Chapter 94: Is Yibai Coming?
They’re all going to die… they’re all going to die!!!
Amidst the tendril-covered vehicles, a new cocoon was forming.
But as soon as it formed, a small figure burst out, its skin incomplete, tendrils still attached and snapping as it ran towards the burning wreckage on the opposite lane.
It seemed unconcerned by the rumbling of the approaching fuel tanker, dragging its mangled body over the guardrail and into the scorched earth.
The intense heat made it pause, the still-writhing tendrils on its body recoiling instinctively.
This made its appearance even more grotesque.
It entered the burning wreckage, drawn by the scent of blood crystals, its vision fixed on the glittering red fragments. It couldn’t see through the flames, using the scattered crystals as markers.
Reaching the area with the highest concentration of blood crystals, its charred face contorted, a single, crystal-like eye emerging.
It looked down. Besides the blood crystal fragments, there was a charred, fragmented notebook, its cover almost completely burned.
It picked up the remnants of the notebook, ignoring the blood crystals.
But the moment it touched it, the fragile book crumbled to ash in its hand.
It stared at the ashes, confused, then the flames engulfed it, and it finally registered the burning pain.
Its body quickly dried and ignited, falling onto the ashes of the notebook.
Meanwhile, at the center of the tendril-covered convoy, where the blood crystal concentration was highest, a new, blood-red cocoon was forming.
It pulsed like a beating heart, the surrounding tendrils converging, feeding it liquefied blood crystals.
The cocoon continued to grow, even as the fuel tanker, smashing through the vehicles and tearing apart the tendril network with its massive weight, reached the center of the convoy.
The cocoon, seemingly oblivious to the approaching tanker, continued to absorb nutrients, growing rapidly.
From the black sports car at the back of the convoy, a woman in a tactical vest tumbled out, pulling the driver with her, retreating from the scene.
“Sister Yun? Sister Yun?! Help! Sister Yun!!!”
A Voodoo Cult driver, trapped inside his car by the tendril network but safe behind the closed windows, frantically honked his horn, watching the retreating woman in desperation.
The honking didn’t make her turn back. Instead, tendrils, like a thin film, began to cover his car, searching for any openings.
“No!!! Stay away!!!”
He had been with the Voodoo Cult for two years and had seen many things, but nothing like this.
During his time with the Cult, they hadn’t faced any real threats, always overpowering both zombies and other survivor camps.
Although the Voodoo Cult seemed… disorganized, under the eccentric Boss’s leadership, they always won, always crushed their opponents.
So, facing this situation, he was truly terrified.
He drew his pistol, but didn’t know where to shoot, and his own ability was just basic physical enhancement.
The car… he could drive… the fuel tanker had cleared a path!
“Vroom—”
He expertly started the engine, turned the steering wheel sharply, and pressed the accelerator.
“Screech—”
“Whirr—”
The car moved slightly, and then stopped, the tires seemingly caught on something.
The engine roared, but the wheels wouldn’t budge.
He suddenly noticed that Sister Yun, who had run quite a distance, had stopped.
“Sister Yun! Sister Yun!!! Help me!!! Help…”
Frantically honking, he suddenly realized he couldn’t speak.
What’s going on… Sister Yun?!
Sister Yun?!
Realization dawned. It was Sister Yun’s ability… she was controlling him!!!
No… no…
Sister Yun… I’ve served the Cult faithfully… I’ve never done anything against the Cult…
The words were trapped in his throat.
He watched in horror as his hand, no longer under his control, chambered a round in his pistol.
Then, his hand moved the gun to his mouth, his thumb on the hammer, static coming from the walkie-talkie.
“Zzz… where’s your lighter?”
Sister Yun’s voice.
Then he regained control of his body.
Trembling, gasping for breath, the struggle for control having exhausted him, he lunged for the walkie-talkie.
“Sister Yun… Sister Yun… I want to live, I don’t want to die… Sister Yun!”
“Sister Yun… please… please…”
“You fucking bitch! Answer me!!!”
His pleas quickly turned to anger and despair.
He raised his pistol, not caring if he could even hit her, not caring about the shattered window, and fired.
“Bang—”
“Shatter—”
“Fucking answer me!”
He gripped the pistol, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Zzz…”
Finally, a voice from the walkie-talkie.
“Zzz… so you do have a gun…”
Before she finished, he lost control again, his two-handed grip on the pistol shifting to one.
His head turned, his left hand fumbling, opening the car door.
“Click—”
“Thump—”
He kicked the door open, tearing through the tendrils clinging to it, some now wrapping around his legs.
But he seemed oblivious to the danger, running towards the fuel tanker, pistol in hand.
The fuel tanker had cleared a path, free of tendrils, and he reached it without much resistance, not even stopping when the tendrils reached his legs.
He aimed his pistol at the tanker and fired rapidly.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—”
“Clang, clang, clang—”
He emptied the magazine, all bullets hitting the same spot.
Sparks flew as the bullets struck the metal, piercing the tanker, gasoline leaking out.
The bullets had only created a few small holes; the sparks weren’t hot enough to ignite the fuel.
And the tendrils had caught up, spreading across his back.
He paused, as if momentarily regaining awareness.
Turning towards Sister Yun, he saw a grenade flying towards him.
The leaking gasoline had soaked his clothes, a chilling sensation against his skin.
But he didn’t have time to react. Just as he was about to move, he lost control again.
His right hand caught the grenade, his left pulled the pin.
Then, he held the grenade, its ring pull removed, against the bullet holes in the tanker.
Not far from the tanker, the man-sized cocoon was slowly withering, its contents about to emerge.
“Boom—”
The grenade exploded, igniting the leaking gasoline and ripping a large hole in the tanker.
Flames surged into the tanker.
“BOOM—”
A massive explosion, flames and black smoke rising into the sky.
The blast sent burning gasoline spraying outwards, igniting the surrounding vehicles.
Within seconds, the entire lane was engulfed in flames. And from the inferno, a figure, completely on fire, emerged.
It didn’t try to extinguish the flames but extended its right hand towards Sister Yun, who was watching from a distance.
The burning tendrils intertwined, expanding rapidly, like a growing tentacle, reaching for her.
“Shit!”
Sister Yun cursed, grabbed the driver beside her, and threw him towards the fiery tendrils, then turned and ran.
But she’d only taken a few steps when tendrils wrapped around her ankles, dragging her towards the small, burning figure.
“Wait! Wait!” Ignoring the searing pain as her abdomen scraped against the ground, she screamed as she was dragged towards the zombie.
The frenzied little zombie ignored her pleas, its tendrils tightening around her throat.
“Die…”
It hissed.
Burning gasoline dripped from its arm onto Sister Yun, igniting her clothes.
“Ugh—!”
She thrashed and struggled, but the tendrils, having already burrowed into her skin, held her fast.
She could only feel the searing pain of the flames and the suffocating grip of the tendrils, helpless.
She couldn’t even use her ability; her mind was a chaotic mess.
Feeling her life fading, the zombie’s tendrils began to absorb her blood crystals.
Fueled by the blood crystals, even engulfed in flames, it didn’t die, its burning flesh regenerating, an agonizing torment.
Its head split open, and a thick fungal stalk, fueled by the absorbed blood crystals, emerged, its tip unfolding into an umbrella-like cap.
The cap swayed gently, releasing a shower of blood-red spores, which covered its body, extinguishing the flames. Then the cap retracted.
It shook off the spores, like red powder, and severed the tendrils connecting it to the burning corpse, preventing the flames from spreading.
Then, after a moment, it shuffled away from the intense heat, turned, and looked at the burning convoy fifty meters away.
The books Mommy gave me…
My notebook…
The happy sentences I copied for Mommy, the questions I wanted to ask… all gone…
The road was blocked by fire, the car… gone…
I was just… driving…
Its body was covered in burns, and it didn’t have enough blood crystals to heal.
Feeling the pain, looking at the raging inferno, its small mouth trembled, tears welling up in its eyes before being absorbed back into its skin.
“Waaah…”
“WAAAAH—”
Finally, it couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into tears.
Its fear of fire, suppressed until now, finally erupted.
Unbeknownst to it, it had just eliminated a major threat for its Mommy.
…
Qingzhou City, Qingzhou University Camp, Building 17, room 111.
Lin Jiayao was testing the wheels of her new wheelchair.
“Hmm… a little rusty, but it moves smoothly enough.”
After a few laps around the small room, she gave it a satisfactory assessment.
“I’ll have someone remove the rust from another wheelchair and bring it to you later,” Auntie Lan said, smiling from the doorway.
She had just delivered some boiled vegetables and new bedding, along with the wheelchair.
Wan Zi had instructed her to treat these new arrivals well, and Auntie Lan was doing her best.
After all, according to Wan Zi, they were likely to stay and become the camp’s new protectors.
“Eat first. If you need anything, just call me. And if you want to tour the camp, feel free to do so; I can keep an eye on your car for you.”
After these cheerful instructions, Auntie Lan closed the door and returned to her own room, 101, next door.
Lin Xiwan grabbed an ear of corn from the stainless-steel plate and started eating.
Her enhanced Awakened physique gave her a high resistance to toxins; this was also a way to test the food for her sister.
After finishing one ear without any ill effects, she gave two to the little girls and then looked at her sister.
“Why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry? It’s quite sweet,” she asked, seeing Lin Jiayao’s lack of interest in the corn.
“I… don’t have much of an appetite,” Lin Jiayao said, glancing at the boiled corn, a wave of nausea rising.
It reminded her of the giant Hive Zombie.
The image of the brains stacked inside its translucent, gelatinous body… She took a deep breath.
“How do you like this place?” Lin Xiwan suddenly asked.
“Uh… it’s okay,” Lin Jiayao nodded.
The camp residents were friendly, and the atmosphere wasn’t bad, except for the guard’s initial leer at the gate.
But being so close to Fuzhou City… she was worried about the Voodoo Cult finding them.
Without that threat, this self-sufficient Qingzhou University camp would be an ideal place to settle down.
The cautious sisters wouldn’t stay here permanently, they would eventually move further away from Fuzhou.
But it was a good place for the two little girls, who couldn’t travel long distances.
Lin Xiwan planned to sound out Wan Zi later and see if they would accept the girls.
Judging by the cheerful demeanor of the girl who had greeted them, the girls would likely have a good life here.
The Awakened little girl had a bright future, potentially becoming the camp’s mascot.
“Let’s explore the camp later?” Lin Xiwan suggested. “And ask around about mechanics or where we can get a new car… and we can also ask about the two little girls.”
“Okay.” Lin Jiayao, who’d been planning to rest anyway, nodded.
She wasn’t in a hurry to leave; the second zombie’s slot was still on cooldown, and she hadn’t explored Kun City yet.
She needed to conserve her mental strength and wait until tonight, when the cooldown was over.
And just now, she had felt a sudden unease, a tingling sensation, and a strange pull towards… somewhere.
The few spores within her body were agitated, as if sensing something approaching.
Could it be… Huayibai?
No, that’s impossible. It had only been a few days. Even driving non-stop, it would take at least 24 hours to get here from Donghai City.
Fungal zombies couldn’t drive, and they didn’t have access to vehicles… How had Huayibai gotten here?
And if it arrived, how would she explain this pretty little girl who called her “Mommy” to her sister?
She hadn’t discussed this with Huayibai!
The unexpected arrival worried Lin Jiayao; she rubbed her temples.
Well… I’ll deal with it when it gets here.
Although this camp had heard about the fungal zombies from the radio, they didn’t have the means to detect them; they probably wouldn’t be able to see through Huayibai’s disguise.
As long as Huayibai didn’t spread its spores, it should be fine.
“Yao… do you think the Voodoo Cult will find us here?” Lin Xiwan asked, having finished her corn.
“Hard to say…” Lin Jiayao shook her head. A new idea was forming.
She needed to test transporting spores through the safehouse.
She planned to give the fourth zombie some fungal abilities by having it consume spores, like accessing memories.
If they encountered the Voodoo Cult again, the fourth zombie could access their memories and find out the location of their headquarters.
According to the system map, she could log into any location on Earth.
This meant there were definitely zombies in the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters.
If she could find their headquarters and control the zombies there, she might be able to cripple the Voodoo Cult from within.
Eliminate the Voodoo Cult, and most of their problems would be solved.
“What are you thinking about? So deep in thought?” Lin Xiwan waved her hand in front of her sister’s face.
“Nothing, just… thinking about what to do next…” Lin Jiayao said.
“That too…” Lin Xiwan nodded, hearing her sister’s concern.
Unlike her earlier, somewhat naive, heroic aspirations, now she just wanted to find a safe place to live with her sister.
But fate seemed to be against them.
“Come on, don’t think about it,” she said, ruffling her sister’s hair. “If you’re not hungry, let’s go explore the camp. Don’t worry too much.”
“We’re quite far from Fuzhou City, and they’ve turned off their broadcasts. Finding this camp would be like finding a needle in a haystack for the Voodoo Cult.”
Lin Jiayao knew her sister was trying to reassure her. She smiled. “Mm.”
Even starting from Fuzhou, finding Qingzhou would take a long time.
It’s not like they could just magically know where we are, right?
That’s… highly improbable.
Thinking this, Lin Jiayao relaxed slightly.
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