CHAPTER 235: CHAPTER 235 FIND THE WAY OUT

Under Luolie’s command, everyone quickly found their rhythm. Some engaged in close combat, while others attacked from a distance. The stones in their hands whistled as they threw them, and they had finally turned their passive situation into an active one.

During the battle, An Yan, light as a feather, bustled about among her former companions.

After an unknown amount of time, all seven individuals finally lost their ability to fight.

"Miss, how are you feeling?" Wen Ya and Wen Ge supported An Yan on each side as she almost collapsed from exhaustion.

"I’m alright." Using their support, An Yan leaned against the wall and sat down cross-legged. She began to breathe deeply, hoping to recover her strength as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Luolie’s group had finally shattered all the stone statues. The tomb chamber was a mess, with broken stones piled up like a small hill. Excited smiles appeared on everyone’s faces. They had won the battle!

"Everyone, rest where you are!" Luolie’s voice finally contained a trace of relief. "Lai Kai, turn on your cell phone and try to contact the outside world. Everyone else, turn off your phones to conserve as much battery as possible."

"Understood."

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, An Yan approached one of the Living Dead and took out a scalpel.

"Luolie, tell two of the brothers to come over and help."

The young man who had previously handled the Gold Clamping Worm immediately rushed over, looking at An Yan with guilt and anxiety, "Miss, I’m sorry."

If he hadn’t caused the Golden Thread Worm to come out back then, things might not have turned out this way...

"It has nothing to do with you. Even if you hadn’t discovered that thing then, it would have found a way to make one of us find it."

The young man still wore a look of self-reproach. An Yan didn’t continue to console him but said instead, "You two help me hold him down. Since we can’t get out anyway, we might as well study how they turned into the Living Dead."

"Miss, are you going to dissect him?" Luolie asked. "But they are..."

"Our own people, I know. But as things stand, there’s no remedy. We must understand the principle behind it to possibly find a solution."

Luolie nodded. Though he found it hard to accept emotionally, his rational mind told him that An Yan was right. With these seven people already in such a state, it was better to try. What if? What if Miss An had a way to save them?

An Yan had them place a lid on one of the coffins. Then, using the coffin lid as a surface, she began her research on one of the Living Dead.

Perhaps because the mutation had just occurred, the skin tissue was still intact. However, the heart had stopped beating. The nervous system responded normally, but the sense of pain had vanished. No matter how An Yan cut, the subject showed no pain response, only an instinctive desire to attack and bite.

After examining the heart, An Yan opened its skull.

The brain was dead, but the brainstem, which controls the body’s most basic and primitive life instincts, was still functioning normally.

"This person had been fed a large amount of medicine before death. The goal, it seemed, was to suppress all active cells in the body to their lowest possible level!"

"The central nervous system was the only thing unaffected, which explained why their brainstems retained vitality even though they were dead!"

Luolie asked, "Is there a way to activate the active cells in their bodies? If activated, could they come back to life?"

Everyone looked at An Yan with hopeful faces.

An Yan shook her head, "The brain is dead! Even if we activate their body cells, it will only make them even more formidable."

An Yan was certain that the medicine to activate their body cells was Li Tianyao’s blood.

"What we need to do now is see if they are contagious. We don’t want to rescue them only to trigger a zombie crisis. Then we would truly become sinners."

The hope in Luolie’s eyes slowly extinguished. As he watched his comrades, strapped to the ground and still instinctively opening their mouths to bite, Luolie’s vision blurred.

"Brother Luo, we have to find a way out!" Wen Ya patted his shoulder.

"Right, find a way out!" Luolie wiped away his tears. "Everybody liven up! We mustn’t overlook a single inch of the ground or any wall!"

"Yes."

The group dispersed.

With tasks to focus on, Luolie managed to suppress his tears. Crying couldn’t solve any problems. Opportunities aren’t born from suffering; they are fought for.

But, regrettably, they did not find a way out.

As time went on, the air quality gradually deteriorated, and everyone’s energy began to fade.

An Yan took out a few pills and dissolved them in their drinking water. Soon, the oxygen concentration in the chamber improved, and everyone felt some relief.

"There’s no need to waste any more energy. Everyone rest in place and wait for rescue."

An Yan also put down her scalpel, sat down against the wall, and leaned on Wen Ge’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

An Yan was certain they would be rescued. Even if the whole world forgot about her, Li Tianyao would definitely come to save her. For some reason, this intuition was very strong!

Her previous use of the Divination Technique had indicated that her destiny was tied to Yuncheng, and Li Tianyao’s vitality also lay there. She felt this must be the time. Li Tianyao would come to Yuncheng because he was coming to save her!

An Yan quickly employed the Divination Technique to check Li Tianyao’s status.

He was floating in the air, his parachute already deployed. As he descended rapidly, the strong wind whipped his hair into disarray and contorted the muscles of his face. Yet, his expression showed no trace of nervousness or fear.

Although An Yan didn’t know why he was parachuting, she could tell from his demeanor that everything was under his control. Suddenly, as he descended, Li Tianyao looked up at a certain point in the void. In that instant, An Yan saw his eyes. His pupils were grayish-white, carrying a touch of demonic eeriness.

"Li Tianyao, you..."

The moment the words left her lips, her consciousness sharply recoiled.

Wen Ya quickly held her hand, "Miss, don’t be afraid, Ninth Master will definitely come to save us!"

An Yan froze, recalling the scene she had just witnessed. The color of Li Tianyao’s eyes had changed; his illness was about to flare up! He had said Gu Shifang always made it difficult for him to control his emotions. Could he now know she had encountered the Living Dead and deduced she might have run into Gu Shifang? Damned Gu Shifang!

An Yan silently closed her eyes, subtly regulating her breathing.

After a moment, she tried to use the Divination Technique again to see Li Tianyao.

Yet she couldn’t see him anymore.

She had forgotten; there was a limit to how many times she could view Li Tianyao.

She had to get out! She had to know where Li Tianyao was now. No matter where he was, she had to let him know she was safe.

An Yan glanced at her watch and realized it was already the morning of a new day. This meant that she had another five minutes to use the Clairvoyance Technique.

An Yan didn’t hesitate and activated it immediately.

Then she saw just how complex and sturdy this tomb chamber was. Not only were the stone slabs formidable, but the soil outside had also been treated.