Chapter 430 – The Requiem

“Cooperation? Heh heh… Tiger, I don’t think so.”

The Tattooed Man gave Tiger a once-over, noticing his bedraggled and jittery state, and immediately sneered.

Tiger’s heart sank. He had just been hit twice by Yu Shiran, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart, making him look quite pathetic.

Compared to the Tattooed Man, whose face was half-covered in blood, Tiger actually looked worse off.

“What do you mean by that?”

Despite his panic, Tiger tried to maintain a stern expression and spoke coldly.

“Come on, let’s not beat around the bush.”

The Tattooed Man sneered again, suddenly stepping forward and grabbing Tiger by the collar. He growled in a low voice, “If it weren’t for your poor decision-making, we wouldn’t have gotten involved with such a tough opponent. Yan Shang Feng and the others are dead, and you should have known this plan wouldn’t work!”

“Stop… stop arguing…”

Tiger groaned in pain as he was yanked forward and said nervously, “If that person comes back, we’ll all be in trouble…”

The Tattooed Man’s reaction made it clear that he had seen through Tiger’s facade. Not only did he no longer fear him, but he also harbored a lot of resentment.

“Screw you. When I was making decisions, why didn’t you say anything? When we first got the news, weren’t you the one egging Quinn on?!”

Though furious inside, Tiger managed to force a conciliatory smile, “Now… we should prioritize cooperation. Otherwise, neither of us will survive.”

“You coward…” The Tattooed Man showed a trace of contempt at Tiger’s submissive attitude, released him, and then slowly backed away. “Follow me. Since we have two enemies, we need to come up with a plan. Quinn has also left. But there’s no cooperation, only orders. Your choice.”

Tiger watched the Tattooed Man disappear into the darkness with a complex expression. He then cautiously peered in the direction where Ling Mo had left.

Should he swallow his pride and follow the Tattooed Man’s orders, or should he run away on his own?

At that moment, a haunting song drifted from afar.

Although the distance made it impossible to discern the lyrics, the sweet yet eerie voice of a little girl carried a chilling murderous intent.

This sensation sent a shiver down Tiger’s spine, his breath quickening.

“Forget it. To avoid dying at the hands of the Little Demon, I can set my dignity aside for now…”

Tiger silently followed the Tattooed Man into the darkness.

However, just as they disappeared, a figure emerged from behind a column.

“Instead of going everywhere to find you, I’d rather transform from the hunted cicada into the waiting mantis behind…”

Ling Mo smiled, looking at the spot where Tiger and the Tattooed Man had just been.

Though he hadn’t heard their conversation, Ling Mo knew exactly where they were headed.

“Quick, use the silver thread, yuck~ Quick, use the zombie hand, yuck~”

The little girl’s song grew closer, and as Ling Mo caught the lyrics, he nearly stumbled into a car:

“What kind of bizarre lyrics are these… Silver thread I get, but zombie hand? This tune sounds like a requiem!”

Yu Shiran huffed in annoyance when she saw Ling Mo, then turned her head away: “Hmph, human.”

“Enough already, you little zombie… By the way, did you catch their scent? Make sure to follow them closely. Uh… I was talking to Black Silk, why are you sniffing so hard…”

Ling Mo grabbed Yu Shiran by the collar and dragged her in the direction the Tattooed Man and Tiger had gone.

“Let… let go of me, human!”

Yu Shiran shouted.

“Quiet! What if you alert the mantis! Besides, do you think I enjoy dragging you around? You were the one who lured my Black Silk away…”

Ling Mo whispered.

“It was your Black Silk that stuck to me! You wicked human, such nonsense… mmph mmph!”

Yu Shiran’s protests quickly faded. She mouthed words in frustration, making what she thought were fierce and evil faces…

“Heh, they’re still following us.”

In a cramped elevator, the Tattooed Man was trying to climb out through the safety window.

Seeing Tiger squeeze in through the door gap, he immediately flashed a mocking smile.

Tiger’s face darkened, but he still asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Quinn has already gone up. From here, we can climb into the mall on the first floor. It’s too hard to confront them head-on, so we’ll lead them on a chase and take them out when the opportunity arises.”

As the Tattooed Man spoke, he had already leaped up.

Tiger hesitated for a moment, then suddenly jumped up, trying to grab the edge of the safety window.

Just as his fingers were about to touch the edge, his legs suddenly felt as if they were entangled by invisible ropes, and he was pulled down.

Before he could cry out, he was dragged out through the gap.

The Tattooed Man waited above for a while but didn’t see Tiger come up.

He stuck his head out through the door gap, peered down through the safety window, but saw nothing.

“Damn it, that Fatty must have run off! Causes trouble and doesn’t dare to fix it himself!”

The Tattooed Man cursed angrily, then turned to look inside the mall.

Quinn must have hidden herself by now. He took a deep breath, then pulled out his walkie-talkie.

“Better inform her of the situation here. Now that it’s just the two of us against two enemies, we have to be even more careful…”

When Ling Mo entered the mall through the elevator door gap, all he saw were scattered shelves and various goods strewn about.

Not far away was a zombie corpse, its chest a bloody mess, obviously taken out by an air cannon.

“What a hassle…”

Ling Mo glanced back, sighing in frustration.

Yu Shiran was squatting in the elevator, hugging her knees and pouting unhappily:

“What are you looking at? I don’t want to go with you. Wicked human, stealing my kill. That big Tiger was clearly my prey!”

“Don’t pick up bad habits from Xia Na!” Ling Mo pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Get up here.”

Though Yu Shiran was extremely reluctant, Black Silk had already nudged her to climb up.

With her abilities as a Leader-Level Zombie, this height was nothing—she could easily leap up.

A human and a zombie walked slowly through the mall. With Ling Mo’s psychic probe and Black Silk’s sense of smell working together, they had transitioned from being ambushed to becoming the trackers.

However, their targets were adept at hiding. While it wasn’t hard to determine their general direction, accurately pinpointing them was another matter.

Ling Mo wasn’t particularly skilled at probing, and scents tended to linger. In this semi-enclosed environment, various smells mingled, making it difficult to distinguish them quickly.

But any prey, when it sees bait, can’t resist jumping out…

“They’re upstairs.”

Yu Shiran suddenly turned her gaze towards the staircase and said.

“Oh? Trying to lure us upstairs… Perfect, we’ll corner them there.”

Ling Mo smiled.

The two quickened their pace, heading up the stairs.

At the stairway entrance, Ling Mo keenly noticed a taut thread stretched along the stair edge.

If they had been chasing blindly, it would have been easy to miss this line.

The other end of the line was attached to a precariously balanced appliance, which would fall with the slightest movement.

It was a hastily and crudely set trap, but considering the short time available, it was quite impressive.

Most wouldn’t expect an opponent to set such a trap under these circumstances, and by the time they realized it, the trap would already be triggered.

Ling Mo pulled Yu Shiran aside and used a tentacle to hook the thread, giving it a mental tug.

“Bang!”

The sound of the appliance crashing to the ground shattered the mall’s silence.

“Bang!”

Another loud noise followed as a figure leaped from hiding, punching towards the stairway.

Only after firing the air cannon did the Tattooed Man realize something was wrong, but it was too late.

When Ling Mo emerged from the shadows, the Tattooed Man was already frozen in place.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, running down his cheeks.

Quinn, who had also leapt out, was too frightened to move by the sudden appearance of a little girl behind her.

“Play with me?”

Yu Shiran tilted her head and smiled innocently.