The car continued on West River Road, and as they passed a supermarket, they noticed that the entrance was wide open and many people of all ages were rushing in and out, scrambling for things.
Xu Song’s anxiety grew stronger. It seemed that the order in the city had completely collapsed, otherwise, why would there be looting?
“Which building is your home?”
“The one in the front of that residential complex… Yes, the second one on the left.”
The car entered the residential complex, and Yue Zheng saw that the windows of many households were cracked open by the plants growing inside, climbing freely up and down the floors.
On the ground floor, someone had privately grown a grape trellis that completely covered one of the buildings, making it impenetrable. Many people were moving in and out, some carrying things out, while others were carrying things inside. The building on the far right had collapsed halfway, and towering lucky bamboo occupied the space where the building used to be.
With just a glance, the two immediately got out of the car. Yue Zheng locked the car and followed Xu Song into the building.
Fortunately, the corridor inside was not occupied by any mutated plants and was relatively clean. However, the entrance of a household on the ground floor was wide open, and they didn’t know what had happened.
“My home is on the fourth floor…” As he spoke, Xu Song took out the key to his own home and anxiously climbed up the stairs.
There was a hurried commotion upstairs, with several people carrying things and walking downstairs. Two groups passed each other, and one person exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t this Xu Song?!”
“Uncle Liu.” Xu Song recognized the person and quickly asked, “Have you seen my parents?”
Uncle Liu, sweating and carrying a jug half full of water that seemed to have been just taken from his own water dispenser, said, “No! Your home has been locked all along, and I haven’t seen anyone coming out these past two days. I thought maybe… you should go back and check!”
Xu Song’s face turned pale. He had already prepared for the worst before he came back, but after entering the residential complex and seeing that many neighbors were still coming in and out, there was a glimmer of hope in his heart. But now…
He was about to run upstairs when Uncle Liu suddenly remembered something and cautioned, “Be careful when you enter the apartment!”
“What happened?” The ominous feeling in Xu Song’s heart grew stronger.
Looking left and right, Uncle Liu called his two sons downstairs first before whispering to Xu Song, “Did you see the family in 102 on the first floor before you went upstairs?”
Xu Song glanced at Yue Zheng and said, “Their door was open when I passed by.”
Nodding with a pale face, Uncle Liu said, “Originally, two days ago, there were only these plants and such, but suddenly they grew rapidly, and there were many people…”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“What happened to the people?!”
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The two of them leaned in, their faces grim as they stared at Uncle Liu. Nighttime? Could it be…
“At night, I heard that many of the dead suddenly got up! They rose as zombies and started eating people!”
Uncle Liu’s face turned pale. As he spoke, he glanced around anxiously, afraid that something might suddenly crawl out.
“That family in 102, something unknown crawled into their home in the middle of the night. There were screams for over half an hour two nights ago! Some brave ones went out to check, and one of them said they saw a person bleeding from all seven orifices inside, eating people!”
Dead people, zombies, bleeding from all seven orifices, bodies exploding…
Xu Song remembered the six people in the ancient tomb and the resurrected villagers from last night in the village. He looked at Yue Zheng, who had the same thoughts, and looked back at Xu Song.
“We were thinking that since our house didn’t collapse and we didn’t have any flowers or plants, it would be better to spend the night at home than sleep in an open space. But after what happened at night, who would dare to sleep in a place with few people? The military came into the city early yesterday morning and set up shelters. They broadcasted on loudspeakers in the early morning, asking everyone to seek shelter first and come back after the bodies in the city were cleaned up.”
Then, he advised, “Son, go back and check quickly, and if something happens at home, don’t be too scared. Being alive is better than anything else! Your parents are hoping for your safe return.”
After speaking, he hurriedly went downstairs.
“Let’s go.” Seeing Xu Song still in a daze, Yue Zheng walked up a few steps and patted his shoulder.
“Yeah, maybe… everything is fine.” Xu Song forced a smile and walked upstairs.
There didn’t seem to be many people in the building. They wondered if everyone had gone to the shelters or…
Standing in front of the door of 403, Xu Song took a deep breath, took out the key, and opened the door.
The room was quiet, with only the sounds of cars and people coming from outside. The trailing vines by the door had broken free from the constraints of the flowerpot and were aggressively spreading throughout the room, stretching from the living room to the bedroom balcony.
Xu Song trod lightly, step by step, making his way inside.
There was no one in the living room, and the kitchen door was half-open, invaded by a branch of the trailing vine. It appeared that there was no one there either. As he approached the main door, Xu Song gathered his courage and took a step forward.
“…Dad… Dad?… Dad!”
Inside the room, a person was lying face down on the floor, limbs intact, but blood seeping from the ears.
Xu Song ran into the room in a few steps, and Yue Zheng quickly followed, being extremely cautious of his surroundings. The leaves of the trailing vine reached out from the window, almost blocking all the sunlight entering the room. The once sunny room now appeared somewhat eerie. Xu Song remembered that his parents should be in Y City.
Carefully flipping over the stiffened body, what came into view was his father, bleeding from all seven orifices…
“Dad, Dad!” No matter how much he imagined and prepared himself, he couldn’t face the shock and pain he felt at that moment. At forty-seven years old, still relatively young, with black hair and not a strand of gray. Xu Song knew his father had always been healthy, not smoking or drinking, and had no vices. He would often joke with his mother, saying that he was the epitome of a good man, even better at cooking than his own wife.
Such a cheerful and talkative father, someone he had always been close to, now lay lifeless on the ground, devoid of any vitality…
What happened? What on earth happened? Why did his father die? He wasn’t even near the ancient tomb, so why was his father affected?
Xu Song couldn’t understand what had affected his father’s body and caused him to die like this.
“My condolences.” Yue Zheng didn’t know what to say at this moment, so he could only offer stiff words of comfort.
Seeing Xu Song’s dazed expression, tears already soaking his face, Yue Zheng felt a deep sense of restlessness. Somehow, he recalled the black-and-white photos displayed at his own father’s funeral.
He squatted down and lifted his hand to pat Xu Song’s shoulder. “There’s only your father in the house.”
Xu Song just looked up at him, his mind completely blank. He had thought about his parents’ deaths before when he was still young, when he first learned that people could grow old and eventually die. He used to scare himself with such thoughts.
But in his original imagination, his parents’ passing would be like his grandparents’, with silver-white hair, unable to walk, and teeth missing. They would peacefully close their eyes and lie on the familiar bed, dissipating their last breath with the company of loved ones.
Instead, what’s the situation now? His father’s body was still healthy, he had expectations for life, and when he hadn’t yet given his parents a happy old age…
The grip on his shoulder tightened, causing a slight ache. Only then did Xu Song regain his focus, looking at Yue Zheng, who squatted in front of him, his sharp eyes filled with a touch of sorrow.
“There’s only your father in the room.”
Stunned, Xu Song’s mind slowly started working. “Only… my father?”
Yue Zheng nodded. “The incident happened on Thursday. Could your mother still be at work?”
“My mom doesn’t have a job…” Xu Song paused, gradually regaining his ability to think. He lowered his head to look at his father, who had turned pale.
He suppressed the urge to burst into tears and cried out, “My parents run their own clothing store… If my mom is okay…” If his mother was fine, she wouldn’t have stayed away from home for so long, right?
“It’s possible that your mother is injured and unable to move.” Seeing Xu Song now was like seeing his past self, but the difference was that when his own mother passed away early, his father’s death meant he truly had no family left. But Xu Song still had a glimmer of hope.
Feeling the large hand on his shoulder, Xu Song lowered his head to wipe away the tears on his face. He gently laid his father’s body down, preparing to carry him down later. Standing up, he looked around the room and suddenly noticed the phone on the bedside table. His eyes lit up.
It was his father’s phone! His own phone had been destroyed by the tomb robbers on the mountain, so he lost almost all contact information. But his father’s phone still held his mother’s number, at the very least!
“It’s out of battery. Let me charge it for a bit.” Xu Song pressed the power button and quickly leaned over to grab the charger from the bedside.
Yue Zheng also took out another phone and surprisingly found a signal?!
“I’ll make a call.”
“There’s a signal?!”
“Yeah, although it’s only one bar.” Yue Zheng’s expression visibly relaxed as well. Even though they were now in City Y, he was unaware of the situation with their team, so it was better to contact them first.
“Alright, you make the call, and I’ll charge my phone and contact my mom.” Xu Song’s mood also eased slightly. He turned his head to look at his father lying on the ground. The grief in his heart was still there, but at least there was still a glimmer of hope, not a complete loss.
A fragrant smell, so enticing…
Hungry, very hungry…
In the shadows under the cabinet and under the bed, a black cloud was slowly writhing.
It had been a whole night, and it hadn’t found any food. But now, delicious food was right before its eyes…
Yue Zheng walked towards the balcony, dialed the team’s phone number, and heard a busy tone from his mobile. Did the telephone lines in the city also have problems?
After the call was disconnected, he searched for his superior’s phone number and dialed it, only to find it busy as well…
Just as he was about to dial another colleague’s number, he suddenly heard Xu Song’s voice from behind him in the room, “Dad… Dad?!”
OH NO!!! ZOMBIEE
Be careful!!!
Thank you for the update!
Oh no, zombie dad… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️😳
does the black cloud posesses corpses so it can feed?? cause i’d think if his father was a zombie this whole time, he’d sit up and immediately, but it took a moment and we pan to this cloud…. hm…..