Raising The Zombie King

“Too bad, raining.”

Xiao Xiao laid on the edge of the windowsill while looking outside who suddenly said something.

The spring rain fell continuously as it wasn’t strong enough to penetrate Lin Yuzu’s repaired roof, creating a drizzle curtain as the accumulated rainwater fell from the eaves.

Zhaocai, who got wet earlier in the morning, hid his damp body under the porch as he listlessly wagged his tail. Even Xiao Hong didn’t bloom its flowers today, wrapped itself like a bud, and looked completely normal.

Lin Yuzu finished washing her face and hung the towel back up, “Did you say that last time when it rained?”

She remembered that when it rained two days ago, Xiao XIao still dragged her out for a walk.

The tips of her hair brushed against her shoulders and were a little itchy. Lin Yuzu looked in the mirror to make sure that her hair had grown a little longer. The part that was cut short after being burned by Zhaocai isn’t really obvious anymore.

Well, her nails seem to have grown too.

Lin Yuzu found scissors next to the kite they made yesterday.

Xiao Xiao then responded sullenly, “Now, before the sky clears, decided to hate it.”

So fond of flying kites, huh.

“There’s still plenty of time for the sky to clear. We can just go next time.” Lin Yuzu sat down in front of the mirror and gestured for the scissors, “Xiao Xiao, come and help me?”

She heard Xiao Xiao’s light footsteps as she walked behind her. Her cool fingers were then inserted into her hair as her hands combed it down to her neck.

“Cut it short?”

Lin Yuzu moved uncomfortably, “Don’t move too much, it’s a little itchy.”

“Hmm.” Xiao Xiao then asked her, “Yuzu like short hair?”

The thoughtful expression on her face was reflected in the mirror as if she was considering whether to cut her own hair short. Although Xiao Xiao had a small face and delicate facial features, having short hair would definitely look good, but thinking about her soft, snow-colored, long hair, Lin Yuzu couldn’t help but feel pity.

She immediately dismissed Xiao Xiao’s idea, “I don’t really like it. It’s just for convenience.”

It wasn’t considered a lie. Lin Yuzu used to have long hair, but after the end of the world, the conditions became worse and worse that she had to cut her hair and it had become a habit by now.

Xiao Xiao leaned forward and placed her chin on top of Lin Yuzu’s head, “So, now you can raise it long?”

“. . .”

Lin Yuzu looked at herself in the mirror.

Truthfully, from her appearance, she looked the same as before and her self-healing ability seemed to have slowed her body’s time flow. But letting Lin Yuzu’s hair grow out was like remembering a previous life.

She hesitated for a moment. Xiao Xiao had taken the scissors from her hand and helped her make the decision, “Well, doesn’t look good, cut short again.”

“. . . That’s true.”

Xiao Xiao only said things casually and it would have just been a simple matter. Lin Yuzu didn’t know where her hesitation earlier came from, but after Xiao Xiao made the decision for her, she also followed.

If you can’t cut your hair, then cut your nails.

Lin Yuzu took out the nail clippers while Xiao Xiao moved the stool and sat opposite to her, “I’ll do it.”

It seems that Lin Yuzu really has nothing to do…

Lin Yuzu reluctantly handed the nail clippers to her.

Xiao Xiao held her hand and carefully aligned the nail clippers on her nails before pressing them. Her work was much more meticulous than what Lin Yuzu would’ve done. After clipping, she also carefully smoothed the edges and lowered her head to blow off the fine chips.

A slightly cool breath brushed against Lin Yuzu’s fingertips that she reflexively curled them, earning Xiao Xiao’s reprimand, “Don’t move.”

Okay.

Lin Yuzu was starting to get bored and began to observe their hands. Xiao Xiao’s hands were slender and long, and her bones are well-defined whenever she flexes her fingers. Even if her skin color doesn’t match that of a human’s, it would be impossible to deny the beauty of her hand that it could probably be passed as a hand model.

Her own hands, on the other hand, did look soft like normal people. . . but not slender enough.

“. . . That’s right.”

Xiao Xiao suddenly asked without lifting her head. Lin Yuzu thought these spoke what was on her mind and only reacted after a while, “What’s right?”

“There will still be more sunny days.”

Xiao Xiao lowered her eyes as she clipped the last of Lin Yuzu’s nails. Through the faint light outside, Lin Yuzu could see her eyelashes fluttering and a gentle smile appeared on her lips, “Besides, together, no matter what we do, I’m happy.”

Her words carried a sense of joy that was as subtle as dust flying in the beam of light.

Lin Yuzu slowly blinked, “. . .”

“Xiao Xiao,” she solemnly said, “This seems to be the longest sentence you’ve ever said. . .”

Xiao Xiao raised her hand to do a final check, but when she heard Lin Yuzu’s words, her satisfaction turned into speechlessness and looked at her with a slight begrudging look. Lin Yuzu couldn’t help but curl her lips only to be pulled back by Xiao Xiao when she tried to draw back her hands.

“Next time, paint your nails.”

Lin Yuzu asked, “Paint with what?”

Xiao Xiao let go of her hand and picked up the flower pot at the foot of the desk where there was a green plant growing uptight. Its stem was as thick as a pinky finger that had slightly curved leaves. Lin Yuzu doesn’t recognize what it was and only remembers that Xiao Xiao dug it and brought it home yesterday.

. . .

To read the original translation, please visit: triple ‘w’ dot nihilumcreations dot wordpress dot com slash raising-the-zombie-king slash

. . .

Their house seems to be slowly occupied by plants. There have been plants planted in their courtyard, plants placed on the porch, several small pots of succulents arranged on the windowsill.

Originally, Lin Yuzu would ask Xiao Xiao what type of plant it was whenever she brought one home, but as time passed, Lin Yuzu became too lazy to ask.

Xiao Xiao said, “Feng Xian.”

She took the pot and looked through the gaps in the leaves with bent eyes, “Summer blooms, give to Yuzu, dye nails.”

Lin Yuzu slightly froze before smiling, “Okay, I’ll wait ’till summer.”

The two umbrellas at home were dismantled by them to make kites, so they couldn’t go out on rainy days. Lin Yuzu and Xiao Xiao sat outside to find a brighter place to read as the two read the same book. Of course, it wasn’t the technical books on the shelf since Xiao Xiao had read them, so she huddled with Lin Yuzu to read her novels.

Well, the name of the novel was [The Evil Emperor Covering the Sky]

Lin Yuzu was quite happy while reading. Although the name of the book sounds lame, its contents were very interesting that had magic which makes readers wanna know more, except. . .

She bitterly sighed when the male protagonist’s main love interest, the princess, and her maid were actually intimate with each other and urged the male protagonist to bring home a certain saint who had an ambiguous relationship with him.

“Can we skip this part?”

Lin Yuzu buried her face into Xiao Xiao’s shoulder. Xiao Xiao simply turned the pages, unmoving like a mountain, “Wait for me, finish reading.”

“You don’t seriously think there’s something good with this kind of plot.”

Xiao Xiao paused, as if thinking on the words she should use, “. . . words, need to cherish.”

This sentence was especially significant, especially for her. Lin Yuzu knew that Xiao Xiao had a small box where she stores descriptions cut out from packages, hang tags on clothes, and labels were torn off from goods. . . such small pieces of paper with little use but had words.

Lin Yuzu found her strange collecting habit of hers weird, but still cute.

However, this hobby of hers became torturous when the two are reading a book together.

The author spent several pages writing about the male protagonist and his harem. Lin Yuzu gulped and skimmed through the lines, reading and complaining, “If I were the princess, no matter how strong the male protagonist is, I would have kicked him immediately.”

Xiao Xiao seriously read the page, “Yuzu, what likes?”

“What I like?” Lin Yuzu was stunned when she was asked. She remembered a little bit before the apocalypse on her daily small talk with her girlfriends, but similar to before, every time the topic came up, she couldn’t come up with any special characteristics and can only give a vague answer, “Dedicated. . . I think?”

“Character?”

“Um. . . .”

Lin Yuzu thought hard for a while as she leaned on Xiao Xiao. A few strands of snow-colored hair fell on her hands and she unconsciously played with the soft ends of her hair, listing several reference characteristics in her mind, “Someone calm? Gives a sense of stability. . . . Ah, someone like my sister.”

“. . . En.”

But even if the conditions are clear, where are those who could fall in love with her now?

Thinking about this, Lin Yuzu suddenly felt that it didn’t matter and turned to ask Xiao Xiao, “What about Xiao Xiao? What kind of person do you like?”

Xiao Xiao just finished reading the whole chapter. She then sat upright and pulled away from a little, using the book to cover the lower half of her face, and looked at Lin Yuzu. her ice-blue eyes looked as if rain fell on the lake, creating ripples on the surface.

“Like, Yuzu.” She slowly said.

Lin Yuzu blinked twice. She just seemed to have the illusion of falling into a dream of being submerged by ice-blue water.

“Ah. . . me too. I like Xiao Xiao so much.” Lin Yuzu paused for a moment and answered bluntly.

However, perhaps because Xiao Xiao is too serious, her response which she answered casually made her embarrassed subconsciously as she avoided Xiao Xiao’s gaze.

She then heard Xiao Xiao close the book.

“Well, I like you too.” Xiao Xiao repeated in a lighter tone this time, “Outing, what to eat?”

“. . . Why are you suddenly asking this?”

Lin Yuzu also had to think about it. Her experiences with picnics were mainly during her elementary school days when she went out on a spring trip with her classmates. They went after lunch and came back before school ended. As for what to eat during picnics, she could only refer to those she’s seen in films or TV shows.

Rice balls? But it needs rice. That said, this season would have been a good time to eat Qingtuan1, but there’s no sticky rice flour. . . even simple dishes like fried magnolia flowers that should also be in season can’t be prepared because of the lack of ingredients.

Lin Yuzu felt a little depressed when she thought about their food reserves at home.

It’s better to go for a picnic.

She went from thinking hard and then gave up in just a few minutes. Xiao Xiao then shook her arm, “Look.”

Lin Yuzu turned her head in confusion. In the short time, she thought about food, the rain seemed to have stopped and only the remaining drizzle dripped intermittently from the eaves.

She looked in the direction Xiao Xiao pointed and there was a faint rainbow hanging in the sky that was exceptionally clear after the rain.

“It’s a rainbow!”

Lin Yuzu exclaimed. Although she knew it was just an ordinary optical phenomenon, she hadn’t seen one in years and the rainbow in the sky did have a dream-like beauty in the fresh air after the rain.

Facing the rare sight, she took out her harmonica from her pocket and Xiao Xiao immediately looked at her vigilantly, “To play?”

“. . . is it that bad?” Lin Yuzu choked as she felt like an enemy.

Xiao Xiao decisively shook her head, hugged the book before standing up, and said with a straight face, “I’ll do, laundry.”

“. . .”

If it’s not bad, don’t run ah.

The author has something to say:

Xiao Xiao cherishes the opportunity to read because she was too poor when she was a child. This habit became worse and has evolved after she became a zombie.