What was going on?!
Just then, a sudden, searing pain shot through "Xu Qing's" head.
Fuck!
Fragments of images flooded into his mind all at once.
"Nannan, Daddy's here."
"Nannan, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
"I want Mommy's cooking!"
"Oh, Daddy can make that too."
"Then I'll have Daddy's today and Mommy's tomorrow!"
Warm snippets of everyday life kept flashing past from this zombie's perspective.
"Xu Qing's" pupils abruptly dilated as he looked at the little zombie in the shopping cart.
This zombie and the little girl were actually father and daughter.
The little zombie growled in a babyish voice and waved her claws, trying to look fierce. Uh... there was nothing cute about it at all.
"Xu Qing" lowered the steel rebar in his hand.
"Forget it. I'm in a good mood today. I'll let you off."
With that, he turned to leave.
But just then, a series of meows came from the dim stairwell.
Dozens of mutant cats of various colors slowly emerged, padding over to surround him.
It was a pack of mutant cats!
The next moment, the feral cats lunged at him together.
"Fuck!"
"Xu Qing" swung the rebar and smashed it hard into the mutant cat at the front, sending it flying into a concrete pillar with a heavy impact.
The other feral cats pounced onto the zombie's body right behind it, clawing and biting frantically.
Xu Qing reached up, seized the feral cat biting his ribs, and forcibly ripped it off.
Although he could feel no pain, this was truly unbearable. As he fought back, he glanced toward the shopping cart out of the corner of his eye and saw a giant mutant feral cat pouncing at the little girl.
Xu Qing's body instinctively rushed forward. The rebar in his hand thrust straight out, brutally piercing the feral cat's skull.
Pinned to the ground, the feral cat struggled a few times before going still.
These damned bodily instincts!
Forget it.
For the sake of this lingering wisp of memory, I'll grant you father and daughter your wish.
With that thought, the focus of Xu Qing's consciousness left the zombie's body and returned to his own.
He raised his hand and took out his large machete, then darted swiftly into the underground supermarket.
Dragon Eyes activated instantly. Through Xu Qing's eyes, the dim supermarket became as bright as day.
At that moment, relying on its last bodily instincts and Xu Qing's control, the controlled zombie was still stubbornly shielding the little zombie, taking the cat pack's bites for her.
Xu Qing's gaze turned cold, and he charged straight into the center of the pack.
Several mutant feral cats sensed Xu Qing's presence and immediately turned to pounce on him.
Xu Qing's blade flashed, instantly slicing through the attacking feral cats as blood sprayed.
He struck extremely quickly, every slash fatal.
Within moments, the cats' corpses littered the entire area. The mutant cats' blue-green blood was scattered across the floor, leaving it a bloody mess.
Xu Qing slowly walked over to the zombie he had just controlled.
By now, the zombie was utterly mangled. One arm had been bitten clean off, and its chest was densely covered in claw marks and bite wounds of varying depths. It was already on the verge of falling apart.
Looking at the two zombies, one large and one small, Xu Qing felt something stir in his heart.
He activated his Blue Silver Grass, gently winding it around the little girl zombie's body. Countless slender strands of grass slowly slipped into her skull, bringing her life to its final end.
However, Xu Qing did not remove the crystal core inside her.
Afterward, Xu Qing used Blue Silver Grass to pull the shopping cart carrying the two zombie bodies, left the supermarket, and arrived at a flower bed beneath a secluded inn.
The flower bed was full of blossoms, adding a splash of brightness to this zombie-filled world.
He dug the earth with his own hands and solemnly buried the father and daughter, treating them as he would the truly departed.
He then planted flowers all over their grave.
I wonder whether this world has an underworld, whether people have a chance to reincarnate after death.
May you find happiness in your next life!
After finishing everything, Xu Qing stood quietly where he was. The trace of tenderness that had risen in his heart cooled a little more.
When he had first entered the parallel world, he had still felt guilt, unease, and reluctance when killing zombies.
But over these past two years, Xu Qing seemed to have grown accustomed to slaughter.
Yet Xu Qing knew very clearly that he was still himself.
Of course, he could only be himself. Perhaps time could change a person, as it did in so many novels, but Xu Qing knew he would not change. He needed nothing to prove it. If proof really was necessary, then let time prove it!
Time flew by, and soon graduation season arrived at Red Mountain Academy.
Lin Ximeng slowly stepped onto the stage. Her impassioned graduation speech rang throughout the hall, igniting the enthusiasm and aspirations in every student's heart.
Once her speech ended, she began reading out the graduates' names one by one.
Name after name rang through the auditorium as the students stood in turn and went onstage to receive their recommendation letters.
These were proof of graduation from a primary academy. Only with one could they apply to an intermediate Soul Master Academy.
Of course, there was also one firm requirement: they had to become a One-Ring Soul Master.
A short while later, the name "Xu Qing" slowly rang out.
An enormous roar immediately rose from the audience. Under gazes filled with admiration, respect, and jealousy, Xu Qing slowly stood and walked onto the stage, his steps unhurried.
Looking at the blond youth before her, who had shed his childishness and whose bearing had grown increasingly outstanding, a gentle smile quietly flickered in Lin Ximeng's eyes.
After all, Xu Qing had enrolled with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and the same innate level-three soul power. She had never expected his cultivation to rise so much in just three short years.
The title of Red Mountain Twin Stars had spread throughout Red Mountain Academy, referring to him and Gu Yuena, who sat beside him.
She raised her hand and passed a recommendation letter to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing solemnly accepted it with both hands, bowed slightly, then turned and walked calmly off the stage.
Immediately afterward, Gu Yuena's name was called as well.
She, too, slowly went onstage and accepted her recommendation letter with graceful movements. Before long, she walked back down and quietly took her seat beside Xu Qing.
Tang Wulin watched the two with envy in his eyes, unable to stop a trace of inferiority from rising in his heart.
There was nothing he could do. It was not that he did not work hard; the two people beside him simply were not normal.
With the Golden Dragon King's seal still unbroken, he had no way to compare himself to either of them.
Moreover, not long ago, just as in the original story, he had drawn the same defective Soul Spirit as before.
However, he soon recovered and went onstage to collect his own recommendation letter.
Not long after he sat back down, the little fatty Wan Yunchao waggled his eyebrows and said, "Tang Wulin, we're graduating. Let's have a match."
Tang Wulin rolled his eyes at him in exasperation. This fellow was a textbook bully who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. "Why don't you fight Xu Qing?"
"Do you really think I'm stupid? He's already a Soul Grandmaster. What the hell would I be competing for? I don't care. I want to fight you!"
"I don't have time. I still have to go learn forging this afternoon!"
"Tch, you coward. You're just afraid of losing to me."
"Fine! I'll fight you! Don't you go back on your word!"
"Once a fatty gives his word, even a hundred-thousand-year-old horse can't catch it!"
After school, in the little grove at Red Mountain Academy.
"Aah-! Stay away! Let go of me! Yamete!"
"That'll teach you to pick on the soft persimmon!"