Her name was Shen Jingjing, and this year she would turn 8 in October.
Shen Jingjing’s father was Shen Fang, Commanding General of the nautical defense forces on the southeast coast of the Pacific Ocean.
On the day the world changed, Shen Fang had brought his wife and daughter to give them a tour around the base; this was the family’s monthly routine, and since little Shen Jingjing loved warships so much the two adults got a great kick out of seeing her happily hopping back and forth.
It was after being bitten by a zombie that Shen Jingjing’s father managed to get his wife and daughter to safety on the lower floors, but the man didn’t have much time to do more before turning and attacking his wife.
Shen Jingjing’s mother managed to prevail in the battle against the zombie, but the cost was the total loss of her right arm… And now knowing that the same thing that had happened to her husband would happen to her and with tears in her eyes, she apologized to her daughter before taking her own life after feeling that she was slowly losing control over herself.
Shen Jingjing who was only 7 years old had not only seen terrifying bloodthirsty and cruel scenes of humans killing other humans with gunshots and roars of terror echoing throughout the base, but the girl had also seen her ever-loving father assaulting her mother and her mother trying to defend herself and her young daughter like a lioness.
In the video, they could see how time passed, and after two days without drinking liquid at all the desperate Shen Jingjing finally made her move.
The girl apologized and sobbed, but the need was greater and she weakly crawled back to the bodies of her family from which she had previously tried to get as far away as possible.
That day, Shen Jingjing drank blood to quench her thirst, and exactly one week later she finally succumbed to the feeling of hunger that devoured her bones.
It was amazing that such a little kid could endure so long without food, but primal survival instincts were always stronger than practically anything else.
After two months, Shen Jingjing no longer had anything to eat… and although she was afraid to go out she knew that if she didn’t sooner or later she would end up dying. Besides, although she looked almost the same as in the past, leaving aside her dirty clothes and messy hair, the girl’s heart was no longer the same after everything she had lived through during the past two months.
Bai Zemin and the others could see on the video how after opening the door two zombies lunged towards Shen Jingjing and the girl immediately fell backwards with a panicked expression on her face as she looked at the bloodthirsty expressions on the deformed features of the two creatures.
But just as the first zombie was about to grab her, Shen Jingjing let out a high-pitched scream with no intention but to express her fear. This was what changed her fate forever.
The first zombie stopped and as if it was following someone’s thoughts it rushed at its companion, and after a fierce battle managed to kill it.
“… It seems that it was at that moment that she became a soul evolver.” Shangguan Bing Xue sighed as she watched the naive girl reaching forward as if trying to touch a window invisible to the security cameras.
Neither Bai Zemin nor any of the people inside the military tent needed to look any longer to understand that it was at that moment that Shen JIngjing’s life took a drastic turn… No, her life had changed from the first moment her parents died and she had no choice but to do what she did for the sake of her survival.
A few minutes later, Bai Shilin together with the twins Wen and Luo Ning walked into the tent, and next to the girls was Shen Jingjing.
Shen Jingjing had showered using a tank of warm water so she was now clean and wearing pretty clothes, but the fear in her wide-open eyes was as big as it had been since day 1 and the wariness she felt had not decreased even for a moment.
“Your name is Shen Jingjing, isn’t it?” Bai Zemin tried to use the gentlest and kindest voice he could get out of his soul as he smiled softly, “My name is Bai Zemin. You are very brave, despite your fear towards those creatures you fight back and didn’t give up didn’t you?”
By using the name she had not heard for over a year after being surrounded by strange creatures, introducing himself, and then praising her, Bai Zemin hoped that the girl’s wariness would at least lower a little towards him.
In fact, when Shen Jingjing looked at him it became evident that she was not as cautious towards him compared to the others. As to whether this was because of Bai Zemin’s wisely chosen words or whether it was the effect of his High Human race, he did not know.
“Ah- Ah…-” Shen Jingjing tried to say something but quickly closed her mouth and lowered her head to look at the ground.
Bai Zemin noticed how the young girl clenched her fists clearly angry and frustrated at everything that had happened to her.
‘Of course… she lost everything. Her family, her life, even her ability to speak… Everything.’ Bai Zemin sighed in his heart but on the outside he kept his smile, “I’ll address you as Jingjing if you don’t mind, is that okay with you?”
Naturally, he got no reply. He didn’t even get a nod from her. But this was to be expected.
“So, Jingjing… If you don’t mind, would you want to be part of my team?”
The girl raised her head abruptly and probably as a defense mechanism took a step back as she looked at everyone warily.
Bai Zemin quickly raised both hands and carefully explained, “We are all like you, humans with powers who fight zombies and monsters such as the sea creatures that came out of the ocean earlier.”
Shen Jingjing looked at him silently, and seeing that she was paying attention to his words and understood his meaning he sighed in relief.
“The world we knew changed, but our human race did not lose.” Bai Zemin said in a serious voice, “China, our country, lost many humans. But after fighting hard for over 1 full year my team and I managed to regain a large part of the lost land and saved many lives.”
A normal 7-year-old girl might have problems understanding what Bai Zemin was saying, but to a 7-year-old girl like Shen Jingjing none of his words sounded unfamiliar or weird.
“Jingjing, let me introduce them to you.” Bai Zemin approached cautiously, and although the girl became tense she did nothing and did not move away. He did not touch her nor did he stay close for long but stood next to the four girls who had escorted her and said with a gentle smile, “The little silver-haired girl here is my daughter Bai Shilin, and despite her appearance, she is actually only 8 months old from the time she was born. This little girl with the big sword you see here is Luo Ning, she is 11 years old… and the two girls with the pigtails are sisters, their names are Wen Yun and Wen Yan, they are both 13 years old.”
Shen Jingjing looked at the four girls right as Bai Zemin named them one by one, and after she turned her attention back to him he continued, “They are all around your age, a little more or a little less but very young just like you. And just like you, the four of them fight zombies and monsters. They work really hard every day helping adults like me in order to build a safe place for everyone and not let any more families suffer, all of us together.”
Shen Jingjing looked at the four girls this time in a slightly different way, and although her wariness and fear were still present for the most part it was clear that she had relaxed a little.
Slowly and carefully, Bai Zemin extended his right hand slightly forward and said softly, “Jingjing, would you like to join us? I’m sure the four of them, as well as all the adults here, would gladly welcome you. Your power is really amazing, and with your help, we can definitely end this senseless war a lot faster.”
As Shangguan Bing Xue, Sun Ling, Feng Hong, and Liang Jiang stood silently, Shen Jingjing stared at Bai Zemin’s hand gently stretched forward and for the first time, her eyes showed something else besides fear and wariness.
…
Ten hours later.
Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue personally monitored as a large human group riding horses, dogs, and even mutant sheep arrived from the north.
These mutant beasts were just Unclassified creatures but using the information Bai Zemin had brought back from Eventide World several teams of the Transcendent faction caught and managed to control creatures with low combat ability but good Agility and Stamina for transportation.
Although it was impossible to form Soul Contracts with these normal beasts since they did not even have basic intelligence, at least this way Bai Zemin would no longer have to worry too much about the eventual disappearance of the petroleum.
Soon, great walls over 400 meters high began to rise around the coast, enclosing the warships in what would gradually become the subway of a large military base.
“Leader, we have dismantled the aircraft carrier’s nuclear missiles.”
A voice came from the commander’s ring and as Bai Zemin watched the workers setting up tents, preparing food, and sorting through the boxes filled with weapons he asked slowly, “How many missiles?”
“Three missiles in all, all of them are continental.”
“Three continental missiles…” Bai Zemin nodded slowly, “Feng Hong, make sure the three missiles are completely disabled and taken to the launch base in Beijing. Having arrived there have the missiles reassembled in the free slots.”
“Roger.”
A few seconds after the connection with Feng Hong ended, Shangguan Bing Xue calmly commented, “It’s a pity Shen Jingjing didn’t join us.”
“Well, it was to be expected. She’s been through a lot and was surrounded only by zombies for over a year and three months.” Bai Zemin shrugged, “But it’s okay, she’ll be with us… and when she sees that we really have no bad intentions she’ll eventually stop looking at us with such wariness and terror.”
After a short pause, Shangguan Bing Xue gave him a sidelong glance before turning her attention back to the front, “You must be very happy now that she’s back, am I wrong?”
Bai Zemin didn’t need someone to clarify who Shangguan Bing Xue was talking about, it was too obvious.
“For Lilith it’s been about three months since we last saw each other but for me it’s been around six.” He said. “While it’s true that right now there is little she can do for me, she was with me when no one else was there. I think it’s okay to admit that I’ve developed a certain dependence on her, and when I don’t have her around I feel kind of lost…so yeah, I’m happy.”
“I wonder if anything would have been different right now if back then you and I had been closer during the time we were on campus. That way, she wouldn’t have been the only one…” She whispered in a voice lower than the faint buzzing of a mosquito.
“Mm? Did you say something?” Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue in confusion.
“No.” She smiled as she shook her head.
“By the way, Bai Zemin.”
“Mm?”
“About the plant that the Third Prince of the East Sea used to skip one of the requirements-” Shangguan Bing Xue was about to say something when she noticed the frown on Bai Zemin’s face.
“Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Bai Zemin raised his hand gently to ask her to wait a moment and then asked to the empty space in front of him, “Extremely pure fire-type energy? What are you talking about?”
Fire Sorrow pointed to the north and said in a serious voice, “A few kilometers from here in a northerly direction… there is an extremely hot energy, even hotter than the core of the world itself burning. Don’t you know anything about it?”
Bai Zemin frowned and was about to say that he had no idea when a thought flashed in his mind.
“…Could it be Feng Tian Wu?”
It was then that Bai Zemin realized that with two knowledgeable beings by his side he could perhaps save the girl who practically threw away her life for her own reasons.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: Guys, I have one more chapter ready…. If tomorrow before reset we hit 10.600 GT I will post 3 chapters in total. 1000 GT more than what we have now
We have been in the top 1 GT for 10 months in a row, and it means a lot to me to see that my effort pays off. Many thanks to you, who still donate your golden tickets and support Blood Warlock <3
