Chapter 18: Nothing Good Comes From a Zombie and a Human Being Together

Lin Bei calmly picked up a bottle of red wine from the table and tossed it to Kuang Tianyou. "Just opened. Drink it while it's fresh!"

Kuang Tianyou’s mouth twitched at the remark. It felt slightly off, yet he still accepted it. In the past, he could only manage a meal of expired blood packs every few days. Since meeting Lin Bei, he had been eating three meals a day—not only fresh but also in a variety of flavors. It made him feel a bit like a kept man.

Shaking off these stray thoughts, Kuang Tianyou began to report what he had discovered. "That woman, Michiko, seems to have noticed the police surveillance, but she shows no intention of fleeing. I’m not sure if she’s set some kind of trap in the villa. Also, I noticed a bodyguard by her side—he’s a top-tier expert."

Lin Bei raised an eyebrow. "How good is he?"

Kuang Tianyou thought for a moment. "He’s not quite on the level of the guy who’s always by your side, but he’s not far off."

Lin Bei knew he was referring to Gao Jin. Indeed, there were very few experts who could be compared to him.

"We’re planning to move tomorrow. I might need you to help with the perimeter."

Judging by Michiko’s behavior in "Exorcist Policeman," the woman had completely fallen into the demonic path, transforming herself into something neither human nor ghost. If she were truly determined to escape, she would be difficult to pin down. After all, that villa was her home turf, and no one knew what kind of traps she might have laid inside.

Kuang Tianyou nodded. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Is there any way you can get another one of those modified shells?"

Lin Bei frowned upon hearing this. "You don’t mean to use it to kill yourself, do you?"

Kuang Tianyou remained silent for a while before nodding. There was no point in hiding it; he genuinely did not want to live anymore. Compared to the mindless zombies, someone like Kuang Tianyou, who maintained his sanity but remained deeply emotional and passionate, suffered the most. Once a person makes connections, it is inevitable that feelings will develop over time. This meant that every so often, Kuang Tianyou had to endure the agony of bidding farewell to friends and family. Under these circumstances, choosing self-destruction felt like a natural progression to him.

Yamamoto Kazuo, however, was his polar opposite. After experiencing the same pain, he chose to turn the entire world into zombies.

Lin Bei certainly could not stand by and watch Kuang Tianyou destroy himself. This guy was the primary force needed to deal with the "Fate" version of Mother Goddess Yaochi. In the third season of "My Date with a Vampire," even a weakened red-eyed Kuang Tianyou could fight the Goddess to a standstill; if he weren’t weakened, he might have been able to overwhelm her entirely.

Lin Bei patted Kuang Tianyou’s shoulder with a serious expression. "I understand your thoughts, but you cannot die yet. There are still troubles in this world that require you to solve them."

Kuang Tianyou frowned, assuming Lin Bei was talking about problems like those thousand-year-old corpses. "You have so many exorcists around you; you could solve them just as well without me."

Lin Bei shook his head. "But there is one person only you can handle."

"Jiang Chen?"

"No, Yamamoto Kazuo!"

At the mention of that name, a flash of red light darted through Kuang Tianyou’s eyes, and his fangs involuntarily unsheathed. They had been mortal enemies since the anti-Japanese war, and even after more than forty years, that hatred had never faded.

"Isn't he dead?"

Lin Bei chuckled. "He was bitten by Jiang Chen at the same time you were. You’re still alive and well, so how could he be dead?"

Kuang Tianyou clenched his fists and asked coldly, "Where is he now?"

Lin Bei didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Are you thinking of killing him?"

Kuang Tianyou nodded. "He ordered the massacre of everyone in Red Creek Village. Many of my brothers also died at the hands of those bastards. I must settle this score!"

Lin Bei sat on a chair, crossed his legs, and tapped the armrest. "Then stop thinking about it. With your current strength, you are far from being his match. You’ve managed to hold back for forty years, refusing to bite people and drinking only expired blood—do you think Yamamoto Kazuo is capable of that? I’ll tell you this: the current richest man in Japan, Yamamoto Ryuichi, is actually Yamamoto Kazuo. He drinks the freshest blood every single day, and it must be the blood of virgins. Furthermore, he has cultivated an entire army of zombies as his henchmen. With your current strength, you might not even be able to defeat his subordinates, let alone kill Yamamoto Kazuo."

Kuang Tianyou fell silent. If what Lin Bei said was true, he—a chronically malnourished zombie—might indeed be unable to defeat even Yamamoto's underlings.

After a long while, Kuang Tianyou suddenly looked up, his eyes burning as he asked, "Do you have a way to help me become stronger?"

Lin Bei shrugged. "Of course. Why else would I say that only you can deal with Yamamoto Kazuo? You are both second-generation zombies created by Jiang Chen. To increase your power, you don't rely on absorbing resentment or moonlight. While those things can boost your strength, they cannot break the suppression of your bloodline. Under normal circumstances, even if you bit everyone on Earth to death, you wouldn't possess power comparable to Jiang Chen. In fact, the moment he appears, you would be suppressed to the point of having no power to fight back."

Kuang Tianyou frowned. "Then how can I defeat Yamamoto Kazuo?"

Lin Bei held up three fingers. "I’ve prepared three paths for you. The first is to consume special types of blood. I’ve already arranged for people to hunt them down, and I expect news soon. This path will allow you to break through the bloodline suppression.

"The second path is the breathing technique I taught you earlier. It allows you to develop your potential in all aspects. Currently, your use of power is too crude—or rather, you haven’t truly tapped into the power inherent to a zombie at all. You’re still relying on the combat experience you gained as a guerrilla fighter.

"The third path is one you must realize yourself. Do you know what the source of power is for zombies of the Jiang Chen lineage?"

Kuang Tianyou thought for a while and ventured, "Resentment?"

Lin Bei shook his head. "No, it is love!"

Kuang Tianyou’s mouth twitched upon hearing this. He had anticipated that the answer might be absurd, but he hadn't expected it to be quite this outlandish. A zombie that lived on blood and fed on resentment, yet its power came from love?

Lin Bei also found it ridiculous, but it was the truth. However, he didn't intend for Kuang Tianyou to go out and date someone, as that would be mere romantic love that would only limit his potential. If he was going to play, he had to play big!

"How long has it been since you returned to the mainland?"

Kuang Tianyou thought for a moment. "It’s been over thirty years."

Lin Bei smiled. "Then go back for a visit. Walk the path our predecessors took all those years ago. Take a look at the mainland as it is today; perhaps you’ll gain a different perspective."

Kuang Tianyou nodded. He was a smart man. When he first heard Lin Bei mention "love," he naturally assumed it meant romantic love between a man and a woman. But hearing the suggestion to go to the mainland, he realized that the "love" referred to was a greater love—a love for his country and its people.

Watching Kuang Tianyou’s thoughtful expression, Lin Bei felt a mix of guilt and relief. There was no happy ending for a union between a zombie and a human. If nothing else, once Kuang Tianyou evolved into a red-eyed zombie, he could introduce him to the Goddess. That kind of romantic obsession would be a perfect match for Kuang Tianyou.