Chapter 185: Raising a Little Zombie 3

Xie Hui could only watch helplessly as Xie Yun, after making up his mind and biting down on the crystal core, promptly shattered one of his front teeth.

“Wuwu… Daddy…”

Xie Yun didn’t even have time to feel the pain. The moment he saw his front tooth fly out, he burst into tears.

Xie Hui bent down to pick up the fallen tooth. After confirming that the crystal core was still perfectly intact, he couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled.

The little one, now missing a front tooth, threw himself into Xie Hui’s arms in grievance. He clung to him like a koala, tears streaming nonstop.

“Daddy, my tooth fell out…”

Xie Hui had experienced apocalyptic missions before, but those times he had only dealt with humans. He wasn’t too familiar with the specifics of zombies.

He had worked with zombies before, and from what he saw, they did just bite straight into the cores.

Crystal cores, which were extremely hard for humans, were apparently like crunchy snacks to zombies—one bite, clean and crisp.

Xie Yun’s loud crying attracted a few nearby zombies. Xie Hui instinctively gripped the large blade at his side.

“Grrr…”

As soon as he heard the zombies’ growls, the little one, still sniffling in his father’s arms, lifted his head in anger and glared fiercely at the approaching zombies.

The zombies, who had been charging over at full speed, immediately turned around and fled the moment Xie Yun glared at them.

Once he was sure no zombies would come disturb his moment of silent sorrow, Xie Yun nestled back into his father’s arms, still feeling wronged.

“Daddy, do other zombies lose their front teeth when they eat these too?”

“Yunyun, Daddy hasn’t really met many other zombies either.”

But… a zombie who managed to knock out his own tooth trying to eat a crystal core? That might be a first.

“There aren’t any zombie doctors. Will my tooth grow back?”

When Xie Yun asked that, Xie Hui suddenly remembered—based on his age, the kid was right around the time for losing baby teeth.

“It’ll grow back.”

Hearing his father say that, Xie Yun finally relaxed a little. Then, belatedly, he remembered the two zombies who had run away earlier.

“Daddy, those two zombies seemed kinda scared of me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why were they scared of me? They’re way bigger than I am.”

Xie Hui didn’t really have a good answer for many of the questions this little guy asked from the bottom of his heart.

Yunyun was just too smart. Even if he only hinted at something, the kid could already guess most of it.

So, even when Xie Hui knew the answer, he didn’t always dare to say it outright. If he did, Xie Yun would definitely start wondering how he knew.

“Maybe it’s because my Yunyun is just that amazing?”

Xie Yun nodded very seriously after hearing that.

“Mm! I think so too.”

It had already been half a year since the apocalypse began. Finding a suitable place to rest was getting harder and harder.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was traveling with a little zombie, Xie Hui would’ve liked to head to the national survivor base.

The fact that ability users and ordinary people were treated equally there was already a huge plus in his eyes.

But Xie Yun wasn’t ordinary. There were too many unknowns.

If he recklessly brought him to the survivor base and something went wrong, Xie Hui couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to control this little zombie if he went berserk.

So, he chose to keep wandering the outside world with him.

“Daddy, even though I lost a tooth, I still want to try again.”

While they were on the road, Xie Yun suddenly brought it up.

These past few days, he’d been watching his dad eat. No matter what his dad ate, he could smell the delicious aroma. But once it was in his mouth, it was like chewing wax—completely tasteless.

Even though he didn’t feel hungry, Xie Yun felt like he should eat something.

“You’re not afraid of losing the other front tooth too?”

“Not afraid! Daddy, if both front teeth fall out, won’t they grow back together? Lots of kids in my class lost their teeth too!”

Xie Hui took out a crystal core they had just found today and handed it to Yunyun.

The zombie they encountered earlier had seemed a bit strange. Physically, it looked no different from a regular zombie, but when it got close, even Xie Hui had felt a momentary daze.

Based on his judgment, that zombie was likely a psychic-type.

This crystal core was a bit larger than the ones they’d found before, and its color was noticeably more vibrant.

This time, Yunyun had learned his lesson. He didn’t try to bite it with his front teeth again. Instead, he popped it into his mouth and slowly ground it down with his molars.

As the zombie crystal core was crushed, a warm current flowed through his body, making him squint in comfort.

“Daddy, do we have more?”

Xie Hui hadn’t kept too many crystal cores on himself. To avoid drawing attention, he carried a large hiking backpack filled mostly with supplies.

As for Yunyun, the small backpack he carried was stuffed full of crystal cores.

“Take it from your own bag.”

“Daddy, are all of these for me?”

“Mm.”

Back then, Xie Hui had simply wanted to stock up on crystal cores while zombies were still relatively easy to deal with. They were food for his son and also a way to train his own abilities.

In this apocalypse full of unknowns, only by becoming strong enough could he crush the darkness ahead.

That entire night, they kept moving while killing zombies along the way.

Xie Hui had rested during the day, and with the current danger level, he didn’t feel too tired.

Every time he went to deal with a zombie, Yunyun would stay put and wait for him.

Xie Hui figured the kid probably didn’t know how to use his energy yet. At most, zombies were just instinctively afraid of him. When his emotions flared, low-level zombies would subconsciously avoid him, too scared to move, trembling in fear.

Right now, Yunyun didn’t know how to properly control zombies. He even got scared by them sometimes, his eyes turning red.

It wasn’t until dawn, when sunlight pierced through the clouds, that Xie Hui suddenly realized—this little tail who had been following him all night hadn’t stopped making noise the entire time.

Like a little mouse, constantly gnawing away.

“You’re still not full?”

After hoarding crystal cores for so long, Xie Hui’s supply was nearly gone. But seeing Yunyun still pulling more from his clothes and stuffing them into his mouth, he finally felt a sense of urgency.

“Daddy, I haven’t eaten that many yet…”

After saying that, Xie Yun instinctively took off his backpack and held it out for his father to see.

Earlier, when Xie Hui had looked at the bag, he’d already noticed it was deflated. Now that Xie Yun had taken it down to check, there were only enough crystal cores left to barely cover the bottom.

“Daddy, did… did I eat a little too much?”

Yunyun instinctively stuffed the crystal cores in his coat pocket back into the bag when he saw how empty it was, but it didn’t seem to add much.

Realizing how long it must’ve taken his dad to gather all that, he started to feel a rare pang of guilt. His head drooped, and after a long pause, he finally looked up to check his father’s expression.

“Are you full?”

Xie Hui crouched down to meet his eyes and reached out to smooth his hair. Even zombie hair grew naturally, and by now it was already starting to cover his eyes.

Though clearly uneasy, Xie Yun still obediently shook his head and explained to his dad:

“I don’t think I ate that much… I don’t feel anything. Look, my belly’s still flat.”

He unzipped his jacket and puffed out his stomach for his dad to inspect.

Sure enough, it looked exactly the same as before he’d eaten—no visible difference at all.

“You don’t feel anything?”

Xie Hui unconsciously repeated the boy’s words. Xie Yun hesitated, then shook his head again, uncertain, and added:

“No, wait, Daddy, I think I do feel something. I kinda still want to eat a little more.”

His voice grew softer and softer, even he felt a bit embarrassed.

“Daddy, I’ll go kill zombies too from now on… I’ll dig them up myself and eat them.”

Xie Hui took out the crystal core he’d prepared the night before, intending to put it in Yunyun’s bag. But to his surprise, the boy hugged the bag close and backed away.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Xie Hui had assumed the boy was just feeling guilty for eating too much. But then he saw Yunyun frown and complain with a hint of distaste:

“Daddy, can you wash it before putting it in?”

“It’s dirty. I’ll cough if I eat that.”

Xie Hui had worn gloves when he extracted it last night, and it hadn’t been convenient to clean it in the dark. Now, looking at the dried residue still stuck to it, it really wasn’t very appealing.

“Since when did you get picky?”

With a helpless sigh, Xie Hui took out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and carefully rinsed the crystal core clean. As he did, Xie Yun came over and crouched beside him.

The little rascal even rubbed his head against his dad and argued:

“Daddy, I’m not being picky. I just like being clean.”

“I want to be the cleanest little zombie ever!”

The moment those words left his mouth, Xie Hui’s hands paused mid-rinse. He turned his head to look at him.

Under his father’s stern gaze, Xie Yun realized he’d said something he shouldn’t have. He quickly covered his mouth with both hands and blinked up at his dad with an innocent look.

“No next time.”

Still covering his mouth, Xie Yun nodded vigorously.

“Mm-hmm.”

Xie Hui placed the now-clean crystal core into the bag. Watching the boy pop another one into his mouth, he couldn’t help but feel a rare twinge of worry. What if he couldn’t afford to feed such a bottomless-pit of a little zombie?

That night, they were in luck. They found a small farmhouse inn. After clearing the surrounding area of zombies, Xie Hui took Xie Yun by the hand and led him inside.

Just as they stepped into the courtyard and before Xie Hui could push the door open, Xie Yun, standing beside him, suddenly swayed.

Xie Hui instinctively turned his head—and saw the boy collapse toward him.