Chapter 186: What the Hell is This Thing

Chapter 186: What the Hell is This Thing

Li Yanhong's face changed drastically, a chill rising from her tailbone.

The situation was sudden, and she wanted to dodge, but her body couldn't keep up with the speed.

The dagger was about to pierce her.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the hilt of the dagger.

The sharp, cold dagger stopped just two or three centimeters away, suspended in midair.

It was Barson.

Yes, she had a powerful bodyguard.

Li Yanhong quickly came to her senses, swiftly stepping back and drawing the dagger from her waist.

Wang Chengang and the others immediately pulled out their weapons, their gazes cold, looking towards the darkness ahead.

The dagger slipped out of Barson's grip and retracted into the darkness.

"Come out, you cowardly bastard!" Wang Chengang shouted.

"Heh, no need to be tense, we thought you were zombies or monsters." A male voice echoed from the dimly lit cold storage.

Then, six people appeared, both men and women.

They wore bike helmets, makeshift armor made from tin, hard plastic, and tire rubber, wielding sharpened iron pipes, daggers, or machetes.

One of them even held a homemade crossbow, already loaded with a bolt.

Their outfits were chaotic but had a distinct wasteland vibe.

They must also be out here scavenging for supplies.

But their meeting wasn't exactly friendly.

Li Yanhong and her group couldn't easily accept their explanation about mistaking them for zombies.

The attackers were in the dark, while her group was in the light.

They had been talking when they entered, so how could they have mistaken humans for zombies?

If Barson hadn't been there, Li Yanhong might have been in serious danger.

Even if they didn't kill her, a small scratch from a fruit knife could leave a cut that would turn her into a zombie.

By then, it would be too late to say anything.

"You tried to kill me?" Li Yanhong asked sternly.

The man glanced at Li Yanhong's group, seemingly assessing their combat strength.

He avoided answering her question and instead asked, "What's going on outside? Were you killing zombies, or were you chased in here by them?"

"Put down your weapons, maybe we can talk," Li Yanhong suggested.

The man kept talking, "Where did you come from? How did you avoid the hordes outside?"

Both sides kept speaking, neither answering the other's questions.

They just kept asking questions.

Li Yanhong lost her patience, "Barson, kill them."

Everyone present froze.

Barson, next to Li Yanhong, lowered his stance and shot forward like a bolt of lightning towards the enemies.

Bang!

The crossbow string behind them twanged, sending a bolt whistling through the air.

Barson flicked his blade, deflecting the bolt in an instant.

His figure, fast as lightning, charged straight towards the enemy.

Wang Chengang frowned and shouted, "Follow me!"

He was about to lead the charge.

The others followed him, rushing forward to join the fight.

Barson had already reached the nearest person, his body swaying to avoid a slashing strike, his short blade flashing with cold light as it slit the enemy's throat.

Blood sprayed out, splattering heavily.

One enemy fell, but Barson's movements didn't stop; he darted through the group like a ghost, his short blades gleaming as they slashed through enemy after enemy.

He killed them one by one.

His actions were clean and efficient.

By the time Wang Chengang and the others finished off one enemy and turned to provide support, they found that Barson had already killed the rest.

Blood pooled on the ground.

The group stared wide-eyed, shocked by the scene before them.

Skeletons having high combat power was understandable, but this speed was insane.

Damn, that was fierce!

Li Yanhong, however, wasn't too surprised.

She had seen Barson fight before; killing ordinary people was no challenge for him.

Buzzing sounds came from the walkie-talkie, followed by Wu Heng's voice, "Who's in the fresh food supermarket?"

Li Yanhong pressed the walkie-talkie button and replied, "I'm here. Some survivors tried to attack us. They've been killed, and we're about to check the bodies."

The walkie-talkie was on an open channel.

Upon hearing the news, people outside immediately gathered towards them.

......

Wu Heng entered with the skeletons.

Li Yanhong quickly explained the situation, proving they had no choice but to kill the attackers.

Wu Heng glanced at the corpses on the ground and asked if anyone was injured.

Surviving this long, they realized humans were more dangerous than zombies.

Any sound could attract zombies.

At worst, you could judge if there were zombies in a building based on their roars.

But humans were different; they usually hid in dark corners, waiting to ambush you and steal your supplies.

Even if Xiaoxiao went to scout.

She couldn't search every room or corner in detail.

"Killing them is no big deal," Wu Heng said reassuringly, continuing, "See if they've got anything useful, and let's take it."

Wang Chengang and the others moved forward, opening the attackers' backpacks.

They pulled out item after item.

Food, grain, utility knives, axes, even firecrackers—there was a little of everything.

It looked like they had just started scavenging and hadn't found much yet.

"There's a map here," Wang Chengang said, handing over a map covered with tape.

It was a map of the county, showing local areas and roads.

The difference was that certain areas were marked with red and blue symbols.

One of the marked locations was the mall they were headed to.

A red circle was drawn around it, with a red X in the center.

"Could it be indicating danger at the circled locations?" Li Yanhong analyzed.

Wu Heng nodded, thinking it made sense.

He told the others, "Check the vehicles, make sure we're ready to move at any time."

"Got it!" Wang Chengang and the others responded, gathering the loot from the dead before heading out.

After the others left, only Wu Heng, Li Yanhong, and a few skeletons remained.

Wu Heng asked, "Who was their leader?"

"It was probably this guy. He was the one doing most of the talking." Li Yanhong pointed to the man's corpse at the front.

Without saying much, Wu Heng cast [Communicate with the Dead].

The corpse abruptly sat up, turning its head.

Wu Heng asked, "What do the markings on the map mean?"

The corpse replied, "The red marks indicate danger, the blue marks places we've already scavenged."

This aligned with Li Yanhong's analysis.

Wu Heng continued, "Does danger mean a large number of zombies, or mutated ones?"

The corpse answered, "Red circles indicate a high number of zombies that we couldn't infiltrate. A red X means dangerous creatures might be inside."

With this, the information on the map was clear.

It also confirmed that there were mutated zombies in the mall they were heading to.

With the map issue resolved, Wu Heng lost interest.

He dismissed the necromancy spell, and the corpse fell back to the ground with a thud.

Wu Heng then converted the remaining bodies into skeletons.

They walked out together.

They boarded the bus again, ready to continue their journey.

Li Yanhong asked, "Looks like the mall is pretty dangerous."

"Malls are busy places, so they're where zombies gather. Mutated zombies or other dangers aren't surprising," Wu Heng said.

"Are we going now?"

The logic made sense, but it made things harder.

"Let's go, we're already here, no point in turning back."

Li Yanhong picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Keep moving forward, be cautious along the way."

The convoy started again, heading towards their target.

......

The convoy moved on.

As they approached Shadow Mall, they stopped at the roadside.

The skeleton army began clearing zombies, wiping out the horde that had gathered around.

Once the zombies were all dead,

Wu Heng and the others climbed onto the roof of the bus, looking towards the road leading to the mall.

But as they looked ahead, everyone's brows furrowed.

"Is the air poisonous?"

The entire street was covered in a grayish-white fungal carpet, with mushroom-like plants growing from the corpses leaning against the walls.

They pulsed like drifting jellyfish, constantly contracting and releasing pale green spores.

These spores filled the entire street.

They lingered in the air.

"What the hell is this thing?"