“I went with Jiang Ye to find Bai Li, but Bai Li was badly infected…” Bai Chen Zhu briefly explained the situation and handed the items in his hand to Zhou Zhuo Hua.
Zhou Zhuo Hua was shocked and repeatedly declined. “Keep them for your own protection. I don’t want your stuff.”
“Hm? These aren’t mine.” Bai Chen Zhu toyed with the gun in his hand. “These are spoils of victory.”
When those people had surrounded and attacked them only to be knocked flat by Jiang Ye, he had seized the chance to pick up a few weapons. Now he could rightfully distribute these spoils of victory to the two of them.
It was a pity that even in Luozhou City, thermal weapons were still quite scarce, but they were better than nothing.
“Really not yours?” Zhou Zhuo Hua asked suspiciously. “They sure look like they are.”
“Do they?” Bai Chen Zhu examined it for a moment, and the arc at the corner of his lips curved downward.
“Jiang Ye.” Bai Chen Zhu said in a deep voice. He raised his head and looked toward Jiang Ye, who also seemed thoughtful. “You’re saying, gunshot wounds can be faked, right?”
Gunshot wounds could be faked, and mental power might have come from that piece of candy he had given to Bai Li.
“That mutant might not necessarily be Bai Li.” Jiang Ye voiced his judgment, which matched exactly what Bai Chen Zhu was thinking.
Tang Zhao joked, “Could there be a second mutant that doesn’t look any different? And one smart enough to hide itself? Wait, no—that Bai Li was pretty good at hiding. He said he was sick, and no one suspected a thing.”
He scratched his head and muttered to himself, “But that’s not quite right either. His mom covered for him.” His voice grew quieter.
“Li Zhen Zhen definitely knows something.” Bai Chen Zhu toyed with the loaded handgun as he looked toward Jiang Ye, who sat on the sofa studying a weapon. “Jiang Ye, did you notice? The people Bai Guang Zheng brought with him didn’t seem to fully obey him.”
Jiang Ye nodded. “Those people knew Bai Li was a zombie. Their first reaction was to look toward Bai Guang Zheng, then Li Zhen Zhen.”
“You’re saying they were originally people from the Li Family?” Bai Chen Zhu mused. “Li Zhen Zhen must know about Bai Li’s condition, but from her performance today, it seems she didn’t know Bai Li had taken the fall or that Bai Li had been used as bait today.”
“You’re right.” Jiang Ye propped his chin on his hand, his brows slightly raised. He didn’t speak but simply moved his hand and lazily sprawled back on the sofa.
Bai Chen Zhu immediately understood his meaning. “Take me with you!”
Tang Zhao looked left and right, then immediately chimed in from the side. “Take me too!”
Seeing the eager looks on their faces, Jiang Ye laughed out loud. He stood up and patted their shoulders. “Forget it. Everyone rest up tonight.”
Zhou Zhuo Hua, who stood behind the sofa backrest, slapped each of them on the back. “You two, settle down. We still don’t know how Tao Tao is doing over there.”
Bai Chen Zhu then remembered Bai Tao. He looked toward Jiang Ye. “Bai Tao seems to be planning some kind of celebration party to mark her awakening of superpowers.”
Everyone already knew she had superpowers, but it was the first time Bai Tao had manifested them. Even if it was just to express her joy, there was no need to make such a big production out of it.
Zhou Zhuo Hua, who was closest to her, immediately grew worried upon hearing this and moved to head out, only to be pulled back by Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye blocked her. “She must have her own reasons. And A Zhu, compared to her, you should worry about yourself first. You’re someone with very rich mental power. If that mutant isn’t Bai Li, it will definitely come after you again.”
He paused. “A Zhu, could the fragment be on Bai Guang Zheng?”
Was this suspecting that the mutant was Bai Guang Zheng?
Bai Chen Zhu thought carefully. “But every time we’ve met, there’s been no trace of the fragment’s aura on Bai Guang Zheng.”
—
The next day, Bai Chen Zhu, who was munching on bread downstairs, heard a familiar voice. He turned his head and saw Bai Tao yawning as she emerged from Zhou Zhuo Hua’s room.
“When did you get back?” Bai Chen Zhu was a bit surprised and poured himself a glass of water.
“Last night.”
“No more party?” Bai Chen Zhu teased as he leaned against the cabinet to watch her. He took a sip of water.
Bai Tao hugged her arms and shivered hard. “You know how zombies react strongly to my voice. After Bai Li ‘transformed’ last night, I had a flash of inspiration. I thought I could use it as an excuse to hold a concert—the bigger, the better. That way, whoever the mutant is would be obvious at a glance.”
“But that old geezer scolded me.” Bai Tao spread her hands helplessly and pouted. “He said it would waste too many resources and that there was no need for any celebration party at all. I couldn’t exactly tell him I wanted to find the mutant, so it fell through.”
“Plus, with the Bai Li incident, I worried it might alert the enemy. What if that thing came to kill me in the middle of the night? So I packed up my bedding and came back overnight.” Bai Tao looked at Bai Chen Zhu very seriously. “I think it’s safer here with you guys.”
She didn’t trust that old geezer who looked perfectly human at all.
“You’re completely ignoring the mutant’s life or death.” Bai Chen Zhu couldn’t help but shake with laughter, his shoulders trembling as he bowed his head. After all, Bai Tao’s mental power didn’t distinguish friend from foe—it was only somewhat friendly toward ordinary people.
Her face flushed slightly. Just as she was about to retort, hurried footsteps came from the stairwell. Tang Zhao shoved open the iron door. “You guys are here! Do you know what they’re saying outside?”
As soon as Tang Zhao had gone out today, he discovered that the streets were abuzz with tales of how Mr. Bai—Bai Guang Zheng—had righteously slain his own kin. Everyone admired it greatly and talked about it enthusiastically. Yet there was no word at all about Bai Tao’s celebration party.
Tang Zhao circled around Bai Tao. “It’s great that you’re fine! I thought something happened to you and that’s why the party fell through!”
Bai Tao huffed. “This young miss has always been blessed with great fortune and a tough life.”
“By the way, where’s Jiang Ye?” Bai Tao asked curiously. She craned her neck to peer through the open door to Bai Chen Zhu’s room. Jiang Ye was usually wherever Bai Chen Zhu was, but today he was notably absent.
“This morning, your dad sent someone to fetch him.” Bai Chen Zhu sneered coldly and lifted his water cup to drink. “I doubt it’s anything good.”
They had been at each other’s throats the night before, and now he was inviting someone over? No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t good.
Bai Tao nodded and turned to go find Zhou Zhuo Hua, but Bai Chen Zhu grabbed her by the collar like a kitten. “Since you’re here, this will be easy.”
Bai Tao was startled and stared at him with wide eyes. “Wh-what are you going to do?”
“Missy, take me to see Li Zhen Zhen.”
—
“You mean you want me to be the captain of the Guard Squad?” Jiang Ye chuckled in disbelief.
Leaving aside their conflict the day before—and regardless of whether Bai Guang Zheng knew his son was a zombie—Bai Guang Zheng’s own flesh-and-blood son had now been exposed as a zombie by them. How to handle it afterward was still a problem.
The Guard Squad concerned personal safety, yet Bai Guang Zheng was truly bold. He wasn’t afraid of…
Jiang Ye reined in his dangerous thoughts and smiled faintly. “Thank you for the high regard, Mr. Bai, but unfortunately, my friends and I won’t be staying long.”
Bai Guang Zheng leaned forward in surprise. “You’re dropping the matter of ‘that thing’?”
Jiang Ye tapped his fingertips. “Mr. Bai, you make us sound like some kind of oddballs. We were just passing through Luozhou City and happened to sense the same aura here as on the zombie king from the previous base, so we came to give a heads-up.”
He shook his head nonchalantly. “As for where ‘that thing’ is, it doesn’t really concern us. We’re just travelers, after all.”
“Luozhou City needs you right now!” Bai Guang Zheng grew agitated and tried repeatedly to persuade him to stay, but Jiang Ye said they had other plans and intended to leave soon.
“Then does Mr. Jiang know how to deal with it if that thing is found? What exactly is it? What does it do? Can it help humanity defeat the virus?”
“Defeat the virus?” Jiang Ye’s eyes darkened. After a moment, he smiled, half-serious and half-joking. “It strengthens zombies. For humanity, it’s more of a backlash.”
“Specifically speaking, it’s…”
—
