Chapter 629 – You Don’t Like Me, and You Can’t Beat Me

Xu Shuhan slowly retreated to the side, moving towards another fork in the path behind her.

As she stepped back, she freed one hand and waved gently at Ling Mo and the others.

“Goodbye,” she said, raising the corners of her mouth into a faint smile.

However, the smile seemed both somewhat bitter and a little helpless.

Even on the path to survival, everyone’s direction is always different.

For Xu Shuhan, she could no longer continue on the path she once walked.

“Ling-Ge,” Xia Na turned her head to look at Ling Mo, and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh?” Ling Mo snapped back to reality and shook his head, “It’s nothing, just remembering some people and events…”

“Really…” Xia Na seemed not to understand. But she still felt that Ling Mo’s eyes seemed a bit different than usual.

Within the depth and brightness of his eyes, there seemed to be something else mixed in.

“Human emotions are really complicated…” she murmured to herself.

As Xu Shuhan departed, Ling Mo’s psychic power also focused on Shen Le.

But the young man showed no movement; he just stood there, grinning at Xu Shuhan.

Yet at the very moment Xu Shuhan fully retreated into the fork and was about to turn around, Ling Mo suddenly saw a flicker of coldness in Shen Le’s eyes.

His heart skipped a beat, and he shouted instinctively, “Watch out!”

Simultaneously, a Dark Shadow suddenly jumped down from a nearby small building, landing heavily in front of Xu Shuhan with a “boom.”

Although Xu Shuhan had heard Ling Mo’s shout, she had no time to react.

The moment the shadow landed, she felt a hand gripping her throat tightly, raising her off the ground and flinging her back with great force.

It happened so quickly!

Ling Mo’s psychic tentacle, which he controlled with his thoughts, had already reached near the shadow, but it deftly dodged to the side.

Gritting his teeth, Ling Mo redirected the tentacle, swiftly catching up to Xu Shuhan, and pulled her back just before she hit the wall.

The moment the psychic tentacle touched Xu Shuhan, Ling Mo felt a massive force collide with his mental energy, a throbbing pain immediately pulsing at his temples.

“What kind of monster is this!”

Ling Mo’s face changed involuntarily; if it weren’t for his quick reaction, the psychic tentacle would have been dispersed the instant it made contact.

To possess such power purely through psychic strength, even those two dominant level zombies earlier paled slightly in comparison to this Dark Shadow.

“Bang!”

Ling Mo reached out to catch Xu Shuhan, who had been pulled back by the psychic tentacle, and asked, “Are you alright?”

However, the moment he asked, he froze.

It was just a blink of an eye, but Xu Shuhan, who had been smiling moments ago, now looked drastically different…

Her eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly agape, and a faint coughing sound came from her throat.

Her neck now had five bloody holes, with fresh blood continually dyeing her collar red.

The wound itself wasn’t deep enough to be fatal, but the familiar scent of the virus made Ling Mo’s face turn grim.

Turning back, he saw the Dark Shadow slowly emerging from the darkness, its right hand hanging at its side, blood dripping from its fingernails.

“I…” Xu Shuhan’s strained voice came out, looking at Ling Mo, seemingly understanding something, her eyes began to redden.

“I… I don’t want to…” Before she could finish, tears started to roll down her cheeks.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Ling Mo hurriedly said.

Xu Shuhan looked at Ling Mo blankly, unable to speak any further.

“Give her the Gel,” Ling Mo hesitated for a moment, then handed the limp Xu Shuhan to Xia Na beside him.

He couldn’t quite explain why he made this decision, perhaps he just didn’t want to watch her die in front of him. The virus scent was intense and far more concentrated than the virus in an ordinary zombie. If this continued, not only would she be infected, but she would also die a horrible death.

Though they had been neither friends nor foes before, just because of the choice she made earlier, Ling Mo couldn’t just let her die.

Xia Na also looked up at Ling Mo with some surprise, then leaned closer to Xu Shuhan and sniffed. “This isn’t an ordinary virus…”

“Just keep an eye on her for now,” Ling Mo said, standing up and turning around.

From the point of infection to breakout, they had about twenty minutes…

Ling Mo’s eyes became intensely focused, shining brighter than before.

At that moment, the Dark Shadow stepped out from the building’s shadows, revealing its true form.

Despite being mentally prepared, Ling Mo was still taken aback when he saw it.

Originally, he thought it was a Senior Zombie, but… this looked more like a human…

In his thirties, male, with a fit and muscular build, he was dressed in a clean tracksuit.

Aside from his blood-red eyes, he appeared almost normal.

Yet, his eyes, aside from the odd color, exhibited a gaze very different from that of a zombie.

A typical zombie’s look at humans is bloodthirsty and savage, like they are eyeing an insect or a delectable feast.

But his gaze at Ling Mo and the others was vacant and bewildered…

This behavior bore some resemblance to the Zombie Puppets controlled by Ling Mo, but after sending a psychic probe, Ling Mo felt even more puzzled.

Judging by the disarray of his psychic light cluster, this should be a zombie.

But his psychic power strength was something only a human would possess.

Given the circumstances, the best term to use for this creature was “it.”

“What is this…” A completely stunned Mu Chen finally snapped back to reality and said in a low, shocked voice.

He looked at Xu Shuhan, who was leaning against Xia Na, in utter disbelief.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, so quickly that he hadn’t even seen the process clearly.

Xu Shuhan’s blood-soaked neck, however, made everything painfully clear.

At this moment, Shen Le had appeared next to the monster, looking at them with a satisfied smile.

The expressions on Mu Chen’s and Ling Mo’s faces seemed to please him.

“Y-you… you bastard…” Mu Chen, eyes red with anger, stammered incoherently as he shouted.

“Shh, you don’t want to attract more zombies. No need to get so worked up,” Shen Le said with a cheeky smile, placing his finger on his lips. “She brought this on herself. Handling a couple of traitors at my level should be fair game, right?”

“She didn’t oppose Niepan!” Mu Chen gritted his teeth.

“Hmm…” Shen Le pondered for a moment and then shook his head. “Leaving Niepan at a time like this, is there really a difference from betrayal? I gave her a chance; she chose the wrong person and the wrong path. This is what they mean by, ‘one false step leads to a thousand regrets.’ So, what about you? What’s your choice?”

He clenched his fist and looked expectantly at Mu Chen.

“You…” Mu Chen gripped his knife handle tightly, veins bulging on his forehead. “So what if she left? She put her life on the line for Niepan! And you think you can just kill her?”

“She did it for herself, didn’t she? If you make the wrong choice, I’ll kill you too.”

Shen Le’s indifferent tone and casual attitude only fueled Mu Chen’s anger further.

At that moment, rage surged through Mu Chen, all thoughts of repercussions be damned. I’m going to kill this bastard!

Seeing the look in Mu Chen’s eyes, Shen Le understood immediately.

But rather than being angry, he was delighted. “Ah, I see. This is great, I love watching people like you go mad. You despise me but can’t beat me… Haha.”

“However…”

Shen Le then turned his gaze to Ling Mo, speaking with keen interest. “You’re quite impressive. I was expecting to see a traitor smashed to pieces. Well, it doesn’t matter; we can still see that later. Just guess, if everyone ends up as mush together, could you tell who’s who?”

He laughed excitedly, as if already envisioning the scene.

Mu Chen found the stark contrast between Shen Le’s “cheerful” demeanor and his manic side decidedly chilling.

“How about you experience it firsthand?” Ling Mo retorted with a cold smile.

The excitement in Shen Le’s eyes dimmed slightly. He straightened up, squinting at Ling Mo and lifting his chin challengingly. “You can try, but your chances are slim…”

“Bang!”

Before he could finish, Ling Mo’s psychic tentacle struck him squarely, sending him flying backward.

“What are you posturing for!”