Chapter 77 – Ambush in the Woods

X City University covers a vast area, and this small forest is just a remote corner of it.

Walking through the forest with our vision obscured, it’s hard not to feel a racing heartbeat and a sense of tension. Following the route that Lin Luanqiu and the others had taken to escape, we could see sporadic bloodstains along the way.

Shi Bin and his companion’s faces had noticeably turned grim. For them, escaping had already drained all their courage. If it weren’t absolutely necessary, they probably wouldn’t want to return to X City University ever again.

Although this place seemed relatively safe, Ling Mo knew that from the moment they jumped over the wall, they had entered a gigantic zombie nest.

Over thirty thousand zombies were gathered in a mostly enclosed environment. That’s a terrifying number.

In comparison, the over three thousand survivors were absolutely the weaker group among the zombies.

Resist? A bunch of ordinary students and staff, scattered and disorganized, what effective resistance could they mount?

Once zombies gather in sufficient numbers, individual combat skills become a joke. Ling Mo still vividly remembered the time when he controlled a Zombie Puppet holding a cellphone to attract zombies, only to be torn apart by over a hundred zombies.

So, among this group, the most cautious one was not Lin Luanqiu or Shi Bin, but Ling Mo himself.

However, compared to the highly cautious group, Ye Lian and Xia Na remained completely calm, walking at the front without a care.

As Mutation Zombies, they wouldn’t be attacked by ordinary zombies. Moreover, if there were any Mutation Zombies nearby, they would sense them. Ling Mo had them walk in front to guard against any sudden zombie appearances.

But their nonchalant demeanor left Lin Luanqiu and Shi Bin, who were unaware of the situation, wide-eyed with surprise.

Lin Luanqiu couldn’t help but express concern, “When we escaped, there were zombies chasing us. They might have scattered in this forest, so they should be more careful.”

Before Ling Mo could respond, Xia Na turned back and looked at Lin Luanqiu coldly, “No need.”

“I was just reminding you, since it’s my responsibility to guide us,” Lin Luanqiu replied with a smile, not getting angry at Xia Na’s bluntness.

Ling Mo listened to Lin Luanqiu’s words and discreetly signaled Ye Lian and Xia Na to spread out a bit. This way, they could detect any threats more promptly.

As for Xia Na taking the initiative to talk to people, Ling Mo wasn’t surprised. He had noticed that since Xia Na had regained some of her human memories, she still saw humans as prey but had developed a slight interest in them.

Since she was willing to interact, Ling Mo didn’t oppose it. On the contrary, he subtly encouraged it. The more her thoughts aligned with human behavior, the better their communication would become. Most importantly, she could also have a positive influence on Ye Lian.

Ling Mo didn’t mind their zombie identities and didn’t want them to be aggressive towards humans. It wasn’t beneficial for them. Being able to converse with people added another layer to their disguise and minimized suspicion about their true nature.

“How much longer do we have to walk through this forest?”

They weren’t following a regular path but were instead weaving through dense grass and trees. With their vision obstructed, it was hard to gauge how far they had to go. So, Ling Mo asked.

Lin Luanqiu thought for a moment and replied, “Probably about seven or eight more minutes. This forest spans a wide area horizontally, but if we go straight through, it won’t take too long.”

Just as she finished speaking, a dark figure suddenly leaped out from behind a bush. Even before it reached them, a strong stench of blood filled the air.

The figure’s target was clearly Lin Luanqiu. Although Shi Bin was startled and quickly raised his Sharpening Stick, he was a step too late.

It was a male zombie, looking around twenty years old. His pale, bloodless face was twisted and grotesque, with blood-red eyes full of ferocity. A strand of glistening saliva hung from his slightly open mouth.

He had sustained severe injuries before mutating. His left shoulder had completely collapsed, and one of his hands was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Although it had healed, it still looked horrifying.

The critical factor was that this zombie was incredibly fast. It seemed that even before mutating, he had been quite physically fit. He had just appeared in their line of sight, and in the next second, he was already behind Lin Luanqiu.

Although Lin Luanqiu possessed a superpower, her physical strength made it nearly impossible for her to completely evade the attack. However, she wasn’t the type to sit back and wait for death. As soon as she felt a gust of wind behind her, she gripped the iron shard tightly and swiftly turned to face the zombie.

The zombie lunged ferociously, its uninjured hand reaching for Lin Luanqiu’s chest. With the strength of a zombie, if it succeeded, even if it didn’t immediately tear her apart, it would certainly immobilize her, leading to her being bitten. Once a zombie grabs you, it’s nearly impossible to break free unless it’s an arm or some other part you can afford to sacrifice鈥”not your torso.

Seeing the zombie’s rapid movement towards her, Lin Luanqiu remained remarkably calm. She casually swung the iron shard in her hand, blocking the zombie’s arm at the last possible moment and pulled down hard.

Although she couldn’t sever the zombie’s arm due to the inadequate weapon, blood immediately gushed out profusely, and the zombie’s arm went limp, seemingly losing its strength.

However, this didn’t stop the zombie. Even with both hands incapacitated, it still lunged forward, mouth open, ready to bite.

Lin Luanqiu bent down and rammed into the zombie’s chest, managing to knock it off balance.

This was the best Lin Luanqiu could manage. But as her strength waned and she could no longer move, the zombie lunged at her again. A glimmer of despair flashed in Lin Luanqiu’s eyes.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, so quickly that an average person wouldn’t have had time to react. However, Ling Mo’s Psychic Power gave him a faster reaction time than most people. Seeing the zombie lunge again, he immediately used his Psychic Tentacle to make the zombie veer off course mid-leap, causing it to overshoot Lin Luanqiu.

At that moment, Ye Lian, moving like a leopard, sprang back into action. Just as the zombie passed by Lin Luanqiu, Ye Lian thrust her Curved Knife into its abdomen and then pulled it sideways with force.

Multicolored intestines mixed with blood spilled out immediately. The zombie staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

Lin Luanqiu snapped back to reality, having genuinely believed she was about to die. She realized that the zombie’s strange movement at the critical moment was due to Ling Mo’s intervention. She saw that clearly.

Despite feeling weak, she took a deep breath and turned to look at Ye Lian and Ling Mo. “Thank you,” she said.

Ye Lian’s expression remained cold. She had moved so quickly that there wasn’t even a drop of blood on her Curved Knife. Ling Mo just nodded and said, “You’re leading the way. Besides, it was no trouble at all.”

It was only then that Shi Bin reacted. He had initially wanted to rush to help Lin Luanqiu but suddenly pointed at the zombie and exclaimed, “Isn’t that Liu Chuan? He didn’t get eaten… he turned into a zombie!”

His exclamation made Ling Mo furious. Lowering his voice, he angrily scolded, “What are you shouting for? You’ll attract more zombies! Who knows how many there are around here? If we get surrounded, do you think you can escape? Idiot!”

“I…” Shi Bin’s face darkened at being called an idiot, but after gripping his Sharpening Stick tightly, he managed to hold back his retort.

He still remembered clearly what Lin Luanqiu had told him. Most importantly, he knew he didn’t have the strength to back himself up.

Ye Lian’s swift attack had far exceeded his expectations. Only now did he realize that Ye Lian hadn’t even been using her full strength against him.

However, Shi Bin thought to himself that Ling Mo didn’t seem to get involved much. He didn’t look that impressive—maybe he was just a freeloader…

Seeing that Shi Bin wasn’t fuming with anger like before, Ling Mo was a bit surprised. Shi Bin didn’t seem like the kind of person who could swallow his pride… Could it be that Lin Luanqiu had talked to him?

Regardless, Ling Mo had already made up his mind to teach this idiot a lesson when the opportunity arose. After beating him up so badly before, it seemed Shi Bin still hadn’t learned his lesson. In the Apocalypse, strength was the only currency. Did this kid still think it was like the old days?

“Um… Liu Chuan was part of our Rescue Team. He was a classmate who escaped with me,” Lin Luanqiu finally caught her breath and walked over to take a look. She immediately covered her mouth.

Ling Mo had already noticed that the zombie’s injured hand looked freshly healed, but he hadn’t realized that this person was one of Lin Luanqiu’s companions.

They seemed very shocked that their companion had turned into a zombie, but Ling Mo just glanced at it a bit more.

After being wounded by a zombie, once exposed to zombie blood—this usually happened during the injury itself because zombie nails and hands were covered with all sorts of unknown blood and flesh residues—any contact with these residues would lead to infection. Survivors who got injured likely didn’t survive long enough for anyone to witness their mutation. That’s why cases like Liu Chuan’s were rarely seen.

However, Ling Mo had seen two such cases before. One was Lu Xin, who rotted away because he couldn’t withstand the Virus after being infected by a Mutation Zombie. The other was Xia Na.

“I didn’t expect…” Lin Luanqiu quickly regained her composure, but her already unfocused eyes looked even more hollow. It was unclear whether she was emotionally affected or simply exhausted. “I didn’t expect Liu Chuan to survive and mutate… At that time, everyone was panicking and just running away. We heard he got bitten by a zombie, but no one even gave him a second glance…”

Ling Mo looked at her deeply and said, “This is the Apocalypse.”

“Yes, I really wish we could go back to the way things were. I want to live to see that day,” Lin Luanqiu said, giving Ling Mo a bitter but hopeful smile.