Yellow Helmet said that as long as she hadn’t found her, she would continue to believe her sister was still alive.
She had a homemade map, with a long, narrow area circled in red—the route she had already traveled. She decided to keep searching outward, using the school as the center.
Qin Zhen went with her.
The two officially became traveling companions.
Yellow Helmet was utterly single-minded about her goal and cared about nothing else. When she saw Qin Zhen’s face covered in foundation, she remarked that since they had the means, she wanted to look more presentable too. Then she borrowed Qin Zhen’s makeup and put some on herself.
Qin Zhen liked her even more after that—except for one thing: Yellow Helmet refused to call her Sis.
“You don’t look any older than me. Why should I call you Sis?”
Qin Zhen told her that she had a youthful face but was actually several decades old, so calling her Grandma wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Yellow Helmet didn’t believe her. “Then why do you call yourself the Coldlight Girl?”
“Old lady!” Qin Zhen said glumly. “Fine, Cold-Light Old Lady!”
For the sake of getting her called Sis, the dazzling Coldlight Girl was reduced to a stooped Cold-Light Granny in a single second. Unfortunately, Yellow Helmet had a strong sense of self and still refused to change what she called Qin Zhen. She kept calling her Little Light instead.
Qin Zhen couldn’t accept it and could only curse Fu Qi inwardly.
The two of them began their wandering journey.
Yellow Helmet had a car. All four sides had been spray-painted with words. In the past, it had only said “Zhao Dashan,” but now “Wang Stinky” had been added.
Zhao was Yellow Helmet’s surname, while Dashan was her sister’s nickname. Wang Stinky, meanwhile, was the name Qin Zhen had made up for her imaginary boyfriend.
She had no choice. Fu Qi had told her that many people were looking for her, and none of the names or forms of address she had used before could appear again.
The name “Wang Stinky” was so bizarre that Yellow Helmet complained about it for quite a while, saying it didn’t sound like the name of a handsome man at all. She even began to question Qin Zhen’s taste.
Qin Zhen said she judged people by their names, then added that the name “Yellow Helmet” didn’t sound like the name of a beautiful woman either.
The two girls drove the oddly decorated car, bickering noisily as they wandered toward the distant horizon.
For all her arguing, Yellow Helmet was actually a very good person. She was deeply grateful to Qin Zhen for the zombie disruptant.
But she was ultimately not Fu Qi. Qin Zhen didn’t dare reveal anything unusual in front of her. Yet after spending every day together, with no one there to cover for her, Qin Zhen was eventually found out by Yellow Helmet.
Fortunately, Yellow Helmet had her own explanation.
“You’ve been hiding quite a lot of zombie disruptant, haven’t you?”
Yellow Helmet had asked Qin Zhen about the disruptant before, and Qin Zhen had answered honestly. Yellow Helmet rarely stayed at bases and had never come into contact with something that only mission teams could use. She didn’t know how scarce it was and had simply assumed Qin Zhen had plenty of zombie disruptant.
But she wasn’t greedy. “Don’t worry, I won’t take yours. I’ve made my way through all kinds of storms and hardships. I know that repaying kindness with betrayal never ends well.”
Qin Zhen said, “…Yeah.”
Yellow Helmet patted her on the shoulder. “But from now on, you can handle the dangerous stuff! Little Light, I have high hopes for you!”
The way she said it made it sound as if she were the big sister. It infuriated Qin Zhen!
Still, once they could travel openly through hordes of zombies, finding food, water, gasoline, and the like became much easier. Their journey went smoothly. They specifically sought out places suitable for survivors to live, staying in each one long enough to make several rounds before moving on to the next.
They occasionally ran into search teams sent out from bases. Whenever that happened, Qin Zhen would take the initiative to avoid them. Yellow Helmet assumed she had also suffered at a base and didn’t find her behavior suspicious. She simply went forward herself to ask for information.
Sometimes, when they passed by a base, the two would temporarily split up. One would enter the base to look for people while the other waited outside.
After two months of this, Qin Zhen finally decided to leave Yellow Helmet, because Yellow Helmet had seen her true appearance.
That day, they hadn’t been able to replenish their gasoline in time. They were forced to stop halfway and split up to search for fuel. While fleeing from zombies, Yellow Helmet fell into a river, and the zombies chased after her.
Qin Zhen heard the commotion and jumped in after her.
In the end, neither of them was hurt. However, Yellow Helmet’s gaze toward Qin Zhen turned strange. After staring at her several times, she reached out, pinched Qin Zhen’s cheek, and asked, “Why is your skin this color?”
Only then did Qin Zhen remember that her foundation wasn’t waterproof. After splashing around in the water for more than twenty minutes, it should have washed off long ago.
“Um…” She was a little dazed. “Maybe… maybe I’m afraid of the cold. I-I turned blue from freezing?”
At that, Yellow Helmet pulled open her clothes and peered inside. “Then you really are afraid of the cold.”
She didn’t ask anything else, and the two continued on their way. But Qin Zhen knew she couldn’t keep traveling with her. When they passed the next base and Yellow Helmet went inside to look for people, Qin Zhen quietly left.
Once again, she had nowhere to go. She wandered aimlessly for several days until, on a drizzly day, she took shelter in a small house by the roadside.
That kept her out of the rain, but she had forgotten that she wasn’t the only one who needed shelter. Humans did too. And all her survival skills had been learned from Fu Qi, which made it very easy for her to run into people.
The moment gunshots rang out outside, Qin Zhen knew things had taken a turn for the worse. She hurried to leave, but the courtyard gate had already been forced open. With no other choice, she quickly returned inside, intending to escape through a window.
Unfortunately, the house was only two stories high, and metal security grilles had been installed outside the windows for safety. Qin Zhen climbed from room to room, only to discover that the small bathroom window was the only one without a grille.
She climbed onto the toilet and started to pull herself up. Her body made it through, but the large backpack on her back got stuck. Just as she struggled to free it, lazy footsteps and the sound of a door opening came from behind her.
I’m done for, Qin Zhen thought.
Because of the rain, she hadn’t put on any foundation. She was definitely going to be mistaken for a zombie and shot.
Being shot would be one thing, but then she would have to remain wedged in the window, pretending to be a zombie that had been killed.
That would be utterly humiliating for a zombie!
“Hey, got yourself stuck in the window?” the person who entered drawled mockingly, accompanied by the sound of a bullet being chambered. “Won’t you dry into a corpse after you die?”
One might be killed, but one must not be humiliated!
Even in death, she had to preserve her dignity!
Qin Zhen turned around and let out a vicious zombie growl, waving her claws at the intruder. But when she saw what he looked like, she froze.
The man froze too when he saw her.
It was none other than Xu Feng, whom Fu Qi had once introduced Qin Zhen to. The high-tech watch that had stayed on Qin Zhen’s mind was still gleaming conspicuously on his wrist.
For a moment, Qin Zhen had no idea how to react. Xu Feng, on the other hand, was only briefly stunned before his expression changed. He raised his gun in a flash and pulled the trigger at her.
The bullet tore through the air toward Qin Zhen. She stood there in a daze, thinking that this was only natural.
Xu Feng must have already learned that she wasn’t human. Perhaps he even regretted not taking her down on the spot when they had met at the hospital.
Maybe he blamed Fu Qi as well.
Qin Zhen felt a little sad. She had thought that after spending time in human society, she would at least have made a few friends.
Bang!
The bullet grazed Qin Zhen’s cheek and flew past as the gunshot echoed through the little house.
“What’s going on?” someone outside asked in clumsy Chinese.
Xu Feng lowered his gun and said impatiently, “What do you think is going on? I fired a shot. If you ran into something, didn’t you hear it?”
As he spoke, he kicked the bathroom door shut, turned around, and locked it.
Then she and Qin Zhen, who was still sprawled across the window, stared at each other for a moment before he asked in a low voice, “What are you doing here?”
Qin Zhen had no idea what he meant, so she answered honestly, “Hiding… hiding from the rain.”
Xu Feng’s expression grew complicated. After looking her over again, he stepped forward and helped support her backpack. “Get out first.”
He helped Qin Zhen lift the backpack through the narrow window, allowing her to climb through without trouble.
The window was high, and after Qin Zhen landed, she could no longer see him. She only heard his low voice coming through the window.
“Every country has sent people to capture you. Over the past few months, starting from the northern border, every place you’ve been has been searched thoroughly…”
After the people of Country A exposed Country B’s crimes, everyone knew that Qin Zhen was a victim—but she was also the key to eradicating the zombie virus. Numerous countries had joined forces to demand that the authorities hand Qin Zhen over.
The consequence of handing her over would be that she was cut into pieces and divided among them to be taken back for research.
Yes, they had already divided her up before they had even found her.
After discussing the matter internally, the authorities replied that she had gone missing and could not be found.
Naturally, no one believed them. Standing on the moral high ground, the other countries joined together to bring pressure to bear. In order to ease the situation, the authorities reassigned everyone who had ever come into contact with Qin Zhen, ordering them to assist in the search for her.
They had searched from north to south for four months without finding so much as a trace of Qin Zhen. The search area had gradually expanded outward and now reached this place.
“The authorities have too many things to consider. A lot of matters are beyond their control…” Xu Feng spoke softly.
Fu Qi had said that Xu Feng belonged to an official unit and held a military rank. To some extent, he could represent the authorities.
Qin Zhen believed him. “Okay.”
Xu Feng seemed lost in thought. After a brief pause, he continued in a low voice from the other side of the wall.
“The people with me are from Country A. We’re the advance unit. There are many more coming behind us. They’ve divided up the area and are spreading out in a net to search for you. There are people from other countries nearby as well, and some of those with them know you… Be careful.”
Qin Zhen answered with a soft “Mm.”
After waiting for a while and realizing that Xu Feng had stopped speaking, she leaned against the wall and rose onto her toes. In a small voice, she asked, “What about Fu… Fu Qi?”
“He…” Xu Feng hesitated. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he said, “He killed someone. He’s currently being questioned at the Northern City Base.”
“Who… who did he kill?”
“Kobayashi Hirotomo.” As if worried that Qin Zhen would not know who that was, Xu Feng added, “The DF patriarch.”
He was a man in his seventies—the same person who had recognized Qin Zhen from the footage recorded before Kobayashi Kayo’s death. He had come to the Northern City Base, where the central authorities were located, under escort from people of Country A. He had died at Fu Qi’s hands.
He was a vicious foreigner, so his death should not have mattered. The problem was that he knew more than anyone about the illegal experiments at the Ha Yin Charity Hospital and the zombie virus. He had also claimed to be an old acquaintance of Qin Zhen’s and the person who knew her best—the one most likely to find her.
In other words, he represented everyone’s hope.
And Fu Qi had shot him in front of everyone.
No one had expected Fu Qi to be so bold. Even with the guns of representatives from various countries and their bodyguards trained on him, he had not hesitated in the slightest. He had fired five shots in succession, nearly blowing the DF patriarch’s head apart.
The authorities had too many things to consider. They could neither say that Fu Qi had been wrong nor that he had done the right thing. All they could do was detain him at the base for the time being.
Aside from Fu Qi, Chen Xiang and Old Mo had also temporarily lost their freedom.
Qin Zhen listened quietly until Xu Feng finished, then asked, “How… how long?”
“Can’t say for sure. But as long as you haven’t been found, he’ll definitely be released.”
At present, Fu Qi was the person who knew Qin Zhen best. As long as Qin Zhen remained missing, Fu Qi would be safe. And once everyone had failed to find her, even if they were unwilling a hundred times over, they would have no choice but to rely on Fu Qi.
As they spoke, a string of indistinct foreign words came from outside the bathroom, as if someone were urging Xu Feng to hurry.
Xu Feng called back loudly, “I was dispatched by the authorities to investigate with you. I’m not your subordinate, and I’m under no obligation to obey you in everything.”
After sending away the people from Country A who had been urging him, he lowered his voice and asked Qin Zhen, “Do you understand?”
“I… I understand.” Qin Zhen nodded hard. “Then I’ll go… go now?”
“Go,” Xu Feng said. “Be careful.”
Qin Zhen answered with an “Mm,” then turned to look at the hazy rain and mist, as well as the zombies approaching in the distance. She patted her chest to give herself courage before hurrying away through the rain, quickly putting distance between herself and this dangerous place.
She did not dare go anywhere humans might appear. Instead, she deliberately headed into the wilderness, where the weeds grew thick and lush.
After the apocalypse, plants had grown wildly. The weeds were deep and dense, and Qin Zhen tripped several times. Once, she even encountered a snake with a triangular head, leaving her in an utterly miserable state.
Though she looked disheveled, Qin Zhen’s mood had improved considerably. She decided to let that watch remain safely with Xu Feng and never dwell on it again.
She wandered alone, walking from rainy days beneath clear blue skies without encountering another person.
Eventually, she strayed too far from civilization and lost the road signs, becoming disoriented. After two difficult days, she finally saw a winding highway again.
She could not go near the highway, so she followed it through the bushes alongside the road. During that time, she saw quite a few vehicles pass by. They carried all kinds of foreigners, every one of them large and powerfully built. There were Chinese people among them as well. Once, Qin Zhen even spotted Broken-Leg Bro from Old Second Xu’s team.
They were all there to find her.
Qin Zhen became even more cautious. At the slightest hint of movement, she would throw herself flat into the dense grass, and she would not get back up for at least half an hour.
But even that could not guarantee her safety.
That day, Qin Zhen passed a river. When she heard the sound of vehicles in the distance, she immediately hid herself. Unfortunately, the others had also chosen this spot.
They quickly dispatched the zombies that had followed the vehicles, and then the people climbed out. There were more than thirty of them, a third with yellow skin and the rest foreigners. Every one of them carried a gun, frightening Qin Zhen into remaining utterly motionless.
Unfortunately, someone began walking toward the patch of grass where she was hiding. Qin Zhen did not dare breathe. Silently, she prayed that the person would stop soon.
But heaven did not grant a zombie’s wish. The half-person-high grass in front of Qin Zhen rustled, and a man appeared before her.
He pushed aside the bushes with one hand while resting the other on his trousers. It looked as though he had come to relieve himself.
“Holy crap!” The man nearly stepped on Qin Zhen and let out a terrified cry.
“…” Qin Zhen said nothing. She simply lay in the grass and stared at him with wide eyes.
“What’s wrong, Tian Li?” someone called from far away beside the highway.
Tian Li’s face turned blue, red, and even faintly purple. Gripping his waistband, he retreated half a step in horror, then turned toward the highway and shouted, “N-Nothing! Just… just a snake!”
The people by the highway, satisfied that nothing was wrong, turned away. But a blond foreigner cautiously walked toward Tian Li.
Tian Li glanced back, then turned around and locked eyes with Qin Zhen in the grass. Shock, realization, grief, embarrassment, and countless other emotions mingled in his gaze. In the end, he gave Qin Zhen one fierce glare, turned around as though marching to his death, and strode solemnly toward the towering foreigner.
Qin Zhen knew that Tian Li was definitely still holding a grudge over the time she had told him she liked him and was willing to die for him, scaring him into fleeing in panic.
He must understand now why she had taken a bullet for him, right?
Hidden in the grass, Qin Zhen looked up through the gaps between the weeds and saw Tian Li standing in front of the foreigner. She heard him ask, “Hey, buddy, you got a partner?”
The man said something in a language Qin Zhen couldn’t identify. She couldn’t understand a word of it.
“What does that mean? Is that a no?” Tian Li couldn’t understand him either, but he didn’t seem to care much.
His voice dropped, somehow taking on a strangely sleazy tone. “I’m not gonna lie, buddy, I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a while now… In this apocalypse, it’s not easy to find someone you click with. But let me make one thing clear: I’m going to be on top…”
Qin Zhen was utterly stunned. She had just pricked up her ears to listen when Tian Li lunged at the nearly two-meter-tall, muscular man, wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, and kissed him squarely on his bearded face.
The bearded man was horrified and struggled with all his might, but Tian Li held on tight. The two of them tumbled into the grass together.
The bearded man had originally been only four or five meters away from Qin Zhen. Thanks to Tian Li’s efforts, the two rolled another two or three meters away in an extremely suggestive fashion.
This was insane!
The bearded man’s struggling and cursing drew the attention of the others on the road.
Since they had rolled out of Qin Zhen’s line of sight, she couldn’t see what was happening. From the muffled voices, it sounded as though the leaders of both sides had stepped in to mediate and put an end to this grotesque courtship.
Tian Li and the bearded man continued cursing each other, however. Perhaps afraid that the conflict would escalate, their superiors ordered everyone into their vehicles, and within five minutes, the whole group had driven away.
Only after the convoy had vanished completely did Qin Zhen climb out of the grass.
She was devastated. If the world ever reached a point where only one real man remained, then without a doubt, that man would be Tian Li!
If she ever ran into him again, she swore she would never bully him again!
This unexpected encounter proved what Xu Feng had said. Sure enough, the area being searched for her had expanded.
She would have to hide carefully and make sure all those people’s efforts didn’t go to waste.
Qin Zhen changed direction and continued on, but there were too many teams hunting for her. They had practically woven the area into a fine net. Less than two days later, she ran into another group.
As before, people from several countries were mixed together. When Qin Zhen came across them, they were searching a vehicle.
Qin Zhen knew that vehicle well. It was battered and falling apart, with several large names spray-painted across its sides. Besides “Zhao Dashan” and “Wang Stinky,” it now also bore the words “Cold-Light Granny.”
Yellow Helmet was arguing with someone.
“You’re stopping me from searching again? That’s the tenth time in three days, isn’t it? Are you deliberately targeting me?”
“Sorry, this is a routine inspection conducted on behalf of the North City Base…”
The person explaining things to her was a woman who spoke with the air of an official representative. Qin Zhen found her familiar, but couldn’t remember where they had met.
“Routine inspection, my ass!” Yellow Helmet said impatiently. “Do I really look that much like a criminal?? Or is my vehicle not distinctive enough? You inspect me every single day! With all the time you spend helping those foreign monkeys bully ordinary people, why not do something useful and deal with those bases that are running wild?”
Her words were rather harsh. The official woman’s expression darkened, and she was just about to say something when a blond foreigner beside her cursed under his breath. With a click, he raised his gun and aimed it at Yellow Helmet.
“You dare!” The official woman’s expression turned cold. She stepped in front of the gun barrel and shouted sharply, “This is not your country. You don’t get to open fire whenever you please!”
At the same time, seven or eight of her compatriots swiftly raised their guns and aimed them at the blond foreigner.
The foreigner’s companions on the other side also raised their weapons.
The official woman showed no fear. Facing the guns, she said calmly and firmly, “Everyone, our country agreed to let you enter in search of Miss Qin. We did not give you permission to harm our citizens at will. If you cannot follow the rules, I believe our government will have no objection to changing its policy at any time.”
The foreigners exchanged glances. Their faces were unpleasant, but they eventually lowered their guns.
The official woman’s gaze swept over each of them, confirming that they no longer dared to draw their weapons recklessly. She then turned to Yellow Helmet and said gently, “I’m sorry. We did not handle this properly. How about this? If you run into another search team, give them my name. Tell them I personally authorized your passage, and they can let you through without an inspection.”
She took a notebook from her pocket, wrote down a few words, tore out the page, and handed it to Yellow Helmet.
Yellow Helmet was a bully who only picked on the weak. When the foreigner had raised his gun, she had immediately ducked her head in fear. Now, she was as obedient as could be. She quickly accepted the note and said, “O-Okay. Fine, we’ll… we’ll let this one go.”
Qin Zhen snickered from her hiding place.
What a coward Yellow Helmet was.
Still grinning, Qin Zhen watched Yellow Helmet climb into the battered vehicle and drive off into the distance. The four words newly spray-painted in red—“Cold-Light Granny”—stood out especially vividly on the back.
Qin Zhen thought it over and decided to go find Yellow Helmet and laugh at her face-to-face.
Yellow Helmet drove while Qin Zhen traveled on foot, moving through the depths of forests and thickets. She was slow, but she didn’t need to sleep, while Yellow Helmet had to stop for several days at every place suitable for a wanderer to survive. As a result, catching up with her wasn’t particularly difficult.
On the fifth day, Qin Zhen found her.
It was the middle of the night. Yellow Helmet probably hadn’t found a suitable place to rest and was spending the night in her vehicle.
Qin Zhen approached the brightly painted little wreck. First, she beat down the zombies that had gathered around it, drooling. Then she knocked on the window.
Yellow Helmet apparently thought the noise came from zombies. She pulled up the blanket and covered her head.
Qin Zhen knocked persistently for more than ten minutes. At last, Yellow Helmet couldn’t take it anymore. She abruptly sat up, her face full of fury, and headed for the driver’s seat, apparently intending to start the vehicle and run over the obnoxious zombie.
Then she looked up and came face-to-face with a deathly pale figure outside the window. She screamed and scrambled backward.
The moonlight was simply too bright that night. It shone directly onto Qin Zhen’s face, which was thickly coated in foundation, making her look exactly like a ghost.
Once Qin Zhen stepped back a little, Yellow Helmet finally realized who she was and hurriedly opened the door to let her in.
“Where the hell have you been?” Yellow Helmet demanded.
Qin Zhen couldn’t answer. She scratched her head and said, “I saw you—you were arguing with people, and they pointed a gun at you. You were so scared!”
Yellow Helmet’s face flushed. She grabbed the coat beside her and smacked Qin Zhen with it. “You saw me, so why didn’t you come out and help? I was scared to death!”
After the two of them tussled for a while, Yellow Helmet said, “That woman named Zhou Yin gave me a pass she wrote herself. If I run into those people again, I just have to show them the note and they won’t search me. I’ve already tried it… You… You should travel with me from now on.”
“There might be danger. Take me with you,” Qin Zhen said.
“You think I don’t know it’s dangerous?” Yellow Helmet said. “They’re obviously looking for you! I don’t know what’s going on with you, and I never wanted to get dragged into any of this. I just want to find my sister! But who told you to help me?”
As she spoke, she grew increasingly agitated. “You helped me, so of course I have to help you back. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to die in peace!”
Qin Zhen agreed with that completely. That was how it always worked in television shows and novels.
Since Yellow Helmet didn’t mind, Qin Zhen naturally had no reason to refuse. She had only one request.
“I—I saved you, and I—I did most of the work getting us out together. From now on, can you call me Sis Light?”
“Sure, Little Light!”
Qin Zhen: “…”
How annoying!
People often say that fortune comes full circle, and Qin Zhen firmly believed it.
No one could stay lucky forever, just as no one could remain unlucky forever. But she hadn’t expected fortune to turn so quickly.
The night before, she had just finished scaring Yellow Helmet. Early the next morning, someone came to scare her.
The official representative named Zhou Yin appeared alone outside the car window. With a gun in her hand, she announced that she wanted to see Qin Zhen.
After Qin Zhen and Yellow Helmet got out of the car, Zhou Yin reached under the hood of Yellow Helmet’s sweatshirt and fished around. She pulled out two small black objects and explained, “A tracker and a bug.”
The two women involved stared at each other in shock.
Qin Zhen was shocked that Zhou Yin had managed to plant those things on her without her noticing. Yellow Helmet was shocked that Zhou Yin seemed to have known all along that she would come looking for her.
“I mean you no harm.” Zhou Yin quickly explained. “I only saw the words ‘Cold-Light Granny’ on the side of the car and remembered Captain Fu mentioning the ‘Coldlight Girl.’ I thought I’d give it a try.”
The instant Qin Zhen heard the words “Captain Fu,” her eyes flew wide open.
She knew Zhou Yin wasn’t lying. The title “Coldlight Girl” had not yet been officially used publicly. Qin Zhen had only mentioned it to Fu Qi and Yellow Helmet.
Zhou Yin noticed the change in her expression. She smiled, put away her gun, and said, “I can’t stay away on my own for too long, so I’ll keep this brief. Miss Qin, I’m here to pass along a message from Captain Fu.”
Qin Zhen said excitedly, “Go—go ahead.”
Zhou Yin got straight to the point. “I deliberately had people repeatedly stop this Yellow Helmet before. The purpose was to get her a special passage and put her on the foreigners’ list. From here on, we’ll continue searching in the east, west, and south. Use my specially signed note to find a chance to break through the blockade and head north. Circle around to the Northern Yue Base and hide somewhere nearby, but don’t show yourselves.”
“Why—why there?”
“I don’t know. Captain Fu told me to say that if I ran into you.” Zhou Yin paused. “But personally, I suspect it’s because the base is close to the Northern City Base, where the central government is located. The safest place may be right under their noses. Besides, it’ll be convenient for Captain Fu to find you once he gets out.”
“He can get—get out?”
“Maybe.” Zhou Yin smiled.
In less than five minutes, she had explained everything.
She was about to leave when, just as she turned around, Qin Zhen suddenly remembered. “You’re the one who went to pick up the Crazy old lady!”
That Zhou woman!
Zhou Yin smiled. “Little Daoist Jiang, you finally remember me. You even gave me a talisman for peace and safety.”
Qin Zhen nodded repeatedly!
She was thrilled—not only because she had received news from Fu Qi, but also because Zhou Yin was the third old acquaintance she had encountered, and all of them had treated her kindly!
“Since you recognize me, I’ll ask you for a favor, Miss Qin.” There was some hesitation in Zhou Yin’s eyes as she spoke, but she eventually forced it down. In a calm voice, she asked, “Would it be convenient for me to take some blood samples back with me?”
Qin Zhen immediately rolled up her sleeve.
She didn’t have much blood. Zhou Yin poked around for a long while before finally finding a vein. As she watched the tube fill to the brim with dark-red blood, Qin Zhen took the initiative to ask, “Do—you want some meat too?”
Zhou Yin looked puzzled for a moment. Then she saw Qin Zhen gesturing toward her thin, pale-blue arm, all skin and bone, and understood.
A trace of pity flashed through her eyes. She pressed her lips tightly together, opened her mouth twice, and only then managed to say, “No… Not for now.”
“Oh. Then, if you—if you need some later, come find me.” Qin Zhen sounded completely serious.
Zhou Yin bit her lip. Without saying anything more, she stepped forward and hugged Qin Zhen tightly. Then she pulled back and solemnly urged her, “Be careful… Be careful on the road!”
After saying that, she returned to her own vehicle and drove away without looking back, taking the blood sample with her.
Qin Zhen also climbed back into the battered little car and urged Yellow Helmet to drive. They set off toward the Northern Yue Base.
Apart from her initial shock at seeing the tracker and bug, Yellow Helmet had remained quiet throughout, watching everything unfold. Now, she asked with a face full of confusion, “Who exactly are you?”
Qin Zhen herself wasn’t entirely sure. She seemed to have once been a patient, and now she was a zombie. Everything was a muddle, and she had no idea how to explain it to Yellow Helmet.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “I’m a prin—princess, a gang leader, a Daoist priest, an actress, an author, and also a member of an elite team in the apocalypse.”
Yellow Helmet didn’t believe a word of it.
But she could tell that Cold-Light Granny’s mood was much more cheerful and optimistic than before. She stepped on the gas, turned the car around, and said, “You look pretty energetic to me. You’re more like a member of an apocalypse mental hospital squad.”
