Chapter 233

Ye Yanran hadn't considered Ye Jiang's answer. She continued the conversation, teasing Ye Jiang: "Xiao Jiang, you're such a boring listener. What a waste of such an interesting story of mine, tsk tsk."

Ye Jiang: "."

interesting?

Even three hundred years ago, she never found these stories interesting.

Ye Yanran said, "You have no idea how excited your fellow patients were after hearing the story."

Yeah?

Without Ye Yanran noticing, Ye Jiang's gaze swept over Ye Yanran's arm, noticing the new wound on her hand—even the other Living Dead, who hadn't heard the story, hadn't stopped being excited.

Ye Yanran glanced at the time and announced, "Alright, that's all for today's class. Class dismissed."

She made a move to leave, then turned back to Ye Jiang, "Xiao Jiang, aren't you going to say goodbye to your teacher?"

Ye Jiang, no.

Ye Yanran wore a sly smile, but beneath the surface lay a well-hidden disappointment and anxiety. The young section chief was disappointed that he hadn't seen any improvement in the Living Dead" today, and felt a sense of urgency about it.

Ye Yanran left, and only after she turned around did Ye Jiang turn her gaze to her, just as she had three hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago, Ye Jiang would only observe this human from a place where Ye Yanran could not see her.

Ye Jiang saw Ye Yanran again in the afternoon. The young section chief rushed in excitedly. "Xiao Ye Jiang, you probably don't know what happened! You're about to have a new partner!"

It was a bit noisy outside the room. Pang Wen, Qin Xiu, and Jia Le from the Special Affairs Office were all outside. Qin Xiu called out to their superior in a cold voice, "Yan Ran, what are you doing? Hurry up, we're about to leave!"

Ye Yanran hurriedly replied, "Coming right away," and quickly said to Ye Jiang, "Hey, that's it. We're about to go on a mission. If all goes well, you'll meet your new partner in a few hours. Do you want me to put her next to you so she can keep you company?"

Ye Jiang didn't look up, but that didn't stop her from absorbing the joy emanating from this young human. Ye Yanran hadn't been like this when she left that morning.

Ye Jiang, who came from three hundred years in the future, naturally knew what had happened. The Special Affairs Office, which had been established for so long, finally gained the trust of the people on this day. A relative of a Living Dead took the initiative to contact the Special Affairs Office, hoping that the Special Affairs Office could take away the sick relative and treat him.

The Special Affairs Office has always hoped to be trusted by the public, as fighting alone is a lonely endeavor. This contact is clearly proof of a change in public attitude, and it is of great significance to the Special Affairs Office.

Therefore, Ye Yanran was very happy.

Three hundred years ago, Ye Jiang didn't understand why this young human was so happy. She didn't understand, but the human's intense joy touched her heartstrings. Listening to Ye Yanran's rambling, she slowly raised her head.

She met human eyes.

Ye Jiang rarely makes eye contact with humans, so her action immediately stopped Ye Yanran's nagging.

A subtle atmosphere permeated the air.

They are dead.

Ye Jiang projected her consciousness into Ye Yanran's mind, just as she had done three hundred years ago—flat and devoid of emotion.

The indifferent monsters don't want humans to be happy about this; the happier they are now, the more... they will be later.

The Living Dead are long gone; humanity is doing meaningless things.

The indifferent monster, in the end, still interfered in human affairs, just as it killed the Living Dead after observing the mother in the villa for many days, when the mother's condition became dire.

He didn't understand why He intervened, but He did it anyway, trying to stop something. That time, and that time too.

The young director of the Special Affairs Office widened her eyes instantly. What was going on in her head?

The first problem that will arise from spending too much time with the Living Dead is mental health. Could it be that she has finally been affected by the Living Dead, and her mind is starting to malfunction?

"Ye Yanran, are you leaving or not?"

Qin Xiu was urging them from outside.

Ye Yanran back to reality, replying "Coming" as she backed away from the room. She looked at the Living Dead with complicated emotions, feeling as if she could see a flicker of feeling in his eyes.

Is this also an illusion?

Ye Yanran left the room with a heart full of doubts. Before closing the door, she looked at the Living Dead inside again, as if possessed. The Living Dead was staring at her, and being stared at like that, it seemed as if there was real emotion flowing in that cold, single eye.

Bang.

Ye Yanran closed the door.

"They're here!" she ran towards her colleagues.

Ye Jiang saw Xiao Pei on the hospital rooftop. The female warrior from the Ability Control Bureau was standing on the roof, watching the four people from the Special Affairs Office get into a car and prepare to leave the hospital. Ye Jiang's appearance startled Xiao Pei.

"Huh—where did you come from?" Xiao Pei stared at Ye Jiang, unable to help but mutter under her breath, "Why do you always appear and disappear so mysteriously?"

Yesterday, Ye Jiang left behind the words "The ending is coming" and disappeared without a trace, leaving Xiao Pei alone with complicated feelings, pondering Ye Jiang's words. These words were unusual; it was as if Ye Jiang knew the ending of this illusion.

Seeing Ye Jiang appear again, Xiao Pei felt a surge of emotions she had suppressed, which resurfaced.

Xiao Pei hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

Ye Jiang didn't care about Xiao Pei's scrutiny; she just stared at Ye Yanran and her group below, watching their car drive away from the hospital.

Ye Jiang said she had regained her memories from three hundred years ago, but that's not entirely true. Three hundred years ago, when Ye Yanran and the others left the hospital to pick up the Living Dead, Ye Jiang also left the hospital. The only thing Ye Jiang didn't remember was where she went and what she did after she left. She only remembered what happened after she came back.

Without saying a word, Ye Jiang leaped off the roof and caught up with Ye Yanran and her group. Xiao Pei hesitated for a moment, then followed.

Ye Jiang was moving forward alongside Ye Yanran's group, so their pace wasn't fast. Xiao Pei was keeping up easily this time. Knowing that Ye Jiang was with Ye Jiang, she asked with some confusion, "The Special Affairs Office... what are they going to do?"

In the Special Affairs Office's car, Pang Wen drove, Ye Yanran in the passenger seat, and Qin Xiu and Jia Le sat in the back seat; the entire team was on the move.

"Weren't you just happy? How come you're all so down now?" In the back seat, Qin Xiu glanced at the back of her young boss in front of her. "You're already out of energy?"

After asking the question Qin Xiu expected to hear an inappropriate answer, but instead, a calm and rational voice came from the front row. The young director said, "Sister Xiu, the Special Affairs Office has been established for some time now. Do you think the Living Dead are still alive?"

Qin Xiu was taken aback, and Pang Wen and Jia Le both looked at the two who had spoken.

Are the Living Dead still alive?

They wanted to live because their families were inside.

However, experts have yet to find a cure for them. Instead, through countless examinations and experiments, the results increasingly point to a fact that contradicts their hopes— the Living Dead are already dead, and the signs of life on Living Dead bodies are merely residual reflections.

Qin Xiu was momentarily dazed, unwilling to think about it further, "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

silence.

After a long pause, Ye Yanran in a hoarse voice. "My brain spoke, and it told me— the Living Dead are dead."

Silence fell over the car.

But how come?

"Maybe? I must have been too close to the Living Dead, and my brain is starting to go haywire!" The unconventional head of the Special Affairs Office suddenly came to her senses, shouting, "The Living Dead must still be alive! They don't look dead at all; their eyes aren't closed, and their bodies are still moving. What kind of dead person is so lively? I... believe they're alive."

Ye Yanran around abruptly and tugged at the shy boy sitting behind her. "Jia Le, what was the address that citizen who contacted you gave you?"

Jia Le: "... at the home of the young industrialist Zhao Yuantong."

A hint of regret flashed in Ye Yanran's eyes. "... How come it's her who's sick?"

A citizen contacted the Special Affairs Office, saying that Jing Qiu, who had just been named a "City's Touching Figure," had become Living Dead. Jing Qiu, an elderly woman with a leg disability, had been quietly supporting children in a mountain village for decades by collecting garbage, helping more than a dozen children leave the village. Her story was widely reported by Zhao Yuantong, one of the children she had helped, who later became a well-known entrepreneur, and she was named a "City's Touching Figure."

A few days ago was Jing Qiu's birthday. The children she had sponsored organized a birthday celebration for her. Everyone gathered together and went happily, only to find that the old woman had become Living Dead. These people did not make a sound and hid her in a vacation villa in the suburbs that Zhao Yuantong had bought. A few days later, one of them secretly contacted the Special Affairs Office.

"I disagree with everyone else; she needs treatment, and I trust the Special Affairs Office." The person contacting the Special Affairs Office pleaded on the phone, "Please... heal her."

Recalling that phone call, Ye Yanran's heart clenched.

Just like the Special Affairs Office, people also hope that the Living Dead will live.

"... It just so happens to be her." A hint of sadness appeared in Ye Yanran's eyes.

An unknown disease is spreading through the city. It could affect an ordinary father, an ordinary mother, an ordinary child, or even a hero. No one can escape it.

The Living Dead must live, absolutely, otherwise it would mean the death of a father, a mother, a child, and a hero who moved countless people.

You have to live.

This is the common aspiration of all humankind.

The car gradually drove away from the city and headed towards the suburbs, where a manor came into view.

Behind the car, Xiao Pei was observing the surroundings when a gust of wind suddenly stopped her, and her eyes, like an eagle's, shot towards the manor ahead.

"No, there's a manor ahead..."

The Special Affairs Office parked the car at the entrance of the manor, Ye Yanran the first to jump out.

"I've come to ring the doorbell; I hope Mr. Zhao can understand..."

She stopped before she could finish speaking.

As she approached, she saw the scene inside the manor gate. The industrialist Zhao Yuantong, who had appeared in a television interview, was lying on his lawn, covered in blood, half of his body missing, his face filled with terror. His hand was outstretched toward the gate, as if he wanted to open it, or as if he was asking someone for help.