INSIDER Chapter 10

Every person who wants to live should have a belief, because with belief, they can move forward.

Lu Chu thought, the small supermarket’s owner was just such a person. To this day, he still believes that the people of this town are merely ill. One day, they will return to their previous peaceful and tranquil lives.

No, Lu Chu shook his head to himself, they indeed are just ill.

Being unable to see or hear is merely a disease; these afflictions have taken a part of our lives but haven’t taken our wisdom and emotions.

Lu Chu squeezed the man’s hand beside him, then squatted down and reached out his hand. Radish, seeing this, whined softly and rubbed his back against Lu Chu’s hand. Lu Chu smiled, rubbed Radish’s neck, and whispered, “This will all pass.”

The town’s population isn’t large. When such things happen, most people still retain their sanity and choose to hide at home, occasionally coming out to search for food.

Walking down this street, they didn’t encounter any sudden incidents. There weren’t any “senseless ones,” and even roadblocks were scarce. It seemed the people gathered at the crossroads were just wandering along the street, and the blocked vehicles had formed a small group with no way forward.

The eerie silence of the journey amplified even the sound of the wind rustling papers on the ground, making the noise frightening and chilling. The man hadn’t spoken or written anything further, simply letting Lu Chu lead him forward, while Radish obediently lightened the sound of his footsteps.

This strange quiet didn’t make Lu Chu relax; instead, it made him more on edge, feeling like every step might trigger something worse.

At the end of this road was a large triangular intersection, with a small square in the center. If Lu Chu’s guess was correct, that area was also blocked by vehicles.

Under Lu Chu’s command, Radish ran to the intersection and returned a few minutes later, barking softly a few times.

Lu Chu understood: the intersection and the square were indeed blocked. The intersection was clogged with vehicles, and the square was crowded with senseless ones, who were clawing and biting each other.

The other two roads were wider, with railings and narrow green belts in the middle. People used to cross from one side to the other via the overhead bridge. The road to the central tower of the town was on the left side of the right road, while Lu Chu was now on the left side of the small street. The small road allowed for crossing directly, but the square was filled with senseless ones, making direct passage impossible. Lu Chu needed to stick to the side of the intersection, reach the right side of the wide road, and cross the overhead bridge to the left side. This process couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be surrounded and attacked by the frenzied senseless ones, so they had to be quick and careful. Lu Chu could hear any nearby senseless ones, and Radish could keep watch for those farther away.

As they approached the intersection, the familiar nauseating smell of blood grew stronger. Lu Chu tightened his grip on the man’s hand, who squeezed back and wrote in his palm, “I’m fine, be careful later.”

Radish walked ahead, Lu Chu pulled the man closely behind.

There were many cinemas, restaurants, and KTVs along the edge of the square. As they walked along the roadside, Lu Chu, relying on his memory of the city, avoided the entrances to the movie city and large supermarkets to prevent sudden attacks. Even in a small town, such places had dense populations.

From leaving home to reaching this point, Lu Chu’s emotions had completely settled, returning to calm and gentle.

Carefully walking along the square’s edge, thanks to Lu Chu’s keen hearing and Radish’s intelligence, they narrowly avoided several senseless ones and finally reached the correct road. However, they were on the right side of the road. The chaos in the square and the green belt in the middle of the road prevented them from going around or crossing to the other side; they had to use the overhead bridge.

Lu Chu stopped and wrote in the man’s palm.

—We need to use the pedestrian bridge. There are many steps, hold onto me and the railing, and we will walk slowly.

The man nodded, then realizing he shouldn’t make a sound, wrote a “yes” in Lu Chu’s palm.

Radish went up the steps first, quickly running to the bridge, turning around a few times, then came down and bit Lu Chu’s pant leg, barking a few times.

Lu Chu smiled and nodded; it seemed safe.

He led the man to the bridge and took him step by step up the stairs. Feeling Lu Chu’s caution, the man stopped.

—Don’t worry too much, I’m used to this state now. It’s okay to speed up.

—Alright.

The bridge was empty, with no calm or frenzied people. However, standing on the bridge, the chaos in the square below seemed even clearer, and Lu Chu frowned, sensing something wrong.

At the same time, Radish, who had been quiet the entire way unless prompted by Lu Chu, started pacing back and forth anxiously, growling uncontrollably.

“Radish?” Lu Chu called softly.

Hearing Lu Chu, Radish ran to his side, bit his pants leg, and urgently tried to pull him forward, but with little strength, he could only keep growling in warning.

Realizing something was wrong, Lu Chu asked, “Is there danger?”

Radish, smart as ever, barked a few times in response and continued to bite his pants leg, trying to lead him forward.

This time, Lu Chu didn’t hesitate, grabbing the man and quickly descending the bridge, reaching the left side of the road. However, Radish’s agitation didn’t subside; he became more restless, nudging Lu Chu’s leg, trying to push him to move faster.

Lu Chu knew something must be happening. The square was too chaotic for him to discern anything farther away, but Radish could see what he couldn’t. Radish’s urgency meant the situation was dire, and they needed to leave the street quickly.

With this in mind, Lu Chu held the man’s hand, gripped his cane, and quickened his cautious steps.

However, being visually impaired, no matter how well Lu Chu knew the town’s streets, he couldn’t run in the current chaos. Despite his best efforts, their pace wasn’t fast enough. The mounting sense of imminent danger became clearer.

At this moment, the already chaotic sounds from the square grew louder, mixed with human screams. Listening carefully, Lu Chu realized there were animal sounds among the clamor, rising and falling.

Those were dog barks.

Lu Chu felt a chill, his hair standing on end.

He had been too careless, thinking their only enemies were the senseless ones.

On the seventh day of the town’s loss of senses, he had only noticed the madness of people fighting for food, forgetting about the animals that had gone unfed for a week, now revealing their wild nature.

If humans still had some moral conscience, starved animals, except for the extremely loyal, would lose their restraint and start hunting.

All living things have a survival instinct, and living is not exclusive to humans.

What alarmed Lu Chu most was that these animals, unlike humans, hadn’t lost any senses; their vision and hearing were intact and sharp.

This implied danger was self-evident.

Realizing this in an instant, Lu Chu grabbed the man and started walking quickly.

However, they heard the sound of several animals running on the bridge. The noise got closer, accompanied by various dog barks.

More than one dog.

Radish stood protectively behind them, baring his teeth and growling towards the bridge, ready to pounce.

Lu Chu was so tense that his palm, holding the man’s hand, was sweating.