Chapter 691 – The Truth Always Brings Tears

“Huff…”

After passing through the greenbelt, the group quickly ducked into a building, with Mu Chen, who was the last to enter, hastily pulling the Iron Door shut. He leaned against the door, breathing heavily.

Face flushed and neck thick with pent-up frustration, Mu Chen looked at Ling Mo, who was standing opposite him, and grumbled, “Why aren’t you tired after running so long…”

“Your stamina is too poor,” Ling Mo said calmly, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his forehead.

“I’m an Enhancement ability user…” Mu Chen felt utterly dejected. As an Enhancement ability superhuman, he had been completely outlasted by a mental ability user in terms of stamina…

This was absurd!

Unfortunately, reality was staring him in the face. Not only did he have to accept that he was weaker than Ling Mo, but he also had to accept another cruel fact…

He was the weakest in the entire team…

“What now?” Mu Chen asked, finally catching his breath.

“We managed to shake off those Zombies, so let’s take a break here,” Ling Mo said, as he clicked on a flashlight and aimed it behind him.

This Iron Door was apparently just a backdoor, leading into a dim Corridor.

As the flashlight beam swept over the area, a shadow appeared at the top of the Corridor, scaring Xu Shuhan who grabbed Ye Lian’s arm and hid behind her.

Mu Chen also tensed up, pressing himself against the nearby wall.

Ling Mo, on the other hand, was startled by Xu Shuhan’s reaction. He turned to look at her and said, “Shhh, it’s just a dead body…”

He shook his head and muttered, “Almost turning into a Zombie myself, and I’m still afraid of this…”

“I’m just scared, is that a problem?” Xu Shuhan replied, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.

Her hearing was at Zombie level now, so Ling Mo’s words hadn’t been hushed at all.

“Of course it’s fine…” Ling Mo replied offhandedly, as the flashlight’s beam focused on the shadowy figure.

Even before seeing the full situation in the Corridor, Ling Mo already knew there were no psychic light clusters here.

So when he saw the shadow, he remained completely unflustered.

The only ones overreacting were Xu Shuhan and Mu Chen…

Upon closer inspection, the shadow turned out to be the corpse hanging diagonally from the Ceiling, its mutilated body clad in tattered rags and covered in a layer of blackened, dry skin.

Mu Chen suddenly felt his face heat up. He stood up straight without a word and whispered, “Can you give me a heads-up next time?”

“If I don’t issue a warning, it means there’s no danger. Do I really need to remind you explicitly?” Ling Mo glanced at him and said.

“How did this corpse get stuffed into the ceiling panel?” Ling Mo stared at the body for a moment, then moved the flashlight further down the Corridor.

Some dark shadows appeared within the beam of light. This time, Xu Shuhan and Mu Chen remained calm.

Moving closer, they saw several dusty, crooked lockers.

“These are the lockers for the supermarket employees… Judging by the scale, this must be a Mall,” Ling Mo said, shining the light ahead. Sure enough, not far in front of them, he spotted a staircase marked “Staff Passage.”

“Do you want to make do with these clothes?” Ling Mo glanced back at Xu Shuhan, who responded with an eye roll.

“We’re in a situation like this, and you still care about appearances…” Ling Mo sighed.

Xu Shuhan was furious. Ye Lian and the others were not wearing just anything!

Especially when the Mall was just ahead, why make her wear this now…

Xu Shuhan looked down at the lockers and her expression darkened even further…

Could those orange plastic vests really count as clothes? Putting one on wouldn’t cover anything! And topped with spiders… it would be better to go without anything!

The group quietly climbed the stairs. They had only climbed a few steps when a female Zombie dressed in a skirt suddenly tumbled down through the gap in the stairwell, snarling as she lunged directly at Ling Mo.

But before her long nails could touch him, her body suddenly paused mid-fall. Then, a bullet wound abruptly appeared on her forehead.

The female Zombie’s eyes widened as she dangled in front of Ling Mo and his group. Blood dripped from her hairline onto the floor, going “plop, plop.”

“You really can’t give a heads-up?” Mu Chen said, trying to calm his racing heart. He frowned as he watched Ling Mo slowly lower the Zombie to the ground.

“If I don’t let her ambush us, what if she starts belting out opera instead?” Ling Mo shot him a glance and replied.

“You’ve always got a reason…” Mu Chen murmured, feeling exasperated.

Once the body hit the ground, Ling Mo carefully climbed to the second floor, then turned and waved his hand. “Xia Na, Yalin, come over.”

The two female Zombies immediately moved closer. Ling Mo sidestepped to hide behind the partially open stairwell door and peeked into the Mall. “There are five Zombies over here, another dozen over there, and several more on that side… All together, there’s at least fifty or sixty on this floor.”

“So many?” Mu Chen exclaimed in surprise.

“Of course. Since when does a Mall not have a lot of Zombies? In most places, you can lure them away, but not here. If we alert them, even more Zombies will surround us.”

Ling Mo continued, turning his attention to a small window in the stairwell. He walked over to it and looked down. “There are at least a hundred more Zombies on the street, and the first floor of this building is crawling with them. And this is just Zone A… there’s a path leading to Zone B across from us… So roughly estimating, we could be surrounded by about five hundred Zombies.”

“That’s quite a number,” Xia Na nodded.

“It’s not just quite a number—it’s a huge number!” Mu Chen started to sweat again. The Zombies in this city are especially tough. Fifty is already challenging; five hundred is nearly impossible.

If a few Big Guys show up, we’ll be in deep trouble.

“And if we’re really unlucky, it could be up to a thousand…” Ling Mo added.

“Maybe we should… just leave?” Xu Shuhan hesitated, speaking up. After all, it was just for some clothes—not worth the risk…

“Outside isn’t better. It’s just as open, and I actually think this place is quite good. Plus, we can gather some supplies.” Ling Mo said, shaking the flashlight that was already off.

“Hey, you just want to stay here and observe them, don’t you?” Mu Chen muttered.

“As long as we don’t give them a chance to make any noise, we’ll be fine…” Ling Mo ignored Mu Chen and leaned against the door, extending a psychic tentacle into the Mall.

In fact, Mu Chen was right. The main reason Ling Mo chose this Mall was because the closer they got, the stronger his sense of unease became.

This Mall was likely the largest in all of Cuihu; next to it was a convention center, across the street were a row of restaurants, and there was a large Garden nearby. Zombies were just as numerous in these areas too.

At least this place was in the central region…

Ling Mo had a vague feeling that he might find something here…

The reason Cuihu held such a high-risk level might be somewhere around here.

Still, Ling Mo remained very cautious and didn’t plan on taking any personal risks.

If he didn’t possess the Puppet Control Ability, the moment he felt this unease, he would have already left with Ye Lian and the others.

But having this ability at least ensured that he could detect danger ahead of time and have a chance to escape.

The nearest Zombies to him at the moment were one big and one small.

The big one was wandering between the shelves, while the small one was a little girl who looked only about five or six years old. But with her twisted and ferocious face, she was nothing short of terrifying.

“Don’t move…”

Ling Mo’s tentacle slowly approached, but the little zombie had already shuffled behind another shelf, out of Ling Mo’s line of sight.

The big zombie was still between the shelves, tilting its head and staring at a pile of slippers.

This one seemed to have started developing some awareness; its eyes showed a hint of curiosity as it looked at the slippers.

“Forget it; this one uses more psychic power…” Ling Mo compared the psychic light clusters of the big and small Zombies, finally locking in on the little one as his target.

With unknown dangers ahead, conserving psychic power was the top priority. Even the smallest bit might come in handy at a crucial moment.

As the psychic tentacle suddenly pierced in, the little zombie’s body froze, and its gaze became blank.

She slowly turned around to face the big zombie and began to move her feet.

As she gradually made her way toward the big zombie, one of her hands started to open with a “click, click” sound.

Ling Mo glanced back at Xu Shuhan and Mu Chen. Seeing that their view was obstructed by Xia Na and Li Yalin, he felt relieved.

Xu Shuhan and Mu Chen had no idea what Ling Mo was up to. From their angle, they could only vaguely see the Mall’s ceiling, nothing more.

“Clack…”

The big Zombie finally extended its hand, lifting a slipper to its face and curiously examining it from all angles.

It slowly opened its mouth and moved closer to the slipper…

“Clack clack…”

The slipper fell back into the basket, and the big Zombie looked down at its own abdomen.

A small hand had pierced through its stomach, emerging in front of its belly, covered in blood, with bits of flesh clinging to its nails.

Before the big Zombie could react, the little Zombie yanked it backward, dragging it directly into the shelf behind.

“Thud!”

A few seconds later, with a soft sound, the little Zombie emerged alone from behind the shelf.

She glanced in the direction where Ling Mo and the others were hiding, then turned her attention to the other side of the Mall.

Through the varying heights of the shelves, a few figures could be vaguely seen walking around.

These figures turned around when the big Zombie fell, but the little Zombie moved too quickly. After a brief look, they gave up exploring.

The little Zombie wrapped its hand in a piece of torn cloth and slowly approached those figures.

“It’s your turn now. There are over a dozen over there…”

As Ling Mo stepped aside, Xia Na and Li Yalin silently slipped through.

“This…”

Xu Shuhan and Mu Chen’s eyes widened in shock. Wasn’t the inside supposed to be full of Zombies?