When the last glimmer of light disappeared from the horizon, Ling Mo had already returned to his shelter.
It was an unassuming little building, with sturdy iron doors and a rooftop escape route to the adjacent building. The area around the building was relatively open, with less crowds of survivors or zombies compared to the city. Overall it was a relatively safe location, especially since it used to be a warehouse for a small furniture factory, filled with the smells of cheap paint and wood. This concealed Ling Mo's scent completely from the monsters outside.
After being infected by the virus, not only had these creatures not lost their senses, they had become even stronger. Even at night they retained sharp vision, and their hearing and sense of smell exceeded those of ordinary people.
Before going to sleep, Ling Mo first fed the zombie puppet a piece of rotten frozen meat, then left it outside the iron door and locked it securely. Only then could he rest assured and go to sleep.
Even in slumber, Ling Mo did not sever the psychic connection with the zombie. Though tiring, this allowed him to train himself while also keeping watch through the zombie puppet.
Getting rest while maintaining the connection was simple in theory but extremely difficult in practice. Only after countless attempts did Ling Mo grasp the right balance. Now when he slept he remained in a light sleep state, able to hear even subtle sounds around him.
But tonight Ling Mo was unable to fall asleep. A figure kept appearing in his mind…
After losing his parents, she was the only person he still cared about in this world – his childhood friend and girl next door crush, Ye Lian.
The last call he received when the disaster struck was also from her.
"Bro Ling, hurry escape!"
Those brief four words were followed by a dial tone…
Ling Mo knew in his heart that Ye Lian likely met a bad end. When the disaster happened, she had been on her way over to cook him a proper meal and help improve his life…
Because of this, Ling Mo always felt he owed her, whether she was dead or alive, to try and find her.
"Tomorrow, I'll go look for her tomorrow…"
After so much preparation, Ling Mo felt that with his ability to control the zombie puppet, he should be able to make it through this district.
He had already pictured in his mind the possible places she might be, not too far from here, just past two residential compounds – the most dangerous stretch.
But to get through as safely as possible, Ling Mo had made full preparations. Everything now hinged on tomorrow…
At first light the next morning, Ling Mo opened his eyes and jumped off the half-finished makeshift bed. After reorganizing his backpack one more time, he took a deep breath and went downstairs.
Under his control, the zombie puppet had obediently stood guard outside the door all night. Its clothes were damp from the chill. Yet it showed no signs of weariness.
For unknown reasons, the sudden widespread virus not only turned many living people into monsters, it also made their bodies extremely tough. To maintain the high energy demands of their bodies, their instincts drove them to constantly seek food – which meant uninfected survivors.
Gripping his bone knife tightly, Ling Mo opened the iron door and controlled the zombie puppet towards the pre-planned route.
More zombies wandered the residential blocks as soon as he entered the compounds. Luring by sound wouldn't work here, the environment was too complex and easily led to dangerous situations.
The only way was to pick paths with the fewest zombies and pass through as quietly as possible.
How difficult this would be for an ordinary person was obvious. Luckily Ling Mo had a zombie puppet.
With its help, Ling Mo killed over a dozen zombies before finally making it through this area, arriving at a formerly bustling boulevard that marked the transition from urban to suburban areas.
According to Ling Mo's predictions, when Ye Lian made that call, she should have been somewhere along this street.
Abandoned cars littered the wide street. The shops lining both sides gaped open, pitch dark inside.
Other than the blood stains everywhere, the only things left were zombies.
Even after killing so many zombies these past days, this was the first time Ling Mo saw so many gathered in one place. Just within eyesight there had to be dozens, not to mention those lurking in the shadows.
Ling Mo planned to first get to high ground and observe, but before he could reach an apartment building, a shriek rang out not far away.
"Help, save me!"
He didn't expect there would be other survivors here! Ling Mo quickly controlled the zombie puppet towards the scream.
Over ten zombies clustered outside an apartment building, madly pounding on the security door at the entrance.
Behind it were two terrified youths, leaning heavily against the door while screaming for help.
"Fools…" Ling Mo frowned, anxiously scanning the surroundings.
Yelling like that would only attract more zombies. Ling Mo had wanted to help them if possible, but now rash action would only endanger himself.
Sure enough, more zombies shuffled over, drawn by the noise. The door shuddered under repeated blows, the connections to the wall beginning to visibly loosen.
The two youths were ashen, screaming even more desperately in their extreme terror…
With a loud bang, the security door finally collapsed under the assault, and the youths' screams were quickly drowned out…
But this was Ling Mo's chance. With many zombies attracted over there, he could smoothly pass through this area dense with the undead.
After safely making it through the zombie horde, Ling Mo didn't even have time to rejoice before noticing the road ahead was blocked by a bus and some cars.
With disasters on this scale, vehicular accidents were common, especially packed buses carrying passengers. Whether due to mutations among the passengers or distractions from the chaos outside, tragedies like these could happen.
From the looks of it, the bus had collided into the fleeing cars, leaving the entire bus deformed.
There was no telling what happened to the passengers inside – either trapped to death, or all turned into zombies…
Ling Mo originally wanted to circle past, but staring at the bus, his mind suddenly buzzed.
Ye Lian always seemed to take the bus here. As soon as the thought occurred to him, Ling Mo's gaze towards the bus changed.
His heart began pounding rapidly, both expectant and fearful.
There was a huge possibility Ye Lian had been on this bus. If she didn't escape in time, she should still be inside.
Although Ling Mo felt he had mentally prepared himself, facing the reality still left him flustered.
Would it be rotten corpses, nothing left, or…
After a long exhale, Ling Mo controlled the zombie puppet onto the mangled front of the bus.
Controlling the zombie puppet gave him a strange feeling, like he had sprouted another appendage. Through the psychic link with the zombie puppet, he could not only manipulate its actions, but also receive sensory feedback from it.
Yet there was still a disconnect between Ling Mo and the zombie puppet that prevented him from controlling it seamlessly.
In Ling Mo's opinion, the pinnacle of control should be fusing with the zombie puppet…
Although the prospect seemed somewhat bizarre, he still looked forward to attaining that level of mastery.