Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 137

The word “finally” left Tang Yu confused. Had Song Lengzhu been waiting for her for a long time? Tang Yu let out a long “Ah…” to cover up her uncertainty. At the same time, she grumbled inwardly. This invitation was a bit too subtle. Didn’t Song Lengzhu have a mouth? If she had just called out, Tang Yu would have come running faster than a rabbit. Why didn’t she just call?

Of course, none of this could be said out loud.

Seeing Tang Yu playing dumb, Song Lengzhu’s smile faded, and she gestured toward the small stool by the door.

So, Tang Yu took the initiative to move the stool from the doorway and sat properly across from Song Lengzhu. She took out a pen and paper, placing them on the table with an air of “I’m ready to talk.”

Song Lengzhu tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on the notepad. “Is it something serious? Is that why you came to find me?”

It wasn’t exactly serious business. Tang Yu shook her head and wrote, stroke by stroke, on the paper: “I’m leaving Songming City tomorrow.”

Song Lengzhu’s hand, holding the glass, paused. “So soon?” On second thought, Tang Yu had already told Li Luo she would only be in Songming City for seven or eight days. It seemed she was indeed leaving right on schedule.

Tang Yu hadn’t finished writing. She wrote slowly, appearing both serious and hesitant. After waiting a moment, Song Lengzhu simply leaned forward and deciphered the new sentence Tang Yu was writing from the upside-down characters:

“What about you? What are your plans?”

Song Lengzhu remained leaning forward. Although she had already read the words clearly, she didn’t respond. Not until Tang Yu’s pen lifted from the paper and she slowly turned the notepad around, pushing it seriously in front of her, did Song Lengzhu sit up straight as if she had just seen the message.

“It’s rare to see you ask about my plans.” Song Lengzhu lowered her gaze, tracing the outside of the glass with her fingertip. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t answer Tang Yu’s question directly.

Tang Yu’s fingers, resting on the notepad, pressed down slightly. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to pull it back or push it forward. In her memory, Song Lengzhu rarely beat around the bush. She almost always answered any question Tang Yu asked. Even during their first collaboration in Ghost Valley, Song Lengzhu had patiently explained what “pouring slurry” was.

But tonight, Song Lengzhu was starting to avoid her questions. This made Tang Yu secretly wonder if she had crossed a line. A player’s itinerary was indeed not something to be casually revealed to others.

But… weren’t they friends who had shared a meal? Asking a friend about their plans wasn’t too much, was it?

So, bracing herself, Tang Yu lowered her head and pushed the notepad forward another fraction of an inch.

“You want to know that badly?” Seeing that Tang Yu didn’t back down, Song Lengzhu asked meaningfully. Her voice was low and a little hoarse, carrying an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Of course I want to know, Tang Yu answered immediately in her heart. Only by knowing could they have a chance to meet again. Their connection was entirely up to fate, so ephemeral. What if they separated this time and never saw each other again?

Besides, Tang Yu had a small, selfish desire—she wanted to know if Song Lengzhu had anything important to do. If not, she wanted to invite Song Lengzhu to travel with her. She would search for Chaos, and Song Lengzhu could do other quests. After all, there were so many quests on the map; they wouldn’t conflict.

But Tang Yu was still deliberating on how to phrase it so it wouldn’t seem too deliberate or presumptuous. If only we could speak the same language, it would be better, Tang Yu thought. Spoken words could dissipate with the wind, but written on paper, the awkwardness level would skyrocket. If she were rejected, there would be glaring evidence left behind.

The result of her long deliberation was a quiet “Mm-hmm” from Tang Yu, affirming Song Lengzhu’s rhetorical question. She really did want to know.

“How much?” Song Lengzhu pressed relentlessly.

Huh? Tang Yu’s brain instantly froze. That sounded… so strange. Tang Yu abruptly raised her head to look closely at Song Lengzhu’s face, then her gaze shifted to the glass she was loosely holding. The liquid inside was already gone.

Was Song Lengzhu drunk?

Song Lengzhu’s complexion was normal, with no flush from the alcohol, and her eyes were perfectly clear. She didn’t look like someone who would say shocking things while drunk. She wasn’t looking at Tang Yu, either. With her brow lowered, she watched the light reflect off the wine glass, her well-defined fingers seemingly stroking the edge of the stem unintentionally.

Damn it. The questions were getting harder and harder to answer. Tang Yu’s heart pounded like a drum, and the tips of her ears turned red. She felt as if Song Lengzhu was exuding a low-pressure atmosphere, forcing her to confront the questions head-on.

It would be hard to resolve this if it continued. Tang Yu pulled back the notepad, steeled herself, and straightforwardly stated her intention: “If you don’t have anything important to do, we can travel together,” she wrote. Then, feeling it wasn’t quite right, she added a single character at the end, turning the statement into a question.

Song Lengzhu finally looked at her properly again.

“You should have just said so from the start.” Song Lengzhu sighed softly, poured some more wine, and didn’t forget to add a jab: “You weren’t this roundabout and hesitant when you were talking business with Li Luo. Didn’t you even ask her age?”

Tang Yu pressed her lips together. She vaguely sensed a hint of resentment in Song Lengzhu’s tone when she mentioned Li Luo, but it vanished in an instant, leaving no trace and making her hard to read.

But how could that be the same? After reviewing Li Luo’s draft of the new regulations, she had indeed remarked casually to Xiao Li, “She’s so thorough. Is she really only in her twenties? I’d think you’d need to be in your thirties or forties to have such deep insight.”

Who knew that Xiao Li would immediately sell her out, translating her words verbatim to Li Luo, who had smiled through gritted teeth and said, “I’m twenty-six. Thanks for the compliment.”

Tang Yu couldn’t defend herself; she hadn’t asked Li Luo’s age directly. Then it occurred to her: Li Luo must have said something to Song Lengzhu, but why did she leave out the context? Could it be that she held a grudge because Tang Yu had taken too many of her munitions and had bad-mouthed her?

Then, Tang Yu vaguely realized that Song Lengzhu was deliberately provoking her to state her intentions. She was waiting for Tang Yu to take the initiative to approach her and ask.

And Song Lengzhu herself remained noncommittal, not giving an answer to Tang Yu’s invitation. Was this some kind of game of playing hard to get?

Tang Yu suddenly felt a sense of defeat. She finally realized that Song Lengzhu was guiding her emotions, even secretly applying pressure.

In a physical confrontation, Tang Yu was confident she could now exchange several blows with Song Lengzhu without being defeated. But in this game-like situation, it seemed she was completely in Song Lengzhu’s grasp.

A damn competitive streak rose up at the most inopportune time. Seeing that Song Lengzhu neither refused nor accepted her invitation, Tang Yu snatched the notepad back. The back of the paper scraped against the ceramic table with a “shhh” sound. Tang Yu flipped to a new page and started writing.

Tang Yu began to write with wild, flamboyant strokes, all her initial caution thrown to the wind. Song Lengzhu thought she was being roundabout, did she? Fine, then she would ask everything she wanted to know. She wrote with emotion: “Then I’ll ask your age, too.”

“‘Too? As an afterthought?’” Song Lengzhu noticed that particularly prominent word. If Tang Yu could speak, she would definitely have stressed that word. Song Lengzhu was certain of it. This made her tone sink, and her hand gripping the stem of the glass turned white from the force. “I’m twenty-four. I should be a bit older than you.”

Tang Yu wrote again: “What about your height?”

Song Lengzhu didn’t answer, so Tang Yu kept pushing the notepad forward. She keenly sensed that the little zombie’s mood had changed. The look in her eyes now held a faint hint of combativeness.

“One meter seventy-two in the game.” Song Lengzhu took a step back and answered the question.

“I want to know your real height.”

“…One meter seventy-two.”

“Favorite color, food, and scent.”

“Why are you asking all this?” Song Lengzhu looked puzzled. These were all trivial things. Shouldn’t the first thing she ask be about her identity? But Tang Yu stubbornly refused to pull back the notepad, so she answered obediently, “White, oranges, the scent of tea.”

Tang Yu asked again: “What about your type? I mean, in a person.”

The abrupt question followed immediately. Song Lengzhu’s heart skipped half a beat. Her gaze lifted from the paper to find Tang Yu staring intently into her eyes. Tang Yu was no longer avoiding her gaze as she usually did; instead, her look was intensely aggressive, piercing deep into her eyes.

Was Tang Yu aware of her own aggressiveness? Did she realize her gaze was different from usual? Their eyes met for more than ten seconds, and the air around them seemed to thin. Song Lengzhu felt a heavy drum beating in her chest, her entire heart trembling with it.

Although it was calm and windless, with only the chirping of insects, Song Lengzhu heard the clash of blades. Tang Yu’s gaze grew hotter and hotter. For the first time, the thought of looking away occurred to her. By the time she realized it, her gaze had already averted Tang Yu’s, drifting to the nearby lawn.

Tang Yu’s hand, hidden under the table, unclenched and then clenched again. She sensed Song Lengzhu’s retreat. She had successfully won a round. Song Lengzhu was no longer the one in control of the situation.

But the question on the paper remained unanswered.

Having tasted victory, Tang Yu pressed on relentlessly, learning from Song Lengzhu and demanding an answer. She stood up, bent over, and leaned on the table, pushing the note right under Song Lengzhu’s nose, to a position where she would see it just by looking down.

After a long standoff, Song Lengzhu let out a soft laugh. She tilted her head back to look at Tang Yu’s approaching face and gave her answer: “I like… those who don’t give up.”

Her voice was very soft, almost a murmur, tinged with intoxication. The moisture on her lips hadn’t dried yet, making them look dewy, red, and alluring.

Tang Yu didn’t know if Song Lengzhu was drunk or if she was. The aroma from the wine glass next to her wafted into her nose. She hadn’t taken a single sip, yet a fiery burn like strong liquor rose in her heart.

Damn it, the alcohol content of this red wine couldn’t be that high, could it? She hadn’t even drunk any.

Just before her breathing became ragged, Tang Yu suddenly saw a flash of cunning in Song Lengzhu’s eyes.

Tang Yu sobered up instantly. She had been so close, so close to having her victory overturned by Song Lengzhu. Song Lengzhu’s answer was clearly meant to tease her.

Besides, the answer was far too broad. Tang Yu even felt that Song Lengzhu was praising herself. Song Lengzhu certainly seemed like the type who didn’t give up. But was she, Tang Yu?

Whether she had been in the past or not, from this moment on, she was. Tang Yu pulled back, sat down with the notepad in hand, and prepared for a new round of attack.

She was going to ask about Song Lengzhu’s origin—an abrupt and sharp question.

She had just written two strokes when Song Lengzhu suddenly spoke, interrupting her. “Are you going to ask about my identity?”

Tang Yu’s hand, holding the pen, froze.

“Here’s my answer—to be fair, until you remember your own identity and tell me, I won’t reveal my origins either.” Song Lengzhu seemed to have prepared this answer long ago, swiftly extinguishing the spark of Tang Yu’s new challenge.

Tang Yu looked up at Song Lengzhu. After a long silence, she let out a long breath, changed the direction of her pen, and wrote a single word: “Okay.”

This back-and-forth game finally ended with a single word: “Okay.”

Song Lengzhu silently slowed her breathing. She no longer pressed Tang Yu relentlessly. Instead, her whole body relaxed, as if she had just finished an exhilarating battle. The pores on her slightly flushed face opened up; there was no sweat, yet it felt as if she had just perspired.

The two looked at each other and smiled. For some reason, after this round of silent competition, all of Tang Yu’s hesitation had dissolved. She felt much more natural around Song Lengzhu.

But there was still one unresolved matter.

As a final offensive, Tang Yu flipped the notepad back to the previous page and pushed the invitation to travel together in front of Song Lengzhu again.

“I didn’t refuse,” Song Lengzhu said, slowly raising her eyes, feigning innocence.

“But you didn’t confirm either.” Tang Yu was determined to get a clear answer from Song Lengzhu. Who was it that said nothing is certain until it’s one hundred percent certain?

“Alright, I agree.” Song Lengzhu conceded. “I can help you find the remaining anchor points.”

If it weren’t for the curve of Song Lengzhu’s eyes and brows as she smiled, Tang Yu might have thought she had forced her to accept the invitation.

Song Lengzhu was clearly pleased, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was delighted.

Tang Yu beamed, very satisfied with the conclusion of this “battle.” Her gaze shifted, and she pointed at the wine on the table.

“I got it from Lin Zhongqi,” Song Lengzhu replied. Now relaxed, the two were no longer “at daggers drawn” and switched to casual conversation.

“Is it good?” Tang Yu wrote on the paper. She hadn’t had a chance to taste the wine she’d gotten yet.

Song Lengzhu tilted her head and said calmly, “Drinking it now, it tastes pretty good.” A sudden thought occurred to her. She placed the glass on the table and pushed it toward Tang Yu. “Want to try?”

It was unclear whether her action was a test or a joke. As the resident of the courtyard, she should have gone inside to get a fresh glass for Tang Yu, but she deliberately chose not to.

Tang Yu only hesitated for a second before naturally taking the glass. She sniffed it lightly first, then pressed her lips to the rim and took a sip.

Tang Yu figured she probably wasn’t a frequent drinker. She could appreciate the complexity of the wine’s flavor and its long aftertaste, but she found it a bit astringent. It wasn’t something she was used to on the first try. Only its ruby-red color pleased her.

She didn’t notice that Song Lengzhu’s eyes were fixed on the rim of the glass and didn’t move for a long time.

She actually drank it, Song Lengzhu thought, her feelings complicated. This person didn’t mind at all. Did she only not mind with her? Or was she this unguarded with everyone? Song Lengzhu pondered, overthinking things for the first time.

Then again, this is the apocalypse. Using a cup someone else has used isn’t worth making a fuss over. Even the clothes they wore had previous owners, Song Lengzhu reasoned, leaning back in her chair to rationalize Tang Yu’s behavior.

Tang Yu held onto the glass, not letting go. Since she had used it, she definitely couldn’t give it back, unless the other person wanted to become a zombie too. She poured herself another half glass of wine and drank it slowly, wrinkling her nose. The slightly astringent taste was addictive.

Song Lengzhu asked Tang Yu, “How long will you be gone? Are you coming back to the city?”

Tang Yu held up three fingers and nodded. Since Song Lengzhu was here, she would naturally come back.

“Three days. Okay, I’ll wait for you.” Song Lengzhu considered for a moment, then asked, “Which direction are we heading next? Do you have a plan?”

Tang Yu took out the notepad she carried with her and placed the map page on the table. She used her pen to mark the words “Songming City” on the bottom-left section, then tapped the pen tip and moved it vertically upwards, landing on the area directly above.

“Here…?” Song Lengzhu studied the lines on the paper. This area was the most northwestern section of the seven map pieces, and the climate was likely completely different. Song Lengzhu thought for a moment. “There might be players in the city who have been to this area. I’ll ask around these next two days and gather some information. If the climate and terrain are too different, we can prepare in advance.”

“Okay.” Tang Yu propped her head on her hand, her heart gradually filling with joy. She really liked the strategizing Song Lengzhu. Or rather, she just really liked Song Lengzhu.

The delayed effect of the wine spread through her chest and abdomen. Tang Yu’s limbs felt warm and soft. This was what it felt like to be truly drunk.

Buoyed by the alcohol, Tang Yu, for the first time, faced the thought that was on the verge of surfacing in her mind.

She liked Song Lengzhu.