TL: Moonlit

The bait SUV had not gone far, they hid in an alley, listening to the roaring of the “Grotesque” nearby. They felt relieved because they had done this too many times before and had always succeeded. Therefore, they were not worried about any accidents.

No survivor squad could survive the wrath of the “Grotesque”. Using the “Grotesque” as a weapon was a last resort. If they weren’t careful, they could end up dead at the hands of the “Grotesque” themselves. Luckily, they succeeded.

The man driving the car tossed a cigarette to the co-pilot and the two people in the backseat. Cigarettes were valuable in the post-apocalyptic world, and the chances of finding them were getting smaller. “Well done, that van is as good as dead this time.”

Earlier, they had noticed a suspicious van wandering around Yue County. They never let unfamiliar vehicles and strangers pass in Yue County. Most of the people who came to Yue County had intentions of raiding their food supply. Food was their lifeline, and they didn’t allow anyone to covet it, so many people who came never returned.

When they discovered the suspicious van, they organized a group of people to attack. However, three corpse wolves jumped out of the van. These rotting corpse wolves were particularly fierce, chasing and biting people. Just like zombies, the corpse wolves were infected with the zombie virus, and even a scratch from them could lead to infection. It was thanks to the three corpse wolves acting as a rear guards that the van managed to escape smoothly.

They didn’t expect the owner of the van to be so brave. He quickly returned with more people, determined to kill the group. They wanted to kill as many of them as they could.

While smoking their cigarettes, the group of four exclaimed, “Oh, they’re not dead yet! Let’s go, let’s go!”

With the road ahead blocked, they had to reverse quickly and try to escape from the other end of the alley. However, when they looked back, their faces turned pale. A group of zombies had appeared at the other end of the alley, completely blocking the exit. There was no way for them to escape.

With enemies in front and zombies behind, the only way for them to escape was if they could fly or had spatial abilities like Xiao Hen.

The appearance of the zombie group blocking the alley was eerie, and the sense of danger they had felt before resurfaced. Chang Boheng instinctively looked at Wen Qingling. He already knew that Wen Qingling could control zombies, and it seemed that this group of zombies was also summoned by him.

Chang Boheng had misunderstood Wen Qingling. It wasn’t Wen Qingling but Xiao Hen who had summoned the zombies. Even without the zombies’ howling, the oppressive aura of the “General” alone could make ordinary zombies obediently gather.

Xiao Hen had recently become a zombie, and he was still new to controlling his zombie abilities. He needed more practice.

The four trapped individuals panicked. The man driving the car, who was also a tough character, gritted his teeth and said, “Send the signal!”

The man in the passenger seat ignited a firework in his hand and threw it out of the window. The firework exploded in the air, suddenly igniting the previously quiet Yue County. The noise attracted all the zombies in the county.

The man accelerated and stepped on the gas pedal, intending to ram through the zombies head-on.

They couldn’t provoke the horde of zombies, but they weren’t afraid of other humans. The force between humans was mutual, and it was a contest of who could endure till the end.

The desperate SUV roared as it rushed forward. Countless small vines suddenly grew on the walls on both sides of the alley, interweaving and entangling with each other, quickly forming a large net. The SUV didn’t have time to brake and crashed into the net, and a thick vine that drilled out of the ground wrapped around the vehicle, lifting it into the air.

Terrified screams came from inside the car. The conscious vine shook the car up and down, trying to throw out the people inside. The two people in the backseat, who weren’t wearing seat belts, fell off first and were immediately caught by the vines.

Xiao Hen appeared on the thick vine. His dagger danced in his hand, cutting the seat belts of the two people, who were then captured by the vines.

The SUV was gently placed back on the ground. All the other vines retracted and disappeared except for the ones binding the four individuals.Chang Boheng volunteered to drive the captured SUV they had looted. His heart couldn’t handle being in the same car as these two people. He felt like his heart could give out at any moment. It was better to… better to keep his distance.

The four captives were tied up with vines and attached to the back of the SUV. If they didn’t want to be dragged, they had to run along with the car. Fortunately, Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen were not cruel individuals. They drove at a reasonable speed, allowing the four captives to keep up.

What terrified the captives was not running behind the car, but the horde of zombies running behind them!

The four captives could already envision themselves being torn apart by the horde of zombies. Their survival instinct drove them to run as fast as they could, and they were almost surpassing the speed of the SUV.

They lamented the danger of the damn distress signal. The loud noise had attracted almost all the zombies in the county. If reinforcements didn’t arrive, they would be torn apart by the horde of zombies. This was such a terrible way to die!

Ji Rong and the others, who were waiting, witnessed the scene with their own eyes. The four people, tied up like dumplings, were running faster than the SUV itself. It looked as if the four people were “pulling” the SUV along as they ran. The scene was extremely eerie, leaving everyone stunned.

Everyone: “…”

Where is the rational persuasion they were talking about?

Is there still a possibility of “reasoning” like this?

The four individuals were about to run out of breath. Gasping for air, one of them intermittently spoke, “You… better… let us go… our people… will be here… soon…”

Wen Qingling patiently listened to him and replied, “Do you think your reinforcements will arrive before the horde of zombies in the entire county?”

The four captives: “…”

Damn it! There’s no need to guess at all!

If there are too many zombies, the base won’t risk coming to rescue the four of them. It wouldn’t be cost-effective to lose more people for the sake of these four individuals. They dug themselves a big hole!

Wen Qingling jumped onto the SUV and sat cross-legged on the roof, looking down at them. “We’re new here and unfamiliar with the place. Since you’re locals, how about you introduce us to your food supply in the granary? Maybe if I’m in a good mood, I’ll spare your lives.”

The four captives: “…”

They felt that the hole in this person’s mind was probably bigger than theirs. “Since you knew the horde of zombies was coming, why didn’t you escape?”

The people who came with Chang Boheng and Xiong Shu were a bit panicked. The former looked at Chang Boheng, while the latter looked at Wen Qingling. They didn’t know that Wen Qingling could control the horde of zombies, so they were afraid. If they were really surrounded by the horde of zombies from the entire county, there would be no chance of survival.

Chang Boheng shook his head slightly to reassure them. He gestured that they didn’t need to worry because they had Dr. Wen with them. What was there to fear when they had someone who could repel the tide of zombies? The scattered horde of zombies was nothing to be afraid of.

Xiong Shu saw that his leader remained calm and decided to trust in his leader’s strength and not panic.

Wen Qingling said, “Why run when our goal hasn’t been achieved?”

The four captives: “…”Are they willing to give up their lives just for the sake of a robbery?

One of the captives sneered, “I advise you not to dream. The granary is inside the Yue County base. If you want to rob it, you’ll have to deal with the base first. Otherwise, forget about it!”

Wen Qingling said seriously, “Don’t be so hostile. We don’t want to rob you. We want to make an exchange.”

Captive Two: “Your approach doesn’t convince us at all!”

Wen Qingling sighed and looked coldly at the four captives.

Ji Rong took over the conversation. “We really didn’t intend to rob you. Don’t force us to resort to robbery, okay?”

Xiao Hen pondered. If he knew the exact location of the granary, he could go there. Wen Qingling only wanted seeds, not too much. They started with diplomacy, but if it wasn’t appreciated, then they could resort to force.

Xiao Hen suddenly had a feeling of being watched. He looked up and met Wen Qingling’s gaze, realizing that it wasn’t Wen Qingling who was watching. There was another psychic ability user here!

Since when did psychic ability users become so worthless? Apart from Wen Qingling and Miao Bo, there was someone else?

Wen Qingling understood Xiao Hen’s thoughts. “You’ve met an acquaintance.”

Xiao Hen understood. The person who had been using psychic powers to probe was Miao Bo. If that was the case, then it meant that Fang Shenlong and Miao Bo, who had stubbornly refused to leave and insisted on taking everyone from Ling City Base with them, had also escaped. These two were inseparable, so if Miao Bo was alive, Fang Shenlong should be alive too.

“Stop the car!”

The convoy rushing to the rescue suddenly came to a halt, and everyone looked puzzled at the deputy captain. “Why did we stop?”

Miao Bo’s face turned ugly. He didn’t expect the outsiders this time to be Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen. Wen Qingling had chosen not to show up at Ling City Base, and in Miao Bo’s eyes, it was a personal choice. They had no right to force him to come to the rescue.

But Xiao Hen had severed Fang Shenlong’s right hand and forced Miao Bo to broadcast, ordering the dispersal of Ling City Base. In Fang Shenlong’s eyes, Xiao Hen had become his mortal enemy. If they were to face each other, one of them would undoubtedly die.

Miao Bo looked at Fang Shenlong, this man who had once been incredibly confident. After the destruction of Ling City Base and his own disability, he had undergone a drastic change in temperament, sinking into depression and unable to move on. Miao Bo had stopped him countless times from going to Ling City for revenge against Xiao Hen.

If Fang Shenlong could defeat Xiao Hen, it would be a different story, but the key was that he might not win. Moreover, Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen’s brothers were present, and they wouldn’t just watch Xiao Hen die. On Fang Shenlong’s side, even though he was the captain of Yue County Base now and had some people under his command, none of them were top-notch experts. Their chances of winning against Xiao Hen and his group were too low.

Fang Shenlong’s gaze darkened. “What did you discover?”

Miao Bo quickly adjusted his emotions. “He Kuo and the others are still alive. The outsiders this time are just a dozen or so people. They are inquiring about the base’s food supply. Another group with designs on the granary. I will take some people to resolve the situation, and you lead the rest of the brothers back to the base to prevent them from having any other schemes.”

Fang Shenlong stared at him for a few seconds, then got out of the car. “Be careful yourself. Send a signal if there’s danger.”

Miao Bo nodded. “I understand.”

Half of the convoy followed Miao Bo to continue forward, while the remaining people stayed by Fang Shenlong’s side.

The zombies in Yue County were indeed attracted by the fireworks’ commotion, but in the face of Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen, the two formidable figures, no zombies dared to approach. They could only watch from a distance, with countless zombies crowding the area, sending shivers down people’s spines.

Miao Bo’s convoy took a detour and finally appeared within Wen Qingling’s sight. They parked at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Miao Bo got out of the car with his men but didn’t approach. Instead, he watched Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen from a distance.

When Wen Qingling saw him standing still, he raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but say, “Now that you’re here, do you want to stand and talk?”

Miao Bo hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward. The people who came with him hurriedly stopped him. Miao Bo was a psychic ability user, but in the early stage, he was weak. It was only in the later stage that he became a powerhouse. At this moment, Miao Bo was still in a weak state. Although the range of his probing had increased, he was still weak, at least much weaker than Wen Qingling.