Chapter 70.2 Savage expansion (3)
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Mr. Li was also breathing heavily. “Relax, how can I massage you if you don’t relax?”
Upon hearing their conversation, everyone fell into silence. Lin Yan then realized that his words might have been misunderstood and quickly explained, “I accidentally stepped on a trap earlier. The trap was filled with spikes, and I was asking Li Yu to massage me… Ouch! Damn it!”
Li Yu: “Are you okay?”
Lin Yan: “I’m fine. Lin Zhaohe, where are you guys?”
Lin Zhaohe: “We’re near the zoo on Min’an Street. How about you?”
“We’re also nearby, but our compass is broken and we got a bit lost,” Lin Yan said. “It’s one thing if I get lost, but even Li Yu, who’s as big as a fish, can’t find the way. I don’t know how we survived before.”
Mr. Li, filled with resentment, couldn’t resist and bit Lin Yan’s cheek right in front of Lin Zhaohe. Lin Yan still had the appearance of a witch, with plump cheeks that felt very satisfying to bite. Mr. Li didn’t hold back, leaving two rows of determined teeth marks.
Lin Yan cursed, “Are you a fish or a dog? Even when Lin Zhaohe turned into a dog, he didn’t randomly bite people!”
Mr. Li hmphed and said, “Mind your own business.”
Lin Zhaohe, who had inexplicably been called a dog and just endured a dog’s meal, suddenly felt a bit aggrieved.
Zhuang Lao couldn’t be bothered to listen to their nonsense and said directly, “Hurry up and come over. We have over twenty survivors here. Take them out with you.”
“Okay, we’ll be there soon,” Lin Yan nodded and hung up the communicator.
Brother Xiao’s expression became somewhat strange, neither happy nor unhappy. He seemed rather conflicted. “Xiao Yu, take the guests to rest first. We’ll discuss this matter.”
Xiao Yu was a slender girl who emerged from the corner and walked up to Yun Yuzi. She whispered, “Let’s go, I’ll take you upstairs.”
Yun Yuzi nodded.
This residential building had only eight floors and no elevator. Lin Zhaohe accompanied Yun Yuzi as they went upstairs, while Zhuang Lao waited on the first floor to receive Lin Yan, who was on his way.
Climbing the pitch-dark stairs, Yun Yuzi felt a bit scared. She always had a chilling sensation on her back, especially while walking on the stairs.
She glanced at Xiao Yu and tried to ease the tense atmosphere by saying, “What did you do before the apocalypse?”
Xiao Yu: “I was still a student before the apocalypse…”
Yun Yuzi: “How long have you been living here?”
“Almost eight years.”
Yun Yuzi surveyed her surroundings.
It was an extremely old building with walls covered in random patterns and dark red bloodstains, seemingly narrating some unknown stories.
Suddenly, Lin Zhaohe spoke up, “Xiao Yu, were you afraid of the person who came back with Pan Guo?”
Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment, a hint of panic flickering in her expression, and she said, “N-No, not at all.”
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Why?”
Xiao Yu didn’t answer Lin Zhaohe’s question. She abruptly changed the subject, saying that she still had some food in her room. She asked if they were hungry and offered to prepare something for them.
Lin Zhaohe sensed her reluctance to answer and didn’t press further. “It’s alright. We had a meal before coming in, so we’re not hungry.”
Xiao Yu nodded.
They continued climbing the stairs without Xiao Yu daring to look back. She avoided meeting the gazes of the two people behind her, fearing that her secrets would be exposed. She kept her head down, praying to reach the sixth floor quickly. However, the more she wished for it, the harder it seemed to achieve. Time seemed to pass slower, and the sixth floor that should have been reached in a few minutes seemed elusive. The stairs beneath her feet seemed endless. Exhausted and panting, Xiao Yu realized something was amiss. She stopped and turned around. “What’s going on? Why can’t I climb these stairs…?” Before she could finish her sentence, Xiao Yu noticed that the man and woman who were supposed to be following her had disappeared. In the pitch-dark staircase, she was alone.
Xiao Yu’s hair stood on end, and she swallowed nervously. This time, she didn’t dare to continue climbing. She glanced at the floor number beside her and saw a “3” instead. Hadn’t she climbed for so long? Only three floors? It didn’t make sense. Xiao Yu felt a sense of dread. She didn’t dare to continue climbing and attempted to open the fire door to enter the third floor. However, despite there being a small gap, the fire door refused to budge. Xiao Yu used all her strength, but it seemed as if it were welded to the wall.
“Why?” Speaking to herself with a trembling voice, Xiao Yu cautiously approached the door and pressed her eyes against it, trying to see what was happening outside.
Something was blocking the other side of the door. It was pitch-black, and she couldn’t see anything clearly. Xiao Yu took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and used the faint light to catch a glimpse of what was on the other side of the door.
“Aaaaaaaah!!!” After seeing the full appearance of that thing, Xiao Yu let out a terrified scream. She took a few steps back, almost falling to the ground. Blocking the door crack was a tall woman dressed in red, towering at nearly two meters in height. Her body firmly blocked the door crack, and what Xiao Yu had seen earlier was her torso.
Xiao Yu looked up and saw her face, a pale and horrifying face pressed tightly against the door crack. The face was pitch-black, with only dark pupils staring directly at Xiao Yu through the door crack.
“Wh-what are you?” Xiao Yu felt a numbness spreading through her body, perhaps a lingering effect of extreme fear. After surviving in this post-apocalyptic world for so many years, she had seen all kinds of strange and grotesque creatures, but nothing as terrifying as the one in front of her.
However, the most horrifying thing was that the creature in front of her moved. It began to squeeze out through the door crack, its body contorting and distorting within the narrow space, losing all semblance of a human form…
Filled with terror, Xiao Yu let out a scream and turned to run. The footsteps behind her followed relentlessly, as if the moment she looked back, she would once again see that pale face.
Xiao Yu ran for a long time until she was completely out of breath and unable to continue. But as she looked up, she found herself once again facing that “3” and the familiar door crack…
Xiao Yu’s defense collapsed, and she sat on the spot, wailing uncontrollably. She couldn’t understand why things had turned out this way. It was supposed to be the protagonist’s storyline, but why did it happen to her?
Suddenly, something lightly touched her neck, causing Xiao Yu’s body to stiffen. She turned her head and saw that terrifyingly pale face once again.
In the next moment, the hand around her neck tightened.
Lin Zhaohe and Yun Yuzi were startled by Xiao Yu’s actions. The frail girl who was leading them suddenly stopped in her tracks, let out a piercing scream, and then ran forward as if insane. She fell to the ground but remained oblivious, wildly waving her hands as if trying to drive something away. However, there was nothing around them except the air. Lin Zhaohe called her name, but she seemed deaf to his pleas, as if seeing a different scene altogether.
Yun Yuzi was terrified by what she witnessed. She wondered what was wrong with this girl. Before she could say anything else, Xiao Yu reached out and grabbed her own throat. How could such a small body possess such immense strength? Xiao Yu’s slender wrist tightened around her own neck, veins bulging. In a matter of moments, her face turned purple, a truly horrifying sight.
Lin Zhaohe and Yun Yuzi desperately tried to pry Xiao Yu’s hand off her throat, but their combined strength couldn’t budge her grip even the slightest. Fearing they might harm her, Yun Yuzi clenched her teeth and directly squeezed Xiao Yu’s joints, dislocating her arm to release the grip.
With this method, Xiao Yu’s hand finally loosened its hold. Her purple-faced cheeks once again breathed in fresh air, and she sat on the ground, gasping for breath with great effort.
After a while, she gradually recovered. The darkened vision regained its brightness. She stared blankly at the two faces before her, letting out another terrified scream.
Xiao Yu swiftly climbed to her feet, almost crawling, and rushed up the stairs. Yun Yuzi and Lin Zhaohe hurriedly followed, sticking close to Xiao Yu as they ascended. They continued all the way up until they reached the sixth floor, where Xiao Yu dashed into her room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Lin Zhaohe managed to enter the room before Xiao Yu closed the door, but Yun Yuzi wasn’t as lucky and found herself locked outside.
“There’s a ghost, a ghost!” Xiao Yu’s cries echoed from inside the room.
Yun Yuzi shouted, “Xiao He, are you both okay?”
Lin Zhaohe didn’t answer.
Sensing something was wrong, Yun Yuzi tried to force the door open but found it reinforced with a thick layer of steel on the outside. She quickly took out her gun and fired several shots at the door lock, finally managing to open it. Simultaneously, the commotion inside the room subsided. Xiao Yu stopped screaming, and Lin Zhaohe didn’t respond either.
Lin Zhaohe and Xiao Yu entered the room almost one after the other. However, as soon as he stepped in, he noticed something weird about the surroundings—Xiao Yu was nowhere to be found.
Something wasn’t right. Why did the interior of the room seem so familiar? Lin Zhaohe looked around and suddenly felt a chill run down his arm. He realized he had returned to the same cabin he had just left.
Dilapidated wooden floorboards, aged furnishings, and a damp, unpleasant smell lingering in the air. Lin Zhaohe stood frozen in place, contemplating turning around and leaving. However, the door had already closed shut. Lin Zhaohe pulled out his gun and fired several shots at the door lock, but the previously worn-out lock now seemed indestructible, unaffected by the bullets.
Cold sweat formed on Lin Zhaohe’s forehead. He would rather face a thousand zombies than encounter something like this. The terrifying image of the female ghost from the film haunted his thoughts, sending shivers down his spine and making his legs go weak.
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