They pretended to be nonchalant, but in fact all of them were secretly observing his expression.

Wen Jiuzhe had been getting along with them for a period of time. He was often smiling, never got angry, and although he did not get close to people, his temper did not seem bad.

But at this moment, the smile on his face disappeared. The way he looked with a darkened expression made people’s hearts pound.

Feng Wei, sitting in the car and being stared at by him, found it hard to keep smiling.

“Get down,” Wen Jiuzhe said.

Feng Wei hurriedly explained, “Don’t be angry first, Xiao Wen. We did it for your own good. Keeping a zombie in the car is so dangerous—”

“I told you to get down.”

“Look, my Zicheng is asleep. Getting down and catching the wind will make him sick. I—”

Wen Jiuzhe raised his hand and roughly grabbed his collar, dragging him straight out of the car.

Feng Wei’s neck was choked tight by the collar, his face flushed red, and he gasped for breath as he cried out in alarm, “What are you doing? Watch the child!”

Wen Jiuzhe ignored his shouting and forcefully dragged him and his son together, throwing the two of them out of the car.

Feng Wei tripped underfoot and fell headfirst, crying out in pain. The little boy was also jolted awake, and, frightened, began crying in his father’s arms, drawing the attention of everyone in the convoy.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is Zicheng crying?”

Wen Jiuzhe did not bother with the murmurs. He looked at Dai Ying, who stood beside the car at a loss. “Where is she?”

Dai Ying looked at him cautiously. “Cousin, don’t be angry.”

Sister Lu ran over at this moment, blocking in front of Dai Ying and shouting, “We helped you deal with that zombie. What, are you going to blame your cousin over a zombie? I thought you were a reasonable young man, how can you be so muddleheaded!”

Dai Ying understood this cousin better than anyone else present. Seeing how calm to the extreme his expression was, the panic in his heart grew heavier and heavier.

When he saw him reach back to touch the gun at his waist, he was so frightened that he shouted “Cousin!” and grabbed Sister Lu in front of him, yanking her backward.

There was a gunshot. The stone beneath Sister Lu’s feet shattered. If not for Dai Ying’s pull, her foot might have been shot through.

Fragments of small stones splashed up and struck her legs, frightening the people around into screaming.

Feng Wei, who had fallen to the ground, was even more terrified. Holding the wailing child, he hid far away, not daring to complain another word.

Sister Lu, still shaken, had turned pale and was dragged back by her husband.

Everyone present looked at Wen Jiuzhe, who had suddenly erupted, with faces full of terror.

Wen Jiuzhe coldly asked Dai Ying, “I asked you—where is she?”

Dai Ying was thoroughly frightened by him. Under his gaze, he trembled all over, his lips quivering. “I sent her to, to the roadside wasteland from earlier.”

Wen Jiuzhe did not say a single word. He put away the gun, got into his own car, started it, and drove off, no longer paying these people any attention.

It was almost dark. The desolate road was overgrown with weeds. Wen Jiuzhe drove forward along the road, his gaze searching both sides.

When he reached the location Dai Ying mentioned, he parked the car, turned off the engine, got out, and walked into the wasteland to search for traces left by Xue Ling.

Zombies have no consciousness. As long as they are not drawn by loud noises or the scent of people, they will only wander nearby and will not go too far away in a short period of time.

As night fell, Wen Jiuzhe found a pile of grass.

A dark figure was lying on its side atop it.

It was Xue Ling. She hadn’t seen any houses nearby, so she had used a stone to rub at the bindings on her hands for a while. She failed to grind them apart and instead wore herself out.

She quickly gave up, deciding to continue tomorrow, and found a thick pile of grass to lie down on and rest.

She had never thought Wen Jiuzhe would come looking for her again. Clearly, the people in his convoy—including his cousin—did not want her to stay with them.

They had already gotten rid of her. Was Wen Jiuzhe really going to come find her and bring her back?

Even couples didn’t go this far, let alone ex–boyfriend and ex–girlfriend.

In the quiet, pitch-dark wilderness, the sound of footsteps treading on wild grass approached her.

Xue Ling: “……”

Someone sat down beside her, the pile of grass next to her sinking down.

A click as a cigarette was lit. A faint smell of smoke spread with it.

Wen Jiuzhe didn’t speak. Xue Ling shifted slightly and turned her body, seeing the red glow of the cigarette butt at the corner of his mouth. He lowered his face, looking at her, his gaze obscure.

He seemed to take two hard drags on the cigarette, then opened his hand and pressed his thumb hard against his temple, muttering to himself, “Almost lost you again.”

Xue Ling really wanted to ask what exactly he was thinking, but unfortunately zombies couldn’t speak. Even if she yelled at him, he wouldn’t understand what she was saying.

Wen Jiuzhe just sat there beside her and calmly finished smoking a cigarette. Then Xue Ling felt his hand touch the bindings she had been grinding at for so long, and he untied them.

He came all this way just to loosen her bindings? Was he really going to let her go?

Xue Ling didn’t even have time to feel happy before her wrists—bound for half the day—were grasped by a warm palm.

He rubbed her wrists. “They’re already bruised purple… do zombies feel pain?”

“They probably don’t.”

He said they didn’t, but his hand didn’t leave her wrist, kneading her stiff wrist over and over.

After a short while, his shoulders slumped as he relaxed, and in the end he even lay down directly beside her, one leg raised and propped up in a loose cross-legged position.

…How arrogant!

She felt looked down on as a zombie.

Xue Ling let out a terrifying cry and lunged at him.

She admitted she did it partly on purpose, to provoke and scare him.

But whether it was scary or not was another matter—competing with Wen Jiuzhe in close combat was a terrible decision. This was her delivering herself right into his control.

Wen Jiuzhe caught both her hands and pinned them in front of her, trapping her legs so she couldn’t move around.

Xue Ling was half-pressed into his arms, lying there unable to move, made uncomfortable by the heat from his body.

He seemed not to feel at all that he was heavy and hot; even his head pressed over, burying into her.

“Mm… you smell a bit bad,” he suddenly said.

Xue Ling: “……”

Wen Jiuzhe hadn’t been on guard against her sudden frenzy and almost failed to hold onto her.

“Why are you suddenly making a fuss, are you hungry? It can’t be that you understand what I’m saying and got angry, right?”

Can’t understand! Can’t understand your dog barking!

Xue Ling threw away what little human restraint she had left and completely went crazy.

Seeing her causing such a scene, Wen Jiuzhe had no choice but to release her. He stood a short distance away and clapped his hands at her. “Want to attack me? Come on, let’s see if you can catch me.”

In that moment, all the deep-seated grudges from the past surged up together. Xue Ling forgot the gap in their combat ability. Unwilling to accept it, she just had to go up and beat him.

Wen Jiuzhe braced himself with both hands, dodging a few times. Seeing her ferocious expression, he actually laughed out loud and said to her, “You wobble when you walk, like a penguin.”

It could only be said that some people become “ex” boyfriends for a reason.

He was just too cheap!

After chasing him for a long time, Xue Ling’s anger had dissipated, and she still hadn’t touched a single hair on that dog man.

She stopped where she was and suddenly felt a bit glad she was already dead and wouldn’t get pissed to death a second time.

Wen Jiuzhe strolled over slowly.

“Still want to play?”

Xue Ling suddenly reached out to grab at his waist. Wen Jiuzhe twisted and dodged. Then he moved closer, sticking over a smiling face. “Again?”

Xue Ling didn’t want to do it again. She turned her head and swayed back toward the grass pile from earlier.

Wen Jiuzhe followed behind her and sighed, “Why does it feel like you’re more lively than before.”

I’m already dead! And you’re saying I’m lively! Listen to what kind of nonsense you’re saying!

Xue Ling toppled toward the grass pile, wanting to throw herself into it. Halfway through the fall, an arm cut in horizontally and scooped her back.

“Do you want to sleep here, or go sleep in the car?”

He stuffed her back into the rear seat of the car. This time he didn’t tie her up, and he even took out a blanket and covered her with it.

Then he closed the car door and went out.

In the darkness, his smile gradually disappeared. Leaning against the car door outside, he lit another cigarette and sat outside the car the whole night without sleeping.

Xue Ling thought he would soon drive the car and take her back to the camp, but he didn’t. The next morning, he was still staying here.

Xue Ling lifted her head and observed from behind the car window, seeing him washing his face in a nearby ditch, wiping his hair a couple of times, then wringing out the towel and walking toward the car.

She immediately stiffened and lay back down.

The car door above her head was opened, and a cold, damp towel was placed over her face and rubbed a few times.

Wen Jiuzhe held up the towel and looked at the dirt on it, saying, “No wonder you smell a bit bad. Look, you’re this dirty.”

Xue Ling’s fists clenched hard.

She was a zombie. Her body was stiff, and cleaning her personal hygiene was very troublesome. Moreover, she was mixed in with a group of zombies—those fellow zombies wouldn’t care whether she washed her face every day, and humans cared even less. Inevitably, she had let herself slack off a bit.

Besides, a zombie being kept too clean would stand out among a zombie horde—that was very dangerous. If they ran into a human team, she would easily be the first to be killed.

Wen Jiuzhe was a human—what did he know about zombie survival wisdom!

“How about I find a place to help you wash up?” Wen Jiuzhe said.

He lifted his black T-shirt. “I haven’t showered for two or three days either. Seems like I smell a bit too.”

From Xue Ling’s angle, she could see the well-shaped abdominal muscles beneath the lifted T-shirt, and his chest as well… how did he train them? They looked even sexier than three years ago.

She closed her eyes.

Before the car even had time to drive off, Dai Ying and Brother Mi found them.

“Cousin, you didn’t go back all night.” Dai Ying looked uneasy, like someone who had done something wrong. “Are you not planning to go back?”

“I’m not going back,” Wen Jiuzhe said flatly.

Brother Mi came over to persuade him. “Xiao Wen, everyone was at fault in this matter. We’ve talked it over—come back with us. After all, we’ve been together for so long. Things should have a beginning and an end. Once we’re done with things on our side, you can leave if you still want to.”

“You can bring that zombie back too. I’ve already talked to them—so long as you keep the zombie under control and don’t let it hurt anyone, it’ll be fine.”

“You seem to have misunderstood,” Wen Jiuzhe leaned against the car, smiling but not quite smiling. “What they think doesn’t matter to me. I’m not going back not because they disagree, but because I don’t want them to hurt Xue Ling.”

Dai Ying froze. Brother Mi looked full of disapproval. “You’re very capable, but no matter how capable you are, there are always times when one person can’t manage alone. At times like that, as humans, mutual help is the way to survive.”

“Mutual help? What have you ever helped me with? Hasn’t it always been me helping you?”

Wen Jiuzhe shed his earlier laziness and casualness, his gaze and expression turning aggressive.

“Alright, stop talking about useless things. Send over the gasoline and bullets you promised me earlier, and I’ll leave immediately.”

Dai Ying left with Brother Mi in tears. He had been hurt by his cousin’s cold attitude. He hadn’t expected his cousin to be so angry, to the point of not even wanting to deal with him.

They hadn’t interacted that much before—only a few years ago had they been in frequent contact for a period—but they were still relatives, after all.

From behind the car window, Xue Ling secretly observed and saw their unpleasant parting.

Wen Jiuzhe had actually fallen out with the convoy because of her, and now they were going their separate ways.

What was going on here?

Wen Jiuzhe put the gasoline and bullets into the car, drove away with Xue Ling, and headed in the opposite direction from the camp.

When he didn’t smile, his face easily gave people a great sense of pressure, revealing an unusual coldness.

The car drove on for a while. Not hearing any movement from the back seat, Wen Jiuzhe turned his head to take a look.

He became smiley again, drawing out his tone with a puzzled hum. “Hm? Why so quiet? Were you scared by the people who came just now?”

“It’s fine. We’re not going back to that crowded place. We’ll find somewhere with no people, then no one will come hurt you.”