CH 6

“Shit”1 Hao Jian cursed under her breath before she pulled Lian Ru Ning and ran quickly up the mountain.

“What’s happening?”

“There are zombies in the forest three hundred meters ahead.” Hao Jian replied nonchalantly.

Because Lian Ru Ning had just escaped from danger, the moment she heard the term ‘zombie’, she felt a chill run down her spine. She turned her head to look back, but she didn’t see anything, she couldn’t help but wonder, “There seems to be no zombies behind. . .”

“I can see the enemy from one kilometer away while playing games, and the maximum distance for realistic viewing is around 700 meters.” Hao Jian explains despite not making much sense.

Lian Ru Ning remained skeptical and asked, “But you said three hundred meters, did he spot us?”

“You should use ‘them’. There are three zombies and they’re on their way here. If we continue along that road, we will meet them in two minutes.”

Lian Ru Ning turned on her usual attitude of ‘smart and studious’, “How did they discover us?”

This question stumped Hao Jian, but according to the clues given by the system, she had some guesses, “It is currently impossible to determine how they locate living people. Since vision, hearing, smell, etc. are not the only determining factors.”

“Then, do they have any weaknesses?”

“Haven’t you figured out the answer by now when I was saving you from your classmate?” Hao Jian asked rhetorically.

Lian Ru Ning pondered for a while before answering, “It seems that he doesn’t feel any pain nor does he know that he’s tired, but he doesn’t have the ability to jump, climb, etc., and he also has no explosive power.”

“You really are a high-achieving student. With a clever mind, sharp eye, and brilliant summary.” Hao Jian nodded.

Lian Ru Ning couldn’t tell whether Hao Jian was complimenting her or was she just being sarcastic. She didn’t think much about it because of her worry for her family, “Did the zombies appear in a the big city in the first place? My classmate was just infected even in this remote village. Aren’t those overcrowded big cities more susceptible to the infection?”

Hao Jian wrinkled her eyebrows. Judging from the level of the zombie outbreak that the system prompts, the big city is most likely outrun by zombies, and after so many days, it’s hard to say whether there are still people alive in the big city.

“Is there a station near here?” Lian Ru Ning asked.

Hao Jian understood what she was thinking and beat her to it, “Public transportation is basically paralyzed in this case.”

Lian Ru Ning did not give up, “It doesn’t matter, as long as I have a car, I can drive it myself.”

Hao Jian remembered the car of her zombie neighbors but considering that there might be a dozen zombies lurking in the village, she didn’t want to risk going back.

Lian Ru Ning took out her mobile phone and tried to call her parents. Unfortunately, the calls wouldn’t connect again and again, but she didn’t give up until her phone ran out of battery. She asked Hao Jian, “Do you live here? Do you have a car somewhere? I don’t need you to to it for me. You don’t need to take a risk to get the car. All you have to do is show me the way. I’m going back to Southern City to find my parents and younger siblings.”

A picture suddenly flashed out of Hao Jian’s mind; a rebellious girl carrying a brown mountaineering bag while saying stubbornly, “I’m going to find my dad!”

She shook her head and pushed the scene out of her mind, then sighed, “I’ll take you there!”

Lian Ru Ning looked at this stranger who doesn’t even know each other’s names but saved her once, but she was still grateful, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing, anyway, one has to live a full life.” Hao Jian replied. Although she doesn’t take life seriously because she’s alone, at this time, her life was too worthless. It’s better to give it a go and have no regrets in the end.

It’s not an exaggeration to describe the scenery in Hao Jian’s village as beautiful, it’s just that the village itself is empty because of the decreasing population.

The two walked on to the road when a speeding car passed by but before Lian Ru Ning could get her hopes up, the other party sped up upon seeing the two girls, leaving Hao Jian and Lian Ru Ning bite the dust.

“At this time, no one dares to trust strangers easily, and I don’t know how to separate good people from the infected.” Hao Jian commented without being surprised.

Lian Ru Ning thought that she was too naïve, but she was a little unconvinced, “Aren’t you worried that I was infected when you saved me?”

Hao Jian thought that if it weren’t for the system, she might really have ignored her. She smiled and responded, “Then how do you know I’m not infected?”

Lian Ru Ning dumbly thought for a while and realized that her trust in Hao Jian had no basis. After thinking for a while, she couldn’t understand why she, who had always been wary, believed Hao Jian so easily. In the end, all she could do was convince herself, “Because you saved me.”

“How come college students are so innocent now?” Hao Jian shook her head.

Lian Ru Ning couldn’t take the insult and pouted, “You saved me and I remember your kindness so, even if you’re infected and I’ll be infected by you, I won’t regret trusting and being grateful to you.”

This girl is obviously contradicting herself but why does she sound so happy?

Hao Jian muttered in her heart.

Seeing that Hao Jian did not respond, Lian Ru Ning kept quiet as well and wiped her sweat with her sleeve.

Under the heat of the sun, the two walked for a long time that Lian Ru Ning’s back is filled with sweat, causing her vest stick against her skin, making her very uncomfortable. She saw that Hao Jian was also carrying a backpack. Lian Ru Ning assumed that Hao Jian’s back was also soaked but she didn’t see her wipe her sweat.

Hao Jian stopped and thought about the mess they were in.

“What’s the matter?” Lian Ru Ning asked. She looked up at the distance and saw the scattered buildings and vast fields. She couldn’t feel any trace of life, instead it was filled with silence.

Hao Jian wrinkled her brows. Her eyesight was very good. Even though she’s been playing games as a professional all these years, she still managed to prevent her eyes from deteriorating. Railway drivers have an observational distance of 800 meters, and her observational distance wasn’t far from it, so what she can see in the village can’t be wrong.

Even though it was subtle, she noticed that the people in the village were walking in an unusual state.

Since leaving the house early in the morning, the situation in the village just continued to get worse. Even if they manage to get the car, they still have to find a place to stay. She didn’t know how was the situation outside the village, and she doesn’t know where else to spend the night. It would be better to stay home for a while then leave tomorrow morning.

But with this method, it is tantamount to putting themselves in a zombie den.

Hao Jian turned her head to Lian Ru Ning and asked, “It’s getting dark, what do you want to do?”

Lian Ru Ning blinked and looked up at the west. The beautiful sunset she praised the other day in the afternoon looked like it was stained red with blood, causing her to panic.

She understood what Hao Jian meant after thinking about it. After dark, their range of activities narrowed, but that wasn’t the case for the zombies. Recalling her zombie professor, swaying outside the house in the middle of the night, not being affected by the environment in the slightest.

If they stay outdoors, they might be spotted by zombies so it’s better for them to find a safe place to settle down first and talk about what to do afterwards.

“Is this you village?” Lian Ru Ning didn’t say her thoughts, but seeing that Hao Jian was so familiar with the place, she thought she lived here.

Hao Jian already decided for her answer and nodded, “My home is fairly sturdy, and thinking about the time it takes to complete the zombification, we shouldn’t have much problem going through the night. The car we want to pick up is parked next door from my house.”

Hao Jian didn’t say that the car belonged to her, and she implied that she wanted to take someone else’s car without any guilty conscience. Lian Ru Ning thought that unless something happened to the original owner of the car, Hao Jian wouldn’t say this openly.

People said what they should have said and the preparations have been taken. Lain Ru Ning nodded, “Okay.”

Talking to smart people is a piece of cake.

The corner of Hao Jian’s mouth twitched as they continued to walk forward. She clenched the wooden stick firmly to prepare for any zombie who will suddenly appear and attack them.

The system’s voice that reminds Hao Jian to start the survival mission sounded again, but this time, she wasn’t as indifferent as before. After all, the half-day she spend with Lian Ru Ning was nice and if she really did have a relationship with her, it wouldn’t be too annoying.

She didn’t rush to agree, after all, she didn’t have to rely on the system.

“Miss Hao, where did you come back from?”

At this moment, a village uncle who came back from outside the village greeted Hao Jian.

“I came back from paying respects to my mother.” Hao Jian didn’t have any intention to ignore the village uncle, after all, she would still want to save the people who can still be saved.

“Oh, you are so filial.” The village uncle finished speaking and looked at Lian Ru Ning, “This girl is beautiful, is she your friend?”

“Yes.”

The village uncle seemed to be used to Hao Jian’s attitude and didn’t care. He thought of something again and made conversation with Hao Jian, “Hey, do you know Hao Fang?”

Hao Jian’s eyebrows slightly twitched as she continued to listen to what the village uncle had to say, “That kid doesn’t realize what he did wrong, he bit his mother do death, how bad! He also bit Hao Quan. If Hao Quan wasn’t strong, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to escape. After being placed in the car, that kid continued to bite!”

“Where did they go?”

“Hao Quan called for help along the way. Everyone was frightened when they saw him covered in blood. Several big men went and helped tie Hao Fang and sent him to the police station in the country.” The village uncle continued, somewhat uncomfortable, “Hey, I don’t know what happened to that kid, he won’t answer any questions, he just knows how to bite and scratch people he can get a hold of.”

After listening to the village uncle’s story, Lian Ru Ning’s heart grew anxious, but Hao Jian didn’t speak, she didn’t even know how to interrupt the village uncle.

“Then uncle, you. . . are you just coming back from the police station?” Hao Jian was already in a distance from the village uncle when they met and the village uncle also did not approach her.

“I just came back from the clinic because that kid grabbed my arm and scratched me.” The village uncle explained. He took of his jacket and shirt and revealed his arm that was wrapped with bandages and gauze.

Seeing this, Lian Ru Ning took a step back. Hao Jian simply looked at the village uncle with sadness and said, “Uncle, you should go home for now. It’s not safe to be outside these days. Don’t open the door if anyone knocks. How did you get that?”

The village uncle nodded and explained, “I know, I went to the police station just now and it was chaos there. The clinic is also in chaos because a lot of people wanted to grab medicine.”

After their conversation, the village uncle said his goodbyes to Hao Jian and returned home.