Chapter 4

In the rearview mirror, the zombie horde was shrinking. Xu Zhou swerved the steering wheel, skirted the street, and sped toward the cross-river bridge.

After crossing the cross-river bridge is the old city. After leaving the old city, drive south along the national highway to Loujiang Town.

Xu Zhou glanced at the fuel gauge and saw that the needle was shifting to the left. There was not much fuel left. She didn't know where the car would stop halfway. She had to add some fuel or change cars.

She looked at the central rearview mirror again. In the mirror, Xunchun was sitting upright with his hands on his knees, looking straight ahead, his body swaying slightly with the car.

She couldn't be more well-behaved.

"People, after all, should not be impulsive."

Xu Zhou still felt incredible when she thought about what she had done. How could she be so ignited by a flame? How could she do such a crazy thing?

Pull the zombies and escape from the zombie horde.

She wouldn't even dare to dream of this.

"You've said this fifteen times. You..." The system paused for half a second. "If you could lower the corners of your mouth, it would be more convincing."

"I was born with smiling lips."

“…”

A zombie sitting in the back seat yelled.

"Look, he doesn't agree." The system added fuel to the fire.

"Nonsense." Xu Zhou retorted, "He clearly agrees."

Xunchun called out again.

"See, I was right." Xu Zhou raised his eyebrows, looking proud, as if saying "everything I said was right."

"Caring for zombies is the zombies' responsibility." The system sighed.

He continued silent all day.

She felt that the system was jealous that no one spoke for it, unlike her, who had a follower who only shouted agreement.

She looked at Xunchun with satisfaction.

The system silently connected to the car audio, turned up the volume, and started playing the most downloaded DJ music.

If you don’t play music while driving, you will be half as happy.

It has studied the database carefully.

The DJ's magical melody suddenly blasted out in the car. Xu Zhou was startled and almost hit the lamppost while drifting. Before she could speak, the duet interrupted her.

The system in my head began to sing along, and a rhythmic scratching sound came from the back seat.

“…”

You know what, it’s quite harmonious?

But it’s okay for the system to have some hobbies, but how come zombies also have musical talent?

Xu Zhou was very puzzled.

The railings on both sides of the cross-river bridge quickly passed by the car window. The bridge deck extended straight to the endless darkness ahead. The car's high beams cut through the darkness like a sword. The car accelerated again, and the roar of the engine and the friction between the tires and the road surface intertwined. She lowered the window, her eyes flashing with excitement.

The sound of music spread wildly in the dark night.

Entering the old town, the sky was dimly lit.

The old city had low buildings, and the view was wider than the tall buildings in the new city. The car ran over the speed bump again, and the car body shook, and then slowed down again.

"Is there anyone in front?" The system turned off the music and, through Xu Zhou's eyes and with the help of high technology, saw a few small black dots in front of a pharmacy in the distance.

When I got closer, I saw it was a person, waving.

Xu Zhou stuck half of his head out to look over. There were three men in black clothes, and the man waving at him was shorter.

She squinted her eyes and looked carefully. It was not a zombie, but a real person.

She felt like she was about to burst into tears.

She was a little excited because she hadn't seen a living person for two days.

"Yes, it's alive."

"Congratulations on successfully discovering three living people." The system threw flowers.

The pharmacy was across the street. Xu Zhou looked in the rearview mirror. After a night of chasing, only four persistent zombies remained of the countless zombies. She thought for a moment, drove out of the street, turned a corner and drove away.

The waving man stopped and watched as four zombies emerged from the car's exhaust.

"Depend on--"

He hurriedly called the other two to squat behind the SUV.

The four zombies shook their heads, sniffed around, and ran towards the corner.

On this side, Xu Zhou pulled Xunchun out of the car before the zombies caught up with them, and relied on the system's navigation to hide in a store where there were no zombies.

She crouched behind the cabinet. Before long, through the hazy glass door, she saw four zombies chasing her, circling the car she was driving. One zombie climbed onto the roof and leaped around, and then the rest followed suit, jumping around in unison.

"Bang."

A piece of the roof collapsed.

Xu Zhou thought, no need to refuel, just change cars.

After watching for a while and making sure that the zombies were completely addicted to the rooftop trampoline, Xu Zhou pulled Xunchun and carefully left through the back door of the store.

Xunchun's wrist was always cold, without any bloodstains or pits. The uneven, pale blue color spread across the entire arm, which looked scary, but in reality, you got used to it after seeing it for a while. It was intact, unlike those with broken skin and exposed rotting flesh.

Xu Zhou could accept this level.

She was lost in thought, subconsciously rubbing her thumb gently against his skin. She hadn't thought it through, but the more she touched, the more comfortable it felt. She muttered, then glanced up, only to find Xunchun watching her movements without blinking.

She tried—

She moved her hand to the left and he looked to the left.

She moved her hand to the right and he looked to the right.

"System, what do you think this looks like?" Xu Zhou gestured to the system to look at their behavior.

"You are teasing the dog." said the system.

"Good, good," Xu Zhou shook his head, his tone full of regret, his eyes full of drama, "System, harsh words hurt the body like the cold of June—"

"?"

"Pure frame-up?"

The blame was placed directly on the system.

"This is not a frame-up," Xu Zhou denied, "Those words came out of your mouth."

After saying that, she raised her other hand and patted Xunchun, who cried out in confusion.

"Look, even the victims can't stand what you're saying."

“Technological products don’t understand human language.”

The system smiles.

It finally understood that she was the mastermind 99% of the time, and he was forced to cooperate with the 1%. They were a perfect match.

"Then you have to work harder."

Xu Zhou finished speaking and withdrew her hand. As soon as her hand left, Xun Chun grabbed her wrist unexpectedly.

She looked at him in surprise.

Xunchun held her hand steady with one hand, and with the other, he imitated her earlier movements, rubbing her wrist. He didn't use much pressure, and soon, her wrist turned red.

Feeling pain, she slapped Xunchun's hand away.

"What a shame to touch me like that." She rubbed her wrist.

Xunchun waved his hands wildly and just opened his mouth to scream, but she was quick to cover his mouth.

"Don't shout." Xu Zhou glared at him.

Xunchun didn't understand, but still called out.

"Haha." The system laughed out loud in its mind.

Xu Zhou met Xun Chun's eyes. Her big head was reflected in his misty eyes. The staring was fruitless, and she was the first to give in.

Forget it, let’s talk about it later.

She comforted herself in her heart.

The clothes she wore were found at home, piled in the closet. They were a little wrinkled, but looked new. She looked at the three men's clothes: they were worn and deformed, the colors dull and faded, very much in line with the style of the apocalypse. They looked like people who had been working hard in the apocalypse.

On the other hand, she was clean and tidy, which made it clear that something was wrong. She had no intention of exposing the system or herself, so to avoid attracting attention, she had to dress up.

I randomly found a clothing store, put on a tattered coat, smeared some dust on my face and body, and also put some on my hair.

She stood in front of the mirror and turned around. The system said it was OK, and she nodded in satisfaction, preparing to go back and check on the person who had stopped the car.

Before leaving, she completed today's reward task.

She kept choosing the same profile picture on the screen, and she was not interested in it, so she just randomly gave a tip.

As soon as the reward special effect ended, she suddenly looked at Xunchun, and thought that this was the person she was rewarding. She clicked on the reward details and saw two identical messages: [Xu Zhou] rewarded [Xunchun] with a garden.

No wonder the special effect for rewarding is flowers.

Including yesterday, there have been exactly two rewards. Wait——

She asked the system: "Are these silhouettes all of him?"

"You are so smart." The system praised her.

"Fraud."

She said, why are the silhouettes all the same? It turns out it’s the same person no matter how many times you open the blind box.

Xu Zhou rolled his eyes and was too lazy to complain.

She looked at Xunchun again and saw no changes.

It is normal that there is no effect after only two times.

Although she thought so, she felt sad.

"Don't follow me, stay away from me. I'm going to get information. If they see you, they might attack you. I can't beat three of them alone..."

On the way to the pharmacy, Xu Zhou kept chattering to Xunchun and pointing at the floor tiles.

Xunchun tilted his head, stopped, and stepped on the floor tiles.

Xu Zhou had a hunch that something was wrong.

"Stand still, don't move."

She slowly backed away, but Xunchun didn't move. She retreated five meters away, but he still didn't move.

Xu Zhou crossed her arms and thought. She asked the system, "Can he understand what I'm saying?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xunchun ran over, yelling something.

"It might be an illusion." said the system.

Yeah?

Xu Zhou looked at Xunchun, with some doubts in his mind.