My Girlfriend is a Zombie Chapter 3 – Encounter with Childhood Sweetheart

Utilizing the zombie puppet's perception, Ling Mo surveyed the interior of the vehicle.

It was dim within, populated by numerous shadowy figures, all in a state of repose.

Upon maneuvering past the front, it became apparent that the front and rear doors were jammed shut due to the crushing impact.

Several windows were fractured, though not sufficiently for egress. Ling Mo directed the puppet, shattered one of the windows, and gained entry.

The stench inside the vehicle was overpowering; despite experiencing it through the zombie puppet, Ling Mo couldn't help but wrinkle his brow.

The mingling aromas of blood and decay created a sickeningly nauseating atmosphere.

The instant the puppet landed inside the vehicle, its foot encountered a cadaver. A downward glance caused Ling Mo to startle immediately.

Although the remains were significantly decomposed, a pair of crimson eyes were unmistakably visible on its bloated face. It was evident that the individual had transformed into a zombie prior to their demise.

No one had entered, nor had anyone escaped; had the zombies succumbed to starvation?

Ling Mo swiftly guided the puppet towards the bus's rear, but he soon perceived that something was amiss.

The compartment was littered with substantial bloodstains and torn fragments of clothing, suggesting that a violent struggle erupted subsequent to the mutation.

However, the figures lying there were all mutated zombies, and Ling Mo observed that the backs of their heads had been crudely severed.

Who could have perpetrated such an act?

A sudden wave of dread washed over Ling Mo. As he stood in stunned silence, a silhouette abruptly sprang from behind a seat, moving with the swiftness of a cheetah, and leaped onto the back of his zombie puppet.

The apparition moved stealthily and with remarkable agility. Despite its limited strength, by the time Ling Mo registered its presence, the shadow had already extended its hand towards the puppet's nape.

Caught off guard, Ling Mo instinctively commanded the puppet to lurch backward, forcibly dragging the shadow to the ground.

However, in that same instant, the zombie puppet's cranium sustained a gash, and blood began to flow profusely.

“Good heavens… these hands are like knives!”

The effort invested in cultivating this young zombie puppet weighed heavily on Ling Mo’s mind, causing him distress and simultaneously heightening his wariness of the shadow.

Using his elbow, he pinned the shadow’s neck while controlling the puppet, and with his free hand, he grasped its wrist, leveraging himself to stand.

Yet, as he regained his footing, the shadow utilized its other hand to stab into the puppet's vulnerable abdomen.

Although the zombie puppet felt no physical pain, Ling Mo’s expression grew exceedingly complex.

To be precise, in the very moment the shadow prepared its strike, Ling Mo, who had been ready to retaliate, froze upon beholding the shadow's countenance.

“Ye… Ye Lian…”

Lying beneath him, the shadow whose hand was embedded in the puppet’s midsection, was the very person he had been searching for: Ye Lian.

Ling Mo had entertained numerous hypotheses, but never had he envisioned finding Ye Lian in such a dire state.

Following her mutation, Ye Lian's once beautiful, large eyes had turned a bloody crimson. However, her facial features were not distorted like those of typical zombies; instead, they appeared exceptionally serene and strikingly cool.

For a fleeting moment, Ling Mo hesitated. But when Ye Lian withdrew her hand, dripping with the puppet's viscera, Ling Mo was suddenly jolted back to reality.

Ye Lian's small hands appeared unchanged from before, yet their nails possessed an unnatural hardness, and her fingers were strong enough to rend flesh. This starkly demonstrated her divergence from ordinary zombies.

Furthermore, typical zombies would not attack a fellow zombie puppet… Recalling the bus filled with zombie corpses and looking at Ye Lian once more, Ling Mo suddenly grasped a crucial realization.

After the initial human inhabitants were consumed, the remaining zombies, driven by insatiable hunger, turned on each other. Ye Lian, the sole zombie survivor, had undergone a peculiar and drastic mutation…

While Ling Mo remained lost in thought, the zombie puppet’s intestines had been extracted, blood gushing forth and splattering onto her person.

Stirred by the scent of fresh blood, her eyes seemed to burn brighter, and her strength appeared to surge. She seized the puppet’s arm and violently flung it aside.

The moment the zombie puppet impacted the ground, Ye Lian lunged forward, placing her hands directly on the puppet’s neck.

Her movements were far more fluid than those of standard zombies. Ling Mo was unable to even react, finding himself completely at Ye Lian's mercy.

Experiencing a suffocating sensation, the zombie puppet’s primal instincts were triggered, and Ling Mo felt waves of emptiness clouding his mind. This sensation signaled that the puppet was on the verge of slipping from his control.

In that critical moment, Ling Mo finally emerged from his shock at the reunion with Ye Lian. He acknowledged that Ye Lian's current state was, to a certain extent, a consequence of his own actions.

While exerting his utmost effort to maintain command of the zombie puppet, Ling Mo was struck by a daring notion.

Given that zombies were merely humans infected by a virus, and observing Ye Lian's altered condition, it was plausible that her virus had mutated. If this were the case, there might exist a method to restore her former self.

Even if this hope was exceedingly faint, as long as a possibility existed, Ling Mo was resolute in his determination to pursue it.

The instant that thought sparked, Ling Mo directed the puppet to fix its gaze intently on Ye Lian’s eyes. Under the intense focus of Ling Mo’s spirit, Ye Lian’s head transformed into a sphere of light within his vision.

Yet, the luminescence of this sphere differed from that of typical zombies. Infected by the virus, zombies lose their intellect, operating solely on primal instincts. Consequently, the spiritual light signifying their core consciousness is usually nebulous. Ye Lian’s spiritual light, however, was markedly brighter, possessing subtle crimson undertones.

What could this signify?

The immediate circumstances precluded further contemplation, compelling Ling Mo to concentrate his attention on Ye Lian’s light, attempting to delve deeper.

Indeed, she proved distinct from ordinary zombies. Ling Mo encountered a resistance he hadn't experienced with others, a subtle yet perceptible falter in his own heartbeat.

Could it be that Ye Lian had regained a fragment of consciousness? However, her outward appearance suggested otherwise.

By the time Ling Mo finally asserted control over Ye Lian, a cold sweat bathed his body, and the zombie puppet had been completely strangled during the exertion.

But as Ling Mo cautiously guided Ye Lian to rise, an unexpected yearning surged through him. This desire emanated from Ye Lian’s spiritual realm, its focus aimed at something within the puppet’s brain.

In his previous encounters with puppets, Ling Mo had never detected any emotion, as zombie puppets, apart from their base insticts, possessed no other drives.

This newfound sensation from Ye Lian left Ling Mo bewildered and surprised. If mutation could spawn desire, then perhaps, with continued progression, she might even reclaim her emotions!

This thought spurred Ling Mo to use Ye Lian to pierce the zombie puppet’s head. Guided by this nascent desire, Ye Lian swiftly extracted a small, gel-like object from within.

It resembled a fragment of infected brain tissue, tinged with red, possessing the elasticity of rubber when held.

After toying with the object, suppressing his nausea, Ling Mo urged it into Ye Lian’s mouth.

An immediate wave of heat radiated from her stomach, swiftly permeating her entire body. Ye Lian’s previously frail form seemed to absorb sustenance.

Ling Mo marveled that this repulsive gel could yield such an effect, speculating that Ye Lian’s unusual state might stem from its consumption.

Guiding Ye Lian out of the vehicle and into his refuge, Ling Mo finally faced her directly.

Gazing upon Ye Lian’s blood-speckled form, her pallid cheeks, and those eerily crimson eyes, Ling Mo was overcome with a complex swirl of emotions. Despite the palpable aura of danger and the chilling atmosphere surrounding Ye Lian, her familiar visage held him in a moment of stunned silence.

He couldn't resist reaching out, gently wiping the bloodstains from her face. "Don't worry," he vowed, "Big brother will definitely find a way to help you recover."