Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Luckily, Old Yellow and Gun Gun were well trained. While she was communing with nature, one would shield her with its body, and the other kept a sharp lookout.

If anything seemed off, Old Yellow would nudge her, and Gun Gun would nip her finger—a double layer of insurance. Like now: Mu Ying hissed as she snapped back to awareness, crouched down, and looked in the direction Old Yellow was facing.

Across the street, above the sign of a noodle shop, a narrow window was half open.

Two small arms were sticking out, holding a piece of white cloth with two shaky crayon-written words: “Help!”

To get her attention, the person inside was tossing small objects out the window. The noise had drawn zombies, now gathering at the shop’s entrance—about five, maybe more on the way. Any more, and she might be spotted too.

“Old Yellow, wait for me up ahead,” Mu Ying patted the ox, who obediently walked forward.

Mu Ying crept to a sturdy tree, scrambled up in a few quick moves, and steadied herself on a branch. She cleared her throat and shouted across the street, “Stop throwing things! I see you!”

The figure in the window waved the cloth up and down, as if nodding.

Her shout also drew the zombies’ attention. They all turned and staggered toward her.

Once they’d gathered under the tree, clawing at the trunk, Mu Ying summoned her natural power. The grass and shrubs below twisted and stretched, tripping the zombies and tightly binding their legs and arms.

Then, wielding her hoe enhanced with the Rubber Club spell, she leapt from the tree, aiming for their heads. Every swing cracked open a zombie skull.

The boy in the window stared wide-eyed at the scene. This big sister was even fiercer than the badgers in the melon patch!"

"After dealing with the zombies, Mu Ying picked up the dropped copper coins. She waited a while longer, making sure no more zombies were coming, before crossing the street to the noodle shop.

The shop’s door was wide open, and the inside was a mess—tables and chairs overturned everywhere, with scattered bloodstains hinting at a recent struggle.

She’d been to this noodle shop many times before. It was run by a couple from out of town, and the food was especially good. Even when other places raised their prices, theirs always stayed the same.

Whenever she came down the mountain or was heading home around mealtime, this place was always one of her go-to choices.

After the shop was renovated, a second floor was added, and the owners’ family of three lived upstairs. Their son was, if she remembered right, in sixth grade.

Mu Ying recalled that the entrance to the second floor was behind the fridge. Circling around, she saw that the ladder, which used to be propped up at the entrance, had fallen to the ground.

At that moment, she heard a noise overhead. The hatch at the entrance was pushed open, and a head popped out eagerly. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. “Sister Mu, it’s you!”

“Yeah. Are you up there by yourself?” Mu Ying set the ladder back in place and climbed up.

“Yeah. A lot of monsters showed up in the shop. After Mom and Dad got bitten, they ran away,” Dong Xiaogang whispered.

Mu Ying sighed. In the apocalypse, there was no virtue in sparing the old or the young. If she kept treating him like a child, she’d only be hurting him.

“Those monsters are called zombies. If you get bitten, you turn into one. Zombies are mindless, soulless walking corpses. So your parents are, for all intents and purposes, dead.”

Dong Xiaogang’s eyes instantly filled with tears. He’d suspected as much. “Really?”

“Really.” Mu Ying nodded solemnly. “There are still a lot of zombies outside. Without your parents to protect you, you’ll have to rely on yourself now. So you need to toughen up quickly and live on, carrying their share with you.”

Dong Xiaogang lowered his head and was silent for a while. Suddenly, as if something clicked, he looked up at her. “Sister Mu, can I go with you from now on? You’re so strong—can you teach me?”

“No. I can’t take you with me, and I probably can’t teach you either,” Mu Ying said bluntly. “I’m heading to the southern suburbs. If I bring you along, you won’t be able to run or fight like I can when there are zombies, and I don’t have the ability to protect you. Most likely, you’d die.”

“This place is still relatively safe, and there’s enough food stored here to last you a while. The only problem is water, but before I leave, I’ll make sure you have enough. I’ll also help you awaken your ability. For the next few days, just stay here, try to figure out your ability, and when I come back from the southern suburbs, I’ll take you with me.”

“There’s a camp in the forest park that can keep zombies out, but you have to pay five copper coins a day to stay there. If you kill about two zombies, that’s enough for a day’s fee. I’ll take you there, but after that, it’s up to you.”

“Ability? I have an ability too?”

“You’ve played games, right? Every time you kill a zombie, you can unlock your own ability, just like a game character. Once you learn how, it’s not that hard to take down a lone zombie.”

Mu Ying glanced out the window. “Shh, there’s a zombie over there. I’ll lure it over.”

She tapped on the glass to get the zombie’s attention. Once it was at the door, she moved to the entrance of the loft and knocked on the floor, drawing it step by step to the hatch.

Then, using the same trick as before, she bound it with her Entangling Technique, jumped down, smashed its limbs with a hoe, and stuffed its mouth so it couldn’t bite—rendering it basically harmless.

She dragged it up to the loft and handed Dong Xiaogang a kitchen knife she’d found in the shop. “Here, cut off its head.”

Dong Xiaogang cowered in the corner, covering his mouth and shaking his head.

This was Aunt Zhang from the corner store—how could she have turned into this? It was terrifying!

“If you can’t even do this, you won’t survive in this world. Sooner or later, you’ll become one of these monsters yourself. In that case, you’re not worth saving,” Mu Ying said coldly. “If you don’t hurry, the vines will disappear! You only get one chance.”

These past few days living alone had already forced Dong Xiaogang to grow up a lot. He didn’t understand why the Sister Mu who used to pat his head so gently was now so ruthless, but her eyes told him that if he didn’t do as she said, she really would leave him behind.

Choking back sobs, Dong Xiaogang stepped forward. Mu Ying shoved the knife into his hand and pointed at the zombie’s neck. “Chop here. Use all your strength.”

“Don’t look at me. If you don’t do it, I’m leaving.”

Dong Xiaogang closed his eyes, his hands trembling as he raised the knife.

“Open your eyes. Look carefully before you strike. In the future, no one will cut off a zombie’s arms and legs and hold it down for you!”

Mu Ying’s stern voice startled Dong Xiaogang so much he nearly dropped the knife.

He opened his tear-filled eyes. In the dim light, everything was blurry, and he could barely make out the zombie’s face. Gritting his teeth, he struck.

“Not enough. Again, harder!”

After the first chop, the rest came easier. Dong Xiaogang’s swings grew faster and stronger.

“That’s enough,” Mu Ying pulled him back and wiped away his tears. “See? Killing them isn’t so hard. Their necks are just as fragile as a human’s.”

“When you kill a zombie, it drops copper coins. You can use them to pay for entry to the camp. Not bad, there are three coins—pick them up and keep them,” Mu Ying said, pointing at the coins on the zombie’s body.

Dong Xiaogang silently picked up the coins, staring in surprise as the zombie’s body turned to dust and vanished.

“Once you pick up the loot, the body disappears, and the person who was forced to become a zombie can finally rest. You should have unlocked your player handbook just now, right? Open it and take a look. Once you choose your class, you’ll get an ability like mine,” Mu Ying said, stepping aside to fill empty water bottles with her Water Creation spell.

“Pay close attention to the attribute descriptions—attributes are very important for your class. I suggest you pick a class that matches your strengths. Also, a class with ranged attacks will be safer for you. If you have any questions, ask me.”

Mu Ying didn’t ask about his attributes—those were private.

Once the water was ready, Dong Xiaogang still hadn’t said a word, just stared silently at his player handbook.

Mu Ying didn’t push him. She’d done all she could. She sat quietly to the side, closed her eyes, and meditated to restore her mana.

A few hours later, her mana was full again. She stood up and stretched. “I’m leaving. Hide well, and use this time to practice your class abilities.”

Dong Xiaogang stayed crouched by the wall, unmoving. Mu Ying didn’t mind. She checked the area, then opened the hatch to climb down.

Once she was down, she took the ladder and leaned it against the wall.

The hatch creaked open a crack. “Sister Mu…”