else I need to remind you: you’re cultivating merit, and naturally, that also means cultivating a Merit Golden Body. That kind of body is an immense tonic to a zombie… You’ll probably attract zombies even more than normal humans.” Those were dozens of crystal cores! If they had been used to replenish the Merit Jade’s energy, the space inside would’ve grown by a lot! And yet he just fed them to a zombie like snacks!
“That’s a problem for later… The issue now is, how am I supposed to sleep?” Ling Qingyun thought it over. At worst, he could just keep feeding Zhuang Cheng every crystal core he found—he’d just have to kill more mutant zombies!
“Sleep inside the space. From the looks of it, he’s not planning to leave anyway.”
“Go into the space? Leave him here alone?” Ling Qingyun frowned.
“What, you want to sleep with a zombie? Also, are you seriously planning to never return to that… that safety zone again?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Ling Qingyun was planning exactly that. From now on, he’d roam areas with heavy zombie activity with Zhuang Cheng by his side, killing zombies together. That way, he could level up, and so could Zhuang Cheng. If they ever ran into danger—like a huge horde—he could always hide in the space. As for Zhuang Cheng, he had to make sure he leveled up quickly. Once he became the strongest among zombies, no other zombie could hurt him… Just thinking about how Zhuang Cheng had controlled the zombies earlier with a howl, and imagining Zhuang Cheng commanding a whole horde for him to slaughter made Ling Qingyun smile unconsciously.
“If you go with other humans, you’ll gain merit much faster than just killing zombies on your own! In the past, many people who cultivated merit did it by helping others. In this post-apocalyptic world, simply sharing your supplies with the people in the safety zone can earn you merit! And if someone sincerely thanks you for your help, that brings you even more benefits!” The little dog was nearly losing its mind. Killing zombies solo? How long did he think that would take? In contrast, if he helped a safety zone solve a crisis or something, the merit he’d gain would be massive!
Ling Qingyun paused, thinking. If he could gather more supplies and bring them back to feed starving people, would that earn him merit too? And if he killed evildoers, that should also grant him merit, right? As for the benefits of being genuinely thanked by others… the little dog wouldn’t say that without reason—those benefits must really be substantial.
But if he went back to the safety zone… what would happen to Zhuang Cheng?
The little dog could tell what Ling Qingyun was thinking: “Right now, your top priority is to get stronger!”
“I’m improving my strength for Zhuang Cheng. I can’t just let him live like the other zombies, can I? I absolutely won’t let Zhuang Cheng leave me.” Ling Qingyun frowned. Even if being with other humans had its advantages, the life he wanted was one of roaming the world alone—with Zhuang Cheng.
“Fine… just go back into the space and sleep for now.” the little dog said dejectedly.
But Ling Qingyun wasn’t sleepy anymore. He didn’t want to leave Zhuang Cheng. Still, was there really no way to have the best of both worlds? Why couldn’t the space in the Merit Jade hold Zhuang Cheng? If it could, then he could keep Zhuang Cheng hidden safely inside, feeding him crystal cores whenever he got them. Wouldn’t that be perfect?
Ling Qingyun looked at Zhuang Cheng sitting nearby. The other was actually looking at him—and even though his face was completely expressionless, Ling Qingyun could still somehow read something in it—he wanted to eat him! He was hungry!
Ling Qingyun sighed. He didn’t know why, but he just thought Zhuang Cheng looked really cute… Zhuang Cheng definitely couldn’t understand him right now, and if that was the case, then he probably wouldn’t follow him or listen to any orders, either.
Turning around, Ling Qingyun saw a group of zombies not far away, all staring at him with the same hungry expression, baring their teeth. One zombie in particular—a familiar-looking one in a tattered suit with half a face missing—stood out among the others wearing only underwear. That was the one who had chased him and Zhuang Cheng for a long time!
Fury flared in Ling Qingyun’s chest. He grabbed the spiked club at his side and leapt to the ground, swinging directly at that zombie.
“Saved one soul. Gained one merit point.”
When Ling Qingyun heard that voice, everything suddenly became clear to him. What he should be doing now… was killing all the zombies in this area! No—not all. Zhuang Cheng absolutely had to be protected, and with his current strength, he probably couldn’t kill Zhuang Cheng anyway.
Ling Qingyun was killing zombies below with a fierce expression, while Zhuang Cheng sat quietly on the car roof watching him.
His food smelled really good. Just now, sitting next to him made him want to eat it, but he hesitated and didn’t dare take a bite. As he sat there, he had already decided to keep his food and save it for later. But why did his food jump down?
So hungry—why am I always this hungry? He tilted his head and looked at the food that had already jumped down. It wasn’t beside him, and he felt even hungrier… He thought he should just devour the food in one bite, but he really didn’t want to eat it.
His food was killing his own kind, but he didn’t want to help his kind because he didn’t like them. At the same time, he didn’t want to help his food either, because his food was killing his kind.
So he simply sat there quietly watching.
His food was much stronger than his kind. Those other zombies were all very slow and useless, but there were many of them.
He saw his kind surrounding his food—that was his food, and they absolutely weren’t allowed to touch it!
He felt offended! He wanted to teach his kind a lesson! He jumped down from the car intending to chase his kind away, but suddenly saw his food disappear.
Disappeared again? How could it just vanish? He still chased all his kind away and then sat down where his food had disappeared.
It disappeared—but it should appear again, right? That was his food, his!