Chapter 33 Bastard
The scene suddenly became chaotic.
Ah Liang's group consisted of about ten people, but they were all ordinary people. Even Ah Liang himself was only slightly stronger. In terms of numbers, Ah Liang and his group were far superior, but in terms of supernatural abilities…
Jiang Ye was incredibly fast, capable of taking on several opponents with a single punch. No one dared approach Bai Tao; the closer they got, the more likely they were to collapse, foaming at the mouth and convulsing. Bai Chenzhu glanced at Jiang Ye and Bai Tao, who were fighting like ten men, grabbed Zhou Zhuohua who was dodging the attacks, and turned to run.
Just then, the zombie, bound hand and foot, watched its prey escape and immediately went berserk. It broke free of its chains, which scattered and flew, severely injuring several people nearby.
The zombie roared and charged toward Bai Chenzhu, tearing anyone who stood in its way in half or riddling them with holes.
"Dad—stop!" Tang Jie chased after it, stepping over a pile of blood and flesh in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the blood-soaked iron chain, which had always worked, was now useless against it.
Bai Chenzhu pushed Zhou Zhuohua away and used the recoil to retreat as the zombie pounced, narrowly avoiding its claws.
Tang Jie pulled out the knife from his waist.
"What, you've been turned on and you still won't repent?" Bai Chenzhu didn't want to deal with Tang Jie while dealing with zombies, so he tried to persuade the other side.
"What backlash? It just wants to eat you." Tang Jie drew his sword from its sheath and gritted his teeth. "Surrender, and I'll at least guarantee your life."
This zombie possessed strength and speed far exceeding that of an ordinary human, making it extremely difficult for Bai Chenzhu to dodge its attacks. Although he wouldn't be repeatedly infected, judging from the zombie's drooling, greedy appearance, if he were caught, he would likely end up like the mangled remains behind it.
"I can give you far more than you think, so stop struggling!" Tang Jie raised his knife tremblingly at the dodging Bai Chenzhu. "Think about it, a place without zombies! All you need to do is donate some blood regularly, isn't that better than trying to escape outside?"
Bai Chenzhu kicked the zombie at Tang Jie, who turned pale and dodged it, causing the zombie to miss its target.
It seems the zombies are only interested in Bai Chenzhu. Even though they are closest to Tang Jie, they still relentlessly get up and chase after Bai Chenzhu.
Bai Chenzhu used the same trick again, climbing up the tree. The zombie, unlike the zombie dog from before, immediately followed him up the tree.
This can't go on; we'll be caught sooner or later. Bai Chenzhu estimated the distance to the ground and jumped down.
Just as he jumped down, Tang Jie swiftly flashed to the base of the tree, raised his knife, its sharp point causing Bai Chenzhu's pupils to shrink.
Just as he was about to smash into Tang Jie, and the tip of the knife was about to pierce through his chest and abdomen, Tang Jie was knocked away by a strong force, and Bai Chenzhu fell into the grass.
Zhou Zhuohua flipped over and straddled Tang Jie. Before Tang Jie could even speak, she punched him twice in quick succession, yelling, "Idiot!"
"Sister Zhuohua, ugh..." Zhou Zhuohua punched him, stunning him.
"You forced me to do this!" Tang Jie's eyes turned red as he flipped over and grabbed Zhou Zhuohua's neck. Zhou Zhuohua was equally ruthless, targeting acupoints with each move, before flipping over and straddling Tang Jie.
Just as the two were wrestling, Zhou Zhuohua was suddenly grabbed by the back of her collar and dragged away by a strong force.
The next second, the zombie was lured here by Bai Chenzhu. Bai Chenzhu pulled Zhou Zhuohua aside, and the zombie accurately pounced on Tang Jie.
Screams echoed throughout the villa, accompanied by the sound of chewing.
The zombie got up, its mouth full of warm blood. It was panting heavily, its cloudy eyes moving, ignoring the person on the ground whose face had been bitten off halfway.
The horrific scene before her eyes was too much to bear. Zhou Zhuohua covered her mouth in shock and retreated in fear.
Disfigured? Blinded in one eye? Bai Chenzhu had no time for pity or remorse. The zombies were sniffing his spiritual energy again and came looking for him. He turned and ran.
Zhou Zhuohua stood up and took two steps toward Tang Jie, who was crying out in pain. Jiang Ye followed, covered in dust and blood, looking disheveled, and asked her breathlessly, "Where is Bai Chenzhu?"
She looked around and found that Bai Chenzhu and the zombies were gone.
Bai Chenzhu didn't care about them at all. He ran in another direction, not knowing which direction it was, until he could no longer see those people at all, and only then did he realize that he had separated from the main group.
The zombies were still chasing him. Bai Chenzhu knew that he had unrecoverable spiritual threads in his body, which was the reason why the zombies could accurately lock onto him and keep chasing him.
Seeing an artificial lake ahead, he pinched his nose and resolutely jumped into the water, hoping that someone could at least retain some of his aura.
The water washed over his blood-stained clothes, and his hair and the hem of his shirt rode up due to buoyancy. He swam a couple of times in the lake, then suddenly froze, too afraid to move.
The zombie jumped down as well, but it lost track of its prey, even when the prey was right in front of it, no more than two or three meters away. It seemed to be blind, kicking its legs and wandering around aimlessly.
Bai Chenzhu was afraid that the flowing water would disturb the zombies, so he held his breath and didn't move.
Zombies don't think, they don't know how to swim, and they don't know how to hold their breath. As time passed, it struggled instinctively, its ten fingers pointing upwards, its limbs contorted in a grotesque posture, making its already ugly body even more unbearable to look at.
Bai Chenzhu coldly watched it struggle wildly at the beginning, flailing its arms and legs haphazardly, until it finally fell to the bottom of the lake with its eyes wide open in death.
After an unknown amount of time, Bai Chenzhu gritted his teeth as the scene before him began to sway. When he tried to swim upwards, his already injured calves started to ache, affecting his movements.
"It's over." These two words flashed through Bai Chenzhu's mind. Water began to fill his mouth and nose, the pungent smell filling his nostrils, and his hands unconsciously reached out towards the lake surface.
A strong arm grabbed his hand directly.
Bai Chenzhu opened his eyes and saw a figure backlit in the sunlight, a figure that was extremely familiar.
At that moment, all anger and resentment vanished, leaving only the real, burning sensation in his palm. Faced with the instinct for survival, his heart and eyes were filled with that person.
"Cough cough cough!" As soon as he emerged from the water, Bai Chenzhu coughed incessantly, his lungs aching as if they were about to explode.
Jiang Ye tried to wipe the water off him, but Bai Chenzhu slapped her away.
Bai Chenzhu shook his head, splashing water droplets onto the three of them.
Zhou Zhuohua breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright, you scared us to death." Bai Tao's throat hurt, so she didn't say anything, but nodded vigorously beside her.
Bai Chenzhu laboriously climbed to the side, looked left and right, and saw that the others were all in a sorry state. Since there was no one else around, he realized that they were alright for the time being.
"Go back, go back." Bai Chenzhu's throat was sore from coughing, and he coughed incessantly after saying just one word.
He didn't care about Ah Liang and the others' lives; Jiang Ye would probably handle it. From last night until now, he hadn't relaxed at all, and now he just wanted to find a place to change his clothes and get some rest.
Bai Chenzhu woke up the next morning.
Light shone through the window screen, waking him up. His leg had already been properly bandaged by Sister Zhuohua. Bai Chenzhu got up and opened the window, seeing Tang Jie, A Liang, and the other survivors tied to trees outside.
It's obvious that this is Jiang Ye's style.
Without the threat of Tang's father, zombies began to roam freely in the neighborhood, terrifying the group. Unfortunately, they were all gagged, and one or two of them were shaking and unable to speak.
Bai Chenzhu stared at Tang Jie for a while, noticing the flush on his face. Bai Chenzhu traced the window frame with his fingertips, recalling the scene of Tang Jie being bitten.
Ordinary people who come into contact with zombies have a chance of repeated infection, and what will happen after infection—whether they become a superhuman or a zombie—no one knows.
His backpack, which he always carried with him, was placed on the bedside table; it was fully equipped.
Bai Chenzhu stretched and stood still by the window, staring at the backpack for a long time.
This backpack has been with him since he left home, wandering all the way. Now its surface is mottled, and even if he washes it carefully, it will never be as good as it used to be.
And he no longer looked like a newcomer.
He had thought Jiang Ye would accompany him, but now it seemed Jiang Ye and he were from completely different worlds. Though the world was vast, he felt nowhere to belong, and a sudden emptiness filled his heart.
Bai Chenzhu washed her face, then carried the dog down the stairs and out the back door. She strolled leisurely, as if she were just going out for a walk and would return on her own at mealtime.
But just a few minutes later, he heard Jiang Ye calling his name.
Jiang Ye has highly developed five senses, and Bai Chenzhu did not think he could hide anything from him.
"What are you doing?" Bai Chenzhu asked, turning to the side.
"Where are you going?" Jiang Ye walked over and grabbed his backpack.
Bai Chenzhu frowned and looked at him coldly, "My legs are my own, I can go wherever I want."
"It's not safe outside."
"Does following you guarantee safety?" Bai Chenzhu slapped his hand away. The matter was over for the time being. Jiang Ye had saved him, and he was grateful, but the more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
Why? Why does Jiang Ye dare to make such a decision for him? Is it because he thinks he's too easy to bully?
Bai Chenzhu couldn't swallow this insult.
Afterwards, Jiang Ye liked to retrace his steps from his previous life to build a base, or to find that damn fragment to save the world. In Bai Chenzhu's eyes, none of these matters mattered. He never had any sense of belonging to this world, and therefore had no sense of responsibility or obligation.
"Have you forgotten why I followed you?" Bai Chenzhu raised his chin. "I'm being polite by not cursing you. You dare to scheme against me like this? If this happens once, it will happen again. If I don't run away, will I stay here to die for you?"
"Is it really that exaggerated?" Jiang Ye had a headache. His left cheek was still swollen from Bai Chenzhu's punch yesterday. He raised his hands in surrender. "It's my fault, but if it were really that dangerous, how would Tang Jie dare to go? Besides, I also said that you have a heart condition and can't escape, so they wouldn't be very wary of you... Furthermore, if I were to be honest with you and ask you to go check out the haunted house, would you be willing to go?"
"I don't want to." Bai Chenzhu didn't want to hear those long-winded explanations.
On one hand, he felt he might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but on the other hand, he couldn't control his temper. He got angry looking at Jiang Ye's habitual way of dominating others. "I don't want to, I don't want to, no way, get out of here!"
Bai Chenzhu would never agree to risk his life like this, even if it only resulted in some injury. He always valued his life above all else.
But Jiang Ye knew he didn't want to do it anyway. Even if Jiang Ye's plan was foolproof, Bai Chenzhu felt that his wishes were not valued, and he was uncontrollably angry.
“You are the most suitable person, just go and investigate…” Jiang Ye’s voice trailed off under Bai Chenzhu’s increasingly cold gaze.
Jiang Ye wanted a cigarette again. He touched his empty pockets and found neither cigarettes nor lollipops.
The person opposite him looked at him with an unprecedented gaze, as if they had returned to the time when they first met. Jiang Ye laughed, "Bai Chenzhu, why are you so guarded?"
"It's all over now. We got the information, the zombies are dead, and Tang Jie has fallen to this state. It's all over, there's no need to make such a scene." Jiang Ye didn't know why he was so angry. Even if he was angry that he had used him once, it shouldn't have come to the point of him packing his backpack and leaving.
He reached out to grab Bai Chenzhu's hand, but was shaken off.
"Make a scene?" Bai Chenzhu gasped, a hint of anger rising on his usually calm and collected face. He said coldly, "Jiang Ye, you shameless bastard, which of these things you mentioned has anything to do with me? Even if this world is destroyed and ruined, it has nothing to do with me. I only followed you because I thought you were capable, good to your friends, and I wanted to learn something from you. So it turns out you really meant it when you said you were using me as a tool."
Besides anger, Bai Chenzhu also felt a sadness that he himself was unaware of.
Oh, so this is what a good friend is like. Bai Chenzhu thought. That's great, this is the treatment of the male lead's top henchman, being willing to go to great lengths for him in crucial moments.
Bai Chenzhu had indeed considered being a subordinate before, but when he was actually being assigned tasks, he exploded.
Looking at the distant person in front of him, Jiang Ye suddenly felt a little regretful. He had done this before, but no one had ever gotten so angry as Bai Chenzhu.
He vaguely felt that he might have done something wrong, but after his hand was shaken twice, his temper flared up, and he raised his hand in mid-air before reason suppressed it.
Jiang Ye pressed his lips together, looking at Bai Chenzhu with a gloomy expression. "Are you really leaving?"
There was no response.
No answer meant there was still room for negotiation. Jiang Ye sighed and extended his hand for the third time.
Jiang Ye froze as Bai Chenzhu stood there motionless. He stopped at the moment he was about to pull Bai Chenzhu away, and that moment seemed to stretch on indefinitely, without Jiang Ye noticing at all.
In Jiang Ye's eyes, it was only a blink of an eye. He reached out and grabbed Bai Chenzhu's wrist, but all he touched was air. The person in front of him vanished in an instant, leaving no trace.
Vanished into thin air? Jiang Ye was stunned.
He immediately realized that it was the same move Bai Chenzhu had used to briefly control 'Butler Duan's' consciousness.
At this moment, Jiang Ye belatedly realized and panicked. Bai Chenzhu had used this move to save him before, and now Bai Chenzhu was using it a second time, actually using the ability he had only recently learned on him in an attempt to leave.
"Bai Chenzhu?"
"Bai Chenzhu! Stop hiding, I'll find you!"
However, the surroundings were empty. He tried to search, but the sound of the wind, the smell of rust, and everything he could see... he had lost all trace of Bai Chenzhu.
Just as he got to know the other person during this time, the other person also got to know him.
Jiang Ye's temper flared up, and he threw a punch in the air as if venting his anger, unable to understand what kind of mess had happened.
He returned to the villa with an intimidating aura, only to run into Zhou Zhuohua.
Zhou Zhuohua peeked behind him, but saw nothing. She was somewhat dissatisfied and said, "Tsk."
The white peach parrot following behind her mimicked, "Tsk."
Jiang Ye was annoyed. "What are you tsk about? Bai Chenzhu ran away! That guy's leg isn't healed yet, and he hasn't learned to control his mental power. Now he just runs away like that. Who knows whose dinner he'll become?"
Bai Tao always knows how to speak at crucial moments: "Anyway, it's not your dinner."
Jiang Ye:......
He gave up arguing with the guy, sat on the sofa, and pressed his forehead with one hand. "What a weirdo. He just ran away. Who cares about him?"
Anyway, Bai Chenzhu's absence won't affect what he does.
Jiang Ye couldn't help but wonder again: Where did he run off to?
Last night at the dinner party, Zhou Zhuohua and Jiang Ye spent time together, and Zhou Zhuohua naturally witnessed Jiang Ye's talkativeness, so she guessed about 70-80% of what was going on.
"Jiang Ye, I'm not trying to criticize you," she said, leaning on the back of the sofa. "You clearly had a better idea, but you didn't consider other people's feelings at all. You just threw him into the 'haunted house' for one night. You really treat people like tools, and you didn't even bother to say a word before using him."
"What if they just made a sound?"
“He got upset when he made that sound.” Jiang Ye frowned.
"You knew he didn't want to, yet you still did it." Zhou Zhuohua helplessly spread her hands.
Jiang Ye stubbornly replied, "It's no big deal."
Zhou Zhuohua said, "If he were stupid enough not to guess, that would be one thing. But Bai Chenzhu understands perfectly well. At this point, the matter itself is no longer important. What's important is that he feels you didn't respect him, or that you didn't treat him as a friend, and that's why he's angry."
Jiang Ye hesitated, perhaps wanting to say something like, "It's no big deal."
"Yeah, it's no big deal, you just leave like that." Bai Tao mocked. "I thought you two were such good friends, but now it seems you're not even as good as me and Sister Zhuohua. Sister Zhuohua, she wouldn't treat you like that~"
Zhou Zhuohua adjusted her glasses with her fingertips, shook her head, and sighed deeply, genuinely regretting it. She quite liked Bai Chenzhu, the young man; he was handsome, had a good physique, didn't talk much, but was very sensitive and perceptive, though sometimes he could be quite stubborn.
Jiang Ye's decisiveness is obvious and visible. Bai Chenzhu's is hidden in his heart, making him difficult to fathom. Once they take action, both of them are equally swift and decisive.
Zhou Zhuohua said, "He values you, Jiang Ye. You hurt him, and you don't even know how to back down."
"He values me?" Jiang Ye seemed puzzled, staring at Zhou Zhuohua.
"Thinking about these things is useless," Zhou Zhuohua said, arms crossed. "Don't think about it anymore; whether we'll ever see each other again is unknown."
Jiang Ye covered his face and laughed self-deprecatingly, "That's true."
He said this with a gloomy expression, and he didn't look like someone who was willing to let the matter rest.
Bai Tao complained, "What a grown man, acting like he's lost his wife."
Zhou Zhuohua gave her a warning slap on the back, then pulled her away, saying, "Don't talk nonsense. Let's go find a microphone; your throat is hoarse."
Two days later.
Bai Chenzhu, carrying a large schoolbag, rode his bicycle to a stop at the entrance of the city.
To be precise, it is a newly developed villa area in the small county of Fuguang. Some parts are still under construction, exposing the cement and steel bars inside, and there is still a lot of sand left on the asphalt road. But now it has been requisitioned as a temporary shelter.
The entrance was crowded with heavily armed men, who were strictly guarding the entrance and exit. Everyone had to undergo a thorough body check before they could enter.
He was panting, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead, his eyes slightly bright as he looked at the official shelter.
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