Chapter 25: The Mutated Corpse

"He's dead. I killed him."

Chen Yun's mental state seemed rather fragile. Meng Ran sheathed her knife and stepped further into the room. Inside, Fang Weiwen lay on the bed, his eyes wide open, the spark of life extinguished from his body.

Standing in the living room, Chen Yun slowly began to regain her composure. She looked at the trail of blood leading back to the room and finally realized that she had actually succeeded.

"The corpse will undergo a mutation. It’s not safe to leave it here," Meng Ran said, casting a glance at her.

Chen Yun walked over. "What do you mean? He can come back to life?"

Opportunities to strike when an enemy is down were rare; Chen Yun knew she wouldn't have the courage to do it a second time.

"He can return, but not as a living person—as a corpse," Meng Ran explained, assessing the situation. "Let’s throw him out. The snowdrifts on the ground floor will block him; he won't be able to get back up for a while."

They had to deal with him before the mutation took hold. Chen Yun didn't object. She helped Meng Ran open the window and watched as Fang Weiwen's body was tossed out. A dull thud followed as he hit the deep snow, and the heavy burden in Chen Yun’s heart finally lifted.

"He won't be able to climb back up for now," Meng Ran said, staring at the chaotic room. "Fang Weiwen had many accomplices. You should find somewhere else to live."

Before leaving, Meng Ran offered this final piece of advice. She had expected to spend a lot of effort tonight, but to her surprise, Chen Yun had already taken care of Fang Weiwen before she even arrived. In this building, everyone knew Chen Yun as a pitiful, cowardly woman. Fang Weiwen was a good-for-nothing who loved to bully those closest to him. Chen Yun had suffered deeply at his hands; she had spent years trying to divorce him without success, and after he dragged her back, she had grown quiet and submissive—the version of her Meng Ran had come to know. Killing him with her own hands today was, in a way, a form of liberation.

Meng Ran closed the door for her and returned to her own place. She had already dumped several bodies into the snowdrifts on the ground floor. With no way of knowing when those zombies might wander inside, she had to prepare, increase her strength, and get out of here.

Hearing Meng Ran return, Nian Nian stood by the door holding a lamp. "How did it go?"

Meng Ran gestured for her to stay back; she was covered in the scent of blood and didn't want Nian Nian to smell it. Nian Nian brightened the room, and Meng Ran began to change.

"There were some minor surprises, but it’s done. I just don't know if he will turn into one of those monsters."

Meng Ran had spoken to Nian Nian about the zombies. To the little girl, they were terrifying creatures—dead things that came back to life to feed on the living. Meng Ran knew that relying on her spatial ability and her vines was enough to protect herself and Nian Nian for now, but it wasn't enough for the long term.

"Spend the next few days packing up our things. We’re going to leave."

Meng Ran didn't know what the world outside the residential complex had become, but they had to go and see for themselves. She wondered when the snow would finally stop. She drank a bowl of hot milk to chase away the chill.

"Are we moving?" Nian Nian asked.

Meng Ran nodded. "Yes, we're moving."

As for where they would go, she hadn't decided yet. In a world where everything had ground to a halt, where could they find a place to call home? Xiang Yajing hadn't been in touch since that last phone call, and Meng Ran didn't even know if she was alive or dead.

"Go to sleep."

After comforting Nian Nian and sending her to rest, Meng Ran left the space and returned to her apartment to pack throughout the night. After several bouts of unrest, her living room was a mess. She funneled everything she could into her spatial dimension. After living here for so long, the prospect of leaving was strangely unsettling.

The next morning, Meng Ran looked at the vines wrapped around her palm. "I wonder what you'll become after the next upgrade."

Her 10% affinity was already much stronger than when she started, but it was a shame that the vegetables matured at different rates, allowing her to gain only a little bit at a time. Every time she harvested a batch, she replanted; the faster ones took about a week, the slower ones half a month.

"It seems I'll need to expand the vegetable plot." There was still some empty space in front of the small farm area; she could clear it out to plant more.

As she thought about this, she drifted off to sleep. She had been too busy lately to focus on these things, but with Fang Weiwen dead, no one else in Building 23 would likely rise to challenge her for a while. This gave her the time she needed to prepare.

While Meng Ran began her preparations, the corpses were quietly undergoing their transformations. The first to change was the body of Qu Zixuan.

When noise erupted from the top floor again, Shao Cheng couldn't take it anymore and went to find Wang Ruixiang. In just a few days, both of them looked wretched; their lips were cracked and dry, and the glass on the coffee table was filled with dirty, melted snow.

"What on earth is going on up there? In this weather, could there really be rats?" They didn't dare think of Qu Zixuan. If he had come back from the dead, it would be too terrifying to contemplate.

"How should I know?" Wang Ruixiang, having gone two days without food, was irritable and snapped at Shao Cheng.

Another thud echoed—this time much louder, as if something were slamming against the door. Shao Cheng swallowed hard. "It couldn't really be Qu Zixuan, could it?"

If he were alive, wouldn't he be calling for help? Wang Ruixiang looked up, a chill running down his spine. He was terrified it was something sinister. "If it's dangerous, going up there is just asking for death. Just pretend you didn't hear it."

They were trapped here with nowhere else to go. The door to the top floor was sturdy enough; surely it wouldn't break. It was all so bizarre—the snow had been falling for over half a month, and now these things were appearing.

Beyond the shattered glass door, the snowfall had eased slightly, but the temperature remained unbearable. Shao Cheng was terrified, cold, and hungry. With the top floor no longer quiet, he felt that under these circumstances, he might as well be dead.

Down below, similar scenes were unfolding. Frozen, stiff corpses slowly dragged themselves up. They flexed their limbs until they could move, then looked up at the high-rises. Their noses twitched, and they pulled their legs from the snow, beginning to walk forward.

People in the buildings above noticed them. "Why are there people down there?"

Even with all the chaos these past few days, few people ventured out in such temperatures; a moment's carelessness meant frostbite. "It feels a bit strange." Those figures were covered in blood, and their movements were stiff. Because they were so far away, the people watching couldn't see their faces and had no idea they were looking at corpses.

With the internet down, no one was telling them what was happening in the other buildings; many were completely isolated. Meng Ran kept a close watch on the ground, witnessing the zombies waking up in the snow, though she couldn't see where Fang Weiwen had gone.