Chapter 48 – Persistent Entanglement Is Not a Good Habit

Although X City is vast and filled with zombies everywhere, Ling Mo wasn’t completely in the dark.

Last night, he had already decided on his next destination: X City University, which wasn’t too far from here.

It’s not the only higher learning institution in X City, but it’s the one Ling Mo is most familiar with, mainly because Ye Lian is a student there, and he had visited a few times before.

Large in size, complex in environment, located in a bustling area, and teeming with zombies… This was Ling Mo’s guess about the current state of X City University.

Such a place was the perfect hunting ground for Mutation Zombies! As for potential dangers… risks always come hand in hand with rewards, and Ling Mo was well aware of this.

But just as he stepped out of the clothing store, he froze for a moment, then quickly retreated back into the shadows of the store.

Three figures appeared in the Square!

The most incredible thing was that Ling Mo knew all three of them, and he had just seen them yesterday… Wang Lin, Li Yu, and… Wang Cheng!

How did Wang Cheng end up with them? Even if he was sucking up, this was a bit too fast for a promotion.

Ling Mo immediately thought of a possibility: did Wang Cheng tell Wang Lin about Xia Na?

If it were Lu Xin, this possibility would be high, but Ling Mo felt that someone like Wang Cheng should know the limits and understand what to say and what not to say.

Besides, he hadn’t had any direct conflict with Ling Mo, so Ling Mo hadn’t considered killing him. After all, although Ling Mo had the Puppet Control Ability, he wasn’t a bloodthirsty killer.

Probably leaving the main group for the first time, Li Yu kept glancing around nervously, gripping a sharpened iron rod in his hand. His expression was tense. Wang Lin, on the other hand, walked ahead with a curved knife, with Wang Cheng closely following behind her.

At first glance, Ling Mo noticed the fresh flesh and blood hanging from Li Yu’s iron rod, and his clothes were splattered with blood. Wang Lin’s curved knife was still dripping blood. It seemed they had already fought their way through a bloody battle on their way here.

Li Yu’s combat skills were impressive, so his current state wasn’t surprising. But Wang Lin, with her frail body, could also kill zombies?! As for fear… her perpetually pale face gave nothing away.

The crucial question was, why were these two here?

Wang Lin walked straight into the Square and immediately noticed the bloodstains and remnants on the ground. She examined them briefly before turning her gaze to the buildings surrounding the Square.

Seeing Wang Lin looking their way, Ling Mo silently took a step back, and Ye Lian, under his control, remained motionless. Xia Na, however, seemed a bit restless behind Ling Mo, but he quickly calmed her with a glance.

Soon, Wang Lin spotted the Teahouse tucked away in the corner. She waved to Li Yu, who was still cautiously looking around, and then ran ahead to the Teahouse.

The moment Wang Lin saw the zombie corpses on the ground, a smug smile appeared on her face. Wang Cheng, following behind her, gave her a surprised look and quickly flattered, “Wang Lin, you’re amazing as always.”

“Didn’t you just praise that Ling Mo to the skies?” Wang Lin replied irritably.

Wang Cheng laughed awkwardly, “Wang Lin, you asked me about his strength. I wouldn’t dare lie to you.”

“You’ll find out if you were lying once we catch up to him. I warned you when we left: if you dare to deceive me, I’ll leave you out here to fend for yourself!” Wang Lin snorted coldly.

Wang Cheng immediately felt a cold sweat. He glanced at Wang Lin with some annoyance and cursed his bad luck internally.

Wang Cheng thought to himself that he should have kept his mouth shut. When Wang Lin asked him about Ling Mo out of curiosity, he had volunteered more information, hoping to get on the good side of this obviously higher-status girl. As a result, she had drafted him into her team, dragging him out of the Camp right after they arrived. Fortunately, she was quite capable, almost on par with Xia Na, so he hadn’t faced any life-threatening danger along the way.

But the damned thing was, her target was Ling Mo! The mere thought of this made Wang Cheng want to turn and run. Yet, given his abilities, leaving Wang Lin would be a death sentence. So, despite his fear, he had no choice but to stick close to her.

Liu Yuhao, on the other hand, had kept his mouth shut and thus avoided getting involved…

“Damn…” Li Yu, who arrived shortly after, was momentarily stunned by the scene before him.

“See? I told you he couldn’t get away from me. Look at these bodies; the blood is still flowing. They all just died,” Wang Lin said, giving Li Yu a sidelong glance, seemingly satisfied with his reaction.

Li Yu walked around the pile of corpses, swallowing hard. “But Wang Lin, we still haven’t completely caught up with them, have we? It looks like they’ve already moved on.”

“So what? I’m definitely catching up with them today,” Wang Lin said nonchalantly.

“But…” Li Yu hesitated, glancing at the bodies again before resolutely saying, “Even if we catch up, we can’t beat him…”

As soon as he said this, he felt a jolt of fear and couldn’t bring himself to look at Wang Lin. Her expression immediately turned sour.

“Wang Lin, I snuck out with you, and Song Tian will definitely scold me when we get back. Besides, you saw it yourself; that guy is really strong. All these zombies were killed by him,” Li Yu said, bracing himself.

Wang Lin glared at Li Yu in annoyance and said, “Are you stupid? How could he kill so many zombies alone? Xia Na must have helped him! She won’t fight me, and I don’t believe that thief can beat me one-on-one!”

Wang Cheng wanted to say something but wisely kept quiet when he saw Wang Lin’s annoyed expression.

Li Yu was momentarily speechless. After a brief pause, he curiously asked, “Wang Lin, can you tell me how you know which way they went?”

“I can’t tell you,” Wang Lin snorted, turning her head to look at the shops and muttering to herself in a barely audible voice, “Too bad I can’t sense precisely. Annoying! But they must be nearby!”

Watching Wang Lin and her group linger below the Teahouse for a while before slowly leaving via another street, Ling Mo, hiding in the clothing store, sighed in relief.

This girl was clearly here for him, likely still fixated on her Short Knife. However, Ling Mo suspected that the knife was only part of the reason; regaining her honor seemed more important to her.

Indeed, you can’t judge a book by its cover. This girl looked frail and sickly, and Ling Mo had imagined her to be the gentle, soft-spoken type. Unexpectedly, she was not only bold and assertive but also had a bad habit of being tenacious!

Even in the Apocalypse, she wouldn’t let go, leading people out to find him! It was just a knife, not something more personal!

But how did Wang Lin manage to find this place? This puzzled Ling Mo greatly.

Estimating that they had gone far enough, Ling Mo finally led Ye Lian and Xia Na out of the clothing store, deliberately choosing a route opposite to Wang Lin’s.

It wasn’t that Ling Mo was afraid of Wang Lin, but with Xia Na by his side, the best strategy was to avoid confrontation altogether. She couldn’t possibly scour the entire city for him, could she?

If she wanted to search, let her go ahead! The city was vast and filled with Zombies. Let’s see where she could find him!

Cursing silently, Ling Mo turned into an Alley, unaware that just after he entered, Wang Lin reappeared at the street corner.

With a cold smile, she watched Ling Mo enter the Alley. “Got you. Daring to steal my knife and extort Song Tian…”

Ling Mo had barely walked two hundred meters into the Alley before he suddenly stopped and looked back, his expression turning grim.

Ling Mo temporarily left Ye Lian at the mouth of the Alley. Through Ye Lian’s perspective, he could clearly see Wang Lin and her group crossing the Square and heading their way.

“So, there’s definitely something fishy going on. Wang Lin can somehow track my location…” Ling Mo muttered to himself. After glancing around, he led Xia Na into a nearby bar, quickly recalling Ye Lian to join them.

The bar was filled with Zombies, at least ten by his rough estimate. However, due to the confined space, they posed little threat to Ling Mo.

He left behind four Zombies he had controlled, while the rest were swiftly dealt with. Ling Mo, Ye Lian, and Xia Na then made their way to the bar’s second floor.

There were also several Zombie corpses along the way, slain by Xia Na. Given Wang Lin’s persistent nature, it wasn’t hard to guess that she was hiding nearby. However, searching every nook and cranny would be quite challenging.

Ling Mo knew that Wang Lin seemed to have a general idea of his location but couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. If she could, she wouldn’t have left the Square empty-handed earlier. Still, she was smart enough to circle back. Ling Mo wasn’t an idiot either; he didn’t believe that Wang Lin had coincidentally found the Square he had reached after taking several detours. That’s why he left Ye Lian at the Alley entrance as a precaution.

Just as Ye Lian was about to move out of his control range and he was about to call her back, Wang Lin emerged.

“Persistent as a ghost…” Ling Mo cursed in frustration. Then he glanced back at the four Zombie Puppets he had left behind and a sinister smile formed on his lips.

Since you’re so relentless, I don’t mind giving you a taste of your own medicine…