Chapter 49: A Purplish-Blue Shade

Xiao Guang had to temporarily put aside his plan to go out and capture another strong, zombie-like girl because he seemed to have fallen ill again.

Maybe it wasn't an illness, but it was definitely abnormal. His entire body had turned blue, coming somewhat close to the shade of Thanos's purple chin.

He looked in the mirror; his face was that exact same color. Pulling down his pants to take a look, he was purplish-blue, swollen, resembling a withered eggplant.

Sitting on a stone by the vegetable garden in the backyard, he tossed the basket in his hand aside and looked up at the sky. Xiao Guang had a guess.

The three zombie girls had licked him into a state of poisoning. When he was sweating profusely and his pores were wide open, he had vaguely felt three little puppies licking him.

Later on, Minju had pressed against his chest and said she would help. So his guess should be correct; otherwise, it was impossible that his entire body's skin would change color while his internal organs felt completely fine.

He wondered if this method of invasion through the pores would turn him into a zombie. Xiao Guang reached out and touched the skin on his forearm. Aside from the discoloration, there was no other sensation.

Turning this color had only taken a single night. In other words, right before he went to sleep while playfully smacking Hyewon's bottom, the skin on his arm had still been quite fair.

When he woke up, he found the three zombie girls staring at him unblinkingly, their eyes wide open like saucers, and Irene was holding an iron chain in her hand.

These heartless women—if it weren't for the fact that his voice hadn't changed, Xiao Guang suspected they would have suppressed him. The fact that they even brought out an iron chain indicated that they were scared.

Through his careful feeding, the three of them had long since regained rosy complexions, and their tongues had become moist. He figured they must have infected him through this exact route.

To be frank, Xiao Guang was terrified. If it were just a small patch, Xiao Guang could have mustered the courage to cut it off with a knife or burn it away with a hot iron.

Yet too many places had changed color; even his eyelids were discolored. The only parts that hadn't changed were his palms and the soles of his feet. Xiao Guang had the illusion that he had turned into a black guy.

Except black guys didn't come in purplish-blue.

Panicking was useless, so Xiao Guang chose to keep working. Working would consume his energy. Whether it was because he had things on his mind or for some other reason, even though he should have been exhausted, he felt no desire to rest.

This wasn't normal. Xiao Guang knew he wasn't Superman. Looking at the skin on his body once more, Xiao Guang couldn't help but laugh.

If someone dug him up many years from now, it would be fine if he had rotted down to bones; otherwise, people would think an eggplant had turned into a spirit.

It was a rare thing that he could still laugh. Looking around, the excavator was not far away. Why did it feel like it was digging not a fish pond, but his own grave?

With a dejected face, he stepped into the pit and lay down in a comfortable spot. No, he was so unwilling.

Whose transformation into a zombie turned out like this? This was far worse than being bitten and mutating rapidly.

There was no bed in the pit. After lying there for a while, Xiao Guang stood back up and dusted himself off. Things had reached this point; he would leave it to fate.

Before the final moment of mutation arrived, he would still live like a human being. Be brave; weeping and wailing were useless.

During lunch, the three zombie girls were all very obedient. Even Hyewon, who usually loved to play and make a fuss, had quieted down, her eyes fixed tightly on his face.

"What are you looking at? Isn't this all because you licked me?"

Looking at Irene kneeling before him, Xiao Guang picked up the spoon and began feeding her. Irene looked at him with her reddish eyes, and Xiao Guang met her gaze.

Irene suddenly smiled. Having not choked on her food in a long time, she choked on it once again.

This was the first time Xiao Guang had seen Irene smile. It was pretty—or more accurately, exceptionally pretty.

Yet thinking about the reason behind her smile, Xiao Guang felt a trace of sadness. What kind of absurdity was this? His appearance had actually managed to make a zombie laugh.

"Still laughing? You share the blame for me turning out like this. Besides, I want to ask you three: which one of you pulled down my underwear?"

Speaking of this, Xiao Guang grew somewhat exasperated out of shame. Had his virginity been lost? He had preserved it for so many years, only to lose it like this without feeling a single thing—what a massive loss.

Putting down the small bowl and gathering all three zombie girls in front of him, Xiao Guang intended to say a few words.

"Ahem~~ Well, ever since we became a family, we've never held a family meeting. You don't need to stare at me like that. Come on, sit down by the sofa. Minju, put down the cup filled with milk; there's no milk powder for lunch."

He gave it a tug, but Minju wouldn't let go. With another tug, he managed to snatch the cup away. Minju gave a disgruntled twist in place, and Xiao Guang pretended not to see it.

He couldn't keep spoiling them; rules had to be enforced when necessary. Pushing the three zombie girls to sit in a row on the sofa, he remained standing.

He had to admit, there was somewhat of a condescending feel to it. Xiao Guang cleared his throat once more.

"I reckon I'm poisoned now, but it doesn't matter. I'm not scared. To have lived this long in the apocalypse, and to have lived with pretty girls like you—for me, there aren't too many regrets left."

Pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, Xiao Guang spoke again.

"How should I put this? I don't know if you girls can remember this. If I'm still alive, of course I'll keep taking care of you. If I die, consider these words my last testament."

"So hungry~"

Always thinking about eating. Xiao Guang looked at Hyewon and pointed at her. My mood is rather heavy here, and all you know how to do is shout about being hungry.

"Actually, there isn't much else to say. I'm just an ordinary person, and I probably won't be able to awaken any superpowers. So barring any accidents, I'll probably be the most common type of zombie you see on the streets. To be honest, I can't quite accept that. So if I truly feel that I'm about to mutate, I'll take care of myself."

Sighing, he looked at the three zombie girls, especially Irene, and pointed toward the backyard.

"Do me a favor and cover me with soil when the time comes. My homeland values peace after death, and since I can't go back now, once I die I won't be afraid of zombies anymore, and I'll make my own way back then."

"Not going back~"

He didn't know how Irene interpreted his words. Xiao Guang looked at Irene. What did you mean by "not going back"? Did you mean you didn't want me to leave?

"There are still plenty of supplies upstairs. Over the next few days, I'll teach you how to open the milk powder and how to consume it. It won't matter if you don't know how to boil hot water by then. If I really die, Irene, you take Minju and Hyewon and hide in the room upstairs. There's a lot of flour in there, just like the bakery you hid in originally."

He had clearly wanted to lay down some rules, but once he actually started talking, Xiao Guang couldn't bring himself to do it. In the end, he still ended up arranging his final affairs. After all, after sleeping for another night, he might no longer be a purplish-blue eggplant, but rather a dead thing.

"Alright, let's eat for now. In a bit, I'll teach you how to mix the milk powder. Same old rule, Irene, you go first."

He didn't know what kind of mood the three of them were in. During normal days when he fed them, aside from Irene who would be very well-behaved, Minju would always make a sound resembling aggrieved whimpering.

Hyewon would always reach out to paw at the bowl, wanting to check the leftovers inside. Yet today, all three of them were exceptionally obedient; when he fed them, they tried hard to swallow. This abnormality made Xiao Guang's mood even heavier. Could it be that they knew what was about to happen to him?

The entire afternoon, aside from leading Irene upstairs to retrieve the milk powder and trying to teach her how to use it, Xiao Guang did nothing else.

He found a piece of wood, split it in half with an axe, and used a fade-resistant marker on the split surface to write his own gravestone. He didn't know how to write a tombstone inscription, so he just wrote it like a resume.

A descendant of Huaxia, surnamed Xiao, given name Guang, courtesy name.... Let's just make one up at random; it needed to look somewhat formal.

Descendant of Huaxia, surnamed Xiao, given name Guang, courtesy name Xiaoliang, is buried in this place. I feel ashamed for failing to repay the rearing grace of my parents and unable to fulfill my filial duties at their knees. I only hope that after death I can find the path back to my homeland to repay their kindness.

Writing a few words, he wiped away his tears. Xiao Guang discovered for the first time that he was so fragile, his tears falling in strings.

"Oppa~"

It was Minju's voice. She liked using this form of address. Xiao Guang looked up at her. Minju's dark blue pupils stared at him for a moment, and she actually reached out to cup his face, then gave him a lick.

"Stop licking! You've licked me into a Smurf, and you're still licking!"