The World Turned into Zombies, So I Went Back to the Countryside to Farm 89

Chapter 89: Butterfly

No one had expected that after coming down from the elevator, it would be a long and dark cave, with stone walls on both sides.

Jiang Zao turned on her flashlight, and Li Mi snuggled up to her.

“Big sister, can we get out this way?”

“There’s wind… we should be able to get out.”

Jiang Zao took off her mask and threw it on the ground. A breeze blew in her face, and she could already feel the damp water vapor in the wind.

“When Big Sister Wen gets better, can we go back to Yuanxi Village together… I still want to go up the mountain to chop firewood every day, go to the fields with Grandma, and be with Kele…”

As soon as she said it, Li Mi suddenly realized that Kele and Grandma were not coming back, and tears couldn’t help but well up in her eyes.

Jiang Zao was silent, just gently patting her head.

Perhaps, we can still go back to Yuanxi Village, but we can never go back to the life we had before.

“Big sister, look—there’s a light in front!”

Li Mi’s eyes suddenly widened. She looked at the faint light coming from the end of the cave and pointed her finger.

Jiang Zao also clutched her chest and quickened her pace, even though… even though every step she took now was like dancing on the tip of a knife.

No one noticed that in the dim passage behind her, there were scattered bloodstains where she had walked, and the monkey was also following her, smelling the blood.

When the cool rain blew in their faces, Jiang Zao couldn’t help but raise her head, and Li Mi also opened her arms.

At this moment, it was as if they had been reborn.

“Big sister! We did it! We did it!”

After coming out of the cave, this seemed to be the top of the incinerator. Below was a huge mass grave, with a mountain of corpses piled up like dense ants, which had not yet been cleaned up.

They were stepping on wooden planks. The researchers must have pushed the body bags from here and thrown them directly down to be burned after every experiment. A foul stench rushed towards them.

Jiang Zao steadied her.

“Be careful. The wooden planks here are not sturdy.”

Li Mi looked around. The incinerator was about twenty or thirty meters high, and they were at the very top. There were steel frames on the side, with simple wooden planks, from which they could go down.

“Big sister, let’s go.”

Jiang Zao nodded and let her go first.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the wind was also getting stronger.

Every step they took, the wooden planks creaked.

Jiang Zao looked at Little Mi’s back in front of her. Her vision was gradually blurring. The long period of intense exercise had made the through-and-through wound on her chest bleed again.

She could feel the blood flowing out every minute and second, which was also the reason why she had let Little Mi walk in front.

She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on, but she didn’t want Little Mi to see her suddenly fall.

The rain was really too heavy. The coldness soaked through her body, making Jiang Zao shiver. She felt that the strength in her limbs was also being drained. She had to hold onto the steel frame to move forward.

Just then, Jiang Zao suddenly heard an unusual sound, like someone was scratching a blackboard with their sharp nails. It was a creaking sound that made her hair stand on end.

She stopped and panted heavily.

Li Mi turned her head and saw that her face was not good.

The monster monkey was slowly climbing up from the steel frame below, getting closer and closer to Little Mi.

“Big sister, what’s wrong?”

The moment she finished speaking, a monster flew out of Jiang Zao’s pupils. It was even taller than before. The bulging muscles on its limbs and legs made its head and body extremely disproportionate, with a strange sense of contrast. In addition, its body was covered in pustules, and the mane on its high-held tail was standing on end.

It looked incredibly hard.

In a flash, Jiang Zao grabbed Little Mi, and because of her lack of strength, the two of them fell to the ground together.

The tail swept over their heads.

The monster landed on a nearby steel frame and pounced on them again. Li Mi came to her senses and raised the gun in her hand. The monster flashed, landed on a nearby wooden board, and the bullet missed. The next second, it pounced over with the speed of lightning and slapped the gun in Li Mi’s hand away.

The inertia also sent Li Mi flying far away. She fell on the edge of the wooden board, and the entire steel frame made a crisp creaking sound.

Seeing that it was rushing towards Li Mi again, Jiang Zao gritted her teeth, took out a dagger from her waist, and stood up with all her might, slashing at the monster’s head.

The monster flashed and landed on a nearby steel pipe. The dilapidated steel frame shook violently.

Li Mi came to her senses and turned to run back to get the gun. The monster let out a long howl, and it was that familiar ringing in her ears again.

Jiang Zao’s body swayed, and she had to hold onto the steel frame to stand firm. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw the monster rushing towards Li Mi again. She forced down the bloody taste that was rising in her throat, stepped on a nearby steel pipe, and leaped up. She raised her knee, turned, and kicked the monster’s head, sending it flying.

The monster let out a sharp cry and crashed into the wall of the incinerator. Then, a bullet followed. Just as it was about to hit it, the monster wrapped its tail around a steel pipe and pulled itself up, and with a whoosh, it ran away from their sight again.

A creaking sound came from the wooden board above their heads, as if something was running.

Jiang Zao knew that she couldn’t delay any longer. She pulled Little Mi up.

“Let’s go first. The terrain here is too narrow and not suitable for fighting it!”

Li Mi nodded and rushed down with her. A huge force came from above, and the wooden board was overturned.

A sharp claw stretched out from the air.

“Big sister, be careful!”

Little Mi subconsciously wanted to pull the trigger. Perhaps it was out of bullets, or perhaps the gun had jammed. She was stunned for a second or two, then suddenly pounced on her back.

When she was hit full in the chest, Jiang Zao also realized something. She didn’t even have time to turn around. The claw, which was as fast as lightning, had already made a sound of cutting through the wind by her ear.

At that moment, her body’s instinct had already reacted before her. She held Little Mi’s shoulder and turned around.

Before Little Mi could come to her senses, she was pulled into an embrace, and a warm liquid was sprinkled on her neck.

Li Mi blinked, and tears welled up.

“Big sister…”

“I… I won’t let anyone… sacrifice for me again…”

Jiang Zao struggled to raise her finger and patted her head. Her voice was very heavy. The moment her words fell.

The monster monkey wanted to pull its claw out of her body, but its arm was grabbed by her backhand. Jiang Zao turned her head, her eyes about to split. She looked at its scarlet eyes and said sinisterly, “I, got you.”

“Big sister! Don’t!”

Jiang Zao grabbed the monster’s arm, turned around, and walked towards it step by step. With every step, fresh blood dripped from her shoulder.

The rain formed a light pink stream at Jiang Zao’s feet. The monster shrieked and struggled, but it could not escape her grip. Jiang Zao’s strength at this moment was suddenly surprisingly great.

A hint of fear flashed in its scarlet eyes, which was sensitively captured by Jiang Zao.

How interesting… does a zombie monkey also feel fear?

Maybe… maybe only a person who is truly not afraid of death is fearless.

The monster raised its other claw and swung it at her again. Jiang Zao subconsciously raised her left hand to block, but she forgot that she was still holding the box with the inhibitor. Her pupils shrank, and she threw the box backwards.

“Little Mi, catch it. You go first!”

Li Mi rushed over in a single bound and steadily caught the box in her arms. She looked up at Jiang Zao, who was already fighting with the monster, and remembered the scene just now. Her eyes couldn’t help but well up with tears.

She didn’t have time to wipe her tears. She got up from the ground and ran down. Because of the fierce fight between the two of them behind her, the dilapidated steel frame was also on the verge of collapsing in the air.

Jiang Zao’s right hand was still holding the monster’s arm tightly. Her left hand punched its temple again and again. It wasn’t until her fist was covered in blood that the monster cried out in pain and let out a strange cry. A tail stood up from behind her and wrapped tightly around Jiang Zao’s neck.

She had to let go of its arm. The monster was able to pull its claw out of her body, and another large patch of blood bloomed on Jiang Zao’s shoulder.

She spat out a large mouthful of black blood, and the tail that was wrapped around her neck finally loosened. Jiang Zao stumbled forward. Before she could stand firm, the monster pounced on Little Mi again.

“You… you beast… your opponent is me!”

She chased after the figure, holding a dagger high, and pounced on the monster, pinning it down.

When it fell, the claw it had stretched out also happened to grab Li Mi’s foot. Li Mi fell with a thud, and the box in her hand also flew out, sliding to the edge of the wooden board.

“I’ll kill you… kill you!”

Jiang Zao’s dagger stabbed at its head again and again. Fresh blood also splashed on her eyebrows, making her face look sinister and terrifying in the night.

A clap of thunder sounded in the sky.

The monster let out a mournful cry. Its shriek was sharp and piercing. Jiang Zao’s head buzzed, and her head was splitting again.

The monster took the opportunity to escape her grip. It was also covered in blood, and it was unclear if it was its own or Jiang Zao’s.

It stumbled forward and knocked Little Mi away with its head. Little Mi fell heavily on the wooden board. Under their repeated violent movements, the steel frame shook violently and gradually tilted.

Little Mi’s eyes widened. She stretched out her arm to reach for the box with the inhibitor, which was not far in front of her.

After the monster had used its last attack, it also fell limply to the ground. Its body gradually slid outwards, and its tail touched the box. Before Little Mi could reach out and grab it.

She watched as it and the monster’s body slid down together. The box kept hitting the steel frame and gradually fell.

“No!”

Li Mi reached out, but a figure had already flashed past her. She reached out but only grabbed a piece of soft cloth. With a rip, the corner of the clothes broke in her palm.

Jiang Zao’s long hair was scattered in the air. Her eyes were only on the constantly falling box. After she had used all her strength to grab it with her fingertips, a hint of a smile appeared on her lips.

She used the last of her strength, turned around, and held the box tightly in her arms, then fell like a butterfly.

The moment she landed, the exposed steel bar on the construction site instantly pierced her thigh. A sharp pain came, and Jiang Zao spat out a large mouthful of blood from the corner of her lips again.

She looked up at the pouring rain. Her vision was gradually turning red and getting blurrier, until she slowly closed her eyes.

“Big sister!”

Little Mi cried out, stepped on the swaying steel frame, and stumbled down. In a single bound, she crawled to her side with her hands and feet. She looked at the large pool of blood that was gradually spreading from under her, dyeing the ground red, and also dyeing her silver hair red.

Like a datura symbolizing death.

“Big sister! Big sister! Don’t scare me…”

Li Mi gently lifted her head, and the touch was also sticky. Her tears burst out, and she fumbled to get the adrenaline from her bag with trembling fingers.

Because she was too nervous, and her hands were covered in too much blood, she couldn’t pull off the needle cap after several tries. In the end, she had to bite it off with her teeth and stuck it into Jiang Zao’s heart.

“Big sister, don’t leave me… don’t leave me…”

She was doing chest compressions on Jiang Zao, and large teardrops were sliding down her cheeks.

The steel frame that was set up next to the incinerator behind her was tilting more and more. A few steel pipes fell from above and crashed beside them. This noise also attracted the nearby zombies.

The roars came from far and near.

But Li Mi still refused to get up. She looked at Jiang Zao’s pale face and bent down again, repeating her actions in the rain.

“Big sister, big sister…”

“Cough, cough…”

The moment she saw her eyeballs move, Little Mi was almost in tears of joy. She wanted to help her up from the ground, but Jiang Zao cried out in pain again and fell backward. Fresh blood seeped out from under her.

Only then did Little Mi see the steel bar that had pierced her leg, which was like a nail that had firmly nailed her to the ground.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and tears streamed down her face. “Big sister, what should I do… what should I do…”

The severe pain actually made her blurry vision clear. Jiang Zao’s gaze focused on her face, then gradually moved back to the collapsing steel frame and the approaching horde of zombies behind her.

Her lips trembled, as if she were enduring great pain.

“Go… you go!”

“I’m not going! I’m not going! If I go… what about you?!”

Seeing the horde of zombies getting closer and closer, and the steel frame gradually tilting, Li Mi had no intention of leaving.

Jiang Zao gritted her teeth. With her support, she struggled to lift her upper body. A painful roar came from deep within her throat. Her two hands slowly lifted her left leg. The moment it was free from the steel bar, the physiological tears also burst from her eyes due to the severe pain.

“Lidocaine… give it to me…”

Li Mi fumbled to get it out of her bag. Jiang Zao bit off the needle cap and stuck it straight into the wound on her leg, then forcefully pulled it out and threw away the syringe.

She stood up with a limp with Little Mi’s help. Little Mi put her arm on her shoulder, and half-dragging and half-carrying her, she stumbled forward.

They had not gone far when the steel frame behind them collapsed with a boom, and the tide of zombies followed closely behind.

Jiang Zao’s eyelids were already so heavy that she could barely lift them. Little Mi was also having a hard time dragging her. The two of them fell together in the rain. Jiang Zao opened her eyes and saw a building in front of her.

It seemed to be a place where the workers of the incinerator rested and lived.

“Go… go there.”

Li Mi got up from the ground, forcefully lifted her body, and put her arm on her own shoulder again, dragging her, and walking forward step by step. Although she had been injected with lidocaine, the local anesthetic could only make her temporarily forget the pain.

Jiang Zao’s one leg had already lost its ability to move and could only be dragged on the ground as she limped forward with difficulty.

Li Mi crashed open the main door of the building and dragged her in. A long trail of blood was left where they had walked.

Jiang Zao looked up and saw that this was a spacious and bright workers’ canteen. There were only some scattered tables and chairs inside, and it was empty.

The window outside was next to a lush forest.

If… if we can escape into the forest… we’ll be saved.

The sky was already faintly blue.

That was a sign of dawn.

But she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold on until then.

If this went on, she would only drag Little Mi down.

Jiang Zao leaned against the canteen door and slid down to sit.

The zombies were close behind and were crashing against the door.

“Big sister, go… go quickly! We, we’ll be out soon!”

But Jiang Zao just spread her arms, held onto the door frame firmly, and used her body to block the horde of zombies.

“Go! Go quickly! I can’t… hold on anymore!”

“Big sister!”

Li Mi fell to the ground, looking at her expression. She picked up the inhibitor box, and as she broke through the window, she looked back one last time, her tears streaming down her face. Then she resolutely jumped into the grass and stumbled towards the place where the light was rising, crying as she ran.

The sound of glass shattering came from behind. A tide of zombies surged over. Through the broken hole above the wooden door, they roared, and one after another, they reached out their hands and grabbed at her.

Jiang Zao was not afraid. She just lowered her head and trembled, laughing lowly, and then, with tears streaming down her face, she laughed out loud.

She remembered that in her previous life, she had been betrayed by Chen Jianing, and after she was reborn, she had sworn to be a selfish and cold-blooded person. In the beginning of the apocalypse, she had indeed practiced this truth.

Until she met Wen Zhao, and was moved by her passion and sincere kindness. It was the brilliance of humanity that could not be covered even if the pearl was covered in dust, and it attracted her to get closer step by step.

Especially after she knew her past, that kindness that came from her bones was particularly precious.

They had met too many people on their way from Yuanxi Village: Big Brother Li from the outdoor goods store, Zhou Qing, Lin Nian, the diary left by the forest ranger in the small wooden cabin at the foot of Chongming Snow Mountain, Chen Jianing, the family of four on the rooftop of Shangguan Town…

Jiang Zao had stood at the crossroads of choice countless times. Even when she had brought Little Mi home, she had been reluctant at first.

It was Jiang Wuni who had strongly persuaded her to keep Wen Zhao and Little Mi, to unite all the forces that could be united, and to believe that there was still a spark of civilization in the apocalypse, even if it was like a candle in the wind.

But even so, she had never thought that one day she would sacrifice herself to save others, until Jiang Wuni fell in front of her, using her thin body to buy them a chance to live.

It was only then that she understood that love and sacrifice might be the real cure for this world.

A selfish person like her actually… actually would also have a time when she would risk her life for others. It was just… she just didn’t know if she would be as lucky as last time.

She thought, probably… probably not.

How could she be so lucky every time?

Jiang Zao’s tears fell, and she stopped trembling. She raised her head, picked up the broken table leg from the ground, and frantically hit the ground, smashing the wooden door, making a huge noise, attracting all the zombies to surge towards her. Then she turned back and smashed the heads of the zombies that were squeezing in through the broken glass above the wooden door.

She had to buy time for Little Mi’s safe retreat.

“You monsters! If you have the guts, come at me! Come at me! Come on! I will never yield! Never… yield.”

Her roars echoed in the entire building for a long time.

Wave after wave of zombies surged up.

The wooden door soon gave way and fell apart.

She was also sent flying by a huge force, and a large mouthful of blood was spat out.

The sun rose.

But her world was slowly darkening before her.

So… so tired…

Little Mi… Little Mi… should be safe by now.

Maybe… maybe it’s time to rest for a while.

When she fell, Jiang Zao thought of the vow she had made with A-Zhao on Chongming Snow Mountain.

“At this moment, the mountains are my witness. My love for you is as eternal as the mountains, and will never change until death. Will you… be willing to spend the rest of your life with me in this chaotic and complex world?”

“No need to count. I’m willing. I think… this will be the bravest and most important decision of my life.”

She slowly closed her eyes.

A-Zhao, I… may have to break my promise.

But, Jiang Wuni…

No, Jiang Maizi, you will come and get me, right?