Chapter 130 – Gunshots in the Silence

After a night’s rest, Ling Mo’s Psychic Power had almost fully recovered.

However, compared to his energized state, Li Yalin seemed somewhat listless.

This was because the wound on her hindbrain hadn’t healed yet. Even for an Advanced Zombie, a head injury takes time to recover.

Zombies have strong self-healing abilities, but that doesn’t mean they’re invincible.

After being cleaned by Xia Na and Ye Lian, the strong and pungent smell of blood on her had dissipated, and the filthy sportswear she was wearing had been changed.

But the clothes Ling Mo found in his bag were obviously too small, fitting Li Yalin tightly and highlighting her curvaceous figure even more.

After being controlled by Ling Mo to become a Zombie Puppet, the redness in her eyes was not as apparent. Ling Mo believed that as their Psychic Link deepened, her appearance would soon become nearly indistinguishable from a normal person’s.

During class, Ling Mo noticed that Li Yalin’s walking posture was a bit strange.

Was it because she wasn’t used to being shaved, or did Xia Na accidentally cut her while shaving? Ling Mo couldn’t help but ponder. However, he didn’t want to ask Xia Na about it—if she took it as “encouragement,” things could get messy.

Li Yalin was still injured and at a disadvantage. If Xia Na got too carried away, who knows what she’d do to her.

Ye Lian didn’t have Xia Na’s mischievous ideas, but her relationship with Xia Na was very close. As long as Ling Mo didn’t intervene, she would side with Xia Na.

The newly joined Li Yalin seemed somewhat ostracized, but zombies don’t care about such things. Apart from looking somewhat unwilling, she behaved quite docilely.

But even if she wasn’t obedient, once controlled, she had no choice but to comply… Ling Mo thought to himself.

The food supplies they found at the motel had filled Ling Mo’s backpack. The group could head straight to Xia Na’s house to look for new weapons for her.

So after going downstairs, Ling Mo turned to Xia Na and said, “Xia Na, lead the way.”

Xia Na tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, “I only remember the general route. I haven’t been around here much before.”

“That’s good enough. We can’t stick to the main roads anyway. As long as we can get to Baihua District quickly, it’s fine,” Ling Mo waved his hand, indicating he didn’t mind.

In such a large city, it’s impossible to remember all the roads clearly, even for someone with a good memory like Ling Mo. His main activities were in the suburbs before, so his familiarity with the city was even less than Xia Na’s.

As for Ye Lian, after asking her, Ling Mo found out she had very few memories of this area and had to give up.

“What about you? Do you know how to get to Baihua District from here?” Ling Mo turned to Li Yalin helplessly and asked.

Li Yalin’s eyes were still somewhat dazed, unclear if it was from dizziness or the inability to accept being controlled by Ling Mo. Hearing Ling Mo’s question, she hesitated slightly, then slowly shook her head, “I… I don’t remember… the direction… maybe… I know a bit.”

“Try to organize your thoughts in your head before you speak…”

This laborious way of speaking left Ling Mo speechless, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved.

Luckily, among the four of them, at least one person had a sense of direction. If they had to rely entirely on luck, pointing in a random direction, it would be too unreliable. Although Li Yalin could only vaguely point out a direction, it was enough for Ling Mo. Once they got near Baihua District, Xia Na’s memory could be useful.

The number of zombies in this area was indeed overwhelming. As the group just exited the alley and reached the main street, the scene before their eyes made Ling Mo’s scalp tingle.

The street was densely packed with zombies. Everywhere Ling Mo looked, there were zombies—there must have been thousands of them wandering through the streets.

The number of abandoned vehicles was also staggering, with many areas showing signs of explosions.

Next to the alley, a high-end car had crashed through the window of a store, but there was no sign of any occupants. It was unclear whether the owner had turned into a zombie or managed to escape in time.

The half-torn sleeve hanging from the rear window and the visible bloodstains were enough to make anyone shudder. One could almost imagine the terrifying scene of someone being forcibly dragged out of the car in panic and despair, only to be torn apart and devoured alive.

Such scenes were common in the Apocalypse, and Ling Mo was no longer surprised by them.

“With so many zombies, are we really going to have to fight our way through?”

Ling Mo felt a headache coming on. Although he was accompanied by Advanced Zombies, barging into such a massive horde would be suicide. Better to crash into a wall than be torn apart by thousands of zombies.

If only there was something nearby they could use… Just as Ling Mo was wracking his brains, he suddenly noticed a plume of black smoke rising in the distance.

Survivors? Ling Mo hid behind a wall, trying to get a better look in the direction of the smoke.

Meanwhile, Ye Lian and the others stood openly at the alley entrance. With the natural intimidation of Advanced Zombies, no regular zombies dared approach them as long as Ling Mo remained unnoticed.

“What’s that?” Xia Na asked curiously.

Ye Lian looked puzzled as well, glancing in the direction of the smoke before turning to Ling Mo, seemingly waiting for him to explain.

“Even if you ask me… I’m not a clairvoyant, nor do I have a built-in telescope…” It felt good to be relied upon, but under Ye Lian’s expectant gaze, Ling Mo could only shrug helplessly.

“Boom!”

Just as Ling Mo finished speaking, a loud explosion echoed from the distance!

In the silent street, it was like a bomb going off!

Ling Mo stood stunned for a moment before cursing, “Damn!”

Without a second thought, he darted through the gap created by the crashed high-end car into the adjacent store.

Nearby zombies immediately noticed the disturbance and began rushing over.

However, with Ye Lian and the others around, the zombies didn’t even make it to the shop entrance before being cut down.

Meanwhile, the loud explosion had nearly all the thousands of zombies stirred up. Just as Ling Mo darted into the shop, several zombies “parachuted” into the alley he had just left.

These zombies had been wandering upstairs and, upon hearing the explosion, jumped straight down. Despite their formidable strength and incredible regenerative abilities, some of these brainless zombies fell from such heights that they splattered into pieces on impact, producing several heavy thuds that made Ling Mo wince as if his own bones ached.

Peeking through a gap, Ling Mo saw the zombies on the street simultaneously turn toward the source of the explosion and then charge in that direction!

The sight of a thousand-strong zombie horde charging was astonishing!

Numerous zombies swarmed over the abandoned vehicles, climbing swiftly with both hands and feet, advancing at an alarming pace.

However, the zombies’ quality varied. Ling Mo witnessed a small zombie get its neck broken by another zombie that tried to leap over it, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

Several zombies were immediately drawn by the scent of blood, pouncing on the fallen one and tearing it apart until only remnants were left.

Ye Lian and the others had already retreated to the doorway, sticking close to the wall. In such an overwhelming horde, even Advanced Zombies would struggle to remain unaffected.

If the noise had been a one-time event, the zombies would likely soon lose interest and resume wandering aimlessly.

But to Ling Mo’s shock, just as the zombies began to slow down, several sharp gunshots rang out!

Guns?!

Ling Mo’s mind raced. Guns indicated that these were definitely not ordinary survivors. The earlier explosion could indeed have been a blast… Could it be a Rescue Team? Ling Mo’s curiosity was piqued.

However, he couldn’t help but feel skeptical. If it truly was a Rescue Team, their reckless actions might get them killed before they could save anyone.

Using guns in a busy area? That’s practically a death sentence!

Sure enough, as soon as the gunfire rang out, the zombies immediately found a new target. Almost all the zombies on the street surged in that direction.

The remaining dozens of zombies were either still squatting down to gnaw on corpses or had broken legs and could only move slowly.

As the gunfire ceased, these zombies returned to their aimless wandering, shuffling around in confusion.

“Well, at least I got a break.”

Seeing that most of the zombies had run off, Ling Mo confidently emerged from the shop.

Noticing that Ye Lian and the others seemed intrigued by what was happening, Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel tempted too.

If it really was a Rescue Team, they would likely have a lot of supplies, right? While he wasn’t particularly interested in guns, something like a military dagger would be great… Although Ling Mo didn’t mean to curse them, given the number of zombies, their survival odds didn’t look promising.

Should he go check it out? Maybe he could seize the opportunity to get something useful… The more Ling Mo thought about it, the more he wanted to go. He glanced back at Ye Lian and the other two, then decisively drew his short knife and gripped it firmly.

“Taking some risks for good stuff is worth it. Let’s go see what’s happening!”

Seeing Ling Mo decide to check it out, Xia Na immediately showed a hint of excitement, her pink tongue licking her lips, “With so many zombies gathered, there might be a lot of humans too! It should be interesting, right?”

Ye Lian quickly nodded in agreement, “Mm-hmm…”

Even Li Yalin’s eyes turned slightly red, clearly showing her anticipation.

“You just want to see them fight and bloodshed, don’t you?” Ling Mo pinched Xia Na playfully and shook his head.