Shen Yuan picked up the cat and leveled it to his eyes in scrutiny. It let him do what he wanted and didn't struggle in his hands, yet however he looked at it, it was no different than any other cat.
But the pulse unmistakably came from it and these eyes unmistakably belonged to it.
"Meow~" it softly cried.
"…Can you talk?"
The cat tilted its head and blinked without any visible thoughts in its eyes. It wiggled in Shen Yuan's hands and prompted him to let go. Instead of leaving though, it leapt towards him once again and landed itself on his shoulder.
He grabbed it before it slipped down, and it snuggled its head to the crook of his neck with a low, comfortable purr.
"You…be serious! I won't do anything, so show me your true form," he tried to persuade, hoping it truly wasn't a regular cat.
Much to his dismay, it didn't seem to understand his words and started licking him with its tiny little tongue instead. He felt like an ice cream melting under its ministrations. His heart couldn't take it.
There was no way he could rip out the heart of this cute oblivious furball…
In the first place, why would his lover become a cat this time? Wasn't it supposed to have full control of its incarnations? Or could this be intentional?
Could it be for self-preservation? He couldn't say anything to that if that was the case…
Either way, now what?
Out of everything, he didn't anticipate the vulture becoming a cat, but staying here was out of the question. If there were that many undead out in the open, there would be more lurking out of sight.
Staying in a small space like the office he spawned in should be fine. He remembered passing by a couple of convenience stores on his way here, so he could stop by to stock up some food for his lover.
"I should give you a name, shouldn't I?" He scratched the cat behind its ears. "I'm going to assume you're a male. So, how about…Huo Yan? Because your eyes are red. Like fire."
"Meow~"
"You like that? I'll call you Yan-Yan, then. Let's get out of here, Yan-Yan."
Shen Yuan peeked inside and saw the undead had scattered back. He grabbed a nearby laptop, dead and abandoned, and threw it to the far end of the food court. It smashed the glass display of an ice cream stall and attracted the undead with great effect.
He slipped away in brisk strides.
However brittle they were, facing a group of them by himself would still be reckless. He didn't yet know the limitations of their touch and didn't intend to bother with it if he didn't have to. Between fighting or fleeing, there was no shame in choosing to flee.
Just as he reached the second floor and was about to continue heading down the escalator, a fearful whisper called out to him. "Hey…! Hey, you…!"
"…"
Shen Yuan stopped in his steps and turned toward the voice. He had thought of searching for the supermarket in this mall so he wouldn't have to stop by anywhere else in the street, but looking for it would be a waste of time.
These people should know where it was. Since it looked like everyone in the mall left in a hurry or became one of the undead and this event happened not long ago, the supermarket shouldn't be raided yet.
"Over here…!" A hand peeked out from around a corner, waving at him to hurry up and come. The sign hanging nearby showed it was the direction of the washrooms.
When he turned the corner, two people greeted him: a scrawny middle-aged man in a suit—the person who called him based on his hand and voice—and a youthful girl in short, frilly clothes, seemingly in her twenties.
He could see the glimmer in the girl's eyes when she saw him. No need to guess what was in her mind seeing a younger, able-bodied man in a situation like this.
"D-Did you come from outside? I saw you coming in," the middle-aged man stuttered in his jitters. His eyes darted around restlessly, and his hands holding the golf club were in constant tremor.
"Yeah," Shen Yuan gave a curt answer.
"How is it outside? Is it safer? Are there less damned around?"
"Damned?"
"Those burnt skeletons. Didn't you see the videos online when the signal is still up?" The girl took the initiative to explain before the man could answer. "Grounds all over the world cracked and it's like they came up from hell. We've been calling them the damned ever since."
"So? Is it safer?" The man pushed his question in impatience.
"Before I answer that, tell me where the supermarket is in this place."
The girl answered again, "It's on the lower ground level, but the entire floor is filled with those things. Literally at every corner. "
Shen Yuan wasn't surprised and dropped his plan. He turned and left, not having any more use of the two people.
Stunned, the man chased after him and reached out a hand to stop him. "Hey, wait! You haven't—!"
"Hiss!"
Before the man's hand could touch Shen Yuan, Huo Yan bared his fangs and lunged his claws over Shen Yuan's shoulder. The seemingly small claws plunged deep into the man's skin and tore 3 bloody lines on the back of the man's palm in his panic retreat.
"Agh!! M-My hand!" The man clutched his wound in pain. His frown twisted into a crooked grin as he yelled with underlying triumph, "Y-You! Look what your cat did to me! I can't protect myself anymore like this! Take responsibility!"
Huo Yan licked the blood left in his claws as if it had nothing to do with him. Shen Yuan scratched the back of his neck in praise and threw a threatening smile at the whining man, his crowbar raised in warning. "Sure. I'll save you the trouble of ever becoming a damned myself."
"Hie–!" The man coiled back in fear. Rather than welcoming, the smile was anything other than agreement. It was the smile of a cold-blooded monster.
The loud noises brought a couple of damned out of their hiding in the stores around them, on the ground floor as well. Shen Yuan bashed the head of one coming out from the store behind him, eliminating it from existence.
The man's eyes bulged. "H-How did you…?"
Shen Yuan didn't bother hearing more nonsense and headed down to the ground floor.
"Kyaa! B-Big Brother, wait for me! Let me come with you!" The girl chased after Shen Yuan's figure.
She wanted to hug him from behind only for him to swing his arm and hammer his elbow right to her face, tumbling her backwards from the impact. He bashed the head of the damned coming after him and turned to the girl—dazed in her nosebleed—with a dry expression.
"Don't stand behind someone who's fighting. You're in the way."
Without waiting for a reply, Shen Yuan left and paced toward the nearest lobby. It was a different door from the one he came from earlier, but he preferred circling from the outside than having more people pulling his legs inside.
He walked out of the building and was scanning his surroundings when he noticed another figure coming towards the mall from the road across him. He looked away for a split second only to pause and turn his attention back to them.
Upon closer distance, he discerned the figure as a male. The man had a heavy, burly physique and wore a blood-soaked butcher apron, splattering down to his rubber boots and up to his face—his mouthless and noseless face, all respiration holes closed by fused skin.
His empty eye sockets answered all remaining questions. A different type of undead.
"Mrauw…" Huo Yan clawed at Shen Yuan's collar.
"I know." Shen Yuan's eyes never left the butcher. "But it's too late."
The other already had their focus locked in on him as if there were a pair of imaginary eyes within his sockets. He picked up his pace until his steps turned into strides, each stomp of his feet ensued deep heavy thuds.
Although Shen Yuan could run, the chance of encountering another kind of atypical undead wasn't zero. It would be bad if he got trapped in between. This one didn't look remotely brittle, the opposite if anything.
He should lure him into the mall and shake him off inside. He could go up to the second floor, enter the washroom, and wait for him to miss him before making his way back out.
Just when he was ready to execute his plan, the revving of an engine roared in the air like a war cry, distracting the butcher from his prey—which proved to be fatal. Bullets flew from the direction of the noise and flurried against the butcher. Holes riddled his body within seconds, and he vaporized into thin air.
Shen Yuan wondered if any of these undead would 'die' as long as they received enough damage like in video games. It didn't seem like the shooter aimed anywhere in particular.
A sleek black sportbike appeared from his left, leading a convoy of 3 off-road SUVs. The rider hit the brake and swerved to his stop, revealing the silver handgun in his hand. It was slightly larger than regular ones with its nuzzle still emitting a residue of smoke.
When he took off his helmet, Shen Yuan almost cursed out loud.