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墨書 Inktalez
"Shishi... Shishi..."
Kneeling in front of the girl, Chu Donglin gently stroked her head, softly calling her name.
"I'm... sorry... I... came... late..."
Looking at the girl with guilt, Chu Donglin's emotions were somewhat heavy. "I'm... sorry..."
However, there was no response. The girl remained dazed, sitting on the floor, ignoring his presence and the group of Zombies around them. Her hollow eyes showed no sign of focus.
When Chu Donglin held Shishi's hand, the girl suddenly shivered and instinctively shrank back, as if afraid of being beaten by him. A timid expression of fear appeared on her face.
But in the next moment, she froze, stopping her curling motion and obediently allowing Chu Donglin to hold her hand.
Clearly, her usual avoidance would lead to even more terrifying beatings, so even in an unconscious state, she instinctively refrained from escaping.
Holding the girl's stiff yet unyielding hand, Chu Donglin understood that she was waiting for another beating to come.
She did not realize that the person before her was not one of those thugs who beat her; he was simply someone who was there to comfort her while she braced herself for pain.
With a heart full of sorrow, Chu Donglin embraced the girl whose body was completely rigid, feeling the toll that had been taken on her. His heart was filled with guilt and anguish. "I'm... sorry... I'm... sorry... I'm... sorry..."
As he held her, Shishi's body trembled slightly. Feeling Chu Donglin's warm embrace, her originally vacant eyes blinked as if she had realized something.
Around them, the low growls of the Zombies echoed.
They had caught the scent of fresh human flesh and wanted to approach. But they were blocked by over a hundred Zombies controlled by Chu Donglin, who were anxiously pacing in circles in the hall, letting out distressed howls.
Chu Donglin stood up while holding the girl, his movements incredibly gentle. "Shishi... let's... go..."
He gently patted the girl's head and walked briskly toward the living room, holding her close.
Chu Donglin could only control over a hundred Zombies, while the ones outside his control roared, trying to push their way in.
However, with the obstruction of the more than a hundred Zombies surrounding him, the roars and struggles of the others proved futile. Amidst the rising chorus of Zombie growls, Chu Donglin strode away, with no Zombie able to approach him.
When he reached the entrance of the district, there were hardly any Zombies left on the street outside.
Looking at the Zombies that had been drawn in by Shishi and refused to disperse, Chu Donglin snorted coldly. He stepped on one Zombie's shoulder and jumped onto the district's wall, disappearing behind it.
Landing on the empty street, Chu Donglin walked purposefully into the city.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the group of Zombies, he released his control over them, allowing them to roam freely. Maintaining control over so many Zombies was quite a burden for him.
The Zombies that had been wandering nearby were mostly driven back into the district by him, making this area temporarily one of the safest and emptiest streets in the city. However, as Chu Donglin crossed several streets, wandering Zombies began to appear again.
These Zombies were attracted by Shishi's scent, but when they roared and approached Chu Donglin, he would directly take control of them, leaving them standing foolishly in place.
Only after Chu Donglin had moved far enough away did he release his control over them. By then, these fellows could no longer smell Shishi's scent and, unable to find a target, continued to wander aimlessly in place.
Thus, Chu Donglin carried the girl through alleys and streets, making his way through a city filled with wandering Zombies.
Ordinary Zombies posed no threat to him; his only concern was the lurking Mutated Zombies.
If a Mutated Zombie were to attack him at this moment while he was carrying Shishi, he would certainly be unable to fight back with full strength. Their situation would become perilous.
However, it seemed that even fate was reluctant to let this kind-hearted girl suffer any further. As he traversed several streets, including bustling commercial areas filled with people, Chu Donglin encountered not a single Mutated Zombie.
As he arrived in front of an old-fashioned district, looking at the dilapidated seven-story building ahead, Chu Donglin took a deep breath and walked through the entrance of the area.
He was searching for a safe place to settle Shishi, and this old seven-story building seemed to be the most suitable option.
Firstly, there weren't many living people residing in such buildings, and consequently, there wouldn't be too many Zombies either. He could easily clear out the Zombies in the entire building to create a safe environment.
Moreover, although this place was close to the city center, it wasn't as likely to attract Survivors like those tall apartment buildings and supermarkets.
Since these types of buildings were not suitable for blocking pursuing Zombies, it would significantly reduce the chances of Shishi being discovered by human Survivors while Chu Donglin was out scavenging.
After this incident, Chu Donglin no longer felt comfortable leaving the girl with those strangers; who knew if those fellows would mistreat Shishi?
Upon entering the building, it was indeed as Chu Donglin had anticipated—there weren't many Zombies inside, and most were locked in their rooms unable to come out.
A few rooms with doors wide open were empty; it was clear that the owners had already fled.
On the top floor, he found such an empty room. Chu Donglin stepped inside while holding Shishi.
First, he carefully searched the entire room. After finding the owner's spare key and confirming that there were no Zombies or any Living Beings present, he placed Shishi on the sofa to sit.
"I... will... go... out... for... a... moment... you... wait... here... don't... run... around..."
Looking seriously into the girl's hollow eyes, Chu Donglin stammered through this sentence. When he noticed that she still sat there blankly without any reaction, he felt a bit disappointed and stood up.
"Be good... wait for me..."
Gently patting the girl's head with concern, Chu Donglin closed the door behind him as he stepped outside.
First, he cleared out all the Zombies from the other three apartments on the seventh floor.
The doors in this old district were mostly dilapidated and fragile, with some being purely wooden. With Chu Donglin's current strength, he easily smashed through all the doors with a Hammer he had found earlier.
One by one, he cleared out the Zombies inside each room, breaking nearly all the doors and driving all the Zombies in the seven-story building down to the ground floor.
Among these Zombies, there were even two parrots and three large dogs.
Clearly, this mysterious virus could infect not only humans but also animals.
Thus, Chu Donglin had to go through a lot of trouble to throw the fish tanks from two of the residents' homes out onto the street.
He stood by and observed for a long time as those Zombie fish struggled in the sunlight for half an hour before ultimately succumbing to the heat.
It seemed that even after becoming Zombies, these fish could not stay out of water for too long.
Next, Chu Donglin walked into a convenience store across the street and carried a large backpack full of food back to his new home on the seventh floor.
Chocolate, instant noodles, Yogurt, drinks, bread… he took a little bit of everything edible. Although he didn't empty the entire store, it was clear that many items were now missing from the shelves.
When he returned to his new home with a heavy backpack of food, Chu Donglin saw that the girl was still sitting dazedly on the sofa. Clearly, during his absence of over two hours, she hadn't moved at all.
"Shishi..."
Chu Donglin sighed and walked over to her side. "Are you... hungry?"
No response... Of course, there would be no response.
Chu Donglin shrugged and set down his backpack, pulling out a bottle of Yogurt and a piece of bread. "Do you want... which one?"
The girl stared at him blankly, showing no reaction, not even blinking.
After a moment, Chu Donglin inserted the straw into the Yogurt and handed it to her. "Drink... drink... go ahead..."
Having stammered through that sentence, he took two steps back.
The girl held the Yogurt in her hands, frozen for a long time before she slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. Once she confirmed that he wouldn’t hit her, she gently brought the Yogurt to her lips and began to sip.
As she drank, she continued to stare at Chu Donglin with a dazed expression. When she saw him turn away, her hand trembled, and she quickly crouched down, hugging her head.
Bang—
The Yogurt slipped from her hands and fell to the ground, making a sound that caused Chu Donglin to turn back around.
"What’s wrong?"
The girl's sudden reaction startled Chu Donglin, and he rushed over to her side, anxiously lifting the girl who was crouched down with her head tucked in. He thought something was wrong with the Yogurt and was terrified. "Shishi, what... what’s wrong?"
The girl shook her head vigorously while hugging her head, trembling all over with fear. "I’m sorry, Shishi won’t do it again... please don’t hit me... I can’t eat anymore... I beg you, don’t hit me..."
Clearly, she had mistaken Chu Donglin's turning motion as an impending strike against her.
This misunderstanding likely stemmed from her experiences in the villa, where she was often beaten by those two vicious Thugs using similar tactics.
First, they would give her food to create a false sense of security. But just when she felt safe enough to eat, they would suddenly start beating her, taking pleasure in listening to her screams of agony and pleas for mercy.
Chu Donglin gritted his teeth, and in that moment of understanding why the girl reacted this way, his heart tightened with pain.
Those bastards!
For the first time in his life, Chu Donglin felt such a deep-seated hatred for someone.
He suddenly realized how foolish it was to have killed those two thugs. He should have captured that group of bastards and tortured them mercilessly, making them scream for mercy while they begged for death!
He held the heartbroken girl tightly, trying desperately to soothe her trembling heart, which was as frightened as a bird startled by a bowstring.
“No one will hit Shishi again. No one will ever hurt Shishi again… never again…”
He murmured these words softly in the girl's ear, unaware that since becoming a zombie, it was the first time he spoke complete sentences without stuttering.
Lying dazed in Chu Donglin's embrace, listening to his gentle whispers and feeling the warmth so close, the girl blinked her hollow eyes as if lost in thought, and slowly two lines of crystal tears streamed down her cheeks.
She closed her eyes and finally fell into a deep sleep in this warm embrace. As her breathing steadied, Chu Donglin carefully placed Shishi on the soft sofa and covered her with a thin blanket.
Even in her sleep, the tension on the girl's face tugged at Chu Donglin's heart. He vowed that from now on, he would never let this kind-hearted girl suffer even the slightest harm; he would not allow anyone to hurt her again!
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