Bonus Bonanza (2/10)

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“So what you’re saying is… there are zombies that can talk?!”

Hearing Qin Ye’s scream, the man gave a wry smile: “That’s right…” His voice was hoarse from prolonged dehydration.

“Wait a minute.” Lu Yao cut them off: “Now’s not the time for stories. Let’s go outside and talk.”

The woman nodded. “Okay.”

She hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the dead little zombie—it was a boy’s body. Qin Ye was about to ask a question, but Lu Yao pressed his palm over his mouth. Qin Ye made a couple of muffled sounds and fell silent.

Jiang Xingrui watched the scene unfold and couldn’t help but comment, “Next time, if I don’t want you to keep talking, can I just cover your mouth with my hand too?”

Lu Yao: “You’d actually do something like that.” He paused for a moment and added, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take the opportunity to lick the palm of your hand?”

Jiang Xingrui: “……”

Jiang Xingrui: “I’m sorry, my mistake.”

That brief moment was all it took for a large number of zombies to gather outside again. Still, it was a good thing they hadn’t told the story yet—if that surviving couple had finished their story, what followed outside would likely have been another bloody massacre.

With two more people this time, the pressure had increased slightly.

Still, these two survivors were pretty nimble with their knives, slicing through the zombies with swift, decisive strokes.

The man was holding a baseball bat, while the woman held a kitchen knife. The two worked together seamlessly, proving that their survival was by no means a coincidence. Jiang Xingrui was still leading the way, wielding his incredibly cool pair of daggers as always.

Lu Yao was in the middle; he was no longer simply imitating Jiang Xingrui but had incorporated his own style. His alloy bone blade jabbed at vital points—each strike wasn’t particularly elegant, but it was highly effective.

Bringing up the rear was Qin Ye, who was swinging his tactical axe with increasing skill. He didn’t need to target specific weak points—an axe is an axe, and every swing landed on a vital spot.

The five-person team advanced rapidly. As they stepped out from under the roll-up gate, sunlight poured down on them, and they all squinted simultaneously.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen sunlight…” The man raised his hand to shield half his face. “It’s so blinding.”

The woman took a deep breath of the outside air; even with its musty, rotten smell, it was far cleaner than the suffocating, foul mixture of odors in that cramped room.

Much of their tension melted away in the sunlight; sunlight always manages to dispel some of the gloom and bring a glimmer of hope. Lu Yao glanced at her mission panel and noticed that another “Helping Others” mission had been completed.

【Helping Others (2/5)】

“Do you guys have any other wishes?” Lu Yao asked.

The woman frowned and said, “Why are you being so nice? Do you want something in return?”

Lu Yao answered honestly, “Don’t worry, we don’t have any ulterior motives. I’m not usually this nice, but since today is Labor Day, I just want to help others.”

Qin Ye, standing beside him, nodded. “Mm-hmm, that’s exactly it.” The surviving couple exchanged bewildered glances.

What? Had they been stuck inside for too long? Did people outside really talk like that?

Seeing the expressions on the survivors’ faces, Jiang Xingrui covered his face with his hands. He wanted to say, “Actually, we just met—I don’t know them that well.” But saying that would make him sound too clueless, so he could only stand there awkwardly, forced to cover for them.

Jiang Xingrui: “…Anyway, please tell us your wish. Of course, we rescued you for a reason. I’m from the survivor organization Torch Dragon. My goal is clear: to find survivors, bring them back to the organization, and expand our ranks.”

This straightforward statement helped the couple calm down a bit. Jiang Xingrui’s explanation of his purpose actually put their minds at ease. After all, they didn’t believe anyone could be that selfless.

“So, what do you wish for?” Jiang Xingrui asked.

The woman bit her lip, her eyes red-rimmed, but finally said, “I want… to bury him. Let him rest in peace.” The little zombie in her arms looked to be only seven or eight years old.

“Okay,” Lu Yao nodded. “Then let’s head home first to grab a shovel and stuff—otherwise, it’ll be hard to dig a hole. I’ve got plenty of experience digging holes…”

The woman hesitated for a moment: “Isn’t this too much trouble for you guys?”

Lu Yao: “No, not at all.”

They left the mall and retraced their steps. As they passed the section of the street they’d swept earlier, Lu Yao picked up the broom, trash tongs, and other things one by one.

“I can’t believe there’s a full set of tools right here,” the man said.

Lu Yao: “Oh, oh, we just left these here. We were cleaning the street a little while ago.” At that, the two survivors looked even more bewildered than before. Has the apocalypse really hit the outside world…? What on earth is going on…?

Jiang Xingrui still planned to take them to the Torch Dragon, so he had no choice but to explain—or rather, make an excuse: “The smell around here is too strong; it might attract more zombies, so we came over to clean things up a bit…”

The two survivors nodded. That explanation made sense. Then they crossed the street.

Looking back, they saw Lu Yao had stopped. Jiang Xingrui: “……”

Survivor: “Wh-what’s wrong?” This stop-and-go business was starting to make them a little anxious.

Lu Yao: “I’m waiting for the traffic light.” Sunlight swept across his profile; he looked handsome and refined, but what he said was quite eerie.

Jiang Xingrui: “… ” 

Survivor: “Huh?”

Jiang Xingrui looked back at the street they’d just crossed and asked seriously, “Then why didn’t you wait at the last intersection? Why wait right now of all times?” 

Survivor: “Huh?”

Lu Yao explained earnestly, “When we crossed earlier, the light was green, so we just went right through.”

Jiang Xingrui:“……”

Seeing the confused look on the survivor’s face once again, Jiang Xingrui covered his face with his hands: “Actually, I don’t know him very well. Really, I have no idea what’s going on with him…” He gave up—he gave up completely.

In any case, once Lu Yao said green had arrived, they continued on their way and returned home about half an hour later.

Qin Ye deftly poured water for the two survivors. He had originally been holding some compressed biscuits, but Lu Yao asked him to swap them for instant noodles instead.

The surviving couple hadn’t been particularly short on supplies at the supermarket, but later on, due to mental stress and a prolonged lack of hot meals, they ended up eating less and less.

As the couple ate their steaming hot instant noodles, their expressions were deeply moved.

Jiang Xingrui glanced at Lu Yao in surprise; Lu Yao’s thoughtful gesture reminded him of He Junwen, the strategist of the Torch Dragon. After eating and drinking their fill, they grabbed their shovels and entrenching tools and set off once more.

“Where should we bury him?” Lu Yao asked.

The woman hesitated: “I don’t know.” She was thinking of burying him in the park her child had loved most when he was alive, but that park was too far away, and the journey was too risky; she felt bad about putting them through the trouble.

Lu Yao offered enthusiastically, “I buried someone there before—in my old apartment complex. The scenery there is pretty nice, too. Why don’t we bury him there as well? The two of them can lie side by side.”

The woman nodded: “Okay.”

So they went together to Lu Yao’s old neighborhood.

Summer had already arrived; grass was pushing its way up through the cracks in the ground—slender yet resilient—and as the wind blew, it rippled with a layer of green waves. Life always finds a way.

They found the grave without any trouble.

Then Lu Yao began digging a hole with the two survivors.

Jiang Xingrui picked up a shovel but didn’t dig; hesitantly, he whispered to Qin Ye, “Qin Ye, is the person buried here really the one Lu Yao buried?”

Qin Ye nodded: “Yes, I buried them with the Boss. We even paid our respects at the grave back then. I’ll tell you, we ran into a zombie that scared the hell out of me. Luckily, we were downwind, so…” He went on and on, speaking excitedly.

Jiang Xingrui fell silent.

So was Lu Yao’s personality shaped by having buried someone important with his own hands? Come to think of it, he might have been too prejudiced against Lu Yao. This apocalypse could drive anyone mad—it was only natural…

Jiang Xingrui looked down at the makeshift gravestone.

The wood, weathered by wind, sun, and rain, was cracked in places. Carved into it with a chisel were five characters: “Grave of a Victim.” No name. Just five lifeless characters.

There are so many victims in this world… Jiang Xingrui sighed wistfully.

Lu Yao called out, “What are you looking at? You’ve got the best engineer’s shovel—come on over and start digging.”

Jiang Xingrui grunted in acknowledgment, walked over, gripped the shovel handle, and plunged the blade into the soil.

The soil wasn’t hard—it had rained quite a bit over the past few days—so the sound of the shovel digging in was damp.

Jiang Xingrui thought he’d been a bit too harsh with Lu Yao earlier—should he apologize? He hesitated for a moment and said, “Lu Yao, should we fix up that grave again?”

Lu Yao replied, “No need. Since it’s already finished, there’s no need.”

Jiang Xingrui: “Oh, so you’re not the type to get caught up in formalities.”

Lu Yao: “It’s not that I’m the type to prioritize formality—otherwise, why would I have dug that grave in the first place?”

Jiang Xingrui felt that things weren’t quite what he’d expected, but his heart was so utterly softened right now that his mind wasn’t working properly: “Huh? Then… who’s buried in that grave?”

Lu Yao: “I don’t know him.”

Jiang Xingrui was baffled. He continued to speculate, “So, was it a stranger you couldn’t save, and then… you buried him out of regret?”

Lu Yao: “Oh, no, not at all. It was Qingming Festival, and visiting graves is a traditional custom for that holiday, so I just dug a hole, found a zombie, and buried it.”

Jiang Xingrui: “……” 

Jiang Xingrui’s tender heart cracked inch by inch. No.

You… what on earth is going on here… What the hell is this? What the hell? What the hell??? Jiang Xingrui felt as if his brain had been hit with a hammer.

Then what was the point of all that sentimental rambling just now?!

Jiang Xingrui turned to Qin Ye and said, with complete sincerity, “Since we’ve already started digging this hole, let’s make it bigger—and bury Lu Yao in it while we’re at it.”

Qin Ye froze.

After a few seconds, Qin Ye snapped to attention: “If you want to bury the Boss, bury me in there first!”

Lu Yao was moved: “You’re truly my best brother! If we can’t be born under the same quilt, then let’s die in the same grave!”

Jiang Xingrui felt like he was about to go crazy with rage: “Is that how the hell you’re supposed to use that saying?! You two can both go to hell!” The surviving couple looked at them in confusion, not knowing what they were up to.

After a moment, the woman said, “Um, if we’re burying everyone, the hole will be way too big. We probably won’t be able to finish digging it today…”

Although she didn’t understand what had gotten into this group of people who’d saved their lives, they were, after all, their saviors, so she raised the most crucial question.

Jiang Xingrui:“……”

Jiang Xingrui broke down: “Aaaah! Why don’t you just bury me too!” He couldn’t stand it anymore! Life was unbearable!

He’s leaving with the survivors tonight!