“I might lose consciousness soon.”
Ling Jiujiu was eating meat when he suddenly heard Lu Chen say this.
He looked up in surprise, thought of something, reached out to touch Lu Chen’s forehead, then immediately pulled his hand back.
It was frighteningly hot.
Ling Jiujiu wasn’t unfamiliar with humans—he had even been captured by them before.
Normal human body temperature felt warm to him, not hot at all.
But Lu Chen’s temperature wasn’t normal.
It was probably related to his Infection.
Now that Lu Chen was burning up so intensely, he was likely at a critical stage of the Infection.
Ling Jiujiu wiped his mouth, no longer in the mood to eat meat.
He had been living alone as a zombie for so long, with no one to talk to.
Finally, someone had come along who wouldn’t blow his head off, but now that person was about to turn into a dumb zombie.
Even though Lu Chen was fierce, he helped him find meat to eat, helped him out of the trap pit, and even helped him fight the big goose…
He didn’t want Lu Chen to leave.
Sensing the changes in his body, Lu Chen walked to the bed and sat down on his own. His voice was hoarse, as if giving final instructions:
“If I turn into a zombie, use this gun and shoot me in the head.
You should have learned how to use it by now.
You… why are you crying?”
Lu Chen looked at Ling Jiujiu. The little guy’s eyes were red, he was sniffling, and his mouth was almost puckered into a little duck’s beak.
“Can… can you not… not turn into a dumb zombie? I don’t want you to go…”
Ling Jiujiu couldn’t hold back and burst into loud sobs, tears falling like broken strings of little pearls, pattering down one after another.
Drops fell onto Lu Chen’s hand, startling him with their heat. He felt at a loss.
In his twenty-five years of life, no one had ever cried so hard because of him. He couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart.
“Don’t cry…” Lu Chen raised his hand and gently wiped away Ling Jiujiu’s tears, his gaze unexpectedly soft.
“I might not necessarily turn into a zombie. Don’t be afraid.”
Ling Jiujiu sniffled, his eyes glistening with tears as he asked, “Really?”
Lu Chen placed everything from his pockets into Ling Jiujiu’s hands and patted his head:
“As long as I don’t turn into a zombie, make sure to feed me some water and a little food every day on time, okay?”
Lu Chen wasn’t sure if he’d have the strength to get up and eat by then.
But if Jiujiu helped him, maybe his chances of pulling through would be greater.
Ling Jiujiu nodded, his voice muffled: “You absolutely must not turn into a dumb zombie.”
Lu Chen pinched his cheek and smiled as he agreed: “Okay, I’ll try my best not—”
Before he could finish, Lu Chen suddenly lurched forward, his entire body collapsing.
Ling Jiujiu was caught off guard and was knocked flat, falling to the ground with a thud.
Lu Chen’s 190+ cm frame pressed down on Ling Jiujiu’s small body, nearly crushing him into a zombie pancake.
Fortunately, he had eaten a lot of meat these past two days and had enough strength, but it still took a great effort to drag Lu Chen onto the bed.
In his unconscious state, Lu Chen’s brow was tightly furrowed, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
Seeing him wrapped in sweat-soaked clothes, Ling Jiujiu thought it must be uncomfortable, so he started helping him take them off.
Lu Chen’s forehead was burning hot, and his whole body was feverish. Ling Jiujiu didn’t dare touch him carelessly.
He fetched a basin of water, soaked a towel, slapped it onto Lu Chen’s body, and wiped away his sweat while helping him cool down.
When he wiped Lu Chen’s thigh, Ling Jiujiu noticed that the wound where the zombie had scratched him didn’t look good.
The wounds had swollen, and a white substance oozed out when gently pressed.
He had seen humans with such wounds before—the person who had captured him had wounds just like these.
This was a sign of infection, and without treatment, it could be very dangerous.
He remembered that person had used a knife to cut open the pus-filled wound and drain out the impurities inside.
Ling Jiujiu took out a small knife and some ointment from the drawer and began treating Lu Chen’s wounds.
“If it hurts, just let me know.”
Ling Jiujiu held the small knife, feeling a bit nervous.
This was the first time he had ever used a knife on a human.
Following what Lu Chen had taught him before, he lit a candle with a match and sterilized the knife over the flame.
Then, taking a deep breath, he carefully tended to Lu Chen’s wounds.
By this time, Lu Chen had completely lost consciousness and couldn’t feel any pain at all.
After treating the wounds, Ling Jiujiu brought over a stool and sat beside him, keeping watch.
Although Ling Jiujiu had turned into a zombie, his bodily habits were still quite similar to humans—he still needed to sleep at night.
He watched over Lu Chen until late into the night, growing so tired that he dozed off with his head resting on the edge of the bed.
While he was asleep, Lu Chen’s body underwent a strange and eerie transformation.
Red patterns appeared on both sides of his eyes, extending down to his neck and then to his heart.
The red patterns persisted until dawn began to break, only then showing signs of fading.
Ling Jiujiu’s sleep duration was much shorter than that of an average person—he woke up after just three or four hours.
The first thing he did upon waking was check whether Lu Chen was still alive.
He placed his hand under Lu Chen’s nose and then poked his cheek.
There was breath, and he was still warm.
Good, he wasn’t dead.
Ling Jiujiu himself could go seven days without eating meat, but Lu Chen couldn’t.
Humans needed food, especially when they were sick, otherwise they could easily die.
Ling Jiujiu imitated Lu Chen’s method, starting a fire and skewering the fish on a branch to roast.
Since he couldn’t feel pain, he burned several large blisters on his hands while roasting the fish.
Once the fish was cooked, Ling Jiujiu took it directly to feed Lu Chen.
However, Lu Chen was still unconscious, and even when the fish was placed in his mouth, he couldn’t chew it himself.
Ling Jiujiu had no choice but to mash the fish with a rolling pin, shape it into fish balls, and feed them to Lu Chen along with water.
Lu Chen remained unconscious for three full days, and Ling Jiujiu stayed by his side the entire time.
Occasionally, zombies would wander nearby, so he didn’t dare leave even for a moment, fearing that Lu Chen might be eaten.
It wasn’t until the fourth night, while Ling Jiujiu was roasting fish outside, that he heard faint sounds coming from inside the house.
Startled, he hurried inside to check.
In the room, Lu Chen had regained consciousness and was sitting on the bed, staring at his own hands.
“Lu Chen?” Ling Jiujiu called his name softly.
Lu Chen looked up at him. His originally dark, bright eyes had turned red, and his crimson pupils appeared particularly eerie under the dim candlelight.
Lu Chen’s crimson pupils were different from the red eyes of zombies.
A zombie’s red eyes were bloodshot across the entire whites, but Lu Chen’s irises had turned red.
Seeing Ling Jiujiu’s expression, filled with both hope and worry, Lu Chen’s eyes softened slightly, and the corners of his lips curved upward.
“Jiujiu.”
Hearing his voice, Ling Jiujiu’s lips trembled, and the tears he had held back for three days could no longer be contained.
“Wah… you’re finally awake. I was so afraid you would just die like that.”
Lu Chen had a cold temperament and disliked physical contact with others.
Even with the comrades he had faced life and death alongside, he didn’t like being patted on the back or having arms slung over his shoulders.
But seeing Ling Jiujiu’s pitifully tear-streaked little face, he almost instinctively reached out to wipe the child’s tears.