Dark Moon Era

The iron rod was doing its job. Even though it was broken, the edges were still sharp.

Nothing else was more suitable as a weapon than it. Tang Ling gripped it tightly without a second thought.

After the killing, his brain seemed to have cleared up. He knew that since the situation had worsened, he should not hope to run back to the Safety Sector. Heading towards the thick forest was relatively safer.

Besides, the persistence in his heart kept motivating him. He had to go back there at least once. Even if he could not locate his grandmother, he would at least want to locate his sister.

After that?

Safety Sector No. 17 would never let the zombies roam free forever. As long as the environment in the settlement could be maintained at a relatively safe level, there would always be some new residents to flourish within once more.

Tang Ling’s thoughts were clear. The rumbling in his heart, however, was the pain and anger that he could not express.

He sprinted quickly as the zombies were amassing on him from every direction. No one could understand how their ability to track down blood and flesh worked. It was something similar to sharks being sensitive to blood in the water.

With the experience of killing a zombie in his clear mind, Tang Ling’s powerful adaptability towards battle allowed him to kill his second one. It was not too difficult either, especially with a suitable weapon in his hand.

Hence, as he ran from the pursuit, many more zombies perished by his hands.

If Tang Ling was considered clumsy in his first kill, he was already a skilled hunter by his seventh kill.

All his attacks were aimed directly at the zombies’ weakness. His iron rod perforated their eyes when the zombies threw themselves over at him.

The precision was absolute art. Unfortunately, there was no one around the empty and desolate Safety Zone to admire the astonishing battle gifts of the young man.

Pak!

The iron rod was pulled out from the zombie’s brain while Tang Ling was panting. The zombies in the area were countless. His Precise Instinct could not be an endless source of stamina to save him from this desperate situation either, but Tang Ling continued on numbly as he ran.

After losing his grandmother and his sister, life and death were lighter than a feather to him, yet he was unwilling to succumb to death like this.

Moreover, anger was burning in his heart. That familiar warm stream had burst out to all his limbs and bones, then it started to amass at his heart once more.

Tang Ling knew that his strange form was starting to take effect. With just a little more anger, he would transform back into that killing machine from that night.

As a matter of fact, had all his kills along the way been a huge joke from the heavens? All the zombies that he killed were the people that had once shown kindness to him and his family.

How could he be calm? How could he not grieve?

“Is there… Anymore?” Tang Ling showed no emotions while his eyes got colder.

He was less than 200 meters away from the edge of the forest. Based on how concentrated the zombies were, Tang Ling could no longer make a breakthrough.

His Precise Instinct told him that as long as he continued forward in this direction for less than 20 meters, he would be surrounded by more than five zombies in every direction.

Transforming was his only hope to break through.

The joke was, should he rely on this foolish hope of his, or simply die and be released from his agony?

The icy cold iron rod was slippery with all the zombie blood on it. It seemed like the choice quickly presented itself to Tang Ling as a zombie caught up to him with its delighted roar.

He turned around almost instinctively and raised the iron rod in his hand, but his hands started to shake uncontrollably.

The zombie before his eyes seemed to be a lucky one. It must have been spared from a majority of the pain before it died. Consequently, its clothes were rather clean and the rotting was not too severe, except for the lethal bite wound on the left shoulder.

The zombie was exactly like how it had been when it was alive.

Looking at the zombie, Tang Ling’s head exploded, but other than the excitement of locating blood and flesh, the zombie did not show any fluctuation of emotions, it lowered its body before it jumped towards Tang Ling without a second thought.

The vile rotten stench was carried by the wind and blown towards Tang Ling once more together with the fragments of memories that he could not discard.

Inside Tang Ling’s memories, the whole era was gray in color, but the time spent with his grandmother and his sister were painted a yellowish warm like the soft sunlight during dawn.

The only graceful and dreamy time of his life was, however, related to this zombie before his eyes.

“Why is your face so dirty? Ugh, you’ve got a scratch!” The clean handkerchief gently stroked his face while the tender hands mercifully touched his wound.

Her breath was sweet while her smile was like the Asian pigeonwings that bloomed in the wild. The sincere pity and apology in her eyes were as clear as a lake, drowning Tang Ling instantly.

It took him back to an evening back when he was 13 years old, which was the first time Tang Ling’s heart raced.

Xiao Ye, the simplest of names, was branded in his heart since then.

After that…

The thought flitted in his mind for only a moment, and soon, the zombie was less than five meters away from Tang Ling. The familiar eyes from the young man’s dream were absent of the crystal clear gaze, and the flower-like smile was gone. All that was left was a merciless grayish-white gaze and frenzied greediness.

Tang Ling raised the iron rod in his hand as warm sweat rolled down into his eyes, stinging them and blurring his sight.

“I’ll be going to the Seventh Camp of the settlement tomorrow.” Panting, Tang Ling helplessly stood in front of the door, watching Xiao Ye pack her things one after another.

After knowing that she was moving away, Tang Ling could not control himself, yet he could not ask why. Even his grandmother, who had told him about her move, did not reveal any further reason.

All he did was sigh. “Why are you leaving?”

“Because when a girl grows up, she’ll need to rely on a partner, and from tomorrow onwards, I’ll be Hu Ke’s of the Seventh Camp.” She looked up with her big bright eyes. It was difficult to tell whether she was calm or sad.

Tang Ling crushed the door frame with his grip, not even feeling the pain when the splinter pierced into his hand. Hu Ke? He was a bully who had the right to release drinking water to the settlement.

Xiao Ye stood up and walked closer to Tang Ling. Her soft lips landed on Tang Ling’s forehead.

It took just a moment before she left. She merely left Tang Ling was a smile when she turned around to bid him farewell.

Puk!

The sharp iron rod plunged deep into the zombie’s eye. He had only been battling it for a short period of time, yet the precision of his attack had somewhat become his instinct.

Even so, his sight was blurred.

Pulling the iron rod out, a drop of either sweat or a tear rolled down the corner of his right eye whilst sadness started to spread from the tip of his finger.

“Huu, huu…” Tang Ling panted like a beast. Although he was not exactly exhausted, he felt suffocated like it was difficult to breathe. It was the first time the cruel and cold era made him feel so depressed.

Even his memories had nowhere to go.

“After you moved to the Seventh Camp, I never dropped by there. Although, sometimes, I’d miss you.” Speaking his mind to the zombie was meaningless, but Tang Ling wanted to.

If he voiced out the memories that had nowhere to go, at least, the matters that had once troubled the young man would feel like they existed before, would it not?

Fortunately, the sadness that was as tremendous as a tidal wave lasted for a split second before the warm stream exploded from his heart in the very next second, drowning him whole.

The mysterious form appeared again.