050
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When the Level 3 zombie finally stopped its frantic attempts to force itself beneath the shelves, the clattering from the kitchen ceased, and silence instantly enveloped the space. Thus, the “thud” emanating once more from within the small door rang out with perfect clarity.
Something seemed to be banging against it.
“Don’t get too close.” Luo Yesheng pushed the little white bundle behind him, frowning as he stared at the small door before him, a hint of puzzlement in his eyes.
When he had previously entered the back kitchen to investigate, he’d discovered this small door. He’d pushed it open and looked inside; there was no one there, nor any zombies. He was quite confident in his own inspection abilities.
Now, suddenly, there was noise… The solid muscles across the man’s shoulder blades tensed and swelled. In the face of the unknown, one could never let their guard down, not for a single moment.
His right hand twitched slightly, and a ball of flame erupted.
Pushing open the small door, he revealed the space behind it—a storage area for the kitchen. With no skylight, visibility inside was extremely low; the flame in Luo Yesheng’s hand became a moving “lamp,” dispelling the original gloom.
Items on several iron shelves were strewn about in chaos, while unidentifiable trash lay scattered haphazardly across the floor. The air reeked with a cold, foul odor.
In the corner stood an old-fashioned rice jar, half a person’s height, its surface covered in dust and fine spiderwebs. Everything matched exactly what he had observed during his earlier inspection—nothing new had appeared.
The only difference was that the rice jar, which Luo Yesheng had deemed too small to hold a zombie, was now emitting banging sounds. Precisely because the jar stood only waist-high, he had subconsciously overlooked the possibility of something being inside.
Luo Yesheng could have easily shattered the rice jar with his ability, but fearing there might be a person hidden inside, he held back and called out loudly, “Who’s there?”
Another “thump” responded in kind.
“Uncle Luo, is it a monster?” Bianbian, who had followed him in, asked curiously.
“Probably.” Luo Yesheng nodded; if it were a person, they would have answered him by now.
Luo Yesheng approached the rice jar. As if sensing someone drawing near, the thudding sound ceased.
The man’s rough, large hand lifted the wooden board covering the rice jar, exposing its contents to view. Upon seeing what lay inside, Luo Yesheng’s expression instantly darkened.
“Uncle Luo?” Bianbian tried to lean closer.
“Don’t come over!” Luo Yesheng nearly shouted harshly.
Bianbian was startled and immediately dared not approach.
The elderly zombie’s grayish-white eyeballs fixed intently on Luo Yesheng’s retreating back; its five fingers twitched slightly, as if wanting to teach a lesson to this cook who dared yell at its most precious treasure, yet ultimately it did not act.
“If I accidentally break something, finding another cook won’t be easy,” the elderly zombie thought blankly.
“Bianbian, go outside with Grandpa and continue searching for supplies.” Luo Yesheng turned his head, his expression already back to normal.
“Okay!” Although curious about the monster inside the rice jar, Bianbian obediently walked out through the small door.
As she reached the doorway, she glanced back; Uncle Luo seemed angry just now.
Was it because of the monster in that large barrel?
In Bianbian’s understanding, other monsters would run far away upon seeing Grandpa, so she felt somewhat curious about the monster that didn’t leave the big barrel—wasn’t this monster afraid of Grandpa?
Only after Bianbian walked out did Luo Yesheng furrow his brows and turn his expressionless gaze back to the rice jar—inside was a little zombie. Judging solely from her face, which showed no signs of decay, she was probably about the same age as Bianbian… or even younger; her greenish-black complexion made it impossible to determine her exact age.
Her hair was styled in two ram-horn braids, dried blood crusted at the corners of her mouth, and the darkened skin on her forehead was split open, with black blood trickling down along her temple onto her long eyelashes.
Luo Yesheng had seen many young zombies before. He hadn’t let Bianbian come closer, first because he didn’t want to frighten her, and second… this child zombie had both arms severed right at the roots, and her legs were similarly cut off—in other words, only her torso remained inside, without any limbs, like a human pig.
She was alive when her limbs were severed and she was thrown into this rice jar.
This little zombie was so weak she couldn’t even make a sound; the thud heard earlier had been her head striking the wall of the vat. Even at the scent of fresh flesh and blood, she merely opened her grayish-black mouth.
Five years ago, the apocalypse arrived without warning, heralding the reign of the law of the jungle. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, normal moral order no longer existed. Many were forced to grow up, forced to kill, and forced to become cold-hearted amidst the sudden, cruel end times.
This is understandable; it was all for survival.
However, there were those who, after surviving the catastrophe of the apocalypse, evolved special abilities. The swelling of their power fueled the evil in their hearts, unleashing the beasts that had been confined in the world of normal order, turning their ferocious claws and fangs upon their own kind…
If the little zombie in the rice jar had existed before Feilong set up camp at the Holiday Inn, she would have been discovered by Feilong’s people long ago; no sane person would place a small zombie in such a critical location as the kitchen.
Ruling out that possibility, the answer becomes obvious.
This little zombie, while still alive, had her limbs severed by Feilong’s members and was thrown into the rice jar—perhaps as a bored pastime, or for some other disgusting reason… But after Feilong’s leader and most of its members died, the remaining survivors evacuated the hotel. The little girl left behind in the rice jar became infected and turned into a zombie, only to be discovered by Bianbian.
The little zombie sluggishly lifted her head, her cloudy gray-white eyes staring blankly at Luo Yesheng. Luo Yesheng’s fingers paused briefly before reaching out as usual to grip her slender neck. As his hand approached, the little zombie instinctively opened her mouth, attempting to bite.
With a sharp crack, the fragile neck bone snapped, and the little zombie’s head drooped limply.
A moment later, Luo Yesheng stepped out of the small door and saw Bianbian sticking her bottom up in the air, tugging at the Level 3 zombie’s pant leg with her tiny hands, trying to rescue the foolish zombie whose head was stuck and couldn’t pull itself free.
—The Level 3 zombie’s head was stuck with remarkable precision.
Seeing this scene, Luo Yesheng couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. It was hard to believe that the foolish zombie lying on the ground had been a Rank B ability user in life; this was far from the “impressive Uncle Zhu Yuan” that Bianbian had described.
Bianbian’s little face was flushed red from effort.
The reason she wouldn’t let Grandpa help was because the little girl worried he might accidentally tear off one of Uncle Zhu Yuan’s legs!
Unable to drag him any further, the panting little girl finally let go of her small hands, wiped away non-existent sweat from her forehead with an expression that said “I’ve done my best,” clapped her hands together, and addressed the Level 3 zombie lying on the ground: “Uncle Zhu Yuan, you’ll just have to figure this out yourself.”
“Uncle Luo.” Seeing Luo Yesheng, the little girl came running over with a clatter of footsteps. “What’s this?”
Luo Yesheng held a pendant in his hand.
“I got it from that monster; her name is engraved on it.” Gazing at Bianbian, whose lips were red and teeth white, Luo Yesheng glanced again at the elderly zombie, complex emotions flickering in his eyes. Fortunately, she had a grandfather who, even after turning into a zombie, still insisted on protecting her.
Otherwise…
The image of the little zombie flashed before his eyes, and Luo Yesheng’s gaze turned cold.
He finally remembered why the name “Bianbian” had sounded so familiar when he first heard it, as if he’d encountered it somewhere before.
Back when he and Feng Leijie had formed an alliance and headed to Jinxin Community, one of Feng Leijie’s subordinates had let slip that a woman, in a desperate bid to save herself, had deceived Feng Leijie. She claimed there were supplies in Jinxin Community, along with a little girl named Bianbian. But upon arriving, they discovered there were neither supplies nor the little girl; instead, they encountered two high-level zombies and fled in haste.
　　……
“Bianbian,” Luo Yesheng said earnestly, “remember this: whenever you meet someone who looks obviously like a bad person, never talk to them. Just immediately let… let Grandpa come out.”
Then he realized something was off.
Even adults can’t always judge a person’s character by their appearance, let alone a five-year-old girl.
So Luo Yesheng quickly narrowed his advice: “Never trust anyone who approaches you on their own; stay alert. If they make any suspicious moves, have Uncle Zhu Yuan bite them!”
It is impossible for an elderly zombie to bite people.
This Level 5 zombie was like an ascetic monk among the undead, utterly averse to “eating humans.”
Bianbian furrowed her little brows and shook her head firmly: “No way, we can’t let Uncle Zhu Yuan eat people.”
“…”
Luo Yesheng ground his back teeth, then reached out to gently pinch the little girl’s incredibly soft cheek. Why was this little one so honest?
Little did he know, on the other side, the Seventh Prince, staring at the screen, gritted his teeth and glared at his own hand before swiping the screen in sheer frustration—
A kitchen knife floated up from the corner, spinning left and right as if calibrating its direction, ready to chop off Luo Yesheng’s claw!
“Who’s there?!” Luo Yesheng coldly glanced over, sending a ball of flame crashing toward the hovering kitchen knife.
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Dad Xiu: Even more furious!!!
　　*
Da Wanzi will post two chapters tomorrow, mwah~