Xia Na’s jacket was left at the corner of this wreckage. Ling Mo originally thought she might be trying to cover something up, but when he carefully flipped it open, there was nothing unusual underneath.
“Could it have been left here unwillingly?” Li Yalin speculated.
“There are no signs of external damage on the jacket. It’s clear that Xia Na took it off herself… What kind of danger could be solved by taking off a jacket…” Ling Mo muttered while flipping the jacket inside out for a closer look.
“Hm…” Li Yalin frowned deeply.
“No clues left… Was it really just discarded here? If the jacket itself isn’t the key, then…” Ling Mo put the jacket down and turned his gaze to the surroundings. “The reason Xia Na did this must have been to mark something important…”
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Ling Mo’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse of something…
He quickly turned his head and reached out to feel along the ground.
“This spot… Xia Na’s jacket was just placed right here… Wait, is this writing?”
He traced the faint markings with his fingers, his expression shifting slightly.
Sure enough, there was a line of shallowly carved letters. Judging by the size and depth, it seemed Xia Na had quickly scratched them with her fingernails. Combined with the nature of the markings, it wasn’t hard to infer the situation she was in at the time.
“The fact that she carved this line in such haste means she hadn’t completely lost track of whatever she was following. But looking at it another way, if the situation was that urgent and she still took the time to leave this message… then this line of writing must be very important.”
As these thoughts raced through Ling Mo’s mind, he began scrutinizing the markings closely.
The “ground” here was covered with coarse cement particles. Even after being scratched, it still appeared rough to the naked eye. If it weren’t for the fact that nearly everything in the area was filled with coagulated blood, leaving only some tiny blank spaces where the letters were carved, Ling Mo might not have noticed them so quickly.
If this had been under normal circumstances, Xia Na would undoubtedly have come up with a safer method…
“It’s about these corpses…” Ling Mo silently mouthed.
Just as he lifted his head, he heard Li Yalin speaking from nearby.
“If she were drenched…”
“Huh?” Ling Mo looked at her, utterly lost.
“Ugh, wasn’t that what you asked me?” Li Yalin replied with a slightly aggrieved tone.
“You actually thought about it!” Ling Mo shook his head and pointed to the markings. “Xia Na left this to warn us not to focus solely on the wreckage.”
“Hmm…”
“Actually, you’ve already thought of this question earlier,” Ling Mo said.
Li Yalin froze for a moment, then asked excitedly, “Really? What is it?”
Though she had a sensual appearance and tall, striking figure, Senior Sister had her moments of showing a more delicate, innocent side, which was undeniably charming… Especially when she lightly patted her chest, causing her curves to ripple slightly… ᚱÄŊȯʙΕṤ
“Really.” Ling Mo subtly shifted his gaze away and continued, “No matter how you look at it, these remains shouldn’t have appeared here, right? But actually, this is just because our thinking has been confined by these passageways. Senior Sister, do you think the only way to enter these passageways is through that elevator shaft?”
“Isn’t it?” Li Yalin responded with a question of her own.
“That’s exactly what Xia Na wanted to tell us. She’s saying that there must be other entrances and exits in this building, and not just one or two. The elevator shaft was merely their initial excavation route. While it’s still frequently used, these creatures likely find other entrances more convenient for hunting,” Ling Mo explained.
Li Yalin let out a soft “Ah!” and widened her eyes. “So you’re saying they can enter and leave any part of this building at will?”
“Precisely. I’m guessing these creatures coexist peacefully with the zombies in this building due to some unique reasons-maybe similar to the relationship between common zombies and alpha zombies. But the exact specifics? It’s tough to deduce without fully understanding what these creatures really are,” Ling Mo continued. “Besides, the zombies in the building are aware of their ‘neighbors’ but choose not to step into these passageways. We already confirmed this earlier in the elevator. Now, knowing there are multiple entrances and exits, it makes sense why I kept feeling like we were being watched…”
“Probably because we’re intruders,” Li Yalin said, tilting her head slightly.
“Uh… hard to argue with that.”
Ling Mo felt a bit awkward. Hearing this from a zombie somehow seemed perfectly fitting. But as a human, it was something people instinctively preferred to avoid acknowledging…
“Even if we’re of different species, it’s still hard to openly admit it…”
Li Yalin seemed to pick up on something, and a sly smile appeared on her face. “This is competition. Anyway, we zombies don’t mind things like this. Or rather, I should say… we look forward to it. Prey delivering itself to our doorstep, battles breaking out between them… just thinking about it gets my blood pumping!”
“Calm down…” Ling Mo sighed.
He then furrowed his brow and pointed to the bone fragment he had examined earlier-the one with the bite mark. “And there’s another thing. Xia Na wanted us to pay attention to the marks here. She said she didn’t have enough time to observe them carefully, but if we caught up, we should take a close look first. Also… she mentioned that this place might turn out to be ‘very interesting.’”
“I don’t quite get it…” Li Yalin shook her head.
“Don’t expect too much from someone rushing against time. But I can’t shake this uneasy feeling. For something to pique Xia Na’s interest… it absolutely couldn’t be a good place.”
Ling Mo let out a frustrated sigh and fixated on the bite marks. “Senior Sister, take a look at this.”
“Uh… what exactly am I supposed to be looking for?”
“Just see if there’s anything unusual about it,” Ling Mo replied.
When it came to understanding zombies, Ling Mo had to admit he wasn’t as sharp as these literal zombies around him. Still, he was likely the only human who could sit down and discuss this kind of stuff with zombies. Someone like Old Lan? He would just stare at a corpse and talk to himself all day…
“Unusual…” Li Yalin examined the bone with meticulous focus. Then, after a moment, she opened her mouth slightly, tapping her teeth with her fingers as if in realization. “Look.”
At first glance, a zombie’s teeth didn’t appear much different from those of a human. The higher the level of the zombie, the harder it was to distinguish them from humans aside from their eyes. Low-Level zombies, however, were a different story-their grimacing expressions exposed everything right from the start.
Take Li Yalin, for example. She practically blended in with humans on a daily basis, and no one ever noticed the tiny details that set her apart.
Compared to ordinary humans, her canines were slightly sharper, and all the teeth behind them had a faintly pointed appearance. The shape of her teeth seemed to be evolutionarily adapted for the kind of tearing and biting zombies required for survival.