He hurriedly stopped the car and unbuckled his seatbelt, intending to get out and check, but Yun Zhuan pressed him down firmly. “Don’t move yet,” he said. “Something feels off.”
Even though he had been talking to Lin Po just now, Yun Zhuan’s eyes had been constantly scanning their surroundings, and he hadn’t seen a single soul.
Furthermore, while Lin Po’s driving style was wild, he was normally very steady. If there had been a person there, how could he have missed them?
Lin Po calmed himself down. Recalling the sensation from a moment ago, it felt as though they had struck a solid object, and the wheels had even snagged for a second.
This road was sparsely populated and rarely saw traffic; it was possible someone had seen them hauling supplies and decided to stage a robbery.
Lin Po pulled a knife from the back seat. “Let’s go take a look.”
Yun Zhuan nodded and gestured for himself to exit first. He pushed the door open gently, leaning out just enough to quickly scan the area. Seeing no one, he signaled for Lin Po to get out.
The first thing Lin Po did was check beneath the car. As soon as he bent down to look, he understood exactly what had happened.
His expression soured as he said to Yun Zhuan, “There’s an ability user.”
Yun Zhuan saw the anomaly as well. The previously flat road now featured an abrupt, protruding hump—a mistake that was physically impossible during construction. Moreover, they hadn’t noticed any defects in the road as they were driving up. For such a change to occur in so short a time, it could only be the work of an ability user.
Yun Zhuan pulled Lin Po behind him. “Stay still. They’re in the dark while we’re in the light. To prevent a sneak attack, we’ll stay like this. We can’t stay in the car either; if there’s a fire user, we won’t be able to escape easily. We just don’t know what their intentions are.”
Protected by Yun Zhuan, Lin Po held his knife with a grim expression. He hadn’t expected someone to be lurking in such a remote place; they had nearly fallen right into a trap.
As the two of them carefully observed their surroundings, the atmosphere grew heavy. Suddenly, a figure came tumbling down the adjacent hillside, clad in dusty Taoist robes. Their face was smeared with a mess of dirt and grime, making it impossible to see their features.
Yun Zhuan shielded Lin Po as they retreated several steps. He held his knife across his chest, ready to strike the moment the stranger moved.
Instead, the eccentric man let out a string of shouts: “Hey, hey, hey! Big brother, don’t do that! I’m not a bad guy. I only used this method to stop you because I had no other choice, but I’m not very practiced with this ghostly ability. I’m sorry for scaring you!”
He spoke rapidly, rattling on and on. Lin Po caught the keywords and asked, “This place is so remote; why would you suddenly appear here?”
Duan Yunze wiped away his sweat, relieved they were willing to listen. He pointed to the mountain he had just rolled down from. “There’s a small Taoist temple in these mountains. I’ve lived there since I was a child. But when I went down the mountain today, I was chased the whole way by those ghostly things. I hid on the mountain and didn’t see a single person for ages. I had no idea what was going on. When I saw you driving past, I acted out of desperation to stop you. I’m truly sorry.”
He apologized again as he spoke. Lin Po’s mood softened slightly; at least for now, the man didn’t seem like a villain.
Lin Po asked, “What’s your name? And what do you want?”
Duan Yunze said, “My name is Duan Yunze, and I’m a Taoist priest. I’m begging you to take me out of here—anywhere. The people at the foot of the mountain have gone mad; they chased me trying to bite me. I don’t dare go back.”
Lin Po replied, “We don’t know where we can take you. Don’t you know? The whole world has turned into this hellish state. Have you seen zombie movies? It’s just like that—zombies everywhere. There’s no escaping it.”
“What?” Duan Yunze panicked instantly. With a bitter face, he asked, “Are you really not lying to me?”
Yun Zhuan pulled his phone from his pocket and showed him a video clip. Sure enough, the people in the video were just like the ones he had encountered in the village—all of them mad.
Duan Yunze sat on the ground, looking completely despondent. He murmured to himself, “Then what do I do? Does that mean I have nowhere left to go?”
Lin Po didn’t have much sympathy for an ability user who lacked a backbone. He pulled on Yun Zhuan’s sleeve, signaling him to get back in the car.
Yun Zhuan glanced at Duan Yunze and silently agreed with Lin Po’s decision. This ability user was far less mature than Lin Po; he would need a lot of hardship to grow up!
Seeing them about to leave, Duan Yunze suddenly jumped up and grabbed Lin Po’s leg, wailing for them to take him along.
Seeing this, the veins on Yun Zhuan’s temple throbbed. He grabbed Duan Yunze by the collar and hauled him away.
Lin Po said coldly, “You want to follow us? But we’re going to Jiang City. You know, the situation in the city center is much more severe. You might survive out here, but following us will probably get you bitten to death by zombies.”
Duan Yunze shuddered at the threat but didn’t let go. If he had to live alone in the Taoist temple, he figured he’d scare himself to death.
“Take me with you! I have that… whatever ability. I can help you.”
Lin Po and Yun Zhuan exchanged a look. Lin Po nodded slightly. He didn’t have an ability himself, so since this Duan Yunze did, they might as well bring him along.
So, he said, “Fine. You come with us. Behave yourself on the road, or I don’t know what my knife might do.”
He gestured with his dagger in front of Duan Yunze, successfully scaring the man into silence.
Yun Zhuan, however, frowned. The current Lin Po felt a bit like a stranger to him. Lin Po was doing all of this with such ease, as if he had done it a thousand times before.
Lin Po didn’t notice the change in Yun Zhuan’s expression as he pulled him toward the car.
But Yun Zhuan said, “Lin Po, you drive. Duan Yunze and I will sit in the back.”
Lin Po understood Yun Zhuan’s intention. If they let Duan Yunze sit in the back alone and he turned out to be a bad person, it would be difficult for them to react if he attacked from behind. With Yun Zhuan keeping watch in the back, they didn’t have to worry about that.
Yun Zhuan pulled a length of rope from his bag and wound it several times around Duan Yunze’s wrists, restricting his movement. Duan Yunze didn’t dare resist and let him proceed.
Yun Zhuan said, “It’s nothing personal. Just to be safe. I’ll untie you once we reach Jiang City.”
Duan Yunze followed them into the car in silence. He understood now: these two might look young, but they were anything but naive in their actions. He had previously planned to play dumb to hitch a ride and maybe snag some supplies, but it seemed things wouldn’t be that simple—especially with the man sitting next to him. Though the man spoke little, his protective stance toward the driver was clear; he definitely had cards he hadn’t played yet.
However, following them wasn’t a bad thing. He had absolutely nothing on him, so there was nothing worth their scheming. The fact that they were willing to take him in showed they were actually quite kind people.
Duan Yunze wasn’t entirely ignorant of what was happening. Although the Taoist temple where he practiced was small, people often came to worship. He had a master and a junior brother, but a few nights ago, they had suddenly burst into his room, snarling and trying to bite him. Duan Yunze had fought for his life to escape, only to find the same situation at the foot of the mountain. Having finally encountered two living people, he was determined to stick with them no matter what.
Seeing that they were well-dressed, fully equipped, and hauling unknown goods in the back, he assumed they had no shortage of food and supplies.
Since the incident began, Duan Yunze had eaten nothing but a few wild fruits picked on the mountain. Now that he had relaxed, his hunger became agonizingly apparent. He licked his parched lips, not knowing how to ask for food.
Lin Po saw his small movements through the rearview mirror and called out to Yun Zhuan.
“Yun Zhuan, give him something to eat.”
Yun Zhuan pulled a bottle of water and a loaf of bread from the bag. Duan Yunze took them without even having time to say thank you, tearing open the packaging and stuffing the bread into his mouth. Only after he had finished the entire bottle of water and sighed contentedly while leaning against the seat did he finally say thanks.
Lin Po said, “We can give you something to eat now, but later you’ll have to find your own way.”
Duan Yunze knew they wouldn’t support a deadweight. He nodded heavily and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t be a burden to you.”
With an unexpected pickup from the road in tow, the car sped toward Jiang City.
As they neared the city districts, the roads became visibly congested, though fortunately not completely blocked. Lin Po drove against the direction of the main crowds, heading toward his apartment.
Hu Xiaoxing lay weakly on the bay window. All her food was gone. Because her charger was in the living room, her phone had long since run out of power. The noises in the living room had never stopped; those were once her father and mother, but they had turned into terrifying monsters. They didn’t recognize her; they only wanted to bite her to death. Hu Xiaoxing wanted to cry, but she couldn’t even produce tears; there was no excess moisture left in her body.
She hadn’t seen a reply to the message she sent to Brother Lin Po. Perhaps he hadn’t seen it at all; no one was coming to save her.
She struggled to crawl to the door, her hand gripping the handle, wanting to open it.
Better to turn into a monster like Mom and Dad, she thought. At least I won’t die alone and hungry.
“Hu Xiaoxing! Hu Xiaoxing! Are you still alive?”
In a daze, Hu Xiaoxing thought she heard someone calling her name. She hurriedly pulled her hand away from the handle and crawled to the bay window to look down.
Someone was indeed calling her name. Although she couldn’t see the face clearly, she felt it was Brother Lin Po.
She pushed open the window and waved her red scarf. A thin sound drifted from her throat, but it couldn’t possibly reach the ground.
She grew frantic, but her body had no strength left.
From below, the voice continued: “I see you! Wait there, we’re coming to save you!”
Lin Po glanced around the building. They had just finished off the surrounding zombies. Truth be told, having an extra person made a huge difference; fighting had become much easier.
“She’s in her room and doesn’t dare come out. There must be zombies in her house, though I don’t know how many. There shouldn’t be many in the stairwell; otherwise, the noise from our fight just now would have drawn them down to the first floor.”
Although this residential community consisted of elevator buildings, they wouldn’t dare take the elevator in this situation. Furthermore, they didn’t know if the power in the community had been cut. The power supply pressure in the city was immense; it wouldn’t necessarily last as long as it did in Xiping Village.