The Girl Behind the Window

Seeing the mutated zombie's body fall down, Ye Lian immediately pounced over and scooped out its brain gel in one swift move. 

With Ye Lian's current dexterity, she could even remove the brain gel without getting a single drop of blood on herself. It was only after she let go that the back of the mutated zombie's head, now with a massive hole, began to slowly ooze out a mixed red and white substance.

What surprised Ling Mo was that the brain gel of the mutated zombie was completely different from that of a normal zombie. The brain gel of a normal zombie was only slightly reddish, but the gel scooped out from this mutated zombie's brain was completely covered by a intricate red vein network, making it look at first glance like a dazzling red gemstone.

After signaling Ye Lian to wait, Ling Mo took the gel from her and brought it close to examine it carefully.

Ling Mo had guessed earlier that this gel was probably the viral lesion, similar to a calculus inside the body, just softer. It was likely because the lesion was in the brain that caused the infected to lose their senses and become zombies.

And consuming the lesion allowed the virus in Ye Lian's body to become more concentrated, while also deepening the effects it had on her. This was perhaps a way to fight poison with poison…

Bringing it to his nose, a very faint but extremely pungent smell instantly rushed in, nearly making Ling Mo pass out from the shock. But to Ye Lian this was the ultimate delicacy, despite being unbearable for normal people.

From the looks of the gel, the viral concentration inside was definitely much higher than that of normal zombie brain gel. Considering what had happened before, Ling Mo decided to have Ye Lian consume this gel only after finding a suitable place to rest. Otherwise if he fainted on the spot, even a regular zombie could finish him off while he was immobilized.

Stepping over the mutated zombie corpse, Ling Mo frowned as he entered the workspace that looked no different from a slaughterhouse, leaving Ye Lian outside to prevent the smell of blood from attracting other zombies.

The floor was like it had been plastered with a layer of flesh and blood, and felt somewhat strange to step on. A thick stench of decay overwhelmed the senses.

Thinking that Wang Lin could be among the blood and bones here made Ling Mo want to drag the mutated zombie corpse back in for another fierce beating.

There were many finished and semi-finished artisanal blades in the workspace, but these were not what Ling Mo was looking for. After rummaging around for a while, he finally found a box buried under a bloodstained sleeve.

Opening the box, there were several daggers and short knives inside, all glinting sharply. The unsheathed blades looked extremely sharp, and the quality was also pretty decent, much better than those clunky cleavers, and easier to carry around.

After testing the feel and selecting a suitable short knife to strap to his waist, along with a handy dagger, Ling Mo left with Ye Lian. Although powerful, relying solely on Ye Lian as they headed deeper into the city districts crowded with more zombies was not going to work. 

Also, being with Ye Lian gave Ling Mo a subtle psychological feeling. He hoped to become even stronger than Ye Lian, instead of clinging on and barely surviving through her help, so that when Ye Lian someday regained her senses, he could stand tall and face her…

Establishing a mental connection with Ye Lian allowed them to evolve together, which perfectly gave Ling Mo a chance to become stronger. But just evolving together was not enough. As a mutated zombie, Ye Lian's physical strength far exceeded Ling Mo's. His advantage lied in learning and continuously honing his combat skills.

Through fighting alongside Ye Lian these past days, Ling Mo had indeed learned many things from actual combat. This could be seen from his earlier fight with the mutated zombie.

But this was still not enough… Ling Mo walked out of the workspace and looked at Ye Lian's back with complicated feelings.

The existence of mutated zombies like Ye Lian was now confirmed, and just her astonishing growth speed alone showed that even stronger beings would soon be encountered. Especially inside the crowded urban districts, the number of mutated zombies was likely not small either… It seemed his speed of getting stronger was still too slow.

"Let's go."

Seeing there was nothing else useful left in the shop, Ling Mo brought Ye Lian along as they departed. Although to Ye Lian, she simply acted on Ling Mo's mental commands, to Ling Mo she was still that cute girl who would act coy, so he unconsciously spoke to her.

What Ling Mo didn't know was that right after they left, a slender and fair hand pulled back the heavy curtains in the 2-story small building across the street. A pair of bright eyes peeked through the thin gap, watching as Ling Mo and Ye Lian disappeared around the corner.

"Wang Lin, what's going on?"

A male voice sounded from inside the room, asking puzzledly.

The girl called Wang Lin immediately let the curtains fall close. She turned to look at the somewhat dim interior, her distinct and delicate features devoid of expression in the poor lighting, making her seem even more frail and sickly: "That mutated zombie was taken care of and the best short knife inside was taken too."

The man speaking walked out from the shadows, asking in astonishment, "Impossible! How was it done?"

"A frontal confrontation." Wang Lin's expression was also complicated, "I was thinking since that was after all a relative, I'd find an appropriate method to deal with him, didn't expect someone to be able to fight a mutated zombie head-on… I noticed them when they came, one was a girl with no combat ability, the other seemed vaguely familiar but I can't remember who he is, didn't look particularly special either…"

"So amazing! And we went through so much trouble, yet they beat us to it." The man's expression was extremely shocked, but even more so, chagrined. 

At this time Wang Lin gave an extremely dissatisfied grunt: "The key is that knife! I made it with my own hands, yet he dared to take it away! If not for that knife, I wouldn't have rushed back specially either."

"Forget it since it's already taken…" The man said with some helplessness after a stunned moment.

A flash of anger appeared in Wang Lin's eyes: "No way! I spent over half a year to make that, why should he take it as he wishes! We might as well go after them right now!"

"Don't go looking for trouble…" 

"You're just that spineless and cowardly! Anyway if I see him again, I'll definitely make him pay! How dare he take my stuff, what a robber!"

"Yes, you're right…" The man conceded with a pained expression, then carefully asked, "The knife is gone, so what now? We can only go check your cousin's shop right? And see if anyone survived over at their place…"

"It'd be great if they were all dead!" A look of disgust flashed across Wang Lin's face as she grumbled softly.

But after a short silence, she reluctantly nodded: "No other way, their family got real skills from grandpa, their knives are decent too. Let's go take a look. If not for knives being all I can use, I wouldn't even bother! Come to think of it, that guy earlier seems kind of familiar the more I think about it…"

"In a small place like this, you bump into everyone all the time, nothing strange about that. Don't think too much, hurry and get ready, then we'll head to your cousin's." The man said excitedly, and seeing his reaction, Wang Lin just gave a muted grunt: "Hope they're all dead! Especially that one just now, actually taking my knife, may you die an early death!"

At this moment Ling Mo, hurrying towards their temporary shelter, suddenly felt a chill shoot up from his feet as his scalp tingled.

He quickly looked back, but saw nothing except the zombie corpses they had just taken down.

"What was that, just my imagination?"

Ling Mo looked around suspiciously, then shook his head helplessly and glanced at Ye Lian before hurrying off with her.