But the thought of turning into a zombie, of losing consciousness and human emotions, filled him with dread. If Su Ling were to kill him, he feared that an unconscious him might harm her.
So—
Gu Shangse looked around the room and his eyes landed on the fruit knife on the coffee table in the living room. He pushed himself up, leaning against the wall, picked up the fruit knife, then went to the kitchen and emerged with a cleaver.
He didn't stay in the room to wait for death or mutation. He had to catch up to the escaping zombie and eliminate it before it could harm Su Ling. Su Ling loved crystal cores the most, and that zombie was so powerful, the crystal core generated in its brain must be incredibly beautiful.
***
Su Ling descended from upstairs without delay, heading directly for the second floor. When she appeared on the second floor, Gu Shangse was nowhere to be seen. Su Ling didn't overthink it and stopped, waiting for him. She waited for about ten minutes, but Gu Shangse still hadn't appeared. Su Ling found it strange; Gu Shangse wasn't someone who lacked a sense of time, so he shouldn't be late. The sky outside was already darkening, and if he didn't come soon, their difficulty in getting upstairs would increase. With this thought, Su Ling decided to go look for Gu Shangse.
Just as she was about to move and search for him, a commotion erupted outside. The sound was loud, like a heavy object falling from upstairs and crashing to the ground. Hearing the noise, Su Ling's heart skipped a beat, and she bolted towards the door. She had barely reached the doorway, before she could step outside, a fierce and strong gust of wind rushed towards her. The wind was dangerous, and Su Ling instinctively dodged to the side. As she moved aside, someone rushed in from outside, ran towards the window, and leaped out.
With a splash, the sound of something falling into water could be heard. Su Ling didn't even get a clear look at whether it was a person or something else that jumped out the window and into the water. By the time she reached the window, everything had already returned to calm.
Was it a survivor? Su Ling wasn't sure, but she knew it definitely wasn't Gu Shangse. Her worry for Gu Shangse intensified, and Su Ling, having no mind to ponder the thing that had leaped out the window, turned and left the room to find him.
Not long after Su Ling left, a head suddenly emerged from the calm water. The head tilted slightly, watching all the movements inside the building through the window, then submerged back into the water and disappeared without a trace.
Su Ling left the room and went straight upstairs to look for Gu Shangse. Dusk was settling in, and visibility was decreasing. Su Ling proceeded forward with her flashlight. Finally, she found Gu Shangse on an open-air staircase, sitting halfway down with his head bowed, hands resting on his thighs.
"Gu Shangse."
The moment she saw him, Su Ling realized something was wrong. Hearing Su Ling's voice, Gu Shangse slowly lifted his head. His eyes were already bloodshot. The arm he had been scratched by the zombie was now bulging with veins and covered in bruises.
"Don't." Gu Shangse quickly extended his hand to stop Su Ling from approaching. He shook his head at her. "There's a very strong zombie on the thirteenth floor. I'm no match for it. It scratched me and escaped. I've been infected and could turn into a zombie at any moment. Don't come near me, stay away."
Hearing Gu Shangse's words, Su Ling recalled Jiang Jiang's instructions before they left. Her breathing visibly hitched. She had thought Gu Shangse had heard Jiang Jiang's warnings. But who knew that Gu Shangse hadn't heard them at all? Su Ling didn't shine her flashlight beam directly at Gu Shangse. She stopped where she was, looking at him, his eyes bloodshot and red, his scratched arm visibly swollen to twice its size. "What can I do for you?"