Chang Jianyi couldn't help but cry after seeing the bloody shoes on the ground. As she cried, she blamed herself, saying, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let you go on such a dangerous mission. Now you're gone too. How can I live?"
Since the zombie outbreak, Chang Jianyi had been unable to contact her parents and knew that she might never find them again. However, she still had one relative, her younger brother. After enduring many hardships, she finally rescued her brother, but after just over a month, her brother was gone again.
Chang Jianyi couldn't accept this. Why did her brother have to die after only one night? She had clearly instructed him to return within an hour, but now, only a bloody shoe was found under the tree.
I'm so foolish. I only thought about the zombies by the city wall, never considering that there might be zombies around the Corpse King. Now, I can only cry while looking at the bloody shoe. Truly, I am so foolish.
As Chang Jianyi was weeping, holding the shoe, a faint voice came from above: "Sister, I'm here."
Hearing her brother's voice, Chang Jianyi quickly looked up, but she couldn't see anything on the tree. The leaves hadn't fully fallen yet, so she couldn't see anything above.
Chang Jianyi quickly took a few steps back and finally saw her brother. Chang Haojie wasn't on the tree, but hanging from a street lamp beside it, swaying in the wind. Chang Haojie's small face was pale from the cold. It turned out that Chang Haojie had intended to fly to a nearby residential building to rest for a while before finding a way to leave. However, he was exhausted and fell before reaching the building. Fortunately, he was carrying a bag, and the strap of the bag got caught on the street lamp, so Chang Haojie was hanging there.
Although Chang Haojie himself was unharmed and not bitten or eaten by zombies, he had been frozen outside for most of the night. If he hadn't become an ability user, he would have frozen to death by now.
Seeing that her brother was safe, Chang Jianyi threw the shoe aside, wiped her tears, and said, "How did you get hung up on the street lamp? Is this where you're supposed to be? You don't have the right to be here."
Chang Haojie weakly said, "Sister, I'm so hungry. I want to sleep. I can't get down. Hurry and save me."
Chang Jianyi had no choice but to have someone climb the utility pole to rescue her brother. Chang Haojie was finally safe, but he was too tired. After being frozen outside the city for a night, he was cold and hungry and fainted. Chang Jianyi quickly took her brother back to the city wall.
There were still many zombies wandering outside the city. If these zombies were not dealt with, the people of Luzhou would face great danger when leaving the city. Chang Jianyi did not have the energy to deal with this for the time being. The soldiers were exhausted after a long battle and needed a day to rest. Moreover, the city was not yet completely stable and needed to be managed.
After returning to the city, Chang Jianyi immediately arranged the follow-up work. Although she was very tired, she was the only one in Luzhou who could continue to arrange work, such as starting factories, soldiers' shift rotations, and future rewards and punishments, all of which were urgent matters.
The people in the city were crowded in the streets near the City Lord's Mansion, having spent the night there. Downstairs in the City Lord's Mansion, Chu Yangtian had also fallen asleep, covered by a blanket. It could be said that it was fortunate to have Chu Yangtian's presence last night that stabilized the morale of the city, allowing Zhang Xiaoqiang to successfully clear the speed-type zombies.
When Zhang Xiaoqiang announced with her team that all speed-type zombies had been cleared, cheers erupted from the crowd. Chu Yangtian, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up again. Chu Yangtian was not angry about this; after all, the crisis had been resolved, and it was only right for everyone to be happy.
However, the subsequent events were not happy, and the mood became heavy.
The City Lord's Mansion staff began to search house by house, finding bodies in many alleys and rooms. After a thorough search, three hundred bodies covered with white cloths were eventually placed in the plaza. Many of these were the elderly and children, as they were the most vulnerable and thus became targets for the speed-type zombies. No one could be happy after so many people were killed.
Speed-type zombies preferred to ambush, using their extreme speed to kill those they considered weakest. Therefore, the casualties within the city were particularly heavy.
Lin Yue had stayed up all night maintaining order. He hadn't encountered any major dangers during that time. However, at this point, someone found Lin Yue and said sternly, "Lin Yue, I have some unfortunate news for you. Your wife, Fu Ya, died in last night's battle!"
Upon hearing this news, Lin Yue stumbled back a few steps, crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, and mumbled, "Impossible, impossible! We were together last night. Impossible! You must be lying to me!"
Lin Yue couldn't accept this news. In his mind, he had just said goodbye to Fu Ya last night, and now someone was telling him she was dead. He felt his spiritual pillar collapse, and he was completely stunned.
The messenger saw Lin Yue's state and knew that he was unwilling to accept reality. This was understandable, as anyone would be unable to remain calm upon suddenly learning of their wife's death. Lin Yue's reaction was within reason.
The messenger comforted Lin Yue for a while before taking him to the plaza. By this time, people who had learned that they were safe had already returned home in twos and threes. Those who had lost loved ones were crying loudly in the plaza. Some bodies were unclaimed, belonging to those who were alone. After a day, the bodies would be buried.
The staff member led Lin Yue to a body covered with a white cloth, patted his shoulder, and said softly, "Please accept my condolences and turn your grief into strength."
After saying this, the staff member left. He knew that Lin Yue needed some quiet time alone, so he didn't mention returning to work.
Lin Yue looked at the white cloth, his lips trembling for a moment. He suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down his face. Next to the white cloth, the name "Fu Ya" was written in chalk. Lin Yue lifted the white cloth and saw Fu Ya's pale face. Her eyes were not yet closed, and their former liveliness was gone.
Lin Yue couldn't help but hold Fu Ya's body and cry. In the plaza, there were over a hundred people like him, many crying together. They had survived by chance, but their dearest loved ones had died and would never return.
"Let's share this apple." Lin Yue remembered last night when Fu Ya was still sharing the same apple with him. He never imagined that after one night, they would be separated by death. And now, Fu Ya's eyes were still open in death.
Lin Yue cried for a long time, holding Fu Ya. He kept recalling their time together in school, their journey to Luzhou supporting each other, and the days they had spent together. He believed that as long as he was excellent enough, he could give Fu Ya a better life and survive the apocalypse.
However, he never expected that life was unpredictable, and now Fu Ya had left him forever!
Suddenly, Lin Yue noticed a piece of torn cloth in Fu Ya's hand and felt puzzled. What was this piece of cloth for? He carefully pried open Fu Ya's fingers and found that she was holding a piece of fabric. Upon closer examination of Fu Ya's wounds, he discovered many bruises on her body, and a large, smooth wound on her abdomen. The wound was smooth and definitely not caused by a zombie!
"Xiao Ya was murdered!" Lin Yue's mind suddenly formed this thought.
To find evidence, Lin Yue quickly returned home and found the house in disarray, as if it had been searched. The rice bin where they used to store food was now empty. Seeing this, Lin Yue was almost certain that Fu Ya had not died at the hands of zombies but at the hands of someone else. Otherwise, why would the rice bin at home be empty? Did zombies eat all the food before leaving?
Lin Yue then asked the aunts and uncles in the building and received a consistent answer. Fu Ya had refused to leave the house last night, and it was precisely because of this that she met a terrible fate. It was too coincidental.
Lin Yue then checked the door lock at home and found that it had been violently broken from the outside. Fu Ya would naturally not open the door for strangers, so the villains appeared. They broke the door lock from the outside, rushed in to rob valuables, and Fu Ya was also killed by these people in passing. Later, others mistakenly believed she was killed by zombies!
"I will avenge her!" Lin Yue roared to the sky. He vowed that if he found the killer, he would tear them to shreds!
However, despite saying this, Lin Yue couldn't find any clues. Although there were surveillance cameras in the building, Luzhou had been saving electricity, so the surveillance cameras were generally not turned on. Only the street surveillance cameras were active, but with so many people moving on the streets last night, finding the killer was like searching for a needle in a haystack!
But Lin Yue did not want to give up. Fu Ya was the person he loved most, and now she had been killed by villains. He could not swallow this injustice. After much thought, Lin Yue decided to rely on the City Lord's Mansion to find the killer. He gritted his teeth and walked towards the City Lord's Mansion. He wanted to prove his abilities and then obtain the help of the City Lord's Mansion!
Lin Yue rushed into Shen Feng's office. The person sitting in the office was Chang Jianyi, with dark circles under her eyes, the price of staying up all night. The guards at the door did not have time to stop Lin Yue before he barged in.
"What is it?" Chang Jianyi said unhappily. She was already very tired, and someone was being inconsiderate and barging into her office at this time. She really wanted to have the person in front of her beaten up and kicked out.
Lin Yue said with red eyes, "My wife was killed last night, not by zombies, but by a group of robbers. I want you to help me get revenge."
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi frowned. She didn't expect there to be people taking advantage of the chaos. She thought that with the mutated zombies rushing into the city last night, people would be somewhat fearful, but she didn't expect some people to take advantage of the confusion and start killing and looting.
"I will instruct my subordinates to investigate. You can go down now. The City Lord's Mansion will not forgive the crime of murder," Chang Jianyi replied. However, she actually didn't plan to have anyone investigate these matters. Too many problems were piling up, and there were even more things to deal with. Wasting too many resources for one person was completely inappropriate.
Lin Yue could see this attitude and continued, "I have a method here to produce penicillin. There's an epidemic in the city, and I believe penicillin can play a significant role at this time!"
"Penicillin?" Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi immediately nodded. Indeed, some people in the city had eaten the meat of mutated rats and contracted the plague, and the subordinates had no medicine to deal with it. If penicillin could be obtained, it would certainly be very effective in curbing the plague!
Therefore, Chang Jianyi looked at Lin Yue and asked, "Are you sure the method you mentioned is effective?"
Lin Yue nodded without hesitation and said, "I am sure this method is effective. However, I hope to exchange it for an evolution potion. I want to become an evolution user!"
Lin Yue knew that to find the killer, he needed the help of the City Lord's Mansion. Moreover, to personally avenge his loved one, he needed to possess great power, and the evolution potion could fulfill this need!
Chang Jianyi nodded and replied, "No problem, I can give you the evolution potion. However, you need to demonstrate it to the laboratory personnel first. If it's successful, I will give you the evolution potion. For now, you should go and deal with the zombies."
Chang Jianyi could empathize with Lin Yue's feelings. This morning, she thought her brother was dead and cried uncontrollably, feeling utterly despairing. Now, Lin Yue's wife was truly dead, and she believed Lin Yue must also be feeling very distressed.
Lin Yue nodded and left. Currently, he couldn't bury Fu Ya outside the city, because if he did, wild dogs would likely dig her up and eat her. He chose cremation. He kissed Fu Ya's forehead one last time, placed her on the firewood, poured gasoline, and began to burn her. The firewood and gasoline were borrowed from the City Lord's Mansion. Watching Fu Ya gradually disappear in the flames, Lin Yue cried again. He felt that he had lost the desire to strive, and now, the only thought supporting him was revenge.
"Xiao Ya, I will definitely avenge you. You have to believe me, I mean what I say!" Lin Yue knelt on the ground, muttering to himself, tears streaking his face.
Through his blurry, tear-filled eyes, Lin Yue seemed to see the girl he had journeyed with through hardship. Her figure was still so beautiful. But after his tears dried, Lin Yue could only see the raging bonfire.