What happened to Jiezi?
Why didn’t he go save anyone?
Why… hasn’t he said anything until now?!
Xin Meng’s pupils suddenly constricted. At this moment, he could still clearly feel the warm body temperature of another person on his back, indicating just how close the other was. Yet, he suddenly felt a terrifying chill wash over his body. A sharp sound of wind exploded by his ear. Xin Meng, in panic, lunged forward, but he was still a step too late. A tremendous force slammed into his left arm, and the sound of bones shattering rang out clearly. Xin Meng couldn’t help but let out a miserable scream, falling and rolling to the side, instantly breaking out in cold sweat, and physiological tears welled up in his eyes. He curled up in pain on the ground, looking up.
Through his blurred and inverted vision, he saw…
Jiezi grinning maliciously, cruelly and viciously staring at him!
“You…” Xin Meng was in so much pain he was about to lose consciousness. His vision darkened, and he wanted to ask why, but he didn’t even have the strength to complete a single sentence.
“Didn’t I just say it?” Jiezi twisted his mouth, but he could no longer find the original honest and cheerful demeanor, revealing a sinister smile. He twirled a steel pipe in his hand and approached Xin Meng with ill intentions. “You are the smartest person in this team, so… you must die!”
He got closer and closer, and Xin Meng couldn’t help but struggle backward. His gaze inadvertently swept over Jiezi’s strong arms, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. Clutching his arm, he gritted his teeth and said, “You… are not a player!”
“Look, look,” Jiezi’s smile widened, his eyes slithering over Xin Meng like a venomous snake. “I told you, in this team, in my heart, you are the most~~~ intelligent, hahaha!”
The exact same words, spoken by the same person, just in a different context, became particularly eerie and disgusting. Recalling how Jiezi had once said such malicious words in a tone filled with affection and intimacy, Xin Meng felt a chill run down his spine!
This damned game had arranged for a “Judas” without any warning, silently lurking among them!
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jiezi suddenly changed his expression, looking at Xin Meng with pity. He glanced at Xiong Jiabao, who was chasing Li Yougen, shrugged, and smiled broadly. “Who told me my task is to stop you from leaving? If you die, don’t blame me, hahaha!”
Task? To stop them from leaving?
Who… gave him that task?
In an instant, Xin Meng thought of this question, but he didn’t have time to delve deeper as he was distracted by Xiong Jiabao’s roar from the other side. At this moment, he could no longer be considered a “human,” but had completely transformed into a mindless monster! Li Yougen, who was about to be caught, perhaps fueled by fear, or maybe a last burst of unwillingness before death, actually got up from the ground and ran forward with all his might. The monster missed its grab but refused to give up, howling as it chased after him.
Xin Meng looked at Xiong Jiabao’s decaying body and suddenly thought of something. He turned to Jiezi and asked, “Xiong Jiabao became like this because of you, right?”
“Tsk!” Jiezi still smiled, “I didn’t do it myself, but if I said it had nothing to do with me, you probably wouldn’t believe it. I just… slightly exploited his personality, that’s all.”
Xin Meng instantly understood. Recalling the past, it was Jiezi who first suggested going down to get that item, and after Xin Meng tried to stop him, he said that it might be extremely useful for clearing the game, thus stirring everyone’s interest in that item. Then he left with Xin Meng in time to avoid actually having to go down to get it. Dong Xiusheng, being cautious by nature, didn’t take others’ lives lightly. He wanted to go but feared danger, so he would find ways to lure others down to try. Given the personalities of these few people, that “other” person was undoubtedly Xiong Jiabao!
So, Xiong Jiabao becoming like this was all orchestrated by Jiezi!
Looking back now, Jiezi’s strange behavior along the way also had explanations. When he opened both car doors downstairs, it was to let the zombies in to ambush everyone. When leaving, he actively requested to drive, then pretended to be a deranged race car driver, crashing the car and pushing everyone into danger. He subtly guided Xiong Jiabao’s remaining bit of rationality into impulsiveness and even tempted Dong Xiu with the item that could turn people into monsters, ultimately leading to the current situation!
Xin Meng was extremely frustrated; he had been careless. Clearly, he hadn’t seen the other’s armband at that time. Why didn’t he dig deeper? Why didn’t he think of such a possibility!
Moreover, he had an infuriating guess: Jiezi had been sabotaging them all along but had never once pushed them into a dead end. Instead, he continuously led them into danger: opening the car doors but not attracting zombies, crashing the car but conveniently arriving at the police station, and killing zombies along the way to bring everyone here, only to set up Xiong Jiabao when they thought they could be safe…
He was toying with them!
Jiezi was like a cat playing with mice, enjoying watching them fall into danger, struggling to escape, and suffering in their “performance”!
Over there, Li Yougen, in a panic, ran toward the small building at the back. At this moment, the sky was getting darker, and the small building was pitch black, nothing could be seen.
Xin Meng’s heart suddenly raced violently. He quickly turned to look at Jiezi, only to see that Jiezi, who was about to kill him, had planted the steel pipe on the ground, as if there was something more important to focus on, just watching Li Yougen, who was about to reach the small building’s door, with that strange smile reappearing on his face.
What did Jiezi say when they were making plans back then?
He said…
He said, “I think we can go to that small building at the back; there must be fewer zombies inside.”
…
Xin Meng suddenly propped himself up, using all his strength to shout at Li Yougen, “Don’t go there! Come back! It’s dangerous—!”
The fleeing person was filled with panic and fear, how could he hear what others were shouting? Li Yougen ran wildly, like a mouse chased by a cat, his eyes bloodshot, fixated only on the small building’s door.
As long as he could get there, as long as he could get there, he could keep the monster outside, and he would be safe!
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
His rapid breaths and the pain in his lungs felt like they were about to explode, urging Li Yougen to use his last bit of strength to lunge at the door. To the onlookers, it seemed that Xiong Jiabao, who was chasing behind, was gradually slowing down, falling behind at a distance, but the deliberately heavy footsteps made Li Yougen dare not stop for a moment, only able to run forward, looking like a shepherd dog herding a stray sheep back to the flock…
In Xin Meng’s eyes, however, it was a wolf driving a lone sheep into the wolf pack’s encirclement!
“Don’t go over there! Li Yougen! You can’t go over!” Xin Meng shouted one last time, trying to save him. He struggled a few times to stand up from the ground but was kicked in the chest by Jiezi, who showed no mercy. The immense force injured his internal organs, and Xin Meng rolled on the ground twice, coughing incessantly, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes remained fixed on Li Yougen.
Closer and closer…
Li Yougen’s eyes burst with bright light as he saw the door right in front of him!
He leaped up, lunging forward, and yanked the door open…
Time seemed to suddenly freeze. Li Yougen still held the doorknob, but his whole body stiffened, his eyes widened to an unbelievable degree, and yellow liquid began to flow out, dripping down his pants to the ground.
Hundreds and thousands of pale, rotting eyeballs appeared before him, glaring fiercely at Li Yougen!
It was zombies! Military uniform zombies!
So all the military zombies had been locked in this small building, numbering over a thousand!
“Ah ah ah ah ah—”
The screams echoed through the sky!
The small building’s door was opened, and the cage that held the demons lost its function. Countless military zombies stared hungrily at the “food” before them, their eyes revealing astonishing appetite and greed. Just being looked at made Li Yougen feel weak all over, almost ready to give up resistance, welcoming death in terror, but he heard Xin Meng’s roar from behind: “What are you dawdling for? Run!”
Li Yougen jolted awake, reflexively turning to run back, but saw Xiong Jiabao still blocking the way! His mind went blank, and instinctively he turned to run in another direction. At this moment, the military zombies began to surge out from the door. Fortunately, the door wasn’t large, so even if there were many zombies inside, they had to come out one by one. Sometimes two zombies would collide and get stuck at the door, wasting a bit of time. Otherwise, if they surged out like a tide, everyone would surely die here, with no hope of escape!
Seeing the zombies pouring out, Jiezi let out a frenzied laugh, his words confirming Xin Meng’s earlier guess: “I love watching you struggle in pain, only to die in despair! My lovely babies are about to come out! Run, just run in this yard, desperately! Let me enjoy a good show; this is your last value! Hahaha!”
After saying that, he laughed and walked outside, finally entering that tall building!
More and more zombies poured out of the small building, and with Xiong Jiabao chasing Li Yougen in circles, the parking lot was no longer safe. They had to leave immediately!
Xin Meng’s left arm was broken, and he was kicked hard in the chest and abdomen by the muscular and powerful Jiezi, injuring him severely. He gritted his teeth, trying to push himself up with one hand, but after several attempts, he failed. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and just when he was at a loss, he suddenly felt someone come to his side. He quickly looked up and saw the girl who had been silently watching, looking down at him from above. She then bent down, grabbed his right hand, and pulled him up.
Xin Meng breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”
The girl didn’t respond, glanced at the zombies inside, continued to hold onto the chair, and turned to run outside. Xin Meng hurriedly followed behind, and Li Yougen was also desperately running in the same direction. Behind the three of them was a swarm of military zombies and a purple Xiong Jiabao.
As the sky darkened, the zombies’ speed visibly increased, and the three soon found themselves surrounded by zombies. A dozen of the fastest zombies caught up with them, their dark claws reaching for their bodies. They had no choice but to pick up their weapons, only to be horrified to discover that these zombies were unlike any they had encountered outside!
The zombies they had met along the way were all ordinary people before mutation; aside from being stronger, their abilities were limited, and they could barely cope. But these military zombies were different; they had all been trained soldiers in life. Besides being incredibly strong and faster, they also knew some attack techniques and could even dodge instinctively, making the trio’s situation even more difficult. They swung their weapons several times but couldn’t even touch the zombies’ clothing, let alone kill them!
“Ah ah ah—I don’t want to die ah ah ah—” Li Yougen let out a desperate scream, his dying wails echoing across the sky.
