Confronted by everyone's shocked and doubtful gazes, Xia Na, with a sorrowful look in her eyes, slowly sheathed her long sword and said in a low voice, "The longer we drag it out, the more she suffers."
Having such awareness isn't hard, but to actually harden one's heart and take action is something not everyone can do.
"This is clearly a Mutated Zombie, and yet you managed to deal with it so quickly..." Xia Na turned her gaze to Ling Mo, her expression complex as she spoke.
Ling Mo tugged the corner of his mouth, wiping the blood from his nose as he said, "Don't look at me like that, I got hurt too, didn't I?"
"Is he alright?" After giving Ling Mo a deep look, Xia Na then walked over to Liu Yuhao and Lu Xin and asked.
At this point, Liu Yuhao was nearly finished treating the wound. His proficient movements showed he was quite adept at this; however, from another perspective, he simply seemed like an all-around nanny.
Seeing Ling Mo approaching, Lu Xin bit her lip, lowering her head to hide the malicious look in her eyes from him.
"The bleeding has stopped..." Although he said so, Liu Yuhao's complexion was clearly not good, but it seemed there were some things he was reluctant to outright say in front of Lu Xin.
"Xia Na, come over here for a moment."
After tidying up the first aid supplies, Liu Yuhao helped Lu Xin to sit down against the wall, then he walked over to Xia Na and spoke in a low voice.
Ling Mo, who was standing aside, heard everything clearly, and before he could speak up, Xia Na pulled him aside: "You come too."
Although it was a small gesture, it essentially affirmed Ling Mo's leading role in this small group, and also Xia Na's recognition of his strength. Probably since the moment she saw the Mutated Zombie's corpse, the little girl had a thorough understanding of Ling Mo.
Liu Yuhao led them behind a shelf before speaking quietly, "Lu Xin is probably done for..."
"I know," Xia Na pursed her lips and replied.
Ling Mo raised his eyebrows, his gaze unconsciously falling on Ye Lian.
The virus is infectious, a massive outbreak in the past might have been airborne, but ever since the outbreak began, no survivors have mutated due to it. However, this is also understandable; the virus mutates and evolves, which is clearly evident in Ye Lian's changes. The current virus likely infects through blood.
And since very few people have managed to escape after being attacked by zombies, carrying their wounds with them, there had been almost no zombie outbreaks as a result, or if there were, no one would know about it.
So now, Liu Yuhao and the others were facing a dilemma. Will Lu Xin mutate? Should they take care of it now, or observe for a while longer? If the injury had been to a limb, cutting it off promptly might save a life, but with a wound on the back and the Mutated Zombie's hand covered in blood plasma, the nails probably filled with the virus, there was hardly any time to deal with it.
Of course, Ling Mo's opinion was to simply cut it clean; they still needed to rush to the school, and who had the energy to look after a wounded? Not to mention having to keep a vigilant eye on him; he would be not just a burden but a ticking Bomb!
However, this decision still depended on Xia Na and the others, but in his heart, Ling Mo had already calculated - if they decided to keep Lu Xin, he would definitely not get involved any further. They weren't too far from the school now, and with Ye Lian, he might even arrive quicker, and finding more Mutated Zombies could also speed up Ye Lian's recovery of her senses.
After all, although he had built a rapport with Xia Na and the others, it was not enough to affect his judgment. Even his previous action to stand up for them was only made with full confidence in his outcome.
Perhaps catching on to Ling Mo's unsavory look, Liu Yuhao hesitated and nibbled on his lips, tentatively asking, "If we take him along..."
"Don't be foolish, how can we possibly take him with us? Didn't you see nobody is willing to get close to him?" Despite being a girl, Xia Na indeed possessed decisive judgment. She gave a bitter laugh upon hearing this and said.
Indeed, just now Lu Xin had been crying out in pain, but aside from Liu Yuhao who was bandaging his wounds, no one else approached him. Instead, they stood far away, as if fearful of coming into contact with him.
"What should we do then... We can't just kill him now, right? He is still... a living person with a clear mind..."
"Give him some food and let him stay here. If we come back and he's still alive, and hasn't mutated, then we'll take him with us!"
Xia Na quickly made a decision, and indeed it was a compromise.
Sigh... Ling Mo silently sighed in his heart. You're all fussing over this, but the other party might not appreciate it, and we even have to waste food...
However, this was still better than carrying that burden along. Therefore, when Xia Na looked towards him, Ling Mo nonchalantly nodded his head.
As expected, when Xia Na and Liu Yuhao told Lu Xin about this decision, his expression turned extremely ugly in an instant, filled with deep despair and intense resentment!
Originally wanting to struggle, Lu Xin, upon seeing the expressions of the people around him, instantly felt a chill from head to toe!
Not a single person objected; not a single person cared about his life or death!
"Fine... you are all... very good..." He squeezed these few words out of his throat with difficulty, took the food Liu Yuhao handed him with a cold laugh, and then shut his mouth tight, refusing to speak further. Despite this, his body continued to tremble, and his lips quivered ceaselessly.
Fear and hatred made Lu Xin's gaze extremely complicated at the moment; almost everyone dared not look into his eyes.
"I'll take you to that office over there. Don't worry, we will come back for you," Liu Yuhao said with some guilt. Staying in the office would at least prevent the zombies attracted by the smell of blood from tearing him to pieces; this would count as fulfilling their moral duty.
Lu Xin simply nodded indifferently to this. Once Liu Yuhao had settled him in and then closed the office door as he left, everyone else remained silent.
Compared to relieving a suffering comrade of their misery, this feeling of abandoning a comrade was probably even more distressing, though it was only temporary...
But honestly, Ling Mo felt no such dilemma in his heart. On one hand, he inherently disliked Lu Xin. On the other hand, he felt nothing wrong with what Xia Na and the others had done. It was Lu Xin, in fact, expecting the group to sacrifice for the sake of one person, who displayed a selfish and self-interested mindset!
However, for some reason, Ling Mo was vaguely looking forward to it—will Lu Xin mutate after being injured by a zombie, and more specifically, by a Mutated Zombie?
Another break and they had lost two more companions, the casualty rate was shockingly high. No one wished to stay in this place any longer, all urging to hurry and leave.
Fortunately, Wang Cheng had also found some food. Even though Liu Yuhao gave some of his food to Lu Xin, there was still enough for their consumption today. The main reason was that now, apart from Ling Mo and Ye Lian, and Lu Xin who was temporarily left behind, there were only five of them left.
One girl, the man, Wang Cheng, the boy who almost butchered Wang Cheng, and both Xia Na and Liu Yuhao.
For some reason, Ling Mo always felt that despite so many companions dying, Wang Cheng seemed to be very relaxed. Although his expression seemed distressed, it looked overly contrived no matter how one saw it.
Forget it, it's none of his business anyway. These people lack courage, lack combat ability, and yet value their own lives more than anyone, naturally with all kinds of ulterior motives and selfish calculations in their minds.