Chapter 208: Death Cycle (VI)

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Chapter 208: Death Cycle (VI)

Night was when zombies were most active, so naturally Song Bin and the others did not risk traveling. Instead, they chose a relatively secluded building in which to spend the night.

As Shang Ke approached the building, he considered how he might win their trust. After all, he had only told them that afternoon that he would not travel with them, yet now he had followed them here at night and happened to choose the very same building for shelter.

The building had more than ten floors, and Song Bin’s group was on the third. Shang Ke could hardly charge upstairs to find them, so he chose a room on the second floor and planned to “run into” them after daybreak.

Surely Di Kui could tolerate waiting for one night.

However, the mercenaries had already detected Shang Ke the moment he stepped into the building. A Level Eight ability user’s perception was extraordinary; no living creature within its range could escape Song Bin’s notice.

To Song Bin’s senses, Shang Ke was an ordinary human without any ability, so he could not identify him through an ability’s rank or nature. Yet although Shang Ke appeared ordinary, Song Bin did not lower his guard. An ordinary person appearing alone in a place like this was abnormal in itself.

“Tu Bo, go take a look,” Song Bin ordered quietly, addressing a tall, thin man in black standing in the corner. Tu Bo nodded and silently melted into the darkness.

There was not a trace of artificial light in the building. Only faint starlight entered through the windows, making the surrounding darkness seem even deeper.

Tu Bo merged himself with the shadows and crept toward Shang Ke’s room. He was the best in the team at concealing his presence; even Song Bin was inferior to him in that respect. Tonight, however, he had encountered someone better.

In the darkness, a pair of violet eyes gleamed faintly, watching Tu Bo’s every movement with cold detachment. Just as he was about to slip into Shang Ke’s room, a chill touched his neck. His field of vision tilted, and the world suddenly turned upside down. In the final instant before consciousness vanished, Tu Bo understood what had happened—but he no longer had the ability to think about it.

A severed head rolled more than ten meters across the floor, making a series of dull, hollow sounds that were especially distinct in the silent night.

Shang Ke, separated from the scene by only one door, naturally heard it. Song Bin on the third floor heard it as well.

The instant Shang Ke opened his door, an unseen force dragged Tu Bo’s headless corpse into the darkness and made it disappear without a trace.

The first thing Shang Ke noticed was the blood on the floor. Following the spray pattern, he soon found a still-dripping human head in the corner.

The head was here, but there was no body nearby. Only a few seconds had passed between the sound of the head hitting the floor and Shang Ke opening his door. The only culprit he could think of who was capable of decapitating someone and dragging the corpse away that quickly was the little zombie.

The dead man was probably one of the mercenaries. They had detected Shang Ke and sent someone to investigate, only for him to become the little zombie’s meal.

A General-class zombie possessed strength comparable to a human Level Eight ability user. Among these mercenaries, no one except Song Bin was likely to be a match for the little zombie.

Shang Ke frowned. He had been so focused on guarding against Di Kui that he had forgotten about the violet-eyed General-class zombie following them. Compared with the Zombie King, who possessed self-control, the little zombie with her incomplete intelligence had no such restraint.

While he was thinking, Shang Ke suddenly sensed people approaching. He turned and saw Song Bin and the others.

“You?” Song Bin’s expression darkened. “Why are you here? What happened just now?”

“I don’t know. I heard a noise and opened the door to check, but I didn’t see anyone.” Shang Ke suppressed the golden light in his eyes and did not reveal that he could see in the dark.

Song Bin stared at him with obvious doubt and asked again, “Why are you here?”

“We happened to be going the same way.”

The bald man beside him snorted. “So you just happened to ‘go the same way’ all the way into the same building as us?”

“Not exactly.” Shang Ke answered calmly. “I saw your vehicles and guessed you were sheltering here, so I chose this building too.”

Song Bin reluctantly accepted the explanation. “You really didn’t see anything? Then what was that sound just now?”

Before Shang Ke could answer, the girl beside Song Bin let out a frightened gasp and pointed toward the corner with a trembling hand. “Brother Bin, l-look.”

Song Bin and the others followed her finger. A round object lay quietly in the dark corner. Those with better eyesight quickly recognized it as Tu Bo’s severed head.

Their expressions changed at once. Shock and anger appeared on their faces, followed almost immediately by suspicious looks directed at Shang Ke.

Shang Ke smiled bitterly to himself. A moment ago he had still been wondering how to earn their trust. Wonderful. They had barely met and something like this had already happened.

“It wasn’t him,” Song Bin suddenly said. “The noise we heard was probably Tu Bo’s head hitting the floor. The door opened afterward, and the blood is only outside the room. That means Tu Bo was killed before he ever made it through the doorway.”

The bald man remained suspicious. “What if this brat had left the door open and only closed it after killing Tu Bo?”

“If that were the case, the blood would have sprayed into the room or onto him, not just across the outside of the door.”

Shang Ke gave Song Bin another look. The man was calm—perhaps almost too calm. Faced with a companion’s death, he was still able to analyze the scene so rationally.

“Then what did this…?” The others basically accepted Song Bin’s reasoning. Their hostility eased a little, though they still felt no goodwill toward Shang Ke. In their minds, if not for him, their companion would not have died.

“Everyone stay alert. I suspect a powerful zombie is hiding somewhere in this building.” Song Bin’s expression was grim. What disturbed him most was that he had not sensed the zombie’s presence at all.

“You should stay with us too.” Song Bin fixed his eyes on Shang Ke. The words sounded like a suggestion, but his tone left little room for refusal.

Shang Ke nodded and did not object. If he stayed nearby, the little zombie might spare them. After all, she had drunk quite a lot of his blood along the way.

“Brother Bin, why are you bringing that kid with us?” the bald man asked quietly after they returned to the room.

Song Bin glanced at Shang Ke, who was sitting not far away. “He’s not simple.”

There was no trace of an ability user about him, yet he could travel alone through territory overrun with zombies. In an environment like this, everyone—including Song Bin himself—remained constantly on high alert, while Shang Ke stayed calm and composed. That kind of ease did not belong to an ordinary person.

After those four words, Song Bin said nothing more.

No one slept that night. The dead-silent room felt oppressively tense. Outside, zombie cries rose and fell without end, adding a layer of fear and cold dread to the already stifling atmosphere.

Then Shang Ke suddenly felt an arm slide around his neck. A small head appeared over his right shoulder—the violet-eyed little zombie.

Shang Ke’s entire body went rigid, and he forced himself not to make a sound. He might be brave, but even he could not remain completely unmoved by that kind of sudden fright.

Blood stained the corner of the little zombie’s mouth, and the claw resting on his shoulder was slick with it. Worse, she kept wiping it on his clothes!

Shang Ke did his best to hide the little zombie behind himself—not to protect her, but to keep anyone else from seeing her. Once she was discovered, a bloody battle would be unavoidable. He knew exactly how strong she was; if they truly fought, even Song Bin might not survive. Night belonged to the zombies, and the sound of combat would inevitably draw still more of them.

Shang Ke had no idea what had gotten into the little zombie. She kept scratching and tugging at his back, and he could faintly hear fabric tearing. At this rate, she was going to scratch through to his skin. If she drew blood, the situation would become catastrophic.

Fortunately, the little zombie retained just enough restraint not to injure him. She merely shredded the back of his shirt as though venting her temper. Her claws were so sharp that cutting cloth made very little sound; otherwise, Shang Ke could never have hidden what she was doing.

Apparently satisfied after making enough trouble, the little zombie slipped away as silently as she had arrived.

Shang Ke secretly breathed a sigh of relief, opened his backpack, and reached for a coat.

“What are you doing?” The bald man nearby stared at him suspiciously and questioned him in a low voice.

“A little cold. I’m putting on another layer.” Shang Ke answered without hurry.

The bald man gave a cold snort, but his guarded gaze never left Shang Ke.

Shang Ke ignored him, put on the coat, and covered the tears and bloodstains on his shirt.

The group endured a sleepless night in fear, completely unaware that death itself had brushed past them.

The next morning they searched the building again, but still could not find Tu Bo’s body. In the end, they found a nearby place and buried only his head.

Shang Ke felt that these people were decent at heart. Unfortunately, they lived in a dangerous post-apocalyptic world where at any moment they might become zombies themselves or be devoured by one.

Shang Ke bore some responsibility for Tu Bo’s death, but he also understood that even without him, the outcome might not have been any better. The moment the group encountered him and asked to trade for food, they had already drawn danger to themselves.

Before setting out, Song Bin asked Shang Ke, “Are you coming with us?”

For the sake of all your lives, we’d better keep our distance.

“No.” Shang Ke declined with a smile, then asked, “Can I trade you some spirit crystals for a few things?” Spirit crystals formed inside high-rank zombies. They could strengthen an ability user and were therefore extremely valuable.

“What do you want in exchange?”

“Food and different kinds of seasonings.”

Song Bin froze, not expecting him to ask for something like that. Five years earlier, food really had been precious. But since Huo Xuan established the survivor bases, agricultural production had gradually returned to normal. Humanity had gone from severe shortages to basic self-sufficiency, and compared with spirit crystals, ordinary food was now worth far less.

Then Song Bin remembered that Shang Ke probably intended to remain in zombie territory for some time. Restocking food made sense.

Song Bin agreed readily. When he met a lone wanderer capable of traveling through zombie territory, his preference was generally to make a friend rather than an enemy.

The trade went smoothly. Shang Ke chose only common supplies, worth far less than the spirit crystals he gave them.

Watching Song Bin’s group leave, Shang Ke silently wished them a safe journey, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

He wanted very badly to return to the base with them, but he could not leave—not yet.

Among the ruins, Di Kui sat atop a collapsed wall and watched the morning sun rise along the horizon. Sunlight fell over him, outlining a solitary, coldly arrogant silhouette.

Soft footsteps approached from behind. Di Kui turned, and the familiar figure immediately entered his empty field of vision.

In truth, when Shang Ke first asked to make contact with the other humans, Di Kui had assumed he meant to use the opportunity to escape.

In his mind, he gave Shang Ke three hours. If Shang Ke failed to return within three hours, he would kill the entire group. For reasons he could not explain, three hours became five, and five became seven.

By dawn, Di Kui had decided the human would not come back. No human wanted to stay with a zombie, and no zombie wanted to stay with the Zombie King.

And yet the human returned. He came back to Di Kui’s side.

Shang Ke walked toward him at an easy pace, stopped in front of him, and smiled gently. “I’m back.”

At that moment, Di Kui felt as though something had been poured into the empty place inside his chest.

“Did you get food?” Di Kui asked.

“Mm. A lot.” Shang Ke patted his bag.

“Too slow. Next time, just kill them.”

Shang Ke: “…Why are you so obsessed with killing people?”

“If I don’t kill them, they’ll kill me.” Di Kui merely stated a fact.

Shang Ke stared at him for a moment, then put on an extremely serious expression. “I think that’s because you look a little too… unconventional. You transcend normal human standards of beauty, so the moment people see you, they can’t help trembling and fighting back. They don’t actually want to. It’s an involuntary reaction.”

Di Kui touched his own face, visibly puzzled.

Shang Ke continued the brainwashing. “This unkempt look of yours may be very grounded and natural, but it isn’t elegant or magnificent enough.”

Di Kui had sharply defined features and an intimidating gaze. On his upper body he wore only a worn-out trench coat, leaving his firm chest and lean waist exposed. Tight leather trousers outlined long, powerful legs below. He wore no shoes, and his steps made almost no sound.

If one ignored the bluish-gray corpse mottling that covered his skin, he could almost pass for a fit, strikingly handsome human man with a cold temperament.

“What should I do… to become elegant and magnificent?” Di Kui asked hesitantly.

“Leave it to me!” Shang Ke answered with complete confidence. “I’ll clean you up and style you properly. Once I’m finished, I guarantee humans won’t start shouting for your death the instant they see you.”

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