Yue Suran’s reckless charge wasn’t without reason. When she had walked over earlier, she hadn’t spotted a single zombie in sight.
Now that two had finally appeared from two different directions, she naturally didn’t want to miss such a rare opportunity.
However, Yue Suran still overestimated her own physical strength and underestimated the relentless tenacity of the undead.
While she focused all her attention on handling the first zombie, the one coming from the other direction caught the scent of living flesh on her and altered its path. Before she could even finish off her current target, the second zombie closed in on her blind spot.
In the nick of time, Ye Liangfeng sprinted over, clutching his bags of food.
Just as the second monster was about to reach Yue Suran, he hurled one of the heavy bags straight at it.
Perhaps because he threw it from too far away, the impact merely forced the zombie back a single step.
“Leave this one to me!”
Noticing that the commotion had momentarily distracted Yue Suran, Ye Liangfeng shouted to keep her focused.
In the same breath, he closed the distance and reached her side. Throwing his second bag directly into the zombie’s face, he paid no mind to safety in the heat of the moment and planted a hard kick right into the monster’s abdomen.
According to Ye Liangfeng’s plan, the brief moment the zombie stumbled backward would buy Yue Suran more than enough time to finish off her first target.
And in truth, his calculations were spot-on.
Except for one fatal miscalculation: as he pulled his leg back, the zombie’s sharp, jagged nails raked across his ankle.
To keep Yue Suran from getting distracted, Ye Liangfeng forced himself to act as if nothing had happened at all.
Seeing how Ye Liangfeng didn’t hesitate to put himself on the line to save her, Yue Suran grew even more ruthless in her strikes. The moment she dispatched the first zombie, she stepped right in front of Ye Liangfeng and swung her bat hard against the head of the second, advancing monster.
This time, Yue Suran channeled every ounce of her strength into the swing, shattering the zombie’s skull into pieces with a single brutal strike.
Only after Xiao-Ou automatically harvested the crystal cores from both corpses did Yue Suran finally let out a long breath of relief.
“I’m so sorry, I acted too impulsively.”
“It’s fine. Let’s get to your apartment first.”
Ye Liangfeng knew he would turn into a zombie before long, yet there was no real panic in his heart. Things had already reached this point—saying anything more would be useless.
“That scared the life out of me! Are you two alright?!”
When Ye Liangfeng had warned that zombies were coming, Mu Li was still deliberating over what supplies to grab. By the time she scrambled out of the store holding her bags, the two of them were nowhere to be seen.
At first, Mu Li had assumed they abandoned her and fled. But before any resentment could even take root in her mind, she witnessed the heart-stopping fight. By the time she could even react, Yue Suran had already wiped out both monsters.
Noticing more zombies approaching from other directions, Mu Li grabbed her bags without another word and sprinted straight over.
“More zombies are coming! Where are we going?!”
“Follow me! My place is right nearby!”
Yue Suran hadn’t noticed anything off about Ye Liangfeng either. Casting a brief, regretful glance at the scattered food abandoned on the ground, she immediately led the two of them into a desperate dash back toward her rental unit.
The three of them scrambled up the stairwell with great effort. Just as Yue Suran pulled out her key at the front door, Ye Liangfeng’s calm, detached voice sounded behind them.
“You two go inside. I won’t be coming in.”
“Boss, aren’t you staying with us?!”
Mu Li had genuinely thought Ye Liangfeng was just dropping her off along his route, and now that she had reached her destination, he was getting ready to part ways.
“No. I have other matters to attend to.”
Ye Liangfeng looked so thoroughly composed that it was impossible to tell he had been infected. Instead, he genuinely seemed as though he were simply going his separate way.
“He’s about to mutate, yet he’s still this calm? Little Xiao-Ou actually respects him quite a bit~”
Xiao-Ou was inherently hyper-sensitive to the zombie virus, and it had witnessed Ye Liangfeng getting scratched by the zombie with its own eyes. It had initially assumed Ye Liangfeng kept quiet because he was afraid of being abandoned, but was he actually just trying to spare Yue Suran the guilt?
“What did you say?! The boss was injured by a zombie just now?!”
If Xiao-Ou hadn’t alerted her, Yue Suran would have genuinely believed Ye Liangfeng simply had other business to attend to.
“Yep! Just look at his pant leg.”
Yue Suran secretly glanced down at Ye Liangfeng’s leg, and sure enough, she spotted a tear in the fabric near his ankle.
Knowing that Ye Liangfeng was bound to turn into a zombie, an unbearable pang of sorrow washed over Yue Suran. If it hadn’t been for her, Ye Liangfeng would still be completely fine right now.
“Mu Li, take these supplies inside first. I’m going to see Boss off.”
Without suspecting a thing, Mu Li took the heavy backpack Yue Suran handed her and stepped into the apartment.
“Boss, how about you rest next door for the night? If you really turn into a zombie tomorrow, I’ll… take care of your body for you.”
Yue Suran hesitated for a moment before voicing her thought. She figured Ye Liangfeng would never want to exist as one of those grotesque monsters. Rather than roaming the earth as a hideous creature, wouldn’t it be better to leave this world with a bit of dignity?
“You noticed?”
Ye Liangfeng had assumed Yue Suran hadn’t realized what happened to him. Is her powers of observation really that sharp?
“What do you think, Boss?”
Terrified that Ye Liangfeng might discover her secret regarding the system, Yue Suran instantly clutched her metaphorical secret tight to her chest.
“I’ll go with your plan then.”
Ye Liangfeng felt indifferent about it. Once a person turned into a zombie, what memory would even remain? Since Yue Suran wanted to help, he might as well humor her.
“Alright, wait a second while I get the door open for you.”
Practiced and adept, Yue Suran pulled out her thin steel wire and put on quite a lock-picking performance right in front of Ye Liangfeng.
“You’re remarkably skilled at that.”
Ye Liangfeng raised an eyebrow in surprise; this was certainly unexpected. He hadn’t realized Yue Suran possessed such a handy trick, and it gave him quite a shock.
“Just a little trick to keep food on the table, just a little trick~”
The moment the words left her mouth, Yue Suran stood up straight, clapped her hands, and met Ye Liangfeng’s deeply contemplative expression. Only then did she realize what she had just said!
She quickly waved her hands in panic—she had merely spoken out of habit! Before the apocalypse, she had genuinely never picked anyone else’s lock with this little wire. She was a law-abiding citizen!
Fearing Ye Liangfeng still wouldn’t believe her, she hastily added another explanation:
“It’s not what you think! I just always forget my keys, so…”
“No need to explain.”
Ye Liangfeng took the initiative to push the door open. Seeing the two hideous zombie corpses lying just inside the entryway, he froze and took a step back.
Is it too late to regret this now?
“How about I switch you to a single room upstairs instead?”
Yue Suran had clearly forgotten about the gruesome scene inside as well. She knew for a fact that the apartment directly above on the fourth floor was unoccupied.
Just as she was about to lead him upstairs, Ye Liangfeng stopped her.
“Forget it, this one will do. Having company after death isn’t so bad.”
Ye Liangfeng cast a disgusted look at the zombies sprawling on the floor. Surely Yue Suran isn’t going to bash my head into a bloody pulp like that too, is she?
“When you smash my head, just remember to aim accurately.”
“Huh? Oh, sure, sure! Boss, is there anything specific you’d like to eat? I’ll go prepare it for you!”
A blush crept onto Yue Suran’s cheeks. She had experience under her belt now—her technique would definitely improve by next time! If worst came to worst, she could go out, find a few random zombies to practice her swings on, and come back to finish off Ye Liangfeng once her aim was perfected.
Either way, she was determined to make sure Ye Liangfeng’s send-off looked at least somewhat presentable.
Besides, Ye Liangfeng had gotten scratched by the zombie practically to save her life. She had to take responsibility no matter what—granting a small last request like this was the least she could do.
“A steak and a glass of red wine, then.”
Ye Liangfeng had no real appetite. Still, seeing how guilty Yue Suran looked over his impending transformation, he casually named two items without actually expecting her to pull them off.
“Got it! I’ll come back for you once I have everything ready.”
Seeing that Ye Liangfeng still had the mood to request steak and wine, the weight of guilt on Yue Suran’s chest lightened slightly.
As expected of the Boss—so completely unfazed even when facing life and death!