Chapter 371 – The Bewitching Man-Eater Blossom

By the time they dashed down the stairs, the flickering light of a flashlight could already be seen on the mountain path not far away.

“Ban Yue should have already left, and even if she fell behind, with her strength, escaping should be easy…”

Ling Mo hesitated for just a second before he immediately led the experimental subjects and Yuwen Xuan into the forest, taking advantage of the chaos to head down the mountain.

As they brushed past the fully armed soldiers, Ling Mo cautiously stopped. The wind rustling through the trees was loud, and small sounds could easily be masked. But if they were well-trained soldiers, they might pick up on something, so it was better to be careful.

After the footsteps outside the forest faded away, Yuwen Xuan let out a long sigh of relief and said, “We need to get out of here quickly, it looks like a citywide curfew is imminent.”

“And you’re telling me! My plan was solid, we had a few hours’ buffer, plenty of time to prepare. And then you had to go and set off the alarm…” Ling Mo glared at Yuwen Xuan, barely suppressing the urge to leave him behind, and scolded.

“Ahahaha… It was concern that led to chaos, plus, who would have thought that the alarm would go off just as I approached the experimental subjects! I didn’t even do anything!” Yuwen Xuan defended himself.

Ling Mo scoffed, “Maybe it was your appearance that triggered the alarm.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with my appearance… Uh, it’s not my fault that my clothes are all burnt and tattered! But speaking of which, do you carry spare underwear? I suddenly feel like something’s frozen down there…”

Yuwen Xuan murmured, but Ling Mo ignored him.

Something didn’t seem quite right. Recalling the environment of the cold storage room they had just left, the alarm trigger that Yuwen Xuan mentioned should have been… on the ground in front of the experimental subjects, and stepping on it would set it off.

Such a setup might make sense in a highly secure location, but in this laboratory…

Lights appeared again down the mountain, and Ling Mo leaned over to take a look. Several trucks had driven up, their headlights illuminating the junction brightly. Dark figures kept jumping off the trucks, then gathering at the junction.

“This is…”

Seeing that they all wore infrared night vision goggles, Ling Mo immediately said, “It must be a search party, let’s move.”

Going back the same way was no longer an option. Ling Mo also had night vision goggles on him, and he quickly took them out and put them on his left eye: “Looks like we’ll have to find a way to go over the front of the mountain.”

For a moment, Ling Mo thought about using his vision switch to inform Ye Lian and the others, but considering the danger of them stepping outside, he dismissed the idea.

No matter how good zombies were at hiding, once it came to Ye Lian and the rest, Ling Mo couldn’t help but worry.

He didn’t think of this as a flaw; if one could remain calm and rational in the face of their loved ones, that wouldn’t be human, but rather a robot.

After completely leaving the mountain path, the way became much more difficult to navigate. Fortunately, Yuwen Xuan was slowly recovering. Although he couldn’t walk on his own yet, at least he could bear some of his weight now.

Ling Mo was not familiar with the roads here. Whenever he encountered places like cliffs, he simply used his mental Tentacles to lower himself down. This method of travel saved him a lot of time.

“Whew!”

After making sure there was no one on the small path, Ling Mo jumped down.

“Splash!”

Yuwen Xuan followed suit, but his legs gave out, and he crashed down in a clumsy sprawl.

“Ah, just my luck,” Ling Mo glanced at Yuwen Xuan before dragging him up.

“What’s with that disgusted look on your face! I may not look great at the moment, but remember, I got like this from fighting! It’s the honorable exposure of battle!” Yuwen Xuan said weakly.

Ling Mo replied with annoyance, “The fact that you’ve received such a shame-inducing ability already says something.”

“Don’t just casually say things that wound a person’s pride. So, why did you receive mental ability powers? Could it be because you spend all day fantasizing about various beauties, and that’s how you trained?” Yuwen Xuan retorted.

Ling Mo snorted, “Clearly, that’s your thing.”

On their way back to the inn, they encountered several squads of soldiers. Although there weren’t many, it was clear that each one was an elite, and they were well-equipped.

These soldiers were not on their way to the lab, but patrolling the streets. However, with Ling Mo’s abilities, it was easy to bypass them.

As Ling Mo and Yuwen Xuan were quickly heading towards the inn, an off-road vehicle happened to stop at the entrance of the mountain road.

The soldiers saluted uniformly towards the door of the vehicle, and some of their expressions immediately became excited and fervent.

As a long leg in military boots stepped out of the car, a very tall figure emerged from inside. Despite the unrest of the night, the appearance of this person immediately became the focus of everyone’s attention.

Dressed in military uniform, she was strikingly heroic yet naturally charming, and her slightly upturned eyes coolly surveyed the soldiers before her.

“Chief of Staff Su, the second squad is assembled and ready to move out at any time.”

A man in civilian clothes approached, saluted crisply, and reported.

The one called Chief of Staff was naturally Su Qianrou, who had communicated with Ling Mo over the phone. Contrary to her image on the phone, she now exuded an extremely assertive aura. It seemed that even an extra glance at her would leave one intimidated by her presence.

“Then let’s begin. Even though we took some precautions, I didn’t expect her to really infiltrate. I didn’t send many to the lab because I thought she would leave quickly after getting what she wanted. You better inform your team that they’re dealing with a formidable opponent this time; they need to be on their game. Even I have suffered losses at her hands many times.”

Su Qianrou’s tone was calm, but her upturned eyes gave off a dangerous vibe. If one didn’t look at her face, they’d never imagine her to be such a dominant woman.

In a world where ostentation often came off as pretentious, Su Qianrou’s presence was refreshingly natural. Even her slightly discordant voice seemed perfectly in tune with her essence.

“Is she…?” the man began, grinding his teeth, “a zombie?”

“Haven’t you fought her yourself? Fully armed, yet she took down seven of your men, while only being hit by two bullets that didn’t even strike vitally. That’s your battle record with her, isn’t it?” Su Qianrou remarked.

The man’s face grew deathly pale as his clenched fists betrayed his anxiety and agitation, “She would infiltrate a place like this?”

“Don’t be so visibly scared. I’m sure it’s her. It’s unlikely that any human would show interest in that corpse,” Su Qianrou said with a dismissive laugh.

“But if we spread out to search the mountain, aren’t we exposing our weaknesses? We’re in groups of three; none of us could survive an encounter with her, let alone defeat her!” The man’s voice grew frantic, his teeth chattering. The memory of fighting that old lady zombie, the sheer helplessness, was a nightmare he couldn’t forget.

“I’m giving an order, not asking for your opinion. Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to fight her. Just signal if you find anything, got it?” Su Qianrou instructed.

“Understood… understood. What about the Chief of Staff now…?” he asked, looking up at Su Qianrou.

Su Qianrou’s lips curled slightly, but she remained silent.

“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry…” Realizing he had overstepped upon seeing Su Qianrou’s amused gaze, the man quickly added.

“I’m going to patrol…” Su Qianrou said indifferently before turning to walk toward the off-road vehicle.

The man immediately straightened up, saluted militarily, and watched as Su Qianrou drove away.

Once the vehicle had completely vanished from sight, the man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and shivered, “Good thing I didn’t offend her. That woman… she’s both fearsome and alluring, like a Venus flytrap…”

With that thought, he turned his head and waved at the soldiers, “Groups of three, move towards the mountain. Alert me immediately if anything unusual is found!”