After letting out a sigh, Tang Nuo spoke again.
“Then, Xiao Cheng, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of me from now on. If… ”
His expression grew even more serious, and his tone became solemn.
“If one day I lose control and turn into a corpse-mutated human, find a way to kill me. I don’t want to become a monster.”
Mu Cheng nodded.
“Don’t worry. If you really turn into a corpse-mutated human, I won’t hold back. After all, the crystal core inside a corpse-mutated human’s brain is very tempting.”
“Crystal core?” Tang Nuo asked. “What’s that?”
“In the books it says that both zombies and corpse-mutated humans have a crystal core inside their brains. Ability users can choose the crystal core that matches their own ability and absorb it to strengthen their powers.”
Tang Nuo nodded, indicating that he understood.
Then he suddenly thought of the people in the prison and asked, “By the way, what happened to the people in the prison?”
Mu Cheng didn’t answer. Tang Nuo was a soldier—if he knew she had personally killed those people, he probably wouldn’t approve.
“That won’t do. I need to go back and save them,” Tang Nuo said, standing up immediately. “Those dozen people may be criminals who smuggled weapons, but they shouldn’t die in prison.”
Just as he was about to leave, Mu Cheng finally spoke.
“No need to go. They’re already dead.”
Tang Nuo frowned and looked at her in confusion.
“Dead?”
“They saw me take things out of my space, and they also saw what happened to you. If I let them go, sooner or later they would become a threat. For me it wouldn’t matter much—I’m a space ability user, and others can become one too, so I’m relatively safe. But you’re different. Once your situation is exposed, you’ll become the enemy of all humanity. Everyone will want to kill you.”
“You still shouldn’t have—” Tang Nuo began, wanting to scold her. But he realized that Mu Cheng had done it partly for his sake. The words that had reached his lips were swallowed back down.
He took a deep breath and stood there quietly with his back to Mu Cheng, motionless and silent.
Mu Cheng spoke again.
“Second Brother Tang, you’ve been stuck in that prison for three days. You probably don’t know what the outside world looks like now, do you?”
Tang Nuo said nothing, because it was true—he didn’t know.
“Right now the outside world is filled with man-eating zombies. This disaster has already forced humanity to abandon morality. Many people will do anything just to survive.”
She paused before continuing.
“I still have my own bottom line. I know what should and shouldn’t be done. But I will never allow anyone who could threaten me or the people around me to stay alive.”
“Second Brother Tang, I know you’re a righteous person. But in the apocalypse, your sense of justice is useless. Your kindness, your compassion, and your soft heart will only bring endless trouble—and may even put you in mortal danger.”
“If you think what I did was wrong, then we’re not suited to travel together. I’ll leave you some medicine. Drinking one sip every half month will suppress the corpse poison in your body. As long as you don’t waste it, it should last you for years.”
She looked at him steadily.
“But if you want to travel with me, then don’t try to stop me from doing what I want to do.”
“I’ll wait outside for twenty minutes. If you don’t come out after twenty minutes, I’ll understand your answer, and we’ll go our separate ways.”
After saying that, Mu Cheng took out a backpack. Inside were five bottles of stream water, some food, and a dagger. She placed the backpack on the table and left without looking back.
Once outside the building, she took out her car, sat inside, and closed her eyes to rest.
If Tang Nuo chose to follow her, she wouldn’t feel so lonely along the journey, and things would be easier. If he chose not to follow her, it wouldn’t be much of a loss for her either.
But what needed to be said had to be said.
Because if she kept Tang Nuo by her side without saying these things, he would eventually become an obstacle on her path of revenge.