Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Font Size:
Chapter 11
The night was deep, with sparse streetlights illuminating the area around the Wen family mansion, which was very quiet.
Inside Wen Xuan’s room, he lay tied up tightly, having lost an ear.
Unlike when Xue Ling was tied up where only her hands were tied behind her back, Wen Xuan was now tied up from hands to feet, unable to move, and could only lie on the ground gasping for breath.
The door had been closed again, and Wen Jiuze squatted in front of Wen Xuan, his toes pressing down on the blood-stained ear while twirling the short knife in his hand.
“Alright, let’s talk. Why are you different from the other zombie?”
Wen Xuan glared at him hatefully, revealing his hidden fangs.
He despised Wen Jiuze just as much as Wen Jiuze despised him.
In his lifetime, Old Master Wen had two sons: the eldest, Wen Hengyi, and the second, Wen Shengshuang.
Wen Xuan’s father, Wen Shengshuang, had only one child, while his uncle Wen Hengyi had two daughters.
Old Master Wen was quite a traditional patriarch, believing only men could hold the family name, and daughters would eventually marry out and could not inherit the family business, thus counting as half a Wen family member at best.
Therefore, as the only male in this generation, Wen Xuan received the most attention and affection in the Wen family.
However, his uncle Wen Hengyi was a notorious womanizer, having had numerous affairs and fathered illegitimate children.
After he passed away from illness, Old Master Wen thought it unacceptable that his eldest son had only daughters, so he sought out the only illegitimate child of his eldest son from outside and brought him into the Wen family. This child was Wen Jiuze.
Wen Xuan felt his position in the Wen family was threatened by an outsider and resented the fact that this illegitimate child was taking what should have belonged to him. He wished Wen Jiuze would just die.
Unfortunately, the tough and resilient illegitimate child was hard to kill, and with his grandfather’s protection, Wen Xuan didn’t dare go too far.
As they grew older, this illegitimate child even stole the woman Wen Xuan had his eyes on, turning Wen Xuan’s disdain into hatred.
Later, when his grandfather fell ill, he planned to deal with Wen Jiuze, but then zombies appeared out of nowhere.
He couldn’t deal with Wen Jiuze and instead almost got himself killed!
It had been three years, yet Wen Xuan still remembered that day when the person he had always bullied and who wouldn’t dare fight back or curse him had pressed his neck against a zombie’s mouth while smiling.
He had said, “Wen Xuan, do you think if you turn into a zombie and I set you loose, you would eat the people of the Wen family?”
“I actually look forward to it, but it’s a pity I’m in a hurry and won’t get to see that scene…”
When Wen Xuan was bitten by a zombie, he screamed in fear and even lost his dignity and cried.
Yet, he soon felt his body stiffening, his limbs tingling, and his mind becoming hazy, all while an unbearable hunger overwhelmed his reason.
If he hadn’t accidentally eaten that thing, he might have actually become one of those grotesque and terrifying zombies.
For three years, he had been living in this half-life, half-death state, filled with resentment each time he thought of Wen Jiuze. Today, the nightmare returned. Wen Jiuze had not died outside and reappeared before him.
He looked even thinner than three years ago, his demeanor more grim and terrifying.
Wen Jiuze wore that same smile that had sent him to the mouth of a zombie, asking, “Don’t want to talk?”
Wen Xuan’s reason, nearly burned away by the flames of hatred, flickered back to life, revealing a spark of fear within him. He was unwilling to submit so easily.
Seeing Wen Xuan’s defiance, Wen Jiuze chuckled softly and pressed his toes down harder.
“Crack.”
He stepped on the lump of flesh and placed the short knife against Wen Xuan’s finger.
“Let’s start cutting from your fingers. Once we’re done with the fingers, we’ll move to the arms… Let’s see how far I need to go before you can’t take it and decide to talk.”
Zombies feel no pain, but any rational person would find it unbearable to witness their own body parts being severed.
Moreover, Wen Xuan was not someone with a strong will. He had been spoiled since childhood and couldn’t withstand even the slightest grievance.
Wen Jiuze pulled out one of Wen Xuan’s hands, pressing it in front of his eyes as his knife fell.
The thumb.
After three years of the apocalypse, Wen Jiuze had seen and experienced countless brutal and bloody events, his gaze remained indifferent, and his hand very steady.
Wen Xuan, as expected, collapsed after the first cut.
“Talk… I’ll talk…” he stammered.
His dislocated jaw had been reattached, but Wen Jiuze didn’t withdraw the short knife, still pinching it between Wen Xuan’s fingers. “Go ahead.”
“I ate… Tai Sui, and became like this. As for the rest, I don’t know.”
Tai Sui.
Three years ago, Old Master Wen’s health declined rapidly. As someone who had always feared death, he hoped to live to a hundred.
During his illness, he remembered his eldest son who had died young and began to suspect that the family tomb’s feng shui was poor. This led him to oversee the reconstruction of the ancestral tomb.
The Wen family’s ancestral tomb was located on Anqiu Mountain, and Old Master Wen focused on the tomb of his great-grandfather, which was six generations back.
He took out a special Tai Sui from the tomb.
This substance had been sensationalized in various ancient texts, portrayed as some kind of miraculous medicine.
Old Master Wen believed this too, feeling that his illness and the timing of finding the Tai Sui were signs that he was not meant to die just yet.
Wen Jiuze scoffed at this idea. What was Tai Sui? Isn’t it just a special kind of fungus?
Only a few people in the Wen family were aware of the Tai Sui’s existence. Old Master Wen kept it closely guarded and secretly sent it for testing. He later prepared a quarter of it for himself to try.
Regardless of whether the thing was effective or not, Wen Jiuze didn’t want him to succeed. He switched the genuine Tai Sui with a fake, making the bedridden Old Master Wen consume the counterfeit.
As for the real quarter of Tai Sui, he took it back and… it was inadvertently consumed by Xue Ling.
Wen Jiuze paused his knife play.
Right, Xue Ling had eaten a quarter of the Tai Sui.
“You said you became like this because you ate Tai Sui. How much did you eat?”
Wen Xuan’s face twitched. “I ate all the Tai Sui left from Grandpa.”
Wen Xuan was a zombie, but he looked more human than undead. His skin was pale rather than ghastly, and his eyes weren’t dark red. Only upon closer inspection could one see a hint of red deep within his pupils. He could still talk, although his voice was hoarse.
If he consumed the remaining three-quarters of the Tai Sui to maintain this appearance, then what about Xue Ling?
This thought struck Wen Jiuze immediately. He recalled the few days since he reunited with Xue Ling, where he sometimes felt like she could understand him.
He remembered how she pretended to attack but never actually harmed him.
He recalled that she refused to eat human flesh.
Wen Jiuze slowly tightened his grip on the knife, a surge of immense excitement and hope filling his heart.
Did she still possess awareness?
He suddenly fixed a chilling gaze on Wen Xuan.
If Xue Ling ate Wen Xuan, could she become like him?
No, he didn’t need her to return to being human. He only needed her to remember him. Being a zombie was fine as long as she still had her memories.
“Hahaha.”
After a moment of silence, Wen Xuan heard Wen Jiuze let out a low laugh. He kept laughing for a while, covering his face with one hand to hide his expression.
Wen Xuan was left wondering why he was laughing for no reason, feeling a chill run down his spine as he questioned his sanity.
“Knock, knock.”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and a young woman’s voice called out, “Brother Xuan, are you laughing? What are you doing so late at night?”
Recognizing the voice as that of his cousin Wen Xiang, Wen Xuan’s eyes suddenly filled with the light of desperation, and he opened his mouth to call for help.
Wen Jiuze stopped laughing, pointing the knife at his mouth, and asked, “Do you want your identity as a zombie exposed?”
Wen Xuan froze.
For the past three years, he didn’t dare let anyone know that he had turned into a zombie, and tried his best to conceal his abnormality.
He was not stupid. He knew what would happen if others knew about his special situation, so he told others that he was sick and reduced contact with everyone.
If Wen Xiang found out…
Wen Jiuze could see his expression and knew what he was thinking. He stood up and walked to the door.
Outside, Wen Xiang was puzzled. Her cousin had been acting strangely for years, always showing a gloomy face, his complexion pale like plaster. But today, he seemed so cheerful, and his laughter sounded oddly familiar.
The door swung open, and before she could call out to her cousin, her mouth was covered, and she was pulled into the room with great force.
“Mm!!!”
Wen Xiang’s eyes widened as she was tossed beside Wen Xuan, her hands bound.
Wen Xiang was the half-sister of Wen Jiuze. She had an identical twin sister, Wen Yi.
Wen Xuan disliked Wen Jiuze because his presence threatened his status. Wen Xiang’s hatred for Wen Jiuze stemmed purely from her disdain for the illegitimate child of her father.
Aside from the older Wen Yi, Wen Xiang and Wen Xuan had often bullied Wen Jiuze.
On the first day Wen Jiuze entered the Wen family, Wen Xiang had pushed him down the stairs, causing him to bleed from his head.
Having a common target for bullying had united these cousins, making their bond even closer than that of siblings.
“Wen Xiang, you’re just in time. I have something to ask you.”
“Pah! Bastard, why didn’t you die outside? How dare you come back!” Wen Xiang, not understanding the situation, immediately began to curse as she always did.
Wen Jiuze reacted without a hint of offense, still smiling. He turned to Wen Xuan and asked, “What do you think? If your cousin finds out that you’re a zombie, will she tell everyone about it?”
Wen Xuan twitched uncontrollably. Wen Xiang noticed something was off and looked at the two of them, especially her cousin Wen Xuan.
She gasped, “What? Zombies? How is that possible? When did Brother Xuan become a zombie? How could he be a zombie?”
But her sharp eyes had already spotted Wen Xuan’s missing ear and the coagulated dark red blood, as well as the terrifying fangs that had slipped out when he faced Wen Jiuze’s threat.
Wen Xiang was frightened and immediately stepped back from Wen Xuan.
This sheltered young lady, who had lived a comfortable life in a castle even after the apocalypse, was left in shock by the unfolding events. Her gaze swept over the crushed flesh on the ground, and she even appeared ready to vomit.
Wen Jiuze patted her cheek, “Let me ask you something. Do you know where the Tai Sui from the Wen family is?”
Although Wen Xuan claimed to have consumed the remaining Tai Sui, Wen Jiuze didn’t quite believe that Wen Xuan would tell the truth.
Wen Xiang’s expression changed, her eyes revealing her unease. “What? I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. Why would the Tai Sui disappearing matter to me?”
Wen Jiuze: “…”
Wen Xiang has always been simple-minded, lacking any scheming or cunning. Even her malice is straightforward, and her thoughts are clear on her face, making her seem much more foolish than her sister.
“You seem to know about the Tai Sui. Don’t want to talk?” Wen Jiuze pulled her back to Wen Xuan’s side. “You two siblings are really alike. You both won’t cry until you see the coffin.”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll stuff you into his mouth.”
Seeing how close her neck was getting to her cousin’s pale face and fangs, Wen Xiang felt a rush of fear. Her mind went blank, and she had no idea what she was saying. It was only when Wen Jiuze tugged her that she regained her senses.
“Speak.”
Wen Xiang glanced at Wen Xuan, hesitating slightly. She moved her lips but only spoke up when Wen Jiuze threatened to take action again. “I only know that after Grandpa died, my sister took the Tai Sui!”
When her sister took the Tai Suii during the chaos, she had asked Wen Xiang if she wanted to leave with her. However, Wen Xiang was too scared; it was too chaotic outside. What would she do if something happened? So her sister left alone and hadn’t returned in three years.
Later, when their second uncle asked about the Tai Sui, she remained silent, relieved that he didn’t pursue the matter.
The room fell silent for a while, and Wen Jiuze’s smile vanished.
The good mood that had stemmed from guessing that Xue Ling still had some awareness faded away.
He suddenly tightened his grip around their necks and coldly said, “Your stories don’t match. So who is lying to me?”
Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Ayalee[Translator]
Hi there! Aya here 🌸 If you're enjoying my translations, feel free to treat me to a Ko-fi—it would absolutely make my day! ☕💖 Thank you for your support! 。˚🐈⬛.𖥔 ݁ ˖