Chapter 347: I Wanna Play
The zombie outside the front window pressed its half-rotted face against the glass and dragged broken nails down the pane, leaving dark streaks across the surface.
Lingyun’s arms tightened around Rouxi almost as a reflex to make sure that she was safe, before he made himself loosen them again.
She was still sitting across his lap, warm and happy, and the last thing he wanted to do was let her go.
But killing waited for no one and apparently, the zombies agreed with him.
The dead at the door banged again, not being at all considerate considering they had already ruined his plans for snacks, threats, and the very serious argument he had been preparing about why Rouxi should remain exactly where she was for the rest of the evening.
Even while he was thinking about all the ways he and his cock could convince her, another body slammed into the front door.
The reinforced frame held, but that didn’t stop the other three men from straightening up and putting on their best ’we will kill everything’ faces.
Chenghai moved first, crossing to the entrance like the zombies owed him money or something. On the other hand, Zhenlan, still sitting in his ridiculous chair, pulled out a notebook and started to make notes on what would need to be repaired when it was all said and done.
That guy had to have a stick up his ass if that was where his mind was going.
But leave it to the Dragon Head to stay by the window, his gaze on the zombie staring back at him from the other side of the glass. Now he had balls of steel.
Rouxi, Lingyun was happy to note, didn’t even bother to really move.
He looked down at her, ready for that flat expression to return or for her to show her displeasure in some way, shape or form.
Instead, Rouxi simply stared at the zombie and smiled brightly like someone had brought her a bowl full a sprinkles with just a bit of ice cream on the side.
The expression started small, then brightened across her face until every trace of exhaustion sharpened into something that made Lingyun’s heart beat fast. What did he have to do to get her to look at him like that?
He would be willing to do anything... anything at all.
The idea of going out and killing the entire world was still on the table, but he would also offer her his still beating heart.
Maybe she just like zombies like that? No... that wasn’t possible.
Or was it?
Should he become a zombie?
Would that work?
The zombie outside opened its mouth against the glass, teeth clicking uselessly, while Rouxi watched it with the kind of delight most people reserved for... not zombies.
Yeah, he was definitely going to have to become one sometime soon.
Yuche glanced from the window to her face. "You look happy."
"I am," Rouxi replied, if it was possible, she did look even happier than a few seconds ago.
Well, now he was going to have to go out there and kill all the zombies. Then become one. Then he would be Rouxi’s favorite.
Chenghai looked back from the front door. "There are more on the porch."
"Even better," Rouxi purred.
The zombie hit the window with its shoulder. A thin crack formed near the corner, and Yuche pulled a strip of metal across the inner frame before the glass could bow inward.
Rouxi’s smile faded just enough to become dangerous. "Don’t close it completely."
Yuche’s brow lifted. "Are we inviting it in?"
"Of course we are," she replied like he was the crazy one. "We need to let it know that it came to the wrong house."
Lingyun shifted, and Rouxi stood up from his lap before he could help her... or stop her.
Ah, who was he kidding? He accepted the loss with deep personal suffering because her eyes were shining, her shoulders had loosened, and she looked more alive than she had since the parasites first crawled out of the dirt.
He could survive being abandoned by her ass if it meant keeping that expression on her face, although he intended to complain about it later.
Fire warmed across his palms as he stepped up beside her. "Tell me what you want burned."
Rouxi looked toward the front door, where the impacts had grown steadier. The zombies kept finding the same path through the damaged barrier and up the front walk. Beyond the window, more shadows dragged themselves across the lawn, slow and hungry beneath the dimming light.
Her gaze moved past them to the garden.
Lingyun followed it and heard the plants before he saw them.
Leaves scraped over brick. Stems slid through the beds. Vines pulled themselves from the repaired sections of the garden and crossed the front lawn in thick, eager lines. They came low at first, slipping through the grass and along the edges of the path, then rose in loops around the porch steps as if they had been waiting for permission.
The flowers near the walkway lifted their heads as grass stretched toward the porch.
The zombie at the window turned toward the sound, but it had already stepped too far into Rouxi’s territory to understand the mistake.
Rouxi raised one hand, and the vines stopped with a shiver that ran through every leaf.
Anticipation.
Lingyun would shiver like that if Rouxi ever raised her hand at him and told him to wait.
Shaking that picture out of his head... did she even have whips in the house? he watched her instead of the door.
He knew her better than he knew his old Dragon Head. She was pissed, but helpless when the fucking parasites came, but now... her anger had somewhere to go now. Her plants had something to eat. And she had something to kill.
"Rouxi," Zhenlan said carefully, "how close do you want them?"
She didn’t look away from the zombie in the window. "Close enough that my babies don’t have to chase their dinner."
Yuche laughed under his breath.
Chenghai placed one hand on the locks. "Say when."
Rouxi stepped closer to the window, and the zombie pressed harder against the cracked glass as if her movement had woken whatever hunger still lived inside its ruined skull.
Lingyun moved with her, staying near enough to burn anything that reached farther than she allowed, but she didn’t need him to stop her.
She wanted this.
And it was his job to give her whatever she wanted.
Her eyes lit up as she stared straight at the zombie. "Open the door," Rouxi ordered, her smile widening. "I wanna play."