Chapter 4 Hungering Zombies

　　The night was as dark as ink.

　　The road in the valley was not easy to navigate, even without any trees blocking the way.

　　The terrain was naturally complex, with winding branching paths everywhere. One could easily get lost if not careful.

　　The strange growling sounds around them grew louder and John Smith couldn't tell what they were.

　　So, following the principle of caution, he decided to find a low cave to spend the night in.

　　As long as they could make it through the night, with a wider view during the day, they would have a better chance of finding a way out.

　　"John, the airship crashed and everyone onboard were prepared Masters who had passed the initial screening. Surely, the Shanhai Academy won't just ignore this?"

　　Emily Jones subconsciously tried to find a topic to talk about with John Smith.

　　It was her first time traveling far away from home and it was late at night.

　　With the low visibility, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

　　"Well, prepared Masters are a strategic resource anywhere. With so many deaths this time, Shanhai Academy will definitely send people to find out what happened. The only question is whether this incident can be discovered in time... The airship theoretically has a signal locator..."

　　After some thought, John Smith continued, "But we still need to be prepared for the worst. We can't rely solely on the Academy's rescue efforts, we need to work hard to find a way out ourselves."

　　Emily Jones pursed her lips, wanting to say something but hesitating.

　　It took her a lot of effort to sneak out and deceive her persistent bodyguards, and now she found herself in this situation.

　　"Was I too reckless?" Emily Jones blamed herself inwardly and silently reflected.

　　"Click-clack, click-clack..."

　　Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from around the corner, gradually getting closer. In this silent night, it was very abrupt.

　　John Smith stopped in his tracks, quickly extinguished the torch, and pulled Emily Jones to the side of the mountain, both holding their breath.

　　"Could there be survivors?"

　　John Smith thought for a moment, carefully listening, but it didn't sound like it.

　　The person's footsteps were too strange, like they had a lame leg and were wandering aimlessly, occasionally bumping into a wall.

　　But he continued moving in their direction, getting closer to John Smith and Emily Jones' location.

　　John Smith quietly raised the metal stick in his hand, veins bulging on his wrist, ready to strike with force.

　　In the darkness, a tall and thin figure came into John Smith's view.

　　He was wearing tattered ancient clothes, his arms tucked into the oversized sleeves, looking quite awkward.

　　Disgustingly, he seemed like he had never taken a bath, with a dirty face that obscured his true appearance, emitting a rotten fish-like stench from head to toe.

　　Suddenly, a piece of information jumped out of his pupils:

　　[Name]: Hungering Zombie (Wild)

　　[Race]: Netherworld·Zombie Type·Undead

　　[Life Level]: Infantile Stage

　　[Bloodline Quality]: Mortal Bone Level 1 Star

　　[Status]: Starving

　　[Intelligence]: Extremely Low

　　[Characteristics]: Dark Adaptation/Infection

　　[Skills]: Corpse Claw, Bite

　　[Gourmet Cells]: 1

　　"What is this?!" John Smith widened his eyes, looking extremely surprised.

　　As if smelling something, the figure in the darkness stopped, suddenly turning his head.

　　"Ah!" Emily Jones screamed, her face pale with fear.

　　In the dim moonlight, a terrifying human face with blood and severely decaying flesh was exposed, with features twisted to the extreme, and one could vaguely see several fat white maggots crawling in and out of it, playing happily.

　　"Z-z-zombie..."

　　Emily Jones pointed at the monster, her hand trembling uncontrollably, unable to hold onto the metal stick.

　　"Roar!"

　　The zombie's greenish eyes sparkled with excitement, as it hadn't tasted such tender meat for who knows how long, growling lowly as it opened its bloodstained, fang-filled mouth, ready to pounce.

　　"Bang!" John Smith no longer hesitated, hitting the hungering zombie hard on the head with his stick, causing a splash of white and red.

　　The current John Smith was completely different from the one from a day ago, with his strength now incomparable.

　　This merciless blow directly caused the zombie to collapse, its legs twitching a few times before becoming completely still.

　　[Successful Hunt, Gourmet Cells +1]

　　A line of small red words flashed across his eyes like a barrage.

　　John Smith shook his head to confirm that it wasn't an illusion, and turned his gaze to Emily Jones.

　　"Are you okay?"

　　"I'm fine..." Emily Jones shook her head, still a bit shaken, and more than a little embarrassed.

　　She was, after all, a disciple of a great family, and once she regained her senses, she realized that this was the lowest and most garbage of the starving zombies, even as a prospective master, it would be easy to win against it in a one-on-one situation, she shouldn't have been so scared, let alone lose the courage to face it.

　　John Smith could sense Emily Jones' thoughts to some extent, having experienced life and death multiple times, he was quite experienced in facing unfamiliar danger, and wouldn't be flustered.

　　Emily Jones was different from him. She grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth and hadn't experienced the fear and desperation of life and death before, so it was natural that she would be shaken.

　　John Smith rubbed Emily Jones' head and didn't say much. He couldn't protect her forever and she needed to grow on her own.

　　...

　　They relit the torch and continued on their journey. This time, John Smith didn't plan on extinguishing it again. Earlier, he didn't know the situation and thought it was a real person, so he put out the torch as a precaution.

　　After walking for a while and killing a few scattered zombies, John Smith began to realize that this valley was probably a zombie valley.

　　There weren't many animals around, only zombies, which explained why it was so lifeless and they couldn't find any living creatures.

　　Zombies, especially the lowest level hunger zombies, have terrifying blue pupils, but they actually have no vision.

　　They rely on their sense of smell and hearing to move around. They fear sunlight and fire, so they only come out at night, and the darker it gets, the more active they become.

　　During the day, they hide underground or in caves to sleep until they come out to search for food at night.

　　Finally, John Smith found a suitable cave. The two of them moved some large stones to block the cave entrance, leaving only a small gap for air and to observe the outside world.

　　"Phew, it's almost dawn, which is when zombies are most active. Luckily, we found a place to shelter, or else we would have to face hordes of hungry zombies, and even more powerful zombies, outside. It's too dangerous out there and full of variables!"

　　John Smith stretched lazily and lay down on the dry ground, with two specially made torches beside him, warm and comfortable.

　　"Yes, this day was too surreal..."

　　Emily Jones leaned against John Smith and looked at the stone wall above with a tired look on her face.

　　"Let's sleep for a while, don't be stubborn. I'll keep watch."

　　John Smith only rested for a while before sitting up again and saying, "You're not a master yet, your physical condition is not as good as mine, and you've been tense all day. You must be exhausted, right?"

　　Emily Jones opened her mouth to retort, but she didn't have the energy and could only nod and turn her head to sleep.

　　Sitting cross-legged next to the flame, John Smith let his thoughts wander and seriously considered some issues.

　　"What exactly is that attribute panel?"