“Me?”
Xiao Ye suddenly realized that the person standing before her was the girl she had once secretly admired when she was a boy.
Her depression, back then, followed a grim pattern: despair over the future would lead to fantasies of intimacy with Keke, only for the stark impossibility of it to set in, plunging her into deeper despair.
To add to the indignity, Keke had even rejected her confession just days before she was bitten by a zombie.
Yet, here she was now, the girl she had once adored, conversing with her so amiably, making the entire situation feel utterly surreal.
“As for me…”
‘If Keke knew who I truly was, would she still be so naturally close to me?’
What if she told them her real identity?
She suddenly recalled the conclusion she had reached not long ago.
‘No.’
Given her constitution, which inexplicably attracted zombies, if the siblings were to learn her true identity and realize she was their former comrade, they would undoubtedly protect her without a second thought.
Under no circumstances could that happen.
“I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Huh?” Keke was visibly taken aback by Xiao Ye’s response.
Though unspoken, Keke’s expression clearly conveyed her unspoken question: ‘Are you dissatisfied with us in some way?’
“It’s not that I dislike you, it’s just that…”
She certainly couldn’t utter something like ‘I’d be a burden to you.’ After all, she was currently the strongest close-quarters fighter among the survivors; there was no way her combat prowess could be considered a hindrance.
Moreover, revealing even a partial truth—that she possessed a physique attracting zombies—would, Xiao Ye believed, most likely expose her true identity.
While others might not be so discerning, Jing Lan, that fellow, was sometimes annoyingly sharp when it came to details.
Xiao Ye even suspected she might have already subtly hinted at something crucial.
If she were to add that she attracted zombies, her cover would likely be blown on the spot.
‘Running away alone, vanishing from Jing Lan and Keke’s lives, that’s the best option.’
So—
“It’s just that…”
‘Damn, I can’t think of anything.’
She genuinely had no reason not to move with the siblings.
“Come with me,” Jing Lan offered, somewhat unexpectedly, extending a direct invitation.
“Hey, big brother, at times like this, you should respect a girl’s choice and not be so pushy,” Keke grumbled, a hint of displeasure in her voice.
“There’s something interesting I believe you both need to know.”
As Jing Lan spoke, he pulled out a stone.
****
He then explained the stone’s origins as clearly as possible: it belonged to a friend of Leng Yu, the young master from the Northeast. The stone’s owner was a Japanese language teacher who had come to China, whose ancestor, a WWII Japanese soldier, had found it in the forests of northern Myanmar. Astonishingly, it possessed the power to influence the minds of white-haired humans.
“If we were to write our experiences into a novel someday,” Keke mused, idly turning the stone in her fingers, “wouldn’t readers start to think it’s turning into a supernatural power story?”
“So, can you offer any scientific explanation for this now?” Jing Lan inquired.
Xiao Ye, standing nearby, still seemed unconvinced.
“We’ve tried it, you know.
When you held the stone, senior, I didn’t feel anything.”
“Regarding a scientific explanation, the first thing that comes to mind is a biological compass, like those found in sea turtles or homing pigeons, which allows them to navigate using magnetic fields.”
“But magnetic fields are generated by the Earth, not by a single magnet, are they?” Jing Lan interjected.
“Please, as a humanities student, try not to jump in with answers on basic natural science.
However, you are correct.
And this stone—it doesn’t look like a magnet at all.
Perhaps we should just try it directly; wild guesses won’t yield any results.”
Clenching the stone, Keke began issuing commands to Xiao Ye.
“Sit, girl!”
“Even if she has white hair, you can’t treat her like Inuyasha, can you?” Jing Lan quipped.
Xiao Ye, for her part, showed no reaction.
“Destroy the Holy Grail!” Keke yelled again.
“What Holy Grail?! Do you think this is a Command Seal?”
“That!” Keke pointed to a paper cup on the table.
It was likely tea served by the convenience store owner to a regular, now containing only rapidly drying, moldy tea leaves.
Xiao Ye indicated that she felt no urge to destroy the “Holy Grail.”
“Tch.” Keke flicked a finger, sending the “Holy Grail” flying.
“Alright, Xiao Bai, listen up.
I’m making the following strategic deployment adjustments: use three fingers from your left hand and two from your right to scratch your hairline; then, clench both hands into fists and beat up that stinky Jing Lan!”
The first breath of morning wind whistled through a crack in the convenience store window, yet Xiao Ye remained perfectly still.
“I don’t think we’re at the point of needing a decisive battle yet,” Jing Lan sighed.
“I’ll try it too, to see if perhaps only I can activate this ability.”
Jing Lan, holding the stone, issued several more commands, far more specific and simple than Keke’s absurd ones—such as raising a hand or stomping a foot.
Still, Xiao Ye reported feeling nothing.
This was truly odd.
Could the previous incidents—the granary monster’s frenzy, Xiao Ye’s rampage, and the tracking of his location—have all been mere coincidences?
Keke affirmed that she certainly didn’t doubt her brother was telling the truth, but the possibilities were too numerous.
Perhaps other conditions had coincided with holding the stone, leading them to mistakenly attribute the power to it?
In any case, there were too many unknowns, and she feared that random guesswork wouldn’t lead to any definitive conclusions.
“However, if Xiao Bai can indeed track your location, big brother, then it would certainly be better for you two to move together.”
Keke skillfully steered the conversation back.
“But, I…” the white-haired girl stammered, only for Keke to wave her hand dismissively.
“Alright, it’s settled then.
Big brother, you’re not allowed to bully her!”
“Don’t worry.
As long as she doesn’t bully me, we’ll be fine.”
Next, they would seek out the others to discuss their daytime operations for the 25th.
Zhao Long needed to be taken to a hospital, and this time, they truly hoped no one else would die.
Additionally, it would be best to hold a simple memorial for Kong Cheng; though his body couldn’t be found, a eulogy should be delivered.
And while they were at it—
“Let’s also commemorate Ling Yechen,” Jing Lan said.
Outside the window, the sky was gradually brightening, with white light beginning to spread along the edges of the cobalt blue.
Keke also gazed out the window.
“Do you care for this friend a lot?”
“Yes, I was very fond of this friend.”
“Would you want him to live forever in your heart?”
“I would.”
“Even Little Miao from back then didn’t get this kind of treatment.”
“!”
Keke turned around.
“What’s wrong?
There’s nothing shameful about feeling that a good brother is more important than a girlfriend.”
“Um… Keke, perhaps it’s not best to rank the pain in Jing Lan’s heart,” Xiao Ye quickly interjected, trying to smooth things over.
“Jing Lan must have made a huge effort to forget Little Miao back then.
It’s not a question of who was more important.”
Keke froze, suddenly regretting her thoughtless remark.
“I really spoke without thinking.
I’m sorry, big brother.
Xiao Ye… I mean, I’m also deeply saddened by the passing of Ling Yechen, and he was bitten while protecting you.
I should be thanking him.”
The group then set off, ready to attend to their tasks.
Just as Jing Lan was about to tuck the stone back into his pocket and take a step, his foot landed with a soft crunch on the paper cup Keke had flicked away earlier.
The moldy tea leaves inside were soft and slick, causing Jing Lan to instantly lose his balance and lurch forward.
Almost simultaneously, Jing Lan felt his arm seized and pulled with considerable force.
Having trained in martial arts, his body’s reflexes were exceptionally keen; he immediately shifted his center of gravity, neutralizing the unbalanced momentum, and thus narrowly avoided a humiliating fall.
Jing Lan picked up the cup, placed it back on the table, and then casually flicked his cousin’s forehead.
“Next time you litter, I’ll throw *you* out.”
The siblings exchanged a couple of their usual playful jabs before finally noticing Xiao Ye, who stood beside them with a look of utter astonishment.
“Um, just now, it seems… it triggered.”
The white-haired girl stared at her hands with an incredulous expression, as if they were no longer her own.
In the exact moment Jing Lan was about to fall, she had surged forward, almost as if possessed, to grab hold of him.
This sensation was not new to her.
It had happened before when rescuing Keke at the Minzu Middle School, and thinking back, it was likely Jing Lan had touched the stone then too.
So what, precisely, was the key to triggering this power?
After hearing Xiao Ye’s account, Keke turned to her cousin.
“I just remembered a story.
Big brother, didn’t you love reading ‘The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles’ when you were little?
Do you recall the power of the bronze tree that Xie Ziyang obtained in the ‘Qinling Sacred Tree’ chapter?”
“You mean that ‘wish-fulfillment’ power?
The one that could even resurrect his dead mother?”
Keke nodded.
“That part was certainly exaggerated, but do you remember a specific detail mentioned there?
It said that the ‘wish-fulfillment’ power wasn’t triggered by just any mental activity.
Instead, only things one *already believed* could be pushed along to become reality.
In other words, you needed a special way to ‘think’ it into being.”
Jing Lan paused, then immediately grasped her meaning.
“So, if I want to command Xiao Ye, I need to be in a specific psychological state.
And now, it’s quite clear what that state is: I need to be anxious.”
At the granary, when his life hung by a thread and he picked up the stone, he had barely issued any commands.
Yet, his mere anxiety was enough to drive the white-haired monster directly into a frenzy.
Similarly, later at the school, he hadn’t given any explicit commands; he had only harbored a desperate wish for rescue.
But that had been sufficient, for the white-haired girl had then fought with all her might to save him.
Viewed this way, it wasn’t his words or actions that mattered, but rather his “emotions.”
Specific emotions could trigger this unknown power.
Very well, he would test it now.
With that thought, he pulled out the small stone once more, but instead of issuing any commands, he simply gazed silently at the white-haired girl before him.
Xiao Ye, looking a little bewildered, took half a step back.
‘Alright, I’ll try to like this girl, and see if that emotion can trigger a reaction.’
‘She really is quite cute, now that I think about it,’ Jing Lan continued to admire the girl’s physique.
‘Though small in stature, her figure is perfectly proportioned, with just the right amount of curves.
Paired with high heels, she even gives the illusion of being tall and slender.
Her long, slightly wavy white hair is simply elven.
Her features… surprisingly, she has a touch of an ethnic minority girl’s charm, and her blue eyes are truly beautiful…’
‘Do you want to possess her?’
This question naturally sprang into his mind.
‘Now isn’t the time to be thinking about such things,’ he instinctively tried to dismiss it.
‘But wait a minute, this is just an experiment.
Why are you so eager to focus on the reality of that question?’
‘Quickly, try to like her.
This isn’t lewdness; this is scientific research.’
Having clarified this for himself, Jing Lan narrowed his eyes slightly, attempting something he hadn’t done in a long time.
Fantasizing.
…
Suddenly, Xiao Ye’s shoulders tensed nervously.
Noticing something amiss, Keke quickly asked, “What’s wrong, Xiao Bai?”
Xiao Ye’s cheeks flushed crimson as she took another step back.
“I don’t know why, but I feel like Senior… he wants to get… close to me.”
****
The trio left the convenience store, encountering Old Cao and Old Li who were looking for them.
Old Cao was quite curious about the slap mark on Jing Lan’s face.
“He bullied my little sister,” Keke stated coldly.
“Did he bully you?” Old Cao asked.
“He bullied her.
I’m the big sister,” Keke clarified, gesturing to Xiao Ye.
“Actually, it’s nothing…”
Before it was fully light, Old Cao directed the able-bodied survivors to clean the parking lot, throwing zombie corpses from the office building outside.
Keke cautioned, “If we plan to stay here, we’d best throw the corpses much further away later.
They’ll decompose in less than two days, and who knows what else is in those zombie bellies besides E. coli and Salmonella.
When the putrescine makes them bloat and burst, it’s guaranteed to stink us all to death.”
“I also wonder if zombies even count as living organisms, or if they have any immunity.
For all we know, they’re already as filthy as the corpses they are.”
“Speaking of which, big brother, you should really take a shower.
Even with fresh clothes, you still reek of ammonia.”
“That reminds me,” Old Cao interjected, “I need to tell you that we’re severely short on water right now.”