Chapter 38

038
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“Grandpa, wait here. I’m going to apply medicine for Uncle Zhu Yuan.” Though her conscience pricked her, Bianbian felt not a shred of regret.
She couldn’t even wait to share her joy with the little bear beside her, whispering softly, “Grandpa didn’t bite me.”
Her fair, tender face wore a look of childish pride.
She just knew Grandpa wouldn’t bite her!
The little girl stood up, clutching the remaining ointment. Unexpectedly, the elderly zombie suddenly opened its emotionless, gray-white eyes, emitted a hoarse sound from its mouth, struggled to its feet, and took several steps backward, putting two meters of distance between itself and Bianbian.
Bianbian tentatively took a few steps closer to Uncle Zhu Yuan, then turned around to find that Grandpa had also followed, moving a few steps behind her.
Grandpa is with her.
Realizing this, the little girl no longer held back. She skipped over to Zhu Yuan and applied the remaining healing ointment to the more severely wounded areas of the Level 3 zombie.
The Level 3 zombie, sensing the approach of the elderly zombie and with its vision obscured by the iron bucket, writhed uneasily, making the task of applying medicine to its edges considerably more difficult.
“Uncle Zhu Yuan, please don’t move.” Applying medicine is also a skillful task; Bianbian’s little arms were already sore and aching from applying it to Grandpa—even though the elderly zombie remained perfectly still and exceptionally cooperative.
The Level 3 zombie kept writhing, naturally hindering Bianbian’s efficiency and causing the healing ointment to be wasted on uninjured areas.
The little girl could no longer hold back; if she didn’t know her own strength was so slight, she would have reached out to press it herself.
After hearing Bianbian’s soft yet firm “command,” the Level 3 zombie’s writhing body paused for a moment. No one knew whether he had understood, but in any case… his body began to twist even more violently.
Bianbian: “…”
At this moment, the elderly zombie, who had been standing two meters away from Bianbian, circled around her and approached the Level 3 zombie from the other side. He raised one hand and slammed it heavily onto the iron barrel.
A sharp, resonant clang echoed through the air.
The Level 3 zombie crashed to the ground with a thud, lying motionless. The suddenness of it startled Bianbian. Of course, she would never blame Grandpa for hitting Uncle Zhu Yuan—in fact, not long ago, she had always believed that Grandpa couldn’t defeat Uncle Zhu Yuan.
“Uncle Zhu Yuan?”
The Level 3 zombie remained silent, while the elderly zombie slowly extended a foot to kick the iron barrel.
A few seconds later, a low, threatening “hiss-hiss” emanated from beneath the barrel; then, just like that, he lay obediently still, resembling a true corpse as Bianbian did as she pleased with him.
“Grandpa is so amazing!” Bianbian wasn’t foolish; even using her toes, she could figure out that it was Grandpa who had made Uncle Zhu Yuan so “obedient.”
The elderly zombie glanced at her, silently stepped back two paces, and sat down within arm’s reach of the iron bucket, the rope still clamped in his jaws, his pale gray eyes fixed on Bianbian’s movements.
Bianbian flashed Grandpa a wide, bright smile and carefully finished applying ointment to Uncle Zhu Yuan’s wounds in no time.
Swinging her sore little arms, Bianbian nodded with a great sense of accomplishment. She didn’t understand what “medicinal effect” meant; all she knew was that after applying the medicine, the wounds on Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan had visibly stopped bleeding.
Under the gaze of the elderly zombie, she “pulled” the iron bucket off the head of the Level 3 zombie, revealing Zhu Yuan’s blank face.
Fresh, delicious… flesh and blood.
The sluggish zombie’s blank expression began to move stiffly. Upon seeing Bianbian, the corners of his mouth stretched wide open… Bang!
His head was struck—by the fist of an elderly zombie.
The Level 3 zombie’s movements instantly froze.
Seeing this, Bianbian covered her small face and laughed. Her soft, childish giggles drifted through the air, adding a touch of pure “cleanliness” to this area reeking of decay and blood.
Gazing at the terrible surroundings, Bianbian made a decision.
Fortunately, having witnessed many grim scenes with her grandfather in the past, the little girl felt no fear upon seeing the blood-stained ground and scattered remains.
“Grandpa, it’s too dirty outside; we can’t stay here. Let’s go home.” While untying the ropes binding Zhu Yuan, Bianbian added, “Now that I’m freeing Uncle Zhu Yuan, you mustn’t let him bite me.”
She wants to take Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan home to live!
Given the current situation, even the system didn’t know how to explain things, so it simply remained silent.
Logically, Lu Yu hadn’t yet reached level five; only upon successfully advancing to level five could he possibly regain ten percent of his self-awareness.
Yet Lu Yu was currently only at the peak of Tier 4, with just one foot stepping into Tier 5; he simply could not possess self-awareness.
Yet all the reactions he just displayed toward Bianbian clearly indicated the emergence of self-awareness. Though limited, it was sufficient for him to understand that he must not harm Bianbian, compelling him to instinctively protect her and prevent Zhu Yuan from hurting her.
It’s simply too strange; the system has searched through all available data and found no explanation for this situation.
Could this be the work of the Magician?
Bypassing the system’s rules to awaken a sliver of Lu Yu’s self-awareness?
If so, how was it done?
Apart from that earlier casual intervention, the Magician had since remained like a true shadow, silently observing everything.
The system felt a pang of anxiety.
However, what pleased the system was that the danger surrounding Bianbian from Lu Yu had been resolved. Although Zhu Yuan’s threat still lingered, with Lu Yu present, it wasn’t much to worry about.
At the very least, Bianbian was happy to be able to bring both Lu Yu and Zhu Yuan home. The joy radiating from deep within the little girl influenced the system, making it feel as though countless beautiful fireworks were exploding in its heart.
—Although it lacked a human body, it could truly feel it.
Therefore, the system did not issue any warnings about the dangers of Lu Yu and Zhu Yuan following Bianbian home.
It was also at this moment that the Magician logged off silently.
The system inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Bianbian had already led the two zombies home. The front door had been melted by the elderly zombie, making reinstallation impossible.
Unless Grandpa could “repair” the door.
Naturally, Bianbian would never make such a request—Grandpa was injured.
Now that Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan are both by her side, everything feels just like before, except for the fact that Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan have turned into monsters.
Even without the main gate, home will still be very safe.
“Grandpa, Uncle Zhu Yuan, let’s change clothes.” Bianbian found two sets of Grandpa’s outfits. Not long ago, she had thought about changing Grandpa’s clothes herself, but only now did she realize this was something she couldn’t accomplish alone.
Yet she couldn’t let Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan continue wearing those dirty, smelly clothes; they had to be changed.
Bianbian could only hold up the clothes, gesturing and hopping around, trying to make them understand what “changing clothes” meant.
During the journey home, the elderly zombie remained completely silent. Even now, watching Bianbian gesture with the clothes, he showed no reaction other than a fleeting hint of confusion flashing through his grayish-white eyes, nor did he make a sound.
The Level 3 zombie’s chest bone hadn’t been set right, making his walk somewhat unsteady. After being repeatedly rapped on the head by the elderly zombie and finding himself unable to fight back, he had finally learned his lesson. Apart from an occasional guttural croak, he behaved quite “obediently.”
Even zombies know that discretion is the better part of valor!
As Bianbian held up the clothes to measure them, he suddenly realized something, tore off his tattered garments, and even reached for his pants—
The silent elderly zombie suddenly roared, grabbed the Level 3 zombie by the neck, flung him out the door, then carefully took the clothes from Bianbian’s hands, stepped outside, picked up the dazed Level 3 zombie, and carried him upstairs to the third floor.
The sudden change happened so quickly that Bianbian didn’t react immediately; once she did, she hurriedly hugged Huihui and ran out the door.
A large section of the metal wall above the third floor had been broken open, which could loosely be called a “door”—left behind when the elderly zombie departed from the third floor earlier.
Bianbian saw Grandpa dragging Uncle Zhu Yuan in through the door. Thinking of Uncle Zhu Yuan’s sunken chest, she worried that Grandpa might have injured him somewhere. They had just applied medicine to his wounds; it couldn’t go to waste.
She had to follow and take a look.
However, as soon as she stepped onto the first stair leading to the third floor, a metal sheet wobbled precariously across her path. It looked as though it was about to fall, yet stubbornly remained in place, clearly intended to block her advance.
Bianbian understood.
Grandpa had taken the clothes and brought Uncle Zhu Yuan upstairs to change.
She obediently returned to her room; Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan would come back once they had changed their clothes.
Thinking about how much weight Grandpa had lost, she decided he needed to eat more to make up for it.
Bianbian decided to cook. The only thing she could make was “boiled noodles,” which required no special skill—just boil water and soak the noodles.
Tonight, they would have noodles.
Having made up her mind, Bianbian skillfully went to the kitchen, turned on the gas stove, and poured five bottles of mineral water into the pot, including the organic mineral water Xiu Jin had purchased.
To ensure Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan would have enough to eat, Bianbian dragged out a box of instant noodles and took out six packets…
Six packets should be enough, right?
After a moment’s hesitation, Bianbian picked up two more bags, deciding to cook eight in total.
Any more than that, and there wouldn’t be a pot big enough to hold them!
“Why hasn’t he changed yet?” the little girl sighed, her small face drooping as she spoke to the teddy bear.
Carrying the instant noodles back to the kitchen, where the water in the pot was already beginning to steam, Bianbian carefully tore open each package one by one and gently placed the round noodle blocks into the pot—dropping them too hard would cause splashes that could scald her hands.
She added the seasoning little by little, and the rich, aromatic scent of instant noodles instantly filled the air. Watching the noodle broth bubble vigorously, Bianbian couldn’t help but think: it would surely taste even better with some meat.
Speaking of meat…
Snow-dried meat jerky was at least edible meat.
Bianbian couldn’t read, so she didn’t know the package contained snow-dried meat jerky, but the appetizing image on the bag made it obvious at a glance that there was meat inside.
Her eyes lit up as she pattered back to the living room, stood on her tiptoes to take down the snow-dried meat strips, and glanced toward the front door again. Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan hadn’t returned yet, but she could hear their voices.
Those sounds made her feel safe.
Returning to the kitchen, the aroma of the boiling instant noodles grew even richer. She tore open the package; inside, the snow-dried meat strips were pale pinkish-white, cut into small slender pieces. Pulling one out from the edge, her little stomach rumbled loudly. Faced with the intense fragrance emanating from the meat, she simply couldn’t resist and lowered her head to take a bite.
It was chewy and elastic, filling her mouth with a delightful flavor. After unknowingly eating two strips, Bianbian stuck out her little tongue, then reluctantly poured all the remaining snow-dried meat into the pot of instant noodles.
In an instant, the savory aroma of snow meat blended with that of instant noodles, creating another irresistible fragrance. Squatting by the pot, Bianbian clenched her tiny fists, gazing longingly and swallowing hard.
That strange, alluring fragrance seemed to come alive as it drifted outward.
Upstairs, under the watchful eye of the elderly zombie, the level-three zombie—who had finally managed to dress correctly after six attempts—was utterly captivated by the scent. Panicked, he yanked up his trousers and rushed downstairs.
“ROAR!!!” The elderly zombie glared at his slipping waistband and let out an furious roar.
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First update is here; the remaining two will be posted once finished~