Chapter 85 – Defective Zombies

As Xu Cai turned and walked down the stairs, a dark figure suddenly sprang out from the shadows.

Xu Cai immediately felt a gust of wind behind him, causing his heart to skip a beat.

His reaction wasn’t slow; he twisted his body to the side and swung his arm backward.

If an ordinary person had attempted such a surprise attack, they would likely have been sent flying by Xu Cai’s counterattack. Although his move forced the assailant back, it didn’t cause any harm.

Moonlight streamed through the corridor windows, and Xu Cai’s face darkened as he stared at the person who had attacked him. They had just met that afternoon.

“Hello there,” Ling Mo said, holding a short knife that gleamed with a chilling light. The slight smirk on his face made Xu Cai’s anger flare up.

Xu Cai quickly recovered from the shock of the ambush. He raised his sharpening stick and coldly said, “Good, I’ll deal with you first, then the rest will be easier. You’re quite bold to follow Shi Bin alone.”

“You’ll soon find out if I’m bold or not.”

Seeing Xu Cai ready himself, Ling Mo appeared relaxed on the surface but was inwardly cautious. Xu Cai’s counterattack had clearly shown he wasn’t an ordinary person; he must be well-trained.

Ling Mo wasn’t skilled in close combat, nor had he systematically learned any fighting techniques. All his moves were derived from life-and-death struggles and experience. However, his puppet control ability could well compensate for this weakness.

Hearing Ling Mo’s words, Xu Cai licked his lips and revealed a sinister smile. “What, you think just because you’re some sort of so-called superhuman, you can take me on? No problem, after I kill you, I’ll have a nice chat with your girlfriend. Ye Lian is so beautiful; I bet she feels great in bed.”

The smile on Ling Mo’s face vanished instantly, and his gaze at Xu Cai turned icy cold.

“I won’t let you die too quickly.” Ling Mo gripped the short knife tightly and charged forward.

Although Ling Mo lacked strength, his speed was far greater than that of an ordinary person, and his movements were much more agile. The distance between the two was less than three meters, and Xu Cai hadn’t expected Ling Mo to accelerate to such a degree in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Ling Mo was already in front of him, slashing his short knife fiercely towards Xu Cai’s neck.

What shocked Xu Cai was that this seemingly average young man knew how to use the powerful force generated by acceleration. Though he was shorter than Xu Cai, this actually worked to his advantage. As he charged forward and then suddenly jumped, the short knife in his hand swung with a “whoosh,” cutting across with overwhelming force!

If this strike hit, Xu Cai’s head might not stay on his shoulders.

However, Xu Cai was also a tough guy. He forcefully stepped back half a step, bringing his sharpening stick to his side. But at this moment, he was horrified to find his movements inexplicably slowed by a fraction!

He had intended to completely block Ling Mo’s short knife, but his vision blurred for a moment, and by the time he realized it, his sharpening stick had dropped halfway down!

“Clang!”

A crisp metallic sound rang out, and both Xu Cai and Ling Mo felt a jolt in their wrists!

A thin line of blood immediately appeared on Xu Cai’s neck, and then blood gushed out, quickly staining his shoulder. Xu Cai staggered back several steps, clutching his neck with his hand.

That was close! He almost had his throat cut!

If he hadn’t lifted his arm at the last moment, raising the sharpening stick that had nearly dropped, his head would have been separated from his body! Even so, the tip of the short knife had still cut his skin. Though it was only a superficial wound, it bled quite a bit!

This was too strange… Xu Cai didn’t think he’d suffer from any vision problems at such a critical moment. Moreover, not only had his vision blurred, but it also seemed like his arm moved contrary to his commands!

Frightened and furious, Xu Cai glared at Ling Mo. He knew he had no way out now, so his ferocity fully erupted.

“Fuck you!” Xu Cai growled, charging forward again. But as he rushed, his vision blurred once more, and his head spun. The next thing he felt was colliding with Ling Mo, followed by an icy sensation spreading from his abdomen.

Ling Mo struck and immediately retreated, while Xu Cai stood there in a daze.

Xu Cai’s sharpening stick was now embedded in his own stomach, almost entirely inside, with only the short handle sticking out.

“So tired…” Ling Mo muttered, pressing his fingers to his brow while keeping a close eye on Xu Cai.

Ling Mo’s Puppet Control Ability, particularly the control aspect, was useless against ordinary people. However, the misleading and interference effects of his Psychic Tentacles were highly effective.

But they required a significant amount of Psychic Power.

Ling Mo, exhausted from a long day, hadn’t fully recovered. After a brief skirmish with Xu Cai, he felt a throbbing headache.

Watching Xu Cai slowly collapse to the ground, Ling Mo’s lips curled into a faint smile.

He walked over slowly, seeing Xu Cai’s wide-open eyes and his body twitching on the ground. Ling Mo crouched down, smiling as he said, “If you hadn’t harbored ill intentions towards me, you wouldn’t be in this situation now.”

Xu Cai wasn’t going to die immediately. Even with the sharpening stick in his stomach, as long as it wasn’t pulled out, he wouldn’t die right away. But Xu Cai was already in despair; being so severely injured in the Apocalypse meant death.

“Fuck… fuck you…” Xu Cai’s eyes were dull, filled with despair, but he still cursed through gritted teeth.

Ling Mo shook his head regretfully. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you that quickly. I heard everything you told Shi Bin earlier. Your classmates must be planning to act with you, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare to make a move on your own.”

Xu Cai bit his lip, staying silent. After a few seconds, he forced a smirk. “You’re no better. You watched me kill Shi Bin and did nothing…”

“He asked for it. What’s that got to do with me

“Less… Cut the crap. What else do you want to do to me?” Xu Cai, true to his ruthless nature, showed a twisted smile even as he faced his imminent death with no chance of escape.

Ling Mo sneered, tapping Xu Cai’s cheek with the flat of his short knife, his tone chillingly cold. “I told you, you won’t die that quickly. Just wait, something good is about to happen to you.”

“Do whatever you want. I… I’m not afraid of you…” A flicker of terror crossed Xu Cai’s eyes, but he stubbornly continued to talk tough.

“Just wait.” Contrary to Xu Cai’s expectations, Ling Mo didn’t strike him down immediately. Instead, he sat on a nearby step with a faintly inscrutable smile, watching him with keen interest.

Facing death was indeed terrifying, but what was truly horrifying was the process of waiting for death, especially being watched by Ling Mo while still clinging to life.

Xu Cai’s heart was a mix of regret, fear, and despair, but above all, a sense of unwillingness…

From the moment the Apocalypse began, Xu Cai knew exactly what kind of person he was. To escape from the dormitory, he had locked up several of his dorm mates with one of their mutated roommates, fleeing without looking back despite their cries.

For survival, he had sacrificed many people. Just today, for a bit of food, he didn’t hesitate to use his companions’ blood and suffering to awaken his classmates’ brutality, driving them to madness.

But Xu Cai didn’t think he was wrong! He was just trying to survive!

With no law, no moral constraints, the world had become a battlefield of natural selection, where only the fittest would survive!

The weak were destined to be the stepping stones for the strong. The weak had no reason to continue living…

As these thoughts churned in his mind, Xu Cai’s body convulsed more violently. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his abdomen. The fire grew hotter and hotter, and he felt as if he might combust entirely!

“What’s happening?” Xu Cai’s movements became more frantic, and his eyes began to glaze over with a bloody hue. In his despair and terror, Xu Cai felt as though his very blood was on fire!

“What’s happening!”

Xu Cai started screaming desperately, but as soon as he got the first word out, Ling Mo stomped on his mouth. “Quiet!”

“This isn’t quite like what happened when Xia Na mutated… maybe it’s because there’s not enough virus?”

Ling Mo had already noticed that, although Xu Cai was struggling constantly, not much blood was flowing from his wounds. On the other hand, he seemed to still retain some consciousness, but his face was ghostly pale, and his facial muscles were twitching uncontrollably, suggesting he was in a lot of pain.

After deploying his psychic tentacle, Ling Mo tried to take control of Xu Cai. At first, Xu Cai’s resistance was intense, but as his rationality gradually blurred and his gaze began to lose focus, Ling Mo’s persistence finally paid off.

As Ling Mo’s psychic power took over Xu Cai’s bodily control, his convulsions suddenly stopped.

“Is this what you’d call a half-zombie? A defective zombie?” Ling Mo controlled Xu Cai to stand up and found that his condition was quite different from that of a regular zombie. The lower the virus purity, the less severe the effects…

Fortunately, it was getting dark, so it was unlikely anyone would notice anything strange about Xu Cai’s eyes. Ling Mo manipulated Xu Cai to mess up his hair to cover his eyes, buttoned up his jacket to hide the sharpening stick embedded in his abdomen, and then slowly walked towards the Taekwondo gym.

At first, Xu Cai’s movements were a bit awkward, but he quickly adapted and walked more smoothly. If not for his expressionless demeanor, no one would have guessed that Xu Cai was no longer himself.