Chapter 35

Xue Ling turned into a zombie very early on.

While others were horrified by zombies, her horror came from realizing she had become one herself.

Her skin took on a blueish hue, making the red of her blood vessels starkly visible. Her eyes turned dark red, and she could no longer feel her pulse or heartbeat.

Observing herself in the mirror for a long time, she finally glanced out the window and, to her dismay, realized she looked exactly like the zombies chasing and biting people outside!

She wanted to scream to release her emotions, but all that came out was an ugly zombie roar.

Gradually, hunger set in—not for the snacks or rice at home, but for something darker. When she heard the young couple next door arguing, an urge to bite them flared up within her.

The outside world was already descending into chaos, and Xue Ling kept herself hidden at home.

People knocked on doors, advising everyone to stay inside to avoid spreading the infection. Supplies were being distributed, but Xue Ling didn’t dare to open her door.

Discovering she’d turned into a zombie, she found herself in sheer panic. Yet, after the initial fear and worry, her first instinct was to look for her family.

Her uncle, aunt, and cousin should still be at home.

Thankfully, the zombies outside ignored her, treating her as one of their own. Most people were still barricaded indoors, so the roads were relatively clear, allowing her to reach her uncle’s home across the city.

Hesitating outside the familiar building, she was surprised to see her mother there.

She had been in contact with her stepfather by phone before the chaos occurred, and she was still in the next city.

Had she come to pick her up?

Xue Ling felt a mix of joy and fear. She stayed hidden by the door, waiting until her mother walked out alone before slowly approaching.

The moment her mother saw her clearly, she froze, eyes wide with shock. Tears welled up as she muttered Xue Ling’s name.

Xue Ling wanted to cry, too. She took a few steps forward, attempting to call her mother, but the sound that escaped was only a zombie’s groan.

The inhuman cry snapped her mother out of her trance. Backing away in terror, her mother screamed.

“Ah!”

The scream brought her uncle and stepfather out of the house.

Her stepfather, a former truck driver, was a dark-skinned, good-natured man who’d given Xue Ling a generous red envelope when he married her mother.

Now, he hurried out with a stick, and at first sight of her, he raised it and swung.

The stick sliced through the air with a whistling sound, powerful enough to crush a skull. Xue Ling dodged, but it still clipped the back of her head.

He was ready to strike again, but her mother, panicking, rushed forward to grab him.

“Don’t hit her! Don’t hit her!” she cried. “That’s Lingling… That’s Lingling, my daughter!”

His second swing was halted as her mother clung to him, and chaos erupted behind them.

Her uncle questioned in disbelief. Her aunt was petrified, and her cousin began to cry.

Their grief and terror were palpable, and they urged her mother to go inside and shut the door.

Xue Ling squatted in a corner downstairs, listening to their cries for a long time.

She reasoned with herself, trying to understand.

Seeing a zombie at the door, anyone’s first reaction would be to defend themselves. It was natural.

She told herself that if she were still human, she’d be frightened by the sight of an ugly zombie too. It was an instinctive reaction.

On her way over, she’d thought of how to show her uncle and the others that she still had reason and was different from the other zombies.

But the fear in her mother’s eyes and the hit from her stepfather’s stick snapped her back to reality.

Regardless of whether she retained human thoughts or reason, and no matter how she promised not to harm anyone, she would never be able to live alongside her loved ones again.

That night, she squatted outside all night. The following day, her uncle’s family, mother, and stepfather drove away from Yu City.

They were heading to a small county in the neighboring city. Her stepfather’s hometown was in a rural area with fewer people, making it safer than chaotic Yu City. His son, daughter, and their families were also there.

Xue Ling watched as their car disappeared into the distance, then rose to her feet and followed after it had vanished from view.

Suddenly, she felt lost.

She thought about returning to her rented apartment, where she’d lived for over two years.

But when she got there, the building was in chaos, and someone had taken refuge in her room. She couldn’t go back and was left wandering downstairs.

Her family was gone, and though she had a few friends, their bonds weren’t deep. They probably wouldn’t want to see her in her current state.

As for her ex… they’d broken up not long ago.

At first, she hadn’t planned on seeking out Wen Jiuze, but now she had nowhere else to go.

When a madman set her building on fire, she finally decided to leave Yu City.

Leaving meant finding a destination, didn’t it?

She thought of Wen Jiuze’s hometown, Anxi City. He and Wen Xuan had recently returned there.

Xue Ling resolved to go to Anxi City to find Wen Jiuze. It wasn’t for any profound reason—she was still hurt by their abrupt breakup and felt wronged by her family’s rejection.

So she decided, without reason, to unleash her pent-up anger on Wen Jiuze, head to Anxi City, and bite him, turning him into a zombie too!

With a vengeful mindset, she had set off in anger.

Yet, the journey was long and grueling. By the time she finally reached Anxi City, her determination to find Wen Jiuze had faded, and she simply lay down in a park instead. Ironically, just when she decided she didn’t want to see him, Wen Jiuze appeared before her.

At that moment, she was filled with irritation and wished he would disappear quickly. She couldn’t bear to see the person who had once been closest to her looking at her with fear and disgust again.

From the beginning, Xue Ling had little hope. Even her own family was afraid of her. How could she expect anything different from an ex-boyfriend who had ended things with her? When she fell among a swarm of zombies, she thought, I’m not afraid, if you dare, just kill me, just shoot me.

But Wen Jiuze didn’t. His attitude remained as nonchalant as ever. With a smirk, he teased, “I didn’t even hit you. Why did you fall?”

As if a stranded boat had drifted ashore, although stuck on a reef, she felt an odd sense of calmness. 

It had been more than three years since Xue Ling became a zombie and over two months since she reunited with Wen Jiuze. Now, seeing her loved ones again, she couldn’t help but feel a swirl of complicated emotions.

After she had “cried” her way through a bottle of water, Wen Jiuze wiped her face with a towel, cleaned the wet seat, and pulled her close, lying back on the bench. He deliberately made remarks that earned him a few playful slaps.

She finally calmed down, clinging to the holes she had torn in his clothes.

“Are you done with being sad?” he asked softly. “If you are, can you answer a question for me?”

Wen Jiuze’s warmth felt like a brief rainbow after a storm—a fleeting, illusory moment that made her question its reality.

“I thought you went to Anxi City before turning into a zombie, but your mother told me you were already like this in Yu City three years ago. So, did you come to Anxi City to find me after becoming a zombie?”

Xue Ling: “…”

He already knew the answer, so why was he asking?

He didn’t wait for a response and instead asked, “How long did it take you to get here? A year? A year and a half?”

After a few wrong guesses, she reluctantly told him it took over two years, though she couldn’t remember the exact length. Traveling from Anxi City to Yu City had taken them more than two months by car. Without navigation, they got lost frequently, and took numerous detours around collapsed roads, crowded zombie areas, and human barricades. Every night, they searched for safe places to rest, scrounged for gas, and handled constant emergencies.

Walking would have been even harder. Xue Ling had nearly lost her way on the grasslands, trying to follow railroad tracks only to find large sections buried by landslides. It was a miracle she had made it to Anxi City in over two years.

“It’s amazing that you found Anxi City,” Wen Jiuze praised.

Xue Ling: “…”

Instead of feeling proud, she was mildly annoyed.

Wen Jiuze then asked, “Did you come here to get back together?”

The urge to cry was gone. Instead, she wanted to laugh mockingly.

Get back together? You’re dreaming—I came here for revenge!

Wen Jiuze chuckled. “You went through all this to find me, yet you didn’t bite me when you saw me. You must really care about me.”

Xue Ling: “…”

This dog’s memory shouldn’t be this bad, right?

Didn’t she try to bite him when they first met? She had failed because of his quick reflexes. He tied her up so tightly she couldn’t break free, yet he acted like it never happened.

Later that afternoon, as Wen Jiuze was packing to leave by the car, Ms. Xue Pingying approached him again, holding a young girl by the hand.

“I didn’t get your name earlier. Are you planning to stay at the Xiu’an Base?” she asked.

He paused, smiled, and replied, “My name is Wen Jiuze, and I’ll be leaving this afternoon.”

Looking at the little girl in her arms, he asked, “Who is this child?”

Xue Pingying gently patted the shy girl and explained, “This is my stepdaughter’s daughter. Her father passed away, and her mother works every day, so I take care of her.”

Every family had suffered loss, and Xue Pingying, who had teared up at her daughter’s name that morning, seemed more composed now. After all, much time had passed since her daughter’s death.

But it had been so long since anyone had mentioned her daughter to her that Xue Pingying felt the sudden urge to share.

“She’s called Tiantian—a sweet and obedient child, just like my Lingling used to be. Lingling was always quiet and well-behaved, never causing trouble. I remember how I’d hold her, and she’d sit so calmly.”

“She was mature for her age and even brought me an umbrella once,” she added.

Wen Jiuze listened intently by the car window, while Xue Ling quietly listened behind him, recalling the memory herself. She had only lived with her uncle for a year, and during a summer break, she’d tearfully called her mother, saying she missed her and wanted to live together.

Her mother had cried too and took the first train to bring her back. They stayed together for that summer, promising to return to her uncle’s afterward.

Her mother’s single-room apartment on the rooftop was hot and cramped, with no air conditioning, just a fan. It was only after Xue Ling went there that she installed an air conditioner.

While she was at work, Xue Ling would stay in the room alone, with countless instructions not to touch knives, plugs, or hot water. Her mother would rush back at noon to check on her, then hurry back to work.

Once, when it was time to get off work, it rained heavily. Xue Ling didn’t wait for her mother to come back, so she went downstairs with an umbrella. But she didn’t know where to go after going downstairs, so she had to sit downstairs and wait for her.

“I waited until the rain was about to stop before returning home. I saw Lingling waiting for me downstairs with an umbrella. As soon as she saw me, she started crying and said, ‘Mom, a dog bit me.’ I looked over and saw a puppy the size of a palm biting her trouser leg.” 

Xue Pingying smiled at the memory.

Even years later, she could still smile thinking about it, though at the time, she was too young and full of worry to feel amused. She was simply scared and immediately scolded her daughter, forbidding her from going downstairs alone.

She often heard stories of children disappearing, and she lived in constant fear that if she lost sight of her child, someone might take them.

Wen Jiuze suddenly asked, “Was Xue Ling afraid of dogs when she was little?”

Xue Pingying paused for a moment. “No, she loved puppies. That day, the puppy was only tugging at her pants, but she was startled. Still, she told me the puppy didn’t bite on purpose, it was just hungry. Afterward, whenever I took her downstairs, she’d look for that puppy to play with.”

As she shared this story, she held the little girl named Tiantian in her arms. After a while, feeling tired, she put her down.

Tiantian, oblivious to the adults’ conversation, wandered on the ground and suddenly reached out to grab a bug she spotted.

Xue Pingying quickly intervened, saying, “Tiantian, don’t catch insects. They will bite you.”

With a gentle sigh, she lifted the child again and said with a smile, “Kids just love these little critters. They’re not scared at all. My Lingling was the same. When she was little, she even caught a frog and kissed it.”

Wen Jiuze looked puzzled. “She caught… and kissed a frog?”