Chapter 209: Death Cycle (VII)

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Chapter 209: Death Cycle (VII)

A makeover starts from the head.

Shang Ke had no idea how long it had been since Di Kui last washed his hair. The strands had clumped together into thick locks, making his head look almost like an octopus. Shang Ke had even prepared himself to pick out lice while washing it, only to discover that there were none. Apparently, not even lice could survive on the Zombie King…

Shang Ke patiently washed and combed his hair smooth with… expired shampoo. He could hardly help it; most daily necessities scavenged from abandoned towns were already past their expiration dates. Fortunately, the products of this era were made to last. The shampoo was expired, but it still worked, so Shang Ke used it on him without the slightest guilt.

Di Kui’s hair was naturally thick and fluffy. Shang Ke trimmed it into a slightly asymmetrical, medium-short cut that softened his features without diminishing his masculinity.

Once the hairstyle was finished, it was time for skin care—or perhaps “makeup” would be more accurate. Di Kui’s muscles were hard, his pale skin mottled with bluish-gray livor, and his lips were a dark purple. When he neither spoke nor moved, he looked no different from an actual corpse.

Over the next several days, Shang Ke scavenged a large assortment of cosmetics from various shopping centers. Naturally, those were expired too.

He first scrubbed Di Kui clean from head to toe, then began applying foundation to his face, neck, upper body, and limbs. The foundation was waterproof and could only be removed with a special cleanser. In theory, it could last for seven days, though ordinary humans usually removed it within two to avoid damaging their skin. Di Kui, of course, did not have that problem.

Di Kui lay on the bed, watching Shang Ke from close range as he let him spread cosmetics all over his body. A peculiar light flickered in those golden eyes.

Finally, Shang Ke took out a tube of lip balm and swept it across Di Kui’s lips. Di Kui apparently mistook it for food, opened his mouth, and bit off the balm.

“You can’t eat that!” Shang Ke was too late to stop him. He could only stare in horror, afraid the Zombie King might suddenly fly into a rage and swat him dead.

Di Kui chewed a few times, then expressionlessly… swallowed it.

Shang Ke fell silent for a moment. “…How did it taste?”

“Awful.”

Good. At least your sense of taste is still within the bounds of biology.

For some reason, Shang Ke felt relieved. He took out another tube and warned him, “This goes on your lips. It moisturizes them and makes the color look more natural.”

Di Kui’s gaze drifted unconsciously to Shang Ke’s lips. They were moist, full, and vividly red—rather appetizing, in fact.

Shang Ke leaned closer. His warm breath brushed Di Kui’s cheek, and the Zombie King’s heartbeat suddenly became irregular.

After Shang Ke finished applying the balm and started to straighten, Di Kui abruptly caught the back of his head, lifted his own head, and bit down on Shang Ke’s lips. Blood immediately welled between their mouths and slowly flowed into Di Kui’s.

Still bent over him, Shang Ke could only watch helplessly as Di Kui gnawed on his lips—and “gnawed” was absolutely the right word.

To save his lips, Shang Ke cupped Di Kui’s face and used his tongue to coax the brutal biting into gentler licking and kissing. His head was still in Di Kui’s hand; struggling would only invite disaster. The safest option was to guide him along with the momentum as gently as possible.

The lesson quickly produced results. Di Kui gradually eased his strength and, as though discovering a new game, began chasing Shang Ke’s lips and tongue with obvious interest.

At first, Di Kui had merely thought Shang Ke suddenly looked delicious. Yet the entanglement of lips and tongues turned out to possess a pleasure of its own, one he quickly found difficult to stop. As the kiss deepened, a scorching heat seemed to ignite inside him, and his eyes grew unusually bright.

Just as he eagerly tried to go further, he abruptly stopped.

Blood began to run from between their still-joined lips.

The pain on Shang Ke’s face finally made Di Kui release him. He simply watched in silence.

Shang Ke covered his mouth and took a step back.

A certain Zombie King had just bitten off his tongue… Shang Ke had never experienced such a vicious kiss in his life!

No wonder this guy had no friends! One kiss and he bit off someone’s tongue—if they ever had sex, wouldn’t he outright kill his partner?! Shang Ke could only pray that this fellow was not his man. Otherwise, his future would truly be a life-and-death ordeal in every sense of the phrase.

Shang Ke’s body could heal itself, but injuries sustained while he was alive repaired more slowly. It took an entire day for his tongue to grow back. The one consolation was that, with the Zombie King at his side, he no longer had to worry about being eaten by other zombies.

As for where the severed half of his tongue had gone, he had absolutely no desire to know!

Four days later, Shang Ke finally managed to make Di Kui look human. His fluffy short hair slanted across one side of his face, and his newly bronzed skin looked flawless. Blade-sharp brows framed a piercing gaze, while his full lips gave him a touch of sensual arrogance. He still wore nothing beneath his black trench coat, leaving his powerful chest fully exposed. Black leather pants, a broad silver-gray belt, and dark brown boots completed the look. Two words summed him up perfectly: cool and handsome.

As the finishing touch, Shang Ke put a pair of sunglasses on him to hide his unusually colored eyes. Just like that, the terrifying Zombie King had been transformed into a human-looking man. Shang Ke was confident that as long as Di Kui did not go berserk, even Huo Xuan might not recognize what he was at first glance.

Even after the makeover, however, Shang Ke had no intention of taking him into a crowd. Di Kui could maim or kill Shang Ke himself despite spending every day with him; strangers who meant nothing to him would fare even worse.

During this time, Shang Ke also made an unexpected discovery: he had finally found a food that Di Kui could grudgingly accept—milk!

That was right. Milk. Shang Ke had happened across a human transport convoy and traded with them for a variety of ingredients, milk among them. He had originally planned to use it in a shrimp dish, but casually gave Di Kui a taste. The Zombie King drained it all and even seemed to want more.

Shang Ke nearly wept with joy and immediately moved dairy products to the top of his research menu. Until he figured out something better, he could at least keep the Zombie King supplied with milk. He even equipped Di Kui with an exquisitely made baby bottle.

Recently, the Zombie King’s favorite pastime was kissing Shang Ke after finishing his milk. After repeated practice, he could finally sustain a ten-minute heated kiss without biting Shang Ke’s tongue off. Shang Ke’s lips still ended up split afterward, but compared with losing his tongue, that was practically revolutionary progress.

Before they knew it, one human and one zombie had spent more than a month together in relative “harmony.” They wandered through abandoned cities and remote outskirts, occasionally encountering humans without causing any uncontrollable bloodshed.

Shang Ke had deliberately avoided survivor settlements, but there were only so many places left to live. In the second month, they entered a small protected base to replenish their supplies. The base primarily served as a temporary stop for human mercenaries, offering supplies, hired manpower, cargo transport, and similar services.

Shang Ke walked through the bustling streets with Di Kui beside him, surrounded by humans coming and going.

Di Kui wore sunglasses, hiding his expression, but his relaxed stride suggested that he was in a decent mood. No one noticed anything unusual about him. At most, some vaguely sensed that he was powerful and could not help glancing at him a few extra times.

Not daring to linger, Shang Ke quickly found the exchange center and traded spirit crystals for supplies, chiefly food and transportation.

They had not originally needed a vehicle, but the sheer amount of milk they were buying made a large cargo truck unavoidable.

While waiting for the supplies to be prepared, Shang Ke suddenly heard someone mention “Huo Xuan.” His attention sharpened at once. The two speakers were keeping their voices low, but with his mental power fully concentrated, Shang Ke’s senses were extraordinarily keen.

“Are you serious? Boss Huo is here?” one mercenary whispered, unable to hide his excitement. “What would bring him all the way out here?”

This small base was in an out-of-the-way location. As the person who controlled the central main base, Huo Xuan would never appear here without a reason.

“I heard he’s here to deal with a powerful General-class zombie. That thing has already killed quite a few experts.” The other mercenary glanced around warily before lowering his voice. “It’s still confidential, so don’t spread it around. Come sign up for Shadowmoon’s recruitment with me later. Boss Huo is traveling with their team.”

The first mercenary nodded repeatedly, his face glowing with excitement and admiration.

Huo Xuan was here too?

Shang Ke’s heart leaped. He had planned to leave as soon as they finished restocking, but the news immediately changed his mind. He would stay one more night—at the very least, he wanted to see Huo Xuan once.

Di Kui noticed the change in his emotions and turned to look at him.

Shang Ke composed himself and asked, “Would it be all right if we stayed here tonight?”

Di Kui gave a noncommittal nod.

Shang Ke had always been composed. Even when facing death, he rarely became visibly excited, yet just now his emotions had fluctuated sharply. What had caught his attention? Was it that man called “Boss Huo”?

Di Kui did not like the feeling. He had not even met “Boss Huo” yet, but the man had already been placed firmly on his blacklist.

Once the supplies were ready, Shang Ke left the exchange center with Di Kui and headed toward the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group’s recruitment site.

Shadowmoon was one of the ten major mercenary groups on Planet Gulan, ranked fifth overall, with members scattered across many regions. Its leader, Bai Mu, was a Level Eight ability user and a member of Huo Xuan’s own combat team.

There were plenty of spectators around Shadowmoon’s recruitment site, but relatively few applicants. First, most people did not know that Huo Xuan was with Shadowmoon. Second, the minimum requirement for recruits was Level Six. That condition alone eliminated two-thirds of the ability users in the base.

Shang Ke searched the area but saw no one who resembled Huo Xuan. That made sense. If this was a secret operation, Huo Xuan was hardly going to expose himself casually in public.

As humanity’s great hero, Huo Xuan had long since become a household name. He was only thirty-three this year. At fifteen, he became a Level Seven ability user; at seventeen, he obtained the Bright Realm world-essence shard; at eighteen, he established the first survivor base. For more than a decade afterward, he devoted himself to building bases and gathering talent, eventually creating the present network that served as a powerful shield for humanity.

After finding out where Shadowmoon was lodging, Shang Ke left the recruitment site.

He soon discovered that Shadowmoon had reserved an entire building and outsiders could not stay there. Shang Ke therefore chose accommodations nearby and settled in to wait for an opportunity.

With all his attention fixed on Huo Xuan, Shang Ke completely failed to notice that a certain Zombie King’s mood was growing worse and worse…

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