Chapter 8

Ling Mo chose a small family inn as his temporary resting place. The room was relatively clean, and the smell of blood wasn't too strong. The key was its good location. He deliberately brought several bottles of disinfectant and poured them at the door, which almost prevented any zombies from noticing him.

However, this method would only work in areas where zombies were not densely packed. In a city full of zombies, it might even attract their attention...

After eating a little, and carefully checking the doors and windows, Ling Mo finally sat in front of Ye Lian and took out the gel from his pocket.

Perhaps because it had been exposed to the air for too long, the originally faint pungent smell had become even stronger. As soon as he took it out, it made Ye Lian's eyes turn red. If the mental connection between Ling Mo and her wasn't already very strong, she might have wanted to resist.

But this smell was a torment to Ling Mo. The reason he didn't immediately put it in Ye Lian's mouth was that he noticed the color of the gel was incredibly strange, like real blood clots, and it looked very fresh. He hadn't expected the virus to have a preservative effect...

At this point, the instinctive need from Ye Lian was already very strong. Ling Mo didn't continue to stimulate her but instead reached out and placed the gel at her lips.

Ye Lian's lips were cold. When she opened her mouth to swallow the gel, her warm tongue lightly brushed against Ling Mo's fingers, making his heart skip a beat. Watching Ye Lian's eyes gradually calm down, Ling Mo even had the impulse to kiss her...

However, just as Ling Mo slowly cupped her face, Ye Lian, who had been expressionless, suddenly closed her eyes and frowned slightly.

This shocked Ling Mo. It was the first time he had seen an expression on Ye Lian's face after her mutation. Despite her closed eyes, the dangerous aura emanating from her made Ling Mo feel as if the temperature around him had dropped.

At the same time, a sensation of alternating cold and heat swept over Ling Mo's entire body. He shivered, and then felt a sharp pain from every pore, his head feeling as if it were about to explode.

"Ah..."

Unable to bear the pain, Ling Mo immediately curled up, and Ye Lian, whom he had released, fell back and lay in the bed.

The indescribable pain from every cell in Ling Mo's body made him feel as if his body was being torn apart and reassembled bit by bit. Even just being affected by the mental connection caused him such pain, let alone Ye Lian, who was directly experiencing it.

With bloodshot eyes, Ling Mo knelt on the bed, his whole body trembling involuntarily, but his eyes remained fixed on Ye Lian.

If Ye Lian could endure it, why couldn't he, a grown man, endure it...

After a full half hour, the intense pain finally began to subside, but to Ling Mo, it felt like three days and three nights.

Fortunately, the subsequent sense of relief greatly alleviated the aftereffects of the pain. He could feel the subtle changes that had accumulated in his body over time, now consolidated and elevated, as if he had been reborn. The strength hidden in his muscles and the unprecedented clarity of his mind made Ling Mo extremely excited.

Like the mutated zombies, he had also undergone some kind of evolution... Although it wasn't visible from the outside, Ling Mo could clearly feel it. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Ling Mo felt that because he had consciously endured the pain, his mental evolution was even greater than his physical one.

Whether this was true or not could only be determined through practice.

Ye Lian remained unconscious for the entire night, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she occasionally trembled. Ling Mo stayed by her side, feeling both pity and anticipation. To what extent would Ye Lian grow after absorbing the brain gel from the mutated zombie...

"I'm dizzy, I actually fell asleep..."

The extreme fatigue of his body made Ling Mo finally fall into a deep sleep after staying up all night. However, the special skills he had cultivated in the apocalypse made him wake up after just a few minutes.

This special way of sleeping was probably something everyone who survived in the apocalypse would master. A strong sense of vigilance, almost instinctive, would always remind them to stay alert, even in their sleep. A few minutes of deep sleep was enough to relieve the tense nerves.

However, as a puppeteer, Ling Mo rarely entered deep sleep because he had to maintain the mental connection with the puppet. This was the first time...

When he nervously opened his eyes, he discovered a shocking fact: Ye Lian was gone!

Could she have escaped his control in those few minutes?! But after calming down, Ling Mo suddenly realized that wasn't the case. After his evolution, his mental abilities had become much stronger, and the change from deliberate control to effortless manipulation was a qualitative leap.

Although Ye Lian was not in sight, Ling Mo could clearly feel that he was still mentally connected to her.

Since being controlled by him, except during battles and outings, Ye Lian almost never acted on her own. Why today...

Thinking about this, the puzzled Ling Mo quickly switched his perspective to Ye Lian's...

Fortunately, Ye Lian was still in the inn, but her behavior was strange. Normally, apart from attacking and eating, Ye Lian would not take any actions with self-awareness. Now, she was wandering around the inn.

And from time to time, she would stop at certain places and stare quietly for a while.

What was going on? Ling Mo quickly rushed out and soon found Ye Lian in the corridor downstairs.

At the sight of Ye Lian, Ling Mo almost cried out in surprise. The morning sunlight streamed through the window, and Ye Lian, standing in the sunlight, turned to look at him with a hint of confusion on her face. This tiny expression of emotion made Ling Mo tremble with excitement.

"Ye Lian!" Ling Mo rushed to her, grabbed her shoulders, and shouted in surprise and joy.

He hadn't expected her to regain consciousness so quickly...

No... After shaking her a few times, Ling Mo suddenly felt a cold splash of water on his head. In Ye Lian's eyes, he saw only occasional confusion and the same coldness as usual.

Perhaps the virus's evolution had loosened the grip on Ye Lian's rationality, but it was far from recovery. It was also possible that the virus's evolution had created new consciousness in Ye Lian, who was previously a blank slate...

"Ye Lian?" After calling out a few more times without success, Ling Mo finally accepted that Ye Lian had not fully recovered.

However, at least Ye Lian had shown some emotional expression and started to act on her own. Whether this was a sign of her recovery or a new evolution of the virus, it at least meant that Ling Mo's hopes were not in vain.