Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Reason for the Mutation
They looked at each other, and everyone silently hung their heads.
As for what happened last night, due to the door blocking the view and his own fatigue, Acheng had only heard some "bang bang" noises and was truly ignorant of the details.
Looking at his nephew’s suspicious face, Du Jian sighed blankly and called Acheng over, saying lightly:
"Your Aunt Yaru mutated last night, just like your dad, she turned into one of those man-eating monsters outside, so we killed her!"
Du Jian tried to appear calm, but talking about Huang Yaru’s death still filled his heart with an uncontrollable sadness.
Although he had only spent one night with the woman, he was ultimately a man with feelings, and not being able to give her a proper burial remained a knot in his heart.
Acheng was clearly shocked by the man’s words, his small eyes widened like copper bells: "Are you saying, Aunt Yaru...she, died? How could this happen? She was fine all day yesterday, how did she just... turn into that kind of monster?"
"This..." The words hesitated, as Du Jian wanted to offer his nephew a reasonable explanation but realized he hadn’t considered this question at all.
Fortunately, Wang Qiang interrupted, saying, "Your Aunt Yaru might have been scratched in the fight with the zombies the day before yesterday. At that time, her ankle was grabbed by a zombie, and it was I who chopped off the zombie’s arm to save her, so..."
"Impossible! She didn’t have any scars on her body!"
Wang Qiang was stunned for two seconds, and the abrupt comment from Du Jian startled him. But after he collected his thoughts, he asked curiously, "No scars at all? Why are you so sure?"
"I~"
Of course Du Jian was sure; during that passionate night, he had thoroughly seen Huang Yaru’s body, knowing even the "cross" tattoo on the upper part of her buttocks, not to mention the exposed areas.
But he couldn’t share these experiences with everyone, so he changed the subject and hedged, "I’m just guessing, after all, Miss Huang’s complexion and behavior these days didn’t seem to indicate any problems!"
"Yes, but Brother Du, don’t forget, Yaru had cold symptoms yesterday morning, didn’t you have something similar before you mutated?"
Watching Li and Wang discuss back and forth in the hall, Tang Xiaoquan remained silent, but his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Wang Qiang wasn’t wrong, Huang Yaru’s sudden cold that morning could have been a sign of her mutation, but when exactly did she contract this unknown virus?
His mind carefully considered every possibility.
First, from the initial outbreak of the apocalypse, she might have already been carrying it, but without any biochemical or medical expertise, Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t verify this. However, he instinctively ruled it out.
The reason was simple: if this were true, it would mean survivors would never be able to determine if those around them were virus carriers, nor would they know when someone would transform into a monster for a deadly attack.
Simultaneously, humanity would be forced to live under endless fear.
So, regardless of whether this theory was correct, until it was confirmed by relevant experts, Tang Xiaoquan was unwilling to mention it, lest it increase suspicion among team members and affect their unity.
Secondly, as Wang Qiang mentioned, Huang Yaru might have been injured in a fight with the zombies and thereby contracted the virus.
Regarding this, Tang Xiaoquan had also given it serious thought. Based on his understanding of the woman in recent days, she was an extremely self-obsessed person.
Psychologically, such people often have certain obsessions, such as cleanliness, sensitivity, and so on.
For Huang Yaru, without a doubt, it was her fondness for her own figure, which was evident from her daily routine of grooming herself no matter how tired she was, never allowing herself to sit on the floor directly even if she was exhausted.
Thus, Tang Xiaoquan believed that if Huang Yaru really had been harmed during the assault, she would definitely have taken medication immediately to heal herself and avoid scars.
But he had checked the medical pouch in the survival backpack, and it had not been opened, which indicated that Wang Qiang’s theory could be basically ruled out.
Hence, only one hypothesis about Huang Yaru’s mutation remained. Tang Xiaoquan bit the piece of dead skin that had peeled off his lip...
Wang Qiang noticed the unusual behavior of his brother; typically, if this guy remained silent, it represented two situations.
One was that he was tired, sleepy, exhausted; the other was that he was pondering something he considered very important.
So...
"Hey, Xiaoquan, have you thought of something? Why not share, and let’s analyze it together," Wang Qiang felt this wasn’t the time for one person to ponder alone; brainstorming together was the right course of action.
Tang Xiaoquan subconsciously nodded, blinked several times, and said, "Do you remember the situation when we first met Huang Yaru?"
"I remember!" Wang Qiang, a little confused, retorted, "Why are you asking this!"
Tang Xiaoquan continued as if he hadn’t heard, "She was being chased by a mutated zombie, right?"
"Yeah! So what?"
"Then before this, do you remember how she described it?"
"She was doing business with her client." Wang Qiang pursed his lips irritably, obviously feeling uncomfortable with this statement.
Tang Xiaoquan remained mysterious, his eyes suddenly darting quickly before he continued probing, "So what happened to her client later?"
"What happened? He turned into a zombie, and then Huang Yaru was chased to the balcony by that guy, and we put a bed there to save her. I mean, what exactly are you trying to say?" Wang Qiang felt Tang Xiaoquan was stalling and directly laid out the entire process of the event.
Then, Tang Xiaoquan fell silent, only raising his eyes to look at him, meaning crystal clear: "Haven’t you noticed the hidden problem here?"
Wang Qiang felt eerily nervous under his gaze, his brain turning rapidly. Moments later, his eyes showed a flash of insight, and he gasped in shock, then met Tang Xiaoquan’s eyes, saying, "You’re suggesting that Huang Yaru she..."
Indifferently nodding, there was no need for Wang Qiang to clarify; Tang Xiaoquan already knew that the other person understood his point.
But this mysterious conversation between Tang and Wang fell on the ears of the uncle and nephew duo, leaving them befuddled.
So, the male asked immediately, "Did you guys figure out why Miss Huang mutated?"