Chapter 892: Taovillage No More

Every departure of a wave of zombies was met with cheers from the survivors.

An atmosphere of excitement permeated everywhere.

Yet Taovillage seemed especially depressing.

The cold wind did not disperse the peach blossoms of Taovillage.

Because the wood ability zombies of Taovillage followed Old Tao’s instructions, injecting vitality into the peach trees every day.

Remarkably, the decaying zombies actually transformed the entire village into an earthly paradise, planting peach trees.

Making Taovillage romantic all year round.

Making people feel good, not depressed.

Today, the peach blossoms fell gently, the whole Taovillage was eerily quiet, occasionally accompanied by sobbing sounds.

“Old Tao, are you really leaving? What about the village?”

An elderly man from Taovillage, looking exhausted, gazed at the horde of zombies ahead, where Old Tao stood hunched.

His body showed no sign of life; clearly the Zombie King, yet resembling more like a pile of dead flesh, with his murky eyes occasionally showing a glimmer of light, proving that he was still “alive.”

“We must leave; it’s been delayed for two days just because we’re worried about you all. We cannot refuse the Emperor’s order, and we may never meet again. You must be extra careful.”

Old Tao glanced at the direction outside Taovillage, evidently worried about the villagers’ safety.

Since the day after the apocalypse, Taovillage never witnessed zombies attacking humans again, thanks to his brainwaves enabling perfect coexistence between zombies and humans.

No matter how food or drink scarce the times were, Taovillage’s villagers never went hungry, and zombies would feast on fresh flesh.

Symbiotic relationship.

Even Zhang Yiming was deeply intrigued by Taovillage’s interaction model, providing him with plenty of data for rapid enhancement of zombie superpowers.

We once thought that in the future, humans and zombies would coexist peacefully.

Peace came quickly, but it was not close-knit peaceful coexistence.

The villager zombies left Taovillage, and the surrounding zombies would leave the vicinity of Taovillage as well.

Taovillage appeared safe, yet it was the beginning of danger.

Humans possess jealousy.

It was precisely because of the presence of Old Tao and villager zombies that no human dared to rob them, under the pretext of searching for supplies.

The mode of peaceful coexistence with zombies disgusted some people, finding such behavior extremely sickening and perverted.

Hence, Taovillage’s people were not welcomed by neighboring villages.

Before the establishment of peaceful order, the villagers’ good days in Taovillage had reached their end.

Nobody would manage burning, killing, or looting.

The weak always vent their anger on those weaker than them.

People from neighboring villages wouldn’t overtly seek Old Tao but would wait until he left…

Coexisting peacefully with zombies was original sin.

Because everyone had relatives who died at the hands of zombies, they sought vengeance, sought revenge.

“When you leave, we’ll never see our relatives again. They won’t spare us either, and after tomorrow, Taovillage might cease to exist.”

A villager reluctantly looked at their relatives.

His relatives had already turned into zombies; luckily, with Old Tao around, he could see them every day and eat together.

The food was different, but the joy of being together was genuine.

Out of his family of six, only he hadn’t turned into a zombie. If his wife, children, and parents departed to the other end of the earth, living alone had no meaning for him.

As a farmer, he had no concept of how far the other end of the earth really was, nor could he imagine it.

Only able to describe it as a distance unreachable in a lifetime.

“Taovillage can no longer stay; pack up your things quickly, and sneak away when there’s no one tonight!”

Old Tao’s voice emerged hoarse, carrying a hint of helplessness.

He understood human nature well, yet had no other choice.

If not for Zhang Yiming’s directive, prohibiting harming humans during withdrawal, he might have truly massacred the surrounding villagers before leaving peacefully.

Deep down, he was still a zombie, emotionless, with only an obsession for the villagers.

“Er Gouzi, what are you doing!”

Just as Old Tao finished speaking, a man rushed forward and bit his wife on the arm.

His wife was a zombie.

Without taking the Medicine Pills of the Human Survivor Alliance to resist the zombie virus, not only him, everyone in the village hadn’t taken them.

They believed their family wouldn’t hurt them, so they chose not to obtain the Medicine Pills.

Moreover, with zombies everywhere in Taovillage, the superpower user delivering Medicine Pills never came, nor did any survivors from neighboring villages bother to inform them.

“Roar――”

In less than a minute, Er Gouzi transformed completely from a farmer into a zombie.

His face became hideously vicious, yet the corners of his mouth slightly raised, laughing at who knows what.

Upon seeing Er Gouzi’s attitude, everyone understood immediately.

Staying in the village meant death, being killed by those around, but turning into a zombie meant being eternally with relatives…

Many people’s eyes flashed intense light, eager to try.

“The zombie world isn’t beautiful; the so-called safe zone we go to is a place to await death; all zombies would perish at the other end of the earth, with no entertainment, no thoughts, day in and day out, year after year.”

Old Tao hunched over, emitting brainwaves.

The zombie villagers retreated several steps, farther from the villagers.

“Rest assured, if things don’t work out, we can send you to a safe place, where no one knows you, and you are simply lucky survivors; everything will fall into place, but the path for the deceased is the hardest.”

Old Tao’s words were effective, as since the apocalypse, he had the final say in the village.

Some gave up the thought of becoming zombies, yet some remained resolute.

Some couldn’t let go of children, some couldn’t let go of parents, some couldn’t let go of spouses…

Ultimately, Old Tao didn’t push those who couldn’t be persuaded.

These were their choices; for Old Tao, he needed to protect the villagers, be they human or zombie, equally.

Perhaps it was the cold zombie mindset acting up.

A dozen villagers chose to become zombies, joining the zombie ranks.

The remaining villagers began packing, each carrying a large bag, driving tractors, vans, tricycles, following in the central position of Old Tao’s group.

The zombie villagers of Taovillage tightly encircled the villagers, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

When Old Tao left, it caused quite a stir; zombie roars sounded everywhere, deterring the surrounding survivors from leaving their homes, fearing they might perish when peace was at hand.

This was Taovillage’s zombies’ last time protecting the survivors of Taovillage.