Interconnected Hearts

No... No... This can't be!

Countless possibilities flashed through Ji Mengyao's mind. She knew perfectly well what the worst outcome could be.

But knowing didn't mean accepting. The fire axe in her hands trembled slightly, and she was even too scared to move forward.

What would she do if Wu Di was really dead?

Without him by her side, every day would be...

Just as she was lost in thought, a zombie wearing a museum guide's uniform crawled out from the glass display case beside her and bit into her shoulder.

"Ah!"

Ji Mengyao cried out in shock. She had let her guard down for a moment and was ambushed by such an ordinary zombie.

She quickly executed a shoulder throw, slamming the zombie that had bitten her to the ground, then crushed its head with her foot like stepping on a watermelon.

This was trouble.

She could use [Death Resistance] to restart and revive, but it had to be before the T-virus completely corrupted her consciousness.

If she completely turned into a walking corpse, she wasn't sure if [Death Resistance] would activate.

The reason she didn't choose to restart immediately was that killing herself would bring severe hallucinatory side effects, and in her hurry to get here, she hadn't brought any cigarettes.

Usually, Wu Di would help her restart, but now she was all alone.

She could only take it one step at a time!

The T-virus hadn't completely corrupted her yet, but she could already feel her brain heating up, every cell in her body becoming agitated.

So this was what it felt like to be corrupted by the T-virus?

Compared to her current anxiety, this was nothing.

Ji Mengyao picked up the bloodstained suit jacket from the ground, examined it carefully, and confirmed once again that it belonged to Wu Di.

She looked around, feeling her vision starting to blur. Looking at her skin, it had already begun turning gray.

She never thought she'd have to experience what it was like to be undead.

She laughed self-mockingly and quickly walked toward the vinyl record player display.

The closer she got, the more zombies were piled up, suggesting Wu Di had fought hard here for some time.

Many headshot corpses lay on the ground, all Wu Di's handiwork. The more Ji Mengyao saw, the more anxious she became.

Sweat beaded on her forehead; the feeling of corruption was unpleasant.

Her vision seemed to have filters – sometimes black and white, sometimes dark red.

Her bodily functions became more excited, and her pace quickened.

When she reached the display, Ji Mengyao felt like her entire body had been thrown into boiling water. The sweat under her cap had soaked her golden hair.

She saw many record players missing from the display, some smashed on the floor, others with their glass covers shattered by unknown objects.

But she noticed one compartment that had been pried open – clearly human work, not zombie damage.

The record player was still there, but Ji Mengyao had an inexplicable feeling that this was the one Wu Di wanted.

Why hadn't he taken it?

"Raaawr!!!"

A zombie trying to crawl out from inside the display roared at Ji Mengyao, but it tripped over a record player and fell headfirst.

Ji Mengyao's heart skipped a beat when she saw this zombie wearing a dress shirt without its suit jacket.

"Wu Di!"

Ji Mengyao rushed forward like a madwoman and flipped the zombie over.

Seeing fresh meat delivered to it, how could the zombie not bite?

It immediately bit into Ji Mengyao's arm, making blood flow from her arm and down its mouth.

Only then did Ji Mengyao finally see the zombie's face clearly, and suddenly let out a huge sigh of relief.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she didn't even hurry to kill the zombie.

Thank goodness, it wasn't him...

Thank goodness, it wasn't him!

She closed her eyes, letting the tears fall, then quickly wiped them away.

She reached out and forcefully pulled away the impostor that was gnawing on her flesh, then brought the axe down on its face.

This small wound meant nothing, as she couldn't feel any pain anyway.

But more T-virus had seeped into her body. Ji Mengyao felt her skin turning grayer, with blue lines appearing on her surface.

This wasn't good – her head was starting to spin severely. She couldn't restart here.

If surrounded by zombies, she'd have to die who knows how many times consecutively.

She limped along, feeling her limbs starting to disobey her commands.

But her eyes kept searching, and though her vision was becoming blurry, she still wanted to find Wu Di.

Where on earth had he gone!

As she walked, her blood left a trail, attracting many zombies who began converging on her location.

But after searching around this display several times, there was still no trace of Wu Di.

Had he gone back already?!

Just as she was lost in thought, a pair of hands suddenly covered her mouth, and with tremendous strength pulled her backward into a nearby staff office.

She struggled desperately, never expecting there would still be people here, but her body was becoming increasingly disobedient and weak.

This was bad... if this continued, she'd completely turn into a zombie. She had to restart.

"Mengyao? Why did you come here?"

The person who had dragged her in closed the door before speaking to her.

However, Ji Mengyao had already been completely corrupted by the T-virus and had fallen into a state of confusion, unable to answer his question.

Seeing Ji Mengyao severely injured and bitten by zombies, Wu Di roughly understood that she must have been worried about him and came to check.

But right now, the most important thing was...

He placed both hands on Ji Mengyao's neck and squeezed hard.

[Death Resistance] activated instantly, and Ji Mengyao's body visibly began returning to normal.

Wu Di breathed a sigh of relief – any later, and he might have had to punch her head in to restart her.

As soon as Ji Mengyao came to her senses and opened her eyes, she saw that figure she both loved and hated, the one she couldn't stop thinking about.

"Wu! Di! You bastard!! You made me worry to death!"

Ji Mengyao immediately reacted, rushing forward to pound her small fists against Wu Di's chest, her face already streaming with tears.

"What kind of birthday... surprise... you knew... I... I..."

She was already choking up, because she had thought she might never see him again.

Wu Di took the beating but gently embraced Ji Mengyao, letting her vent her anger. He knew he was in the wrong.

Seeing her come alone to find him with such severe injuries, he couldn't help but feel heartache, though his face could never show any expression.

He could only say quietly:

"Mengyao... I'm sorry..."

But before he could finish, Ji Mengyao did something that almost made him lose his balance.

She suddenly stood on tiptoe, her tear-stained face approaching, and stubbornly pressed her thin lips against Wu Di's in a kiss.

Then with an irresistible force, she pushed Wu Di against the wall.

Outside the door, zombies howled and pounded, seeming like they might break in at any moment.

Inside, Wu Di held Ji Mengyao close as they kissed.

Their distance had never been closer than at this moment.

At this instant,

The feelings they had been unable to convey for so long perhaps finally connected.