Chapter 125 – Maybe She Got Eaten

Li Yalin learned her lesson and wisely avoided causing trouble for Ling Mo again. When he went downstairs, she was nowhere to be seen.

Although Advanced Zombies were tricky to deal with, Ling Mo was prepared this time, making it much harder for them to ambush him.

But the reverse was also true—when Li Yalin decided to hide, it was nearly impossible for Ling Mo to drag her out from the extremely complex environment of the teaching building.

After a brief hesitation, Ling Mo gave up on the search and left the A1 Teaching Building with Ye Lian and Xia Na.

The Mutation Zombies in this area had mostly been hunted down. The remaining stragglers no longer interested Ling Mo. It would be better to leave X City University while there was still time.

Although the map drawn by Lin Luanqiu mainly outlined the central area, she had also marked a few roads leading out of the campus.

Returning the way they came would be a long detour. After carefully studying the map, Ling Mo decided to leave through the main gate.

However, to his surprise, Ye Lian, after staring at the map for a while, hesitantly said, “I… I think… I remember something…”

“Really?” Ling Mo’s face immediately lit up with a smile of surprise.

It seemed that Ye Lian’s memory was slowly coming back after she advanced to an Advanced Zombie. Activities around X City University had indirectly stimulated her memory.

“Yes…” Ye Lian looked up at him, then gently nodded.

Her eyes appeared a bit confused, and her brow furrowed slightly. But this was normal. Memory recovery was like opening a small hole in her mind, allowing bits to slowly seep out. This process wasn’t particularly pleasant.

In reality, whether Ye Lian’s memory returned or not didn’t matter much. This was evident from Xia Na’s current condition.

Even if they regained all their memories, their essence as zombies wouldn’t change significantly.

However, when it came to Ye Lian, Ling Mo genuinely hoped she could recall more of her past. This was partly a personal desire of his.

To him, regardless of Ye Lian’s current nature, she would always be that gentle and caring little sister in his eyes.

The memories they shared were not something Ling Mo was willing to let go of easily. With Ye Lian’s input, even though the map’s markings were rudimentary, they quickly approached the main gate.

Their swift progress was partly because the A1 Teaching Building was already close to the main gate of X City University, and partly due to a few Mutation Zombies clearing the way.

There were plenty of zombies on the road, but under Ling Mo’s bulldozer-like advance, they posed no significant obstacle.

However, this did take a heavy toll on Ling Mo’s Psychic Power. By the time they saw the main gate in the distance, his hair was drenched with sweat, and his temples were throbbing.

Seeing that his Psychic Power was nearly depleted and no longer sufficient to control these Zombie Puppets, Ling Mo had Xia Na and Ye Lian finish them off once they broke through the gate and reached a relatively safe area.

The two of them, having been cooped up all day, were excited to finally have a chance to kill freely.

After swiftly taking care of the Zombie Puppets, Ling Mo collected several pieces of Virus Gel, which were among the best quality they’d gathered that day.

It seemed that even though these Mutation Zombies were forcefully evolved, their brains had managed to condense Virus Gel after a few hours. The rate of virus aggregation far exceeded Ling Mo’s expectations.

“This suggests that Mutation Zombies are relatively easy to evolve, but Advanced Zombies are much rarer. Despite encountering thousands of zombies, so far I’ve only come across three Advanced Zombies at X City University… and one of them turned out to be someone I knew…”

Even though X City was large, long-term activity here meant running into familiar faces was inevitable. Most people would prefer to meet familiar survivors rather than encountering zombies they recognized, who, in turn, did not recognize them.

Unfortunately, the odds of meeting a survivor were slim, given that survivors were a minority while zombies made up the vast majority of X City.

Li Yalin was the first zombie acquaintance Ling Mo had encountered by chance. Although Ye Lian was also a zombie, he had intentionally sought her out, so it didn’t count as a coincidence.

In theory, it was quite a fate for them to meet in the vast sea of zombies. Unfortunately, for Ling Mo, this wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, and it probably wasn’t for Li Yalin either.

Ling Mo hadn’t held back earlier. If Li Yalin had reacted even a bit slower, she would likely have been a headless Senior Sister by now.

Fighting Advanced Zombies left no room for error, and Ling Mo didn’t regret his actions. However, since she was someone he knew, it was rare in this world to encounter a familiar face, even if it was a zombie. Therefore, Ling Mo didn’t have the heart to covet the Gel in her brain, which was one reason he didn’t bother to chase her down.

Outside the main gate of X City University was a very wide street, once bustling with cars and people. Besides X City University, there was also a Conservatory of Music nearby, diagonally across from the university.

With a large population base, naturally, many zombies remained in the area.

But before dealing with those Zombie Puppets, Ling Mo had fully exploited their remaining value, using their almost frenzied attacks to carve a bloody path out.

The three of them now stood in a relatively quiet alley, surrounded by the bodies of Mutation Zombie Puppets lying in disarray.

“It’s getting late. Let’s find a place to stay,” Ling Mo said as he stuffed the last piece of Gel into his pocket.

Ye Lian and Xia Na were busy wiping their blades. They had just gotten the chance to fight, and their eyes were gleaming with excitement, slightly red. The condition of the bodies on the ground was gruesome, with two of them split clean in half. If Ling Mo hadn’t already been accustomed to the smell of blood, he might have been overwhelmed by the strong odor.

Just as Ling Mo spoke, Xia Na suddenly said, “My knife is done for…”

Her tone was somewhat strange, as if she knew she should feel sad but couldn’t quite express the emotion.

As a zombie, she probably didn’t have the capacity for sadness. But after regaining her memory, she remembered how important this knife was to her. Ling Mo’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly went over to take a look. Earlier, the knife had developed a crack from hard contact during a fight. Now, after some use, the crack had widened, and the blade tip seemed like it could snap off at any moment.

Although it was indeed a good knife, it had lacked professional care and was frequently used, which naturally shortened its lifespan.

Without a weapon, Xia Na’s combat effectiveness would likely plummet. Even though she was an Advanced Zombie, her situation was unique, and her evolved advantages didn’t manifest physically.

The reason she was so formidable was largely due to her exceptional knife skills. With her memory fully restored, her knife skills could be utilized to their full potential.

“This…” Seeing that the knife could break at any moment, Ling Mo’s expression turned a bit gloomy.

He remembered that the Wang family’s Handmade Knife and Sword Shop still had a few knives, but their quality wasn’t top-notch. It wasn’t worth traversing half the city for them.

Xia Na stared at the crack for a while, then turned to Ling Mo and said, “Let’s go to my house tomorrow. We can also see if there’s a suitable weapon for you.”

Oh right, Xia Na’s family was in this line of work too… Ling Mo glanced at the short knife in his hand, thinking that it was indeed a bit short. It was fine for one-on-one combat with ordinary zombies or Mutation Zombies, but its shortcomings were evident when surrounded.

Fighting a group of zombies in close quarters was extremely dangerous for an ordinary person. Even a minor scratch could lead to infection. Although Ling Mo had his Psychic Tentacle and rich combat experience, he was still very cautious during fights.

If he could get a new weapon, it would undoubtedly allow him to fight more freely, significantly improving his combat efficiency.

The curved knife Ye Lian used was still quite effective and hadn’t shown any problems so far.

“I never heard you mention it before. Where is your home?” Ling Mo asked curiously.

A strange look flickered in Xia Na’s eyes, but fortunately, after mutating into a zombie, her human emotions had greatly diminished, almost to the point of nonexistence. Therefore, mentioning her home didn’t make her feel sad. “In a residential area on Dong Street in Baihua District. The better-finished products are stored at home.”

“Baihua District, huh… It’s a bit far from here, but your knife does need replacing, so we have to go…” Ling Mo nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, “Have you been back there before?”

“Of course,” Xia Na replied with a hint of amusement, glancing at Ling Mo. “Do you think I brought a knife to school for class?”

“Uh… And your family?” If Xia Na hadn’t mutated, Ling Mo might have hesitated to ask. But since Xia Na wouldn’t be sad about it, there was no harm in inquiring.

Unlike Ye Lian, whom he knew well, Ling Mo didn’t know much about Xia Na. Their bond had actually formed after her mutation.

While Ling Mo wasn’t particularly concerned about her past, he was somewhat curious.

Xia Na pondered for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m not sure. When I went back, no one was home, and I didn’t see any bodies. It’s very likely…”

“Alright, alright. Since that’s the case, we’ll go to your house tomorrow. But it’s already late today, so let’s find a place nearby to stay for the night.”

Ling Mo quickly interrupted her. He didn’t want to hear Xia Na casually say something like “maybe they were eaten.”

As Ling Mo, Ye Lian, and Xia Na whispered in the alley, a tall figure stood behind a utility pole across the street, with blood-red eyes fixed on Ling Mo.

In those eyes, there was a hint of confusion. At the same time, her right hand covered her neck, where a fresh, small wound was clearly visible…