"Ah!!"
A scream came from the left.
A woman in a denim leather jacket lay decapitated on the ground, standing next to her was a man holding a machete.
The man opened his eyes wide, looking at the blood on his hands, his face full of disbelief, shouting, "No, no! This canât be real."
Su Changxing knew that the two of them seemed to be lovers, who knew each other before the apocalypse but established their relationship during it.
The situation quickly became wrong, as if someone was screaming at every moment, and everyone was warily paying attention to the people around them to prevent sudden attacks.
"You ingrate!"
A Long was about to smash the machete down on Huang Longhuâs head on the ground.
Wu Qingsheng kicked A Long to the ground as well, shouting, "Everyone stay where you are, donât move."
The situation did not improve, becoming even more chaotic.
A few people wrestled together, going at it with lethal intent, covered in blood and flesh.
Su Changxing understood how the withered tree could kill a large number of people in a short time, without having to make a move itself by letting them self-destruct.
This was the most terrifying thing.
The enveloped people didnât even know how to resist, only sinking deeper into the darkness.
The monkâs eyes glowed with a noticeable golden light, chanting scriptures loudly, his cheeks flushed, using all his strength, many peopleâs faces regained clarity along with him.
Su Changxing drew his gun and shot several still chaotic people, shouting:
"Follow me in retreating towards the No-Manâs Land, quickly!"
It seemed, for now, that retreating was the only option, even if it meant going into the No-Manâs Land, otherwise, it was a dead end, but entering the No-Manâs Land might offer a slim chance of survival.
Just as Su Changxing finished speaking, someone ran towards the No-Manâs Land, clearly scared out of their wits.
He kept looking for the old manâs position, but couldnât find him, the opponent seemed not to have come over at all, or was hiding in some dark corner he couldnât see.
Entering the No-Manâs Land meant they were completely driven to desperation.
Soon, they left that bizarre atmosphere behind.
Wu Qingsheng also breathed a heavy sigh of relief, saying, "We should count ourselves as having escaped, but this No-Manâs Land also feels quite uncomfortable."
The monk looked quite dispirited, lowering his head, said, "People with signs of zombification on them wonât survive long here, they will die quickly."
He had been to the No-Manâs Land before and had some experience with it.
Many people with "spots" on them were shocked but returning was also death, going forward, too was death...
No-Manâs Land seemed to have a blocking effect on the withered tree.
After they entered the No-Manâs Land, the withered tree stopped growing and just stayed there.
This was considered good news.
It was already seven oâclock, and the discount store refreshed.
[Clown Mask (Lower Rank of C): Half price, 40,000 Points]
[Clown Mask (Lower Rank of C): Conceals appearance, scent, and figure, will affect personality when worn.]
"This thing doesnât seem very useful, has the discount store been emptied out?"
Su Changxing thought about it and decided to exchange for it anyway, since now he had too many points with nowhere to use them.
A flash of white light.
A hard leather clown mask appeared in his hand, it didnât look special, just completely enclosed without eye holes.
"Can you even see anyone with this?"
Su Changxing casually tucked the clown mask into his bag without studying it further, as it wasnât of use right now.
They hadnât walked far when someone else collapsed to the ground, their body covered in thick keratin, though dead, their eyes remained scarlet.
"As expected, people with signs of zombification donât last long here..."
An older-looking man from the Security Bureau in a gray coat muttered to himself.
His companion next to him then reminded, "Old Luo, your eyes have also turned red."
The man paused, sighed, and said, "Kill me, it might be better this way."
"This... no, you canât give up until the last moment, what if thereâs a chance?" his companion advised.
After a few steps, the man indeed collapsed on the ground, motionless, eyes still open, looking at the gray sky.
Night fell.
They came to a silent small town, with the latter half full of collapsed houses turned to ruins.
Su Changxing cut down a few zombies rushing towards them, then turned back and said, "Letâs rest here for now, it seems relatively safe, donât make too much noise."
They walked into a street-side shop, a few dazed zombies inside turned to look at them, paused, and then lunged at them.
Wu Qingsheng stepped forward and sliced one of them down with one blow, saying, "These zombies are really hard, like theyâre coated in iron, kind of strange."
At the same time, A Long led others to clear out the remaining zombies.
This was a tavern, with a faint smell of alcohol in the air, a few bottles of wine lonely on the counter, and glass shards all over the floor.
"Hmm, thereâs still wine... letâs rest here and check out the situation," Su Changxing said after observing the surroundings.
Then, he headed up the wooden stairs to the second floor, a thick layer of dust on the stairs, it seemed no one had been here for a long time.
The monk followed him up, saying, "There seem to be fewer zombies here, and it doesnât seem like thereâs anything else around, which is strange."
In his experience, places with fewer zombies must have other creatures present.
This was a rule that could be intuitively felt.
Su Changxing set foot on the second floor and suddenly stopped, feeling a noisy rustling sound in his ears, he said lightly, "Weihuo, youâre a jinx."
A grey-white intertwined phantom walked step by step out of the wall in front, its pupils hollow, its body floating in mid-air, seemingly constantly screaming.
[Malicious Intent Mixture: Various thoughts drawn together by some kind of energy, forming a natural phenomenon without self-awareness or vital signs, but very dangerous, best not to get close]
The people on the stairs behind him lost their footing instantly, tumbling down, their heads buzzing, blood seeping from their faces.
Su Changxing moved back, calmly saying, "Letâs head down first, this thing is a bit strange."
He estimated that as long as they didnât go upstairs, it should be fine.
The monk looked unfazed, nodded, and retreated down.
When they got back to the first floor, the noisy sounds gradually vanished, and peace returned.
"Shall we find another place?"
Shen Liang wiped the blood from his face, nonchalantly asking.
Su Changxing nodded and said, "Yeah, letâs find another place, better not to mess with that thing."
He had encountered such a thing once before, at the very beginning of the apocalypse, but that one was even stronger than this one.
At that time, he almost died at the top of that building.