Chapter 617 – Strange Sounds in the City

Before going out, Mu Chen couldn’t help but lift the corner of the curtain and glance downstairs. Then he smiled with satisfaction, “Ling Mo, do you really think we’re just going to sit here and do nothing? Just wait and see…”

…

“Swish!”

The wind gusted through the intersection, causing the tattered flags hanging by the roadside to flutter.

A flipped-over bus lay in the middle of the road, surrounded by a dozen filthy, horrifying zombies with hollow, blood-red eyes, slowly swaying.

From the sight on the street, Dongming appeared no different from other cities—desolate, ruined, and occupied by zombies.

Suddenly, a faint rustling sound caught the attention of these zombies. They simultaneously raised their heads as if wound up by a spring, their eyes flashing with a hint of danger, sweeping the surroundings with eager intent.

“Click, click…”

The faint noise gradually became clearer, sounding like an indistinct, garbled voice emerging from a throat.

The zombies turned their heads, searching for the source of the sound, their sharp, slender fingers contracting inward continuously.

The unclear noises made them restless, but as they craned their necks, squinted their eyes, and twisted their wrists, they looked more like wolves eagerly ready to pounce on their prey.

“Bang!”

A sudden thud came from one side, casting a stretched shadow on the ground under the sunlight.

A pair of heavy, bare feet landed amidst the rising dust, and simultaneously, the shadow spread its arms wide: “Roar!”

“Howl, howl!”

The zombies bared their teeth in response and rushed forward.

Using both their limbs, they leaped over abandoned vehicles, leaving fresh, deep claw marks on the car bodies.

When the first zombie pounced at the owner of the shadow from mid-air, the dozen zombies trailing behind also lunged from all directions.

Even a Senior Zombie couldn’t easily handle such a situation…

“Swish!”

The first zombie was still in mid-air when a large, bloody hole suddenly appeared in its abdomen, causing it to fall heavily to the ground with a “thud.”

Before the splattered blood droplets could settle, the second zombie was already slammed away.

In just a minute, the intersection was transformed into a gruesome display of broken dolls, with flesh and limbs scattered everywhere.

The bare feet that landed in the sticky blood lifted swiftly and then stomped down hard on the head of a nearby zombie.

This zombie had just managed to crawl up, only to have its head pinned down firmly.

Its blood-red eyes were still wide open, but a trickle of fresh blood had already started flowing from beneath its head…

“Roar!”

Another deep growl echoed…

…

“What was that noise?” Ling Mo stopped in his tracks, looking around in confusion.

Mu Chen had a look of “You’re making a fuss over nothing” on his face. “Zombies, of course.”

“But this sound… it’s too loud,” Ling Mo still appeared puzzled.

“Yeah,” Xia Na nodded in agreement, also glancing around.

Surrounded by buildings, it was hard to pinpoint the exact source of such a sound; one could only tell it was nearby.

“Stay calm, it’s just zombies. You think zombies can’t make loud noises?” Mu Chen rolled his eyes.

Then he shook his head with a touch of resignation. “Know your enemy as well as yourself, and you’ll win every battle. Learn more about zombies…”

“Me, not know about zombies?” Xia Na’s eyes widened, her mouth slightly open, before she looked at Ling Mo.

Ling Mo just shook his head silently at her…

There was definitely something unusual about that sound—not just its volume but also the kind of heart-pounding sensation it evoked, like a lion’s roar.

This was the first time Ling Mo had ever heard such a sound…

“Speaking of which…” Mu Chen glanced helplessly at the back of the group, where Xu Shuhan was trailing, holding a gun and watching the surroundings vigilantly. “You’re being too obvious with your precautions.”

“We’re in your territory now,” Ling Mo’s calmness left Mu Chen feeling a bit powerless.

As it was, he still hadn’t had a chance to interact with Xu Shuhan, but fortunately, they had someone like a shadow to relay messages.

If you weren’t intentionally looking for him in the crowd, it would be genuinely difficult to spot Xia Zhi, who was always silent and liked to stay in the shadows.

He was like a piece of wood, never doing anything attention-grabbing, nor speaking in a way that made others notice him. Even his expression seemed so devoid of presence-emotionless and utterly ordinary in appearance.

However, when Mu Chen glanced over, Xia Zhi quickly responded.

He naturally walked towards Mu Chen…

“Huh? No, no… don’t come over right now!” Mu Chen felt a wave of panic.

Although Ling Mo and the others seemed focused on their surroundings, Xia Zhi walking over like that…

Okay, they didn’t notice… He was spectacularly ignored.

Mu Chen was dumbfounded; he couldn’t decide if this was a talent or a sad fact…

But if they were to have a conversation, they had no choice but to disguise it by appearing to look around while keeping their voices as low as possible.

“How did it go?” Mu Chen spoke through gritted teeth.

Xia Zhi remained calm, his eyes fixed straight ahead. He lightly tapped his fingers in his pants pocket and then made an “okay” gesture.

“And…” Mu Chen asked, “What about her? Who did she choose? And who did you choose?”

This coded way of speaking made Mu Chen feel a bit more reassured. Even if overheard, it wouldn’t expose the plan.

Mu Chen felt a bit anxious. He knew that everyone trusted themselves the most, yet ironically, they could never choose themselves.

He was no different in this respect.

After all, though the road of escaping alone was tough, it was preferable to staying here as a hostage…

Xia Zhi thought quietly for a moment, then pointed to himself first.

“She chose you?” Mu Chen asked, feeling somewhat dejected.

Xia Zhi nodded and then pointed behind him.

“And you chose her?”

However, Xia Zhi again pointed to himself and then shook his head.

He flashed Mu Chen a difficult smile and rejoined Ling Mo and the rest.

“Hey, you!”

Mu Chen called out in a low voice but received no response.

His expression was complex, yet also somewhat speechless.

Xu Shuhan chose Xia Zhi, and Xia Zhi chose her.

But Xia Zhi’s final gesture indicated that he abstained…

In this situation, giving up his choice essentially meant he was handing over the more promising path for survival to Xu Shuhan, wasn’t it?

Who would have thought Xia Zhi could be so selfless? On closer inspection, though, Mu Chen realized he didn’t know much about Xia Zhi’s character.

No one really knew much about Xia Zhi…

Regardless, Mu Chen couldn’t help but admire Xia Zhi’s decision. It takes real courage to make such a choice so decisively.

However, this left Mu Chen with only one remaining option.

Mu Chen glanced back at Xu Shuhan and took a deep breath.

When their eyes met, it seemed a bit awkward for both of them.

Mu Chen stared at Xu Shuhan for a moment longer before turning away.

“Her… it has to be her. Xia Zhi isn’t someone who makes decisions lightly; I should be able to trust her. Plus, she’s articulate and has all those recordings…”

Mu Chen tightened his grip on the knife handle, thinking, “The only question now is, when to act?”

…

Dongming was a completely unfamiliar city to Ling Mo and his group. They had never been here before, let alone looked for Niepan in such an unknown place.

So naturally, the task of leading the way fell to Mu Chen and his people.

However, after taking a roundabout route for half the day, Ling Mo quickly lost his patience.

“Get us to the location by today.”

“Impossible.” Mu Chen shook his head firmly, “Can’t you see how many Zombies there are?”

He certainly wouldn’t admit to deliberately taking them in circles, but the path was indeed crawling with Zombies.

Of course, this was the result of his intentional choice to take the bustling routes, and it seemed to be working well.

“We can travel at night,” Ling Mo continued.

“No, absolutely not.” Xu Shuhan’s face changed the moment nighttime travel was mentioned.

“Ha…” Ling Mo looked at the trio with great interest. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

He indeed had traveled at night often. Although it was much more dangerous, it was still manageable with caution.

What intrigued him was the reaction of the three, making him feel like he had definitely struck a nerve.