MGZ 8

Chapter 8: Evolution

The temporary shelter that Ling Mo chose was a small family hotel. The rooms were rather clean and the scent of blood wasn’t too strong. Most importantly, the location was pretty good. He deliberately found several bottles of disinfectant and poured them at the front door, making it difficult for zombies to notice their presence.

Such methods would work in areas where zombies were less concentrated. However in places like the city where zombies were concentrated, doing so would more likely attract them instead…

After eating a little, Ling Mo carefully inspected the condition of the doors and windows. He then sat in front of Ye Lian and took out the piece of gel.

Maybe it had been exposed to the air for too long, but the light pungent smell of the gel had become even stronger. The stimulation caused Ye Lian’s eyes turn red the moment he took it out. If it wasn’t for their connection becoming so strong, Ye Lian might have even started to rebel against him.

But to Ling Mo, this odour was just a form of torment. The only reason why he didn’t immediately stuff it into Ye Lian’s mouth was because he realized the gel’s colour had become rather bizarre. It looked almost identical to a blood clot and seemed fresh. Unexpectedly, the virus was even able to preserve the state of things…

By now, Ye Lian’s instinctive desire to eat the piece of gel had become extremely intense. Ling Mo stopped stimulating her and dropped the piece of gel into her mouth.

Ye Lian’s lips were very cold. When she swallowed the gel, the tip of her tongue had lightly brushed against Ling Mo’s fingers, causing his heart to beat faster. Looking at her eyes that were gradually calming down, Ling Mo had the urge to kiss her…

But as Ling Mo slowly lifted her head, the emotionless Ye Lian suddenly closed her eyes and wrinkled her brows.

Ling Mo was startled. This was his first time seeing emotions on her face after she’d mutated. Even though her eyes were tightly shut, but the dangerous aura she emitted made Ling Mo feel like the surrounding temperature had dropped by a few degrees.

At the same time, an alternating hot and cold sensation began to engulf Ling Mo and his entire body began trembling. Shortly after, he was engulfed in pain. It felt as if all the pores in his body were on fire. The pain in his head was even worse. It was so intense he felt like his head was going to split open.

“Ah…”

Ling Mo cried out in pain as he curled up on the ground. Ye Lian who had been released by Ling Mo fell backwards, paralyzed on the bed.

The indescribable pain that Ling Mo experienced seemed to originate from his very cells. It felt as if his entire body was being slowly torn apart before being slowly pieced together again. Ling Mo had been reduced to such a state by the pain transmitted through their connection. One could only imagine how much pain the actual person, Ye Lian, who was bearing it would be in.

Ling Mo was kneeling on top of the bed with bloodshot eyes as his body continued to tremble nonstop. However in spite of that, his eyes were firmly fixed on Ye Lian.

If Ye Lian could bear with it, then as a man how could he not do the same…

A whole half hour had passed before the stabbing pain began to slowly subside. But to Ling Mo, it felt like three days and nights had passed.

Thankfully, a comforting sensation started to spread throughout his body and disperse the residual pain. Once he recovered his state of mind, he could feel the minute changes that accumulated within his body during this period of time. The terrifying pain that he’d experienced this time round had led to another increase in strength. It felt like his body had been reborn. The hidden power which resided in his muscles, coupled with an unprecedented clarity of mind made Ling Mo overjoyed.

Similar to mutated zombies, Ling Mo had undergone an evolution… He was able to clearly discern that such changes had taken place even if it wasn’t noticeable physically. Ling Mo wasn’t sure, but he felt that his spiritual power had improved even more than his physical body due to him being conscious while he was tormented by pain.

This was something he’d be able to find out for himself once he put it into practice.

Ye Lian didn’t wake up even after a night’s rest. While unconscious, her brows were always slightly wrinkled as they occasionally trembled. Ling Mo was by her side the entire time with a  heart filled with both pity and expectation. How much would she grow after eating that mutated zombie’s gel…

“Oh no, I can’t believe I actually fell asleep…”

His body wracked by exhaustion, Ling Mo finally fell asleep after looking over Ye Lian for an entire night. But the special ability that he’d cultivated after the world had ended allowed Ling Mo to wake up after a few minutes of sleep.

This type of special sleeping ability was probably obtained by all the remaining survivors after disaster broke out. It was almost an instinctive level of vigilance that was maintained even while sleeping. And just a few minutes of deep sleep would be enough to soothe one’s frayed nerves.

But as a puppet user, Ling Mo wasn’t able to enter a state of deep sleep much as he had to maintain his spiritual connection with his Corpse Puppets. This was his first time falling into deep sleep…

Ling Mo opened his eyes in panic and realized a shocking fact: Ye Lian was missing!

Could she have broken free from his control during these few minutes?! But after calming down, Ling Mo realized that such a thing didn’t happen. After evolving, Ling Mo’s spiritual powers were even stronger. This allowed him to have even greater control over his mental powers than before.

Even though he couldn’t see Ye Lian, Ling Mo could still clearly tell that their spiritual connection was still intact.

But ever since he gained control of her, apart from fighting and going out, Ye Lian almost never moved on her own. Why would she suddenly do so…

Thinking up to this point, Ling Mo who was filled with doubt hurriedly switched his perspective to Ye Lian’s point of view…

Luckily, Ye Lian was still in the hotel, but she was behaving a little strangely. Normally, other than fighting and eating, Ye Lian practically never did anything on her own accord. But now, she was strolling around the hotel.

Furthermore, every now and then she’d stop at some spots before quietly observing her surroundings for a moment.

What’s going on? Ling Mo rushed out the door and quickly found Ye Lian along the corridor on the floor below.

Upon seeing her, Ling Mo nearly cried out in surprise. The morning sun’s rays shone through the windows and onto Ye Lian as she turned around to face him with a vacant look. But that little bit of emotion made Ling Mo tremble in excitement.

“Ye Lian!” Ling Mo ran up to her and placed both hands on her shoulders while shouting out in joy.

He never expected her to recover her sense of self so quickly…

Something wasn’t right…after shaking her a few times, Ling Mo suddenly felt as a bucket of cold water had been dumped on his head. Ling Mo only saw a vacant look that appeared in her eyes every now and then; as well as the same cold indifference he normally felt from her.

Maybe after evolving, the shackles that had been placed on her sense of self by the virus had been loosened, but it was still far from allowing her to fully recover. Another possibility could be that the virus, after evolving, had completely wiped off her previous persona and replaced it with a brand new one…

“Ye Lian?” Ling Mo, refusing to believe how things turned out, continued to shout her name several before finally accepting the grim reality that she still hadn’t recovered.

But at the very least, Ye Lian was now able to display a trace of emotion and she was able to move on her own accord. Regardless if this was a sign that she was beginning to recover or, a brand new persona created by the virus, it still meant that there was some hope for Ling Mo’s dreams to come true.      

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