Chapter 394: Awakening
Su Tao held his hand tightly. “As long as you disagree, I’ll reject this plan—”
The matter regarding Jiang Tong couldn’t be hidden for long. Dongyang had already reported the presence of two mutant zombies who were slaughtering humans.
If she could think of using Jiang Tong as bait, then Changjing would certainly come to the same conclusion—after all, it was the fastest and most cost-effective solution.
But as long as Jiang Yu disagreed, she was willing to fight against Changjing—the symbol of ultimate authority—and do everything she could to capture Huapi or another mutant zombie as a test subject.
However, Jiang Yu lowered his head and, trembling, uttered three words: “I agree…”
Su Tao’s heart sank to the bottom. “You—”
Jiang Yu suddenly stood up, turning his back to her.
“I’ve been thinking these past few days… What should happen to Tongtong? If we let her go, more of our kind will die. If we keep her here, we’ll both be tormented every time we see each other… Becoming a test subject might be the best ending for her.”
Su Tao felt a heavy ache in her chest, filled with an intense hatred for this broken and desperate world.
If not for the apocalypse and the rampant virus, everyone could live in peace. Tragedies like Bone Wings and Jiang Tong would never have happened.
Jiang Yu slowly faded into the shadows. “…Thank you for telling me the truth. I’ll… cooperate with everything from now on.”
A gust of wind blew through the study, leaving Su Tao alone in the room.
That night, she slept fitfully—one moment dreaming of the Jiang siblings killing each other, and the next, seeing Jiang Tong submerged in a laboratory tank, silently pleading for help.
She tried to break the glass, but no matter how hard she struck, she couldn’t shatter the unyielding tempered barrier.
In another dream, the dead tenant accused her of ignoring the bigger picture—if she had sacrificed Jiang Tong earlier, perhaps the massacre caused by Huapi could have been avoided.
Even Bone Wings appeared, flashing a strange smile with his beautiful eyes. His lips moved silently, as if saying: “I have others like me. You can’t trap me—”
Su Tao woke up with a jolt.
“Taotao? What’s wrong?”
Shi Zijin was sitting at her bedside. When he tried to reach out and comfort her, his hand passed right through her.
The night outside the window was still dark.
Su Tao didn’t bother asking why he had entered her bedroom without permission. She clutched her head and said, “I’ve been feeling so exhausted lately—more than ever before.”
She also felt a faint ache spreading through her body—her head, shoulder blades, limbs—all throbbing with a dull pain.
Although the pain wasn’t intense, it was ever-present.
Shi Zijin assumed it was just mental strain.
“Stop blaming yourself. You’ve already done everything you could.”
He called to Lingyu, the sleepy bird perched on the windowsill, instructing it to fetch a bottle of milk from the fridge.
Lingyu, still drowsy, grabbed the milk and flew back to its perch.
Su Tao opened the bottle and drank it down in one go, shaking off the lingering fragments of her chaotic dreams.
But the next moment, something strange happened—her vision shifted.
She saw the empty milk bottle being carried by Lingyu to the trash bin, then thrown into the garbage station in Taoyang the next morning. Eventually, it was transported out of Taoyang and burned with other household waste.
When the flames died down, she snapped back to reality—finding herself back in her bedroom with the milk bottle still intact in her hand.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Did she just… see the milk bottle’s future?
She quickly got out of bed and touched every piece of furniture in the room. With most objects, she could “see” events up to three months in the future.
She even glimpsed a scene where Black Sesame—the mischievous black cat—would stick its dirty paw into her water glass the following morning.
A voice echoed clearly in her mind:
“Prediction: Upon touching any object, you can foresee events within the next three months.”
When she tried to touch a living creature—like Lingyu—an intense wave of fatigue washed over her. The pain in her body sharpened, and her head pounded with a splitting ache.
Shi Zijin noticed her abnormal state and immediately activated his “Eye of Insight” to check on her.
“You’re awakening an ability! Stop using it—you could lose control!”
Su Tao collapsed back onto the bed, struggling to speak.
“My head… and body… feel like they’re going to split open. Is this normal?”
“It’s normal—most awakenings feel like a severe illness. Just endure it, and you’ll be fine. This is a good thing.”
Su Tao only heard the word “normal” before blacking out, completely missing his detailed explanation.
Meanwhile, in the desolate outskirts of Dongyang—
Huapi had just finished skinning her latest “prey.”
The freshly peeled human skin was still warm.
She caressed it with fascination, carefully cleaned the bloodstains, and folded it neatly into her bag.
Just as she was about to savor her gruesome “delicacy,” she spotted Jiang Tong in the distance.
Licking her lips, Huapi sneered, “Oh? Did you catch your pet?”
Jiang Tong’s expression was blank. “I’m leaving.”
Huapi raised an eyebrow. “Where to?”
Without emotion, Jiang Tong replied, “Are you coming or not? If not, I’ll go alone.”
After a moment’s contemplation, Huapi’s eyes widened, and she coldly exposed Jiang Tong’s hesitation.
“So, you’ve been wandering around these past days because you’re torn, huh? In the end, you didn’t capture him—and now you’re thinking of running away, pretending your human brother doesn’t exist.”
Jiang Tong clenched and unclenched her fists but said nothing, turning to walk toward the desolate northern road.
Huapi’s face darkened, her voice turning as cold as ice.
“Eyes Burial, you’re starting to seem more human. A perfectly evolved zombie wouldn’t be held back by such pathetic emotions.”
Jiang Tong turned her head slightly. “You don’t understand. All you know is how to kill and peel skin.”
Huapi narrowed her beautiful eyes as she watched Jiang Tong’s retreating figure, her gaze glinting with malice.
She had clearly overestimated her.
A zombie with human emotions—so weak. One day, humans would crush her entirely.
With a chilling smile, Huapi turned her gaze toward Taoyang.
She had recently heard that a true peer—another mutant zombie—was imprisoned there.
