Chapter 614 – Secret Meeting in the Restroom

“Hm?”

Ye Lian, who had just rushed to the corner, turned her head and glanced at the manhole cover.

“What’s wrong?” Ling Mo asked, puzzled, as he looked at her.

Ye Lian tilted her head, seemed to ponder for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

At this moment, Mu Chen also came up and, as soon as he reached Ling Mo, slapped him heavily on the shoulder: “Wow, you really did it!”

His expression was hard to read; it seemed as though he was contemplating how to give Ling Mo a good beating but reminded himself that he probably couldn’t win.

“Honestly, I thought you were on a suicide mission, but you really pulled it off. But next time, maybe we could be a bit quieter? No, no… best if there’s no next time.” Mu Chen’s smile looked forced, but his tone wasn’t as mocking when he acknowledged Ling Mo’s resourcefulness.

“Since you’ve crushed my shoulder enough, could you let go?” Ling Mo glared at Mu Chen.

“Ahem…” Mu Chen awkwardly released his grip, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, “This isn’t a safe place for long. Shall we chat while we walk?”

“Let’s go this way.” Xu Shuhan pointed to a nearby alley. “It’s a bit roundabout, but with so many of us, it’s safer to take the back roads. I checked the street signs earlier; this way should be fine.”

“Whatever you say,” Ling Mo agreed readily.

Mu Chen was immediately displeased by that. Who was the one making all sorts of excuses to take detours earlier?

As they slipped into the alley, the zombie warfare on the streets had reached a point where blood and flesh littered the ground, a sight that would make anyone’s legs go weak.

If they hadn’t experienced this firsthand, these people could never have imagined that these monsters, almost indistinguishable from humans, were capable of tearing each other into raw meat.

And humans, much weaker in comparison, were extremely fragile in their presence.

Even though those witnessing this were seasoned survivors, their faces were grim.

It wasn’t until they emerged from the alley into another small street that they felt somewhat relieved.

Thanks to the alarm, this street was completely deserted, without a single zombie in sight.

“Now can you explain? How did you guys manage to get from the mall to there?” Mu Chen glanced around eagerly and asked.

“Saw a few shadows, then just followed them…” Ling Mo said calmly.

“That’s awfully nonchalant… But does that mean we both had the same experience? Still… how did you manage to follow them for almost two streets? That’s some serious dedication!” Mu Chen remarked, rolling his eyes.

Ling Mo didn’t respond to this question, and Mu Chen didn’t press further after complaining.

The atmosphere in the group suddenly became silent; on the desolate street, only the sound of their hurried footsteps could be heard.

But at the back of the group, Xia Zhi, who had been silent all along, suddenly lowered his head and twisted his mouth into an unpleasant, eerie smile…

…

Dongming, nearly 200 kilometers from the provincial capital X City, is close to the neighboring province and is a second-tier city renowned for its pharmaceutical industry.

When Ling Mo finally coaxed the city’s name out of Mu Chen, he was silent for a moment.

A pharmaceutical city! How had he not thought of that?

For Niepan’s branch, could there be a more suitable place than Dongming?

Despite hurrying along, Ling Mo’s group took a full five days to finally reach Dongming.

It wasn’t that their pace was slow; there were simply too many zombies along the way.

Moreover, the further they traveled, the more pronounced the feeling of a full-scale zombie evolution became.

Adding to that, the difficulty in finding supplies and the time spent searching for food and changing to suitable means of transport, it all added up.

However, while checking the map on his mobile phone, Ling Mo noticed something else.

Dongming is not far from Cuihu City…

Though closer to the south, the two cities are almost adjacent when viewed on the map.

“Enhanced zombies… Niepan branch…” Ling Mo pondered these two terms together in his mind but couldn’t draw any definite conclusions.

Maybe it was just a coincidence?

After all, not everyone had his ability to help zombies evolve quickly.

Organizations like Niepan and Falcon Research Institute could, at best, be considered as intervening.

“We’ll have to stop here and get out.” Mu Chen was the first to jump out of the car.

Ling Mo also stopped the car, waiting for Ye Lian to get out first before he jumped down himself. He then looked at their ride, a beaten-up bicycle: “Can’t even ride a bike in here?”

The small car they had found earlier was totaled at the city toll station by a zombie that had stomped on the front hood, then had its door ripped off by another zombie dressed in a toll collector’s uniform.

“The toll here is really simple and rough, isn’t it…” Ling Mo had mused at the time.

As a result, they had to find a few bikes left behind by a cycling tour group. Although the tires were flat, they were still ridable, if only just…

After wobbling along for nearly an hour, the group finally officially entered Dongming.

In fact, they had just passed a large, old billboard: “Welcome to Dongming.”

“No way. Dongming has a large population, you know that.” Mu Chen said as he tossed his bike aside.

“I thought since this was your branch, it would be an empty city just for you guys.” Ling Mo said, glancing around.

They had stopped in the yard of an old hostel. The entire place looked deserted, and the old building itself was covered in dust.

However, the high walls around it provided them with good cover; from the inside, all they could see were the buildings on either side.

“Heh…” Mu Chen seemed like he wanted to say something but ended up just coughing dryly.

Seeing Ling Mo staring at him, he wiped off some sweat in frustration and said, “Well, zombies are also crucial.”

“Ah… I get it,” Ling Mo suddenly realized, “you need experimental subjects.”

“Not entirely…” Mu Chen hesitated for a moment before swallowing back what he wanted to say, “Let’s rest here before setting off. I’ll go inside and see if I can find some water.”

He said this while pulling out his knife and heading towards the hostel.

Ling Mo was quite shocked. “Isn’t this one of your usual resting spots?”

“Of course not! Why would you think that?” Mu Chen turned back to ask.

“There aren’t any zombies here,” Ling Mo replied, eyes wide open.

Xu Shuhan interjected, “Do you really think a place like this would have that much business? Anyway, I’m not going inside; it looks pretty filthy… I’ll keep watch.”

She walked towards the gate as she spoke, trying to act casual, but Ling Mo couldn’t help but find it amusing.

This woman really can’t handle places like this…

Xia Zhi had just returned from checking the surroundings and followed Xu Shuhan to stand guard.

Xia Na then approached Ling Mo and asked, “Are we going in?”

Ling Mo glanced at Ye Lian and Li Yalin, who were intently staring at the hostel, and nodded helplessly, “Yeah, let’s go in.”

In fact, the amount of water Ling Mo carried was quite limited. It’s something essential but heavy and bulky, so no matter how much they carried, it was never enough.

But would a place like this really have water?

Moreover, another thought came to Ling Mo’s mind…

Why were they still focused on collecting supplies when they were so close to Niepan?

Something was off…

“Screeech—!”

Mu Chen pushed open the slightly ajar door, which had dark brown bloodstains on its edge and a long drag mark on the floor. He didn’t look too closely but immediately slipped inside with his knife at the ready.

The lobby was sparsely furnished—a reception desk, a dust-covered computer lying on the floor, and a sofa on the side. The potted plants on both sides had long since turned to withered grass.

“No zombies… none here either…”

Mu Chen quickly searched the nearby two small rooms and a restroom, then suddenly darted out and pulled the wandering Xia Zhi into the restroom.

“Bang!”

Mu Chen slammed the restroom door shut. In the cramped, dim room, everything fell eerily silent.