The entrance hung open and soft, creaking sounds could be heard when the wind blew past. Through the cracks in the door, apart from the dust-covered furniture, one could see the shocking vestiges of slaughter.
This was a common sight for a majority of the shops when the world ended. Compared to desolate streets, these pitch-black shops made one feel even more vigilant and fearful.
A zombie could be quietly hiding behind a counter, a shelf, or maybe even in a nook behind the door. Once someone drew close, they’d throw themselves at the intruder like a bolt of lightning and tear them to pieces before they even had the chance to react…
No one dared to casually approach places like these. The shop’s entrance was like the ferocious mouth of a beast, devouring all life that came its way and striking fear into the hearts of others.
Music Emperor, which was a pub situated in X City University’s red list district, was representative of this archetype.
Nothing out of the ordinary could be discerned from its exterior.
Thinking about it, no business was conducted on this street during the day, resulting in few zombies remaining. It was impossible for a mutated zombie to be born here.
But that didn’t eliminate the possibility of an advanced zombie hiding inside. The advanced zombie in New Era Shopping Mall had already learned how to conceal its whereabouts. It even knew how to look for appropriate places to mount sneak attacks.
Beasts, in general, knew how to mount sneak attacks and had some tactical knowledge, let alone a zombie that had developed its own awareness.
Although they’d been infected and lost their humanity, as a member of a new species, zombies were gradually developing a system of behaviors as they evolved. This was the conclusion that Ling Mo had arrived at from his observations.
The advanced zombie within was adept at concealing itself, swiftly dispatching its enemies once it struck out. Under such circumstances, Ling Mo didn’t want to risk sending Ye Lian or Shana in to investigate.
He first squandered some time at a nearby shop to look for a short zombie. Then, after controlling it, he used it as bait by sending it straight into Music Emperor
Under Ling Mo’s manipulation, his bait drew closer to where the zombie leading the way was felled. Ling Mo’s group quietly followed behind it, maintaining a distance of around ten meters.
Ling Mo very quickly spotted the lead zombie’s corpse via the perspective of the zombie acting as bait. But what amazed him was the fact that its corpse wasn’t eaten. In fact, there wasn’t even the least bit of damage on it.
How could there be a zombie that didn’t consume its prey after finishing it off? Attacking humans was part of their nature, but attacking their own kind was out of hunger. How could they just disregard this banquet in front of their eyes? Ling Mo felt that something was a little off.
Ling Mo considered the possibility of an advanced zombie hiding inside, so he didn’t bother concealing the figure of his bait. On the contrary, his objective was to draw out this advanced zombie that knew how to mount an ambush. Therefore, the more of a disturbance it made, the better.
Ling Mo thought that he might as well follow through with his plans when he noticed the tightly shut doors of several private rooms near his zombie puppet. He manipulated his bait to kick open the room’s door.
Bang!
The first room was devoid of people, but with the amount of noise made, the advanced zombie should have heard it no matter how deaf it was. After kicking open the room’s door, Ling Mo commanded his bait to stick to the wall and carefully survey its surroundings.
Something felt off… There was no activity at all. He slowly controlled his bait slowly brought it over to the entrance of the next room.
However, just as Ling Mo’s bait was about to turn towards the next room, Ling Mo who was hiding at a distance suddenly saw a person’s silhouette jumping out from within the previous room towards the back of his bait.
This silhouette looked petite, and its actions were quick and violent. As it dashed out of the room, it jumped high into the air. A cold glint flashed in its hands as it viciously stabbed into the back of the bait’s head.
Along with the bait, the silhouette landed on the ground with one foot on its back. After that, the silhouette forcefully withdrew their weapon.
A survivor! Ling Mo was startled by this realization. Never did he expect there to be a survivor hiding over here. No matter how he looked at it, this place wasn’t suitable as a hideout.
After thinking about it again, Ling Mo realized he might have been jumping to conclusions. He felt that a creature who possessed the ability to silently take out his zombie puppet would inevitably be an even stronger zombie. But in reality, after managing to stay alive till now, which survivor didn’t possess a certain amount of ability? Even the bald man’s group maintained a sufficient level of vigilance. Furthermore, they weren’t lacking in viciousness and had a certain level of strength.
This silhouette was able to maintain their composure when facing a zombie. It even knew how to look for opportunities to attack. Most importantly, it didn’t harbor the slightest bit of hesitation when it seized the opportunity to launch its sneak attack.
One had to know that Ling Mo’s bait would have dodged out of the way if the survivor had shown even an iota of indecision.
Naturally, Ling Mo was indeed caught by surprise, resulting in his inability to react, resulting in his bait being disposed of by the time he’d recovered.
With the successive appearance of two zombies, this silhouette didn’t immediately return to the private room after killing Ling Mo’s bait. Instead, they carefully stuck to the corner of the wall and approached the entrance of the pub.
Ling Mo felt a huge headache coming when he saw this person drawing closer to his party. After all, he wasn’t far behind his bait. Although he concealed his position, there weren’t many places to hide within this pub. Based on this person’s actions, it was clear that they intended to investigate the entrance, and would inevitably discover Ling Mo’s group along the way. Rather than furtively attempt to hide, he might as well make his presence known instead.
As for the issue of his bait… no one would be able to figure out his relationship with the zombie. Although he brought along two girls while shadowing a zombie, which made it difficult to avoid arousing suspicion, likely no one would be able to puzzle anything out if he himself didn’t provide an explanation.
Thinking up to this point, Ling Mo helplessly stood up and said, “This…”
Little did he expect that this person would immediately notice him the second he revealed himself and promptly press their back against the wall. The person then pulled something out from their pocket and ruthlessly threw it in Ling Mo’s direction.
Ling Mo paid no mind to the dark shadow that flew towards him. He casually brandished his short saber, intent on sending it flying.
Unexpectedly, a red mist immediately erupted from within it the moment his short saber made contact with it.
“Ah!”
Ling Mo issued a wretched cry and found himself unable to open his eyes. It felt like a ball of fire had been set ablaze within both his nose and throat, causing him incomparable suffering.
Thankfully, Ye Lian and Shana were close by and they weren’t affected.
Pepper, what was inside that thing was actually pepper! And, it was even wrapped in a paper napkin. It immediately scattered its contents upon contact with his short saber!
This was practically the only recourse for a woman when facing a difficult situation. And, it was very effective against zombies as well. But this was Ling Mo’s first time seeing someone use it, let alone end up on the receiving end of it!
After succumbing to the trick, Ling Mo endured the feeling of discomfort that lingered at the corner of his eyes and immediately lashed out in a horizontal motion towards his front with his short saber.
As expected, once the silhouette saw Ling Mo fall for their trick, they dashed towards him without a shred of hesitation like a lively monkey, jumping before him in just a few steps. With their weapon in hand raised, they ruthlessly stabbed at Ling Mo’s chest.
But just as this person raised their arm, a cold glint swept past their eyes, and hey immediately felt a cold chill on their neck.
Although Ling Mo’s eyes were dazed, he could still perceive everything this person did through Shana and Ye Lian’s vision!
To say nothing of his manipulation ability, Shana herself wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt him. In truth, this person’s head would have rolled if Ling Mo hadn’t restrained Shana a little.
A sliver of pain was transmitted from the blade that was resting on their neck. The person’s arms that were raised up high immediately stopped in mid-air, their pair of calm eyes revealing a sudden flash of panic.
Shana stepped on the person’s foot the moment they thought of moving, her tyrannical strength immediately distorting their expression. But in spite of that, the person didn’t dare to move an inch and could only issue a stifled cry.
Shana, who possessed no sympathy for humans, wasn’t moved by the person’s miserable shriek. Instead, she slowly twisted her ankle, causing the survivor’s entire body to break out in cold sweat from the pain. It felt as if the sole of their foot was about to be split in half.
Only at this time did the person realize that their target wasn’t a zombie, but a human. And, that they’d bitten on an extremely hard bone.
This girl’s strength alone was already so strong…