Mu Yining did her best to dodge the zombies, moving through the chaos at extreme speed until she reached the entrance of the pharmacy.
residual blood already covered the glass doors. To the left upon entering was the front counter. She carefully peered around the side, but found no trace of anyone on the ground.
Inside the pharmacy stood five vertical rows of shelves stocked with medicine, some of which had already fallen and scattered across the floor.
Glass display cases lined the walls, filled with various kinds of medications. The southernmost wall housed the traditional Chinese medicine cabinet, where one or two drawers had not even been pushed back into place.
A long trail of blood stretched across the floor, extending all the way into a room on the east side. The room had no door, only a one-meter-long white door curtain hanging over it. The white cloth, which originally bore only a simple red cross, was now half-torn down, marked with faint blood palms.
By now, Xiaoyao, held in Mu Yining’s arms, had raised his head, his eyes brimming with tears.
Following the trail of blood, Mu Yining stepped forward and signaled to Alan to lower his head and inspect the room. Receiving the order, the dog crouched down and checked with great caution. Seeing it remain frozen in position, Mu Yining knew there were zombies inside—yet she heard none of the typical roaring that zombies made upon sensing living prey.
Using the hilt of her sword, she parted the curtain. The scene before her eyes left Mu Yining completely certain that Xiaoyao’s parents were right here.
This was a clinic room used for temporary patient consultations. There were only three simple hospital beds on the ground, neatly made with white sheets, and an IV pole stood beside each bed.
Two people were tied up on the floor—or more accurately, two zombies. However, their mouths had been stuffed with cloth, making them unable to utter a sound.
A man and a woman: both zombies had their feet bound to the bed frame, wrapped round after round with medical gauze. The female zombie’s hands were tied behind her back, while the male zombie had a large, torn gash on his arm, his hands wrapped tightly around the female zombie’s ankles.
In an instant, Xiaoyao broke into loud weeping in her arms, struggling to get down from Mu Yining.
Those were his mommy and daddy! Didn’t they tell him to wait for them to come back? How had they turned into the same monsters as the ones outside?
“Mommy, do you not want Xiaoyao anymore? Mommy promised to take Xiaoyao to the amusement park today! You broke your word, Xiaoyao is mad at you! Hurry up and come coax Xiaoyao… *sob sob sob*… Daddy is hurt, he bled so much! You’re big liars!”
The tiny figure knelt in front of his parents, his tears falling like a broken strand of pearls. Even Alan couldn’t help but walk over, rubbing his fluffy head against Xiaoyao’s face. Wanting to comfort him but unable to speak, the dog could only turn its gaze toward Mu Yining.
Mu Yining had also experienced life-and-death separations. When she received the news that her parents had passed away, she couldn’t even find their remains. Many times, Mu Yining thought that perhaps they had secretly gone off on a trip somewhere and would return one day. Her teammates in her past life had been wholeheartedly good to her and followed her every word, yet none of them met a good end—even she herself had been betrayed and killed.
Xiaoyao’s parents had completely turned into zombies by now. Even if Mu Yining possessed healing-type abilities, she could not save someone whose internal organs had already been overtaken by the toxin. She pulled Xiaoyao’s tiny body close, holding him gently in her arms without saying a word, letting him sob freely.
“Sister, let your glowing magic sword send Mommy and Daddy off. If they see Xiaoyao like this, they will definitely be sad… Xiaoyao doesn’t want Mommy and Daddy to worry.” He was sensible to the point of heartbreak; she truly didn’t know what kind of parents could raise such a child. Mu Yining respected Xiaoyao’s request.