The passage was shrouded in black fog, obscuring most of their vision. Ling Mo tried to use his flashlight, but it barely penetrated the darkness. Realizing it was ineffective, he stuffed the flashlight into his pocket, relying only on the faint light leaking through to survey their surroundings.
“I didn’t expect even the light beam couldn’t penetrate this…”
This black fog seemed more like a dense black dust. Lingering in it too long, they could smell a faint stench of blood, and their throats felt slightly dry and scratchy.
“We should hurry. I’m not sure what kind of effect this haze might have on our bodies,” Ling Mo said with a frown.
It seemed that wherever the Monsters ran, the black fog followed. The thought of them staying right where the Monsters excreted the gas made both of their expressions turn grim.
Especially Xu Shuhan, who quietly acknowledged and then instinctively grabbed Ling Mo’s sleeve. This was partly to be able to assist each other promptly and partly… because she was scared.
They had already walked back some distance, but due to the black fog, the original dividing line had completely blurred. She could only guess based on her memory that they had reached the vicinity of that part of the passage, but she couldn’t be sure… This uncertainty made her feel even more panicked.
“I’ll hold on to you,” Ling Mo suddenly said.
“Huh?” Xu Shuhan was startled, then felt a bit embarrassed… Was it that obvious? But even being held, she would still be scared…
“Otherwise, you’re going to tear my sleeve off,” Ling Mo said as he reached back and grabbed Xu Shuhan. “This is much better.”
“Would it kill you to talk less…” Xu Shuhan thought silently.
“It might get even darker soon. Then, you’ll have to find the way. The place we’re heading to might not be a passage, but a more spacious area,” Ling Mo explained.
“Really, you could talk less…” Although she thought this, Xu Shuhan still asked, “How do you know?”
“Intuition,” Ling Mo explained. “The ‘Giant God Warrior’ went in there and noticed the presence of Monsters, but never encountered them. This suggests that the Monsters are likely gathered in one place, not spread throughout the passage. And you might have felt it too; as long as we stay close to the corners, they won’t touch us. This indicates that in high-speed movement, they scatter and choose paths like the ground or overhead-anywhere they can move in a straight line.”
“So, they’re unlikely to be squeezed together, right? And from the look in their eyes, they mostly maintain a human shape… Considering their number… It really does require a large space. Is there such a place in the sewer?” Xu Shuhan mused thoughtfully.
“There is,” Ling Mo recalled the pool he had seen near the Zombie Puppets.
They walked forward a bit more, and the surroundings grew increasingly darker.
Initially, the light from Ling Mo’s pocket could reveal up to a meter ahead, but soon even half a meter became invisible. It wasn’t just blurry-it was complete darkness.
They looked at each other and maintained silence by mutual understanding.
Clearly, they had unknowingly entered that area and were now slowly approaching the core zone.
Soon, they would discover the corpse of the “Giant God Warrior”…
At such moments, time seemed to slow down considerably, and as they moved closer, the psychological pressure on them both increased.
Ling Mo had not yet held his breath, but from the strength in his palm, it was clear he was on full alert. Xu Shuhan also tensed up involuntarily, fearing something might suddenly emerge from the darkness.
“Rustle…”
Just as Xu Shuhan felt a chill on her scalp, Ling Mo covered her mouth, and at the same time, the flashlight was turned off.
They both stopped, their gaze locked on something ahead.
Something was there…
Just then, Xu Shuhan felt Ling Mo’s hand move slightly. She quickly looked at Ling Mo, and he was making eye contact with her.
Following Ling Mo’s gaze down to the ground, Xu Shuhan was startled.
Blood… a large pool of blood had even formed a small puddle… Ling Mo must have seen it before turning off the flashlight, and she hadn’t noticed because his body had blocked her view. Ɽ𝘼ŊȎ𝐛ƐS
But how could so much blood be here?
“Right, the Monster that was beheaded!”
When Ling Mo pulled his mobile phone back, the Monster’s head had also flown out. But at that moment, given the urgency, she hadn’t noticed where the head had flown. Now, it seemed this was likely where the head had finally landed. Otherwise, just rolling over wouldn’t have left such a large pool of blood.
And the reason Ling Mo pointed this out…
That’s right, the head was gone!
The head that should have been here was now missing…
Could it be that Ling Mo’s analysis was wrong? Not that the Monsters don’t eat, but that they prefer to wait a while before eating?
As Xu Shuhan was pondering, Ling Mo gently tugged her, and his palm also moved away from her mouth.
This action left Xu Shuhan feeling a bit lost… If she couldn’t eat it, smelling it up close would have been nice…
Thinking this, she also felt a bit scared. Fortunately, she still had plenty of energy, otherwise, if she ended up like the “Giant God Warrior,” she couldn’t be sure if she could control herself. Thankfully, Ling Mo was much stronger…
“Wait a minute! Is this really something to be glad about?” Xu Shuhan suddenly snapped back to reality.
By then, Ling Mo had already pulled her slowly forward, and they tiptoed through the silt, following the sound that came intermittently from ahead.
Previously, they had been startled, but now, as they calmed down and listened more carefully, Xu Shuhan noticed that the sound was slightly different from before… The previous “rustle” sounded more like the friction of a giant Monster’s palms or feet against the walls, while the current sound seemed like something moving through the silt… The former was dense and piercing, while the latter was more subdued and slower.
Xu Shuhan looked up at Ling Mo and quickly understood his intent. He was planning to follow it to see what it was…
She had to admit, she was somewhat impressed by Ling Mo’s courage. If it were her, she probably wouldn’t have been able to make a decision so quickly. Whether it was coming back or now following… But then again, if he wasn’t somewhat courageous, he probably wouldn’t have so many Zombies around him…
“Why am I thinking about this, I’m a Zombie too…” Xu Shuhan suddenly thought self-deprecatingly.
By then, they had moved several meters forward, and the “rustle” sound was getting closer.
With the black fog blocking their view, they could not see clearly; they could only judge the distance between them by the sound volume.
Xu Shuhan became even more cautious with her movements. She definitely didn’t want to suddenly bump into something, or worse, step on something.
At this moment, Ling Mo silently tugged her again and made a gesture for silence.
Seeing his action, Xu Shuhan immediately understood. It seemed he was about to make a move…
In such darkness, they were not completely disadvantaged; at least Ling Mo still had his psychic power…
With this thought, Xu Shuhan gently moved her hand to show she understood.
However, understanding was one thing, but hearing the sound getting closer made Xu Shuhan inevitably tense up.
She was nervous, and so was Ling Mo, who was preparing to act. Although his expression hadn’t changed, he was already holding his breath, and his palms seemed to be sweating.
Xu Shuhan didn’t know what she should do. After thinking for a moment, she firmly gripped Ling Mo’s hand and slightly bent her knees, ready to run at any moment.
But unexpectedly, just then, the “rustle” sound suddenly paused, and Ling Mo abruptly pulled her forward…