Chapter 904: The Way Things Often Unfold
Chapter 904: The Way Things Often Unfold
“Is that so… Well, I can roughly imagine what happened next…”
Before Ling Mo could finish his sentence, the woman in white let out a chilling chuckle. “Imagine it? Do you really think you can imagine someone else’s experiences? You assumed that Fang Ying stopped me, right? Actually, she didn’t. She didn’t say a word. She just stood there, watching me walk away. Maybe she was scared, maybe she was despairing over what was happening downstairs, or maybe she felt some kind of pity for me… I don’t know. My emotions were so complex at the time that I can’t even describe how I felt. In fact, I can’t even remember how I left the warehouse. Funny, isn’t it? After mutating, I should have recalled every detail, but even now, it still feels like that moment was nothing more than a dream…”
“This phenomenon probably has little to do with the experience itself,” Ling Mo thought to himself. “The process of zombification can almost be described as destruction and rebirth. It’s natural for parts of your memory to remain hazy during that time. What’s more impressive is you-recollecting so much and holding on to your feelings and thoughts as you were mutating. That’s what’s truly remarkable…”
The woman in white continued, “The moment I walked out, clutching my wound, I felt completely abandoned by the world. Even when hiding from zombies, I’d never felt such despair… As a human, I was utterly lost. I was terrified of becoming a zombie, but at the same time, I didn’t want to die like that… I was so weak back then-I didn’t even have the courage to end things myself…”
“And in the end, you fully mutated. What about Fang Ying? And those people from the Rosen Company-what happened to them?” Ling Mo finally couldn’t hold back and interrupted her. From what she described, it wasn’t hard to conclude that Fang Ying and the others had parted ways with her. But right now, their corpses were all laid out in this bloody little theater. What could have happened?
Could it be that after her full mutation, the woman in white went back and slaughtered them all?
“They? Heh, of course they followed me out. Is there a better decoy than an injured infected person? After I left the second floor, Fang Ying led the others, following me as we fled together. They stayed far behind, using me to escape from the Rosen Company… To achieve their goal, they didn’t even hesitate to lure more zombies toward me. I almost died. But unfortunately for them, I didn’t. And as for the final outcome, well, you’ve seen it yourself…”
The woman in white reached out and “gently” stroked Fang Ying’s head, saying, “Their plan failed. And because of that, I was forced to accelerate my mutation process. When I finished mutating, I was holding onto her head, trying to tear her jaw off. Heh… At that moment, she was crying and shouting, calling me ‘sister’ and begging me not to kill her…”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? Honestly, it is for me, too… Many times, it feels like it’s someone else’s story. But…” She abruptly turned her head, her blood-red eyes glaring intensely at Ling Mo. “You made me remember it! You made me relive those emotions! Tell me, what did you do to me? What did you do?!”
As the final words burst out, the woman in white suddenly appeared less than 30 centimeters in front of Ling Mo. Her long hair flew back in a sharp motion, fully exposing her face-half of which looked almost like a normal person’s, even with a touch of elegance if one looked closely. But the other half was covered in hard, scar-like shells that extended down her neck, creating what looked like a second layer of armor on her body.
While yelling, the woman in white shot out a long, whip-like tongue from her mouth. Its tip was thin and lined with barbs, and it moved so quickly it was almost hard to comprehend. Ling Mo only felt a sudden chill sweep across his shoulder, and the next moment, a stream of hot blood began to flow. Meanwhile, that tongue was now coated in his blood, hovering in front of him and writhing like a venomous snake.
“What the heck… This is way too different from her earlier image! One second ago, she seemed gentle-and now, just as I predicted, she turns into some kind of zombie dino-beast?! And seriously, she’s totally nailing that transformation! Don’t tell me your so-called ultimate evolutionary goal is to fully become a T-Rex!”
It is crucial to note that compared to the woman in white’s speed, he was far too slow!
On the other hand, this was the first time he had encountered a Progenitor Zombie that attacked with its tongue!
“Damn, damn, damn!”
Ling Mo’s scalp tingled uncontrollably. Although he managed to dodge a fatal blow by tilting his head, it was clear he wouldn’t be able to evade the next one. But this was precisely the best opportunity for him to coordinate with Ye Lian for a sneak attack!
He couldn’t miss this chance!
But, what to do?!
“Besides, I haven’t done anything wrong… I’m just trying to survive, what’s wrong with that! You would do the same, you would help me survive. Once I evolve again, once I perfect this body completely, I can get out… This place, this company, it’s practically a cage. It trapped me when I was human and it traps me now that I’ve mutated! I want to get out, I need to get out! I want to escape this cage, to forget these memories!” ℞𝘢Ŋó𝖇Ęs̈
During the woman in white’s frenzied shouting, Ling Mo kept a close watch on her long tongue.
What could he do? Before the next attack suddenly struck, what else could be done?
The cabinet was too far away… what about the curtains? But, would the woman in white allow him the chance to draw the curtains…
Too many unknowns, too many risks!
“Why in the end am I the only one left, I clearly haven’t done anything wrong…” the woman in white screamed hysterically.
Though she had mutated, the woman in white still showed significant guilt about her past actions…
Wait, guilt?
Considering her subsequent experiences, she had tasted the bitter fruits, hadn’t she? Even more so than others, she had the chance to overcome her emotional burden… When she was almost killed, hadn’t she experienced the feelings of those two people?
Regardless of any intentions of atonement, having gone through nearly the same experiences, she should have dismissed this madness by now… Whether or not she could empathize with the feelings from back then, for the woman in white today, such matters should be easily looked past…
Yet, she felt guilty…
Ling Mo’s expression suddenly turned calm, but then his heart couldn’t help but start racing again.
Right! The details of the story aren’t important; what really matters is the attitude of the woman in white!
What had he overlooked? There had been flaws from the very beginning!
But it wasn’t too late now!
“You’re not ‘sister,’ are you?” Ling Mo suddenly spoke up.
The woman in white stopped shouting abruptly, stunned.
“You are Fang Ying.” Ling Mo clenched his fists and said, “So the story you told was someone else’s. That’s why you likened this place to a cage, but it’s not Rosen Company that’s trapping you-it’s her-“
He pointed forcefully at the corpse of a woman, continuing, “The comrade you killed, who you also called ‘sister.’” Then he turned to the other corpses and continued, “You recreated the scene not out of revenge, but to punish yourself. The emotions you retained after mutation weren’t vengeance or solitude, but overwhelming guilt.”
Having said all this in one breath, Ling Mo then coldly looked at the woman in white: “Am I right?”
The woman in white was still staring blankly at him. At this moment, she didn’t notice a thin, invisible psychic tentacle slowly crawling along the ground towards the window…
“However, this emotion ultimately manifested itself in the direction of your evolution. You saw yourself as ‘sister,’ then using your powers, you gathered many ‘sisters’ and mercilessly tormented them… Even you were unconsciously split into two parts, one for punishment and one for remembrance…” Ling Mo’s words grew more intense.
After about ten seconds, the woman in white finally opened her mouth and asked, “How did you know?”
“Half guesswork and half nonsense…” Of course, he couldn’t say that, so a look of “just as I thought” appropriately appeared in Ling Mo’s eyes, while he coldly muttered, “Simple, you have too many slip-ups.”
The woman in white was taken aback again, temporarily setting aside her intention to kill Ling Mo… She was clearly recalling what she had said… Too many slip-ups?
“What is it?” The woman in white-or rather, Fang Ying-pondered for a moment, then asked unwillingly.
Ling Mo subtly stepped back one small step. Though the move seemed risky, in this situation, Fang Ying wasn’t likely to charge forward and kill him. Sure enough, she merely stared at him coldly, her expression surprisingly human-like as she curled her lips into a mocking smirk. “Relax. I won’t touch you until my curiosity is satisfied. I believe I mentioned this earlier-whether human or Zombie, curiosity is something we all share.”
“Like I care…” Ling Mo rolled his eyes and replied, “Aside from everything I mentioned just now, there’s another fatal flaw in your story…”
“Your defense. Maybe even you didn’t notice it, but you’ve been defending Fang Ying this entire time. After enduring such treatment-and under the chaotic influence of the virus-how could that ‘sister’ still justify or excuse your behavior? And beyond that…” Just as Fang Ying’s expression began to twist with anger, as if she were about to go on a rampage, Ling Mo smoothly shifted his tone, speaking with deliberate calm.
Meanwhile, the tightly drawn curtains began to sway ever so slightly. Without a sound, a small gap was being pulled open…