Chapter 393: Bait
After sending off the Xindu group, there was still no news of Jiang Tong.
Jiang Yu’s distracted state had improved; he seemed to have reverted to his former self—cold and distant, hiding in the shadows and refusing to engage with anyone. It was as if Jiang Tong had never existed.
Although there was no news about Jiang Tong, cases of missing people were beginning to emerge in Dongyang and several nearby bases. Just moments ago, Su Tao received a call from Pei Dong—she reported finding the skinned corpse of a man at an abandoned gas station on the outskirts of Dongyang.
What shocked Su Tao the most was that after identifying the body, they discovered it belonged to a tenant from Taoyang!
It was speculated that he had been abducted and killed while on his way home.
That morning, Su Tao accompanied the tenant’s family to the outskirts to identify the body.
After confirming the identity, the tenant’s parents and fiancée collapsed to the ground in grief.
The elderly father, his hair streaked with white, stared at the bloodied corpse, mouth open, unable to utter a sound.
Su Tao turned her head away, feeling a pounding sensation behind her eyes.
She didn’t know the tenant well but had heard from Meng Qian that he was a warm-hearted person who had even helped Fang Zhi with stocking supplies during the busiest times.
In a cold tone, Pei Dong said, “It’s ‘Huapi.’”
Su Tao nodded stiffly and asked, “Is there really no way to stop it? Are we just going to let it slaughter people at will?”
It felt like the chaos caused by “Bone Wings” in Dongyang was happening all over again—panic and fear gripping the community.
Against mutant zombies, humans seemed powerless and passive.
Pei Dong shook his head. “No. Professor Qiao told me that mutant zombies evolve incredibly fast. This ‘Huapi’ is likely even more dangerous than Bone Wings. I originally wanted to mobilize all of Dongyang to hunt it down, but without Major Shi, that’s nothing more than a fantasy.”
Su Tao felt overwhelmed.
Including the unknown factor of Jiang Tong, there were already three mutant zombies gathered in the vicinity of Dongyang and Taoyang.
No other place in the country—or even the world—had encountered such a situation.
Jiang Tong had vanished without a trace. It was unclear whether she had simply left or was planning something sinister.
If she were successfully manipulated by “Huapi” to unleash slaughter on humanity, it would mark the bloodiest chapter of the apocalypse.
And when that happened, Dongyang and Taoyang would bear the brunt of the devastation.
Just imagining it made Su Tao’s scalp tingle with fear.
“Have you reported this to Changjing?” she asked.
Pei Dong nodded. “Yes. Changjing has already dispatched a volunteer army, which should arrive within the next couple of days. But I doubt they’ll be much help. Even if we capture it, we can’t kill it completely. Unless… unless we unlock the genetic key to mutant zombies and develop a specialized drug against them.”
A drug…
Su Tao immediately thought of what Shen Wencheng had said.
If they had another mutant zombie for research, their chances of creating a drug would increase significantly.
Another mutant zombie… but who?
“Huapi” was ruthless and cunning—impossible to capture, let alone cooperate for research.
That only left Jiang Tong.
If Jiang Tong still retained any human conscience or familial attachment, using Jiang Yu as bait would likely draw her into the laboratory without resistance.
When this thought struck Su Tao, it was like a bolt of lightning—stunning and horrifying.
No.
She hadn’t witnessed how Shen Wencheng dissected Bone Wings, but she knew being a test subject was unimaginably cruel.
If it were “Huapi,” she would hand it over without hesitation.
But Jiang Tong… she couldn’t.
A sharp pain pierced Su Tao’s head.
It felt like she had reached a crossroads where every path was narrow, dark, and filled with despair.
“Tao?” Pei Dong called out with concern. “Are you feeling okay? You look pale.”
Su Tao waved a weak hand. “I’m fine. I need to go back and think.”
But even by nightfall, she still hadn’t found a solution.
From a broader perspective, refusing to use Jiang Tong as a test subject meant countless innocent people would continue to fall victim to mutant zombies.
If the number of mutant zombies surged and no drug was developed in time—
Humanity would be doomed.
Lost in thought, Su Tao absentmindedly squeezed toothpaste onto her face instead of face wash.
Leaning against the doorframe, Shi Zijin smirked. “Will that foam up?”
Still distracted, Su Tao scrubbed harder but produced no foam. Only then did she realize her mistake when she reached for more “face wash.”
The cool, stinging sensation on her face finally snapped her back to reality.
She stood frozen, toothpaste dripping down her face, and softly murmured, “Tell me… which is more important—conscience or human lives?”
Not using Jiang Tong was her conscience speaking. But with “Huapi” still at large, countless more lives would be lost.
Shi Zijin answered without hesitation, “Human lives. Without lives, conscience means nothing. I suggest you turn Jiang Tong into a test subject as soon as possible. Tao, as a leader, sometimes you have to be ruthless.”
Su Tao was stunned. “You already know?”
Shi Zijin nodded. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.”
Su Tao fell into a long silence before finally speaking:
“I’m just an ordinary person. I didn’t grow up reading books about the greater good or self-sacrifice. My teacher only ever told me to follow my conscience—not how to be a leader or a savior…”
When she first got the system, all she wanted was a better life for herself.
Then, she wished for the people around her to live better lives.
But the burden kept growing. Now, it felt like the fate of humanity rested on her decisions.
The pressure was suffocating.
Shi Zijin’s heart softened at her words.
She was, after all, just a young girl—not even twenty years old—yet she had already carried so much.
Su Tao shook herself out of it, washing the toothpaste off her face.
“I’ll talk to Jiang Yu,” she said.
That night, she summoned Jiang Yu to her study.
Despite her reluctance, she explained the plan—to use him as bait for Jiang Tong—and laid out the reasons behind it.
Once she finished, she turned away, unable to face his reaction.
She could have kept him in the dark, spreading a rumor that he was gravely injured to lure Jiang Tong out.
But she couldn’t bring herself to deceive him.
Yet, sometimes, the truth was far crueler than a lie.
Jiang Yu listened quietly before breaking into soft laughter.
His frail, thin body trembled inside his loose clothing.
Soon, his laughter turned into heartbreaking sobs—each sound piercing Su Tao’s heart.
Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes, streaming down her face as she wept with him.
