Drip.
Blood trickled down.
A zombie dog wobbled to its feet, rising from a disfigured corpse it had been devouring.
Its mouth was smeared with chunks of flesh, and just as it tilted its head back slightly, there was a deafening bang. Its head exploded, brain matter splattering onto nearby cars and sliding down slowly.
Chu Muge stood there, holding a gun in her right hand and an axe in her left. She stepped forward calmly, stopping in front of a red-jacketed female corpse. Raising an eyebrow, she lifted the corpse’s chin with the back of her axe, squinting as she examined its lifeless eyes.
"Xu Jie...?"
A moment later, Chu Muge let out a quiet laugh.
She glanced around and noticed Gu Yao climbing out of the SUV. Waving, she called out, “Senior, come here.”
Gu Yao gave her a silent look before walking over.
In the distance, a zombie dog, its teeth still stained with blood, weaved through the wreckage of an abandoned workshop, slowly closing in on them.
Chu Muge resisted the urge to kick the dog and instead said to Gu Yao, “There’s something in its head.”
Gu Yao nodded faintly.
Without another word, Chu Muge raised her axe. Her crimson eyes gleamed coldly as she swung it without hesitation, slicing cleanly through the creature’s neck.
The head dropped to the ground. Chu Muge didn’t stop to look at it, she simply stepped on it with her boot.
“Senior,” Chu Muge said, her tone calm.
She pressed down with her foot. Crunch.
Back in the SUV, there was a stash of bottled water. Chu Muge used some to clean a crystal she had extracted from the zombie’s head, carefully rinsing off the bloodstains. She weighed the translucent gem in her palm.
Gu Yao couldn’t help but lean in for a closer look.
It felt familiar.
Unlike the milky white crystals typically found in mutated zombies, this one was clear and glimmered faintly under the light, as if it were emitting a subtle glow.
This thing… Wasn’t it the same type of crystal Chu Muge had once fed her?
So, it came from the brain of a zombie with abilities?
Crystals like these were rare only zombies with special abilities had them, and even then, the chance of finding one was extraordinarily low.
Zombies with abilities were already uncommon, and those with crystals even more so.
The purpose of these crystals remained a mystery. They didn’t seem to provide any direct benefits to their hosts, nor did they significantly differ from zombies without them.
Gu Yao’s stomach churned with regret.
In the storyline, Chu Muge and Lu Boyuan had been investigating the origin of the zombie virus. Step by step, they uncovered a series of clues, eventually discovering the existence of these crystals. However, their progress was interrupted midway by some unknown antagonist, possibly the main villain. From there, the plot likely centered on uncovering the secrets behind the crystals.
How ironic. Gu Yao had stopped reading right at that point in the story.
Gu Yao: …
“Senior, hold on a moment,” Chu Muge said as she continued wiping the crystal carefully. She made a small cut on her own hand, letting a drop of blood fall onto the gem.
The crystal absorbed the blood and, in an instant, regained its flawless, translucent glow.
“It’s edible,” Chu Muge said, handing it to Gu Yao with sparkling eyes. “Eat it, and you’ll transform.”
Gu Yao gave her a long, measured look before taking the crystal and putting it in her mouth.
This time, she’d learned her lesson. Instead of recklessly swallowing it whole, she carefully bit into it.
The hard crystal surprisingly crumbled easily, breaking apart with a satisfying crunch.
It was a little like eating candy.
A warm sensation spread through her body, comforting and invigorating.
Gu Yao hadn’t felt this kind of warmth in ages. For so long, she had only known cold.
The crystal dissolved almost instantly, leaving behind a faintly sweet aftertaste.
The flavor and the sensation were addictive, a rare delight after losing the ability to feel normal pleasures.
Gu Yao instinctively narrowed her eyes in enjoyment.
Her body hummed with energy as it absorbed the crystal’s power, every cell seemingly revitalized.
At the same time, she noticed something else, a subtle but distinct connection between herself and Chu Muge. It had deepened somehow.
Smacking her lips, the young girl smiled, but the expression didn’t reach her eyes. In the depths of those seemingly warm, smiling eyes, a storm of dark mist churned.
Chu Muge’s mental state was fraying, she was holding on by a thread.
“Once you eat it, we can finally head inside,” she said with a light laugh, gesturing toward the headless female corpse slumped against the car door nearby.
“They’ve set up an interception point here. Apparently, it’s their nest,” Chu Muge continued, her tone almost playful.
Really, ambushing survivors, stealing supplies, and even settling down here, how bold of them.
Gripping the axe in her hand, she frowned slightly. “I hope we can find something better inside.”
Gu Yao followed silently behind, but suddenly froze. She turned her head abruptly and spotted something, right in Chu Muge’s line of sight, a zombie dog.
Sensing something, the dog barked sharply before pouncing toward the headless corpse in the red jacket, tearing into it hungrily.
Gu Yao’s radar was telling her that the corpse was "nutritious." She figured letting the zombie dog have it was probably fine.
From the direction of the SUV, Gu Yao glanced at Chu Muge, hesitating.
Chu Muge noticed and couldn’t help but tease, “Senior, we’re going to need to haul this stuff back later, you know.”
Oh.
Gu Yao nodded, then hurried to catch up.
The sky was overcast, not quite gloomy but devoid of any sunlight.
As Gu Yao stared at the girl’s retreating back, she tilted her head slightly.
After eating the crystal, she felt like her mind had cleared a little.
But Chu Muge...
She was acting increasingly strange.
How could there be a crystal in someone’s brain?
And then there were her casual, cutting remarks, delivered with such ease and precision. It made Gu Yao entertain a thought so absurd, it felt impossible.
No way... right?
Dusk had begun to settle, the faint sound of a dog’s barking echoing between the scattered buildings.
Two men sat with their backs against a tree, chatting idly.
One of them, wearing glasses, took them off to clean them. “That girl we caught yesterday, she’s really pretty. It’s been hours already. Why don’t we just kill the guy and get it over with?”
“You don’t get it,” the other man said, shaking his head. “They’re siblings. Didn’t you hear her sobbing? ‘If my brother dies, I’ll kill myself,’ she cried. She was so loud, half the camp probably heard her. It’s not easy to find someone willing to submit these days, so why not use this to keep her in line?”
“Think the boss will let us have a turn with her later?”
The other man chuckled derisively. “Dream on. He’ll pass her around once he’s bored with her, maybe.”
“Damn,” Glasses sighed. “I wouldn’t even dare talk like that back home.”
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a voice:
“Don’t worry, you won’t be saying anything at all soon.”
It was a woman’s voice, light and cheerful, tinged with laughter. “Take a guess, which one of you do I kill first?”
The voice came from behind Glasses, where the tree loomed. Before he could scream in terror, a brutal kick knocked him to the ground. Pain exploded in his face, his jaw shattered, teeth scattering on the dirt, his tongue dangling uselessly.
Through his blurred vision, he saw his companion’s head tilt to the side as a fire axe embedded itself deep into his skull. The man slumped lifelessly against the tree, unmoving.
Blood poured from Glasses’ ruined face as he struggled weakly on the ground, unable to speak.
Chu Muge walked over, her expression unreadable. She glanced down at him, axe in hand, and smiled faintly. “It’s this way, isn’t it?”
The dying man could only wheeze in response. Chu Muge didn’t wait for an answer. She stepped over his writhing body and moved forward.
The killing began.
As the noise of the scuffle faded, Glasses’ dimming vision caught the blurry figure of someone crouching beside him.
The girl’s gray eyes gazed at him coolly before she reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of yellowed paper.
With a light smack, she pressed one of the sheets onto his forehead.
The world went dark.