Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 129

While Tang Yu was on the call with her teammates, Song Lengzhu was also contacting her own. Compared to Tang Yu’s long, rambling conversation, Song Lengzhu was much quieter and more reserved. She leaned back in her chair, her tense body finally relaxing for a moment. But this relaxation was restrained; if Tang Yu hadn’t been by her side, she would have remained sitting ramrod straight.

Down below, the flaming car frame had burned through, and the light was gradually dimming. Tang Yu conjured a fireball in her palm to provide illumination.

Seeing Tang Yu casually using her ability again, Song Lengzhu’s eyes softened into a smile. The red firelight danced on her face, casting a beautiful glow.

“Give me ten minutes,” Song Lengzhu said softly. Her voice lacked its usual sharpness, sounding gentle and a little weak. “Xiao Qi has already taken some players to deal with the pro-Lin faction. After we bring the zombies over, we’ll move on the guards.”

Okay. Tang Yu’s eyes sparkled as she nodded solemnly. Song Lengzhu wasn’t resting at all; she hadn’t wasted a single second. She had already arranged the subsequent plans, every step meticulously calculated. Tang Yu had no doubt that Song Lengzhu had already figured out which players belonged to the pro-Lin faction and was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Who could possibly be this capable? Tang Yu leaned against the windowsill, watching Song Lengzhu, lost in thought. Her heart pounded fiercely. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the confidence and calm strategic mastery that flowed from Song Lengzhu. She wanted to praise her, to extol her, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted to get closer to her, to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

Song Lengzhu’s brow was furrowed as she pondered something, not sparing Tang Yu a glance. Her cool, aloof demeanor had a soul-stirring quality, yet she seemed completely unaware of it.

It wasn’t until Tang Yu, mesmerized, couldn’t help but take a deep breath that Song Lengzhu noticed her scorching gaze, as hot as the firelight itself.

“What are you looking at?” Song Lengzhu tilted her head slightly, looking at Tang Yu with amusement.

“Nothing,” Tang Yu whimpered, averting her eyes.

For a moment, Song Lengzhu almost thought the little zombie’s reddened ear was just a trick of the firelight, but she soon saw a blush creep across Tang Yu’s face as well.

Tang Yu’s awkwardness left Song Lengzhu a little flustered herself. A sweltering heat unique to early summer filled the room, making her heart beat like a drum, yet it was tinged with sweetness.

Song Lengzhu had to look away, her gaze falling on Tang Yu’s body. The windbreaker Tang Yu wore was shredded, the dense knife marks having torn the garment to the point it could barely be called clothing. The skin beneath the gashes was faintly visible. Thankfully, there were no more wounds.

But the shocking bloodstains were still damp. If the little zombie didn’t have her abilities, her body wouldn’t have been able to withstand such abuse.

Song Lengzhu recalled the scene of Tang Yu’s earlier fight. She used to think Tang Yu was cautious, skilled at escaping and hiding. But that wasn’t the case at all. Every one of Tang Yu’s frontal assaults left her deeply impressed. Tang Yu had a ruthless streak, one might even say she was frenzied, but she wasn’t reckless. She could see that every swing of Tang Yu’s blade was the result of careful consideration, which often made it hard for her to look away.

Just when she thought Tang Yu was special enough, the little zombie would always surprise her with something new, like a piece of jade that grew more brilliant the more it was polished, shining brightly. Song Lengzhu couldn’t help but look forward to seeing Tang Yu reach even greater heights. She would surely become an outstanding person.

Tang Yu snuck a glance at Song Lengzhu’s reaction, only to find her staring intently at her clothes. For some reason, Tang Yu reflexively crossed an arm over her chest, covering her tattered clothes.

“What… what are you looking at?” Tang Yu let out a weak whimper. She glanced down at herself again. Thankfully, though her clothes were torn, all the important parts were still covered.

Song Lengzhu tilted her head up and suddenly asked Tang Yu, almost as if murmuring to herself, “Do you look like this outside the game?” As the words left her mouth, she smiled. “Sorry, I forgot you have amnesia.”

If Tang Yu’s real face wasn’t this one, how would she ever find her outside the game?

Song Lengzhu was startled to realize she was already having dangerous thoughts. She was already thinking about how to build a connection with Tang Yu outside the game. She immediately suppressed the notion, her heart sinking as she recalled Tang Yu’s vague evasiveness from before.

Tang Yu was seriously considering Song Lengzhu’s question. She freed a hand to grab her notepad, bit the cap off the pen with her canine tooth, and started writing against the windowsill: “Probably not. Hmm, but I hope I’m better looking.”

Good-looking enough that if she stood next to Song Lengzhu, people would praise them as a good match.

Song Lengzhu leaned forward, watching as Tang Yu wrote out the sentence word by word, and smiled. “A face is just a face. Whether you’re good-looking or not has no real meaning.” She sat up straight. “Besides, I think you’re very good-looking now.”

The seemingly casual remark tickled Tang Yu’s heart. She really couldn’t handle this kind of provocation and could only pray that Song Lengzhu would stop saying things that could be so easily misunderstood, things that would make her get the wrong idea.

Tang Yu steadied herself and wrote on the paper: “What about you? Same appearance and build?”

Song Lengzhu paused, a flicker of loneliness crossing her eyes. She was silent for a moment before speaking. “I guess so.”

She raised her wrist, examining her well-defined hand and the exposed part of her forearm. The lean muscle and faint blue veins were a testament to this body’s strength. Song Lengzhu sighed. “Not entirely.”

What did “not entirely” mean? Tang Yu tilted her head, waiting, but the other woman didn’t seem to intend to elaborate.

But getting this much information was enough. If, and she was just saying if, she could leave this game alive one day, Tang Yu was certain she could pick Song Lengzhu out of a crowd at a single glance.

Tang Yu retracted her gaze, her pen tip idly tracing circles on the paper. She was already thinking how nice it would be to get out alive. To leave the game and meet Song Lengzhu in the real world.

A sudden weight settled on her shoulder. A warm jacket had been draped over her. Tang Yu turned in surprise to see Song Lengzhu’s retracting hand and her upper body now clad only in a T-shirt.

“Your clothes are unwearable. This will have to do for now,” Song Lengzhu said nonchalantly. Walking around dressed like that would attract a lot of unpleasant stares. The people in this game weren’t polite. Even if it wasn’t Tang Yu, as a woman, she would help if she could.

Tang Yu blinked, taking the jacket with her clean fingers. Song Lengzhu had given her clothes again. She felt a little embarrassed, as if she went through clothes too quickly.

She was about to hand it back—her backpack was with Xiao Li, and it had a change of clothes she could get once they met up—but a selfish reluctance surfaced in Tang Yu. The jacket, still carrying Song Lengzhu’s warmth, had a faint, pleasant scent. She couldn’t bear to return it.

For a moment, Tang Yu felt like a pervert.

Tang Yu pointed to the room next door, indicating she would go there to change, as it would be a bit awkward here.

Besides, rather mood-killingly, Lou Yan’s corpse was still lying on the floor.

Song Lengzhu nodded slightly.

Tang Yu scurried away, taking the only source of light with her. The room plunged into darkness, and Song Lengzhu sat alone in the dark, the only sound her own soft, shallow breathing.

Tang Yu teleported back to her special room, first washing the excess bl00d from her hands and face before returning to the room next to Song Lengzhu’s. In the darkness, she removed her jacket and the shirt underneath. Her tank top was also shredded beyond recognition, so she had to take it off as well. Other than her underwear, she was now wearing only Song Lengzhu’s jacket.

The jacket was another black, hooded windbreaker of high-quality material, both lightweight and stylish. After changing, Tang Yu returned to Song Lengzhu’s side and mouthed a “thank you.”

The jacket had a completely different style on Tang Yu than it did on Song Lengzhu. On Tang Yu, it looked sharper and more dashing. Paired with her bright, toothy grin, it made her seem sunny and lively. Song Lengzhu was momentarily stunned, a warm feeling enveloping her heart.

“It looks very good on you,” Song Lengzhu said.

Being praised so directly by Song Lengzhu again, Tang Yu cried for mercy internally. She awkwardly adjusted the cuffs, loosening the straps to hide her expression.

Song Lengzhu watched Tang Yu’s reaction with a meaningful gaze. After a moment, she said, “I’ve rested enough. Let’s go.” She stood up and returned the stool to its original position.

Nearly half an hour had passed. It was time to set out.

“Mhm!” Tang Yu picked up the laptop bag by her feet and went downstairs with Song Lengzhu.

She took the zombies she could directly control and used the master controller for the rest.

The two of them found a small car on the street. As the car drove ahead, a vast army of zombies ran behind it. Anyone who didn’t know better would think the people in the car were being chased for their lives, never imagining that the one sitting inside was the zombie leader.

Xiao Qi and Jin Ye sent reports separately. The city’s guards were scattered, mostly concentrated at the strongholds. Relying on their ample firepower, they had quickly quelled a few minor disturbances, and a portion of them were now heading toward Lin Zhongqi’s residence.

The reason the guards were still maintaining basic operations was that no one knew Lin Zhongqi was dead. Not just Lin Zhongqi, but Lou Yan and those other ability users—all dead.

Song Lengzhu instructed Xiao Qi to release the news. She glanced at Tang Yu, then added a sentence: only release it to the guards and players; don’t deliberately disturb the ordinary civilians.

Once morale crumbled, the army would fall apart.

On the road, they ran into guards coming to support the villa area. There were only about eighty of them. When they suddenly saw the vast zombie army returning, they weren’t sure what was happening and hesitated for a second before opening fire.

In that single second, the zombies that had been assimilated with the zombie serum led the charge. They bypassed the car in front, agilely pursuing the guards. They surrounded, coordinated, and encircled the eighty-plus guards. They even picked up the guns dropped by the casualties and held them in their hands.

Most of these guards were players; less than a tenth were soldiers who had been stationed in Songming City before. They were experienced in dealing with zombies, but this was the first time they had faced zombies that could use guns and tactics.

Tang Yu and Song Lengzhu didn’t make a move. They didn’t even use the unassimilated zombies, and these players were wiped out in one fell swoop.

Next were the water plant and the food depot. As they passed each stronghold, the weak lines of defense were crushed and destroyed one by one. It just so happened that the guards were discussing the news of Lin Zhongqi’s death. In the midst of their wavering morale, they were met with a tide of zombies.

The sky just after midnight was still shrouded in a thick fog. As the new day began, one stronghold after another changed hands.

Some guards were eliminated without ever knowing what had happened. They just assumed the zombies had gone out of control, unaware that the zombies were perfectly controlled—better than ever before.

As they passed the city gate, Tang Yu sensed the living corpses outside the walls. It was the zombie family she had left outside the city earlier. At Tang Yu’s call, these zombies began to attack the city from the outside. They held the grenades that Jin Ye and Xiao Qi had previously smuggled out, each one more skilled at using them than the last. The heavy city gate suffered a pincer attack from both inside and out. The commander of the city defense screamed in despair and fell from the high wall.

Tang Yu and Song Lengzhu stood at the back of the group, their hands clasped behind them, their upright figures exuding a mountain-like steadfastness and a calm aura.

Roars and screams rose from all directions, and the fierce sound of explosions added a pall of gunpowder smoke to the already dense fog.

The shops on the ground floor were tightly shut. Terrified residents peeked out from their upper-story windows before quickly shutting them again, too scared to even breathe loudly. Only a group of mischievous children who had been out playing and exploring hadn’t made it home in time. They were hiding in an alley between two buildings, trembling.

A younger child, terrified, started crying and shouting for her mother, heedless of the danger. The cries attracted the attention of both the zombies and Tang Yu.

Tang Yu turned and walked toward the alley entrance. The crying stopped abruptly. As she got closer, she saw that another, older child was covering the little one’s mouth to keep her from making a sound.

“Don’t cry, sis, it’s coming over,” the older child whispered, tears welling in her own terrified eyes as she held the younger one tightly.

Tang Yu’s shadow fell over the children. They huddled together, so scared they were about to faint.

Zombies were coming and going here; it was very dangerous. Tang Yu directed a nearby zombie to go around them and crouched down.

Xiao Li’s voice came from a distance, “Tang Yu, are you scaring kids again!”

“I’m not!” Tang Yu retorted loudly in the camp channel. “Xiao Li, hurry and pull her away, she’s going to suffocate that kid.”

Jin Ye and Xiao Li arrived with Peng Min, carrying large bags, and met up with Tang Yu. Xiao Qi and the twins also arrived and went to find Song Lengzhu.

A group of just seven or eight people had turned Songming City completely upside down.

“Oh my, you’re right.” Xiao Li quickly put her things down and went to pull the little girl’s hand away. “Don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you.”

Song Lengzhu stood behind them, watching the three of them crouched on the ground, comforting the children as if it were just a normal day. Behind them were ferocious-looking zombies and the sounds of fighting and killing. The scene was bizarre, and for a moment, Song Lengzhu found it somewhat comical, yet it also sparked a sense of warmth.

Xiao Qi sidled up to Song Lengzhu. “Captain Song, I think… they’re actually pretty nice people.”

“You think so?” Song Lengzhu responded softly, her eyes fixed on Tang Yu, a smile in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Xiao Qi said excitedly. “It was pretty satisfying working with them, causing all this chaos! It was a total blast! But that Xiao Li holds a grudge, she remembered I fought them at the church.”

“And then?”

“And then? We had a fight. Of course, she couldn’t beat me, I didn’t even use my ability. We just went at it, pow pow pow.” Xiao Qi threw a few punches. “But after the fight, we made up. Her personality really clicks with mine, we talked a lot on the way here.”

“I can see that. You’re both quite noisy.”

Xiao Qi felt the air catch in her throat and grumbled under her breath. Captain Song found her annoying. Well, what could she do? In a team of four, three of them barely spoke. If she wasn’t a bit noisy, the team would probably be silent all day. Now that she’d made a like-minded friend, what was wrong with talking a little more?

It wasn’t like Captain Song, who played favorites, speaking so gently to that zombie. She’d never seen her be so patient with her. Wait… hold on, why was that zombie wearing Captain Song’s jacket?

Song Lengzhu heard Xiao Qi’s grumbling clearly but ignored it. Seeing the city gate slowly being pushed open, she called out to Tang Yu, “Let’s go, let’s clear out the remaining forces.”