Chapter 28: You’ve Married Up, Haven’t You?
Hearing this question again, the little zombie, who had been bribed with a hot breakfast, didn’t care about any traps. He gnawed on a chicken leg and nodded his head randomly.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Perfunctory.”
Shi Changyuan smiled, wiped Lin Ling’s face with a tissue, and exposed the half-hearted little zombie.
“After you finish breakfast, wait for me here. I’m going to pack up.”
“Okay.”
The little zombie sat in the car, the four-sided vehicle blocking most of the cold wind. Only the car door next to him was wide open, with a tall human standing there, holding a bottle of hot milk for Lin Ling.
Lin Ling held a chicken leg in one hand and took the bottle from Shi Changyuan’s hand with the other. He even swung his wrist, holding the bottle by the neck, as a farewell.
“I’ll come and help you after I finish eating.”
“Alright.”
Shi Changyuan smiled, closed the car door, and rolled up the window halfway, just enough for the little zombie to stick half his head out.
“Why are you leaving such a big gap?” Lin Ling wanted to close the window but was stopped by Shi Changyuan.
“For Lingling to check on me.”
The little zombie knew what “checking on me” meant and slammed the window shut with a “thud.”
What kind of post needs me to personally check? I’m not checking.
Setting up a tent was fast, and packing it up was even faster.
After Lin Ling finished his breakfast and got out of the car to help, Shi Changyuan was already finishing up. In the end, he could only help by carrying a small blanket.
Before the sun was fully out, the convoy was on the road. Because it was so smooth, they didn’t have any battles for the entire day. The A19 national highway, which was originally expected to be reached at night, was reached in the afternoon.
“This is the A19 national highway. We’re parting ways here, brothers. Have a safe trip.”
Wu Zhou opened the car window and said to the convoy behind them.
“Alright, you too.”
The leader of the other convoy’s car drove up. It was the plant-type ability user. He opened his window and reminded them with a frown, “I feel that something is not right here. It’s not suitable to stay for long. You guys be careful.”
“We will.”
Just after the reminder, the two cars had only been driving towards the C24 area for about ten minutes when they heard a cry for help.
Almost without hesitation, everyone turned their steering wheels and headed towards the source of the cry.
The person calling for help was in a forest. The little zombie was pressed against the car window, trying to see what was going on inside, when he saw several large vines break through the ground and shoot into the air, smashing down on the two cars.
“Damn it, what is this?!”
Wu Zhou, who was driving, swerved sharply to avoid it. Then, while honking to signal that help was coming, he slowed down and let Miao Xue jump out of the passenger seat.
Two people also jumped out of the other car.
“Is there a high-tier plant-type zombie nearby?”
“No.”
Just as Wu Zhou’s self-muttering question left his lips, he got a reply.
He turned his head in surprise and glanced at the young man in the back seat, who was always very reserved and almost only communicated with Professor Shi.
“How do you know?”
Faced with Wu Zhou’s question, the great Zombie Emperor tilted his head, not knowing how to lie, and not wanting to expose his identity. He could only tell the truth.
“I-I just know.”
“Then it must be something else.” Shi Changyuan immediately interrupted Wu Zhou, who was about to press further, looking as if he completely trusted the young man. “Tell them to be careful.”
Seeing Shi Changyuan speak, Wu Zhou stopped hesitating and quickly relayed the message through the walkie-talkie.
A few seconds later, a towering flame rose in the forest. The vines, scorched by the flames, thrashed wildly in the air until they grew weaker and weaker and finally went still.
“It’s an infected mutant plant.”
The moment Miao Xue returned, she gave a definite conclusion. “I’ve seen it at Old Duan’s place.”
“I thought it was just that plants could also transmit the virus and become toxic. I didn’t expect them to mutate like this.”
“What about the people who were calling for help?” Wu Zhou asked.
“They’re all saved, but this mutant plant uses people as nutrients. Their wounds are full of seeds, so there might be a risk of infection.”
“Give them our serum first.”
“Alright.”
The little zombie saw that it was Wu Zhou and Miao Xue who were communicating the entire time, while Shi Changyuan beside him was silent. He tugged on his sleeve.
“Aren’t you going to take a look?”
“Hmm?”
Shi Changyuan grabbed the little zombie’s mischievous fingers with his backhand, as if he were thinking about something, his reaction a bit slow.
“Those people who were saved.”
“They’ll handle it. They don’t need me for now.”
Shi Changyuan answered Lin Ling while pinching the fingers he was holding.
“Then when will they need you?”
The great Zombie Emperor had never seen the scenery outside, let alone the battles in the apocalypse. Seeing it for the first time, he was extremely curious.
But if Shi Changyuan didn’t get out of the car, he didn’t dare to either.
After all, he had said he would protect Shi Changyuan, and when Sister Miao Xue was protecting Old Duan, she never left his side.
“When you need me, remember to tell me. I’ll protect you.”
Shi Changyuan smiled. “Alright.”
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Ling saw Miao Xue return again, as if to report. “I’ve asked. Their convoy was passing through the C24 area and ran into the blockade and the military’s cleanup. They immediately changed their route, but for some reason, they still ran into a mutant plant.”
“The twins have checked the scene and confirmed that the mutant plant has lost its life signs.”
“Alright.”
Shi Changyuan nodded and then looked at the little zombie beside him. “Let’s go, let’s take a look.”
The little zombie immediately jumped to Shi Changyuan’s side, peeking around.
The small forest was scorched black by the flames. On the ground lay many vines as thick as a forearm. In some places, their original appearance could still be seen, while in others, they had been burned to charcoal.
Especially the root system in the very middle of the plant, which had been completely burned to ashes.
“It probably spread from the C24 area.”
Everyone was analyzing and discussing.
Suddenly, the little zombie seemed to notice something and tugged on Shi Changyuan’s sleeve again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you want to go and take a look over there?”
The little zombie raised his hand and pointed in a direction. “There’s something over there.”
A baseless, casual remark made everyone’s gaze turn to a very quiet area. This area had no mutant vines and no scorched charcoal.
It could be said that there was nothing strange about it at all.
“Alright, let’s go and take a look.”
Shi Changyuan took the little zombie’s hand and walked deeper into the forest.
Miao Xue, who was watching the two of them gradually separate from the team, hesitated for a moment and finally followed.
“It’s right here, hidden inside.”
The little zombie walked up to a small mound of earth, pointed at the ground, and said to Shi Changyuan.
Lin Ling said there was something inside, so Shi Changyuan immediately found a stick and began to dig at the small mound. The little zombie also squatted down beside him curiously, his hands in his pockets.
This mound of earth was very loose and was dug open without much effort. It seemed that something was hidden inside.
Before anyone could take a closer look, a vine suddenly shot out of the pit, trying to attack Shi Changyuan.
Shi Changyuan reacted immediately and was about to dodge, but he saw Lin Ling still squatting there, and his dodging motion paused.
…If he dodged, the attack of this vine would land on Lin Ling.
“Bad thing.”
“You still want to hit Shi Changyuan.”
The great Zombie Emperor squatting beside him reacted even faster. He took his hand out of his sleeve, grabbed the vine, and then stood up and pulled hard—
The plant, along with its vines, roots, and the seeds underneath, was pulled out together.
Seeing that the situation was not right, the seed, like a lizard shedding its tail to survive, broke off all its roots and wanted to burrow back into the ground to escape. But it was pressed to the ground by the Zombie Emperor and caught like a little bug.
“Lingling, don’t…”
“It’s okay, it can’t beat me.”
The seed was not giving up. It even tried to grow vines to attack the little zombie’s fingers.
Lin Ling was annoyed. He clenched his fist and squeezed hard, directly squeezing half the life out of the seed, and it instantly went still.
“Dirty.”
Shi Changyuan took out a reagent bottle from his pocket, put the seed and the soil in it, then took out a tissue and helped Lin Ling wipe his claws.
The moment Shi Changyuan took the seed, it wanted to crack open and grow roots to attack him again, but the little zombie bared his fangs and threatened, “You dare!”
The seed completely wilted.
Shi Changyuan looked at the scene in front of him, chuckled softly, and continued to wipe the dirt from Lin Ling’s palm, as if he were completely unaware of how dangerous the situation had just been.
“Lingling is so amazing.”
“Uh-huh!”
The little zombie lifted his chin proudly. “I told you I would protect you.”
“Mm, thanks to Lingling’s protection.”
Shi Changyuan went along with it.
The great Zombie Emperor looked at the seed, as if he had stepped into his familiar territory, and said like a peacock spreading its tail, “A mere little vine.”
“There are a lot of these plants on the mountain behind my house. Although they’re very cunning, they’re very weak. They’re delicious when used to cook eggs.”
“If you like, I can catch some for you when I go out hunting.”
Hearing this description, Shi Changyuan didn’t know what expression to make for a moment.
Because he didn’t want to know what kind of mutant species the “eggs” the little zombie was talking about were.
“That’s not necessary. Lingling can keep them for yourself.”
“No, I would be an unqualified pet owner!”
The great Zombie Emperor seemed to have finally shown his skills in front of Shi Changyuan and was a bit smug. He had his hands in his pockets, walked beside Shi Changyuan, shaking his head, and would occasionally rub against him.
His face was full of “now you know how amazing I am.”
“Hiss.”
Miao Xue, who had arrived late but had witnessed the entire process, was shocked.
So Little Lin Ling is also an ability user? What kind of ability is this?
Super strength? So powerful.
Hearing the sound, the two of them turned around and saw Miao Xue standing there, gasping, her eyes filled with curiosity, and also with a hint of “how is this kid so lucky,” and “how did this kid get so lucky” regret.
But the little zombie couldn’t understand so much, nor did he know who Miao Xue was looking at now.
He was a bit nervous and at a loss.
No way!!!
Is my identity as the Zombie Emperor about to be exposed?
He watched as Sister Miao Xue walked over, looked at him, sighed, then patted Shi Changyuan’s shoulder and said, “You’ve married up, haven’t you?”
