Chapter 393: Half-Corpse
“It belongs to a wood-type ability user, it won’t attack,” Lu Weiyi explained quickly, calming the frightened crowd.
He took a few more steps forward and saw Gu Qingji wrapped in the mutated vine. His clothes were disheveled, half-covering and half-revealing strong chest muscles. He looked like he had just come out of hot water, drenched in sweat, his face flushed with fever.
“Take me… back… to Central Island,” Gu Qingji gritted out as if enduring something painful.
Lu Weiyi instantly sensed something was wrong. He quickly hoisted Gu Qingji onto his back and glanced around. All the vehicles were large trucks filled with supplies—bringing one out in public wasn’t an option.
Given the speed of the electric cart, he had no choice but to carry him to Central Island himself. Seeing Zhuang Mingxu get out of the car, he shouted, “Are the healers on duty today?”
“No, go… go home,” Gu Qingji slurred.
“Listen to him,” Zhuang Mingxu saw his condition and pulled Lu Weiyi along toward Central Island.
“What happened?!” Gu Qingji’s eyes had gone red by now, his consciousness blurred.
“Zhao Qianqian… drugged me,” he growled, arms tightening instinctively around Lu Weiyi’s neck. “She said… you agreed to it.”
Lu Weiyi halted mid-step, nearly throwing him off. Only when Zhuang Mingxu pushed him did he continue running.
“Agreed to what?” Zhuang Mingxu asked, confused.
“To give me… to them, in exchange for Zhao Changming… to serve the base,” Gu Qingji forced out with the last bit of clarity. “I don’t believe it… tell me you didn’t.”
Lu Weiyi could feel his muscles trembling, his whole body taut. “I didn’t.”
Zhuang Mingxu also found it ridiculous. He explained while quickly using the walkie-talkie to contact Gu Qingyue. “Zhao Changming is supposed to work for the base anyway. Why would we need to trade a person for it?”
Gu Qingji’s body relaxed.
Lu Weiyi hadn’t expected Zhao Changming to try and frame him. Furious, he still explained, “He came to me, suggested that you marry Zhao Qianqian, and in return, he’d serve the base. I didn’t agree—I told him to talk to you.”
“I won’t… won’t agree,” Gu Qingji murmured incoherently. “Brother… it hurts…”
As he spoke, his body began to grind against Lu Weiyi instinctively.
Both of them were ability users and weren’t dressed too heavily. Lu Weiyi felt it instantly and broke out in goosebumps. He gritted his teeth, enunciating every word: “If you, damn it, rub again, I’ll chop—”
Before he could finish, Zhuang Mingxu had already pulled Gu Qingji onto his own back. His expression was hard to read, but his eyes had noticeably darkened. “I’ll carry him. You get some lubricant.”
“What?”
“Given his condition, I’m afraid Qingyue won’t survive the night.” Zhuang Mingxu had recovered well since his leg injury and was now fit and fast even with a person on his back. As he ran, he reminded Lu Weiyi to detain Zhao Qianqian and her father and interrogate them about the drug’s source and dosage.
After contacting Xu Chu via walkie-talkie, the two finally reached the island. Just as they entered the door, Xu Sa came over, “What—”
Zhuang Mingxu quickly tossed Gu Qingji at him, and Xu Sa caught him with both arms, shouting, “Dean! Hurry, check him!”
“Brother… brother…” Gu Qingji’s hands clamped onto Xu Sa’s shoulders like pliers as he leaned toward his head.
“What the f—” Both were ability users, and with the drug’s effect, it was impossible to pry them apart.
Dean had just come downstairs. A car stopped outside. Gu Qingyue’s panting voice came from the door, “Qingji?”
He froze when he saw the scene.
“Quick, take him—if you don’t, I’ll start hitting people!” Xu Sa shouted, struggling as Gu Qingji began grinding against him.
Afraid of hurting his brother, Gu Qingyue rushed over and half-carried, half-held him. As soon as he got close, Gu Qingji bit down on his earlobe, gently grinding while murmuring “Brother…” affectionately.
“Woah.” Dean’s eyes lit up as if watching an adult film.
Only a few people were in the living room—Li Zhuang stood with arms crossed, watching the drama unfold. Liu Rui burst out from the kitchen, pulling Xu Sa aside angrily. Xu Yi, holding a cup of steaming milk tea, watched the show quietly.
“Uncle Qingji?” Zhuang Ai Yi’s soft voice sounded. Only then did everyone realize there were children present, and they hurried to cover the little ones’ eyes.
While Dean did a quick checkup, Zhuang Mingxu explained to Gu Qingyue what had happened. “I already had people sent to arrest them. With him drugged like this, his ability won’t help much. You guys…”
He tossed Gu Qingyue two bottles and pointed upstairs.
Gu Qingyue blushed instantly. But Gu Qingji was already nibbling at his neck and fumbling under his clothes. Embarrassed, he said, “I’ll leave the rest to you guys.”
“No worries, go quick. Don’t risk internal injury,” Xu Sa said sympathetically.
Given how Gu Qingji was acting like a heat-seeking missile, no one dared get close. They let Gu Qingyue drag him upstairs with effort.
“Let’s go.” The villa was already heated. Zhuang Mingxu took off his thick coat, revealing a stoic face, and pulled Lu Weiyi toward the room.
“What are you doing?”
“Showering!”
Everyone in the living room immediately understood what was going on. Amid stifled laughter, Liu Rui, wearing a wronged expression, also pulled Xu Sa upstairs with him.
The shower left him even more exhausted. When Xi Shi came to wake Lu Weiyi, he was utterly confused.
The bedroom door was only slightly ajar. Xi Shi saw the marks all over Lu Weiyi’s upper body and quickly averted his gaze.
“Xiao Yi, two people named Cheng Chuan and Xia Qiao are looking for you. They said you told them to come around this time.”
“Right, let them in,” Lu Weiyi replied hoarsely.
Xi Shi hurriedly shut the door like a thief and went to invite the two inside.
Due to the base’s heavy demand for weapons and lack of machinery, Antonio was swamped with work, so Dean had been left at the villa.
When Cheng Chuan and Xia Qiao arrived, Dean was snacking while helping Zhuang Ai Yi and Taotao with math—simple addition and subtraction within 100. He had to think for a while himself but still seriously guided the kids. The whole scene could be summed up in two words: absolutely absurd.
As Xia Qiao entered, a wave of warm air hit him, causing droplets to form on his eyelashes. He reached to wipe them, but Cheng Chuan quickly beat him to it with a handkerchief.
“Don’t use your hands. It’s too cold, your skin’s numb, and you might scrape it.”
“Got it, Brother Chuan,” Xia Qiao replied while curiously glancing around the villa. Just then, Dean’s earnest voice echoed from the corner in awkward Chinese:
“This 51 minus 25 is wrong. The difference between 1 and 5 is 4, so borrow one from the front, and the result is…”
“24!” Zhuang Ai Yi raised his hand enthusiastically.
“Correct, so smart!”
“But…” Taotao, sucking her fingers, looked puzzled.
“24 plus 25 doesn’t equal 51, does it?”
“Huh? Really?” Dean hurriedly recalculated, scratching his curly head.
“Oh… you’re right.”
Xi Shi invited the two guests to sit and helplessly diverted Dean’s attention.
“Dean, we have guests. Can you get them some hot water?”
“Oh, coming!” Dean got up quickly, not forgetting to remind,
“Keep working on your worksheets, I’ll mark them later!”
Xia Qiao sneaked a glance at Cheng Chuan, suspecting the kids weren’t biologically related to these people.
“Xia Xia!” Dean turned and exclaimed in delight.
“What brings you here? Visiting me?”
He excitedly grabbed Xia Qiao’s hand and tried to pull him toward his room.
“Lu Base Commander wanted to see Brother Chuan. I just came along. Dean, are you teaching them math?” Xia Qiao asked, curious.
“Yes!” Dean puffed out his chest proudly.
“I was great at math in school!”
Xia Qiao looked at him with a complex expression.
Xi Shi handed them hot water to warm their hands and noticed Xia Qiao’s hesitant expression. Smiling, he said,
“We plan to hire a professional teacher. It’s just been too busy lately—no adults have the time.”
Dean, being a healing-type who needed special protection and had free time, had volunteered.
“You can’t skimp on early childhood education. If you’re okay with it, I can teach them. Before the apocalypse, I’d just received my admission notice from Kyoto University. I’m definitely qualified to teach young kids.”
Xia Qiao figured he had nothing else to do during the winter. Even without pay, teaching the kids would help build relationships with the base leadership—which could benefit both Cheng Chuan and himself.
“Then find time later to interview with Zhuang Mingxu. Compensation won’t be an issue,” Lu Weiyi said, just emerging from the bedroom and catching the end of the conversation. He felt relieved—it saved him a lot of effort.
“Okay!” A smile lit up Xia Qiao’s face. Cheng Chuan also gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
“Come on, I’ll take you to see a doctor and get you checked out,” Lu Weiyi said, pulling on his clothes near the door.
Cheng Chuan immediately got up. Xia Qiao wanted to go along but was politely declined. He didn’t insist and just said he’d wait there to go home together later.
The two left the villa and soon arrived at the underground lab.
Zhuang Mobai was already waiting. Upon seeing them, he frowned.
“You’re half an hour late.”
“I overslept,” Lu Weiyi said unapologetically, then nodded toward Cheng Chuan.
“This is the guy.”
Zhuang Mobai instantly lost his temper and began circling Cheng Chuan.
“Take off your blindfold. Let me see.”
If his eye had still looked human before, now it had completely become a zombie eye.
Zhuang Mobai’s curiosity was instantly piqued.
“You still have consciousness? Are your teeth venomous?”
“What do you usually eat? Prefer raw meat or cooked food?”
“Can you digest it?”
“Do you get constipated?”
“Do you feel the urge to bite people?”
“Xiuna! Have you prepped the equipment I asked for?” Zhuang Mobai didn’t even wait for Cheng Chuan’s answers and shouted to his assistant.
“All ready, Doctor!”
“Let’s go. Time for a check-up.”
He reached out to grab Cheng Chuan, but Lu Weiyi stopped him and stared directly into Zhuang Mobai’s eyes.
“I brought him here just to find out why he’s been having occasional losses of control lately—not for you to use as a research subject.”
“…Do you even know how valuable he is?”
“He could hold the secret to humanity defeating zombie energy!”
