Chapter 87
At some point, the winged man, Liu Kaiyin, had actually entered the building!
Xia Weishuang was not even the first to discover this. It was only when Mi Lele came into her room with Diandian and told her that she had realized it.
At that time, Xia Weishuang was watering the small peppers in the pot. When she heard this, her first reaction was that she had heard wrong.
Mi Lele was sitting on the bed, stroking the cat. “Really, that strange person came in. Sister Sang Lu is also here.”
“I’ll go and take a look.” Xia Weishuang put down the watering can, let Lele play with the cat here, and walked to the door.
The main door of their room had always been broken. Anyway, only a few acquaintances lived here, so they were too lazy to repair it.
Through the hole in the door, Xia Weishuang saw Sang Lu’s pale calves and the hem of her skirt. A faint sound of wings rubbing came from outside.
Xia Weishuang put her hand on the door. She could push it open with a light push, but she paused for a moment.
Unfortunately, her hesitation was not appreciated. Sang Lu’s head suddenly popped out from the hole in the door.
When Xia Weishuang saw her face, her expression composed, she pushed the door open with her head. Hmm, anyway, Sang Lu is soft.
Liu Kaiyin was standing excitedly in front of the window at the end of the corridor, looking up at the surrounding environment. He heard Xia Weishuang’s footsteps and greeted her happily.
Sang Lu had already pulled her head out of the hole in the door, tossed her hair, and her face was full of an exaggerated smile.
“You… have become friends?”
Liu Kaiyin nodded. “Yes!”
He took a step forward and walked into the shadow. Without the sunlight, the insect wings on his back no longer emitted a dazzling halo.
Liu Kaiyin opened his arms and danced with intoxication, like a bad actor who was trying his best to perform. “Ah! I’m so happy! I’m not alone!”
Sang Lu stood in front of Xia Weishuang, a mysterious smile on her lips, and looked at Liu Kaiyin with a subtle and satisfied expression, as if she didn’t mind him frolicking in her territory at all.
It was as if, as if these two strange people had really found a companion they could snuggle with in this chaotic world. Among all the people, only they were companions who could understand each other.
Liu Kaiyin turned around happily and faced Xia Weishuang again, so excited that he stammered, “We are also good friends! What Sang Lu likes, I also like! I will, be good to you!”
Why did these words sound so awkward, as if they had some special relationship?
Xia Weishuang uncomfortably twirled her hair and said, “No need. We can just interact normally. Since Sang Lu doesn’t mind you coming over, we have no objections either. So you want to move in?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Sang Lu suddenly raised her head and looked at Liu Kaiyin. Liu Kaiyin took a step back in fear and said, “No, no, not so fast. I live not far away. I can just come over and play with you guys.”
Sang Lu nodded with satisfaction. Her fickle attitude made it impossible to guess what she was thinking.
Xia Weishuang cracked her knuckles, leaned against the wall, and was a little curious. “Liu Kaiyin, I’ve actually always wanted to ask you. Do you feel that you’re different from before?”
Liu Kaiyin said, “Of course. There have been changes in every aspect. Why are you asking this?”
Sang Lu was by her side. To ask the next question in front of her made Xia Weishuang feel that the situation was a little strange.
So she continued to slowly crack her knuckles to relieve her emotions. “I mainly want to ask, what’s the difference between your view of things and before? Do you… still understand human emotions normally as before?”
This question was probably a bit sharp. Liu Kaiyin was silent for a long while before he slowly said, “I don’t know how to say it… of course, it’s a little different. But I still remember the past. I think… I’m still me, but I’m a little different.”
“If you don’t want to say it, don’t force yourself,” Xia Weishuang smiled and, as a retreat, she said, “I’m just a little curious.”
Liu Kaiyin’s gaze once again moved to Sang Lu. This thin and weak otaku was hunched over and looked timid and pitiful, but his eyes were filled with a strong desire.
“I just grasped the main point!” Liu Kaiyin reached out and grabbed the cloth of his chest, as if he were having trouble breathing, he panted heavily and said excitedly, “I abandoned the unimportant burdens and found what I really wanted—phew!”
Liu Kaiyin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing his excited mood. He said to Xia Weishuang pitifully, “I’m too lonely. What I really want is a friend.”
He took a step back, and at the window, he waved his hand and said, “Did I scare you? I’m sorry. Don’t worry, I know right from wrong. Although it feels a little different, I’m a good person.”
After he finished speaking, Liu Kaiyin showed his sharp teeth and tried to smile.
In this instant, he seemed to have merged with Sang Lu.
This made Xia Weishuang feel very uncomfortable.
She let go of her fingers and stood up straight. “It seems you’re not the same as Sang Lu. And, this is the first time I’ve seen Sang Lu be so close to someone else.”
Xia Weishuang’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Since you are… of the same kind, that’s good. You should communicate more, so you won’t be lonely.”
So Xia Weishuang was about to leave and give the space to these two monsters, but Liu Kaiyin was a little reluctant to let her go.
“Wait a minute! I still want to ask you, what does Sang Lu want the most?”
What does she want the most? Xia Weishuang’s face was a little strange. “I respect her privacy. You should ask her this kind of thing yourself.”
Sang Lu stood in the corridor, with a flamboyant and fake smile, and watched Xia Weishuang leave the corridor.
**
Xia Weishuang would go to check on the vegetable seedlings almost every day. Bai Qian, Wei Yunlang, and Mi Lele were also very concerned about this. Among the group, only Sang Lu, who did not like to eat vegetables, did not care about these things.
Sang Lu had been picking up people recently. The frequency and number had decreased a lot. It was estimated that the injured survivors in the vicinity had all been picked up by her, so much so that the people she had picked up later had only suffered some minor injuries, but had been forcibly brought back.
These people who had been picked up were all arranged to live in the annex building. The weapons and armor that the previous batch of survivors had left behind were just right for them to use.
Because of Sang Lu and Coal Ball, and recently Liu Kaiyin had also come, the number of zombies near the Zhenhua Grand Hotel had dropped sharply. It could be said to be the safest area in several streets.
The survivors were able to rest at ease and could also find food and tools, as well as vehicles, in a relatively safe environment.
Xia Weishuang and the others’ attitude towards them was the same as towards the previous batch of people. They would help if they could. When they had recovered and wanted to leave together, Xia Weishuang would quietly predict for them once and give them a route map to help them reach the B City survivor base as smoothly as possible.
Unconsciously, the annex building of the Zhenhua Grand Hotel had become a temporary post station for the survivors in A City. Of course, these were all things that had slowly changed later.
Now, Xia Weishuang and the others were staring at a few seedlings in a daze.
The lettuce had grown quickly and was already a patch of green. Although it was not very big, the few of them would often pick some leaves to eat. The green onions were also very tender, looked slender and cute, and were not pungent to eat.
They had found a bottle of soybean paste and would eat the lettuce and green onions with the paste. Besides the steamed buns they had made themselves, which had been a failure, everything else was very good.
But what was being observed now was not the seedlings of any vegetables, but the three corn seedlings, one wheat seedling, and one bean seedling.
These few seedlings grew faster than the other seedlings, and were strong, and their color was also darker.
The first to discover that something was wrong with them was Mi Lele. Mi Lele pointed at the Xiaobai on her head and said, “Xiaobai told me that these few are not ordinary grass.”
Upon closer inspection, without Xiaobai’s words, one would have discovered it themselves.
“It looks like besides being different in appearance, there’s nothing else,” Xia Weishuang reached out and touched the leaves. “It doesn’t look like a bloodthirsty mutated plant.”
“But the ones that showed abnormalities were all the grain seeds in the nylon bags. I think these are the strange seeds that we didn’t pick out, and they are related to that purple fungus,” Wei Yunlang said.
“Yes, that makes sense,” Xia Weishuang thought for a moment and said. “As for whether they are dangerous, I will try to use my ability to see.”
“Maybe it’s a new species,” Bai Qian said with a smile. “This world is already in chaos. It’s not strange for anything to appear.”
These few seedlings did not look very dangerous, and everyone wanted to see what they would look like when they grew up. Xia Weishuang gave up the idea of destroying them directly and planned to transplant them out separately first.
Just as she was doing it, Liu Kaiyin flew over again.
Sang Lu was sitting on the swing on the rooftop, using her tentacles to help Xia Weishuang with her work. Although Xia Weishuang always complained that she was making trouble, it did not affect Sang Lu’s enthusiasm at all.
“What are you doing? I can help you!”
“These few plants are a little strange. We want to transplant them out.” This was nothing to hide, so the few of them said it directly.
After Liu Kaiyin got closer and took a look, he said with a smile, “This is not very dangerous. Don’t worry too much.”
“Is that so? You can even see that?”
“Yes, it’s my intuition.” Liu Kaiyin stood in the middle of the crowd, vibrating his wings to attract everyone’s attention, including Sang Lu’s.
He turned around, patted his chest, and said, “Even if there’s danger, I will protect everyone.”
Wei Yunlang hooked his shoulder and said with a grin, “You can only fly. How can you protect us?”
Liu Kaiyin was a little troubled. He tried his best to show himself. “Although I’m not as good at fighting as Sang Lu, my defense is very strong. If there’s danger, I can block for you.”
“How strong?” Wei Yunlang was curious. “That day you curled up into a ball, you were indeed very strong. But you can’t protect others like that, right?”
Liu Kaiyin put away the wings on his back and said, “Not just that!”
He showed everyone a little of his ability. For example, he could directly turn his skin into the material of his wings without using his wings, and he could have an invincible defense while maintaining his human form. And this change was almost instantaneous.
It was just that it looked extremely terrifying and strange. A person’s skin actually had the touch and color of an insect’s shell, and even his face and eyes were very scary.
Then, he slowly pulled his skin, and a hard membrane appeared between his limbs. The membrane continued to extend into a large sheet. Although it was a bit stiff, it did look like it could cover a few people.
Liu Kaiyin rolled his eyes and looked at Sang Lu. A faint vibration came from inside his body.
Liu Kaiyin said with emotion, “If I cooperate with Sang Lu, we will be invincible.”
Sang Lu showed her teeth and smiled at him.
On this day, Liu Kaiyin’s plan to make friends had taken a big step forward. He seemed to have completely integrated into the group.
However, after he left, Wei Yunlang and the others dared to speak ill of him.
“It’s too scary,” Wei Yunlang said. “The feeling he gives me is about the same as Sang Lu’s at the beginning.”
Mi Lele nodded in agreement. “Xiaobai is about to be scared to death.”
Coal Ball also did not like Liu Kaiyin, but under Bai Qian’s comfort, it did not bristle.
Xia Weishuang faintly glanced at Sang Lu and said, “You don’t have to force yourself. Anyway, his most important target is someone else. As long as that person is not afraid, it’s fine.”
Wei Yunlang chuckled and said with deep meaning, “One has max attack power, and the other has max defense power. They seem to be quite a match. Fortunately, you’re here. Otherwise, if these two join forces, we ordinary people would have no chance of survival.”
Xia Weishuang turned to look at Wei Yunlang and said faintly, “If you’re very bored, why don’t you think about how to bring the water from the open-air swimming pool on the rooftop down? The fire water is almost dry.”
The water flow was getting thinner and thinner, and it would be exhausted soon. Wei Yunlang had been wanting to use a pipe to bring the water from the open-air pool down. With the help of gravity, the water could flow, so they wouldn’t have to go to the indoor swimming pool to get water.
And Bai Qian had been teaching Mi Lele recently. No matter how poor you are, you can’t be poor in education. No matter how hard it is, you can’t make the child suffer. Although the school was gone now, Lele’s education could not be stopped!
Anyway, textbooks and so on could be moved from the bookstore. The primary school curriculum was not difficult, so Bai Qian had no pressure at all.
To this, Mi Lele just wanted to say two words: haha.
**
That night, Xia Weishuang was originally asleep, but the temperature suddenly dropped at night, and she was actually woken up by the cold.
After she woke up, she found that Sang Lu had disappeared again. A strange feeling urged Xia Weishuang to get dressed and get up.
She opened the bedroom door and came to the main entrance. A faint buzzing sound came from outside the hole…
When did Liu Kaiyin come over?
The door was ajar and not closed. Xia Weishuang gently pushed it and opened a crack, silently.
She looked out and looked at the end of the corridor. There, Liu Kaiyin was squatting on the windowsill, and the insect wings on his back were unprecedentedly fully spread, as if he were in flight.
The moonlight poured on his wings, refracting a magnificent color that was different from the day, but it also made one’s eyes dazzle with just one look.
The incessant buzzing sound made one feel a strange and bizarre thought, and a surge of impulse arose in one’s heart—an impulse of admiration, confusion, and desire.
But Xia Weishuang saw Sang Lu. She saw Sang Lu standing right in front of Liu Kaiyin, looking up at this thin and weak former otaku.
Xia Weishuang bit her tongue hard, moved her gaze away from Liu Kaiyin’s wings, and her mind became a little clearer. Xia Weishuang observed that Liu Kaiyin’s expression was filled with a familiar, extreme, and distorted desire.
And Sang Lu, who was looking at him, had a big smile on her face, and her eyes were curved, as if she were completely mesmerized by him.
“Only we are the true same kind! Only we can understand each other! Only we are worthy of each other’s company!”
Liu Kaiyin’s throat squeezed out a strange-toned sentence, also with a strange buzzing sound, which made his words sound very slurred.
Liu Kaiyin said excitedly, “Humans, are not worthy! They are just a group of ants, lowly and backward creatures, just pigs and prey. This world is destined to belong to us! Be with me, Sang Lu! Only we are the chosen darlings of God! We are destined to become the kings of this world—”
Liu Kaiyin’s passionate speech came to an abrupt end. He looked in Xia Weishuang’s direction.
“This person… is this person, right?” Liu Kaiyin jumped off the windowsill, showing a ferocious and fierce smile. “Ah… it must be her, and them. Kill this group of lowly humans, Sang Lu! I will help you break free from your shackles! We are free…”
Sang Lu followed behind him, step by step. Just as Liu Kaiyin was about to reach Xia Weishuang, Sang Lu suddenly reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Sang Lu! You’ve finally been persuaded by me!” Liu Kaiyin, who had been so proactively approached by Sang Lu for the first time, was so excited that he could barely maintain his human form.
What a familiar look… Xia Weishuang stood in the shadow of the door and watched quietly.
Sang Lu patted Liu Kaiyin’s shoulder and said, “You and I, come.”
“Sang Lu, I knew it—besides you, I don’t look at anyone else. Besides me, you will never find true recognition!”
The smile on Sang Lu’s face became more and more flamboyant and terrifying. That hand slowly came to Liu Kaiyin’s face and caressed it intimately.
These two monsters were facing each other, showing the strange and twisted joy of their mutated forms. This was something that ordinary people could not understand, an emotion that only monsters could understand.
Liu Kaiyin turned his head, filled with joy. “We are natural companions, the most, most special—”
But his words came to an abrupt end and could not be continued, because Sang Lu’s hand had suddenly drilled into his fragile mouth.
In an instant, countless small tentacles erupted from that hand, and they rampaged through the monster’s body.
Countless fresh blood came out of Liu Kaiyin’s mouth. He angrily vibrated the wings on his back and tried to fly away, but this narrow corridor obviously suppressed his performance. He had just gotten up a little when he was pressed back by Sang Lu’s other hand.
He tried to curl himself into a ball, tried to turn his skin into a shell, and even tried to turn his inside into a shell… but they all failed because Sang Lu had instantly invaded every corner of his body. The monster roared hoarsely and struggled crazily.
The smile on Sang Lu’s face became more and more brilliant and twisted. Suddenly, she pulled her hand out of Liu Kaiyin’s mouth, which was split open like a watermelon.
With a spray of blood, she had pulled out a piece of living flesh.
Liu Kaiyin fell to the ground with a thud, his eyes wide open as he died, twitching.
“Ah… I finally killed him,” Sang Lu, covered in blood, said happily.
