CH 63

TL: Moonlit

Xiao Hen: “Civilized conversation, no physical violence, can we do that? I don’t have the ‘General’s’ defensive power, I can’t withstand your physical strength.”

Wen Qingling: “If it’s about leaving, there’s no need to talk anymore. I won’t agree.”

Xiao Hen sighed, “I promise, I’ll come back as soon as I deal with things over there, okay?”

Wen Qingling glanced at him sideways. This time he had learned his lesson and knew whom to use “come back” on. It seemed that he still needed to be taught.

Wen Qingling said firmly, “No.”

Xiao Hen: “I came to Ling City to carry out a mission. If I don’t go back there for a long time, they will definitely send someone to investigate. And there’s also Yin Cheng’s side. It’s unknown whether he’s alive or dead. If he returns alive, he will definitely cause trouble again. If he really turns into a Red-Eyed Zombie, this matter will likely be blamed on both of us.”

Wen Qingling: “So what? If humans want to go to war, I’m ready to accompany them.”

Xiao Hen: “…”

Xiao Hen: “Why make a big fuss about something that can be easily resolved?”

Wen Qingling stared at him and said, “As long as it’s your matter, it’s not a big fuss.”

Xiao Hen: “…”

Xiao Hen was once again enticed by Wen Qingling’s words.

Wen Qingling turned around and got into the car. “Anyone who dares to touch me, I will make sure they regret it.”

Just as the car door opened, Wen Qingling suddenly sensed someone outside Ling City, shouting at the top of their lungs, “Boss, are you really in Ling City? Boss, something big happened, Boss!”

Wen Qingling slammed the car door shut and rushed towards the outskirts.

Xiao Hen didn’t possess the impregnable defense of the “General” or the ability to disrupt people’s thoughts, nor did he have the “General’s” ability to create a “mountain of corpses.” However, he did possess the “General’s” power to control all zombies, teleportation, and self-healing abilities, as well as one particular ability that he found extremely useful, especially in combat—precognition.

During the fight with the “General,” Xiao Hen had already noticed that the “General” would always appear in the location where he was about to appear. It wasn’t a coincidence or the “General” seeing through his moves. It was an ability inherent to the Eighth Level Evolutionary Zombie.

He hadn’t realized it before, but just now, when Wen Qingling reached out to push him, Xiao Hen had foreseen it. However, he didn’t dodge, and to his surprise, Wen Qingling’s strength was greater than he had anticipated, resulting in his breastbone being directly broken.

Xiong Shu, a bald man over 1.8 meters tall, was crawling on top of the pickup truck. He was scared like a little chick, curled up into a ball, and his hands holding the weapon were trembling. Three zombie wolves were scattered around the car, vigilantly staring at the zombies trying to pounce on them.

Xiong Shu was about to wet himself. He had said that Ling City should not be approached. Just by looking at the density of zombies outside, could anyone still live inside Ling City? Just the thought of it made Xiong Shu feel like collapsing on the spot. If it weren’t for the three zombie wolves clearing the way, he wouldn’t have been able to make it here at all.

This was already Xiong Shu’s limit. He wouldn’t go any further. While orders were important, one’s own life was even more important!

Suddenly, Wen Qingling appeared, and Xiong Shu let out a scream. He slipped and fell from the roof of the car, and in a very ungraceful manner, he crawled and rolled forward, trying to pounce on Wen Qingling’s leg. But Wen Qingling agilely retreated, stepping on the clumsy human’s shoulder, preventing him from getting close.

When Xiao Hen appeared, he saw Xiong Shu being pinned down by Wen Qingling, still waving his arms incessantly, trying to cling to Wen Qingling’s leg, even disregarding his precious weapons.

The long knife appeared in Xiao Hen’s hand. He approached and pulled Wen Qingling away, sheathing his knife. Xiong Shu’s arms immediately went numb.

Xiao Hen had an expressionless face. “Are you awake?”

Xiong Shu gasped for breath and kept rubbing his arms. “I’m awake, I was just… just too excited. I didn’t expect the boss to really be in Ling City. There are too many zombies here, they’ve been surrounding me. I thought I would die here today, but I didn’t expect the boss to really come.”

Wen Qingling asked, “Why did you come here?”

Xiong Shu stood up from the ground, picked up his precious wooden warehouse, and said anxiously, “Something big happened, Boss. All the people you sent to transport the mutated livestock and poultry died.”

Wen Qingling’s aura sank. “What happened? Explain clearly!”

Xiong Shu felt like a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on him. His knees went weak, his chest felt tight, and even breathing was difficult. He couldn’t speak.

Xiao Hen also felt the pressure and lightly patted Wen Qingling’s back. “Don’t worry, listen to him.”

The oppressive aura dissipated, and Xiong Shu finally managed to catch his breath. “I have no idea what happened. I was helping my little brothers transport the mutated livestock and poultry. Your people were responsible for loading the vehicles. The previous trips were all normal, but when they came back on the last trip, we found blood everywhere. Your people had turned into skeletons, and their heads were smashed.”

Indeed! They were specifically targeting individuals who were alone!

“Let’s go and take a look!” Wen Qingling said as he was about to get on Xiong Shu’s pickup truck, but was stopped by Xiao Hen.

Xiao Hen: “Hold on for a moment.”

Xiao Hen asked Xiong Shu, “Have you seen any suspicious individuals nearby?”

Xiong Shu scratched his head, “Our base is not big, and almost everyone here is familiar. I haven’t noticed any suspicious people.”

Xiao Hen: “What about within the base? Did you hear any sounds of struggle or noises coming from the weapons?”

Xiong Shu shook his head, “No, nothing. After the incident, I specifically went to the base and asked around, but no one knew what had happened.”

Xiao Hen: “…”

Wen Qingling: “…”

Is this what you can find out by asking?

Wen Qingling felt that the human underling he had found might have been a dumb bear in his past life, with a dull mind. Even if the culprit were hiding within their base, he had been deterred in advance.

Xiao Hen: “Have there been any personnel missing in the base recently?”

Xiong Shu glanced at Wen Qingling, “I’m not sure about that. I don’t handle the affairs of the base. Mo Jing is in charge of those matters.”

Xiao Hen asked, “Are you going there personally?”

Wen Qingling said, “I must go.”

With the previous three individuals, the civilized zombies had already lost seven members. He couldn’t let the culprit get away.

Xiao Hen: “If you leave, what will happen here in the base? I have a feeling that things aren’t that simple.”

Wen Qingling understood what Xiao Hen meant. Xiao Hen was worried that if he left, those things would take advantage of the situation and harm the civilized zombies.

Wen Qingling said, “I’ll have the Sisters and Blood Corpse keep a close watch.”

Wen Qingling had to make a trip to the Nan Yan base. While instructing the Sister and Blood Corpse, he also sent a message to his parents, asking them to be cautious and prevent anything from taking advantage of the situation.

Jiang Lan and Wen Zheng both assured him that with their intervention, there would be no problem.

Xiao Hen knew he couldn’t persuade Wen Qingling, so he could only go with him.

The pickup truck raced all the way to the town. This round trip had wasted quite some time, which was enough for anything to happen if there was a conspiracy.

Wen Qingling didn’t go to the Nan Yan base but had Xiong Shu drive straight to the scene. Xiong Shu’s subordinates were guarding the area, huddled together in fear. Anything that moved could scare them into a ball.

When they saw the familiar pickup truck approaching, the subordinates almost cried. It was too testing for their mentality to guard such a bloody scene.

“The, the boss, you finally came back.” The subordinates approached, finally relieved.

Wen Qingling just opened the car door when he was overwhelmed by the strong smell of blood. Blood was everywhere—on the ground, on the car, on the metal cages, and even on the bodies of the mutated livestock and poultry.

The two trucks filled with mutated livestock and poultry were still there, and there were a few metal cages left on the ground that couldn’t be loaded onto the trucks. The mutated poultry inside the cages was still alive and well.

Xiao Hen got off the car and examined the scene.

Wen Qingling asked, “Where are the corpses?”

Xiong Shu said, “They’re… over there.”

Xiong Shu led Wen Qingling over to the grass on the side of the road, where four skeletons were casually thrown and piled together.

Wen Qingling coldly looked at Xiong Shu, who hurriedly waved his hands and said, “It wasn’t us. They were already like this. We didn’t touch them.”

Wen Qingling finally let him go and walked over to examine the decapitated heads. They were empty, only clean skull shells remained. Apart from the heads being pried open, the marks on the skeletons were strikingly similar to those on the three corpses.

Staring at the four skeletons, Wen Qingling remained silent for a long time.

Xiao Hen walked over and inspected the skeletons, saying, “Confirmed. From the traces at the scene, it’s another ambush.”

If it wasn’t an ambush, it would be almost impossible for four civilized zombies to be taken down by force.

Xiao Hen continued, “Moreover, the guns and the bullets are missing.”

Looking at the empty skull shells, Xiao Hen had a question, but he couldn’t ask Wen Qingling in front of Xiong Shu. He could only wait and ask later.

Wen Qingling’s spirit was low, and he turned to get in the car. “Go to the Nan Yan base.”

Xiong Shu quickly ran over to be the driver, and the others were left behind again, watching them leave with desolation.

In the Nan Yan base, Mo Jing gathered his close associates to discuss the matter. The fact that Wen Qingling’s people died in the Nan Yan base made Mo Jing worried that Wen Qingling would hold them accountable. From Wen Qingling’s attack on Tao Yan, it was evident that he had no emotional attachment to his classmates.

Tao Yan sneered, “It wasn’t us who killed them. Why should we be afraid?”

Feng Yi said, “They died here, so we will definitely be implicated.”

Tao Yan said, “We are not his lackeys. We have no obligation to guarantee anyone’s safety for him.”

Mo Jing looked at Tao Yan’s leg and asked, “How’s your injury?”

Tao Yan paused for a moment before saying, “It’s much better. The medicine we found this time is very effective.”

In small bases like theirs, there were no healing ability users. They could only rely on the medical supplies and antibiotics left over from before the apocalypse to treat their injuries and prevent infection.

Tao Yan’s leg was pierced by vines, and the injury was severe. Even with medicine, the wound couldn’t resist infection. The next day, Tao Yan developed a fever that couldn’t be suppressed by medication. The wound on his leg began to rot and fester, emitting a foul odor.

Mo Jing and the others thought Tao Yan wouldn’t make it, but later, Teacher Gao found a new medicine and increased the dosage for Tao Yan to use. Unexpectedly, Tao Yan’s fever subsided the next day, and he regained consciousness. Now he could move around, although his leg was still a bit lame.

Yang Mengyu had a different opinion. “I think we should explain it to Wen Qingling. He won’t implicate us.”

Tao Yan sneered, “Are you dreaming? Haven’t you seen how ruthless he is now? Look at the state of my leg. Who is responsible for that?!”

The pickup truck stopped only at the entrance of the Nan Yan base. Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen got off the car.

The people in the base had a deep impression of Wen Qingling. He was a ruthless killer, and they wondered why he had come back after leaving. The people entering and exiting the base were nervous and wary of Wen Qingling.

Wen Qingling’s mental energy enveloped the Nan Yan base. “Mo Jing, come out!”

Wen Qingling’s voice was not loud, but with the enhancement of his mental energy, everyone inside the base could hear it.

Mo Jing’s expression changed, and he hurriedly rushed over with his people. When he saw Wen Qingling already standing at the entrance of the compound, Mo Jing’s footsteps halted, and his gaze toward Xiao Hen became particularly complicated.

Mo Jing said, “Did you come because of the incident with your subordinates?”

Wen Qingling glanced coldly at him. “I want to inspect your base. Any objections?”

Mo Jing frowned. “Are you suspecting that someone from our base killed your people?”

Wen Qingling stared at him for two seconds. “I’m not suspecting. I’m certain that your base is involved.”

Fang Zi anxiously said, “Wen Qingling, don’t make baseless accusations!”

Yang Mengyu said, “I can also assure you that it wasn’t our base’s people. I heard those four individuals died miserably as if they were eaten by something. How could it be our doing? Clearly, they were attacked by monsters.”

Wen Qingling swept his gaze over the gathered people and spoke in a cold voice, “Can you guarantee that all of you are humans and not monsters?”

Fang Zi exploded, “What nonsense are you spouting? Who’s the monster?!”

Mo Jing stopped Fang Zi’s outburst. “Wen Qingling, what do you want to achieve?”

Wen Qingling didn’t answer but said, “Xiong Shu, where are the people I asked you to protect?”

Xiong Shu replied, “They are here, alive and well, not a single hair harmed.”

Wen Qingling asked, “Where are they?”

Xiong Shu replied, “They’re inside the base. I’ll go get them for you.”

Wen Qingling quickly scanned with his mental energy and quickly locked onto the target. “No need, I’ll go meet them myself.”

Wen Qingling lifted his foot to leave but was blocked by the surviving members of the Nan Yan base. “This is our base. Is it somewhere anyone can enter as they please? Even if you’re powerful, can you kill all of us?!”

Wen Qingling didn’t waste time with them and leaped, landing firmly on the high perimeter wall they thought was secure.

Xiao Hen followed suit, landing steadily beside Wen Qingling.

Wen Qingling glanced back at the astonished crowd before leaping into the base, heading towards Luo Zhi’s residence.

Xiao Hen stayed close to him and asked, “Did you find anything?”

Wen Qingling replied, “The human scent is too strong. It’s hard to distinguish.”

Mo Jing and the others snapped back to their senses and quickly rushed into the base, but they couldn’t find any trace of Wen Qingling and Xiao Henda.

Mo Jing said, “Go to Luo Zhi’s residence!”

The group hurriedly ran towards Luo Zhi’s residence.