Chapter 37: Maid

“Is someone there?”

Tang Cheng hurriedly pushed open the partition that had made the noise and found a girl inside wearing a white maid dress. Her long twin tails reached down to her waist, and she was holding a round tray in her hands, seemingly the poster girl of this Japanese-style restaurant.

Her face was clear and cute, with long eyelashes and two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth. Unfortunately, she had already turned into a zombie. One of her hands was aimlessly scratching at the partition door, causing the rattling noise.

“So, she’s a zombie after all…”

Tang Cheng felt a wave of disappointment; he had hoped she was a survivor.

He stepped closer to the zombie poster girl and carefully stared at the white, erect valleys beneath her maid dress. Because the design was revealing, he could clearly see the work badge hanging outside her chest, on which her name was written.

The name had two lines: one in Japanese, which he couldn’t read, and the other in Chinese characters—“Ishihara Ayano.”

“Ishihara Ayano, a Japanese girl after all! No wonder she’s cosplaying as a maid!”

Suddenly excited, Tang Cheng wanted to strike up a conversation with this Japanese girl and ask what Japanese bread tasted like.

However, the zombie poster girl didn’t react to his murmuring at all. She just continued to listlessly scratch at the swinging door with one finger, while clutching the round tray tightly with the other hand.

“Looks like she was bitten while trying to escape…”

There was a clear bite mark on her shoulder, and fresh blood stained the white maid dress. It was rather pitiful to see.

He then turned and continued searching the restaurant but still found no survivors.

Just as he was about to leave, his right hand accidentally knocked over a flowerpot on the counter. With a clatter, the kitchen beside it suddenly erupted in a loud commotion. In the next moment, several zombie chefs wielding kitchen knives burst out of the kitchen.

The blades glinted sharply, and covered in blood, the zombie chefs looked terrifying. They charged straight at him.

“W-we can talk! Put the knives down first!”

Tang Cheng instinctively raised his shotgun.

Fortunately, the zombies stopped when they reached the flowerpot and stood there dazedly. It seemed they had only been reacting to the sound.

“Since you’ve already turned into zombies, why carry such dangerous weapons…”

Tang Cheng panted, still shaken, having thought the zombies might retain some awareness. He reminded himself to be cautious. Since he himself was able to maintain his zombie state while still alive, perhaps the zombies around were quietly evolving.

Holding his gun, he left the Japanese restaurant and continued searching toward the center of the hall.

He could sense that, except for the elevator corridor, there were fewer zombies on this floor compared to others. Because it was closer to the first floor, escape was relatively easier.

He searched restaurant by restaurant. The Western restaurant ahead also had some zombies, mostly staff and customers. Tang Cheng locked them inside to prevent them from wandering. If they reached the steakhouse where Tang Wanyue and the others lived, it would be very dangerous.

Besides looking for survivors, another goal of this outing was to isolate the wandering zombies.

He arrived at the center of the hall.

It was spacious, with a large claw machine flashing dazzling lights. Inside were many little teddy bear plushies. Normally, many girls would gather here, but now it was empty.

Next to the claw machine was a whack-a-mole game box, which reminded Tang Cheng of his childhood.

He remembered that Miss Chu Ruoyun used to angrily bang on it here as a child. Her tear-filled eyes always glared at him in anger, and back then, Tang Cheng knew she was resenting him.