Gene Editing

“Sister Song, I was wrong! Please forgive me, I won’t ever say anything like that again!”

Wu Sheng was sobbing with tears and snot running down his face as he looked at Song Ning. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the scissors the JK girl had dropped on the floor. Carefully, he turned sideways and hooked them with a finger, then snipped through the ropes binding him.

“Roar!”

The girl frowned. “Hmph, get up. Sister forgives you.”

“Roar! Roar!!—” Song Ning charged at Wu Sheng.

Tsk, still not behaving! Ping Chengcheng grabbed Song Ning’s arm.

“You promised me, Sister. You’re only supposed to act like that with me…” A madness flashed in her eyes.

The temperature in the storage room seemed to drop noticeably. Wu Sheng huddled in the corner, trembling.

Ping Chengcheng had absolutely, definitely lost her mind!

Should he try to do something? Try to snap her out of it?

But… wouldn’t that get him killed?

His heart was pounding like a drum. What the hell should he do?

Taking a deep breath, Wu Sheng made a decision that even surprised himself.

“Ping Chengcheng, listen…”

“Have you noticed… that Sister Song’s skin is jade green?” His voice trembled. He knew he was basically throwing his life away, but that razor’s-edge sense of danger cleared his mind.

The girl tilted her head adorably. “Hmm? You’re right. But I think… it’s really pretty.”

Wu Sheng nodded quickly. “Yeah! I think it’s pretty too.”

“No matter how pretty she is, Sister still belongs to me alone.” Ping Chengcheng shot a hostile glare at Wu Sheng.

Cold sweat instantly poured down Wu Sheng’s back. “Yes, yes, of course! Sister Song is the most beautiful woman in the world. The rest of us are trash. None of us deserve her—only you, Ping Chengcheng, are worthy of being with her.”

Ping Chengcheng giggled in satisfaction. “Mm, now that’s more like it.”

Wu Sheng forced a grin. “So, um… Sister Song’s skin—it’s not like other people’s.”

“Take a good look.”

“Doesn’t it remind you of something?”

He gently guided her thinking, step by step.

Something?

Ping Chengcheng rubbed her smooth chin, staring at the girl snarling beside her.

“Ah… now that you mention it… kind of like a zombie!”

“No… no way!”

She glared at Wu Sheng, furious. “What are you trying to do? Drive a wedge between me and Sister!?”

“I get it now. You—you want to steal Sister away!”

“Damn it, I’ll kill you!”

Her tentacles lashed out, wrapping tightly around Wu Sheng’s throat.

“You… grrk…”

Wu Sheng’s vision darkened—he felt like he was moments away from death. But—his words were getting through! Just a little more, just a bit more of a push!

And maybe Ping Chengcheng would finally wake up!

“Stop lying to yourself! Can’t you see!?”

“She’s… guh… she’s already a zombie!”

“Just listen! Listen carefully! Has she said a single word!?”

“That’s not talking—it’s a zombie’s growl!”

Wu Sheng shouted with all the strength he had left. If he couldn’t snap her out of it, he was dead for sure. His hands weakly clawed at the girl’s tentacle, but the suffocation was overwhelming.

Ping Chengcheng trembled. She stood frozen in place.

Song Ning… turned into a zombie?

No. No way!

That’s impossible. Totally impossible!

But… why did it hurt so much? Why… sniff…

Why were tears falling…?

She only remembered Huang Zhong ambushing them. Somewhere along the way, her memory went blank.

What had happened? What exactly went wrong?

“Sister… are you… are you really a zombie?” She let go of Wu Sheng and grabbed the girl’s shoulders, shaking her.

“How could I be a zombie?” To Ping Chengcheng’s eyes, the girl smiled gently.

Just like before, she reached out to stroke Ping Chengcheng’s cheek.

But in Wu Sheng’s horrified eyes, Song Ning was clawing at the girl’s cute face with inhuman ferocity.

“Sister… sniff… I knew you weren’t…”

Tears shimmered in her eyes. But in the haze, the face she saw twisted hideously. Song Ning opened her mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs. Saliva dripped messily down, spattering on Ping Chengcheng’s shoes.

“ROAR!!!”

The girl froze.

Then, the entire scene blurred again.

“What are you spacing out for, little one?” Song Ning frowned, displeased.

“Alright, we just got revenge. I’m a little tired. Let’s go back to our room.” She took Ping Chengcheng’s hand and gently pulled her into an embrace.

Her warm lips pressed against the hollow of the girl’s neck, making her shudder with excitement.

Sister! This is my sister!

From Wu Sheng’s perspective, it was a horrifying scene.

Ping Chengcheng, full of love and bliss, was being bitten on the neck by a stunningly beautiful zombie girl.

“Wh… what the hell…” He had to get out of here, fast!

If he didn’t leave now, he—he might not make it out at all!

Carefully edging toward the door, he glanced back one last time at the two entangled figures. Wu Sheng gritted his teeth.

“Ping Chengcheng! Wake up! Pay attention!”

“She’s not kissing you! She’s… eating your flesh!!!”

He turned and bolted. Hell, who wouldn’t run after seeing that!?

Eat my flesh?

Impossible… Sister’s touch is so gentle!

She turned her head to look at the Song Ning she loved so much, hearing the faint wet sounds of chewing. The scent that lingered at the tip of her nose—was it more… bloody than before?

What’s going on?

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

“Roar…”

Sister?

!!

Why—why did Sister suddenly turn into a zombie?

“Chengcheng, why are you looking at me like that?” The girl leaned forward slightly, her beautiful face nearing hers.

Ping Chengcheng let out a scream, stumbling backward. When she looked again—Song Ning had once again turned into a zombie!

She was grinding her sharp teeth. Black veins crisscrossed her jade-green skin.

Something surged into Ping Chengcheng’s mind.

Ugh…

Her head—it hurt. It hurt so much!

She clutched her head and dropped to a crouch, trembling in pain.

It hurt! It hurt!

She didn’t know why… but suddenly… everything just felt so unbearably sad…

When she opened her eyes again, she found that Sister was gone.

Only the zombie wearing Sister’s body remained, standing there.

She—she was Sister… she… she wasn’t!

She was!

“AAAHHHH!!!” Ping Chengcheng screamed, yanking at her own hair like a madwoman. Her head throbbed like it was splitting open. She moaned in pain, gasping.

She remembered everything!

It was all because of her. Because of her… She had been reborn, had all that information in her hands, but still—still let Song Ning end up like this!

Damn it! Damn it all!

Ping Chengcheng suddenly felt completely useless!

Why—why!?

The girl cried silently, as if her soul had shattered into pieces.

No… there had to be another way!

There must be!

She clung stubbornly to that hope, looking at the zombie girl beside her, forcing a faint, broken smile.

As if she didn’t know whether there was a way?

In her last life, in three whole years of the apocalypse, she’d never even heard of a way to turn a zombie back into a human!

Wait…

Ping Chengcheng suddenly thought of something—like grabbing onto a final, life-saving straw…

Didn’t she have the ability to edit genes?

What if she tried using it… on someone else?

The thought made her tremble with excitement.

“Sister, wait for me. I—I’ll definitely bring you back!”

She wiped away her tears, scooped Song Ning up in a bridal carry, and ran swiftly toward the main guest room.