Seeing the Mutated Zombie's body fall, Ye Lian immediately sprang over and scooped out the Gel from its brain.
With Ye Lian's current hand speed, she could even manage to extract the brain Gel without spilling a single drop of blood. Only after she released her grip did the red and white mixture begin to slowly ooze from the large hole in the back of the Mutated Zombie's head.
To Ling Mo's surprise, the Gel inside the Mutated Zombie's brain was completely different from that of an ordinary zombie. The Gel in an ordinary zombie's brain was only slightly reddish, but the piece Ye Lian had scooped out from the Mutated Zombie's brain was completely covered in red veins, resembling a magnificent red gemstone at first glance.
After giving Ye Lian a command to wait, Ling Mo took the Gel from her hands and examined it closely.
Ling Mo had speculated before that this Gel was likely the lesion infected by the virus, akin to an internal stone but softer. It was probably because the lesion was in the brain that the infected person lost their sanity and became a zombie.
And ingesting the lesion made the virus in Ye Lian's body purer, and the influence of the virus on her would gradually deepen. Perhaps this was a way to fight poison with poison…
Putting it to his nose and taking a sniff, a faint but very pungent scent immediately rushed in, causing Ling Mo to frown and nearly pass out. However, what was unbearable for normal people was supreme delicacy in Ye Lian's eyes.
Looking at the Gel, the purity of the virus contained within was definitely much higher than that in the Gel of an ordinary zombie. Considering previous occurrences, Ling Mo decided to wait until they found a suitable place to rest before letting Ye Lian consume this Gel. Otherwise, if she fainted on the spot, it wouldn't matter, but Ling Mo would also become incapacitated. Any random ordinary zombie could then spell the end for him.
Having crossed over the body of the Mutated Zombie, Ling Mo frowned as he stepped into what seemed no different from a slaughterhouse, leaving Ye Lian outside to prevent the smell of fresh blood from attracting zombies.
It was as if the floor was plastered with a layer of flesh and blood, giving a bizarre sensation when stepped on, and the thick, rotting stench was so choking it made one's head hurt.
Just the thought that Wang Lin might be among these scraps of flesh and bones made Ling Mo wish he could drag the Mutated Zombie's body back over and give it a beating.
There were many finished and semi-finished bladed weapons in the workshop, but none of these were what Ling Mo wanted. He searched for a while before finding a box under a sleeve soaked in bloodstains.
When opened, there were indeed several daggers and short knives inside. As he pulled one out, the cold light was brilliant. The edged blades looked extremely sharp, and the quality was quite impressive, much better than the clumsy cleavers and also more convenient to carry.
After carefully testing the handle, Ling Mo selected a short knife to hang at his waist and picked another handy dagger. With these two items, he should be able to help a bit on the way to the main city area...
Ye Lian was strong, but the closer they moved towards the city area, the more zombies they would encounter; relying solely on Ye Lian was clearly not a viable option.
Moreover, being with Ye Lian, Ling Mo always had a subtle psychology. He wanted to be stronger than Ye Lian, not just clinging to her for survival. This way, when the day came that Ye Lian regained her sanity, he could stand straight and face her...
Having established a Spiritual Connection with Ye Lian and evolving together with her gave Ling Mo an opportunity to become stronger. But merely evolving together wasn't enough; as a Mutated Zombie, Ye Lian's physical strength was much greater than Ling Mo's, while Ling Mo's advantage lay in learning and continuously exploring combat techniques.
During the days battling alongside Ye Lian, Ling Mo had indeed learned a lot from real combat. This could be seen from the battle with the Mutated Zombie just now.
But it still wasn't enough... Ling Mo stepped out of the workshop and looked at Ye Lian's back with mixed feelings.
It had been confirmed that there were Mutated Zombies like Ye Lian, and just from Ye Lian's astonishing growth rate, it was likely that they would soon encounter even stronger beings. Especially in the zombie-dense city areas, the number of Mutated Zombies was probably not small... It seemed that his own pace of getting stronger was still not fast enough.
"Let's go."
Seeing that there was nothing else to find inside the shop, Ling Mo left with Ye Lian. Although for Ye Lian, she was responding completely to Ling Mo's Spiritual Commands, in Ling Mo's eyes, she was still the pretty girl who used to be playful, and he couldn't help but talk to her.
But what Ling Mo didn't know was that, just after they left, a slender and fair hand pulled aside the thick curtains in a two-story building across the store. A pair of clear eyes peered through the narrow crack, watching as Ling Mo and Ye Lian disappeared at the corner of the street.
"Wang Lin, what's wrong?"
A man's voice came from inside the house, asking with confusion.
The girl named Wang Lin immediately let go of the curtain and turned to look at the somewhat dim room, her distinctly contoured delicate face expressionless, appearing even sicker under the insufficient lighting: "That Mutated Zombie was taken care of, and the short knife inside was also taken—it was the best one."
The man who spoke walked out of the shadows, asking in surprise, "Impossible! How did they do it?"
"Head-on confrontation." Wang Lin's expression also seemed complex, "I was considering he was my relative after all, and planned to find an appropriate way to deal with him. I never expected someone to be able to confront a Mutated Zombie face-to-face... I noticed them when they arrived, a girl with no fighting ability, and the other somewhat familiar, but I can't remember who. They didn't seem special..."
"That's impressive! To think of all the methods we considered, only to be beaten to the punch." The man showed an extremely shocked expression, but more than that, he was frustrated.
At this moment Wang Lin suddenly huffed in dissatisfaction, "The key is that knife! It's one I crafted by hand, and now he's taken it! If it weren't for that knife, I wouldn't have made a special trip back here."
"It's been taken, just let it go..." After a moment of surprise, the man said somewhat helplessly.
A flash of anger crossed Wang Lin's eyes, "No way! It took me more than half a year to make it, why should he get to take it! Let's just go after him now!"
"Don't go looking for trouble..."
"You're always so cowardly and afraid! Anyway, don't let me see him again, or I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him! To think he took my stuff, the thief!"
"Yes, you're right..." The man said in agreement though with a hint of a headache, then cautiously asked, "The knife is gone, what now? Can we only go to your cousin's store? Also, see if any of their family survived..."
"I'd be happier if they were all dead!" Wang Lin's face showed a hint of disgust, muttering dissatisfiedly.
But after a brief silence, she helplessly nodded, "No choice now. That family received my grandfather's true teachings, their knives are not bad either, we might as well go have a look. If it wasn't because I can't use anything other than knives, I wouldn't bother! Speaking of which, that man earlier, the more I think about it, the more familiar he seems..."
"In such a small place, where people often bump into each other, it's no surprise you've seen him before. Stop thinking about it, get ready, and then go to your cousin's house."
Compared to Wang Lin's indifference, the man was very excited. Seeing his reaction, Wang Lin just snorted, "I really hope they're all dead! Especially that one, to think he took my knife, I hope he dies soon!"
Meanwhile, Ling Mo, hurrying towards a temporary refuge, suddenly felt his scalp tingle, and a chill swiftly surged from the soles of his feet.
He quickly looked back but didn't see anything—only a few freshly downed zombie bodies.
"What's going on, an illusion?"
Ling Mo looked around suspiciously, eventually shaking his head helplessly, then turned to glance at Ye Lian and hurriedly led her away.