Chu Yao looked into Chen Yexun’s dark, gloomy eyes, which held a hidden glint of resolve.
Miraculously, an inexplicable, almost blind trust and sense of security overwhelmed the panic in her heart.
She took a deep breath of cold air, forcing herself to calm down.
With trembling fingers, she tapped away at the map on her phone.
“There…
there is one to the north.
We need to go deeper into the woods.” She handed the screen to Chen Yexun and asked in a whisper, voicing the doubt in her heart, “Looking for a stream…
is it to cover our scent and tracks?” Chen Yexun’s eyes swept over the map before he shook his head slightly.
His voice was so low it was barely a breath: “You’ll see in a moment.” They hoisted Li Chengyu again and trudged north.
Their previous vigilance had been for survival; now, it took on a theatrical quality, performed for the eyes hiding in the shadows.
After walking for a stretch, Chen Yexun casually nudged Chu Yao with his elbow, his gaze pointing toward a patch of muddy ground ahead.
Chu Yao followed his glance, her pupils shrinking slightly.
The muddy patch was covered in a chaotic mess of prints that were definitely not human.
They were large and deep, left by some kind of hoofed animal, and there were many of them, jumbled together.
In an instant, she understood everything.
Chen Yexun wasn’t looking for a stream to hide!
He wanted to kill with a borrowed knife—or rather, a borrowed beast!
He wanted to use the wild animals that might frequent the stream to clash with the infected trailing behind them.
He was taking a massive gamble.
If he won, the beasts and the madmen would butcher each other, buying them precious breathing room.
If he lost, they would face a simultaneous hunt from both wild beasts and raving maniacs!
Chu Yao’s heart pounded violently again, but this time, it was mixed with a desperate, ruthless resolve.
She knew they had no choice.
Chen Yexun handed the axe to Chu Yao.
She took the heavy weapon, her palms icy cold, yet her grip firm.
Grit teeth, Chen Yexun hoisted the unconscious Li Chengyu entirely onto his back, adjusted his breathing, and pressed forward.
After another arduous stretch through the ruined mud, the faint sound of babbling water reached their ears.
Suddenly, a distinct commotion erupted in the surrounding forest!
The harsh sound of branches and leaves being shoved aside echoed from multiple directions at once!
Chu Yao looked around in terror.
Chen Yexun’s heart sank: *They can’t hold back anymore—they’re moving in!* The moment the thought flashed through his mind— “Hahaha!” “Found you!
Little mice!” “Guts!
Pull out their guts!” From all directions, dense, maniacal laughter and filthy curses burst forth!
It sounded as though countlessly many voices were shouting from behind every single tree!
“Run!” Chen Yexun screamed at the top of his lungs toward the stunned Chu Yao!
Like frightened rabbits, the two bolted toward the stream!
They hadn’t even covered ten meters when two infected with sinister grins burst from behind the bushes ahead, spreading their arms to pounce while spewing the foulest words in the world!
“Get lost!” Burdened by the weight on his back, Chen Yexun’s movements were awkward, but he threw a fierce side-kick straight into one infected man’s stomach, sending him flying back to crash into a tree trunk!
The other infected lunged at Chu Yao!
Screaming in fright, she instinctively swung the axe with both hands, slamming the flat back of the blade sideways!
The heavy axe struck the madman squarely across the side of his face, knocking him flat on the ground!
Without even stopping to check if their attackers were dead, the two broke through the fragile encirclement and ran desperately along the bank of the stream!
The mad laughter behind them clung to them like maggots on a corpse, pursuing them relentlessly.
Even more horrifyingly, the maniacs began picking up stones from the ground as they ran, hurling them madly at their targets!
Stones whistled past them, splashing into the stream water.
Chen Yexun felt he had reached his absolute limit.
Sprinting while carrying another person’s weight made every step feel like his lungs were burning and his muscles tearing.
Darkness flickered before his eyes, and his throat tasted thick with the iron tang of blood.
He used every ounce of strength just to keep pace with Chu Yao.
Right then— “Ah—!” Behind him, Chu Yao let out a painful cry and pitched forward onto the ground!
Chen Yexun whipped his head around.
A stone the size of a brick had struck her ankle dead-on!
Without a second thought, Chen Yexun doubled back, grabbing her arm to haul her up!
But that momentary delay was fatal!
The nearest two infected roared with laughter as they lunged before them, their blood-stained hands nearly clawing into Chen Yexun’s face!
Chen Yexun’s pupils shrank.
His hand instantly darted toward the fruit knife tucked behind his waist, preparing for a final desperate struggle!
At that hair-raising moment— A sudden turn of events!
From the adjacent woods, a massive, wild black silhouette hurtled out like a cannonball!
With terrifying speed, it slammed into the infected man about to grab Chen Yexun, sending him flying!
The infected man flew far like a broken ragdoll, the sound of splintering bones sickeningly clear!
Immediately after, more wild black silhouettes—at least five or six of them—charged out from the trees!
A sound of wild boars!
With bristling fur and fierce tusks, they let out enraged squeals and charged without hesitation at the madmen reeking of heavy blood!
In an instant, the stream bank turned into an even more chaotic and bloody battlefield!
The manic laughter of the infected, the squeals of the boars, the thud of colliding flesh, the sound of tearing bites…
combined into a primitive, savage symphony of death!
Chen Yexun understood instantly!
The thick stench of blood on the infected had completely enraged the wild boars inhabiting this territory!
Because he and Chu Yao were relatively “clean,” they had luckily not been targeted as primary threats!
*An opportunity!* The thought roared in Chen Yexun’s mind.
He reached down and yanked up Chu Yao, who was sitting helplessly on the ground in agonizing ankle pain!
“Run!
Don’t look back!” he yelled, letting go and sprinting ahead with Li Chengyu on his back.
Chu Yao stumbled, drill-like pain shooting through her leg, but her survival instinct trumped everything.
Gritting her teeth, she limped with all her strength behind Chen Yexun as they fled downstream along the water!
They left the hellish scene behind them, the noise gradually fading into the distance.
Before they could get far, however, the bushes beside them shook violently once more!
A slightly smaller wild boar—with a bleeding gash on its flank—seemed to fixate on them.
With bloodshot eyes and its head lowered, it charged furiously at Chen Yexun!
Chen Yexun didn’t even have time to react!
*Thud!* A tremendous force smashed hard against his lower leg!
Sharp pain flared, and he instantly lost his balance, tumbling heavily forward with Li Chengyu!
His head slammed with a loud *thwack* against a protruding rock!
Darkness instantly invaded his vision, exploding into stars, while all sound grew distant and muffled…
He fought to stay conscious, but an endless tide of darkness rushed over him.
The last thing to register in his blurring sight was the wild boar turning around, huffing heavily, charging at him again…
and…
And Chu Yao, terrified out of her mind, suddenly letting out a bloodcurdling scream.
Seeing Chen Yexun and Li Chengyu fall, and watching the ferocious boar charge toward the unconscious Chen Yexun again, extreme terror ignited a desperate, crazy bravery within Chu Yao!
Scrambling on hands and knees, she dived behind a thick tree nearby.
The boar snorted and pursued her, slamming hard against the sturdy trunk!
*Thud!* A heavy impact!
The boar was clearly dazed by its own strike; it shook its head, staggering backward with trembling legs.
Losing its sense of direction, it struggled and squealed in place.
Chu Yao pressed her back against the tree trunk, gasping for air.
She looked at Chen Yexun lying motionless not far away, then at the temporarily dazed beast in front of her.
Her mind went completely blank.
All logic, fear, and hesitation vanished.
In their place arose the most primitive instinct to kill…
born out of a desire to protect what was important.
She let out a scream she couldn’t even recognize—a mix of weeping and enraged roaring.
Gripping the blood-stained axe with both hands, she charged out from behind the tree, aiming straight at the boar’s exposed, heaving, bloody neck.
With every ounce of her strength— Fiercely!
She brought the axe chopping down!
Warm blood spattered all over her face!
The boar let out a dying, agonizing squeal, thrashing frantically!
Chu Yao seemed to go insane.
Disregarding everything, she pulled the axe out and chopped down again!
And again!
And again!
She didn’t stop until the agonizing squeals ceased entirely, leaving only the sickening, dull thuds of metal cutting into flesh and bone.
She collapsed onto the ground, her hands and face covered in thick, warm blood.
Looking at the boar’s practically pulverized neck, and then at the two unconscious men nearby, her body trembled uncontrollably.
She had done it.