When it was Liu Yuhao's turn, he seemed quite hesitant.
From his expression, it wasn't hard to see that he couldn't let go of Xia Na. Yet he knew clearly that Xia Na, in her current state, couldn't possibly stay with him.
As for Ling Mo... the relationship between him and Ling Mo wasn't particularly close; they simply saw eye-to-eye, and that was all.
Keeping the dangerous Xia Na close by had already made Liu Yuhao extremely grateful to Ling Mo. If it were someone else, even if they didn't kill Xia Na, they would definitely draw clear boundaries immediately and leave.
Of course, this was because Liu Yuhao didn't know that Ling Mo possessed a special ability—Controlling. Nor did he know that during Xia Na's mutation, Ling Mo had taken out two pieces of virus gel from the brains of mutated zombies for Xia Na to consume...
But no matter what, in Liu Yuhao's view, the only way for Xia Na to continue living like a human was to follow Ling Mo. And he definitely couldn't provide these things for her.
But to leave with Ling Mo? Liu Yuhao had thought about this more than once, but Ling Mo's attitude was very clear; he didn't need any burdens by his side.
Was he a burden? Liu Yuhao examined his heart. He knew Ling Mo's strength naturally; Ye Lian rarely took action, but he could see her strength was no less, and Xia Na, after turning into a zombie, not only did her strength not diminish, it actually became stronger in some ways. Comparatively, Liu Yuhao was just an ordinary young man who had slightly more courage and a bit of skill in hacking and slashing.
Thinking of this, Liu Yuhao's gaze towards Ling Mo became complicated; he hoped to get some hints from Ling Mo.
And Ling Mo noticed this immediately. He had a favorable impression of Liu Yuhao, especially when compared to his classmates. However, Ling Mo, who was hunting mutated zombies and had two zombies already, knew it would be inconvenient to bring Liu Yuhao. Moreover, Ling Mo was not ready for anyone to know that he could control zombies. So, from the moment he successfully controlled Xia Na, Ling Mo had planned to find a place for Liu Yuhao to leave.
The survivor camp established by Song Tian seemed very suitable in Ling Mo's view!
So when Liu Yuhao looked at him, Ling Mo gave him a profound glance and then glanced seemingly casually at Xia Na before nodding slightly.
Disappointment flashed through Liu Yuhao's eyes, but there was also a hint of determined flavor.
"Alright, I'll join too!"
Even if still a burden now, there will come a day...
Although Ling Mo and the two girls refused to join, having acquired two strong young teenagers, Song Tian appeared very pleased. For a newly established camp like his, losing people during resource collection every day was common. Bringing suitable survivors back to camp had become a rule. Except for rare individuals like Ling Mo, most people would eagerly join the camp, as the strength of a single person in survival was very limited.
"Even if they didn't join, isn't Miss Xia Wang Lin's cousin? Why not just stay for today?" Song Tian's suggestion was both reasonable and appropriate, but Xia Na wouldn't respond to this.
Ling Mo always felt that Xia Na's condition was not stable, and staying here longer would be more dangerous—if someone discovered something, wouldn't that be very bad?
Therefore, he simply smiled and declined: "I would really like them to catch up on old times, but we indeed have urgent matters to attend to. How about this—we'll come back with Xia Na after we finish our business."
These words were purely a stall; Liu Yuhao and Wang Cheng both knew the real situation, and they also knew that once they left, it was unlikely that Ling Mo would appear before them again soon, or possibly even ever.
This is the apocalypse! Zombies are everywhere, and death lurks around every corner! It can be said that the survivors living in this world are always at risk of losing their lives. In such circumstances, any promises made seem somewhat pale and powerless.
Wang Cheng secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He was afraid of Ling Mo, but he was even more terrified of Xia Na, who had already turned into a zombie!
Liu Yuhao's eyes were slightly red, his gaze stayed on Xia Na, but he just couldn't muster the courage to get any closer. Other than Ling Mo, Xia Na didn't recognize anyone...
"So that's it... Then I won't force you guys. But before you go, let Miss Xia meet with Wang Lin again. By the way, don't mind her way of speaking," Song Tian said, seeing that it was really hard to retain them.
Don't mind? How could one not mind that attitude? Although Ling Mo had felt some pity for Wang Lin before, after this interaction, he felt little fondness for him.
Song Tian was right, though, Xia Na was her cousin after all; it would be somewhat unreasonable not to let them meet one more time before leaving.
As Song Tian got up to leave, Liu Yuhao suddenly grabbed Ling Mo, and sincerely whispered, "Ling, I hope you can take good care of Xia Na. Even though she's a...zombie, you've seen that she won't hurt you. It'd be great if you could restore her sanity. Even if you can't, don't abandon her... please."
Seeing Liu Yuhao's earnest eyes, Ling Mo was somewhat touched. He sighed silently and patted Liu Yuhao's shoulder, "You also take care to survive."
"Wait..." Just as Ling Mo was about to step away, Liu Yuhao grabbed him again. This time, his tone carried more determination, "I'll become stronger than I am now. I think, one day, I'll come to find you."
Ling Mo was slightly surprised by the words, but then he showed a smile, "Then do your best!"
The chances of Liu Yuhao finding them were very, very slim. But having a bit of hope while living in this world isn't a bad thing...
After searching around the building for a while, Song Tian came back with a clearly reluctant Wang Lin. By this time, Ling Mo and the others were already at the building's entrance, ready to leave.
Unable to retrieve her short knife and having lost face in front of Ling Mo, Wang Lin looked at Ling Mo with hostility. However, her gaze towards Xia Na wasn't friendly either.
Probably feeling indignant, Wang Lin walked straight up to Ling Mo and Xia Na and even punched Ling Mo hard on his body. Ling Mo could have easily dodged this punch, but such a little girl's punch held no real damage; it wasn't painful or itchy when it hit him. Li Yu was so afraid of her, saying she was "very strong"? Other than her energy, Ling Mo couldn't see where this little girl was strong.
"Don't think the two of you together can bully me! That short knife, I'll make you cough it up sooner or later!"
After dropping that harsh line, Wang Lin turned and walked towards the upstairs, but just after stepping up two stairs, she suddenly turned her head back and said, "Don't bully my people, or else I'll never let you off!"
Ling Mo watched open-mouthed as Wang Lin stomped upstairs. This girl, she really knew how to throw fierce words, but all her previous noisy clamor, wasn't she still sold out by Song Tian?
As for bullying... Ling Mo turned to look at Xia Na beside him, a sly smile suddenly appearing on his lips.
In her current state, some things require my assistance, does that count as bullying?