Tang Nuo’s expression changed immediately. He said seriously, “Xiao Cheng, don’t test me like that. I might harm anyone else, but I would never harm you.”
Mu Cheng blinked in confusion.
“Uh… what do you mean?”
“You’re Ziyu’s younger sister, which means you’re my little sister too. Besides, you’re also my lifesaver.”
When he mentioned the life-saving favor, Tang Nuo thought of his current condition and asked, “Then what exactly am I now? A living person… or a zombie?”
Mu Cheng thought for a moment before replying.
“I read in a book that some people with extremely strong willpower won’t immediately turn into zombies after being infected. They keep switching between being human and being a zombie. In the end, they might become a zombie—or they might become something called a corpse-mutated human.”
Tang Nuo looked at her in surprise.
“A corpse-mutated human? What’s that?”
“Corpse-mutated humans are basically a type of high-level zombie. Except for their eyes, they look almost the same as normal people. But they’re actually already dead. They can’t speak, and they don’t have any memories from when they were alive. They survive by eating flesh and blood. Their bodies are extremely tough, and ordinary weapons can’t harm them. Oh, and there’s also a rotting corpse smell coming from their bodies.”
Hearing Mu Cheng’s explanation, Tang Nuo smelled his own body. There was no odor at all.
He then placed his hand on his chest. His heart was still beating—but extremely weakly. It seemed to beat only once every few minutes. If the heart hadn’t been inside his own body, he might not have even noticed it beating.
His body temperature was also very low. There was no warmth at all—nothing like the temperature of a normal human body.
So he wasn’t a corpse-mutated human yet, nor was he a zombie. But perhaps he would soon become one of those creatures that survived by feeding on flesh and blood.
Tang Nuo frowned and voiced his concern.
“There’s no smell on my body. My heart is still beating, but very weakly—about once every three minutes. My body temperature is also extremely low. Does that mean I’m about to become a corpse-mutated human?”
Mu Cheng shook her head.
“Probably not. The water I gave you to drink last night—and the water in the bathtub—both had some medicine mixed into them. I brought those medicines from my school’s laboratory. I’ve tested them before; they can resist the virus. But you were infected for quite a long time, so for you the medicine can only suppress the virus temporarily. It can’t completely cure it.”
Mu Cheng reached out and touched Tang Nuo’s hand. It was ice-cold, with no warmth at all.
She pretended to think for a moment before saying, “I think your current state is somewhere between a living human and a corpse-mutated human. If you lose control and eat raw flesh and blood, you’ll probably lose your mind and mutate into a corpse-mutated human. But if you control yourself well, and regularly soak in the medicinal water I give you, you probably won’t turn into one.”
She added honestly, “Of course, that’s just my guess. I’m not completely sure if that’s how it really works.”
Hearing this, Tang Nuo felt somewhat relieved. When he remembered that Mu Cheng had medicine capable of suppressing the virus, he immediately said,
“Who developed the medicine you have? Can we find the person who made it and ask them to produce it in large quantities? That way we could help a lot of people.”
Mu Cheng shook her head.
“That would be difficult. The old professor got infected that same day. When I went to the lab to look for medicine, I only found the medicine itself—I didn’t find the formula.”
Tang Nuo nodded with disappointment.
It seemed that humanity could not avoid this disaster after all.