Chapter 78 – Born with a Mocking Face

To live to see that day… The idea is simple, but achieving it is easier said than done!

Moreover, in Ling Mo’s heart, this world, riddled with wounds, is unlikely to return to its former state.

It’s not just X City; other places have probably become dead cities too. Even if humans can gradually gain a foothold, can they really wipe out all the zombies?

At first, Ling Mo had held onto hope, but as no rescue ever appeared, his mindset began to change.

As he always said, rather than waiting for a rescue that might never come, it’s better to strengthen oneself and rely on one’s own abilities to survive.

“Let’s go. With this corpse here, it will soon attract zombies,” Ling Mo sighed and said.

Ye Lian’s attack speed was fast, and her method was brutal. This corpse was almost completely disemboweled, with intestines spilling out everywhere. The strong scent of blood would soon draw zombies like hungry wolves.

Seeing that Lin Luanqiu could barely walk after the recent battle, Ling Mo had Xia Na support her, also serving as rear guard.

Shi Bin, the pretty boy who only knew how to ambush and lacked responsiveness in sudden combat, was completely unreliable.

Sure enough, zombies soon began emerging from all corners of the forest, drawn by the scent. Most of these zombies had been lured here by Lin Luanqiu’s group and had stayed in the vicinity.

With Ye Lian leading the way, the zombies approaching head-on were easily dealt with. As for those attacking from other directions, most were influenced by Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacle, allowing him to swiftly strike at their vital points with a single blow.

However, Ling Mo had no intention of dealing with the zombies coming from Shi Bin’s direction. Shi Bin had to clumsily evade the zombies around the trees. If not for his decent agility, he would have been done for.

Lin Luanqiu noticed Ling Mo’s inaction and understood he meant to teach Shi Bin a lesson. However, she was smart enough to realize she owed Ling Mo her life from earlier and had no ground to plead for Shi Bin. Helplessly, she pretended not to see.

Using the terrain to his advantage, Shi Bin finally managed to deal with those zombies, but he was exhausted, panting heavily like a dying pig.

In contrast, Ling Mo had killed more than a dozen zombies by himself and still looked calm. Apart from a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, there was no sign of fatigue.

“Didn’t expect him to be this strong…” Shi Bin thought, but then immediately bit down angrily. “Pfft! Compared to those two girls, he’s nothing! He’s just got a superpower! If I had a superpower, I wouldn’t be any worse! What’s he so smug about…”

But he could only curse in his mind for a little satisfaction…

Zombies kept emerging from all corners of the forest, slowing everyone down. What was supposed to be a seven or eight-minute journey ended up taking nearly half an hour.

By the time they finally emerged from the forest, there were nearly thirty zombie corpses inside. This forest would soon become a feast for the zombies.

Outside the forest was a meadow, with a narrow path in the middle. There were also zombies wandering on the grass, not many, about twenty or so. The trouble was, the meadow was very open. Although Ling Mo could easily deal with these zombies using his Puppet Control Ability, he didn’t want to expose his superpower too much. Lin Luanqiu and the others still thought his superpower was merely some kind of psychic ability.

Although revealing his ability wasn’t a big deal, it might lead to unnecessary speculation.

“Looks like we’ll have to take it slow.

Ling Mo’s method was simple. He picked up a small stone and threw it into a group of zombies nearest to him.

Though the sound was faint, it was enough to attract the attention of a few zombies. As soon as these zombies moved, Ling Mo subtly controlled three of them that were not facing him, turning them in his direction while showing himself slightly from his hiding spot.

This way, it seemed like the zombies noticed Ling Mo because of the noise, and no one would notice the small tricks he used.

Seeing the zombies pouncing, Ling Mo calmly retreated a bit. Once they entered the edge of the forest, he signaled Ye Lian and Xia Na to swiftly take them down. To save time, Ling Mo also charged ahead, appearing very brave. However, to avoid accidental injury, he actually stayed on the outskirts, dealing with zombies from a distance. With his Puppet Control Ability and the use of Psychic Tentacles to affect their movements and judgments, Ling Mo easily handled the small number of zombies.

This tactic might seem a bit cowardly, but Ling Mo had it all figured out. After all, he was flesh and blood. If a zombie injured him, it would be game over. This was the most fatal weakness of being human.

Think about it: zombie attacks are relentless, using all their strength, while humans are cautious, afraid of even a small scratch.

That’s why humans often lack courage when facing zombies and can’t fight freely.

But Ling Mo was different. On one hand, he could send Ye Lian and Xia Na into the zombie horde, and on the other, he could use his Puppet Control Ability to manipulate zombies close to him, killing them safely.

Lin Luanqiu, conserving her energy, didn’t take action, while Shi Bin, exhausted like a dead dog, was squatting nearby. However, Ling Mo didn’t let him just sit and watch. He specifically controlled one zombie to take a couple of steps towards Shi Bin before releasing control. Shi Bin, who thought he was done for the moment, was startled when a zombie lunged at him. He quickly jumped up to fight.

While fending off the zombie, he thought bitterly, “Why is this zombie ignoring Ling Mo, who’s jumping around over there, and coming straight at me? Do I have a face that attracts trouble?”

Using this relatively conservative but safe method, Ling Mo dealt with all the zombies near the forest. The zombies wandering further away had already smelled the blood and charged over without Ling Mo needing to lure them.

However, their fate, of course, was also death.

These regular zombies, when in larger numbers, can still pose a significant threat to the average person. But against Ye Lian and Xia Na, they are simply rushing to their deaths.

However, during the fight, Ling Mo noticed that these zombies, while they wouldn’t actively attack higher-level Mutation Zombies, would still fight back if attacked. Previously, this hadn’t been apparent because Ye Lian and Xia Na usually killed them in one strike, leaving no chance for retaliation. But here, with trees as obstacles, both Ye Lian and Xia Na occasionally failed to kill the zombies outright.

One zombie, after having an arm chopped off by Ye Lian, immediately roared and lunged at her. Ling Mo quickly used a Psychic Tentacle to disrupt it, allowing him to chop it down just in time.

Another zombie was wounded by Xia Na but still staggered around for a while before collapsing. It then turned and lunged at Ye Lian, who was nearby, only to be sliced in half by her.

One instance could be considered an anomaly, but two in a row definitely indicated a problem. It was unclear whether these regular zombies had this defensive instinct before or had developed it after some form of enhancement.

After all, regular zombies do undergo slight evolutions by consuming the bodies of their kind. Though these changes are not immediately noticeable, over time, they can become quite formidable. Ling Mo had considered this possibility before.

In the Apocalypse, ordinary people, through tough survival, developed small survival skills and gradually improved their mindset. Among these ordinary people, some superhumans were also enhancing their powers. Meanwhile, the vast horde of zombies was slowly evolving as a whole, with powerful Mutation Zombies and even Advanced Zombies emerging.

After dealing with the last batch of zombies, Ling Mo and the others hurried across the grassland, heading towards the core area of X City University.

As a university that could accommodate fifty to sixty thousand people, X City University covered an extensive area.

According to Lin Luanqiu, any area with classroom buildings and dormitories was teeming with zombies. The number of zombies near the main gate was also astonishingly high.

Survivors are scattered in various corners of the school, struggling to survive among the zombies with limited food. To escape from the campus to the outside, one must be fully prepared mentally. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, no one is willing to take the risk of escaping. Furthermore, people tend to follow the crowd; even if some understand that staying here means waiting for death, they only dare to stay with the majority, lacking the courage to venture out alone.

But those who muster the resolve to brave it alone and manage to escape are very few. Lin Luanqiu and Shi Bin are among those few…

“So your previous Rescue Team was probably closer to the back gate?” Ling Mo asked thoughtfully, listening to Lin Luanqiu’s explanation.

Lin Luanqiu looked at Ling Mo in surprise, then nodded. “Yes, otherwise we wouldn’t have chosen that escape route. Do you see that theater over there?” she said, pointing to a red-brick building in the distance. “That’s where my Rescue Team was based. Now, there are less than twenty people left inside.”

“You really don’t want to go back and check on them?” Ling Mo asked, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

Lin Luanqiu paused, then smiled bitterly. “When I decided to leave, I already broke ties with them. We no longer share the same path, and I won’t go back. Besides, I won’t go back just to face humiliation.”

After confirming that Lin Luanqiu indeed had no intention of going back, Ling Mo felt relieved. He was here to hunt zombies and didn’t want to get involved with survivors.

Once trouble starts, it’s not easy to shake it off.

“So where’s the School Hospital located?” Ling Mo asked again.

Lin Luanqiu raised her arm and pointed into the distance. “It’s behind the C3 Teaching Building, which is roughly the center of the school. The densest population of zombies is in that area.”