From the moment Ling Mo stepped into the blood-drenched workshop, which also contained a Mutated Zombie, he assumed that this pretty girl, a delicate figure he had seen occasionally and seemed very weak, would have already been reduced to a couple of white bones and some debris. Never did he expect that he would encounter the very much alive Wang Lin here!
When Wang Lin originally lifted her head casually, but upon seeing the group of people at the door, her eyes widened in shock, and with a "whoosh," she jumped off the chair. A slender arm raised, pointing at them, she spoke rapidly and nervously, "You you you…"
"Eh, do you know Sister Lin?" Li Yu had good eyesight and immediately noticed something was amiss, asking somewhat surprised.
Sister?! This girl who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, and you, a grown man, address her as sister? Ling Mo hadn't fully regained his composure when he was struck by shock again, looking at Li Yu with a somewhat incredulous gaze.
Li Yu, feeling his face heat up under the stare, spoke in a low voice, "Sister Lin is very strong. Even Boss sometimes can't control her. Last time, she even took Boss home with her…"
Before he could finish, Wang Lin took a deep breath and oddly regained her composure. She slowly approached Ling Mo and the others, sizing them up with a somewhat bizarre gaze.
While Ling Mo was racking his brains for a way to start the conversation, Wang Lin spoke first with a tone of disdain, "Yo, Xia Na, you're not dead yet?"
Ling Mo's heart skipped a beat! Overwhelmed with shock, he had forgotten that this ** was Xia Na's relative! However, Wang Lin's tone seemed to carry a hint of hostility toward Xia Na. Thinking about her initial reaction, she was obviously very agitated, but when she began to speak, she became so distant. This Wang Lin really doesn't match her words with her feelings…
Hearing her name, Xia Na did react a bit. Her somewhat vacant eyes turned towards Wang Lin, glanced at her, and then inexplicably shifted her gaze away.
This wasn't because she was arrogant, but rather a sequelae of becoming a zombie after infection.
Wang Lin, unaware of this, was immediately irritated by Xia Na's reaction, "Always putting on a sour face? Well, it figures, someone like you wouldn't die so easily. But seeing me still alive, are you disappointed?"
Naturally, Xia Na didn't respond, and Ling Mo suddenly revealed a slight, peculiar expression.
How come Wang Lin's tone sounded not only sarcastic but also somewhat aggrieved?
Was it because Xia Na's reaction to seeing her was too calm? However, if it were Ye Lian, Ling Mo could control her to make some sort of response, like nodding or shaking her head, but Xia Na… managing to stop her from making any random moves was already quite an achievement, let alone forcibly controlling her actions, which only allowed her to follow his lead. Although she was not a Mutated Zombie, controlling her was no less difficult, if not more complex.
It would have been impossible for Ling Mo to control both Ye Lian and Xia Na at the same time and continuously, if not for the evolution of his spiritual power.
With Xia Na remaining silent, Wang Lin huffed indignantly, her expression turning hostile as she looked towards Ling Mo and the others, "Who are you?"
Ling Mo was momentarily taken aback, but then smiled wryly. He had a good memory of this neighbor ** and even grieved her "death" for a moment, only to realize that she didn't recognize him at all!
No wonder, in every aspect, Ling Mo was as ordinary as they came, the sort that would go unnoticed in a crowd. Even though this ** had met him face to face a few times, it was normal for her not to remember him. Who would remember such an unremarkable person?
On the other hand, Liu Yuhao seemed quite surprised as he suddenly said, "Lin... seems like Xia Na does have a cousin named Wang Lin!"
"Humph!" Wang Lin snorted discontentedly, giving Xia Na a sidelong glance. Seeing no reaction from Xia Na, her eyes practically spat fire. However, just as she was about to lash out, her gaze caught sight of the short knife at Ling Mo's waist.
Her attention immediately shifted from Xia Na to Ling Mo. Since Ling Mo entered, Wang Lin hadn't given him a proper look, but now she fixed her gaze firmly on him, "Eh, you're the one who stole my short knife! How come you are with Xia Na?"
Stole? What do you mean by stole! In an apocalypse, anyone could walk into a completely abandoned shop. Are you suggesting that the Mutated Zombie is the shopkeeper?
However, Wang Lin's words were loaded with implications! Could it be that this ** was hiding somewhere watching when he went to Wang's Handmade Sword Shop that day?
Thinking this, Ling Mo's gaze towards Wang Lin carried this inference.
"What are you looking at! Great, give me back the knife! I made that, what right do you have to take it?" Wang Lin glared at Ling Mo, demanding unceremoniously.
Return the knife? Ling Mo was first stunned, then his shocked expression slowly faded away, replaced by a touch of faint indifference and a hint of gloom. Indeed, the short knife was made by Wang Lin, but it was Ling Mo who risked danger to retrieve it, and in the process, he killed a Mutated Zombie! Now this ** just walks up to him and expects him to hand the knife back to her as if it was that simple?
Moreover, for this knife, Ling Mo had already paid a certain "price," which was to help Xia Na and others break through to Zone Three. Morally and emotionally, he didn't owe Wang Lin anything.
Looking at Wang Lin's impatient expression, Ling Mo asked coldly, "Why should I return it to you?"
Wang Lin was momentarily stunned, and Li Yu beside her glanced at Ling Mo with a look reserved for fools, quietly tugging at Ling Mo's sleeve: "That's Sister Lin's property, you dare to keep it? Just give it back to her." At this moment, his expression was also full of regret. If he had known that the group he brought back would conflict with Wang Lin upon arrival, he wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.
However, Ling Mo just snorted and didn't reply. His face clearly expressed his stance. This short knife, he would not give it up.
"What do you mean by 'why should I'?" As soon as Wang Lin snapped back to her senses, she immediately burst with rage, "This knife was made by me, and it's the first finished product I'm satisfied with! You came into my shop, took what I made, how are you different from a thief? Now that the owner is asking for it back, you even dare to question why?"
Wang Lin's tone made Ling Mo feel very uncomfortable. A strong sense of superiority and the air of arrogance exuded from this seemingly frail lady, whose every pore screamed of a spoiled heiress.
Not to mention Ling Mo, even Liu Yuhao looked at Wang Lin with dissatisfaction. He secretly thought that although they were cousins, Wang Lin was nowhere near Xia Na...
As for Wang Cheng, he watched Wang Lin warily while quietly taking two steps back. He didn't want to get entangled in this dispute. Although Wang Lin seemed to hold some status in this survivor camp, Ling Mo's strength also left a deep impression on her in the past two days.
He even had a faint feeling that despite Wang Lin's impoliteness and menacing expression, Ling Mo would definitely not relent...
At this moment, however, the door to the inner room suddenly opened, and a man around thirty years old came out. Clearly, he was disturbed by Wang Lin's clamor, and as he stepped out, he asked irritably, "Wang Lin, who are you arguing with now?"
Seeing Ling Mo and the others, the man was startled, especially upon seeing Xia Na; his expression suddenly turned quite interesting.
Just like Ling Mo's expression when he saw Wang Lin, the man's gaze toward Xia Na also looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
"This... Wang Lin's cousin... wasn't her place empty of living people the other day?" The man blurted out, unaware that Wang Lin was glaring at him with a grim face.
Ling Mo raised an eyebrow, thinking that this girl's attitude towards Xia Na was indeed cold on the outside but warm inside...
However, this did not mean Ling Mo would be swayed. No matter what, he would not return the knife he risked his life to find to Wang Lin.
"You're here too!" The man quickly turned his attention to Ling Mo and started speaking as if he were an old acquaintance, "I saw when you killed that Mutated Zombie that day, it was impressive! I didn't expect that you would come to our camp with Wang Lin's cousin... Is she the beauty that was with you that day?"
Li Yu also seized the moment to interject, "This is our Boss Song. Boss, we met these few today in Zone Three's residential area."
"No need for 'Boss,' just call me Song Tian," Song Tian said with a smile.
Ling Mo deliberately ignored Wang Lin's angry glare, smiled slightly, and said, "I am Ling Mo, and Xia Na... Wang Lin's cousin, is..."
At this point, Ling Mo himself became a bit conflicted. Now that Xia Na had become a zombie, once out of his control, she was a monster. But considering Xia Na's strength and the slight reluctance in his heart, Ling Mo did not wish to give up on Xia Na just yet.
So, for the moment, his relationship with Xia Na should be considered as... "Friends, I am Xia Na's friend. And these two guys are Xia Na's classmates," Ling Mo said.
"That's really quite fateful!" Song Tian applaudingly clapped his hands, then his face showed a hint of difficulty, "Wang Lin, you're still thinking about your short knife?"
"Nonsense!" Wang Lin's eyebrows rose, as if it was a matter of course, "Ling Mo, is it? Hand over the short knife to me right now!"
"No," Ling Mo replied firmly, "The knife was made by you, but I recovered it at great risk. You can't just demand it back; that's real robber's logic, isn't it?"
Hearing Ling Mo's outright refusal, Wang Lin's face immediately turned very ugly.
However, Song Tian laughed and tried to smooth things over, "Wang Lin, stop quarreling. Let's talk about the knife later, it's not easy to see your cousin, so let's invite them to stay first. What do you say, Mr. Ling?"