But in that brief moment of absent-mindedness, a cold light immediately flashed in Ye Lian's eyes. At the same time, Ling Mo's head ached sharply. Fortunately he quickly regained his senses and controlled Ye Lian again.
Just that slight lapse in control, and Ye Lian almost broke free from his manipulation. This gave Ling Mo a tremendous sense of fear afterward.
The zombie puppet was still powerless in front of Ye Lian. Ling Mo estimated that even he himself would be hard pressed. What's more, he didn't want to hurt Ye Lian, nor did he want to be killed by her. Now that he had found Ye Lian, he absolutely could not die. He had to find a way to restore her.
They couldn't stay here long. Ling Mo hurriedly manipulated Ye Lian and walked toward his residence.
In such a densely populated area, it was inevitable that they would encounter zombies no matter how careful they were. But unlike the arduous battles before, with Ye Lian there, the zombies were almost powerless to resist.
Whether it was speed or strength, Ye Lian was far beyond ordinary zombies. Ling Mo had been worried about injuring Ye Lian and was unwilling to control her to fight. But when the zombies appeared, the intense attacking urge conveyed by Ye Lian made Ling Mo himself feel a burst of heat. The kind of ferocity he had felt when controlling the zombie puppet before was amplified more than tenfold at this moment.
The moment Ye Lian rushed out, Ling Mo clearly felt that he had only half control over her. In her fighting, her instincts were maximally aroused. With Ling Mo's current puppetry power, he could only maintain the connection with Ye Lian, but couldn't influence her fighting process.
"Didn't expect her to be so strong…" Ling Mo immediately felt a sense of crisis. If he didn't quickly improve his own strength, perhaps in no time, Ye Lian would break free from his control. By that time, not only would he be unable to restore her, he might even die by her hand. Even if he narrowly escaped, trying to find Ye Lian again in this huge city would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Thinking of this, Ling Mo gritted his teeth, gripped the boning knife tightly, and rushed directly to Ye Lian's side.
At this time around Ye Lian, there were a full four zombies, and she was twisting the head off of one of them. These zombies would not actively attack Ye Lian, but when Ling Mo appeared, the other three simultaneously pounced over.
Dealing with so many zombies for the first time, Ling Mo was very nervous. But for some reason, the ferocious aura he felt from Ye Lian made him feel a strong desire to fight as he raised the boning knife.
With a low roar, Ling Mo rushed directly into the middle of the three zombies.
The zombies were very strong, and not as stiff in movement as in films, but as monsters acting purely on instinct, their attacking methods were still relatively singular.
As one of the zombies reached out to grab Ling Mo, he suddenly dodged to the side. At the same time as avoiding the zombie's attack, the boning knife in Ling Mo's hand stabbed toward the belly of another zombie.
"Stab!"
The sound of the knife piercing flesh rang out, but Ling Mo didn't even have time to look again before raising his leg and kicking the third zombie over to Ye Lian.
Before it could get up, Ye Lian directly scooped out its hindbrain.
By this time, the zombie Ling Mo had dodged was on him again. With the knife still stuck in the other one, Ling Mo was truly in crisis now.
The zombie's hands, covered in plasm, were already reaching for him. If he was grabbed, trying to break free would be almost impossible.
Facing the threat of death, Ling Mo was not panicked. He pulled on the boning knife, feeling the zombie being dragged forward with it. As soon as he felt that, Ling Mo nimbly dodged to the side.
As the two zombies collided, Ling Mo's boning knife had already sliced open one's belly and unhesitatingly stabbed into the other's hindbrain, twisting forcefully.
All this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Ling Mo emerged from his frenzy, the scene was left with only the zombies' corpses.
Only then did Ling Mo realize that what he had just displayed was not only calmness, but also extremely fast mental and physical reactions working in high synchronization. Although this was closely related to the improvements in his psychology and physique, that feeling of frenzy must have played a role as well.
Most importantly, looking at the corpses at his feet and the boning knife covered in fresh blood, Ling Mo's body couldn't help but tremble slightly. This was not from fear, but from excitement…
By this time, Ye Lian had consumed all the gel in the zombies' hindbrains. Her eyes had become even brighter and seemed somewhat lively. If not for that eerie blood-red color, she would have looked barely any different from an ordinary survivor now.
For some reason, as Ye Lian changed, Ling Mo felt his own body undergo a slight change as well.
It was very subtle, but Ling Mo definitely sensed that his strength was much greater than before, his consumed stamina had recovered somewhat, and most importantly, the mental connection between him and Ye Lian had grown tighter.
Could it be that because of the mental link with Ye Lian, as she continued mutating, he was affected as well? Ling Mo couldn't find a better explanation besides this.
Prior to this, Ling Mo was still unsure whether these changes were good or bad. But sensing the changes now made him excited all of a sudden.
It didn't affect his rationality and allowed him to grow stronger together with Ye Lian! Ling Mo even began to anticipate further changes. But he knew clearly in his heart that over eagerness would be problematic. If it brought any danger to Ye Lian, the regret would be immense.
On the way back, Ling Mo found a clean dress and pair of slippers at a clothing store, planning to change out the bloodstained clothes on Ye Lian's body.
The zombie puppet's appearance was revolting enough, let alone having Ye Lian dressed like that, who loved being clean more than anyone. Even as a zombie, he couldn't let her stay in such a state.
But after returning to his residence and looking at the quiet Ye Lian sitting in front of him, Ling Mo didn't know how to proceed!
Whether it was controlling Ye Lian to undress herself, or doing it himself, he would inevitably see the body that had appeared countless times in his fantasies…
In the past, due to his own lacking conditions, although Ling Mo liked Ye Lian a lot in his heart, he had never confessed to her, and even less imagined any change in their relationship. After all, he was just a pathetic otaku, with low income, while Ye Lian was the campus belle of X University, never lacking suitors of excellent standing in every aspect.
But now, in order to help change her clothes, he had no choice but to see her body…
Even though the current Ye Lian lacked cognition, Ling Mo still felt a dryness in his throat.
Glancing at the basin of water by his feet, then looking at the filthy Ye Lian, Ling Mo hesitated for a good while before slowly reaching out his hand…
As the buttons were undone one by one, Ye Lian's delicate, fair skin was gradually revealed before Ling Mo's eyes.
With great difficulty, the burning hot Ling Mo suppressed his urges. Using a wrung-out towel, he started carefully wiping Ye Lian clean.
"Stay calm, stay calm… taking advantage now wouldn't make me human…"
Faced with the body of the girl he loved, it was false to say he didn't feel any urges, but looking into Ye Lian's emotionless eyes, Ling Mo felt a pain in his heart.
When could he restore Ye Lian's cognition…