Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 46.1: Manman (19)

June 20, 2023 by Wyrd

Ning Su should correct the term ‘mom’ as an address, but he felt sad and exhausted because of the name ‘Manman.’

He remembered what Zhu Shuangshuang said when helping Blood Doll clean up that day.

This instance might also have a ghost master.

Ning Su would rather fight another wave of monster children than that statement being true.

Just as Ning Su was about to ask Blood Doll in distress, he suddenly heard a piercing scream.

He immediately turned around.

Many players who had been pulled into a house by ghost friends also heard the scream and ran from inside the room to the doorway.

Upon seeing this, their souls trembled with fear.

Each ghost friend pulled a player into a house, one player for one ghost friend.

However, some players had more than one ghost friend. Bai Shuang on the fifth floor had three, and Ling Guangqing on the sixth floor had two.

In other words, two or three ghost friends had only one accompanying person.

However, it seemed like each ghost friend had their own home.

They all wanted to bring their companion to their own home.

So what should they do?

First, Bai Shuang was pulled into a Japanese-style courtyard by one ghost friend, and then two ghost friends pulled her out from there—one pulled her forward, and the other pulled her to the left.

The delicate kimono-clad ghost friend who ran out from the courtyard hugged her leg and pulled her back.

The three eerie, real-life ghost friends didn’t cry or make a fuss. In silence, they each held onto a part of Bai Shuang’s body and pulled her toward their respective houses.

They were so small, even smaller than six-year-old players.

Many players, upon hearing Bai Shuang’s scream and seeing them pulling her, initially thought Bai Shuang was being overly dramatic, perhaps due to the unsettling environment. But soon they understood that Bai Shuang’s screams were genuine—she was really in pain.

The ghost friends might be small, but they have terrifying strength after they are born.

They tore apart Bai Shuang.

A living girl, just like that, was instantly torn into three pieces before any of the players could react.

Her left hand was connected to her left shoulder and head, her right hand was connected to her right shoulder and leg, and her left leg was connected to a large piece of her abdomen.

Blood vessels were torn, fresh blood gushed out, piercing through the dark mist.

Blood and intestines fell to the ground with a splash.

Silence engulfed the street.

The three ghost friends seemed unaware, each carrying a part of Bai Shuang’s body, contentedly walking towards their own houses.

The ghost friend with Bai Shuang’s head pressed their face against her wide-open eyes, affectionately rubbing against them. This was Bai Shuang’s original ghost friend.

The ghost friend with Bai Shuang’s left leg picked up the bloody intestines that fell to the ground, hanging them around their neck and crouching down to lick the blood from there before returning to their room.

These were completely different from the ghost friends they had met in the castle. They were bloody, eerie, and morbid.

They were wicked dead children walking on the streets of the underworld.

The players watched them in horror. One of them trembled in the leg and stomach, gripping the doorframe tightly, not wanting to enter the house anymore.

Among them, Ling Guangqing was the most frightened, because he didn’t have just one ghost friend.

Just a moment ago, he was pulled into a house by a ghost friend. His original ghost friend was lowering their head and holding his other hand, with an unknown expression on their face.

“Let’s, let’s discuss it. How about each house for a day, taking turns?” Ling Guangqing tremblingly suggested.

Seeing Bai Shuang torn into three pieces, he was terrified, his face pale, and cold sweat dripped down.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he would never have opened the door to another ghost friend.

His only consolation now was that, thanks to Shi Tianzhu’s reminder, he had not neglected any of the ghost friends and had always treated them well.

So, he might not necessarily have the same fate as Bai Shuang, right?"

He stood there stiffly, not daring to move.

His new ghost friend pulled him into that house, and his original ghost friend didn’t say anything and followed along.

All the players thought that they were accepting Ling Guangqing’s statement by default.

When the players were about to be pulled into the room by their ghost friends again, they suddenly heard the sound of a door.

Ling Guangqing’s previous ghost friend was locked outside the door.

He stood alone in the dim street.

The players didn’t have time to see what happened in the end; one by one, their ghost friends pulled them back into the house, and only Ning Su was still standing on the street, watching the ghost friend left alone.

He lowered his head slightly, standing in front of the big iron gate, surrounded by a gray mist, like a child abandoned in a dark world.

After who knew how long, he looked up, forcefully pushed open the large iron gate, and ran inside.

Within a few seconds, a miserable scream came from the room, echoing through the dim street.

But this time, no player ran to the door to see.

Ning Su saw that ghost friend coming out, holding half of Ling Guangqing.

Half of his head, half of his upper body, connected to one leg.

Ling Guangqing’s eye was wide open, and something red and white spilled from half of his skull onto the ghost friend’s head.

The ghost friend just held him tightly. Even if it was only half, he wanted to bring him back home.

Ning Su watched as the ghost held half of Ling Guangqing and walked into a shabby cottage.

“Does Mom think they’re cruel?” a little girl’s voice came from behind.

Ning Su turned around and looked at her.

The little girl’s eyes were no longer bloodshot, but there seemed to be a red speck frozen in the center of her black pupils, giving her a deep and eerie look. “But they will die too, won’t they?”

Ning Su didn’t know what to say for a moment.

The changes that occurred all of a sudden were too significant.

Not long ago, they were having breakfast in the castle, with each ghost friend obediently sticking by their side.

Now they had already left the castle, and two players had been torn apart by their ghost friends.

However, it seemed like they didn’t actually hate the players.

The little girl held his hand and continued walking.

She led Ning Su and Gui Sheng to a villa at the end of the street.

At a glance, this villa was incomparable to the ones in Huaiyang Village.

The villas in Huaiyang Village were quite beautiful, with a natural and simple interior and exterior. But this villa, in Ning Su’s opinion, was the kind of place where truly wealthy and prestigious people lived.

Unlike the outside, the villa was brightly lit, and they immediately saw a large, clear swimming pool and a glass conservatory beside it.

Even Gui Sheng opened his mouth wide and exclaimed, “Wow.”

Ning Su’s gloomy mood instantly brightened.

This was simply his dream house, a large villa with a swimming pool and a garden. There were even lily plants growing inside the villa.

With this, he wouldn’t have to worry about food and drink, making it even more perfect.

“Ah Fei, ah no, Manman, can we really live here?”

Manman nodded, “This is ours. Do you like it?”

Ning Su replied, “I love it so much.”

Gui Sheng said, “Yeah!”

Manman said, “I’m sorry, Mom. We have to go pick vegetables and cook ourselves.”

“Huh?” Ning Su was surprised. “There’s even a place for growing vegetables?”

Even the title ‘mom’ wasn’t corrected anymore. What did it matter if he was called a mother? Manman was already providing them with food and clothing.

Manman led them around to the back of the villa. There were really a lot of vegetables and fruits planted here.

Even the rooms in the castle didn’t compare to this.

For a post-apocalyptic zombie who had experienced years of food shortage and scarcity, this was simply heaven.

Ning Su felt that having only twenty days left was a bit short.

He immediately carried the little princess to a seat inside and went to pick vegetables and fruits with a delicate woven basket.

Because they woke up late and had breakfast late, it was almost noon when they arrived here, so Ning Su picked the vegetables and went to cook.

Gui Sheng and Manman didn’t expect that Ning Su would be so good at cooking.

There were six dishes and a soup on the table, steaming hot and fragrant enough to make one’s mouth water.

The villa’s kitchen was spacious, equipped with an oven, refrigerator, coffeemaker, and everything else. There was plenty of oil and food, enough for Ning Su to showcase his culinary skills.

Except for the fact that his current height required a chair.

“Let’s eat,” Ning Su said with a smile.

The bright light in his eyes resembled warm starlight.

The two children stared at him in a daze, touched by those warm starlights.

Manman asked, “Mom, are you happy?”

Ning Su nodded, “Very happy.”

Ning Su grew up as an orphan, moving from one family to another, sharing a room with many people.

He longed for a stable and spacious place to live.

Initially, he really liked the villa in Huaiyang Village, but in reality, there were many people living in that villa, and he shared a room with Su Wangsheng.

Then, he really liked the castle here because each person in the castle had their own room. He and the Gui Sheng could live in their own room. However, many people lived on the same floor in that castle, like a hotel, without a home-like feeling.

This villa only had the three of them, ah, three non-human beings.

It completely satisfied Ning su’s lodging requirement, even if it was only for 20 days.

Gui Sheng: “Happy!”

He raised a tuft of hair on top of his head and opened his beautiful yin and yang eyes wide.

Before, he was chased away and could only live in a small rundown warehouse, but now he could live in a villa.

Manman held the chopsticks and lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking. When she lifted her head to say something, she saw the two boys frantically picking up food, and half of the dishes on the table were already gone.

“...”

Not eating seemed like a loss.

Not eating seemed like it would disappear in the next moment.

So, she joined in.

Outside was a dark mist, and in the bright lights of the dining room, the three children sat at the corner of the table, eating eagerly with their chopsticks.

The food emitted a layer of heat, warm and fragrant, warming their stomachs.

Even the lifeless faces had a touch of vitality.

After finishing the meal, the three children lazily leaned back on the sofa, rubbing their bellies.

As they idled away, they fell asleep for a nap.

Manman suddenly sat up, feeling that the situation was going in the wrong direction.

She turned her head and looked at the two boys who were sound asleep, and it seemed even more wrong.

The two boys slept until three o’clock in the afternoon. When they woke up and rubbed their eyes, they saw the little girl sitting in front of them, emanating a lot of resentment.

“I’ll take you to your rooms,” she said.

The villa was for the three of them, and each person could stay in a room facing the pool and the flower garden.

On the second floor, Ning Su’s room was in the middle, with Gui Sheng and Manman’s rooms on either side of his.

Ning Su and Gui Sheng actively tidied up the rooms, cleaning all the rooms on the second floor, while Manman helped by their side.

Leaving one room for the two children to clean, Ning Su went downstairs to prepare dinner.

The remaining room on the second floor should be a children’s playroom, filled with various toys like dolls.

Gui Sheng arranged them one by one, and Manman placed two dolls on the windowsill.

Gui Sheng was sitting on a low chair, gently wiping a doll’s face.

Even though it was a toy in his hand, he wiped it very gently and carefully.

Gui Sheng was small and sat on the small chair that a three-year-old would sit in, looking exceptionally well-behaved.

Apart from being a little introverted, he had a particularly good personality.

In the past, he held a bowl to catch her tears many times, never once poking her chin and always lifting her without complaining about being tired.

Whenever there was danger, he immediately stood in front of her to protect her.

Manman walked up to him, blocking the light in front of him. “Gui Sheng, little brother.”

Gui Sheng looked up. “Hmm?”

The little girl tilted her head. “Would you be willing to stay here with me forever?”

Gui Sheng stared blankly at her.

“Dinner’s ready!” Ning Su shouted from downstairs.

The two children quickly came down, washed their hands, and sat down.

After taking a bite of the delicious rice, Ning Su asked with a large heart, “Who named Manman?”