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Join the ServerJi Xiao lifted his chin slightly. “Speak.”
The boy seemed afraid of being noticed by passersby, so he lowered his voice. “I suspect my friend—my neighbor—is secretly raising a zombie.”
“Oh?”
Ji Xiao showed interest. “Let’s go. Talk as we walk.”
The boy led the way, keeping his voice low: “Ever since the apocalypse started, my friend hasn’t let me into their house. They live alone, and before, they never turned me away. But these past few days, they haven’t let me in once. I’m really worried.”
Ji Xiao said casually, “Maybe they’re afraid you’ll compete for food? As a friend, if you visit, they’d feel obliged to share.”
“No, that’s not it. Because I was worried, I secretly listened at their door. Sometimes I heard them talking, but I couldn’t make out the words. The last couple of nights, I even heard growling.” The boy’s voice trembled. “It sounded just like a zombie’s growl.”
Ji Xiao clicked his tongue. “Eavesdropping at someone’s door isn’t good behavior.”
“But I’m worried about them…”
Ji Xiao didn’t answer.
The boy felt stifled and quickened his pace, nursing a grievance. He was just worried about his friend.
His home was in this block, so when he decided to seek help from the patrol, he found Ji Xiao and their team.
Since the power hadn’t been restored, they took the stairs.
Fortunately, the boy’s floor wasn’t high.
Fourth floor.
The boy stopped at a door. “It’s here.”
Ji Xiao knocked.
“Who is it?” a clear, bright voice came from inside.
Ji Xiao looked at the boy.
The boy bit his lip. “Brother Xing, it’s me.”
“Yang Song?” Xing Si said. “What’s the matter?”
“My mom asked me to bring you something. Could you open the door?”
“…Alright.”
When Xing Si opened the door and saw two people in uniform beside Yang Song, he immediately tried to shut it. But Liang Qiujian pressed a hand against the door, making it impossible for him to close no matter how hard he tried.
Ji Xiao curled his lips. “Hello, we’re the patrol for this block. This person reported that you’re secretly raising a zombie. We’ve come to check.”
Xing Si looked at Yang Song in disbelief; his handsome, refined face showed deep disappointment.
Yang Song’s face paled. “Brother Xing, I was just worried about you…”
Xing Si braced the door firmly, his voice slightly hoarse. “There’s no zombie here.”
Heavy breathing came from the room, accompanied by intermittent growls.
Liang Qiujian’s eyes darkened. He shoved the door open with force.
Xing Si staggered back a few steps.
Ji Xiao and Liang Qiujian walked in.
Yang Song patted his chest and followed.
The living room was empty.
The breathing came from the closed bedroom.
Ji Xiao and Liang Qiujian headed toward the room.
Xing Si hurried over to block the doorway, his handsome, refined face resolute. “He’s not a zombie.”
“We just want to confirm. If he isn’t, then everyone’s happy,” Ji Xiao said, walking up to him. “Since we’re here, you should know you can’t stop us.”
Xing Si: “…”
Of course he couldn’t stop them, but…
Afraid that he might anger the patrol, Yang Song quickly stepped forward and pulled Xing Si aside, urging, “Brother Xing, just let them take a look.”
Xing Si shook him off, eyes reddening as he glared. “Don’t touch me.”
Yang Song looked hurt.
Xing Si looked over with tears in his eyes and saw that Liang Qiujian had already opened the door.
The scene inside was fully visible.
What they saw first was a pair of blood-red eyes.
“Roar—”
A young man was tied to the bed by his limbs. The exposed skin wasn’t ulcerated, but his face was pale, utterly bloodless. His eyes were completely red, with only a tiny black dot in the center. The nails on his limbs had elongated noticeably, and his hair reached down to his ankles.
Yang Song gasped. “Jiang Li? What’s he doing here? Didn’t he have a buzz cut? How did his hair grow so long in just a few days…”
Xing Si walked to the bedside, his voice trembling. “Officer patrol, he really isn’t a zombie. Although he’s changed, he’s completely different from a zombie! He’s not a zombie; he doesn’t eat people!”
“Brother, what’s wrong?”
Liang Qiujian wasn’t paying attention to the others. He stared intently at Ji Xiao.
Ji Xiao pressed his hand to his forehead, trying to grasp the fragments that flashed through his mind when he saw the person on the bed, but they were elusive. The more he tried, the more it hurt.
“Brother!”
Liang Qiujian reached out and embraced him.
Ji Xiao closed his eyes and stopped thinking. The headache gradually subsided.
He patted Liang Qiujian’s hand.
Liang Qiujian let him go but still looked worried.
“It’s nothing. Just a sudden headache,” Ji Xiao said, tilting his head slightly. “Yang Song, right? He’s not a zombie. We’ll handle it from here. Please step outside.”
Yang Song hesitated. “But…”
“Team leader,” Ji Xiao said.
Liang Qiujian immediately understood. He grabbed Yang Song, threw him outside the door, and quickly closed the door before returning to the room.
[Shut up.]
Ji Xiao walked up to Xing Si, grabbed his hand, and rolled up his sleeve. Seeing the wound on his wrist, a flash of understanding struck him. “So that’s it.”
Xing Si pulled his hand back, lowering his sleeve. “He… he didn’t mean it. He’s not a zombie.”
“Of course he’s not a zombie,” Ji Xiao said, his gaze cold as he looked at the panting figure on the bed. “He’s a de…” Demon? What?
His head hurt again.
Black Cat said decisively, “Host, there’s another mission user in this world! This is the appearance of someone who has exchanged for the Demonic Art! You can exchange for it too, for just fifty points!”
[Demonic Art?]
“Yes! After practicing the Demonic Art, one undergoes mutation—becoming demonic. Right now, he’s not turning into a zombie; he’s turning into a demon!”
[Didn’t you say there can only be one mission user per world?]
“That’s right, so he…”
[Is a stowaway?]
“Exactly! Host, don’t confront him yet. We don’t know if the person on the bed is the mission user or if someone else exchanged the art for him. Wait a minute, I’ll report this bug to the team leader!”
After saying that, Black Cat frantically contacted the team leader.
Black Cat: I’m screwed! Why can’t I just complete my mission in peace? Why are there bugs again?!
Xing Si stared intently at Ji Xiao. “De… what?”
Ji Xiao was silent for a moment. “It looks like when someone goes into demonic cultivation in novels.”
Xing Si: “…”
Liang Qiujian: “…” That’s from novels.
Ji Xiao chuckled. “The apocalypse has arrived, zombies have appeared. It wouldn’t be strange if demons and monsters showed up too, right?”
Liang Qiujian said helplessly, “The apocalypse has nothing to do with demons and monsters, but his condition is indeed very strange.”
Ji Xiao asked, “How long has he been like this?”
Xing Si hesitated. “Three days.”
Ji Xiao looked at the man on the bed, catching that flash of red. He smirked. “Jiang Li, right? Are you still conscious?”
“Roar—”
Ji Xiao suddenly smiled. In the next instant, he grabbed Xing Si by the throat and pinned him against the wall.
“Mmph—”
Xing Si’s eyes widened. He tried to pry Ji Xiao’s hand away, but couldn’t. He could barely breathe, extremely distressed.
Liang Qiujian frowned but didn’t move.
Jiang Li’s red pupils constricted. The tiny black dot gradually expanded.
Ji Xiao tilted his head toward Jiang Li, his gaze clear and cold. “Though he’s not a zombie, he looks like a mindless monster. Secretly raising a monster and not reporting it—even if I killed you, it wouldn’t matter, right?”
The growling from Jiang Li’s throat gradually faded, replaced by heavy panting. A dark, murderous aura radiated from him.
Xing Si’s struggling grew weaker.
Ji Xiao said, “Ah, he’s about to die.”
The next moment, the ropes binding Jiang Li snapped. In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Ji Xiao.
But then Jiang Li withdrew his attack and instead wrapped his arms around Xing Si.
Simultaneously, Liang Qiujian rushed over, pulling Ji Xiao into his arms, with armor covering his limbs.
“Jiang Li… cough, cough…”
Jiang Li’s murderous expression froze. He lowered his head and gently rubbed Xing Si’s chest. The hair that had been floating unnaturally fell naturally.
Ji Xiao leaned against Liang Qiujian, smiling lightly. “Sorry about that. I just wanted to see if using Xing Si would bring back your consciousness. Seems like Xing Si is very important to you.”
Jiang Li lifted his eyes, crimson and icy.
“We’re fine, but that Yang Song you kicked out might report us. He might find another patrol,” Ji Xiao said as he stood up straight, stepping away from Liang Qiujian. “I don’t think you want to go up against the nation, hiding and dodging with Xing Si.”
Jiang Li said nothing. He lifted Xing Si’s chin, saw no marks, and his eyes shifted slightly.
When Yang Song led a patrol team and violently kicked down the door, they saw a harmonious scene.
Two people sat on each of the two sofas in the living room.
Ji Xiao was lazily leaning against Liang Qiujian, a cigarette between his fingers, watching them with a faint, mocking smile.
Opposite them, Xing Si calmly took a sip of water while Jiang Li turned slightly to look at him.
Jiang Li’s ankle-length hair had been cut to waist length, tied into a loose ponytail that hung in front of him. Light purple-framed glasses masked the coldness in his red eyes.
Liang Qiujian turned his head, his resolute face showing anger. “This block is our responsibility. Which block are you from, and what business do you have here?”
Awkward silence.
The person with a team leader armband swept his gaze around and said, “We’re from the next block. We received a report that someone here is hiding a zombie, and the patrol is trying to cover it up. So we came to assist.”
Yang Song pointed at Jiang Li, who looked calm and composed, his voice pale. “It’s him! A few days ago, he had a buzz cut and black eyes. Just now, I saw him mindless, hair suddenly growing long, eyes changing. He must be…”
“Must be what?” Ji Xiao interrupted him, looking at the patrol from the next block with feigned surprise. “Some of you must have awakened abilities, right?”
The team leader from next door said, “We all have abilities.”
Ji Xiao sneered. “Then you should know that some changes are very normal after awakening abilities, right? What’s a change in eye color?” He patted Liang Qiujian’s thigh. “Team leader, show them.”
Liang Qiujian’s gaze flickered, a layer of metallic luster spreading over it. In an instant, his black eyes turned gold.
Yang Song: “…How is that possible!”
Ji Xiao exaggeratedly said, “No way, no way, no way! You guys haven’t realized that a user’s eyes can change with their abilities?”
Liang Qiujian’s eyes then shifted to a silver light, and he sneered. “Want me to teach you?”
The team leader from next door said with suppressed anger, “No need!”
Ji Xiao clicked his tongue. “We just discovered that the person reported is actually awakening an ability. But he just awakened and can’t control it well yet, so he can’t control his eye color, and the leaking energy caused his hair to grow.”
The team leader from next door glared at Yang Song. “We disturbed you. We’ll take our leave now.”
“That’s not quite right,” Ji Xiao said, flicking his cigarette ash nonchalantly. “You came into our jurisdiction without permission and broke a resident’s door. Are you just going to leave like that?”
The team leader from next door said impatiently, “Patrol Manual, Article 10, Subsection 4: If nearby residents request assistance, cross-jurisdiction handling is allowed. Article 3, Subsection 2: If, due to special circumstances, public or private property is damaged, reimbursement can be applied for. Don’t worry. We’ll file a reimbursement request when we go back. Field services will handle it.”
Ji Xiao nodded. “And how do you deal with deliberate false reports?”
The team leader replied, “Detention for three days in the public safety department.”
Ji Xiao nodded again, stubbing out his cigarette, a mocking look on his face.
Yang Song’s voice trembled. “I didn’t make a false report. At that time, I saw…”
“Didn’t I say earlier that he’s not a zombie and told you to leave?” Ji Xiao stood up, his gaze oppressive. “The patrol clearly told you that your report was wrong; yet you went to the next block to report again. What else could it be but deliberate false reporting?”
Yang Song said, “I, I thought…”
“Don’t want to be detained? Fine. Apologize to the person you falsely accused. If you get forgiveness, you can avoid punishment.”
The team leader from next block didn’t want to get involved in this. He said impatiently, “Can we go now?”
Ji Xiao smiled. “Please.”
The team leader from next block left with his team.
Yang Song clenched his fists and lowered his head. “Jiang Li, I’m sorry. I misunderstood.”
How could he have awakened an ability?
What right did he have to awaken an ability?
Just a short while ago, he was nothing but a mindless beast that only knew how to roar!
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore The Only Ice Flower. Start reading now!
Read : The Only Ice Flower
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