Su Mu had grown up in the military. The army was full of rough, burly men. After the apocalypse—where the weak were eliminated—even women had developed strong bodies and unyielding wills. He had rarely come into contact with girls as soft and gentle as those from the peaceful era.

He had never liked anyone, nor did he know what liking someone was supposed to feel like. In his eyes, there were only two kinds of people: those he cared about and those who cared about him.

After entering the original owner’s body, at some point, he didn’t even know when, he had come entirely to regard Su Wanmei as his own biological mother.

He could tell that Lu Shuangshuang cared about him, so he would return that care in equal measure. But as for liking—at least for now, it was something he couldn’t give, because he simply didn’t feel that way toward her.

Su Mu wasn’t cold to everyone. He spoke little because he didn’t know what to say, and he disliked meddling in others’ affairs. His attention was always focused only on the people he cared about—and toward those people, he had never been stingy with anything.

What Su Mu didn’t know was that what he thought was merely friendliness carried a special meaning in the eyes of a sensitive and thoughtful girl—especially one who already had feelings for him.

Hearing footsteps behind him and thinking that he was about to die anyway, Fang Yiyang’s mood grew even worse. When people ran into trouble, they always tended to assume the worst. He guessed that Su Mu might be planning to wait until he turned into a zombie, then kill him and take his crystal core.

He found a relatively quiet flower shop. Inside lay only a single, mangled zombie corpse. Reaching for the door handle, he hesitated for a moment before suppressing the grief and resentment in his heart and speaking as calmly as he could.

“Why are you following me?”

Su Mu lowered his eyes slightly. “I was scratched, too.”

Fang Yiyang froze for a long while before blurting out, “How is that possible? You’re so strong…”

Meeting Fang Yiyang’s shocked gaze, Su Mu’s expression didn’t change. He stepped forward, pushed the shop door open, and—without minding the stench—found a place to sit down. He seemed lost in thought.

From Fang Yiyang’s perspective, Su Mu’s refined side profile showed no emotion—no panic, no fear, no despair. If Fang Yiyang hadn’t seen the pitch-black blood flowing from the wound on Su Mu’s back earlier, he wouldn’t have dared believe that Su Mu had been scratched.

Even zombie blood was only dark red-black. He had never seen a colour so thick and inky before.

Was it because he knew he was about to be infected, so he no longer cared about anything?

Fang Yiyang closed the shop door, wedged an iron rod across it as a simple lock, then hesitantly moved closer to Su Mu.

“Well… um… are you about to get infected?”

The question was harsh, but it was the truth. No normal person’s blood was black.

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Fang Yiyang thought that since he hadn’t shown any signs of zombification yet, there was still at least a small chance he could survive. But if Su Mu had already been infected, wouldn’t he be dragged down too?

His life had been saved by his brother. His brother couldn’t have died for nothing. No matter what, he had to live—because his life no longer belonged to him alone.

He would live carrying his brother’s share as well, in this hell-like apocalypse.

Su Mu glanced at him. “Have I shown symptoms of zombification?”

Fang Yiyang hesitated slightly. Looking at Su Mu’s utterly calm expression, he ultimately nodded.