I'm out of my mind.
Yeah, I'm totally out of my mind.
Not just me, but this mother and daughter duo as well. I mean, how could someone be as insane as them? It's unfathomable.
If I went along with what just happened, then I could conclude that they're insanely crazy. First off, I bit this woman's husband and drained him of his blood, absorbing his Qi in the process. After that, they wanted to thank me for saving them? And not only that, they even went as far as to let me accompany them to the shelter where they're going.
Well, I did threaten them that I'll do the same thing as I did to her husband if they won't allow me to accompany them to their next destination. But then again, how come they so easily agreed with me? And also, whose side am I on? This woman's husband?
The more I think about it, the more I felt like sympathizing with the rabid human, that is, this woman's husband. Is this what a fellow rabid human feels when someone attacks one of its kin? Am I a rabid human or a human? I'm still not one hundred percent sure.
"Mister, what's your name?" The daughter turned around and asked me. Her mom tugged at her, beckoning her not to speak to me. But still, she looked at me with curious eyes that tempted me to answer.
"Tang... Tang Yongrui, Sect Master of the Tang Sect." I tried my best to smile so she won't feel that scared of me.
"And you little miss? What's your name?"
"Yu Yan."
"Yu Yan?"
"Yu Yan." The girl repeated. She wanted to smile at me but the memory of her dad turning into a zombie and I killing him was probably still fresh in her mind since she looked down, glanced at me for a split second, and decided not to look at me anymore.
"Since we're already exchanging names and the like... may I ask-"
"Yu Sying." The mother interrupted. "Tang Yongrui, huh... who would've thought I'd meet a world-renowned person in our travels. So your the Sect Master of the Tang Sect? The one and only cultivator who awakened half of all the elements at such a young age?"
"Unless I remember wrong or I'm just pretending to be that person," I responded with a shrug. I didn't want to brag but she was the one who repeated my achievements.
"No... no doubt about it. You were Tang Yongrui. I remember seeing you in the news before?" Yu Sying muttered.
"When was that?"
"Five years ago, right when this zombie apocalypse became a thing." Yu Sying muttered. "In the news, they said that you're Sect was the first one to take on the first wave of all the zombies." While Yu Sying was speaking, she tried very hard to avert her gaze from me. The same could be said to her daughter, Yu Yan. They simply didn't want to look me in the eyes.
Sigh.
It's not like I did anything wrong. It was your husband's fault for turning into a zombie right in front of me.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, just to make sure I heard it right. "Do you mean to say... our Sect was the very first thing that, that these rabid humans attacked? Someone deliberately made our Sect the epicenter of the outbreak?"
"Yes, it was covered in the news. Most of the zombies that infected everyone in the city were of the Tang Sect. We were three cities away but the outbreak happened so fast it caught up to everyone all over the globe. I thought it was just the Tang Sect... but if I correctly remember, all the other top sects around the world experienced the same thing. They were the first ones to get infected."
"From what you said, then, does that mean my sect and all the other famous sects around the world were intentionally attacked? Then there was someone responsible for this worldwide rabid human outbreak?" I asked.
I know it was a crazy thought and whoever did it was just as twisted. Still, it might be possible.
But who was powerful enough to do it? I can't remember anyone having that much influence, much less have the power to produce rabid humans and scatter them all over the globe in every popular sect.
"Yes, it was a conspiracy five years ago, at least." Yu Sying answered. She was still a nervous wreck as ever. "But the media even theorized of that being the case— that the zombie outbreak was intentional."
So it was intentional, huh.
But why? Why would someone want to end the human race? Do they want to experience a rabid human apocalypse that badly?
As I was mulling over these things. I heard a weak groan from a corner a few meters away from where we were. By the time I heard it, a rabid human was already emerging from the corner and I just had enough time to push both the mother and daughter on the wall so we could get out of its vision range. It happened so fast that I wasn't even mindful of where I touched Yu Sying. I just pressed her against the wall as fast as I could in hopes that the rabid human or humans wouldn't see us.
I craned my neck to see if they were coming at us. After all, it would be bad news if they did. Not only do I have to protect two girls, but I also need to protect myself. Adding to that, I wasn't as powerful as I was before so fighting against a horde of rabid humans would be bad news. I'm not confident that I'll come out of that fight unscathed if it were ever to happen.
If only I were stronger. I have to get stronger as fast as I possibly can. That way, crushing these hordes of rabid humans would be like crushing an anthill. I'm still at the Spirit Realm but wait 'til I get to the Emperor Realm. With my talents and effort, I should reach it in no time at all.
To my relief, the rabid humans that emerged from the corner of the street didn't pass by us. They went the other way around, probably heading to the center of the city.
"They're gone now... for now we should find some she- " I stopped short as I saw Yu Sying's face, reddened with embarrassment.
Eh?!