Chapter 137 – Gratitude

The blazing fire had completely engulfed the mall, while Zhang Ning stood tensely on the rooftop, her eyes fixed on the stairway entrance.

But even as thick, black smoke billowed out of the stairwell, there was no sign of Luo Heng.

Zhang Ning bit her lip so hard that she didn’t even notice the blood seeping out. Her eyes reddened almost involuntarily… “Luo Heng…”

“Boom!”

Another dull thud came from below, and Zhang Ning felt the ground beneath her feet shake slightly.

She snapped back to reality, a deep sorrow etched on her face, then resolutely turned and climbed to the rooftop of the adjacent building.

If she didn’t leave now, she would be letting Luo Heng down… In fact, when Luo Heng told her to leave, she had already sensed something was wrong.

At that moment, Luo Heng must have already made up his mind to die.

Using his own life to buy a slim chance of survival for his companions… What pained Zhang Ning was that she neither had a way to stop Luo Heng nor could she think of a better plan.

Act as a fuse? The countless zombies in the mall would stomp out the fire before it reached the gasoline barrels.

And the amount of gasoline they had wasn’t enough to spread throughout the entire mall… They had thought of many ways to carry out the plan as safely as possible, but in the end, they still had to let Luo Heng take the risk himself.

Not enough tools, not enough materials, how else could they wipe out thousands of zombies crammed into the mall without taking a risk?

In this current environment, surviving was an incredibly difficult task, filled with countless hardships… However, to Zhang Ning’s surprise, when she cautiously made her way over, she found that there was no one on the rooftop.

“Where are Ding Yu and Wang Lin… Could they have already left from the back? No, they wouldn’t have left early…”

Zhang Ning looked around in confusion, then quickly left through the stairway.

This building was likely to be affected by the fire as well, but fortunately, apart from these two structures and an underground parking lot, there were no other buildings nearby. The area was at a wide intersection, surrounded by open space, so the fire wouldn’t devour the entire street.

Although they had used this building as a retreat route, they wouldn’t stay here. They had agreed to meet up and immediately head to the empty street to search for enough supplies.

However, what Zhang Ning didn’t know was that while she was anxiously waiting on the rooftop, a zombie was carrying Luo Heng and Wang Lin out through a side door below.

Ding Yu had already seen this scene. A strange look flashed in his eyes, and he quickly went downstairs.

But the continuous explosions of glass windows and the flames shooting out from the mall temporarily separated the zombie and Ding Yu.

By the time Ding Yu found a chance and rushed through with his head down, the zombie and the two people it was carrying were long gone.

A complex expression appeared on his usually indifferent face. Without even checking the blisters on his hand from the heat, he immediately started examining the area.

Several zombies that hadn’t been completely burned started to approach him with difficulty. With a casual wave of his hand, several thin pieces of short rebar flew out, accurately hitting the zombies.

“This…” Ding Yu didn’t spare the zombies another glance. Instead, he focused on a trail of blood on the ground.

He dipped his finger in the blood and brought it to his nose, sniffing carefully. “Human blood… It must be Luo Heng’s or Wang Lin’s. It could open doors, evade my attacks, and carry off prey… This must be a highly evolved zombie.”

A serious look of contemplation then flashed in his eyes. “Should I rescue them? With so much blood loss, they might be devoured as soon as they reach the nest. If I go now, rescuing half a corpse wouldn’t mean much.”

“However, they are my companions… It’s better to confirm if they’ve been eaten. If they’re already dead, there’s no point in taking action. Fighting zombies doesn’t have any benefits. Zhang Ning should come to the street by herself. I’ll confirm and then go back to meet her.”

Muttering to himself, he turned his head towards the direction where the blood trail extended and followed it.

Ding Yu’s tone was very calm. Although his reasoning made sense, if overheard, it would undoubtedly send chills down one’s spine.

After all, humans aren’t completely rational machines; there’s always a mix of subjectivity and emotion in any thought process.

Although he seemed to yield to emotions in the end, his tone suggested that even considering “emotions” was just another factor in his calculation, rather than genuine concern for Luo Heng and Wang Lin… As Ding Yu followed the intermittent blood trail, Ling Mo was just finishing bandaging Luo Heng’s wound.

Ling Mo had rolled up Luo Heng’s pant leg, removed the piece of glass, disinfected the wound, and wrapped it with a bandage.

But what truly shocked Ling Mo wasn’t the deep wound on Luo Heng’s thigh—it was the numerous scars covering his leg.

These wounds weren’t very old; some had just started to scab over but had reopened, with fresh blood flowing down to his foot.

Without even looking, it was clear that his body was likely covered in similar injuries… It seemed living around here was truly difficult. Ling Mo couldn’t understand how Wang Lin ended up here and joined them.

Could it be that after she separated from them, she didn’t return to the survivor camp in the Ginkgo Community?

But now, Wang Lin was asleep. Even if he woke her up, she probably wouldn’t have the energy to answer these questions. He’d have to wait until she woke up.

“But I didn’t see any military knives as promised.”

Ling Mo had saved this armed police officer out of appreciation, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take advantage of any opportunity.

Unfortunately, aside from some candies and dried fruits, the armed police officer only had a small pouch of bullets.

When leaving, Ling Mo certainly didn’t forget to take the rifle. However, as a novice, he didn’t dare to play around with a loaded gun, so he placed it by the door.

At that moment, Luo Heng let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes.

In the instant he opened his eyes, there was a clear look of confusion, but as soon as he saw Ling Mo, he jerked awake, his eyes widening in surprise.

He quickly realized this was a human, not a zombie. “You are…” he struggled weakly to sit up, his sharp and wary gaze sweeping across the room.

The Zombie Puppet had already been dealt with by Ling Mo, and without the scent of fresh blood to stimulate them, Xia Na and Ye Lian had returned to their “normal” appearances. Although Xia Na’s eyes still had a faint red glow, it wasn’t noticeable enough to draw attention.

The only one whose zombie identity might be detected was Li Yalin, who was obediently sitting at the stairway corner leading to the third floor, out of sight.

Luo Heng quickly noticed Wang Lin. Initially, he was alarmed by the sight of blood under her, but he soon realized that Wang Lin wasn’t bleeding anymore and that there were some bloody cotton swabs nearby.

He glanced down at his own leg, touched it, and then hesitantly asked, “Did you save me and Wang Lin?”

Ling Mo, knowing there were many suspicious aspects to his “rescue,” simply nodded and quickly changed the subject. “Well… actually, I have a bit of a connection with Wang Lin, so… My name is Ling Mo, may I ask who you are?”

“What? Really? You know Wang Lin? That’s quite a coincidence! Meeting you for the first time and you’ve already given me, Luo Heng, a life-saving favor, I really don’t know what to say…” Luo Heng replied without hesitation. He earnestly tried to prop himself up, seemingly wanting to bow to Ling Mo, but ultimately had to give up helplessly. “Thank you! Thank you all! Really… thank you so much!”

His words of gratitude were simple, but his tone was incredibly sincere, making his appreciation felt deeply and genuinely.

Ling Mo smiled slightly, thinking to himself that his momentary act of appreciation hadn’t been a mistake after all.

Although in the apocalypse, it was impossible for him to stay with other survivors or make friends, he didn’t mind lending a hand to someone he genuinely admired when he could.

“I didn’t expect to find survivors on this street. If I had known earlier, I would have contacted you in advance. Today’s events must have scared you, right? I’m really sorry,” Luo Heng said with some emotion, looking at Ling Mo with gratitude and friendliness.

If someone else had said this, it might have sounded like they were underestimating Ling Mo and his group’s abilities. But coming from Luo Heng, his tone conveyed genuine concern.

Ling Mo smiled nonchalantly. He knew that traveling with three girls probably made others think their combat strength was as weak as it gets. “No need to apologize. We just arrived here today,” Ling Mo said briefly.

Luo Heng was initially taken aback, then he looked shocked. His gaze towards Ling Mo changed slightly. “There are countless zombies around here. Where did you come from?” he asked.

Ling Mo thought there was no harm in telling him, so he replied, “X City University.”

Luo Heng’s expression changed dramatically. He stared at Ling Mo in shock for a while before saying in admiration, “I didn’t expect you could escape from X City University. I had thought there must be survivors inside, but unfortunately, we didn’t have the strength to get close. Otherwise, I would have tried to rescue the students inside. But with such strength, you must be a superhuman, right?”

He asked with some expectation.