Wen Qianshu knew Jiang Yin and Jiang Yao were very similar, but she never expected them to be this similar. The woman across from her sat on the bed, not wearing a restraint device. When she looked up, she was the spitting image of another Jiang Yao: “What do you want to talk about?”
Wen Qianshu smiled and lowered her eyes. “May I be so bold as to ask what happened to your leg?”
Jiang Yin didn’t answer, instead asking, “Then what happened to your parents?”
Wen Qianshu laughed out loud, but walked closer to her. The cold muzzle of the gun pressed against her chin, slid across her cheek, traced an arc, and stopped between her eyebrows.
Wen Qianshu: “What do you think?”
Jiang Yin’s eyes held a smile. “If you don’t want to talk, what makes you think I will?”
This was a tacit admission. She was the person Jiang Yao saw that day, the murderer who killed Qin Shu’s parents.
Wen Qianshu could feel Qin Shu’s emotions struggling, weeping, and growing more painful, but the smile on her face didn’t change. She stared into Jiang Yin’s eyes, pressing the gun tighter, the threat unspoken but clear.
“With such hatred… what will you choose?”
Jiang Yin raised her eyes, her tone intimate, like friends sharing a secret. “Choose to kill me, or choose to hand me over?”
“That depends on your performance.” Wen Qianshu said, “Tell me, where is the anti-Divine Light agent, and who is the person behind you?”
The cold muzzle was almost embedded in Jiang Yin’s forehead, ready to take her life at any moment, but she acted as if she didn’t notice, just staring motionlessly at Wen Qianshu and letting out an ambiguous laugh.
Wen Qianshu: “Speak.”
Wen Qianshu had suspected that Jiang Yin was the real villain, that Jiang Yao’s pile of lies was just a cover for her. But Jiang Yin’s appearance here, unarmed, witnessing Wen Qianshu take care of the three trainees, was enough to show that her current situation was not good. She might even be under house arrest.
The opposing camp wasn’t a monolith; it seemed there was internal strife.
Moreover, the fact that these trainees dared to be in the same room with her while she wasn’t wearing a restraint device, and that she showed no reaction to their bleeding, indicated that she was not currently a “Believer.”
But if Jiang Yin were still human, Jiang Yao would never have lied to get her off the hook. Jiang Yao must have confirmed that Jiang Yin had already turned into a zombie.
All this could only prove one thing: Jiang Yin was once a “Believer,” and now she had turned back into a human.
She knew how to counter the “Divine Light.”
“The agent to counteract the ‘Divine Light’…” Jiang Yin repeated. At this moment, she no longer resembled Jiang Yao, or rather, she couldn’t be bothered to imitate her anymore. She drew out the last syllable of her words, smiling just like Wen Qianshu, like some kind of wise teacher and helpful friend. “The gift I gave to Yaoyao, did she not receive it?”
This time, even Wen Qianshu’s expression changed. “That bottle of potion?”
The scarlet potion they’d found on the little zombie’s mother?
Because there was only a tiny bottle, Lou Jiu and the others didn’t dare put it in the analyzer, and they had been at a loss ever since.
Wen Qianshu stared at her without blinking. Jiang Yin raised a finger, touched her lips, and said, “There’s no need for me to lie to you. Inject Gao Bai with that vial of agent, and you’ll naturally know if it’s real or not.”
“Of course, you can also analyze its components.” Jiang Yin’s hands were different from Jiang Yao’s; they had no calluses or wounds, a pair of very beautiful, researcher’s hands. “But let me tell you clearly, I custom-made this specifically for Gao Bai. Once it’s used, it’s gone. You might not be able to save him again.”
“Make a choice.” Wen Qianshu’s gaze didn’t move, but in her peripheral vision, she saw Shang Ci vaulting onto the balcony behind Jiang Yin. She heard Jiang Yin laugh, “Gao Bai or the base, who do you choose?”
Wen Qianshu’s gun moved slightly as she tried to cover the noise from behind with her voice. “Why should I have to choose? I can just hand you over and let them torture you.”
Shang Ci was already behind Jiang Yin. Wen Qianshu said, “You’re not a ‘Believer’ anymore. The ‘Divine Light’ can no longer protect you from pain, can it?”
“‘Divine Light’ can’t protect anyone.” Unexpectedly, Jiang Yin replied, “The ones who protect humanity have always been humans themselves.”
“But humans are always regretting, constantly regretting. They only want the benefits of one path, without the pain of abandoning the other.”
“So for thousands of years, we have been obsessed with creating gods, letting them control cause and effect, judge right and wrong, so we can deceive ourselves into saying it’s the will of heaven.” Jiang Yin calmly raised her hand in a gesture of gripping the gun barrel. “Whoever controls others is a god; whoever is placed on this high pedestal is the ‘Divine Light’.”
“It’s not the ‘Divine Light’ protecting me; it’s me protecting the ‘Divine Light’.”
Wen Qianshu sneered, “Do you really think you can become a god?”
“There will always be people you can’t control.”
A subtle sound of collision came from the dorm room door. Wen Qianshu’s gaze shifted, and she suddenly saw Jiang Yin raise her face and grab the gun barrel. “I was wrong.”
Wen Qianshu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She saw Jiang Yin raise her eyes, her beautiful, pitch-black pupils like some deep, bottomless pool. “Either you’re playing dumb, or…”
She whispered, “You’re pretending to be Qin Shu.”
2333 was shocked, and Wen Qianshu was also caught off guard by the question. Just then, it suddenly became noisy outside, as if someone was shouting something. Jiang Yin abruptly pulled the gun barrel and turned her head. Shang Ci instinctively dodged, wary of the gun going off, only to find a pair of hands suddenly reaching out from behind him and pulling Jiang Yin away.
Jiang Yin turned her head, looked at Wen Qianshu, and said with a smile, “You should have shot.”
How is that possible?
Shang Ci thought, How is that possible?
Before coming, he had clearly asked Lou Jiu to gather all the training camp members and instructors, and had clearly asked his team members to stand guard downstairs.
How could there still be someone…
His long-term training told Shang Ci that when facing zombies, the first rule was always to dodge and not get bitten.
In a flash, he had already yielded to his instincts and dodged sideways, seeing the newly appeared “Believer,” only to come face to face with a familiar face—a face that had been at the training camp for over ten years, a face that Shang Ci, Lou Jiu, and even every member of the training camp knew.
A face Wen Qianshu had just seen.
The old gatekeeper of the dorms.
“An old habit.” Jiang Yin smiled. “Always overlooking the old, weak, sick, and disabled.”
Wen Qianshu understood in an instant. The old man had seen her, and he had the keys to all the dorm rooms. He had hidden in the hallway when Wen Qianshu pulled Song Zhicheng out, and after they entered the room, he had gone into Song Zhicheng’s original room.
Wen Qianshu hadn’t actually sent a text to Shang Ci; the phrase “send a text” was more of a signal for him to act. In reality, Wen Qianshu’s phone was on a call with Shang Ci, so he must have heard her conversation with Song Zhicheng and, as a result, let his guard down regarding Song Zhicheng’s room.
Wen Qianshu spoke with Jiang Yin to cover the sound of Shang Ci climbing in; but Jiang Yin, in speaking with her, was also covering the sound of the “Believer.”
She’d been tricked.
The old man swept Jiang Yin up in his arms and, with an agility that defied his age, rushed towards the balcony. That’s right, he was a zombie now, no longer bound by the constraints of age.
Wen Qianshu raised her gun and aimed at the back of its head, but it dodged behind Shang Ci. Wen Qianshu cursed—this was the same tactic she had just used. But Shang Ci was far superior to those trainees. His reaction was incredibly swift; he immediately spun around and fired. However, the Believer raised an arm, took the bullet with its body, and used the impact’s momentum to slam Shang Ci violently against the wall.
Shang Ci, on high alert to avoid being bitten, immediately ducked to evade, but the opponent seemed to have anticipated this, using his dodge to rush to the balcony.
Shang Ci followed close behind.
Outside the window, voices roared. Someone was shouting, “Why are there so many zombies!”
Wen Qianshu had only taken two steps in pursuit when she heard the dorm room door suddenly shake violently, banging loudly. The trainee at the door stared with wide, terrified eyes as he saw fingers reaching under the door, scratching relentlessly.
He stood blocking the door, trembling all over. He saw the fingers touch the blood he had shed, seem to retract and lick it, and grew even more frightened.
Wen Qianshu: “Don’t open it!”
The trainee was on the verge of collapse: “I know!”
Wen Qianshu: “Damn it, the simulation field.”
The training camp was about to open the simulation field, so there were a large number of zombies on the grounds. Once they were released… this room had the strongest scent of blood.
Wen Qianshu gritted her teeth. She knew that with her current stamina, it was absolutely impossible to catch up to Jiang Yin, which meant Song Zhicheng was the only one left who knew the inside story.
She made a snap decision, hoisting the heavily injured and unconscious Song Zhicheng onto her shoulder, nearly toppling over from his weight. The trainee who had been holding the gun also had a look of terror in his eyes and shouted, “Save me, save me!”
Wen Qianshu mustered her strength, carrying Song Zhicheng, and tried to get him to safety first. “You wait for me to come back…”
But the trainee suddenly grabbed her leg with enough force to nearly break it. “You won’t come back! Save me! I’m begging you, save me!”
The trainee at the door couldn’t hold on any longer and started crawling towards them, propping himself up with his hands. “Help! Save me!”
Shang Ci had already gone after Jiang Yin, and there were clearly many zombies outside. With the old man controlling them, they could approach silently.
But Shang Ci couldn’t have brought too many people. They suspected a mole in the base, so they naturally only brought a few trustworthy individuals. And some of them had been split off to monitor the training camp’s trainees and instructors.
It seemed more and more zombies were arriving outside, ramming the door frantically. The doorframe was shaking, and it looked like it was about to give way.
Wen Qianshu couldn’t pull her leg free and was still trying to hold onto Song Zhicheng. She raised her gun and said harshly, “Let go! If you don’t, none of us will get out!”
The trainee: “Then we won’t get out! Go on, shoot! I don’t want to be left behind!”
Facing the threat of death, he erupted with astonishing strength, pulling so hard that Wen Qianshu nearly fell. The other trainee had also crawled over, grabbing her ankle and pleading, “I only joined them today, I beg you, save me… save me…”
The banging on the door grew louder, and the sound of scratching nails was chilling. Even through the door, she could smell the stench of the low-level zombies. Song Zhicheng’s body kept slipping down, and the smell of blood was overwhelming.
Wen Qianshu was panting heavily, desperately holding onto Song Zhicheng with one hand while her other hand’s finger was on the trigger, the gun pressed against the trainee’s head.
Wen Qianshu paused for a moment.
2333 suddenly realized she had never killed a person before.
No matter how often 2333 called her cold-blooded or said she didn’t care, she was still an ordinary person raised in a civilized society. The previous world was one of righteous sects, and with Yan Chengquan watching over her, Wen Qianshu had killed many demons but had never taken a human life.
Damn, it’s all Wen Qianshu’s fault for usually being so effortlessly competent.
It made 2333 forget that the apocalypse was harder than the xianxia world, and this was only Wen Qianshu’s third world. For other repairers, the third world was usually considered simple, a time for debauchery. If it weren’t for Wen Qianshu…
2333 also felt a bit of pity. “Wen…”
Its voice overlapped with another: “Xiao Shu?”
Wen Qianshu froze.
She seemed to hear the door panels rattling, the sound of zombies swarming and crashing against it, the weeping of the person before her, the fighting outside, and even the sound of Shang Ci’s footsteps chasing Jiang Yin.
But all these chaotic sounds, both real and unreal, seemed to fade away, leaving only the voice of the person behind her.
That voice was so familiar: “What’s wrong?”
In the moment she was distracted, the trainee suddenly lunged, pushing himself up and reaching for Wen Qianshu’s gun. In that instant, Wen Qianshu pulled the trigger.
The gunshot wasn’t actually loud, but in Wen Qianshu’s ears, it seemed like a deafening blast. The trainee who had tried to grab her gun maintained his pleading yet fierce expression as he fell to the ground with a “thud,” a bloody hole between his eyebrows.
The other trainee’s face was deathly pale.
But Wen Qianshu felt a weight lift from her shoulder as Song Zhicheng’s terribly heavy body was taken by someone else and dropped to the floor.
Lou Jiu raised her fingers and wiped the blood from Wen Qianshu’s face. The surface of the anti-bite strap was rough, and it stung slightly as it scraped against her cheek.
Wen Qianshu shuddered. “I…”
“It’s okay, don’t be afraid.” Lou Jiu said, “I’m here.”
She lifted her chin, indicating the trainee who was still alive. “Can you pull him?”
Wen Qianshu: “I can.”
Lou Jiu half-knelt, quickly and skillfully searching the trainee’s body to confirm he had no weapons. Then she took a can of imitation zombie-stench spray from her bag and sprayed it around them.
The agitation of the zombies outside seemed to lessen slightly. Lou Jiu said to the trainee, “Don’t move.”
The trainee was already terrified, becoming an emotionless nodding machine. “I know, I know.”
Lou Jiu pulled, dragging Song Zhicheng towards the balcony. “Let’s go.”
Wen Qianshu’s mind was a blank. She followed her subconsciously, and only after taking two steps did she realize. “Did you… come looking for me specifically?”
“Yeah, I didn’t see you at the training field and was worried.” Lou Jiu said a few words into her walkie-talkie, then said, “They’re waiting to catch us below.”
By now, they had passed the door and were on the balcony. Only then did Wen Qianshu see that an air cushion had been placed below. Several search team members were gathered around it, taking turns to methodically clear out the surrounding zombies.
Lou Jiu found a good angle, positioned Song Zhicheng, and pushed him through a gap in the railing off the balcony. Then, with another reach, she pushed the pale-faced trainee out as well.
2333: “…”
Is this the same Moonlight I know?
When you saved Wen Qianshu from the high-altitude frame back then, didn’t you jump while holding her?
The dorm room door had been broken open, but Lou Jiu had closed the balcony door. So, some of the zombies pounced on the floor, feasting on the corpse, while the others crowded together, crashing against the balcony door.
Their hideous faces, wide-open mouths, and rotting teeth. Five-fingered hands slapped against the glass on the upper part of the door, leaving bloody prints.
“Bang… bang…”
With a push, Wen Qianshu vaulted over the railing. She felt Lou Jiu right behind her, her breath brushing against the side of her neck. However, before Wen Qianshu could jump, Lou Jiu braced herself with one hand, supported Wen Qianshu’s waist, pulled her into an embrace, and raised a hand to protect the back of her head.
“Bang… bang…”
The zombies were still pounding on the door.
The earth-shattering noise merged with the beat of Wen Qianshu’s heart.
Like the beating of a drum.
Wen Qianshu suddenly realized, “I thought you saved everyone like this…”
Before she could finish, the end of her sentence was swallowed by the whistling wind. Wen Qianshu felt her legs dangling in the air, the daylight receding. It was as if she had fallen into a turbulent ocean current, able to do nothing but tighten her arms and cling to Lou Jiu like a piece of driftwood.
The sound of the wind, of people, of zombies pounding on the door…
She heard Lou Jiu say in her ear, “No.”
“It’s only like this when I’m saving you.”
Author’s Notes:
Let me explain Jiang Yin’s line. Wen Qianshu already knew that Jiang Yin killed Qin Shu’s parents. Also, when Wen Qianshu killed the little zombie, she showed anger, which means she’s actually a person who values emotions. If she were truly as reckless and uncaring as she appeared, she should have killed her—so either she’s not crazy enough, or she’s not Qin Shu at all.
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