1.
The first time I met Mr. Shen, I was chained hand and foot, with a muzzle over my mouth to keep me from biting, huddled in a dark corner.
The doctor opened the heavy iron door, and Mr. Shen stepped inside, backlit.
Immaculate new leather shoes, perfectly pressed trouser legs—disgusting human.
The man in the suit crouched in front of me. Instinctively, I drew back, watching him warily but with curiosity.
I sniffed.
A strange scent suddenly joined the damp smell in the air.
It smelled so good.
My throat bobbed as I swallowed.
I stared at the man in front of me, hungry and desperate.
A beautiful human who smelled delicious.
My teeth itched.
I wanted to eat him.
Mr. Shen watched me for a moment, took off his gloves, and reached out to remove the muzzle from my mouth.
The doctor behind him cried out in alarm. “Mr. Shen, don't take it off! It'll go berserk and bite someone!”
Before he could finish, the muzzle hit the floor.
In that instant, I sprang up, shoved Mr. Shen onto the floor, bent over his neck to sniff it, then bit down hard.
My sharp teeth pierced his skin. Fresh blood flowed down my throat, and I gulped it down.
Mr. Shen let out a soft groan, resting a hand on my waist and holding me gently.
He didn't move, obediently letting me drink his blood. He even tilted his head to the side, as if offering me his slender neck.
I was pleased with his attitude.
It was only natural for humans to fear a ferocious zombie like me.
When I lunged at Mr. Shen, the doctor screamed, but someone immediately clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him outside.
In the silent room, I could clearly hear his blood flowing.
I wondered if I'd bitten him to death, so I let go and lifted my head—and met Mr. Shen's eyes.
He lowered his eyelids and gazed at me silently.
“Had your fill?”
“Does my blood taste good?”
He raised a hand and gently wiped my mouth.
His finger was smeared with blood. He brought it to his lips and tasted it, then gave a soft laugh. “Not very sweet, is it?”
His smile left me dazed. By the time I realized what was happening, Mr. Shen had already gripped my face.
He stared straight at my mouth and asked, “Is the blood in your mouth sweeter?”
The next second, my eyes widened in shock.
How dare this guy eat a zombie's lips?
He was even sucking on a zombie's tongue!
Which one of us was the zombie here?!
This human was terrifying!
He made my lips go limp, my head swim, and my body burn with a discomfort I couldn't stand.
Something was definitely wrong.
There had to be zombie-specific poison in Mr. Shen's mouth!
I was probably about to die.
Hot, tense—surely I really was about to die.
I wanted to run, but Mr. Shen held me down by the waist.
I struggled but couldn't get free. All my strength had been drained away, and he even stole the air from my mouth. I couldn't breathe, and my face turned bright red.
This had to be some new form of torture for zombies.
Humans were so cruel.
At last, Mr. Shen let me go. His lips still brushed against mine as he said, “Why are you so silly? You used to be such a good kisser. Now you don't even know how to breathe?”
I didn't understand what he was saying. I tried to take deep breaths, and before I could even recover, I hurriedly crawled off him, dragging my long chain with a clatter as I rolled and crawled back to the corner.
Humans really were terrifying!
For now, the zombie couldn't beat him.
I'd get revenge next time.
I sat down in the corner, legs spread, and looked down at my pants. After a long moment, I smacked myself right in the middle. “What is this? Go down! Don't get hard!”
I smacked it again. “Go down!”
Mr. Shen got up from the floor, saw what I was doing, and laughed. “Hey, what are you doing?”
I hurriedly closed my legs and warily watched him approach. The hair all over my body stood on end. I bared my teeth, trying to look fierce enough to scare him away.
Mr. Shen crouched down and reached out to touch my fangs. “Still want to bite me?”
I bit his finger at once.
I looked up and met Mr. Shen's deep, shadowy eyes. I saw his Adam's apple bob.
He looked like he wanted to eat a zombie.
Hmph... That human was such a pervert.
I hesitantly licked the wound on his hand, let go of his finger, and edged backward.
I wouldn't bite anymore.
Don't eat my lips.
2.
Mr. Shen unlocked the chains on me himself and led me out of the research institute.
I didn't want to go with him, but he asked, “Would you like to feel the sun?”
The zombie really wanted to.
Ever since I was brought to the research institute, I hadn't seen sunlight.
For five years, I hadn't known who I was, what my name was, where I came from, or where I was going.
It seemed I'd forgotten who I was.
I had a vague feeling that I needed to meet someone.
But I couldn't remember who, or whether I'd met them yet.
Once we passed through the main gate, I saw the research institute's sign, with the words “Drug Rehab” on it.
I stared up at the cloud-filled sky for a long time before I realized I'd been tricked.
There was no sun.
Mr. Shen was a liar.
The zombie couldn't go with him.
I looked up at Mr. Shen's retreating back and ran off while he wasn't paying attention.
I made it two blocks before Mr. Shen tackled me.
He took off his tie, bound my wrists tightly with it, and said angrily, “After everything they've done to you, you still fucking want to run?”
“Where are you going to run? Do you have anywhere to go? With you acting this stupid, who besides me is going to care about you?”
“You ungrateful thing!”
“Just because you left me and got yourself all bruised up like this, you should be apologizing to me!”
“If I didn't think you were stupid, I'd have hit you a long time ago.”
He cinched the tie tight and pulled me up off the ground. “If you run again, I'll break your legs.”
I looked into Mr. Shen's reddened eyes and felt I ought to comfort him.
I opened my mouth, but choked up.
I hadn't spoken once since I became a zombie.
I thought hard about how to speak, then finally managed in a hoarse, halting voice, “Won't run again... Don't break legs.”
Mr. Shen gripped the tie binding my hands and walked me along slowly, not looking back as he said in a hoarse voice:
“If you dare trick me, I'll kiss your mouth to pieces.”
!
He really was a cruel human!
He wanted to kiss a zombie's lips to pieces again!
It really made a zombie afraid.
3.
Just pretending.
Actually, I wasn't afraid of Mr. Shen. After all, I was a zombie, and he was just a weak human.
Brave zombies aren't afraid of humans!
I clutched my clothes and encouraged myself.
Mr. Shen snapped, “The water in the tub is about to get cold. How are you supposed to bathe if you don't take your clothes off?!”
I hugged my clothes and said, “We zombies don't need to bathe!”
Mr. Shen gritted his teeth. “If you don't bathe, you'll start to stink!”
“We zombies already stink.”
Mr. Shen: “…”
I didn't like bathing.
At the research institute, the doctors would strip me naked, lock me in a small room, then hose me down.
The water was very cold.
I didn't like being stripped naked, and I didn't like being sprayed with water.
I told them I was a zombie and didn't need to bathe.
But the doctors at the research institute didn't believe me. They said I was crazy.
Mr. Shen was so angry he laughed. “If you're my zombie, then you have to smell nice and stay clean.”
He grabbed my face and pulled me close. His gaze dropped to my lips as he growled, “Are you going to bathe? If you don't, I'll kiss your mouth to pieces.”
I immediately clamped a hand over my mouth.
Oh no! It seemed the wicked Mr. Shen had found a zombie's weakness.
I looked at Mr. Shen's mouth, then at the bathtub.
Gritting my teeth, I wrenched myself free of his grasp, dashed to the tub, jumped in, and glared at him.
Mr. Shen: “…”
He sighed and asked, “Can you wash yourself?”
I shook my head.
Mr. Shen came over, crouched beside the tub, and bent down to wash me.
The moment he lifted my shirt, his pupils contracted.
I sensed the fury he was holding back and immediately tensed, watching him warily, ready to lunge and bite him to death at any moment.
But Mr. Shen only reached out and gently stroked the crisscrossing scars on my stomach. Tears welled in his eyes.
I looked at him curiously.
Mr. Shen lowered his head, and drops of water pattered from his face into the tub.
He asked, “Fang Yao, does it hurt?”
I tilted my head. “Who is Fang Yao?”
Mr. Shen froze, stroking me with an unfathomable look in his eyes.
Shattered, battered, trembling, on the verge of falling apart.
When he looked at me like that, I felt an unrelenting ache in my chest.
Mr. Shen forced a smile and said hoarsely, “Fang Yao is the person I love.”
I stared blankly and clutched my chest.
It felt as if someone had stabbed me there. I doubled over and cried out in pain.
Mr. Shen hurriedly rubbed my chest. “There, there. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt.”
After he rubbed it for a while, I really did feel much better.
I was even more certain now.
The wicked Mr. Shen must have poisoned a zombie with his mouth.
This poison made zombies hurt.
Only when he rubbed me did the zombie stop hurting.
The antidote must be inside him.