Chapter 58

Xue Ling and Wen Jiuze had an argument.

Although Wen Jiuze continued to follow Xue Ling like a shadow, Wen Yi noticed that they no longer communicated through tablets.

Wen Jiuze continued to pretend he couldn’t speak, and Xue Ling also pretended she didn’t know.

For the entire morning, Xue Ling didn’t initiate any conversation with Wen Jiuze. She had two tablets in hand, and Wen Jiuze’s tablet had been confiscated by her.

Wen Jiuze didn’t try to take back the tablet. Instead, he somehow found a calculator and followed Xue Ling around pressing buttons.

The constant sound of “zero, zero, zero” made Xue Ling cover her ears and walk ahead.

Wen Yi looked at this scene: “…”

They were both crazy.

Wen Yi was not surprised to learn that Xue Ling had not kept the secret. What surprised her was that Wen Jiuze didn’t come to ask her about it.

She had thought he would immediately come to interrogate her.

Their argument continued until the day the action team left for Donghai City.

Wen Jiuze was leaving, and before he left, Xue Ling finally handed back his tablet.

Wen Jiuze took it back and typed a message: “If you haven’t figured out how to tell me, tell me when I come back, okay?”

Xue Ling coldly crossed her arms and watched Wen Jiuze get into the car.

As the car drove out of the camp and disappeared from view, Xue Ling’s face slowly wrinkled.

When they reunited, they stayed together and never parted again. Wen Jiuze’s sudden departure left Xue Ling feeling a little unsettled.

At the base, she wasn’t familiar with anyone, so she went straight to Wen Yi.

Wen Yi was focused on her own work, but during a break, she saw Xue Ling quietly lying next to her, reading the manual copy she had prepared for Wen Jiuze.

“If you have nothing to do, you should learn some of those firearms techniques, they’ll definitely come in handy later,” Wen Yi said.

“Can I go?” Xue Ling asked, lifting her head.

“What’s stopping you? Just go to the training ground and find someone to teach you. If they’re unwilling, go to General Hao,” Wen Yi replied.

Xue Ling hesitated for two seconds before agreeing: “Alright, I’ll go now!”

As she looked at Xue Ling’s retreating back, Wen Yi continued with her own work.

When Wen Jiuze was around, he watched Xue Ling like she was his precious gem, trying to shield her from everything, and taking on everything himself.

His excessive concern had made Xue Ling feel restrained.

Xue Ling’s personality made it difficult for her to refuse anyone’s kindness; she didn’t want to trouble others.

Many things she could do, but she refrained from trying because she was concerned about Wen Jiuze’s obsessive protection.

As an outsider, Wen Yi calmly understood their dynamic and struggles, and she only had one thought: Men really do get in the way.

Dating someone like Wen Jiuze, whose overprotectiveness was rooted in his upbringing, was asking for trouble.

She hoped that during this time apart, Wen Jiuze’s rigid mindset would become a little clearer.

Xue Ling arrived at the training ground.

Here, soldiers were training, and among the soldiers all wearing the same uniform, she stood out like a sore thumb, attracting everyone’s attention.

But no one approached her or spoke to her.

The soldiers here have all been notified that their base has recruited two special talents whose appearance is no different from zombies.

A few days ago, the male zombie came to the training ground for a test. Although he was self-taught, his performance was excellent, so he left after only half a day.

Today they saw another one. Although curious, no one looked at it much because they had to abide by the rules.

To Xue Ling, it felt like everyone was focused on their own tasks, and the atmosphere was so serious that it made her feel nervous.

She encouraged herself silently. Since no one was stopping her, she boldly walked along the edge of the training ground and ended up at the firearms training area.

A soldier, deeply focused on his training, put down his gun and was reviewing his results when he suddenly noticed someone standing next to him. Thinking it was a replacement teammate, he turned around and nearly jumped in shock when he saw the zombie’s face.

Xue Ling quickly took out the tablet she had prepared. “Hello, I’m here to train. Can you teach me?”

Xue Ling felt that the young soldier in front of her had a cold expression. After asking, she anxiously waited for his response.

What she didn’t know was that the soldier’s heart was racing too. His cold expression was actually due to fear. After taking a moment to collect himself and understand her request, the young soldier showed an embarrassed expression.

Xue Ling thought he was about to refuse, but unexpectedly, he quickly jogged over to a slightly older soldier and pointed toward her while speaking to him.

Before long, the older soldier came over with him.

“Hello. I’ve been informed of your situation. If you want to train, it’s fine. Follow me, I’ll teach you,” the older soldier said with a stern expression.

The young soldier who first spoke to Xue Ling showed a bright smile, exposing his white teeth. He apologized, “This is my captain, he’s very good with firearms. I haven’t learned well myself, so I’ll leave the teaching to him.”

Xue Ling relaxed and followed the captain to one side.

Although the captain’s expression was serious, he was very responsible. As it was her first time, Xue Ling was slow to pick up the skills. With her zombie fingers were stiff and uncooperative, many actions felt awkward. The captain didn’t scold her or rush her, patiently waiting as she practiced.

As Xue Ling gradually got the hang of it, the stern captain also smiled. His teeth were as white as the young soldier’s.

Xue Ling realized that these soldiers, who seemed so serious, were actually putting on an act. When they smiled, they were even more radiant.

When training wrapped up for the day, the soldiers had some free time. Xue Ling was surrounded by a crowd, all eager to watch her practice shooting.

Some couldn’t help but offer suggestions or critique. A few even commented that the captain wasn’t teaching her well and volunteered to teach her themselves.

Xue Ling had used Wen Jiuze’s handgun before, but it wasn’t a particularly good one. Wen Jiuze had also mentioned teaching her how to use a firearm, but since she felt he needed the weapon for protection more than she did, and since ammunition was expensive and hard to come by, she didn’t want to waste precious bullets on practice, so she didn’t follow through.

Now, she was learning to use the latest model of assault rifle.

The captain was worried that she wouldn’t be able to handle the recoil. Xue Ling blinked and said, “But I’m a zombie, my skin is tough, it won’t hurt.”

The captain: “……”

After three days of training, the captain had almost forgotten that she was a zombie.

She was such a diligent and obedient student, and she worked hard. The captain, who had trained many rebellious soldiers, had never met one like her.

Looking closely, aside from her pale face, she was just a small, young girl. Among the large, muscular special forces soldiers, she seemed particularly small and harmless.

Even though everyone knew she was a zombie, as long as they spent time with her, they easily forgot about her zombie identity.

A few days later, when General Hao came to inspect the training ground, he found a soldier in military green clothes who was very short and was standing on the shooting range training seriously.

He looked over there for a few more times and found that it was the zombie named Xue Ling.

“She’s been training here for several days now,” a guard reported after asking around.

General Hao watched her for a while, and when she stopped, he waved her over.

“It’s good that you’re actively learning these skills. The more skills you have, the more opportunities you’ll get in the future. We should aim to leverage our strengths. I saw you did well earlier, keep it up!”

Encouraged by the praise, Xue Ling happily went back to training.

Training was hard, but her body didn’t feel tired, and since she was happy, she didn’t even feel “exhausted” mentally.

Wen Yi came by every day to check her physical condition, recording changes in her data, like her weight. These were things Xue Ling had been secretly keeping track of herself.

Besides the records, Wen Yi only reminded her once, “Don’t push yourself too hard, over-exerting yourself won’t be worth it.”

Xue Ling listened carefully. She focused on learning the use of firearms and stopped running around with the soldiers.

A few days later, the captain and his squad were preparing for a mission. Xue Ling asked, “Can I go with you?”

The mission they were going on was a routine one, involving transporting equipment from a hospital in a city about two days’ travel away.

Routine tasks included regularly clearing zombies from the area, looking for important supplies in zombie-occupied cities, escorting research teams, and so on. These were part of their daily work.

“It’s easier now. When the base was first established, we had to do much more. We had to go out and find survivors, build the city, and even plant and harvest wheat outside the walls.”

When Xue Ling was allowed to go with the team, she sat in the vehicle, and the soldiers started talking to her about their past missions.

“You’ve really worked hard. When I first came to Beizheng Base, I thought it was really well built, and those crops, they can feed so many people. You’ve all played a big part in that.”

Xue Ling still remembered how she felt when she arrived at Beizheng Base, seeing the vast wheat fields and the tall city walls.

The soldier who was praised became a bit embarrassed and quickly said, “The people in the city are the ones planting the wheat now. We only planted the first batch. Later, once they set up barriers and the area was safe, we didn’t have to do it anymore.”

“Clearing the land was the hardest and most difficult part,” Xue Ling sincerely admired them.

The soldiers, who spent the most time with her, had long stopped noticing her strange appearance. When she praised them, each of them smiled brightly, filled with pride.

When they stopped the vehicle and set up camp, the captain angrily punched each of them, telling them to stop grinning so much.

That night, the soldiers took turns resting, and Xue Ling wandered around the camp, moving back and forth.

The soldiers on guard changed twice, and when they noticed Xue Ling pacing around, they shone their flashlights at her feet.

“We’re here to watch over things, there’s no danger. Go rest,” they told her.

Xue Ling walked over and held up the tablet: “But zombies don’t need rest, so I can’t sleep.”

The soldiers scratched their heads, unsure what to say. They had forgotten that Xue Ling was different from them.

Actually, Xue Ling could have found a spot to sit, but she couldn’t stay still, so she decided to take a walk.

During the day, there was always something to do, but at night, when everyone was asleep and everything was quiet, Xue Ling couldn’t help but think of Wen Jiuze.

When Wen Jiuze was around, he would often stay up late, and on nights like this, with the moon shining faintly, Xue Ling liked to go for walks, and he would follow her.

They would circle around the same area, over and over.

Sometimes, he would say things like, “Walking in circles like this, doesn’t it feel like a donkey turning a millstone?”

“Xue Ling, there’s a snake by your feet!”

“There’s a house in the woods over there. Do you remember that scary movie we watched? The house in the movie looks just like that one. Should we go check it out?”

“Xue Ling, step over here, you’re standing on a grave. Be careful, the person might crawl out and grab your foot.”

“I can’t see the road clearly. Hold my hand.”

After recalling his playful, teasing remarks and actions, Xue Ling realized she didn’t miss him that much.