Chapter 6
An old granary, a temporary shelter, a doll fell under the sofa, nothing strange.
But they had just moved in this sofa a few minutes ago, and the puppet—
Pei Zhao clearly remembered that he had seen it on that elegant old zombie lady.
"...Was she here just now?" Zhou Yuli reached out to pick up the puppet, a little confused, "She looks so familiar."
Pei Zhao told Zhou Yuli about the zombie old lady he saw, and Zhou Yuli frowned, "Is it the same puppet?"
"Looks like her." Pei Zhao said with difficulty, goose bumps all over his body, "Fortunately, she doesn't look like that little girl, otherwise it would be straight out of a horror movie."
…
The two decided to take the puppet with them.
The things they took away were not many, but not small either. Two adult men filled their arms with them. In addition, Pei Zhao also took out a lighter with half the oil left in it from the sofa and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Will we really not be discovered by the zombies? We are walking around so brazenly." Pei Zhao was worried.
“I don’t know if the zombies here only eat human flesh, or if they eat a bit of everything. If they come to rob you, just throw away everything in your hands.” Zhou Yuli found an empty bag, put the red-skirted puppet in it, tied a knot and hung it around his waist.
As a result, what he said came true.
The price of returning with a full load was being chased madly by a group of hungry zombies in the corridor. After finally reaching the gate, a group of strong zombies who had been waiting for a long time rushed out from the side and blocked the way out. They had no choice but to retreat, but behind them, the zombies in the corridor had caught up with them.
The sturdy zombie moved very quickly. In just a moment, the wrinkled and purple skin was in front of him.
“Pei Zhao!” In a hurry, Pei Zhao heard Zhou Yuli calling him. He turned around and saw Zhou Yuli throwing all the rations in his hand to the nearest zombie’s head. He grabbed Pei Zhao with his free hand and said, “Run!”
Pei Zhao was frightened and had only one thought in his mind: Fortunately, the door was closed when he came in. These zombies would actually wait and attack in the same place. If they met them in the corridor, they would definitely be dead...
Finally, the two men turned into a house on the second floor, smashed the window, and jumped down - taking advantage of the zombies' lack of mobility, they finally escaped from the building before the zombie horde heard the noise and came.
The things in Pei Zhao's hands were scattered all over the place, but he had no time to feel regretful. When the zombies at the window behind them saw the two of them land, they immediately turned around and went downstairs. Pei Zhao frowned as he watched.
These zombies...are they too smart?
"Pei Zhao, don't just stand there." He picked up a few relatively intact bags of food nearby and looked up. There were several particularly strong zombies standing at the ruins of their destination. Zhou Yuli grabbed Pei Zhao's wrist again and said, "Maybe we can't go back."
Pei Zhao shook his head, "Then I won't go back."
Zhou Yuli immediately asked: "Where do you want to go?"
Pei Zhao took a deep breath and looked at a tall tower in the central park not far away.
"Let's go there."
There, there has been flashing an unknown green light since the beginning, and all the zombies under that high tower are deliberately avoiding it.
There is an old Chinese saying: since you are here, you are here.
Pei Zhao said: "I want to go and see this world."
By the way, let’s take a look at this group of “smart” zombies and see who sent them to “snipe” them.
*
Amid the smoke and dust, Pei Zhao and Zhou Yuli climbed up the tower.
The iron spiral staircase creaked when stepped on. Pei Zhao tightened his lower lip, said nothing, and took mechanical steps.
The good news was that the zombies were really staying under the tower just as he had observed.
The bad news is that the despair of the end of the world has enveloped him deeply.
Escaping death did not increase his hope at all. The cruel reality was before him and he had to find the puppet that could lead them out.
The ruins leading to that family's home are occupied by zombies, and someone is preventing them from going back. Who is doing this?
Could it be that...
Zhou Yuli followed behind Pei Zhao. On the one hand, it was more convenient for him to observe the battle situation in the rear, and on the other hand, it prevented Pei Zhao from falling. They walked slowly one in front and one behind, and the person in front suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Yuli subconsciously looked for Pei Zhao's gaze, but saw that he was holding his breath and looking at him.
Zhou Yuli looked back and saw a bag hanging around his waist with a small hole in it, revealing a corner of his red skirt. Inside was a puppet, which looked weird and cute amid the roars of thousands of zombies.
"Zhou Yuli, do you think this puppet is a little strange?" Pei Zhao asked.
The two of them simply sat down at the stopover.
The platform set up in the middle of the tower was surrounded by metal windshields. The only opening was connected to a single staircase. After the two of them sat down leaning against the windshield, they fell into complete silence.
Zhou Yuli opened the bag, took out the puppet and put it in Pei Zhao's hand, then covered his hand with it and said, "It looks a bit strange."
Pei Zhao felt much calmer as he felt the warmth in his palms.
"Xiao Rui," Pei Zhao said with a firm tone.
How can I help you? 】
"This puppet was once a human, right?"
[Yes, the host. She used to be a human.] 】
*
"How did you find out?" Zhou Yuli asked curiously.
"I guessed." Pei Zhao shook his head and forced himself to stand up. "I've watched too many horror movies, so it's hard not to think too much when I see a doll. Should we still go up there?"
Zhou Yuli looked at Pei Zhao's tired face, guessed what he meant, and said, "How about we take a rest first?"
Pei Zhao agreed immediately.
He is really too tired. The system's interpretation confirmed his conjecture but did not give him any further clues. He felt like a domesticated pet cat that was released into the wild and was about to suffer from stress under the high-pressure environment.
"I think the trigger condition for the mark above my head is that someone around me has turned into a puppet." Pei Zhao closed his eyes slightly, leaned against the windshield, and slowly stated his inference.
Zhou Yuli: "Why do you say that?"
"From the first time I saw her at the stairs, to her reappearance in the room, the zombies' intelligence was significantly improved after I brought her with me. In addition," Pei Zhao opened his eyes a little and looked at the puppet in a red skirt that he and Zhou Yuli were holding. "The red color is really eye-catching. It's hard not to notice it."
I didn't expect this to be the reason. Zhou Yuli couldn't help laughing, "It's already this time, and you still have the leisure to joke."
I'm not kidding, the red dress is really bright, and...
"I'm not kidding. It's just a red dress. My mother happened to have one." Pei Zhao's voice trembled. He paused and continued, "When she died, she was wearing that dress. I have a deep impression of it."
Pei Zhao's mother passed away?
Zhou Yuli's smile came to an abrupt end.
"...Are you sad?" Zhou Yuli asked after a long time.
Pei Zhao did not answer, so Zhou Yuli turned his head to look. Pei Zhao had his eyes closed, but his eyelashes were trembling slightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress something.
Zhou Yuli knew that this was Pei Zhao's answer.
How could I not be sad... He is such a good mother.
Pei Zhao closed his eyes, but could still imagine his mother in a red dress, so beautiful, dancing a moving dance, and falling before his eyes. It was still vivid in his mind.
Pei Zhao clenched his teeth, trying hard not to let the tears fall, but because of the excitement, his whole body couldn't stop shaking.
His hand was suddenly held tightly, and Pei Zhao, who was immersed in fighting against sadness, was stunned.
Zhou Yuli held his hand tightly, put one hand under his armpit, and embraced him, holding him in his arms, saying gently: "...It's okay to be sad for a while, your puppet, I... will always be with you."
They exchanged their first real hug in a place far away from the land where death bred. The warmth that came over them made Pei Zhao feel safe and sleepy. After shedding silent tears, he fell into deep sleep.
"If you feel sleepy, you can lean on me." Zhou Yuli pulled him to lean on him, with a smile on his face that he didn't even notice, "Rest assured and have a rest for a while."
Sleeping in such an environment was not a good idea, Pei Zhao thought, but it was very exciting. There is a sense of loneliness that turns away from the world.
After his mother died, he got used to feeling lonely. But this loneliness now seems warm and old because of the temperature coming from my body and hands.
Pei Zhao was sleeping so soundly that he didn't notice at all when Zhou Yuli cast his cold gaze at the puppet.
…
"Since you are a human, you should be able to hear our conversation." Zhou Yuli said in a cold and merciless tone, "You are all thousand-year-old bastards, pretending to be..."
Before Zhou Yuli finished speaking, he saw the red-clothed puppet leaning to the side, with its hands and feet starting to bulge with lumps of flesh.
Zhou Yuli looked calm, as if he had known this for a long time, and raised his hand to gently cover Pei Zhao's ears.
The meat ball seemed to have life, jumping up and down on the wooden limbs, as if being absorbed and gradually becoming smaller. At the same time, the roar of zombies could be heard throughout the central square.
Pei Zhao frowned in his sleep, and Zhou Yuli immediately scolded him, "Be gentle!"
puppet:……
I don’t know if it was because Zhou Yuli’s nonchalant look acted as a deterrent, but the zombies’ noises really decreased. The red-dressed puppet in front of him also shrank in size, and his limbs became longer and fuller, gradually changing into a girl in red.
About five or six years old, with bright eyes.
"Whose love are you absorbing?" When Zhou Yuli saw the conspicuous red dress, he seemed to guess something. He asked directly, "You are the original youngest daughter. That girl should not be the child of that couple."
The girl stared at Zhou Yuli for a long time, suddenly stretched, and sneered, "Smart guy?" and blinked her eyes.
"They don't have any obvious similar genetic features on their faces, and a normal loving family would not let their youngest daughter go hungry." Zhou Yuli explained to himself, "What I'm curious about is who your master is."
The girl smiled, and the slightly vicious look on her face was very inconsistent: "I am also curious about one thing, why do you want to find a human as your master?"
When Zhou Yuli heard this, it represented many answers. Almost instantly, he pointed out the key point: "Can the zombie virus preserve human will?"
The girl was a little surprised by his reaction, "Yes."
Zhou Yuli further asked: "So you use the love of your zombie relatives to maintain your body and guide more zombies to become your supporters?"
"Don't say such harsh words!" The girl pointed at Pei Zhao and screamed, "Aren't you? You have become a puppet and can only live on love, but you still face me in human flesh. Aren't you using him?"
Zhou Yuli felt his hands were stiff and heavy. Maybe it was because it was too dark and too cold, he felt a little numb as he sat there.
The girl's scream was like a slap on his face, more painful than any domestic abuse he had ever suffered, and it made his heart numb.
Yes, how could he forget that he has become a puppet.
Since Pei Zhao had never asked, he had never said it on his own initiative. A person who had turned into a puppet could never turn back into a human being.
They feed on love, and love is the nourishment of their humanity. Living on the nourishment of his master, isn't he actually taking advantage of Pei Zhao?
Zhou Yuli couldn't utter a word.
Such an answer seemed extremely unbearable to him, and he was still unable to adapt to the fact that he was not a human.
Seeing him waver, the sharp-tongued girl smiled triumphantly.
"Since we are of the same kind, why do we have to kill each other? As a puppet, you should act like a puppet..." The girl's words were full of temptation, but she screamed the next moment "Ah——!"
Zhou Yuli looked up suddenly. In the darkness of the night, Pei Zhao somehow broke away from his arms and stood up.
He half-knelt with his back to her, holding a lighter in his hand. The flame licked the girl's red skirt and the flame flickered in the wind.
The firelight hit the side of Pei Zhao's face, and his expression was cold and stern, and he seemed a little angry.
With a sharp cry, the girl jumped down from the tower, and in panic she turned into a doll and fell to the ground. From a distance, Zhou Yuli saw a zombie with gray hair and disabled legs limping to the bottom of the tower and picking up the puppet with trembling hands.
Is that...her master?
Zhou Yuli looked fixedly.
Does her master know that she lives on her love like a parasite?
Zhou Yuli was so absorbed in his thoughts that his collar was suddenly grabbed fiercely. When he came to his senses, he saw an enlarged version of Pei Zhao's face in front of him. He had an expressionless face, but his eyes were staring at him with anger.
"Okay." Pei Zhao released one hand, raised it and patted his face, saying in a normal tone, "Now, we should go solve the problem of that family."
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