One person and one zombie both slept in the car. With all the seats inside laid flat, they could form a bed that wasn’t very big.
Xue Ling lay inside and felt fairly comfortable, but for Wen Jiuzhe, with his long arms and long legs, it was very uncomfortable. He propped his nowhere-to-put legs up on the steering wheel and lay on his back, staring at the car ceiling.
Xue Ling noticed that he hadn’t taken any precautions at all, just casually lying beside her like that.
Before, he would at least remember to tie her up, to avoid being bitten by her. Now he had probably realized that she wouldn’t really bite him and had become even more arrogant.
“Xue Ling.” Wen Jiuzhe suddenly spoke. “Back then, when I told you we should break up, it was because…”
Xue Ling pricked up her ears to listen.
But this dog Wen Jiuzhe stopped halfway and didn’t continue.
He casually started another topic, then immediately lost the mood to talk about it: “Forget it, you can’t understand now anyway. There’s nothing worth saying.”
Xue Ling: “……”
There was a very familiar impulse rising up—to start getting angry and throwing a tantrum.
Zombie roars echoed inside the car. Wen Jiuzhe remained unmoved and changed the position of his legs on the steering wheel.
Xue Ling really wanted to pounce over and shake his head, making him hurry up and say it.
Then she heard him say, “Sometimes I feel like you’re not quite the same as other zombies. Like you can understand what I’m saying.”
The zombie in the car kept roaring, even roaring louder out of guilt.
Wen Jiuzhe rested his head on his arm and muttered to himself, “But how could that be possible. It’s just because I like you, so I feel like you’re special.”
Xue Ling: “……ao ao ao ao ao oh… kh ao ao ao ao oh!”
The zombie’s roar jammed for a moment, then immediately continued.
She hadn’t expected Wen Jiuzhe to suddenly say that he liked her. Did this count as a confession?
When they were boyfriend and girlfriend, he wouldn’t say a single word of confession—his mouth was tighter than if it had been sewn shut with a zipper.
But sarcasm and provocation? He could come up with ten different ways in a single minute, like his mouth had been dipped in poison.
Serves you right for not saying it before. Now you say it too late! Too late, do you know that? Now they aren’t even the same species!
Wen Jiuzhe rolled over, smiling as he watched her roar there, then suddenly had a whim:
“Tomorrow I’ll go find a pair of sturdier handcuffs. If one day I turn into a zombie too, we can cuff ourselves together. Wherever we go, we’ll have company. What do you think?”
What did Xue Ling think? Xue Ling thought it wouldn’t work. He ran like a wild dog—if he turned into a zombie, he’d probably be no worse. She definitely wouldn’t be able to keep up.
If Wen Jiuzhe caught a whiff of human scent and got excited, and he ran fast out in front, wouldn’t she just get dragged along the ground by him?
Absolutely not!
Had he forgotten how they used to play three-legged races, how miserably the two of them fell?
But Wen Jiuzhe seemed to really be a little tempted. The next day, he drove away from the cemetery, muttering about where there might be handcuffs, wondering if he should go check the station.
He went as soon as he said it. He found a police station by the roadside, parked the car, and got out.
Just as he disappeared through the doorway, Xue Ling, sitting in the car, saw a modified electric bike turn the corner at the street’s edge, and a man wearing a mask came over.
Could it be another road robber? Back when she was a zombie on her own, it was so hard to see a living person. Now that she was traveling with Wen Jiuzhe, people were delivering themselves in waves.
Come on, come pry open the door. Pry it open and she’d jump out and take a bite.
Heh, open the lid and there’s a prize!
Xue Ling set herself up inside the car.
But this time she had no chance to be useful. Just as the man on the electric bike came close, Wen Jiuzhe came out from the doorway, a pair of silver handcuffs dangling from his hand.
He noticed the newcomer at once, his hand going to the gun at his waist.
When the man riding the electric bike saw him, he clearly froze, planting his feet on either side to stop in place.
“Brother Ze?” The man pulled down the face mask, revealing a young face filled with surprise.
“Fang Xianwen?” Wen Jiuzhe recognized him as well.
“Damn, it really is you, Brother Ze. Why are you back? When did you come back? Are you going back to Qiuzhuang?” Fang Xianwen came over, looking him up and down in astonishment.
Anxi City was the Wen family’s territory. Qiuzhuang was the Wen family’s main base—out of ten households there, seven had the surname Wen. They were all related one way or another, and even before the apocalypse, they still maintained clan customs.
Fang Xianwen didn’t have the surname Wen, but he was also from Qiuzhuang. He called Wen Xuan’s mother “Auntie,” and called Wen Xuan “cousin.”
Because of this layer of relationship, Fang Xianwen had been Wen Xuan’s little follower since childhood.
After Wen Jiuzhe was taken into the Wen family, Wen Xuan disliked him. Sometimes, when he couldn’t be bothered to act himself, he would order Fang Xianwen to make things difficult for Wen Jiuzhe.
At the beginning, Fang Xianwen really did try to lay hands on Wen Jiuzhe. But later he was beaten into fear by Wen Jiuzhe, turned around and started calling him Brother Ze instead, and even helped him muddle through things on Wen Xuan’s side.
To make Wen Jiuzhe uncomfortable, Wen Xuan secretly changed his intended school and major, sending him to the same university as himself.
Fang Xianwen, as Wen Xuan’s nominal little brother, had gone to the same school of his own accord. He was a few months younger than Wen Jiuzhe, in the same year, and had even been Wen Jiuzhe’s college roommate.
Compared to Wen Xuan, Fang Xianwen’s relationship with Wen Jiuzhe during their university years was actually better.
Three years ago, Wen Jiuzhe left Qiuzhuang, and Fang Xianwen never saw him again. Now that they suddenly ran into each other, he was a little pleasantly surprised.
But thinking of Qiuzhuang’s current situation, he was also a bit worried for him.
Wen Jiuzhe could tell at a glance what he was thinking and said, “Just passing through. I’m leaving now, not planning to go to Qiuzhuang.”
Before finding Xue Ling, he really had planned to go to Qiuzhuang once. Now, forget it—there was no need.
Hearing this, Fang Xianwen relaxed a little as well. “That’s good. Qiuzhuang’s been pretty chaotic lately. If you went now, it’d probably be even more troublesome.”
Qiuzhuang was now the only remaining base in Anxi City, with quite a lot of people. Given the Wen family’s former prestige, one of the people in charge of the base now was Wen Jiuzhe’s second uncle—Wen Xuan’s father.
“Pretty chaotic?” Wen Jiuzhe asked.
“Just these past few days, a convoy from another base came to Anxi City and was moving stuff in the factory district. Someone in Qiuzhuang found out and reported it, so Uncle-in-law sent people to intercept them.”
The factory district… wasn’t that Dai Ying’s convoy.
In the apocalypse, those abandoned, ownerless things were all tacitly understood to belong to whoever got them first. The machines in the suburban factory district of Anxi City had been left there before with no one wanting them. So why was it suddenly causing trouble now?
“What’s the situation now? Did the two sides fight?”
“I heard there was a shootout. Both sides had people injured, but no one died. The outside convoy didn’t manage to take much and was chased away.”
Fang Xianwen told him what he knew of the situation: “So, they’re worried those people might be hiding around here and haven’t left. The base also sent us out on patrol to confirm they’ve really gone.”
Wen Jiuzhe gave a low chuckle. “Didn’t Second Wen always say he was a broad-minded person? How come even the scrap metal he doesn’t want himself, he won’t let others pick up?”
Fang Xianwen laughed awkwardly. “Ah, Uncle-in-law doesn’t really want to pipe it. Isn’t this because of my Cousin Xuan?”
“You know what he’s like—overbearing as hell. He says Anxi City is our territory, so everything in Anxi City is also ours. If outsiders come to take anything, it’s a provocation. Even if we don’t want it, we can’t let others have it. He insisted on stepping in, and Uncle-in-law could only listen to him.”
“Ah, yeah, it was Cousin Xuan’s idea.” Fang Xianwen didn’t know why his expression suddenly changed.
“How is Wen Xuan now?” Wen Jiuzhe asked, drawing his expression back in, his hand idly playing with the hilt of his short blade.
“Not very good. Cousin Xuan seemed to get injured three years ago. His health’s been bad ever since. His complexion’s deathly pale, and now he doesn’t really like coming out to see people anymore—he stays in his room all day.”
At this point, Fang Xianwen asked cautiously, “Brother Ze, do you still hold a grudge against him? It’s been so long already…”
Wen Jiuzhe showed that faint smile and sent Fang Xianwen off.
Watching Fang Xianwen wave and leave, the nonchalant look on his face turned into contemplation.
Wen Xuan was still alive.
But that was impossible. Three years ago, when he left Qiuzhuang, he had personally seen Wen Xuan infected with the zombie virus. That was why he left.
How could Wen Xuan, infected with the zombie virus, not have turned into a zombie and still be alive now?
He tossed the short blade in his hand up and caught it, quickly making a decision.
Xue Ling sat in the car and saw Wen Jiuzhe finish exchanging pleasantries outside. After he got in, he said to her, “I need to go out for a bit later. I might not come back tonight. You stay here and don’t go far, okay?”
“If you agree, I won’t tie you up and lock you in the car.”
Xue Ling: “……”
If she were an ordinary zombie, how would she understand, how would she agree?
She let out a couple of random roars.
Wen Jiuzhe said, “Alright, you agreed. Then you can’t wander off.”
He parked the car in a secluded courtyard and locked the gate from the outside.
He was going to make a trip to Qiuzhuang, but driving this car would draw too much attention. He planned to switch to a less conspicuous means of transport.
In one household he found a motorcycle that ran on gasoline. Wen Jiuzhe put on a helmet and rode toward Qiuzhuang.
He was also very familiar with the area around Qiuzhuang. Three years without seeing it, there were many new buildings, and an extra ring of walls and fencing had been added on the outermost edge.
It might stop zombies, but with Wen Jiuzhe’s skills, that wasn’t a problem for him.
Patiently waiting until night fell, Wen Jiuzhe climbed over the wall and, following his memory, searched for the Wen family’s location within the changed Qiuzhuang base.
Back then, the Wen family lived in an imitation-ancient villa. The construction cost was high, with gardens in both the front and back, backed by mountains and facing water, with excellent feng shui.
When Old Master Wen was still alive, his sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters all lived there. When Wen Jiuzhe returned to the Wen family, he lived there as well.
Old Master Wen was gone, and the apocalypse had already lasted three years. He hadn’t expected that they were still living there now.
That made things convenient for Wen Jiuzhe—he easily found Wen Xuan’s room.
In such a large house, fewer than ten people lived there. Any movement wouldn’t easily draw others over. Very good.
Wen Jiuzhe was like a leopard hunting in the darkness, his footsteps making no sound as they landed, arriving in front of Wen Xuan’s brightly lit door.
He stood quietly at the doorway for a moment, listening to the sounds inside the room, then curled his fingers and lightly knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” A hoarse voice came from inside the room.
At first, Wen Jiuzhe almost didn’t recognize it as Wen Xuan’s voice. It was rasping and rough, grating to the ear.
There was no movement outside the door. Wen Xuan walked over to open it, his footsteps sounding somewhat sluggish.
He clearly thought that inside the base, in his own family’s mansion, there wouldn’t be any danger at all. He had no sense of precaution whatsoever.
The door had just opened a crack when a great force from outside suddenly shoved it open, and Wen Xuan was abruptly slammed to the ground.
His reactions were slow now. It wasn’t until he was pressed hard against the floor that he realized something was wrong, opening his mouth to curse.
His chin was yanked sharply out of place by one hand. That hand was very strong, and in the same motion it pressed his face down toward the floor, blocking his voice.
His cheek rubbed hard against the floor. Wen Xuan strained to turn his head, twisting it until it cracked audibly, before he could finally see who was attacking him.
When he saw Wen Jiuzhe clearly, he was nearly splitting his eyes in rage.
Wen Jiuzhe—how could it be him!
Wen Jiuzhe pinned both his hands, using his knee to press down on his back so he couldn’t get up, the other hand holding a short blade.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wen Xuan saw the blade flash. He felt a chill at the side of his face, and a soft lump of flesh slapped onto the floor. That was… his ear!
Wen Jiuzhe used the tip of the blade to pick up the ear and examined it for a while.
Zombie blood was dark red. When a zombie’s body was cut open, only a small amount of blood flowed out, and it would quickly coagulate.
Wen Jiuzhe suddenly let out a short laugh.
“You’re a zombie.” His tone was certain, carrying confusion and curiosity. “Why do you look so different from ordinary zombies?”
