Shae Harris stopped drawing circles on the ground after the laughter had seized.
"Well, let's try to wake Old man Yi up," she said, facing them again.
"I have a feeling that he might not appreciate our help," Ming Jun said, rubbing his head.
"Why don't we apologize and explain how we weren't the ones controlling it?" Mori Aoi sat up, biting her lip.
"I doubt that he would believe a word we say," Wei Zhi also sat up.
"Then pretend that we don't remember," Noi Karn suggested.
"I doubt we have the skills to pull that off," Ming Jun said self-deprecatingly.
"Well, let's threaten him," Shae Harris said.
"Do you want him to kill us?" Wei Zhi looked at her, bewildered.
"Then... then we just follow him from behind," Mori Aoi said.
The others thought about it.
They admitted that they couldn't beat Yi Zheng, and neither did they think Yi Zheng would agree to let them join after the stunt they just pulled.
The five of them were surprisingly self-aware.
Yi Zheng did not like them.
He didn't feel pity for them, and neither would he allow himself to be put in a dangerous situation because of them.
And they understood that.
After all, he wasn't their friend or their team member.
He was just some random guy they stuck themselves to.
"I guess we have no other choice," Wei Zhi said, sighing.
The others sighed along.
Then Shae Harris went to poke Yi Zheng on the cheek.
Yi Zheng frowned and stirred awake.
Shae Harris quickly moved back, and the others vigilantly crowded together to watch him.
Yi Zheng woke up a bit groggy and turned to the five kids.
He suddenly focused and frowned in their direction.
He remembered the words of those indescribable voices he had heard.
They told him something very important according to their standards:
"Accompany the kids or you're going to end up how they just did."
He looked at them, feeling frustrated at having to take them along.
Why should he be forced to babysit a bunch of kids?
Kids who could suddenly snap one day and attack him.
Kids who were dangerous and couldn't control their killer transformation.
He was, most importantly, frustrated at the fact that the voice was right.
He was also there.
At the time they suddenly had a hole in their chest and turned to corpses.
He watched them from the beginning.
His eyes never strayed from their bodies because he knew they were the biggest threat besides the director.
Not believing at all that they were back to normal.
After all, they could change back anytime and anywhere.
And he also watched as a hole was carved out of their chest brutally.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
One moment they were fine and his eyes fluttered to a close as he began to blink.
And the next, they had a huge hole in their chest when he opened his eyes to complete the blinking process.
Then they were as dead as possible.
Now they are alive and kicking.
At this point, he wasn't even surprised anymore.
After all, he had heard talks of rituals and sacrifices from the director, so them coming back to life wasn't much compared to it.
He had already witnessed their freakish healing abilities as they fought.
So he could only dumbly accept.
"We're sorry... we really didn't know or mean anything," Mori Aoi said to Yi Zheng.
"Well, this isn't the place for us to talk, so stay close and let's leave," Yi Zheng replied.
Mori Aoi's eyes shone with hope.
Yi Zheng didn't bother with them anymore and stood up to walk away.
He didn't know when zombies would jump out after smelling the stench of blood.
So he instructed the kids to take as much food, water, and weapons as possible.
Then take a shower to wash off the blood and change into new clothes.
He originally added clothes to the list but—
"Why don't we just get new ones, I never liked the ones they had anyway," Shae Harris said.
Yi Zheng just looked at her and said nothing.
He walked to one of the buildings silently.
He tried to teleport once, away from the kids, but nothing happened.
No change in surroundings at all.
So he accepted another fact—
He had lost his abilities, or rather, they had been taken away by the entity that gave them.
Yi Zheng paid no more attention to the matter.
After all, he didn't trust the voices.
He had also been taking care of himself just fine without the use of abilities.
So naturally, this time wouldn't be any different.
He didn't want the abilities anyway because he was forced to have them.
Yi Zheng quietly looked for a cleaner bag and started to stuff it.
The others also got up from the ground, surprised at Yi Zheng.
"Has the old man finally gone senile?" Shae Harris hissed while rubbing her back.
"That's rude," Mori Aoi said, frowning.
"Well how else would you explain his strange behavior?"
"Who on earth would let a bunch of kids stick to them even though he knows they can destroy him easily?" Shae Harris said, spreading her hands out.
"Maybe he just grew a conscience," Ming Jun shrugged.
"Maybe he developed abilities like us, I think I remember him bursting zombies' heads open without touching them," Noi Karn said.
"Well, it's not important the reason anyways," Wei Zhi said, rising.
"As long as we're together," Mori Aoi said, trying to get up.
But her legs were weak from fright, and she was seated beside corpses in the middle of her own blood.
Suddenly, a hand was stretched out in front of her face.
She turned to Wei Zhi, who was lending a hand.
She smiled and grabbed his hand.
Wei Zhi coughed and looked away from her smile.
It feels even more blinding than the first time I saw it.
He found that he thought she was very... well, he wasn't sure yet.
Once she was up, their hands separated again.
Only for Mori Aoi to use a hand to grab his hand again.
Wei Zhi, surprised and dazed, unconsciously tightened his grip on hers.
He flinched at the feeling and looked away, the red at the tip of his ears deepening from before.
"Well, it's best we leave before Yi Zheng decides to change his mind," Noi Karn said, standing up too.
They separated into different buildings and left.
Wei Zhi looked at the figure of the girl with black hair walking away.
He put the hand that had held hers into his pocket.
And felt that his pocket was suddenly very warm, which made his hand warm too.
---
After half an hour, they regrouped, each holding a bag filled with food and water.
Their faces were also sad because all the dead people they saw were buried.
They stood at the gate and watched Yi Zheng open it without any hindrance or stress.
As compared to the time before, when they couldn't even make the gate rattle.
Yi Zheng walked cautiously to the van, followed by the five kids.
They got into the van one by one.
Yi Zheng sat at the driver's seat, expressionless.
"Listen and listen closely, you have to abide by my commands," he said, raising one finger.
"You can't do things messily, and tell me if you are about to transform," Yi Zheng raised a second and third finger.
"If you don't comply, then I'll kill you myself." Yi Zheng's expression was remarkably cold as his sharp gaze peered at them.
"This is definitely how Mafia bosses behave," Shae Harris said.
"So where to next?" Yi Zheng ignored her and asked the rest.
"Another... another base," Mori Aoi suggested.
"I'm traumatized by what just happened. In fact, I don't feel like I'll be able to go to a base," Wei Zhi said, bowing his head.
"Then why don't we just stay on the road," Noi Karn said.
"Oh, it'll be like an exploration map style," Shae Harris said.
"So you all agreed to living on the road alone from now on, a life without the company of humanity?" Yi Zheng asked again.
"Why can't we build our own base?" Shae Harris said.
"That's a pretty good idea," Ming Jun said, tapping his chubby chin.
"Let's make our own base and live there happily," Mori Aoi said.
"Well, I'm not interested in traveling the world fighting zombies all the time," Yi Zheng snorted.
The others pouted.
Meanwhile, Yi Zheng tapped his finger on the steering wheel, thinking.
Should he really go to another base?
That director could be anywhere, and it certainly didn't sound like he would ever give up.
So then it would be best if they stayed in a base surrounded by people.
At least he would have to wait before he acted so as not to arouse the suspicions of the base's owner.
And it would also provide a shield for them.
But then which base could they go to?
Well, let's check the nearest one.
"We're going to a base," Yi Zheng said, starting the van.
"But whyyy~" Shae Harris whined.
"If you want to be hunted down in open space by the director then be my guest," Yi Zheng said.
She crossed her arms and looked away.
"What if there are more people like the director?" Noi Karn said.
"What do you mean?" Yi Zheng narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, there were like a bunch of people that were like the director but not as scary," Shae Harris said persuasively.
"Who?" Yi Zheng asked.
"Those guys that were killed by the handsome man with his harem," Ming Jun said.
"That commoner that was leading the resistance on their side," Mori Aoi said.
"That punk noble that was also leading the nobles," Wei Zhi said.
"Some people outside the base," Noi Karn said.
"Why didn't you guys tell me!!" Yi Zheng shouted at them, glaring.
Wah—
Mori Aoi began to cry.
Wei Zhi patted her head.
The others looked at him like he was a bully.
Yi Zheng: What did I do??
"We weren't sure you would believe us, after all there was no proof and neither were there signs," Noi Karn said.
"Yeah, we just had a vague feeling," Shae Harris pouted.
"But you told each other," Yi Zheng raised an eyebrow.
"No, we just wanted to remind the youngest to stay away from certain people but he said he already knew," Mori Aoi said.
"Then we figured out that we had the same bad feeling from certain people," Wei Zhi said.
"Then why didn't you warn me at all?" Yi Zheng asked, incredulous.
"Ah— we believed in you," Shae Harris said, raising a fist.
Yi Zheng snorted.
"She means that we know you have better judgment than we do and that you're smarter than us," Ming Jun explained.
"Yes, yes," Shae Harris said, giving Ming Jun a high five.
The latter couldn't ignore her eyes and slapped his palm to hers.
After that, his eyes turned away while his hands were shoved into his pocket because he felt that it was suddenly very warm.
His hands, that is.
"If you guys have such sharp senses, then all you need to do is warn me if you have that feeling again.
Then we'll leave the base as fast as possible," Yi Zheng said.
"We're still going," Shae Harris whined.
Yi Zheng ignored her and drove to the nearest base.
The drive was silent for a minute at the beginning, but then Shae Harris proposed to play a game.
The others rejected immediately, remembering her feats.
But then she promised not to play.
So they began to pass her console around to play a car racing game.
Somehow the console got into Shae Harris's hands again.
And she performed a marvelous feat of making the car fly.
Ming Jun immediately picked up arms and started an argument.
Wei Zhi also scolded at the side.
After a while, the three were subdued by the tearful gaze of Mori Aoi.
And went on to their own business quietly.
"Let's play..." Shae Harris started.
"Shut up!" Ming Jun and Wei Zhi said at the same time.
Shae Harris began to vent by playing a zombie game and slicing off their heads brutally.
Ming Jun peeked but buried his head in his manga.
Girls are really scary when they're angry.
He clearly saw the game character use a zombie's head to smash other zombies' heads in.
Scary~
The silence was broken as they stopped at a shelter.
It was a normal five-floor apartment that had nothing special.
But—
"There are those types of people here," Wei Zhi said immediately.
"We haven't even gotten in yet, we just got here," Yi Zheng retorted.
They made it to the front of the line about to enter.
"The guy checking us in is one of them," Ming Jun said.
Yi Zheng: ?
"There's some more inside," Mori Aoi said, pointing to a random direction.
Yi Zheng: !!!
"So let's just go back," Shae Harris said, patting his back.
The others smiled and skipped away from the line.
Yi Zheng: ...okay.
He said nothing and left.
As for the possibility of them lying—
These kids were too easy to catch when lying, and they were too cowardly too.
Well... Shae Harris might have the courage, but she wasn't one to lie.
Neither were the others.
So they got into the van and drove away.
Suddenly, there were screams coming from behind them.
And they could see people trying to run.
They turned a corner and the people were out of their sights.
But the screams continued.
Yi Zheng: sigh.
He had a bad feeling about this.