Chapter Thirty-Three: An Unexpected Gain!

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I muttered to myself, yet something still felt wrong. This was clearly the place where I had died. Every blade of grass, every tree, every brick and tile looked so familiar.

“Could it be that I’m not dead yet? Have I come back to life?”

I lowered my head and examined my body. The scratches and bite marks left by the zombie animals had healed, but the deep bite wound the zombie tiger had inflicted on my abdomen remained, like a brand burned into my flesh—horrifying to behold.

I sprang to my feet, but the joy I had felt a moment earlier was instantly replaced by an inexplicable terror. A gigantic shadow lay across the ground, enveloping my entire body. Its shape was indistinct and impossible to make out. I slowly turned around, already sensing that something terrible was behind me.

“A zombie tiger!”

I cried out in alarm. My legs gave way, and I dropped heavily onto the ground.

The Siberian tiger before me was the very same one that had previously led a horde of zombie animals in pursuit of me. Death seemed to radiate from its entire body. Its eyes blazed as it stared at me, as though I were nothing more than a sumptuous meal.

“Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll fight you to the death! I’m not afraid of dying one more time!”

I shouted, my voice trembling, though I was also trying to bolster my own courage.

I edged backward little by little, attempting to escape the clutches of death.

Yet the zombie tiger merely sat there, completely motionless, showing no intention of attacking me. I froze, muttering inwardly, Something’s wrong. Something about this situation is definitely wrong.

Taking a closer look, I realized that although the tiger’s appearance was exactly the same as before, its body was much larger, as if it had expanded several times overnight.

There was no time to worry about that. I had only one thought in mind.

Run!

I had taken only a few steps backward when the tiger slowly rose and followed me for several paces.

“Huh?”

My heart jolted. What was going on? Was this zombie tiger toying with me? Did it really have that much of a sense of humor?

I cautiously took a few more steps back, and the tiger followed at the same pace. My heart was in turmoil, utterly unable to guess what this zombie tiger was planning.

At last, I summoned my courage and began walking toward it, one step at a time. To my surprise, it did not attack me. It simply stood there in silence, like a sculpture carved from death itself.

I carefully examined the enormous beast before me. Its features were identical to those of the tiger that had chased me earlier, but its body was a full size larger. Wounds of varying sizes covered it from head to tail—injuries it must have suffered before becoming a zombie. They only made its appearance even more ferocious.

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I moved closer and compared its height with my own. I was six feet one, yet when it stood upright, the tiger reached all the way to my chest.

“That’s ridiculous! Has it evolved? If it slapped me, wouldn’t it flatten an entire car?”

I drew in a sharp breath, secretly astonished.

For some reason, almost as if possessed, I reached out and touched its head. It offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing me to ruffle and knead its fur. It was obedient—almost like a pet I had raised myself.

“That’s eerie. This is way too eerie!”

I could not help exclaiming, my heart filled with disbelief.

Suddenly, my eyes lit up. A flash of insight seemed to pass through my mind, and I muttered to myself, Could it be that... my ability has evolved again?

I shut my eyes tightly and concentrated, trying to sense the zombie animals around me. Sure enough, I could clearly perceive which animals were where. It felt as though an invisible net had spread across the area, encompassing every zombie nearby.

I tried to summon a zombie dog. A three-legged one came limping over, the flesh on its body long since rotted away, exposing stark white bones.

“Ugh...”

The sight made me nauseous, so I quickly switched to a zombie cat. An elegant British Shorthair appeared lightly on the rooftop before leaping down and landing steadily in front of me.

Thinking back to what had happened at Jiang Li’s place several months earlier, I finally understood. My ability had evolved because I had been bitten by a zombie. It seemed that after their blood merged with mine, I gained the power to control them.

Still, I could not help feeling that this ability was rather useless. After all, I could only control zombies, while humans...

I fear ghosts, yet ghosts have never harmed me in the slightest. I do not fear people, yet people have left me battered and broken.

I turned to look at the zombie tiger and could not help imagining how impressive it would be if it served as my bodyguard.

I tried to command it to come with me to rescue the others, but I could not sense even the slightest response through my mind.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be able to control them after being bitten?”

I was utterly bewildered. Why couldn’t I command this zombie tiger? Why did my special ability work sometimes and fail at others?

I scratched my head, growing increasingly anxious. “What am I supposed to do? I was even planning to ride you to rescue them! Why can’t I sense you with my mental power?”

The moment I finished speaking, the zombie tiger slowly walked to my side and lay down. Its posture looked almost as though it were inviting me to climb onto its back.

Trembling, I raised one foot. That single step felt like crossing the boundary between life and death. At last, I climbed onto the tiger’s broad back. The instant I settled myself, it rose smoothly and carried me with astonishing strength and stability.

“That’s freaking awesome!”

I could not help shouting.

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“Big Yellow! Let’s go!”

My voice carried a hint of excitement. The tiger seemed to understand me. With a powerful push from all four paws, it shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Its speed was astonishing. I had not used even a trace of mental power to enhance it, yet it was already as fast as the Ferrari I had once driven at full speed.

The wind roared past my ears, and the scenery blurred into phantomlike streaks. In the blink of an eye, we had rushed out of that silent, dead city. I turned my head and looked back at Anqing City.

“Ah! What a shame!”

I muttered, then let out a long, heavy sigh.

“If only I could bring the zombie animals from the city with me. Then this wouldn’t be a desperate suicide mission—it would be an earth-shaking surprise attack!”

Before I had even finished speaking, the zombie tiger suddenly threw back its head and roared, as if it had sensed my thoughts. Its roar shook the heavens and earth, seeming capable of piercing every obstacle and reaching the deepest recesses of the human heart.

Behind us, faint sounds of movement gradually arose. I turned around and saw countless shadows darting through the dusk, rushing toward us.

My heart clenched. My eyes widened, and I could scarcely believe what I was seeing.

They were the zombie animals and beasts from the city. Some ran, some leaped, and some soared through the air, all surging in our direction. Their forms grew clearer in the night. Their numbers and momentum were like a raging tide, surging without end.

I stood frozen, my eyes growing moist.

I had not used my mental power to command them, yet they seemed to have received some kind of summons and followed us of their own accord.

“Could it be...?”

I lowered my head and looked at Big Yellow. Its once-empty, lifeless eyes had become deep and unfathomable, glowing with a dark light. I gently patted its head.

Then I slowly raised my gaze, fixing my eyes ahead like a hawk locking onto its prey. A trace of ruthless determination quietly spread through my eyes.

“Jiang Yunjie, my game has begun!”

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