Chapter 173

Chapter 173

After finishing his story, Red Spider, with a hoarse voice, said, "You wanted to know about Lin Fen and Yu Yuan, I've told you everything I know. Can you let me go now?"

Feng Chen scoffed coldly, "Then why did you attack those sentinels and guides? Did you kill them all?"

Red Spider struggled briefly, "I didn’t kill them, I was just ordered to select those with exceptional abilities, let the quantum beasts knock them out with poison, and then take them away."

"Where did you take them after tying them up? What was the purpose of taking them away?"

Red Spider replied, "I don't know, it was an order from above."

"An order given just to you? For you alone to abduct sentinels and guides?" Feng Chen asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes.

Red Spider hurriedly explained, "I was supposed to have assistants, but I felt having too many people would be a hindrance, so I acted alone. After all, my quantum beast is perfect for this task, I didn't need anyone else's help."

Feng Chen asked, "So, where did you take them?"

This time, Red Spider didn't answer quickly but avoided Feng Chen’s gaze and shut his mouth.

Feng Chen observed his expression, a glint flashing in his eyes, "Since you could act alone, the place you took them can't be far from the camp. Where is it? Nearby the camp? You've been fleeing in this direction, or is it somewhere around here?"

Red Spider remained silent, his gaze shifting nervously.

Seeing his demeanor, Feng Chen stopped asking and simply placed a dagger against his neck, slightly moving his wrist, instantly drawing a line of blood.

"I can’t say, I definitely won’t survive if I do," Red Spider immediately shouted.

"But you've already said quite a lot," Feng Chen said coldly, "What you've revealed to me is enough for Anbu Jia to execute you ten or eight times over."

Red Spider glanced down at the dagger against his neck, a struggle evident on his face. Feng Chen didn’t rush him, instead taking the brief pause to survey their surroundings.

The two were in the middle of a gorge, unlike the Yin Xia Mountain with its exposed rocks, this place was dense with vegetation, vines climbing the walls on both sides, rustling their leaves.

Feng Chen knew that these “plants” were actually mutant species, but with Heishi pacing around, occasionally scratching the rock walls with its claws, although they reared their heads like snakes, ready to strike, they didn’t dare attack rashly.

Red Spider remained silent. Feng Chen withdrew his dagger and raised his wristwatch, saying, "You have half a minute more to think."

Red Spider's face turned pale, his body sweating profusely. About half a minute later, Feng Chen looked at his wristwatch again, said nothing, and raised his dagger, poised to strike Red Spider's chest.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll say everything!" Red Spider cried out in fear, closing his eyes.

His shouts echoed, and when he didn't feel the pain of being pierced, he opened his eyes gasping, "I’ll talk, just don't kill me..."

He seemed to have made up his mind and took a deep breath, "After I knocked out the chosen sentinels and guides with poison, I took them to—"

Bang!

A gunshot shattered the tranquility of the gorge, causing the mutant vines above to swiftly retract and the vegetation on the ground to rustle.

Red Spider's eyes bulged as if they would pop out of their sockets, a deep black bullet hole appeared on his forehead, slowly oozing blood.

Feng Chen felt a sharp psychic force darting down from above the cliff. He quickly stepped back and released his psychic energy to protect himself.

The two psychic forces collided in the next second, creating a metallic clink despite being invisible.

At this moment, Heishi charged forward, engaging in combat with several quantum beasts that suddenly appeared.

As his psychic shield shattered, Feng Chen thrust his psychic energy upwards, simultaneously noticing four figures sliding down from the cliff.

His psychic energy surged forward, splitting into four strands in midair, each targeting one of the figures, as he moved several steps forward.

The ground where he had just been standing erupted in flying mud and stones, leaving behind a row of bullet holes.

From this brief encounter, Feng Chen deduced that these four individuals were all sentinels or guides, with their levels being B or higher.

He hadn't intended his mental force to hit the other party, only to obstruct their attack. However, with several muffled thuds, his four streams of mental force unexpectedly pierced into the backs of four people.

Feng Chen was slightly startled, then raised his head, using the light on his forehead to illuminate them.

Under the bright beam of light, the four figures climbed the smooth, steep cliff like monkeys, each with a hole pierced through the back of their clothes, revealing wounds inflicted by psychic power.

The wounds gaped open, deep enough to expose bone, yet not a drop of blood flowed, and around the wounds was a halo of dark blue.

Feng Chen was startled.

He had only seen such a wound condition in one type of being: zombies.

However, the current situation left no room for further thought; the four had already plummeted from the cliff. Feng Chen glanced and immediately recognized them as zombies.

Their skin was covered with purplish-blue veins, their eyes pitch-black. As they fell through the air towards him, they opened their mouths wide, revealing gums the same blue as their skin.

Feng Chen immediately erected a psychic barrier around himself while launching another psychic attack aimed at their skulls.

But his psychic power was blocked at their skulls, unable to advance further. He instantly realized that these zombies had been enhanced by Anbu's modifications, with a layer over their skulls that blocked psychic power.

The four zombies reacted swiftly, charging at Feng Chen with a roar as soon as they hit the ground.

They did not attack randomly; the leading zombie threw a punch directly at Feng Chen's face, using basic fighting techniques.

Feng Chen didn’t overthink, just raised his arm to block the punch.

To his surprise, the zombie's strength was far greater than he anticipated. His forearm, upon contact with the zombie's fist, felt like it had hit an iron rod. Had his muscle density not been exceptionally high, his forearm bone would have been shattered.

Feng Chen blocked the punch while simultaneously striking at the zombie's face and targeting the other three with his psychic power.

The zombie in front of him took the punch, its nasal bone cracking, and its jawbone receding two inches inward. But it continued its attack undeterred, its face looking both fierce and eerie under the flickering overhead light.

The other three zombies also showed no fear of Feng Chen's psychic power. Even as new holes appeared in their chests, exposing the ribs underneath, they continued their onslaught.

Feng Chen realized that his psychic power was ineffective against them, resorting instead to close-quarters combat, evading their punches and kicks while seeking an opportunity to decapitate the zombies.

Unable to use his psychic power for attack, he had to repeatedly erect psychic barriers during the fight, only for them to be shattered again and again.

He knew these zombies were the result of Anbu's research, more responsive than typical zombies. Yet, he hadn’t expected these four to possess such extraordinary strength and reaction speed, surpassing any experimental zombies he had encountered before.

They could coordinate attacks, dodge dagger blades, and their combat thinking was no different from that of normal humans. Plus, being former sentinel guides, they were adept at close combat and capable of launching psychic attacks, shattering Feng Chen's psychic barriers.

Facing four exceptionally powerful zombies, Feng Chen struggled, opting for evasive maneuvers rather than direct confrontation. Their fists whistled past him, occasionally striking the cliffside, dislodging rocks with their force.

After exchanging several blows, Feng Chen grew increasingly alarmed, a chill settling in his heart.

He recognized the techniques used by these zombies, identical to those taught in their academy’s combat classes, especially certain punching angles and tactics known only to trained soldiers.

Amid the fierce battle, with the overhead light swinging wildly, he couldn't get a good look at the zombies' faces. After dodging a frontal kick, he suddenly leaped onto a small ledge a few meters high on the adjacent cliff.

The zombies, momentarily losing their target, froze for a half-second before collectively looking up. Feng Chen steadied the overhead light, casting its beam onto their faces.

On seeing him, the zombies simultaneously roared and started climbing the cliff towards him. Feng Chen leaped back to the ground as they reached for him.

Although he had only glimpsed the zombies for a few seconds, it was enough to clearly see and recognize their identities.

In the past six months, several sentinel guides had gone missing from the camp, their photos displayed at the entrance of the military department, visible to all who entered or exited daily.

Chen Liuwei, a sentinel student from the Sentinel Guide Academy, went missing on the day of the central city's collapse, whereabouts unknown.

Qin Zhen, a guide soldier from the Western Alliance Army, disappeared during a mission, whereabouts unknown.

Wang Lihan, a sentinel soldier from the Eastern Alliance Army, vanished during a mission, whereabouts unknown.

Gong Yun, a sentinel student from the Sentinel Guide Academy, mysteriously disappeared from the camp, whereabouts unknown.

When Feng Chen had earlier inquired about the abduction of the sentinel guides by Red Spider, he had a vague suspicion. But now, witnessing them transformed into zombies, he was both shocked and enraged, momentarily forgetting to dodge and nearly getting hit by a lunging zombie.

Initially, not knowing the identities of these zombies was one thing, but now that he did, his heart harbored mixed emotions, causing his dagger strokes to waver.

He was already struggling to cope, and this moment of hesitation resulted in a zombie's fist striking his shoulder. Although he moved with the punch to lessen its impact, the hit still caused intense pain in his shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground.

A shiver ran through him, realizing he could ill-afford such distractions.

The four before him were no longer human; they were zombies. If he couldn't eliminate them, his own life was at stake.

The four zombies charged again, accompanied by several psychic attacks. Feng Chen immediately retreated, erecting a psychic barrier.

After several muffled thuds, the psychic barrier quickly shattered.

He knew that at this rate, he could only resist for another ten minutes at most and needed to find an opportunity to escape.

Nearby, the Black Lion and four quantum beasts were also engaged in battle.

The quantum beasts exhibited zombie-like symptoms, with crazed eyes, dripping saliva, and involuntary body spasms during attacks, quite different from Binunu's type of zombification.

Though fierce, the Black Lion was struggling under the onslaught of the four zombified quantum beasts, emitting black smoke all over and seemingly unable to last much longer.

The zombies seemed to sense Feng Chen's intent to escape, furiously lunging upward and blocking all his paths of retreat.

Feng Chen ducked, avoiding punches from the left and right, and darted to the left, evading a zombie charging from the front. Simultaneously, he summoned his psychic power to reinforce the nearly shattered psychic barrier.

But now with his back against the cliff and his sides and front blocked, he could no longer dodge the fourth zombie's attack.

Realizing there was no escape, he turned his body to let his left arm absorb the impact of the oncoming fist.

As the fist struck his left arm, he was thrown to the right, hearing the cracking sound of his arm bone breaking.

Enduring the sudden intense pain, he adjusted his position mid-air and let out a loud cry of "Sasaka."

The Black Lion, enveloped in black smoke, made a mighty leap, breaking through the encircling quantum beasts and catching Feng Chen as he landed.

Feng Chen erected a psychic barrier to block the successive psychic attacks from behind, riding atop the Black Lion as they charged forward.

The four zombies, with their extraordinary strength and speed, closely pursued. Despite the Black Lion’s full-speed dash, the gap between them was gradually closing.

Feng Chen kept raising psychic barriers only to have them shattered repeatedly. Listening to the footsteps behind him, he knew he would be caught before reaching the camp at this pace.

As they crossed the boundary between unnamed mountains and Yin Xia Mountain, Feng Chen glanced towards Chaya Peak, an idea forming in his mind.

In tune with his thoughts, the Black Lion immediately changed direction, heading towards Chaya Peak instead of the camp.

The light from the headlamp illuminated the path ahead, and soon they arrived at the inevitable swamp. The Black Lion, not adept at navigating marshland, was retracted into Feng Chen’s psychic realm, and he waded in himself.

The relentless zombies followed into the swamp, with sounds of splashing mud trailing Feng Chen. Although they fought like living beings, they differed in essence, charging through the swamp and frequently stumbling into the muddy waters.

Initially close to being caught, Feng Chen now gradually increased the distance between them.

Despite their clumsy movement, the mutated zombie’s psychic attacks were relentless, forcing Feng Chen to continuously raise psychic barriers while advancing.

Approaching the swamp's edge, he struggled to summon his psychic power, barely erecting a barrier half a foot away from his back to block an incoming attack.

He realized that due to excessive use of psychic power without a guide to manage it, his psychic realm was nearing depletion. Looking ahead into the dense darkness, he knew he had to reach the dark matter area to escape.

Muddy and weary, Feng Chen emerged from the swamp and summoned the Black Lion, swiftly mounting it.

The Black Lion, carrying him, charged towards the dense darkness.

The zombies also emerged from the swamp, rapidly pursuing them.

The Black Lion strained forward as Feng Chen noticed more bashful grass around them and the light from the headlamp dimming, signaling their imminent entry into the dark area.

Sensing another psychic attack from behind, and with his recently erected barrier already shattered, he immediately summoned his psychic power to reinforce the defense.

If he could just evade this attack, he would enter the bashful grass’s dark matter area, where enveloped in darkness, even zombies would be blind, ensuring his safety.

Feng Chen could only muster half a psychic barrier, his psychic realm now eerily empty, devoid of any available psychic energy.

Still struggling, he suddenly felt his body stiffen, his limbs weakening. The Black Lion, in mid-run, staggered and fell, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Rolling on the ground, Feng Chen realized this was the binding force of a guide’s psychic power. Enduring the pain of his crushed arm, he tried to remount the Black Lion but was hit by another psychic force.

This time, it was a sentinel’s attack. Psychic arrows tore through the air, whistling sharply as they hurtled towards his chest.

In a desperate roll to the left, Feng Chen narrowly dodged the deadly strike but couldn’t evade the remaining two sentinel psychic attacks.

He heard the crack of his thighs breaking, a piercing pain engulfing him.

The Black Lion struggled to its feet, trembling on all fours. Shrouded in black smoke and becoming increasingly vague, it stubbornly moved to Feng Chen’s side, dragging him onto its back by his clothes.

Bang!

Another psychic force struck. Feng Chen, exerting all his might to dodge, avoided a fatal hit but his right shoulder was pierced, blood gushing from the fresh wound.

Seeing this, the Black Lion released him and turned towards the approaching zombies, its eyes fierce, as if ready to charge headlong into battle.

"We must go! Now!" Feng Chen commanded in his mind.

With the zombies closing in, the Black Lion, suppressing its rage, dragged Feng Chen backwards into the mist.

Blood drenched Feng Chen, seeping into the dark, damp soil and vanishing.