Chapter 65: The Building Outside the Village Part 1

Zhou Zhuo Hua did not immediately agree. She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the Tang Zhao in front of her. “You wish. Call Tao Tao over first. I’m worried something might happen to her if she stays alone too long.”

Tang Zhao walked away then, and soon he led Bai Tao back.

Zhou Zhuo Hua and Bai Tao exchanged glances. Suddenly, Zhou Zhuo Hua said, “Tao Tao, your silver bracelet is dirty.”

The silver bracelet was engraved with peony patterns and looked somewhat worn. Bai Tao casually lifted her hand and wiped it, not paying much attention.

Something was off. Zhou Zhuo Hua glanced at her a couple more times, then suddenly changed her expression and angrily scolded her. “This is the silver bracelet I bought for you! How can you treat it so carelessly!”

Bai Tao was stunned. She hurriedly wiped her silver bracelet until it shone brightly. “No, no, I really like it.”

Zhou Zhuo Hua had already angrily raised the car window, ignoring their shouts no matter what. She took off her glasses and lay directly on the steering wheel to catch up on sleep.

—

Meanwhile, Jiang Ye and Bai Chen Zhu walked around the outside of the village.

Bai Chen Zhu withdrew his probing mental power. “There are no living people ahead. We’ve circled most of the way around and still haven’t found any living people.”

He tilted his head and looked at Jiang Ye. “Ability users have to be living people, right?”

Jiang Ye said, “Of course.”

He punched down a thing that looked like a villager but was actually a zombie, drawn over by Bai Chen Zhu’s mental power. He twisted his wrist. “If mutants not only mutate physically but also evolve mentally, then humans might as well give up.”

Bai Chen Zhu propped his chin and surveyed the surroundings. “I’ve never seen such a powerful ability user who can deceive people’s senses for so long. Tao Tao and I have been too careless.”

Jiang Ye didn’t take it seriously. “It hasn’t even been half a year since the virus spread. There aren’t as many powerful people as you think.”

Bai Chen Zhu turned his face slightly and said curiously, “Don’t you have any intention of recruiting them?”

“What? Are you thinking for me?” A hint of amusement crept into the corner of Jiang Ye’s eye, as if he had guessed some of Bai Chen Zhu’s thoughts. “Five people is enough for us.”

Bai Chen Zhu’s gaze shifted, but he said nothing more.

The surroundings were very quiet. The wind blew through the flower fields like rolling waves. Bai Chen Zhu closed his eyes to sense for a moment, and the mental cluster representing Jiang Ye stood out so clearly in his mind.

It swayed back and forth, swayed back and forth…

He opened his phoenix eyes and, mimicking Jiang Ye’s usual posture with hands in pockets, looked at the back ahead of him with a half-smile. “Hey, Jiang Ye, forget about that for now. Make me a bracelet?”

“A bracelet?” Jiang Ye stopped in his tracks and turned sideways to look at him, drawling lazily in complaint. “What’s that? First earrings, now bracelets—you really love these flashy things.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just make one.” Bai Chen Zhu crossed his arms and looked at him. “Don’t tell me you can’t.”

This sentence stirred Jiang Ye’s competitive spirit. He walked down into the field, looked around, plucked a long flower stem, and held the slender green length in his hand. He pulled over Bai Chen Zhu’s left hand and casually wrapped it a few times, a mix of impatience and competitive seriousness.

Bai Chen Zhu watched him earnestly, occasionally glancing at Jiang Ye’s face.

After fiddling for a while, Jiang Ye bent down to pick up a dry grass stem and tied a dead knot at the ends of the ‘bracelet’.

“Not bad, right?” Jiang Ye asked smugly, fiddling with his creation.

It was ugly. Bai Chen Zhu looked at the yellow flowers and green stems on his wrist from both sides and smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty good.”

He withdrew his hand. “Let’s head back. We’ve walked half the village and still no sign of that guy. Maybe the car already lured it away. Searching further is a waste of time.”

—

Unexpectedly, when the two walked back, all they saw from afar was a black car with only a few scattered zombies around it. Through the window, they vaguely saw Zhou Zhuo Hua… sleeping?

Jiang Ye mocked without restraint. “I didn’t expect him to be such a coward.”

Bai Chen Zhu quickly grabbed Jiang Ye, who was walking forward. “Wait and see.”

After a moment, they saw Zhou Zhuo Hua lift her head and speak toward the outside of the car.

Bai Chen Zhu stared at the air for a while, then suddenly said, “Wait, can we see the real thing now?”

Otherwise, how could they see that the one talking to Zhou Zhuo Hua was air?

“That guy is probably focused on Sister Zhuo Hua.” Jiang Ye said.

They waited and waited, but the person never appeared.

Bai Chen Zhu sighed. “Forget it. He probably doesn’t want to come out.”

—

Outside the car, Tang Zhao and Bai Tao were gone. Jiang Ye and Bai Chen Zhu walked back and knocked on the car window.

Zhou Zhuo Hua stared at them warily, ignoring them.

Jiang Ye jumped onto the car hood and squatted down halfway to look at her, pointing at the window lock inside.

Zhou Zhuo Hua, thoroughly annoyed, cracked the window open a sliver. “Are you done?”

It had only been a short while, but her temper was so explosive. Bai Chen Zhu looked around and pointed at himself. “Are you talking to me?”

Zhou Zhuo Hua said, “Stop acting. I’m not opening the door.”

Bai Chen Zhu reacted instantly upon hearing this. He said, “Sis, just now we walked halfway, but we thought about how that ability user was staring at the car last night and might come back today. We were worried about you, so we hurried back right away. If you don’t believe us, ask any question.”

Zhou Zhuo Hua paused, then didn’t stand on ceremony with him and used the earlier question directly. “Fine. First question: What did ‘Tang Zhao’ just ask me? Is there food in the car?”

Jiang Ye, who was checking the car’s exterior for traces, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and sneered. “With how he counts supplies every day, how could he not know if there’s food in the car? Total nonsense.”

Zhou Zhuo Hua sat up properly, and the way she looked at them changed. “Bai Tao got the silver bracelet she gave me dirty.”

Bai Chen Zhu rubbed his forehead. “What do you mean she gave you? That’s her mother’s keepsake!”

All correct.

Since they were real, Zhou Zhuo Hua opened the car door. The two got in the back, and Bai Chen Zhu said, “Did that guy just pretend to be Tang Zhao and Bai Tao?”

Zhou Zhuo Hua nodded. “It seemed like it was eyeing the supplies in the car. Now that we’re three here, it might not dare come over.”

Bai Chen Zhu and Jiang Ye exchanged a glance.

Jiang Ye said, “We thought maybe this guy was after the car’s supplies and would come knocking sooner or later. But we didn’t expect that even when you were alone, it sneaked around without daring to break in. Instead, it kept trying to get you to open the door yourself.”

Bai Chen Zhu thought of something else. “I can see the surroundings clearly. We didn’t see a single living person the whole way. How has he managed to live alone in a zombie village for so long?”

While they chatted, Bai Tao and Tang Zhao returned.

Because of Jiang Ye and Bai Chen Zhu, Zhou Zhuo Hua had relaxed her guard and was about to open the door when Bai Chen Zhu stopped her.

“Sister Zhuo Hua, the two outside are both zombies.” Bai Chen Zhu’s expression darkened.

This trick again? Zhou Zhuo Hua was startled and looked at ‘Tang Zhao’ and ‘Bai Tao’ again, but now their movements seemed stiff no matter how she looked.

They were talking to the three inside the car. But to Bai Chen Zhu’s ears, it was all the howls of passing zombies. Annoyed by the noise, Bai Chen Zhu rubbed his forehead.

Jiang Ye found it amusing and pinched his earlobe. Bai Chen Zhu jerked away as if shocked by electricity. “Can’t you straight guys keep some distance?”

Jiang Ye withdrew his hand righteously. “You’re different.”

“How am I different?”

Jiang Ye thought carefully. “You’re good-looking.”

Bai Chen Zhu fell silent for a moment, wanting to retort but not knowing how. “Thanks?”

“There’s me in the car too.” Zhou Zhuo Hua couldn’t take it anymore. “Can you two figure out how to deal with those two things outside?”

Jiang Ye shrugged. “You keep sleeping. They’re all illusions. Just ignore them.”

Bai Chen Zhu pushed him. “They’re noisy.”

Jiang Ye sighed and got out of the car. As soon as he opened the door, he knocked down the two zombies outside, beating and kicking them before dragging them away by their tattered clothes.

When he returned, it was indeed much quieter outside.