My Girlfriend is a Zombie

Chapter 616: Ulterior Motives

The boxes piled inside were covered with mold spots, and in some places, there were even suspicious black granules heaped up.

Ignoring these details, the sports drinks and snacks Ling Mo picked out were quite enticing.

“And they’re still within the shelf life!”

This discovery brightened up Mu Chen, who had come feeling down, and he even selectively ignored Ling Mo’s words: “You do know these are all off-limits, right?”

“There are a few more boxes over here, have you checked them?” Mu Chen, after packing all the items, sharply noticed a corner of the room.

Besides the stacked boxes, there was a spring bed in the room, with dirty bedding that made it clear that this place used to serve as a “dormitory” for an employee.

“Looks like bathing supplies, the kind meant for hotels.” Ling Mo glanced over and commented nonchalantly, “Your organization, Niepan, shouldn’t be lacking these, right?”

“Not lacking…” Mu Chen responded quickly, “Actually, things like talcum powder are a bit more popular, you know.”

“Speaking of Niepan… where is the headquarters located?” Ling Mo suddenly asked.

The question made Mu Chen stiffen, he hesitated, then tossed away the mini bar of soap he was examining: “I’m not too clear on that.”

“That refusal lacked sincerity.” Ling Mo shook his head.

“Heh, once you get familiar enough working with us, who knows, you might become a partner of the headquarters?” Mu Chen laughed awkwardly.

“We’ll see about that…” Ling Mo replied casually.

“Right,” Ling Mo broke the silence after less than two seconds, “Have you thought about how you’re going to explain this to your branch?”

“What have you thought about… how to handle things once you get to the branch?” Mu Chen’s heart skipped a beat, but he couldn’t help asking.

His question had a certain air of recklessness, especially after sharing his plan with Xia Zhi. He felt as if he had secured a fallback option.

Asking couldn’t hurt—getting more information could only help the one who had escaped to have a better grip on the situation.

Yet, Ling Mo seemed entirely unsurprised, merely offering a slight smile: “No answer in your mind?”

“That’s why I’m asking you!”

Mu Chen’s inner turmoil and anticipation dissipated in an instant, though he managed to hold back his roar.

Now was a critical moment; he couldn’t afford to be looked down upon.

“Heh…” Mu Chen let out a laugh, bland and noncommittal.

Perhaps silence was more eloquent than words here… he thought to himself.

Still, it was frustrating that he hadn’t managed to get any information out of Ling Mo.

Seeing that Ling Mo had finally stopped asking questions, Mu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, rolling his eyes internally: “Always trying to fish for information from me, but when I ask, he says nothing…”

Then he couldn’t help but frown, struggling under the weight of his backpack, while stealing glances at Ling Mo and his group.

A few hours had been mentioned, but how could he stall them…

And in fact, there wasn’t as much time as he had let on, considering he had also factored in the time for the chosen one to escape!

“Right, if I say I have a stomachache now, can I buy myself a couple of hours?” Mu Chen thought, glancing at an open box beside him.

Inside the box, which bore signs of being gnawed at, a few damaged biscuit packages lay forlornly…

Mu Chen stared for a moment, then swallowed hard: “Better not!”

…

*Clang!*

In an alley beside the Guesthouse, a panda of exaggerated size was awkwardly squeezed between two walls, with a bored-looking little girl perched atop its head.

Not too far from them were about a dozen zombies, but the girl acted as though she didn’t see them at all.

She was biting on a gel, her eyes fixated on an old-fashioned iron gate ahead.

The iron gate was almost completely sealed, with only a gap about the width of a palm at the bottom, invisible from her position.

However, once a silver thread extended from around her neck, the little girl immediately showed a look of disappointment: “Ah, it’s that human woman.”

“MeGu!” The Mutated Panda drooped its eyelids too, looking somewhat listless.

“Speaking of which, Xiao Bai, how exactly is your body mutating?” The little girl didn’t seem to move, but she suddenly lunged forward, poking her body through the gap, blocking the Mutated Panda’s view with a face-to-face, “Are you going to turn out like me, or like Black Silk? Or like that little monster that infected you?”

Xiao Bai shook its head and grunted: “MeGu…”

“Being a national treasure, why is your mutation so slow? No wonder you’ve looked the same for eons… Even being infected by the virus only changed your color.”

As she spoke, the zombie loli’s eyes tinted slightly red, then she sighed: “Even with the change in color, one can still tell you’re a panda.”

“MeGu…” Xiao Bai sounded a bit wronged this time…

…

At this moment, Xu Shuhan could never have imagined that outside the gate, three pairs of eyes were watching her.

But although she had volunteered to stay and watch the gate, the thought of taking the opportunity to flee never crossed her mind.

Among the three, she had the least mobility and the weakest physical strength.

And, if she thought about it, perhaps the other two companions might even join the pursuit against her.

Xu Shuhan was clear about this, but even so, she felt somewhat strange at the moment.

“They really trust me…” Xu Shuhan sat on the bicycle, staring at the gate for a while, then turned to look up at the building.

In the entire yard, she was alone.

“This Ling Mo… I thought he would be watching me from upstairs.” Seeing no one, she lowered her head again, but a smile couldn’t help but appear on her lips, “What’s wrong with me, feeling uncomfortable not being watched? No, no, that won’t do…”

But when she looked up again, she spotted someone at the entrance of the Guesthouse.

“Xia Zhi?” She glanced at him in surprise, and then looked up at the upstairs again, “Aren’t you guys looking for something?”

Xia Zhi looked the same as always, but following Xu Shuhan’s gaze, he also glanced upward.

“What’s up, you got something to tell me?” Xu Shuhan asked with some confusion, taking off her headphones in the process.

Xia Zhi looked at her, moved his lips, but then shook his head.

Xu Shuhan smiled and said, “Is it because Mu Chen is being annoying?”

This time Xia Zhi nodded, again glancing upwards.

“I find him annoying too, but haven’t you noticed that Ling Mo talks quite a bit, too?” Xu Shuhan asked. “I’ve kind of gotten used to it, actually. It’s a nice feeling, not so oppressive anymore.”

“Are you listening?” Xu Shuhan inquired once more.

Xia Zhi slowly lowered his head and nodded towards Xu Shuhan.

Xu Shuhan didn’t look up; she continued chatting with a smile on her face.

However, had she looked up just then, she would’ve noticed a curtain on the upper floor still trembling slightly.

“Sending Xia Zhi, the one with the weakest presence, to be the messenger was definitely a wise decision!”

Behind the curtain, Mu Chen was excited: “If it were me talking to Xu Shuhan, Ling Mo and the others wouldn’t have been so careless.”

Although it was a last resort that led to choosing Xia Zhi for the discussion today, Ling Mo and the others’ vigilance was indeed a very important reason.

In this regard, Xia Zhi had a natural advantage.

In fact, even Mu Chen, who was Xia Zhi’s companion, often forgot about Xia Zhi’s presence. It was Ling Mo, who consistently noticed Xia Zhi’s gestures and expressions, that surprised both Mu Chen and Xu Shuhan.

But still… they probably won’t be too guarded, right?

“Xia Zhi, you really are a natural oddity with a purpose!” Mu Chen chuckled.

“Thump!”

A dull sound suddenly came from behind, startling Mu Chen so much that he shuddered.

“Hey, you’re taking too long, what’s wrong, prostate problems?” Ling Mo’s voice came from outside the door.

Mu Chen quickly cleared his throat, frowned, and walked past the corner of the bathroom with a skeleton in it, shouting back, “You try being watched by the dead! See if you don’t mess up!”