Chapter 75

Chapter 75

The battle with the fast-moving zombie was just minutes ago, but Lin An couldn't remember when the fog appeared or when his teammates vanished.

Standing alone in the fog, he called out the names of the others, but there was no response in the enveloping mist, only the echo of his own voice.

What on earth was happening?

Lin An walked forward a few steps and finally saw a vague figure in the fog ahead.

He approached happily, but upon getting closer, realized the figure was quite small and not someone he knew.

It was a four or five-year-old girl, clutching a rabbit doll, her dark eyes looking pitifully at Lin An: "Brother, hug."

The little girl was very cute, so adorable that no one could refuse her request.

However, Lin An retreated as if facing a formidable enemy.

The little girl, momentarily stunned, then hastened towards Lin An with outstretched arms and her doll, in a pose asking for a hug.

"Brother, hug."

Lin An, who dreaded interacting with children, would usually avoid them when outside; even the cutest child seemed like a fearsome beast to him.

Seeing the little girl approaching, Lin An simply turned and ran.

He was socially anxious, not a fool. The presence of a child in a zombie-infested desert town was bizarre enough, and his inability to smell any human scent on her confirmed she wasn't human.

She was also a zombie.

And a zombie emitting a stench of decay at that.

The girl, seeing Lin An fleeing, paused for a few seconds before chasing after him, her voice shifting from a clear childlike tone to an increasingly shrill scream: "Brother, Brother!"

She started running on her stubby little legs, but finding she couldn't catch up, she began moving on all fours in an unbelievable posture, with her shoulders and thighs at right angles to her body, resembling a four-legged spider, an eerie sight.

Dragging the rabbit doll in one hand, she quickly caught up to Lin An.

The little girl's face twisted into a snarl as she crawled on all fours toward Lin An, her sharp teeth aiming to bite him.

The next moment, she was frozen in place.

But when Lin An turned around, there was nothing inside the ice.

He had clearly encased the little girl in ice, but she vanished as soon as he turned.

At that moment, Lin An finally caught a different scent in the air – the foul odor they had sprayed on themselves upon entering the desert town, unpleasant but now a way to recognize his teammates.

Following the scent, he finally found his teammates.

They were not far from each other, but seeing their current state, Lin An fell silent.

Ouyang Dong was holding a human-shaped metal model fixed to the ground, crying and calling out for his mother. His voice was full of sorrow, his eyes red from crying. He hadn't cried so sorrowfully since they left Chuxi City.

Meanwhile, Xu Fang, two meters away from Ouyang Dong, was grabbing sand from the ground, laughing hysterically about striking it rich, then throwing sand into the air. Some of it landed on himself, and the rest fell on Ouyang Dong, not far away.

The two of them looked as if they had rolled in the sand, utterly disheveled.

Lin An called out several times, but both were so immersed in their own worlds that they couldn't hear any other sounds.

Continuing on, he found Wudo sitting quietly on a stool, with a smaller stool beside her and a pile of familiar pots and pans in front – the ones they usually used for meals.

Wudo neatly arranged these items on the ground and, holding an empty bowl, was feeding the air on the adjacent stool: "Grandma, ah~ open your mouth."

Compared to the other two who were either crying or laughing, Wu Duo remained unusually calm, but she too couldn't hear any external sounds.

The last one was Shen Xiuzhe, standing in the fog, alert and gripping a knife tightly.

Lin An hesitated, knowing the others were clearly in hallucinations, uncertain if Shen Xiuzhe was also affected.

"Shen Xiuzhe," Lin An called out softly.

As soon as he spoke, the other sharply turned his gaze, scrutinizing Lin An before striding towards him.

Thankfully, it seemed Shen Xiuzhe was unaffected.

"There was a zombie girl just now. I think she's causing these hallucinations, similar to Granny Wu in psychic abilities. But I don’t know how to break the illusion," Lin An quickly shared his suspicions.

Shen Xiuzhe didn't respond but walked briskly up to Lin An, examining him closely, and tried to grab his hand. Lin An, alert, immediately stepped back.

"No, no, no, not today." Lin An usually didn't mind contact with Shen Xiuzhe, but today was an exception; he couldn’t let anyone near him.

This action displeased Shen Xiuzhe, who frowned and said unhappily, "Why are you avoiding me? It's dangerous here, let me get you out first."

"What about the others?"

Shen Xiuzhe raised an eyebrow: "What others? It's just the two of us here."

"Hahaha, I’m rich, I’ve struck it rich."

"Mom, I finally see you again, wuwuwu~"

"Grandma, have another bite."

Laughter, crying, feeding sounds were still echoing around him in a 360-degree surround, and yet Shen Xiuzhe claimed there were no others here?

Lin An fell silent, then cautiously asked, "Do you remember who Xu Fang, Ouyang Dong, and Wudo are? Do you know who I am?"

Shen Xiuzhe was still looking at Lin An's hand, his expression filled with annoyance at not having caught it, and casually said, "Those people you mentioned, I don't know them. You're Lin An, my, my... childhood friend. We grew up together."

He even nodded affirmatively, "Yes, that's right."

Childhood friends? They had known each other for less than a year. Shen Xiuzhe was obviously under the illusion as well.

Lin An felt a sense of despair. Everyone was trapped in their illusions, and only he could save them, yet he had no idea how.

Right, the little girl – if they could catch her, perhaps everyone would return to normal.

The others were lost in their own worlds, but Shen Xiuzhe was still communicative. Anxious, Lin An said, "Shen Xiuzhe, let's find that little zombie together, alright?"

Holding his knife, Shen Xiuzhe sneered, "Aren't you the 'little zombie' trying to run away? You want to escape?"

Lin An: "I'm talking about the little girl, I'm not trying to run. You still remember I'm a zombie."

Narrowing his eyes, Shen Xiuzhe scrutinized Lin An for a while before grudgingly believing he wouldn't run away: "If you dare to run, I'll lock you up. Also, I'm an explorer, not a philanthropist. If you want me to do something, aren't you prepared to pay a price?"

Lin An was in a hurry; the longer they stayed, the more dangerous it became. Who would have thought Shen Xiuzhe would become so strange under the illusion, talking so much? But right now, only the two of them could solve this predicament.

"Can we save them first? After everyone recovers, I'll give you anything you want." Lin An was being clever, offering an empty promise knowing full well Shen Xiuzhe wouldn’t demand anything once back to normal.

After recovery, Shen Xiuzhe surely wouldn't ask for any reward.

But bluffing the current Shen Xiuzhe was indeed feasible, and he agreed.

Lin An sniffed the air around him. The white fog impaired his sense of smell and hearing, only allowing him to detect the scent of others and zombies when close. Despite the stench they carried, he could only smell it when near, masked by the fog.

Soon, Lin An smelled the rotting scent and immediately led Shen Xiuzhe towards the direction of the little girl.

Sure enough, the little girl was nearby, back to her adorable self, innocently playing with her rabbit doll, showing no sign of her earlier twisted form.

"Is she the one we need to kill?" Shen Xiuzhe asked, raising his knife towards Lin An.

Lin An nodded.

The next moment, Shen Xiuzhe advanced towards the little girl, his sharp blade shimmering with a menacing chill.

Finally scared, the girl screamed for help, but before she could flee, the knife’s edge grazed her neck.

Shen Xiuzhe frowned; he had missed striking the real object.

Meanwhile, the little girl's figure also dissipated in the white mist.

Lin An jogged over, looking at the empty ground. Indeed, what they saw was an illusion of the little girl: "She must be around here, I can still smell her scent."

They tried several times, each time Lin An followed the scent, but every time he attacked, the little girl would disappear, rendering any kind of attack futile.

In their final attempt, Lin An and Shen Xiuzhe acted together. Lin An used ice to enclose the little girl's position, and then Shen Xiuzhe attacked. This time, the little girl couldn't escape and, huddled with her head, screamed loudly on the ground.

Her scream was high-pitched and sharp. Lin An, feeling uneasy, covered his ears, while Shen Xiuzhe, who was closer, suffered a splitting headache and could barely stand.

Gradually, zombies appeared in the surrounding mist, their gazes vacant but their steps unusually synchronized.

Standing in the front were Xu Fang and his two companions. They stood among the zombies without fighting or biting each other, their equally vacant eyes strangely harmonious.

The little girl had summoned reinforcements, smugly pointing at Shen Xiuzhe and Lin An. The zombies and the trio immediately turned and lunged at them.

Lin An could handle any number of zombies, but he couldn't bring himself to fight his own teammates.

Summoned by the zombie girl, Shen Xiuzhe, with strong willpower, resisted fiercely. It felt like a knife was continuously rolling in his head; only submission would end the pain.

Instead, this ignited his killing intent. Shen Xiuzhe's eyes, bloodshot, searched everywhere for the zombie girl, but lacking Lin An's keen sense of smell, he couldn't find her in the fog with his bare eyes.

Agitated by the headache, Shen Xiuzhe slowly stood up. Although he couldn't find the main culprit, other zombies were still around.

Facing the approaching zombie, Shen Xiuzhe showed no mercy, his blue blade coated with zombie blood.

With their strength, they could withstand all the zombies here, but the three teammates made them hesitate.

Annoyed by the trio's attacks, Shen Xiuzhe raised his sword, intending to deal with them, seeing everyone but Lin An as enemies now.

Lin An quickly stopped him: "They're our teammates! We can't fight them."

Even in his irritation, Shen Xiuzhe instinctively protected Lin An in battle. Not yielding, his voice hoarse, he said, "I won't kill them if the price is right."

Still thinking about compensation?

"Yes, it will be given, right after today," Lin An promised, adept at writing blank checks.

"Remember your words, if you dare deceive me, I'll personally demand my compensation," Shen Xiuzhe threatened fiercely.

"I wouldn't dare deceive you," Lin An said, his gaze shifting and voice unsteady.

Yet his well-intentioned lie had saved his teammates' lives.

The endless stream of zombies was unkillable, and their mingling scents made it impossible for Lin An to locate the little girl. Unless they wiped out all the zombies in the town, the girl would keep summoning an inexhaustible horde.

As they were caught in this repetitive battle, having to avoid harming their teammates while also protecting themselves, a series of thudding sounds approached from behind.

A battered jeep with a dented front made a stylish drift stop behind them, even knocking over two zombies in the process.

The driver's door swung open, and a woman wearing sunglasses stepped out, leaning against the car, she looked at the two men: "Hey, need some help?"

Lin An's eyes sparkled with recognition: "Granny Wu!"

*

The Eye of the Desert.

A woman in her fifties was taking care of Granny Wu, ensuring she ate her breakfast.

The elderly lady was compliant, eating silently without needing to be fed.

As the auntie was clearing the dishes, she suddenly heard a voice behind her: "Where is everyone?"

She immediately put down what she was holding and turned around, asking, "What's the matter? Do you need something, or would you like to go for a walk?"

Granny Wu didn't respond, her gaze slowly sweeping across the tent, which was small and cluttered with many items, the tent fabric yellowed from exposure to the sun.

This wasn't where she lived.

Granny Wu stood up and walked out of the tent, intent on returning to her own home.

"Hey, don't wander off," the auntie quickly followed her.

Outside the tent, the sunlight was blinding. Granny Wu reflexively squinted her eyes, then opened them to a look of bewilderment.

Where was this place?

She remembered her home having a garden out front, filled with perennials, with two children running around in it.

Yet all she saw before her was endless yellow sand.

"I want to go back," Granny Wu murmured.

"Where do you wish to go? Back to your own tent? There's no one there. Stay with me for now; your family will be back soon," the auntie gently reassured her.

"Where is everyone?" Granny Wu suddenly turned and asked her, then added, "And my family?"

The auntie replied, "They've gone to Sand Dune Town for a mission. They'll be back soon."

Granny Wu was not satisfied with this answer. She observed the ground's yellow sand, the scattered tents, and the shimmering water in the distance.

Her cluttered mind seemed to unravel like pulling threads from a cocoon, extracting memories related to the environment.

She remembered her curiosity the first time she came to the Eye of the Desert in her youth, her encounters with sandstorms in the desert, and the days she spent traversing the desert with her granddaughter and teammates.

"This is the Eye of the Desert," Granny Wu asserted confidently. She had visited this place many times in her youth, the most memorable being the oasis in the middle of the desert, like an emerald set in the sands, bringing life to the desolate desert.

Suddenly, Granny Wu strode forward. The auntie, taken aback, quickly followed: "Where are you going? I'll take you there, it's chaotic here."

"No need, I'm familiar with the terrain here. I'm going to Sand Dune Town," Granny Wu said with clarity in her eyes.

"Ah? No, no, I promised your granddaughter to take care of you. Besides, Sand Dune Town is dangerous with many zombies," the auntie followed behind, trying to dissuade her.

Granny Wu walked determinedly towards the direction of the town gate.

"Sand Dune Town is a hundred kilometers from here. Without a car, it'll be a slow journey. Maybe they'll return before you even get there. Shall we wait here?" the auntie said, sweating from anxiety.

Wu Shuangxue was not someone who listened to others easily, but she did indeed need a car now.

"Beep! Beep!"

An old jeep drove up behind them. The area was filled with tents and the road was narrow, but the jeep insisted on passing through the cramped space. Seeing Granny Wu and the auntie blocking the way, the driver honked twice and shouted out the window, "Are you blind? Get out of the way, you old hags!"

The auntie recognized the passengers as the tenth-ranked team from the Eye of the Desert. This team had a notorious reputation at the base, being arrogant and rude to ordinary people or those of lower rank, while shamelessly flattering those of higher status.

Their ability to "bend and stretch" had kept them from being beaten at the base, making them quite the oddity among the teams.

The auntie immediately tried to pull Granny Wu aside, but to her surprise, found she couldn't move her.

Granny Wu looked over the jeep for a moment, then turned to her with a smile: "Well, isn't this a car right here?"

The auntie's mouth dropped open in surprise: "Ah?"

"Where?" She didn't see anything.