Chapter 171 – The Threat from the Mutation Wolfdog

“Crunch… Crunch…”

The sound of bicycle wheels turning was particularly jarring amidst the deathly silence of the deserted street.

Of course, this was only how the survivors perceived it; in reality, the noise of the wind had completely drowned out this slight sound.

Ling Mo carried Ye Lian on his bike, while Xia Na wobbled precariously with Li Yalin. The four of them slowly followed Guo Chao’s team from behind.

Meng Jiayu intentionally slowed down and said to Ling Mo, “Ling Mo, we will soon reach a shopping mall ahead, but our plan is to head to the Armed Police Unit first. Searching for other survivors and supplies can wait until our return. We should be able to make it there and back smoothly today, especially with you here…”

“Hmm, that would be best,” Ling Mo nodded in agreement.

“Then we’ll stealthily go around it.”

Guo Chao’s team consisted of survivors from the nearby neighborhoods and were very familiar with the local terrain and routes.

They quickly avoided the main road and continued forward through a narrow alley.

One side of the alley was a small river, while the other side was a wall, and there was no sign of any zombies on the path.

“When we came through here earlier, we already dealt with the few zombies around and threw them into the river,” Meng Jiayu explained.

It seemed that this team had indeed been planning for a while; it was only uncertain what the situation would be near the Armed Police Unit.

After about twenty minutes, they circled back to the main road, where, likely due to the proximity to the shopping mall, the number of zombies increased dramatically.

Ling Mo suddenly accelerated, drew his Tang Sword, and slashed horizontally at a zombie rushing towards him.

Half of the zombie’s body flew into the air, landing heavily on the ground, with a large amount of blood and internal organs scattered all around.

Meng Jiayu and the others didn’t dare to follow Ling Mo’s example. After all, they didn’t have Psychic Tentacles to mislead the zombies and couldn’t afford to take such risks.

Therefore, they laid their bicycles down before engaging the zombies in hand-to-hand combat.

However, the survivors had their own methods for close combat. Guo Chao and two other survivors took the pot lids they had brought from their bikes and used them as makeshift shields. As they managed to hold off the zombies, Meng Jiayu and Yang Jia used either knives or self-made spears to stab frantically at the zombies’ bellies or faces.

Though zombies possess great strength, their attack methods are relatively simple. When they got close, they generally just swung their arms to grab. Blocking with the pot lids, the zombies usually didn’t give up their prey easily.

Once the zombies were lured in by the “bait,” the killing strikes from the sides were ready.

Even so, after a few encounters, one survivor met a grim fate. He had hidden his head and half his body behind a pot lid, but a zombie attacked from behind, using another zombie as a step to climb over and come down on top of him. Unable to keep his balance, he fell. His screams echoed almost immediately as he fell.

Despite Ling Mo rushing over and swiftly cutting down the two zombies, the survivor’s face had already been bitten to a pulp, and his abdomen was torn open with razor-sharp nails. Though his body convulsed and struggled, death was imminent.

Xia Na and the three girls were strong, but they only cooperated with Ling Mo. Even if another survivor was in danger, they wouldn’t assist.

The other survivors were too occupied to help their fallen comrade. From the moment he went down, his fate was sealed.

When the battle ended, Guo Chao approached with a grim face. The survivor was barely alive.

Sighing sorrowfully, Guo Chao thrust his spear into the survivor’s chest, “Rest in peace.”

The other survivors looked solemn, but they had no choice but to leave the body there.

Despite losing a survivor, the group finally reached the Armed Police Unit.

From the outside, there was no sign of any major danger.

The long wall and the gate were flanked by two rows of golden characters, indicating this was indeed the Armed Police Unit. In the middle stood an electric retractable gate.

The greenery inside and the three-story building directly opposite the main gate were clearly visible.

The place was fairly large, but it likely housed few people. If there had been any survivors who escaped, there probably weren’t many zombies left inside.

After the group rested briefly outside the gate, they walked straight in.

Normally, there would have been surveillance cameras monitoring the area, but now anyone could come and go freely.

While on the road they didn’t feel it, but once they stepped through the building’s doorway, they were instantly engulfed by an eerie chill.

Except for Ling Mo’s group of four, everyone else immediately became alert.

The glass door was splattered with dried bloodstains, and the cool lobby showed signs of bullet holes and shattered glass. It looked like some people had indeed fled, taking weapons with them.

This likely meant a large number of zombies had been lured away. However, given the bloodstains but lack of intact corpses, it appeared some zombies still remained inside.

Sure enough, they had scarcely walked farther in when two zombies lunged from the shadows.

Xia Na, who was at the front, effortlessly swung her scythe, slicing both zombies’ legs off in one swift motion.

Even with severed legs, the zombies continued to struggle and crawl forward until Meng Jiayu stepped up and finished them off with her knife.

Xia Na had been relishing the sight of the zombies’ struggles, but when she saw Meng Jiayu intervene, her gaze turned frosty.

“Don’t mind,” Ling Mo quickly pulled Xia Na back and whispered, “She’s your sister-in-law, after all, and now’s not the time to play.”

Ye Lian also chimed in, “Um… Later… Later you can play.”

“Later is not an option either! And why doesn’t anyone help Senior Sister walk properly?” Ling Mo said with a hint of exasperation.

Xia Na snorted, “It’s all because you punished her!”

“That wasn’t punishment; she tried to force herself on me… Wait… It was you who shaved her pubic hair that caused all this!”

Ling Mo didn’t intend to discuss this issue now, but seeing Li Yalin’s awkward walking posture made him feel a bit embarrassed. With her zombie regenerative abilities, this shouldn’t be happening… Unless, perhaps, this was part of her healing process… And for some reason, whenever he met Li Yalin’s gaze, he felt she was intently staring at a particularly important part of his anatomy.

Is a zombie’s desire truly insatiable? My stamina hasn’t even recovered yet!

As the group delved deeper inside, they found that there weren’t many zombies in this building. It seemed the armory wasn’t located here.

They exited through the back door and saw the dormitory and another building that used to be heavily fortified in the past.

In the distance, they could see the playground and training fields, with various training equipment and even a basketball court.

“The ammunition depot should be over there,” said Old Wang, the retired soldier, pointing to the fortified building.

“Huh, this went smoother than expected, but stay vigilant…”

Just as he finished speaking, a survivor suddenly screamed. When they turned around quickly, one of the survivors was already missing.

Even Ling Mo’s psychic power hadn’t sensed anything, and the three female zombies didn’t detect a thing either. It seemed the attacker had concealed its presence and approached silently.

Ling Mo quickly grabbed his Tang Sword and chased in the direction of the scream. As he rounded a corner, he was met with a gruesome sight.

A mutation wolfdog, standing as tall as a human, had already severed the survivor’s neck. Its fur was bristling like steel needles, its eyes were blood-red, and saliva mixed with fresh blood dripped from its sharp teeth. It looked ferocious and vicious.

This must have been a police dog, but it had long since been infected and mutated. With its size, surviving the virus’s corruption wouldn’t have been difficult.

The mutation wolfdog was fiercely tearing at its prey. Upon hearing movement behind it, it immediately turned around and charged at Ling Mo with accelerated speed.

Ling Mo quickly employed his psychic tentacle, but the mutation wolfdog’s sheer strength and speed were too overwhelming for it to be much of a deterrent.

Seeing the large shadow coming at him, Ling Mo retreated while swinging his Tang Sword.

However, the wolfdog caught the sword with its jaws, fiercely shaking its head, trying to wrench it from Ling Mo’s grip.

“Die, you damn dog!”

This was likely a result of its training instincts before mutation, but the force of the bite caused a sharp pain in Ling Mo’s wrist. If he hadn’t gritted his teeth and held on, the sword would have been yanked away.

Fortunately, his intense bout with Li Yalin last night had improved his physical strength somewhat. Otherwise, not only would he have lost his sword, he might have been knocked to the ground himself.

For some reason, Ling Mo found the mutation wolfdog’s behavior odd. As Xia Na and Ye Lian charged in, the beast suddenly released the Tang Sword, ignoring the blood in its mouth before turning and fleeing.

Although Ye Lian and Li Yalin were fast, they couldn’t outrun a mutation wolfdog. It quickly disappeared into the knee-high weeds, leaving only a dead body behind.

“This…”

Guo Chao hadn’t expected someone to be attacked so quickly, and his face turned grim.

They had been quite cautious, but the mutation wolfdog had lain in wait, ready to pounce.

Having lost two people, their group was down to eight, including Ling Mo’s four.

While saddened by the loss, they couldn’t turn back now.

“We can’t waste time looking for that mutation wolfdog. It looks dangerous. We need to get the weapons quickly, then we won’t have to fear it as much. Once Old Wang has a gun, he can use it immediately,” Guo Chao said resolutely after a moment of silence.

Getting to the building wouldn’t be easy, though. The path was only about three meters wide, and both sides were overgrown with tall grass.

If the mutation wolfdog were hiding in the grass, a surprise attack would be hard to prevent.

Ling Mo was highly alert. Mutation beasts attacked zombies as well, and Ye Lian and the three girls faced danger too.

A mutation wolfdog was different from a mutation snake; it could bite instantly. Even a small scratch would upset Ling Mo deeply.

“Fucking dog!”

Ling Mo looked at the blade covered in saliva and blood, cursing silently once more.