The Zombie had found a new pastime. She no longer read those nauseating novels and had instead devoted herself to figuring out how to become a proper Daoist.
A Daoist’s essential tools were, of course, indispensable.
The peachwood sword was difficult to conceal but convenient to use. Under Fu Qi’s relentless prompting, she had been forced to get used to carrying it. As for talismans and a Daoist ID card, however, she still held them in awe. It took her several attempts before she finally worked up the courage to unzip her backpack.
Even then, she had to clutch Fu Qi’s sleeve while rummaging through it, making him keep his eyes on her in case something went wrong and he needed to rescue her.
“Don’t worry,” Fu Qi said. “I’ll keep a close eye on you.”
It sounded nice, but the moment the Zombie turned her head, he immediately closed his eyes. Qin Zhen spent a while rummaging through the talismans and was just about to speak to him when she looked up and discovered that he was already fast asleep.
There were only two survival bases near the northern border. They couldn’t stay there, so to evade the people from A Country pursuing them, they had deliberately taken a roundabout route. By then, they had reached the desolate roads of the northwest, where not a soul could be seen.
On either side stretched endless expanses of bleak yellow earth and stark, barren mountains. The late-autumn wind rose from the flat ground, like a million soldiers marching in formation, their footsteps pounding and their roars echoing as they passed.
Hearing the noise, Qin Zhen looked outside. It was pitch-black; apart from the hazy outlines of trees in the distance, there was nothing to see.
Wide-open surroundings often made people uneasy. But the Zombie turned back and looked at the old lady sleeping soundly behind her, then at Fu Qi sitting beside her with his eyes tightly shut. She felt perfectly comfortable.
It was as if this wasn’t a cramped car on a desolate highway, but a cozy little tomb she had lovingly decorated herself.
“Humans are useless. Looks like I’ll have to rely on Little Daoist Zombie.”
She muttered under her breath. While diligently keeping watch through the night, she happily yet cautiously continued copying the yellow talismans covered in inscriptions meant to exorcise evil.
After several days of this, the Zombie had learned how to draw talismans. Unfortunately, she had no yellow paper or cinnabar, so she could only use pages torn from a novel and a black gel pen. The results looked bizarre and thoroughly unprofessional.
She wanted to stick these talismans onto zombies, but the roads were too desolate, and there were hardly any zombies to be found. Every so often, they would pass through a town and encounter a few, but with the old lady there, she couldn’t put her skills to use. It drove the Zombie frantic.
And whenever she grew frantic, Fu Qi was the one who suffered.
Almost every morning, Fu Qi woke up with his body covered in crude talismans made from pages of the novel. Some were crookedly labeled “Drowsy Eyes Talisman,” others “Lowered Intelligence Talisman,” and every now and then there would even be a few “Pig Transformation Talismans.”
Fu Qi used to think that the best way to combat superstition was through modern technology. But now, watching the Zombie play with such enthusiasm, he felt that perhaps there was no need to go to such lengths. As long as one’s vanity was strong enough, every superstition was nothing but a floating cloud.
They bickered and played around as they continued onward.
The northwest loop was far too long. Fortunately, the gas stations along both sides of the road still had fuel.
When Qin Zhen asked about it, Fu Qi explained that some of the gas had been left over from before, while some was replenished regularly by the government, all to prevent civilians from becoming stranded halfway.
Being stranded on a desolate road like this was dangerous. Even if someone didn’t starve or die of thirst, there was a good chance they would end up being devoured by wild beasts.
And so the two humans and one zombie continued on their journey.
At last, on the day they were about to leave the northwest loop, Fu Qi spotted something in the distance and called out, “Sweetie, stop the car.”
Qin Zhen didn’t react.
“Little Daoist Jiang?” The old lady, sitting in the back with her eyes covered, called out to help. “She doesn’t seem to have heard you.”
That wasn’t the reason at all.
Fu Qi tried again. “Little Daoist Zombie, could you please stop the car?”
“Okay!” Little Daoist Zombie answered brightly and brought the car to a neat stop.
The corners of Fu Qi’s mouth lifted, and they remained raised for quite some time.
He had asked Qin Zhen to stop because they were already nearing the edge of a town, yet no zombies had come chasing after them. He guessed that someone nearby had lured them away.
The government workers who had taken over the Dayu Base knew that Academician Jiang was traveling with them, and they also knew their route. Most likely, they had contacted people from the other bases to come and meet them. This was the only route they could take when leaving the loop road, so there was a very good chance that their rendezvous party had arrived.
Besides, if they let the Zombie continue driving and she encountered zombies in front of other people, someone might see her and start gossiping.
After explaining everything to Qin Zhen, Fu Qi moved into the driver’s seat and drove in the direction of the tire tracks for about ten minutes. Sure enough, they soon heard sounds ahead.
Qin Zhen hadn’t seen either zombies or other humans for a long time. She clung to the car window and looked out, eventually spotting people in the distance fighting zombies.
And “fighting” was meant literally. They were using cold weapons, not guns.
They were even using ropes.
“How strange,” she said.
“Guns and ammunition are precious. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, people generally won’t use them.” The car slowed. Since the old lady had not suffered another episode, she had removed her blindfold and was looking outside along with Qin Zhen. “Most of the time, as long as they can restrict a zombie’s movements, they can kill it slowly.”
Just like the people they were watching now.
The group ahead was roughly divided into three teams.
One team used defensive weapons and specialized in luring the zombies over and throwing ropes around them. The ropes varied in length, with one end tied to one zombie and the other end tied to another. Since the two zombies moved at different speeds and chased in different directions, the ropes twisted around each other and eventually knotted, trapping several zombies together.
The second team carried cold weapons. While the zombies were restrained, they took the opportunity to hack at their heads.
The third team carried guns and stood watch from higher ground, ready to shoot any zombies that slipped through. They also guarded against other zombies that might come running at the noise, hoping to take advantage of the situation.
The method tested the team’s agility as well as the trust between its members. But when they worked well together, the results were excellent.
“How clever!” Qin Zhen exclaimed.
Brains really were a wonderful thing. The Zombie wanted several more of them!
“There are many similar methods. The defenses around the bases work on the same principle. The ultimate goal is always to hold back the zombies and buy humanity more time,” the old lady said. “When people unite, zombies actually aren’t that difficult to kill… Unfortunately, they can never be wiped out completely.”
That brought them back to the infuriating zombie virus.
As they spoke, they drew closer, and the group began watching them warily.
Fu Qi stopped some distance away. He waited until the people had eliminated most of the zombies that had gathered around them before getting out of the car to negotiate. A few minutes later, he waved to Qin Zhen and Academician Jiang, signaling for them to come over.
Just as Fu Qi had guessed, the group was a temporary team from the Ankang Base, sent to meet them. They had already been waiting there for several days.
After confirming each other’s identities, the group went to a temporary safe zone.
The temporary team leader had been entrusted by his superiors with a message for Fu Qi. The two went aside to talk, while Qin Zhen and Academician Jiang were each taken away to wash up.
The northwest loop was flat and smooth, with few dangers, but the conditions were extremely harsh. There had been no way to bathe or even stretch properly, so now that they had finally made it out, they had to clean themselves up thoroughly.
Qin Zhen washed carefully, changed into clean clothes, and reapplied her foundation.
More than twenty people had come to pick up Academician Jiang. There were simply too many of them, and the Zombie was afraid of exposing her identity, so she had applied an especially thick layer of foundation. Even so, when she came out after washing, something unexpected still happened.
Almost everyone was staring at the Zombie, making her feel so flustered that she nearly took out her powder puff and touched up her makeup on the spot.
“Is that your talisman?” Ms. Zhou, who was in charge of looking after Academician Jiang, was the first to approach Qin Zhen and strike up a conversation.
“…Yes.”
Qin Zhen looked at the talisman in her hand, feeling a little embarrassed.
It was a talisman Fan Kong had given her. Out of boredom, she had crookedly written the words “Blindness Talisman” on the original talisman. Every time they set out and Academician Jiang’s eyes were covered, Qin Zhen would secretly stick the talisman to the back of the old lady’s head, as though the reason she couldn’t see was because of it.
Fu Qi had teased Qin Zhen about this more than once.
She had forgotten to take it off when she got out of the vehicle just now. Great—now everyone had seen her little prank.
“Are you really a Daoist priest?” Ms. Zhou asked curiously. “I’ve never met one before, and you’re a female Daoist, too! Hey, are there any requirements for becoming a Daoist? What do you normally do?”
Qin Zhen was confused and flustered.
How was she supposed to know? She was a fake Daoist.
Playing around in private was one thing, but openly admitting it was another.
The Zombie had never intended to publicly ruin the reputation of Daoists everywhere.
“I’m n-not…” she stammered nervously, but her voice was drowned out by someone nearby.
“There definitely are requirements. A few years ago, one of my relatives wanted to become a monk, but he couldn’t because his education level was too low.” The speaker was a young man. “These professional religious types have very strict requirements, right? You have to be a master’s graduate from one of the top universities, don’t you? And you need to speak a foreign language, otherwise how could you spread Buddhism and morality to foreigners? Isn’t that right, Little Daoist?”
“What Little Daoist? Academician Jiang said she’s Little Daoist Jiang!”
The temporary safe base was a two-story building. Apart from those on patrol or taking turns resting, almost everyone was crammed into the living room on the first floor.
Fu Qi had been asked to speak with his superiors, and Academician Jiang had yet to come out, so the Zombie had temporarily become the center of attention.
Daoists were rare, and female Daoists even rarer. The people surrounding the Zombie examined her as though she were a precious animal at the zoo.
Someone else asked, “Little Daoist Zombie, why have you painted your face so white? Is it some secret Daoist exorcism technique that isn’t passed down to outsiders?”
“Can you draw me a talisman for safety?”
“Give me one to ward off evil spirits!”
“I want one that’ll bring me wealth. Preferably in English, too. Once the apocalypse is over, I’m going to make money off foreigners!”
“…”
The Zombie, who already wasn’t good at speaking, couldn’t get a single word out.
Were all human survivors this friendly?
Ms. Little Zombie was starting to feel a little socially anxious.
“Get lost, get lost, get lost!” Ms. Zhou shouted in her booming voice, drowning everyone else out. “You’re all engaging in feudal superstition! I’ll report every one of you when we get back and have you sent off to farm!”
The others retorted, “What feudal superstition? Life’s hanging by a thread these days, and there’s no entertainment. So what’s wrong with asking Little Daoist Jiang for a little emotional comfort?”
Qin Zhen had heard similar things from the brothers Fan Xu and Fan Kong. Thinking of humanity’s miserable life in the apocalypse and listening to their heart-wrenching words, the Zombie felt a little sorry for them.
She pressed down Ms. Zhou’s arm, gathered her emotions, and said, “I have talismans. Blessings. I’ll, I’ll give them to you.”
Her Daoist identity was fake, but the talismans Fan Kong had given her were genuine, crafted by a Daoist from a renowned school. The Zombie generously handed them all out.
It wasn’t as though she had any use for them.
Some people surrounded the Zombie to thank her, while others busily divided up the talismans. Someone helped bring over the identification documents and the title deed to the Daoist temple from the vehicle. He accidentally knocked them over and glanced at them. Though he didn’t read everything, he still went around announcing that she was a Daoist from Qingyang Temple, prompting a crowd of people to come over and declare that they would go there to burn incense and repay their vows once the apocalypse was over.
They could go and repay their vows if they wanted, but they absolutely couldn’t mistake her for a real Daoist.
Before the Zombie could explain herself, Fu Qi returned. He laughed when he saw how helpless she looked.
“No need to explain.” After laughing, he said, “They know you’re the new member of my team. They’re just teasing you and nobody will take it seriously. Even if they do, it’s no big deal. You’re helping your little brother drum up business.”
Qin Zhen thought about it and decided he was right. Once the apocalypse was over, her little brother would certainly return to running his Daoist temple. He would be delighted to see so many clients coming to support him.
There were many people in the temporary squad. Some had dispersed to search for supplies, and the team would be stationed here for several more days until everyone had returned.
The temporary squad leader had brought along a communications device newly developed by the central government. It couldn’t connect to the internet, but it could contact the base in North City. Fu Qi intended to use it to have his teammates at the North City base investigate Haiyin Charity Hospital and the small county town. He decided that they would stay for two more days.
The Zombie spent the entire day surrounded by people calling her “Little Daoist Jiang.” The title was far too dignified. She kept up a humble appearance, but inwardly she was delighted. She got along rather well with these humans and didn’t object.
Seeing how happy she was, Fu Qi reminded her to touch up her makeup whenever necessary before devoting himself to investigating their leads.
The human and the Zombie each had their own things to do, and they barely saw each other during the day. That evening, after Fu Qi had organized the clues they had obtained, he went outside, where a group of people were eating dinner.
He looked around but couldn’t find Qin Zhen.
“Little Daoist Jiang went to help with patrol,” someone said between bites. “She’s over in the southeast corner.”
Numerous fences and defensive lines had been set up around the building, but to guard against accidents, people still had to patrol around the clock.
Fu Qi thanked the man and went outside to look for Qin Zhen.
By then, night had fallen. Clouds drifted across the sky, making the moonlight flicker in and out. Fu Qi walked around half the building before finally spotting the Zombie in a dim corner.
She had her head lowered, her shoulders bobbing up and down as though she were secretly eating something.
“You’re not allowed to eat zombies.”
Fu Qi approached silently and spoke without warning from behind her, startling her into whipping around. The thing in her hand nearly fell to the ground.
She really was sneaking a bite of something.
Fu Qi said, “Zombies are your distant relatives. You can’t eat your relatives.”
“Aren’t relatives n-not… not allowed to get married?” the Zombie mumbled with something in her mouth.
“You want to marry them?” Fu Qi shook his head. “That’s a pretty heavy taste… even heavier than us humans.”
The Zombie couldn’t win an argument with him. She raised her hand to hit him, but Fu Qi caught her by the wrist.
Fu Qi knew perfectly well that Qin Zhen wouldn’t eat zombies. This Zombie was a bit of a clean freak; whenever she bit him, it was only a pretend bite. There was no way she would actually put something like that in her mouth.
He was curious about what Qin Zhen had been sneaking around to eat.
The corner was extremely secluded, and the moonlight happened to be blocked by the clouds, leaving them with very poor visibility.
Fu Qi couldn’t make out what Qin Zhen was holding. He pried open her hand and felt it, then asked, “Why are you holding a handful of dried grass?”
The Zombie rose onto her tiptoes and leaned closer to him, whispering, “I’m eating it. I want to eat, eat something.”
Fu Qi froze for a moment. He pulled her by the wrist toward the light and only then realized that half the grass in her hand had already been chewed away. She was still chewing, with a blade of grass clinging to the corner of her mouth.
“If you want to eat something, go inside and eat. Why are you eating grass? Spit it out!”
“No.”
“Are you stupid?” Fu Qi’s brows drew tightly together. When she refused to listen, he reached out to pinch her chin.
The Zombie resisted, tugging at Fu Qi’s hand as she struggled. Between wriggles, she said, “It’s not enough…”
Ever since she had met her little brother Fan Xu, she had begun pretending to be human, eating and sleeping normally.
Sleeping was easy enough to fake. After all, every human had to sleep, and once everyone else was asleep, no one would know whether she had slept or not. Eating and drinking were even simpler. Fu Qi would prepare everything for her, and even if she forgot, he would feed her himself.
As for the two times she had been separated from Fu Qi, once the Zombie had been alone with the little zombie and had not needed to pretend to be human.
The other time, she had been with Academician Jiang. She simply ate whatever Academician Jiang ate, which was easy enough to explain away.
That was how she had gotten through the past few months. Whenever everyone else ate, she ate too, and it had become a habit.
This was the first time she had ever eaten with such a large group of people, all crowded around a communal pot of food…
“Just a little…” the Zombie mumbled indistinctly.
There was so little food—a single small pot of porridge, divided among more than twenty people.
After the zombie virus broke out, all human production had ground to a halt. Everyone was barely able to save themselves, let alone produce anything else. Qin Zhen knew that much.
She also knew that humans were short on food, but because she had been traveling with Fu Qi, he had always taken care of everything. Qin Zhen had never truly experienced how difficult things were.
They had even found time to feast on Xu Feng’s supplies.
Now that she was witnessing ordinary people’s lives with her own eyes, she felt too embarrassed to eat.
These people had welcomed her so warmly, even calling her “Little Daoist Jiang”…
The Zombie had pretended that she had already eaten and refused their food, but as she watched from the side, her mouth began to feel strangely empty. So she used patrolling as an excuse to leave.
As she passed a corner, she spotted several tender blades of grass growing beside the wall. With nothing else to do, she plucked one and stuffed it into her mouth. Then she thought about it: she could never die anyway, so why did she have to eat a proper meal?
This could fill her stomach just as well.
Fu Qi listened to the Zombie without saying a word. He remained motionless for a long while. Then, just as the Zombie began stuffing more blades of grass into her mouth, he suddenly grabbed Qin Zhen’s hand.
“You’re not allowed to eat that. Spit it out!”
Qin Zhen wanted to say that she was only eating it out of boredom, but Fu Qi had already pinched her cheeks and forcibly stuck his fingers into her mouth.
He was actually going to dig it out by hand!
“Hey, hey…” the Zombie cried, trying to ask whether Fu Qi wasn’t afraid of being bitten when he just stuck his hand into her mouth like that.
But she couldn’t make out a complete sentence.
After Fu Qi dug the grass out of her mouth, she spat repeatedly and complained miserably, “You didn’t wash your hands. They’re filthy!”
Fu Qi said nothing. Once she had finished spitting, he pinched her cheeks and carefully checked inside her mouth. Only after confirming that not a single scrap remained did he let go.
In a low voice, he asked, “If you felt too embarrassed to eat their food, why didn’t you come find me?”
“They said not to… disturb you.”
She was referring to the temporary captain. Fu Qi had been borrowing his communicator during this period, and he had ordered everyone not to bother him.
Fu Qi continued, “Wasn’t there still food in your backpack?”
“That’s yours.”
Qin Zhen had never thought that far before. Only after seeing how everyone else was living did she realize how scarce food had become.
“If I eat it, what if one day you have no… no food left and starve to death? I still want you to stay alive… alive a little longer.”
Fu Qi stood with his back to the moonlight. The veins in his neck tightened before he asked again, “What about that jar of candy?”
The Zombie answered honestly, “I gave it to them. There are only two pieces left. Once they’re gone, there won’t be… any more.”
She couldn’t bear to eat them herself.
Fu Qi fell silent again for a long while.
The Zombie could vaguely sense that he was in a bad mood. She guessed he was upset because she had been eating grass, but she couldn’t figure out what exactly had angered him.
She wouldn’t die from eating grass, and it had saved the humans some food. What was there to be angry about?
Yet for some reason, although she could think that way, she didn’t quite dare say it aloud.
They stood beneath the cold moonlight for a while. Then the Zombie continued in a small voice, following up on what she had said earlier.
“…Besides… candy can’t be used as a meal…”
Only then did Fu Qi react. He looked as though she had annoyed him into laughing.
That laugh eased the atmosphere considerably.
Fu Qi raised his head and glanced at the bright moon among the treetops, seeming to sigh. Then he lowered his head, cupped Qin Zhen’s face in his hands, and said seriously, “From now on, if you want to eat something, tell me. Don’t eat this random garbage again.”
Qin Zhen didn’t want to eat this sort of thing either. Who knew whether someone had stepped on it?
She asked, “What if there’s very, very little food?”
“Then come to me anyway,” Fu Qi said. “If anyone tries to stop you, stand outside and shout.”
“That would be so embarrassing. It’s not cool at all.”
Fu Qi gave her a stern warning. “Jiang Xiaojiang, your vanity has reached the point where it’s interfering with your daily life and bringing shame upon our team. If you keep this up, I’ll have to intervene and manage you by force in my capacity as captain.”
“Fine…” The Zombie reluctantly gave in.
As they spoke, the beam of a flashlight moved toward them. A patrolman from the other side was approaching.
This was not a good place to talk, and they had already said almost everything that needed saying. Fu Qi wiped away a little of the grass juice clinging to the Zombie’s chin, then stepped back and carefully inspected her. He bent down, patted the dry grass off her clothes, and led her toward the house by the hand.
After they had taken two steps, he said quietly, “We’re leaving tomorrow.”
“So soon?”
Fu Qi glanced sideways at her and raised an eyebrow. “Can’t bear to leave? Who can’t you bear to leave? Come on, tell me all about it.”
“It’s not that I can’t bear to leave…”
It was just that this was the first time she had been surrounded by so many people. Everyone had been very kind to her, and she had never experienced anything like it before. She wanted to stay a little longer.
If she had to name someone she was reluctant to leave, it was probably Academician Jiang.
The old woman had been feeling unwell lately—whether because of the weather, exhaustion, or simply not adapting to the new environment, Qin Zhen didn’t know—and had stayed in her room the entire time.
Qin Zhen had gone to check on her several times, afraid she might die of illness.
“She’s an expert in biology and medicine herself. She’ll be fine. Besides, she’s too important for them to let anything happen to her.”
The reasoning was sound. Qin Zhen also knew that they still had a mission to complete. After hesitating and making a few vague noises, she said, “All right, then. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Fu Qi led her by the hand toward the house. When they reached the steps, Qin Zhen saw their two shadows merge together.
Following the shadows, she glanced at Fu Qi—and was caught red-handed.
“What are you looking at?” Fu Qi stopped and lowered his head to look at her. When he saw her scratching her face and saying nothing, his voice turned stern again. “If there’s something on your mind, say it!”
“Fine, fine, I’ll say it…” Qin Zhen sensed that his mood had improved somewhat. She ground her toes against the ground and asked the question she hadn’t dared to ask earlier.
“I ate grass. Why were you so angry?”
Fu Qi looked at her. His lashes lowered, then lifted again.
“Because everyone knows you’re my girlfriend, and I…” He paused briefly before continuing in a low voice. “I’m an extreme male chauvinist. If you’re my girlfriend and I can’t take good care of you while you’re by my side, I’ll feel humiliated. It’ll make me want to kill someone.”
The Zombie gave an “oh” and said, “So you’re vain too, but you still criticize me for it.”
“The captain has special privileges. I’m allowed to be vain.”
The Zombie: “…Oh!”
The captain’s authority was truly immense.
Once again, she found herself wondering whether she could join forces with the two teammates she had never met and overthrow Sweetie, then elect a new captain.
