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墨書 Inktalez
Life has never been an abstract concept throughout history.
The people living on this earth revere the existence of life and yearn for its true meaning, leading to the emergence of countless timeless works.
For whether they are humans, beasts, plants, or even Zombies, each has its own significance of life.
Regardless of their race, they can find that most brilliant point in their lives.
However, just like the dazzling fireworks in the night sky, brilliant things often cannot last. Life, though radiant and beautiful, is also fragile and easily shattered.
Even the so-called indestructible mountains will eventually weather away with the passage of time, gradually eroding until they disappear from this world.
What is the meaning of life?
This is a question many humans have pondered.
They inquire within themselves, seeking answers. In pursuit of the desired truth, many spend their entire lives searching, only to leave behind an ancient tombstone as proof of their existence in this world.
In the early winter season, the air in Wocheng has not yet turned completely cold; it still carries the coolness of late autumn.
The howling wind stirs a few leaves from the trees, which gently fall onto a somewhat shabby tombstone.
Amidst the overgrown grass that has thrived due to long neglect by humans stands a lonely Mound. The morning sunlight shines upon it, and the inscription on the wooden plaque of the tombstone has begun to yellow.
Shishi feels a sense of dread towards this Mound.
What frightens her even more is the villa behind it.
Once, in this villa, she had endured one of the darkest periods of her life. The excessive abuse and beatings had caused her to forget many things.
Yet, even if the memories of that time had faded, the fear etched deep within her heart was impossible to dispel.
Before her stood a mound, a grave that Chu Donglin had hurried back to create for Shishi's father after ensuring Shishi was settled.
When the Zombie Tide had swept over the villa, Chu Donglin had taken care to hide Shishi's father's remains in a place unreachable by Ordinary Zombies. Thus, amidst the tide of Zombies, Shishi's father's remains were spared and not devoured.
However, due to Chu Donglin's slightly inconvenient movements at that time and the lack of tools, he could only manage to construct such a crude mound. Even the gravestone was merely a piece of long wood on which he had written with a brush.
"Shishi, this is your father's grave."
Chu Donglin stood with the girl Shishi, the young girl Xue, and the enormous White Wolf that resembled a fantastical beast. He pointed toward the mound as he spoke.
The girl felt a twinge of fear at the sight of the grave. After all, in her current memory, she had forgotten everything about her past.
But Chu Donglin could not be lying to her; since he claimed this was her biological father's gravestone, she had no reason to doubt him.
She stood on the path, hesitating for a moment as she glanced at Chu Donglin beside her.
He released her hand and gently patted her shoulder in encouragement.
"Go take a look at him. Say a few words; he must be very lonely here all by himself."
The girl nodded slightly, as if she understood, and walked alone to her father's gravestone. After thinking for a moment, she knelt down and gently bowed twice.
As for the girl's soft murmurs, Chu Donglin did not listen.
He stood by the roadside with White Wolf and Xue, leaning against the soft body of White Wolf. After a moment of thought, he took out a cigarette and lit it.
He rarely smoked; aside from a few drinks during social gatherings, he almost never touched cigarettes or alcohol.
It wasn't that he couldn't; he simply didn't want to.
Watching the man quietly leaning there, his cheeks shrouded in smoke, Xue tilted her head and suddenly asked, "Don't you like it?"
Chu Donglin was taken aback and glanced at her, momentarily confused. "Like what?"
Xue pointed to the girl in the distance who was seriously talking to a gravestone. "Don't you like that I turned Shishi into someone like us?"
Chu Donglin fell silent and smiled lightly. "It's not about liking or not; it's just that..."
He pondered for a moment, tossed away the cigarette in his hand, stretched his back, and stood up straight. "I really don't like smoking after all..."
Then he looked at Xue and said, "It's not that I dislike you turning Shishi into this; I just feel... it's somewhat inappropriate."
Confusion filled Xue's face.
"Why is it inappropriate? Shishi has become stronger; she can protect herself now. She can fight alongside us without worrying anymore... Isn't that good?"
"But what happens after Shishi becomes stronger? Will she fight and kill like us, over and over again, until we evolve to a point where we can no longer evolve?"
Xue's face was still filled with confusion. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Chu Donglin sighed and forced a smile.
"Xue, what do you think humans are?"
The girl's answer was calm.
"Food."
After a pause, she added, "Very delicious food."
Then, she looked at Chu Donglin with a hint of grievance. "But you never let me eat..."
Chu Donglin fell silent for a moment before smiling wryly. "I thought you had changed your view on humans long ago. I didn't expect... sigh..."
He let out a somewhat speechless sigh and said, "But no matter what, we were once human. Don't you find it strange that we would eat our own kind?"
Xue looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Isn't cannibalism the only way for us to become stronger?"
Chu Donglin was momentarily at a loss for words.
Indeed, the path to strength for Zombies was to hunt their own kind, consuming their Evolution Crystals to grow stronger.
As for why High-Level Zombies do not eat Low-Level Zombies, it is simply because the Evolution Crystals from Low-Level Zombies lack any utility for the evolution of High-Level Zombies, nothing more.
As a true Zombie, Xue had no aversion to the idea of cannibalism among her kind.
After shaking his head for a moment, he offered a different explanation.
"But the evolution of Zombies will eventually reach a limit. Once we have evolved to our strongest form and can no longer find Zombies of the same level to hunt, how will we become stronger? What will we do then?"
Xue looked at him, thought for a moment, and said, "I want to follow you."
"And then?"
"That's all..."
The girl tilted her head and added, "I just want to stay by your side."
Chu Donglin fell silent for a moment.
He smiled with a mix of appreciation and emotion, shaking his head slightly.
"But Shishi is different. I can always bring you along until you grow tired of this following and want to leave. But Shishi is different; children always grow up."
He gazed at the girl's figure in the distance, letting out a slow sigh, looking somewhat melancholic.
"Right now, she enjoys clinging to me, but there will come a time when she grows up. At that point, she will be drawn to more novel things and will tire of just you and me. She will want to meet more people and make friends with others."
"But a Zombie can never have friends, and a Zombie can never become her friend. As she grows up, she will gradually come to hate the monotonous world filled only with bloody slaughter; she will yearn for human society... After all, humans are social creatures. Days spent only with Zombies like you and me will eventually bore her, and she will want to escape."
"Yet right now, she is a Zombie. And Zombies are inherently unable to get too close to humans. I have been trying hard to protect her, hoping that she can have a healthy life in the future."
"At her age, she should have companions, should be studying and learning, gradually growing up. She might develop a crush on a boy from the class next door, feel shy and anxious about it, and as she matures, understand more about life and find someone she truly loves, living a stable life together—living a life belonging to Normal Humans... That’s how I’ve always thought."
Chu Donglin watched the girl's silhouette and sighed.
"I never recognized that Zombies could suppress humans indefinitely; one should never underestimate the power of humanity as a group. Although we have driven those humans into a corner with our numerical advantage, given their resilience and vitality, if we cannot wipe out all of humanity at once, they will eventually reclaim their world."
"Are Mutated Zombies powerful? Indeed they are, but even powerful Mutated Zombies seem weak against humans' advanced High-Tech Weapons. While I might currently ignore bullets and ordinary shells on the battlefield, stepping on a landmine would severely injure me, and humans possess many weapons far more formidable than these."
"Eventually, when humanity finally recovers from the crisis posed by Zombies, relying on their wisdom and knowledge to recreate powerful weapons capable of destroying entire cities with a single strike, no Zombie will be able to escape unscathed."
"I have been waiting—waiting for humanity to reclaim their world. When that time comes, Shishi can return to a life belonging to Normal Humans, and civilization in this world will be rebuilt."
"My original intention was to protect Shishi's safety before that moment arrived, shielding her from the dangers of this apocalyptic world. But clearly... I have failed."
He looked at the girl's back and smiled bitterly. "She has become a Zombie, which means she can no longer return to the human community." (To be continued...)
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