Chapter 10

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Chapter 10: An Escape

【Two】

“Misha, the hell are you blathering about to that trash! Don’t tell me you fell for that pretty boy— fuck! That pretty boy’s skin is maintained even better than that high-class whore I fucked last week…”

“Shut up, Qiangzi!” Misha lowered her voice. Her complexion had not been well since she stepped foot into this city, and now, she was frowning even harder. “You damn brainless simple-minded creature, even after all this time, you haven’t noticed something is wrong?!”

Misha sucked in a deep breath. She knew well that her partner would never lose in physical prowess, but his intelligence was truly… So, she had no choice but to explain to Qiangzi, “That man did not lie in our conversation earlier! You know my ability. I can determine if someone is lying through their heartbeat, smell and such. Although this doesn’t apply to mercenaries B-ranked and above, this is still an easy feat against ordinary civilians. And my conclusion is, other than feeling some guilt at the last part, he did not lie at all in the rest!”

Misha panted, and continued, “I’m very glad we could charge into this place. Those zombies earlier were clearly toying with us like it was some cat-and-mouse game! But they became unusually irascible and nervous when they approached this place, and were practically chasing us like frenzied dogs. I pondered, and came to a terrifying conclusion: they were afraid! Afraid of this place! For what reason? I thought it over, and after seeing the insane supplies here, I can only hypothesize one thing: this is an organization’s territory. This organization has a power that terrifies the infected!”

The woman finally saw some shock and panic color the black-clothed man’s face, and this satisfied her. “My conclusion is that this hotel is a stronghold for a formidable organization — I should be grateful for our luck. Though I don’t know why the entire main force of the team is absent and only left that man behind. That man might be an organization member too, but I think he’s more like a prisoner.”

Without any general knowledge, without any worry for his survival, and without any trauma from being handicapped. That man known as “Wu Zhi” was living on with such ignorance, such leisure — or should she say, he was being kept in captivity?

“Then, why aren’t we killing—”

“Have your muscles grown into your brain too?!” Misha resentfully knocked Qiangzi’s head. “He’s very important — at the very least, he’s a relatively important existence to that organization: look, they didn’t kill him or torture him. Instead, they left him here during their expeditions with a peace of mind, and even gave him the most luxurious pleasures — with all the supplies practically open to him unconditionally… Alright, I’ll use another term to describe him. He’s just like a “pet’, kept in captivity!”

Qiangzi scratched his head and said nothing. He was already used to Misha’s temper.

“Listen here, Qiangzi.” Misha suppressed her anger, and added seriously, “Against an organization that could chase away A-ranked zombies, we surely can’t provoke them. We can only request for their cooperation. That man would be a turning point. Not only shouldn’t we kill him, we have to keep him happy!”

Qiangzi did not speak; he was not in full agreement. He had always looked down on those weaklings — other than being protein, what was their use? But Qiangzi still listened to Misha, so he simply held onto the alcohol without a word in silent agreement with Misha’s orders.

Misha’s ears twitched. She suddenly stopped speaking and looked towards the door. A short while later, Wu Zhi showed up there, limping.

“My preparations are done. When are we leaving?” Wu Zhi asked.

Misha flashed a mesmerizing smile. Even when it was half-covered by her mask, her charming smile held a coquettish quality.

“Hehe, Mr. Wu, no need to hurry. Qiangzi and I spent a great deal of effort barging in. At least let us rest a bit, hm?”

“…I’m sorry. I was too anxious.”

Her strengthened five senses can catch Wu Zhi’s every tremble clearly. Misha could not put a finger to how many complex emotions his tremble contained: unease, worry, fear, anticipation, excitement, and a sort of boundless grief.

Wu Zhi did not mind Misha’s probing gaze, only anxiously looking around outside. “Let’s head out tomorrow morning?”

That organization would be coming back tomorrow evening, she supposed? Misha mulled over it, and gave a delicate smile without batting an eye. “Ah, sure.”

Hearing Misha’s promise, Wu Zhi slightly let out a sigh of relief. He turned around with the clutch and was about to leave, but Misha called out to him.

“Mr. Wu, may I ask if you have a new mask? A normal one works.”

“Yep. I’ll get one for you.” Wu Zhi looked at Misha’s face, and ultimately could not resist asking: “Why are you wearing a mask?”

The woman was taken aback, and gave him a charming smile.

“Mr. Wu, you know that my five senses are enhanced, right? My hearing, sight, smell, touch. Although my strengthened five senses are useful in a search, oversensitivity is not always a good thing. It’ll give me some unpleasant experiences, for example… right now.”

Misha covered her nose with a hand, not concealing any of her pain, helplessness and a hint of fear.

“This place has a smell that makes me uncomfortable. To be specific, that smell makes me afraid—”

“What smell?”

“…Smell of the dead.”

Qiangzi gobbled up the food on the table, but the delicate-looking Misha did not fall behind in her eating either. Wu Zhi was well-aware of how delicious the food on the table was. They were made by Ye Qingling and placed in the fridge before he left. Even after being thawed, the taste of a master chef’s cooking did not diminish by much. The two “guests” in front of him were practically close to swallowing their own tongue from how they devoured the food.

“Fuck! Feels fucking good!” Qiangzi licked his plate until it shone, contented. “That fucking hit the spot!”

“We can go now, right?” Wu Zhi had watched them wolf down all of the food on the table without a word. Now, he glanced outside the window anxiously.

“Hehe, Mr. Wu, we…” Misha was about to tactfully evade the topic and drag on until that organization’s return. But in the next instant, the woman’s face abruptly changed.

As though pricked, her sharp five senses were screaming, warning her in terror — a terrifying existence was coming close to this place!

“Qiangzi— 4 o’clock— Hurry—!!!”

Misha screamed. After so many years of teamwork, Qiangzi completely understood what she meant. With wide eyes, Wu Zhi watched Misha jump on the right of Qiangzi’s back. Qiangzi’s giant body size could completely cover Misha’s tiny frame. Qiangzi landed a punch at his four o’clock direction, the sheer force broke the wall and created a gigantic hole. Without any more obstructions, the sunlight shone right in.

Qiangzi dashed to the hole with Misha. Immediately realizing what they were about to do, Wu Zhi hurriedly followed. In the instant before they jumped down, he could not afford another thought and leaped over, grabbing onto the black-clothed man’s left shoulder—

Wind blew by his ears. Wu Zhi’s eyes were aching painfully from the wind. But he didn’t want to shut his eyes at all. Forcing his eyes open, he let himself feel the wind from the outside world.

Boom—

The moment Qiangzi reached the ground, he threw a punch downwards. The horrifying power cancelled out the impact of the fall. He did not seem to have noticed an additional person’s weight on his back, and only sprinted in the 4 o’clock direction that Misha said. Misha glanced at Wu Zhi who was sharing the space with her, but did not say a word.

Wu Zhi fixed a better position for himself in difficulty. The fall impact earlier still gave him some shock, causing blood to swell up his throat. The strong wind started by Qiangzi’s dash hit ruthlessly on his body. Wu Zhi could only hold onto the man’s left shoulder with a death grip, staring at the streets rapidly falling behind him with wide eyes, unwilling to even blink.

A familiar but foreign scenery. The lively streets that had flourished in the past were now desolate and run-down. Wu Zhi looked at this as though it was a lifetime ago.

After running for a while, the silent streets seemed to jolt awake. A clamor came from the darkness lurking in the corners, with shadows creeping about the place. Qiangzi cursed and suddenly braked at top speed, evading the steel needles that were launched into the cement.

The entire air was boiling, the sun seemingly shining down through a layer of heat-absorbing glass. Wu Zhi felt like he had stepped foot in a strange, monstrous dream. Countless monsters of various odd appearances poured out from the two ends of the streets. They growled and screamed as they pounced at them. Wu Zhi watched as a monster so glossy that it looked like a human-shaped fish was torn into pieces by Qiangzi. The flying pieces of flesh splattered onto Wu Zhi’s face. He could even feel the flesh squirming!

Qiangzi opened up a path with his body. On his back, Misha pulled out a small handgun and fired it in bursts. Wu Zhi could only hold on tightly to Qiangzi to prevent himself from being flung away. In this moment, he understood better than he ever did that he was useless garbage— Alright, fine, he could be a meat shield too. Qiangzi can only deal with the attacks from his front and the left of his back. As for the right side of his back, other than life-threatening ones, he was ignoring them. Wu Zhi could feel his entire back beginning to rot.

Wu Zhi started to feel his breathing become hot. His brain too, started turning into a jumble. The familiar itch in his memories began to spread on his back. He wanted to laugh. In this chaos, he can very clearly hear the popping noises — that was the rotting and breaking of the water bubbles spreading on his back.

—Just like this, he’d turn into the lowest-rank decayed zombie, and vanish in front of that person?

“You—?!” Beside him, Misha noticed Wu Zhi’s situation. Her eyes bulged in astonishment. “You’re not vaccinated?!”

“Fuck your mother!” Qiangzi roared in rage, pulling down Wu Zhi from his back, and grabbing him in his hand like a mouse. “Fucking scum, hurry and get the fuck off me!”

Painfully held up in the air, and in this complete chaos, Wu Zhi still unexpectedly wanted to laugh.

Hah… Was it over? …This was his choice. He didn’t regret it.

The beefy man held up Wu Zhi. A headless monster, who had circular sharp teeth as its neck, pounced on them. Qiangzi moved his arm without hesitation, shielding himself with the person in his hand. Reflected in his icy-cold gaze was the sight of the mutant throwing itself at him. In the instant that the person in his hand was torn into shreds, he will break that zombie’s body.

Time and space were washed in monochrome, stretching out to infinity. All sounds were compressed by this elongated time and space. Misha could only hear ringing in her ears. Her vision clouded in white, and her temples throbbed so painfully she was close to fainting.

“……Ah. Aaarghhhhhh—!”

Qiangzi blanked out for a moment. Then, he held his chopped off arm and began screaming. Misha struggled to open her eyes amidst the pain. Those endless waves of zombies seemed to have vanished like it was a mere illusion. The entire street was deathly quiet in complete obedience. Her gaze landed on those two in the middle of the street. One of them was Wu Zhi, sitting on the floor, heaving. And the other was…

Misha covered her eyes and screamed, blood streaming from her eyes — Can you imagine the pain of looking straight at the sun in close proximity? That gigantic, fearsome power that could blind someone in the next second. That thick, terrifying smell was about to drive Misha crazy.

Wu Zhi strained to raise his head to look upwards. Such a familiar sight. So, so familiar that it was mocking. With complex emotions, he looked at the person above him, with that same expression from his distant memory.

“……hi.[1]”

The person standing in front of Wu Zhi crouched down, gently wiping away the dirt on Wu Zhi’s face. Careful and attentive. The eyes under the spectacles were a complete red. On that person’s pretty, delicate face curved a small smile. A smile so demonic that it was like a bloody red spider lily[2] that grew on white bones, emitting the cold aroma of the dead.

“Wu Zhi, I’m here.”

A/N:

Oh, Zhizhi, Yezhi is about to go crazy. You better hope for the best ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Zhizhi: ……

I’ve been so busy recently =-=

Translator Note:

[1] Similar to Chapter 3, this was in English.

[2] 鬼花 (lit. ghost flower). It does not specifically refer to any particular breed, but one of the common interpretations is the “red spider lily”. Since in English, “ghost flower” specifically refers to the white Mohavea confertiflora, and not “red”, to prevent possible misinterpretations, this has been translated as the red spider lily.

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