The three looked at each other in silence. After more than ten minutes had passed, the sky started to gradually darken. Jin Shanghui tried to move his legs, but when he saw that Gong Lixin was not moving, he roared resolutely. The roar showed his worry as he then hovered beside Jin Shangyu constantly, stretching out his fingers from time to time, tickling her sleeves.

  Jin Shangyu couldn’t move and could only calm him down with a soft voice, telling him to be a little more patient.

  "What’s wrong with him?" Seeing Jin Shanghui’s abnormality, Gong Lixin asked with one hand supporting his cheek.

  "His meal at the granary had been interrupted by you and now, he’s hungry." Jin Shangyu rolled her eyes and said angrily.

  "Ah~ The news that there was abundant grain in Fenghuang was deliberately released by you for the purpose to attract people to feed your brother." Gong Lixin said with a stunned expression.

  "What’s wrong with that? Do you want to kill me so that I can go to Heavens to pay for my sins for killing people?" Knowing that Gong Lixin had already found out about it, Jin Shangyu was no longer afraid and said so with an arrogant and fearless tone.

  "Pay for you sins in Heavens? Who hasn’t committed a crime in this kind of world?" Gong Lixin shook his head and spoke seriously. "If it was me, I would keep my loved ones by my side no matter what. If they wanted to eat human meat, I would kill for them even if we end up killing all the people in the world. As long as they are alive, it doesn’t matter if it’s as a human or a zombie."

  Jin Shangyu suddenly tilted her head and looked straight into the teenager’s eyes and saw his unwavering determination in his deep sea-like eyes. Her heart shook. She thought she would be an unacceptable abomination of a human. For many nights, she laid wide awake and hesitated about her decision. She even wanted to leaver her brother and walk away alone. But right at this moment, all the anxiety hidden in her heart had dissipated. All that was left was relief and joy in finding a confidant. The young man was right. In this world, she can’t be bothered about other people’s lives. It was enough to take care of herself and those she cared about.

  Jin Shangyu let out a deep breath and her tense face softened. She then opened her mouth to negotiate, "Alright, I promise to go back with you to save your father, but I have to take my brother with me. You are responsible for watching after my brother and feeding him." It was because she was worried that her brother would be tempted by the many human beings that she lived alone. But if she followed this youth, she believed that he would not let his brother be harmed and protect him to the best of the other’s ability.

  "No problem." Gong Lixin agreed to it without a thought, but added, "My dad doesn’t like killing people, so I can support your brother, but we can’t let my dad see."

  "Of course. I don’t want too many people to know about my older brother’s existence." Jin Shangyu nodded while secretly thinking: It sounds like Gong Lixin’s dad was very upright and kind. How did he raise such an evil little devil?

  The two reached a consensus and both smiled comfortably. On the other hand, Jin Shanghui’s roar grew louder and his steps moved towards the entrance of the botanical garden.

  "Brother, come back!" Jin Shangyu exclaimed, "There are still two master ability-users outside. You’re still in danger!"

  Jin Shanghui didn’t understand the latter sentence. He paused, hesitated for a while before going out. Gong Lixin held out his right palm and sucked Jin Shanghui towards him with his internal force before he clasped the other’s arms behind his back and suppressing the other under him. If Jin Shanghui met Brother Lin and Brother Song after he went out, neither would be pleased with the other. In the end, it would only result in trouble and losses.

  Jin Shanghui roared repeatedly, but did not dare to struggle too violently. The horrible memory of his broken ribs, broken leg and arm was still imprinted in his mind, making him very frightened of the young man behind him.

  Gong Lixin stared at the sharp teeth in the Jin Shanghui’s mouth and, half a moment later, took out a first-level crystal nucleus from his pocket and stuffed it in the other’s mouth. Jin Shanghui suddenly closed his teeth, trying to bite off the pale fingers, but found that he was biting something as hard as steel and it actually brought pain to his teeth. He growled, opened his mouth and used his tongue to push the young man’s fingers and the crystal nucleus out.

  Seeing this, Jin Shangyu kindly explained, "My brother doesn’t eat crystal nuclei."

  "How do you know? Have ever fed it to him?" Gong Lixin asked with a frown.

  "Eh? No." Jin Shangyu’s forehead was covered in black lines. Feed his brother crystal nuclei? How could she dare? She was not a strength nor a metal system ability user; she had neither copper skin nor iron bones! If she really did try to feed him, a hundred fingers were not enough for her brother to bite through.

  "That’s it! He eats human flesh in order to obtain the energy stored in the human in order to obtain the energy stored in the human body and this energy comes from the crystal nuclei. In this case, he might as well eat the crystal nuclei directly. Although the texture is different, but at least he’ll be full." Gong Lixin analyzed using his knowledge and senses.

  Was that true?! Jin Shangyu was moved by his thoughts and nodded, "Yes, you make sense. Then let’s try it."

  Gong Lixin glanced at her with satisfaction before pressing Jin Shanghui’s back with his knee, grasping his jaw with one hand, forcing his mouth open and shoving the crystal nucleus inside. Seeing Jin Shanghui stretch out his tongue again to push it, Gong Lixin raised his brows and pushed the crystal nucleus deeper into his throat with his fingers before forcefully closely his mouth.

  The crystal nucleus was swallowed by Jin Shanghui’s esophagus and fell into his stomach. Jin Shanghui struggled fiercely, but was held down by the teenager’s knee. The awkward scene made him look like a turtle flaying about and Jin Shangyu’s eyes were drawn straight down. Was this really a good thing for her brother? Her brother seemed so uncomfortable! She couldn’t help doubting herself.

  Gong Lixin didn’t realize Jin Shangyu’s thoughts at all and shoved another crystal nucleus in, then covered Jin Shanghui’s mouth to prevent him from spitting it out. One needs to try everything and, even if one doesn’t like it, one will need to get used to it later either ways. This was how he grew up under Xiao Lin since he was a child.

  Jin Shanghui’s limbs flayed and he howled. His poor appearance cause Jin Shangyu to burst into tears. If it wasn’t for her current weakness, she would have pounced on Gong Lixin long ago. She was a fool! How could she have believed that little devil? She thought so remorsefully.

  "Enough, he doesn’t like to eat it. Don’t force him!" When Gong Lixin took out another transparent crystal nucleus and tried to put it in her brother’s mouth, Jin Shangyu finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke out.

  Gong Lixin paused and looked at Jin Shangyu disapprovingly as he said, "Even if you don’t like to eat something, you still have to try it, no? It’s not right for you to spoil him."

  Jin Shangyu’s forehead was full of black lines and she became silent for while. What’s with this atmosphere like that of a father and mother discussing on how to educate their child?

  Within the few seconds that their conversation took, Jin Shanghui, who had been struggling all this while, suddenly stopped moving. He covered his belly with black clothing and rubbed it as if judging whether he was full or not. A smelly burp came out of his mouth and he narrowed his eyes, revealing an expression characteristic of being pleased after a meal.

  Jin Shangyu was stunned and, only after a long time, babbled out, "He, he seems to have digested the crystal nucleus!"

  Gong Lixin stared at Jin Shanghui momentarily and his dark, cat-like eyes flashed with a bright light. Interesting, very interesting! With a bright smile on his lips, he pinched the nucleus in his hand and swayed it in front Jin Shanghui’s mouth.

  The pupil of his eyes moved with the crystal nucleus as it went left and right. Two rows of sharp teeth were biting up and down and wanted to swallow the nucleus, but it was always taken away by the youth at the last second. Jin Shanghui became impatient and roared with a louder voice than before which made Gong Lixin frown and then, laugh.

  "Just give him his food! Don’t play with him! Although he’s a zombie, he’s smart and is similar to a three-year-old child. You won’t really bully a child, right?" Jin Shangyu anxious asked for her brother’s sake.

  Gong Lixin heard her words, put away the smile on his face and stuffed the crystal nucleus into Jin Shanghui’s mouth. Jin Shanghui snapped his mouth shut and swallowed; no longer snarling nor struggling and staring at Gong Lixin like a puppy begging for meat and bones. He looked handsome and gentle and had a ignorant and longing expression. Even the determined and stubborn Gong Lixin felt slightly moved by his expression.

  The smile in Gong Lixin’s eyes deepened and Gong Lixin moved his knee away from Jin Shanghui’s back and let him sit up. Jin Shanghui immediately turned over and got up, but didn’t avoid Gong Lixin as before. Instead, he circled around the other anxiously, yelling at him once or twice from time to time. But seeing that the other was indifferent, he held out his fingers for a few second before his sharpened nails slightly hooked Gong Lixin’s sleeves.

  "My brother is courting you, so feed him a few more!" Jin Shangyu said with a tone filled with hate. Ungrateful! He was conquered so easily with a few crystal nuclei! She murmured fiercely, but turned her thoughts to her brother’s IQ which was that of a three-year-old child and sighed helplessly.

  Zombies were not really interested in their own flesh and blood and even felt sick at the taste, but they never knew that the nuclei from their same kind were a good source of energy. A fourth-level zombie had evolved and gained wisdom. Although this wisdom was not high, it was enough for them to have some preliminary judgment and memory. Right then, Jin Shanghui had exerted all his wisdom to the limit and tried Jin Shangyu’s tricks one by one just to get a crystal nucleus.

  Gong Lixin supported his cheek with his hands and sat on the ground, letting Jin Shanghui circle in front of him, howling and wailing. After a while, he saw that his roars showed signs of his frustration and his movements became less enthusiastic and Gong Lixin suddenly smiled. His white palm spread out, revealing a transparent crystal nucleus inside.

  Jin Shanghui’s eyes were bright and his claws reached out to grab. He grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. He swallowed and turned around to Gong Lixin and his movements became even more vigorous. Even if his gesture was meaningless, the high and low roars sounded intimate and flattering. Gong Lixin chuckled, took out a few three-level high-grade gold crystal nucleus from his pocket and brought it to the other’s mouth.

  When she saw a few pure coloured crystal nuclei, Jin Shangyu’s heart jumped and she quickly stopped him. "There crystal nuclei are too high-leveled. Don’t feed them to my brother. I can’t afford such a big deal!" Outside, these few crustal nuclei were enough to make people kill each other! She was afraid that Gong Lixin would hold these against her and ask her to do something she didn’t like.

  "I like Jin Shanghui, so I’m giving it to him. It’s not your food either ways, so you don’t need to pay me back." Gong Lixin lightly said as he glanced at her. He then turned back to Jin Shanghui and, seeing the joy on his face after eating the crystal nucleus, Gong Lixin, with a smile of his own, couldn’t help but reach for the top of Jin Shanghui’s hair and pat it.

  Jin Shanghui bent down slight and let him touch and obediently pat his head.

  Pleased by his cute and honest response, Gong Lixin raised his brows and softly praise, "Good!" Then he turned to Jin Shangyu and, with a very serious tone, said, "You can rest assured, I will support him in the future."

  "He’s my brother. Why would you support him?" Jin Shangyu’s cheeks became red and felt the little devil was being unreasonable by grabbing her people.

  "Didn’t you just ask me to protect him and feed him? Why are you regretting it now?" Gong Lixin showed a dissatisfied expression on his face and his bright, star-like eyes overflowed with a hint of coldness as he continued, "Moreover, he has a big appetite. You can’t afford to raise him. If you still keep luring people to Fenghuang as before, you will sooner or later meet someone you can’t afford to kill and be killed instead."

  Thinking of today’s encounter, Jin Shangyu became speechless. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the teenager who wanted her help, her brother would be dead today. After thinking about it for a long time, she helplessly said, "Alright. My brother is temporarily in your care. But if I want to leave in the future, you can’t hold him back!"

  "Um." Gong Lixin nodded and touched Jin Shanghui’s cheek in satisfaction. At the same time, a shiny crystal nucleus was inserted into his mouth and he secretly said: After you follow me, let’s see if you really want to leave or stay!

  Gong Lixin didn’t reveal the domineering and overbearing side hidden in his bones at all. Jin Shangyu calmed down and closed her eyes to meditate then.