CHAPTER 587: CHAPTER 585: THE VILLAGERS

They had to hit the road early the next morning, so it was better to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

Li Qian simply used his spiritual power to monitor the zombies’ movements and sat without moving.

Behind the small village, zombies covered with fungi trembled in unison under the silver moonlight, their fan-shaped fungal tops glistening as if seeking something.

Hiding under a bed inside a house, the couple next door to Su Mo held their child and clutched their mouths tightly shut.

The zombies had no sense of smell or any other senses, and searched for prey relying solely on the fungus atop their heads.

Under Li Qian’s spiritual power, the windows on the balcony of their small villa were left open by mistake, and the curtains fluttered with the wind, making a rustling noise. A zombie clutched the exterior wall, climbing over into the balcony, the sound of its claws landing on the floor echoing through the air.

The living room was enveloped in silence. Jianxiong stood by the door, and Li Qian gently shook his head at him, gesturing with his hand that there were many of them.

No one made a sound inside, only the noise of the zombie outside rummaging through boxes, knocking over a cabinet, and toppling items on the table could be heard.

Listening to the commotion, Su Mo wondered if that zombie had poor vision.

None of them went out to deal with it; they simply shrank back in their room silently. Meanwhile, the sound of furniture being smashed could be heard from across the way.

The couple hiding under the bed, their child now awake from the urge to urinate, gave a reflexive whimper. A zombie immediately broke in through the window from the street outside.

The zombie that was in Su Mo’s villa seemed to sense a call and leapt from the balcony, heading out.

Li He stood by the window, pulling back a curtain to reveal four or five zombies, their heads stuffed with fungi, darting into a house.

He whispered, "It seems they move by sound. The ears are gone due to the fungal infection, but their auditory system within the infected cluster is highly developed."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the two zombies crowding at that door turned their grotesque heads to look directly at them.

Jianxiong walked over and pulled Li He behind him, "They’re coming up."

Sure enough, the two zombies extended their sharp claws, scaling the wall and dislodging large chunks of brick as they rushed toward them.

Jianxiong’s body turned to stone, and he struck a punch at the two zombies breaking through the window, bathed in moonlight.

In Lu Chen’s hands, the Ice Blade was even sharper than before, quickly formed and meticulously honed before shooting into the brains of the two zombies.

Instant kill.

The most ordinary Level 3 zombies.

Not the slightest bit challenging.

Su Mo got up from the bed and glanced outside through the damaged, drafty wall, "Just a few of them; let’s help them out."

Zhao Changsheng’s Thunder Whip gathered in her hand, and she leapt down from the second floor. The Thunder Whip, crackling with electricity, carried a powerful energy that could decapitate those zombies with a single lash.

In less than a minute, a dozen or so zombie corpses laid scattered on the ground.

From the besieged house, the painful wails of the woman erupted, "His dad! His dad! Don’t die!"

When Li He went downstairs to their dark house, he cast a Light Ball directly onto the man who was convulsing and about to mutate.

Su Mo jumped down from the second floor into their house and, looking at the hideous corpses on the ground, said, "No wonder you all didn’t dare to speak; these things do have sensitive hearing."

Li He’s Light Ball on the man did not heal as quickly as expected. He crouched beside her and injected a large amount of superpower again, causing the mold-like diseased flesh on the bitten arm to finally recede.

The man regained consciousness and spat out a large mouthful of blood with a retch.

The woman was overjoyed and kept kowtowing to Li He, "Thank you, thank you!"

Li He stepped back to decline their gratitude, as it was just something he did in passing.

A lamp was lit in the room, and the family of three sat on the edge of the bed. Especially the bitten man, who looked at them with an apologetic face, said, "We didn’t warn you in time, and I’m here to apologize to you for that."

As he spoke, he was about to kneel down to Su Mo and the others, but Li Qian used his spiritual power to press him back.

Jianxiong threw all the bodies outside and burnt them to ashes before entering the room. "What the hell is growing on these heads, turning them into something so disgusting?"

The couple looked at each other, seeing helplessness and fear in each other’s eyes.

"At that time, someone in the village clinic was selling medicine, saying it could cure people who were bitten by turning them back to normal. You just needed a bit of potatoes and greens to trade for a dose. Just when someone got bitten, they injected it... Who would have thought it’d be completely useless, and instead... instead, it made the people turn into zombies and carriers of a fungal infection."

Zhao Changsheng clicked his tongue twice, "You guys are really naive, thinking if something like that existed, the world would still be in such a shitty state?"

Jianxiong deeply agreed with her words.

The couple sorrowfully hung their heads, saying nothing.

Su Mo stretched and said, "All right, now that the issue is resolved, we need to continue our journey tomorrow, let’s go back and find a room to sleep."

The group left their house and returned to their own area.

Seeing the remarkable presence of these individuals, the couple couldn’t help but whisper to each other, "They are so powerful, directly killing those things."

"Where are they going? Shall we secretly follow them? We are almost out of food at home."

Looking at his wife’s hopeful face, then down at the boy who had fallen back asleep in his arms, the husband gritted his teeth and said, "Tomorrow, bring over all the food we have left, and give it to them."

There were a few other families hiding in the shadows who shared the same thought.

Far beyond the distant Earth, two satellites moved slowly, pinpointing their location.

"Positioning complete, location transmission shared."

"Let’s get ready to leave, guys, and bring her back!"

...

As day broke, Su Mo made a pot of meat porridge. Everyone huddled in the room to finish eating, then they prepared to set off.

When they came downstairs, they found nearly 20 people standing by their battle vehicle parked at the door.

Su Mo’s brow furrowed, "What’s this about?"

Each person was either holding a can of meat or dried cured meat.

Seeing them come out, everyone presented what they had, pushing it forward.

"Take us with you, please!"

"We’ve run out of extra food here; we’re giving you all of our last provisions, please take us with you!"

Their ears were filled with a variety of pleas from the people.

Everyone’s face bore the marks of time and helplessness. To be honest, Su Mo felt quite sympathetic to them, but what could he do? They were still carrying the fate of tens of thousands of people from the refugee camp.