Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 904: Dawn of the Living Dead (3)

Despite the speculation in their hearts, whether the truth matched their thoughts wasn’t the most important issue for Elizabeth and Zhong Luoyue—what truly mattered was that the current commotion among the zombies had undoubtedly created a great opportunity for them.

If these zombies could all gather together, it would be much easier to eliminate them, and they wouldn’t have to worry about any stragglers.

Due to her transformation into a vampire, Zhong Luoyue was not subject to the zombies' active attacks. She had already killed several zombies on her own along the way, entering a state she couldn't quite describe.

Perhaps… the urge for slaughter was a latent factor in everyone’s heart.

At that moment, Zhong Luoyue’s phone suddenly rang—it was a call from Ouyang Jie.

On the other end of the line, Ouyang Jie sounded very anxious, saying he had encountered some wild attackers who were acting just like zombies.

“Are you okay?”

In the general ward, Ouyang Jie was leaning against the cold floor beside his bed. As he contacted Zhong Luoyue, he glanced down at his leg.

There was a wound gushing blood, and the pain caused him to furrow his brow… this was already the area injured during the collapse in the castle, and now it had been bitten several times.

Ouyang Jie decided to use his neck to hold the phone, then grabbed a bandage from the bedside table and started wrapping his wound. He couldn’t help but recall the terrifying scene from a few minutes ago!For Ouyang Jie, Tu Shenyi and Uncle Jin’s fates were uncertain, making it impossible for him to sleep soundly. As he felt increasingly restless, a sudden scream broke out from outside the curtain.

Before Ouyang Jie could react, a figure suddenly lunged through the curtains around his bed, attacking him like a rabid patient, aiming for the wound on his leg.

Injured and unable to move well, Ouyang Jie could only struggle in vain on the bed. But inexplicably, this “thing” suddenly became quiet, ceasing its attack and even backing away.

Terrified, Ouyang Jie pulled aside the curtain to see the general ward filled with bloodied and dismembered bodies… many of them bore gruesome bite marks!

Ouyang Jie believed he was not in a terrible nightmare, but in a scene that could only occur in a movie, now vividly manifesting before his eyes.

“Are you really okay? Are you hurt?” Zhong Luoyue asked with slight concern.

Ouyang Jie casually replied, “Nothing serious, but I can’t move very well right now… also, your bodyguard is dead right in front of me, and I couldn’t do anything.”

“Everyone is powerless; this isn’t the time to self-blame,” Zhong Luoyue said sternly. “You can’t move well, so try to find a place to hide and take care of yourself. I’ll find a way to rescue you.”

“Okay, you be careful too,” Ouyang Jie nodded quickly.

He didn’t know what was happening outside the ward, but he could hear plenty of gunfire and terrified screams… the general ward was likely in chaos, far beyond his imagination.

At this moment, Zhong Luoyue was probably too preoccupied to care for him. Whether her words about rescuing him were sincere or just perfunctory, he had to trust her.

Ouyang Jie propped himself against the wall and quickly hopped to the door of the general ward, shutting it tightly behind him. He then grabbed the gun left behind by his deceased bodyguard—there were originally two bodyguards, but one of them had escaped early.

With his back against the door, Ouyang Jie slid down to the floor and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, staring at the corpses of the dead before him.

This scene felt eerily familiar.

At seven or eight years old… or maybe a bit older, at nine. It was a long time ago—after he had run away from the orphanage.

That night, after leaving the oppressive orphanage, Ouyang Jie wandered the streets, feeling hungry and tired. He even regretted escaping from the orphanage—after all, the people there were quite nice to him, but for some reason, he just wanted to leave that wall behind.

Suddenly, a gang shootout erupted on the street at night, resulting in many deaths. The ground was littered with corpses, and blood was everywhere. He was terrified and had to hide.

Then a man appeared, saving him from nearly dying in the gang fight. The man said nothing, only took him to a grand castle.

He told the young Ouyang Jie that his name was Uncle Jin.

---

“Uncle Wu!!”

Fortunately, as they rushed out of the corridor, Luo Qiu and his group encountered Uncle Wu, who had gone to find the on-duty doctor not long ago.

This made Song Ying feel a significant sense of relief… Uncle Wu had no visible injuries, just appeared a bit disheveled, his neatly combed hair now a mess.

“Miss Ying!”

“Don’t say anything; we’re about to meet with Uncle and the others,” Song Ying decisively stated.

Uncle Wu nodded, glanced quickly at Luo Qiu, and then went to the back of the group to act as rear guard.

“It’s strange; haven’t you noticed that we haven’t encountered any zombies along this stretch?”

Despite this, Song Ying didn’t relax at all… and at that moment, Gan Hong remarked, “Not only that, but it seems the gunfire has also stopped.”

“Look!”

In the group, Ah Hu, who originally served as one of Song’s elite bodyguards, pointed nervously out of the corridor’s window.

Below, the zombies began to emerge one by one, like ants returning to their nest, slowly coming out from various places, gathering, and then moving in a single direction.

“What… what are they trying to do?” Uncle Wu murmured in confusion.

Luo Qiu also looked curiously down below… he indeed considered organizing these zombies, preventing them from attacking humans. If that were the case, he wouldn’t need to worry about what came next.

Human weapons were sufficient to deal with these “organized” zombies.

However, before he had even taken action, it seemed these zombies had already been “regulated”… by some obscure force, a power that Luo Qiu found strangely familiar.

Luo Qiu furrowed his brow.

Everyone was startled by the scene of corpses gathering below, and Luo Qiu quietly took a step back at this moment.

Like a summer cicada shedding its shell, another Luo Qiu "emerged" from behind him, while the remaining "shell" slowly closed its eyes.

After shedding the "shell," Luo Qiu let his body sink directly... all the way down to the first floor of the building.

He wasn't too worried about the safety of Song Ying and the others, because under his watch, all the zombies that had transformed within the hospital had already been "regulated" and gathered together.

At this moment, Gan Hong was the first to react, "This is a great opportunity; they seem to be gathering. We should be safe on our way, let’s meet up with Da Shao and the others!"

Song Ying immediately understood, but just as she turned around, she saw that "Luo Qiu" had unexpectedly closed his eyes and was standing still.

Just as Song Ying was about to tap him, unexpectedly, Luo Qiu suddenly slumped down and fell into her arms, burying his face in her chest.

Absolutely—deliberate!!!

Song Ying's fist clenched in anger, but Gan Hong was quicker to act, concernedly moving Luo Qiu's "shell" away from Song Ying to check on him.

"Young Master Qiu seems to have fainted again," Gan Hong frowned, "We should meet up with Da Shao first."

She made the quickest judgment, then squatted down, intending to carry Luo Qiu's "shell."

"Ah Hu, you carry him!" unexpectedly commanded Song Ying coldly.

Ah Hu, one of the elite guards, blinked in surprise. Upon meeting Song Ying's murderous gaze, he shivered and hurriedly said, "Miss Hong, let me do this heavy lifting…"

Gan Hong silently nodded.

At this moment.

"Song Ying!!"

It was the voice of Song Haoran. He led Song Er and Song San, and had already found his way up.

……

……

After exiting the inpatient department, Luo Qiu followed the moving zombies. He could not sense any thoughts from these zombies—because they had no thoughts.

In his black-and-white view, there was only a void... not even a hint of gray light existed, which made Luo Qiu feel a sudden irritation.

He had grown accustomed to observing a colorful world, where the entire world appeared to him as an ocean of souls, floating with countless lights.

Some were as brilliant as pearls, captivating his heart, while others were covered in a layer of gray, but they could also be just temporarily hidden pearls in their shells. Discovering them brought him great joy.

Though his vacation time was short, it gave Luo Qiu many completely different experiences. His emotions were no longer suppressed; he knew he was temporarily freed from a kind of cage.

Only then did he truly understand the former shopkeeper's notion of "losing freedom."

Either completely closing off his heart, akin to a state of heart-death, or with the increase of transactions and enhancement of abilities, becoming entirely divine, completely forgetting his emotions... Even if thoughts were retained, there would be an invisible scale added—no distinction of races, no right or wrong—until there was no longer any attachment to anything.

Perhaps, it was another kind of... living dead.

The very thought of this degree of irritation surged within him like a dam bursting, vaguely accompanied by anger.

Luo Qiu suddenly stopped, standing silently in place, as the zombies walked by him one after another; the world remained colorless.

Suddenly, Luo Qiu opened his eyes, his hand sweeping through the air quickly and forcefully!

A ripple abruptly spread from his gesture, and the zombies touched by this ripple began to collapse at that instant, shattering from beside Luo Qiu.

Their bodies shattered like fine dust… one by one, they were completely dispersed, annihilated.

It was like a release, and the price was that the zombies around him vanished completely... At this moment, Luo Qiu slowly turned around.

Behind him, Zhong Luoyue and Elizabeth stood nervously at the stairway entrance—having likely followed these moving zombies all the way here.

Yet they also witnessed the scene of zombies disintegrating into ashes with a mere wave of his hand.

Such terrifying power... if zombies could be obliterated with a wave, what could possibly withstand this world?

Luo Qiu walked over, his expression blank.

Zhong Luoyue felt a mix of tension and fear… a fear that surpassed even when she encountered Viscount Fernandez or the monster that Uncle Jin had turned into.

She instinctively took half a step back but suddenly felt her body stiffen, her legs going weak, unable to lift them.

Luo Qiu had walked up to Elizabeth.

"Brother Luo Qiu…" Elizabeth's voice trembled slightly.

Suddenly, Luo Qiu raised his hand, gently caressing Elizabeth's cheek, softly saying, "To me, you're like a treasure; how could I allow you... to simply disappear from my sight? You belong to me."

At this moment, Elizabeth's mind felt as if it had been struck by lightning, completely blank.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Luoyue's thoughts also paused for a few seconds!

……

Is this a confession? Is this a confession? Is this a domineering CEO-style confession?

Zhong Luoyue didn't know how Elizabeth truly felt, but she was someone with a keen eye—just from Elizabeth’s almost limp posture and her gaze that was soft and infatuated as she stared at Luo Qiu, Zhong Luoyue felt that it was over.

This man… is too terrifying.

As she thought this, Luo Qiu suddenly looked towards her, and the moment she made eye contact with his gaze, Zhong Luoyue felt a suffocating sensation.

It wasn’t fear... rather, it was an inexplicable attraction... a thrill that seemed to come from the depths of her body, filling her with an impulse to draw closer.

"You’re quite good too... I won’t let you leave me."

Is he speaking to me? Is he looking at me?

This man… is making a declaration?

Her mind raced as she quickly assessed the power dynamics between them. Zhong Luoyue soon realized that her very wealthy superpower was no match for the true ability he possessed.

At this moment, Luo Qiu held Elizabeth's hand, and Elizabeth’s gaze was utterly enchanted, as if her heart and soul had been stolen, just allowing Luo Qiu to lead her.

He approached Zhong Luoyue, softly saying, "The mundane world cannot hide the brilliance of your essence; I can see your inner splendor and beauty."

His palm gently caressed Zhong Luoyue's face, lingering on her lips before sliding down lightly, causing her breath to quicken.

Then Luo Qiu's hand rested on her chest, gently pressing against her heart... seemingly feeling its pulse.

"All things."

A smile suddenly appeared on Luo Qiu's face, a strange expression, like a vortex, completely drawing Zhong Luoyue's thoughts into it.