Ants on the Same String

Her fangs had almost touched Qi Xing's neck when Jiang Zhaosu forcibly shut her mouth and turned her head away.

No, she couldn't eat Qi Xing right now.

She did want to surrender to the Orthodox Sect, but she was a zombie now. Besides, Xiao Yi and Xiao Chuxi already saw her as Qi Xing's little sister. How could they possibly trust her?

She and Qi Xing were ants on the same string now. If Qi Xing died and those two caught up to her, there was no way she could survive alone.

Qi Xing's breathing was weak, but steady.

Jiang Zhaosu pawed at his face a few times, wiped the grime off with her sleeve, then gave his body a quick examination. She found no wounds.

Though she had no idea what had just happened, Qi Xing should be fine.

Only then did Jiang Zhaosu feel slightly relieved.

Qi Xing was unconscious, and Jiang Zhaosu wasn't doing much better.

She was starving.

If she stayed with Qi Xing any longer, she couldn't guarantee she would be able to control her urge to devour him.

Jiang Zhaosu looked around and suddenly came up with an idea.

She wrapped her arms around Qi Xing's waist and legs, carried him a short distance away, and hid him in a thick patch of dead grass.

Qi Xing looked as thin as a sheet of paper, but he was surprisingly heavy to carry.

Fortunately, she was a zombie now and had grown much stronger. Otherwise, she might not have been able to carry a man over six feet tall with muscles all over his body.

She also plucked some dead branches and leaves from nearby and scattered them evenly over Qi Xing's body and face as camouflage.

After finishing, Jiang Zhaosu looked at Qi Xing lying amid the uneven dead grass, hidden so perfectly that not a trace of him could be seen, and clapped her hands in satisfaction.

Mission accomplished!

Now she could go elsewhere to look for food without worry.

Not long after Jiang Zhaosu left, Qi Xing—whose face had been covered with a huge yellowed leaf, making him look like a zombie pinned down by a talisman—did a sit-up and abruptly sprang upright.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

Qi Xing spat several times, coughing grass clippings out of his mouth.

Looking at the mess of yellow dirt and dead grass covering him, Qi Xing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Fortune, did you mistake me for a corpse and bury me?"

Qi Xing had been too tired.

Fighting those Mutated Giant Rats had drained too much of his stamina.

After he killed more than half of them, those stupid creatures finally learned fear and fled in a panic with their tails tucked between their legs.

Only then had Qi Xing lain down to rest for a while.

He hadn't expected Jiang Zhaosu to wake up the moment he closed his eyes.

The little zombie had sneakily pawed at him with her claws for ages, probably struggling over whether to eat him again.

In the end, she had shown at least a little conscience and hadn't bitten down.

Otherwise, the instant her teeth touched his skin, he would have reached out and snapped her neck.

A weak, useless little zombie with no ability to protect herself—why was she running off in the middle of the night instead of staying by his side?

Qi Xing rose from the ground, dusted the dirt off himself, and walked over to a century-old tree. He placed his hand against its rough trunk.

The roots of such old trees ran deep. Some stretched dozens of meters underground, tangled together with the roots of other trees.

Under the effect of his Wood Ability, those crisscrossing roots became like a vast, intricate information network, docilely conveying to Qi Xing information about the forest that no one else could know.

Qi Xing quickly sensed where Jiang Zhaosu was and strode in that direction.

Jiang Zhaosu hadn't gone far.

She first followed the scent of blood back to where Qi Xing had fought the Mutated Giant Rats.

She had wanted to eat some Mutated Giant Rat meat to fill her stomach, but after picking it up and seeing the disgusting fur crawling with maggots, she simply couldn't bring herself to take a bite.

Whether she was human or a zombie, eating rat meat sounded far too horrifying.

Jiang Zhaosu hesitated for quite a while before finally picking up a broad leaf, wrapping two pieces of meat in it, and stuffing them into her hoodie pocket. She decided she would eat them only if she got desperate.

After walking farther ahead, she unexpectedly discovered a stream.

Perhaps because of the surrounding trees' protection, the water in the stream had not been eroded by Acid Rain. It was exceptionally clear.

Zombies had excellent night vision. Jiang Zhaosu saw fish swimming inside, and their eyes looked normal too. They hadn't undergone Zombification.

That meant Qi Xing could eat these fish too.

For the past two days, Qi Xing had been the one gathering supplies and hunting for food. Jiang Zhaosu hadn't been able to do anything.

Qi Xing had called her a useless little thing, and Jiang Zhaosu had no way to argue.

Now that Qi Xing was unconscious, the task of finding food for the two of them naturally fell to her.

Hmph. Once she brought back a huge pile of food, she would see whether Qi Xing could still open his mouth and call her useless.

Just imagining the stunned, amazed expression Qi Xing would wear when he saw her return with a bag full of fish made Jiang Zhaosu excited. Rubbing her hands together, she headed toward the stream.

She took off her shoes, dipped one foot into the water and cautiously swished it around. Once she saw that her skin was fine, she boldly stepped into the stream and reached out to catch the fish.

But Jiang Zhaosu's neck had suffered a heavy blow earlier. Half her spine was broken, and her head was still crooked, hanging off her shoulder as if it might fall at any moment.

As a result, she saw the fish crookedly too. Even when she aimed right at one, she always came up empty when she lunged.

After more than half an hour of fishing, Jiang Zhaosu had not caught a single fish. Furious at her own incompetence, she howled and flailed her arms through the water, splashing up sheets of spray.

"Pfft."

Qi Xing had been hiding behind a tree and watching her for more than half an hour. When he saw this, he couldn't hold back his laughter any longer.

"Awooo—"

Jiang Zhaosu jumped in fright, thinking a person or a mutant beast had arrived, and hurriedly assumed a defensive stance.

"Fortune, it's me."

Qi Xing stepped out from behind the tree.

Seeing that familiar handsome face, Jiang Zhaosu let out a breath of relief and lowered her hands. "Awoo..."

So it was that dead man Qi Xing.

He had scared the life out of this corpse.

"Does Fortune want to eat fish?"

Qi Xing picked up a blade of grass from the ground and held it between his fingers.

His pale wrist turned swiftly as if performing a magic trick. The yellowed blade of grass became coated in a faint green glow, like a thin, sharp blade, then shot from between his fingers and struck a fish near Jiang Zhaosu with perfect accuracy.

Bright red blood spread through the stream.

The fish's body had been sliced open. It thrashed violently a few times before finally turning belly-up and slowly drifting toward her with the current.

Instead of Jiang Zhaosu impressing Qi Xing, Qi Xing's high-level move had left her utterly dazzled. She gaped in shock, her jaw nearly dropping.

She reached out and scooped up the fish. After thinking for a moment, she waded to the shore and held it out to Qi Xing.

"For me?"

Qi Xing looked at the fish in Jiang Zhaosu's bloodstained hand, somewhat surprised.

"Awoo!"

Qi Xing should eat first. Otherwise, if he got hungry and had no strength, and enemies came again later, they wouldn't even be able to fight them off.

Hearing her response, Qi Xing's eyes widened slightly for a moment, then curved upward along with his long, thick lashes.

When expressionless, Qi Xing had a cool, aloof sort of beauty, with exquisite features and pale, delicate skin.

But when he smiled, those beautiful narrow fox eyes naturally squinted. The long corners of his eyes tilted up like tiny hooks, giving him the air of a fox spirit cultivated into human form, bewitching hearts.

If Jiang Zhaosu didn't know Qi Xing, seeing this man smile at her like that, she would definitely think he was no good and wanted to steal money from her pocket.

Of course, she knew him.

And she still thought Qi Xing was no good.

But even so, Jiang Zhaosu had to admit that Qi Xing was truly beautiful and incredibly charming.

If she were a rich woman, she really might have been hooked by this brat and lavishly thrown money at him.

But reality was that before her death, she had been so poor she could only live in a basement. After death, she was a weak little zombie who couldn't even protect her own life and still had to hope Qi Xing would protect her.

Jiang Zhaosu took Qi Xing's hand, ingratiatingly placed the fish in his palm, and smiled at him too.

Under the dim night sky, Qi Xing's black eyes reflected her and the stream. They looked as if they held water, gentle and shimmering.

Like children making a promise, Qi Xing took the fish and hooked his little finger around hers. Smiling, he softly said, "Then thank you, Fortune."