Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Yan Bubu also noticed the vulture. Although he kept running, he pointed at it, incredulously shouting, “Look, look!”

He didn’t know it was Lin Fen's quantum beast, but he had seen it a few times in his childhood.

“I know, that’s General Lin’s quantum beast.”

The zombies behind were closing in rapidly. Yan Bubu, though pulled by Feng Chen, was gradually falling behind.

Feng Chen decisively hoisted him onto his back, continuing his sprint while yelling at the vulture, “Lead the way! Lead the way!”

Feng Chen knew it must have already informed Lin Fen, who was now watching through its eyes. The vulture, indeed, flapped its wings and flew ahead of them, gliding low in the air.

At the forefront flew the vulture, followed by Feng Chen carrying Yan Bubu, then Bunu and Sasaki, and some distance behind them, the relentlessly pursuing zombie horde.

Several beams of light from headlamps scattered chaotically, brightly illuminating the area.

Feng Chen erected a mental barrier between Bunu, Sasaki, and the zombies. The barrier, bombarded like it was under gunfire, continuously emitted dense popping sounds and new cracks appeared, only to be swiftly mended.

The entire formidable procession, led by the vulture, circled halfway around the mountain and then suddenly changed direction, heading towards the adjacent mountainside.

Feng Chen swiftly turned and spotted a thick rope dangling down the cliffside, one end disappearing into the top of the cliff, and the other still swaying, clearly just lowered.

"Climb up fast!" he shouted, throwing Yan Bubu towards the cliffside as he ran.

Yan Bubu, after being thrown, caught the rope mid-air and agilely climbed upwards. Feng Chen rushed forward, closely following him. Bi Nunu and Sasa Ka also leapt onto the cliffside, grasping at the crevices and climbing upwards.

The relentless horde of zombies soon reached the base of the cliff and, like quantum beasts, began scaling the rocks in pursuit.

The wind on the cliffside was strong, its piercing howl like a trumpet blast, yet it couldn't drown out the sound of the zombies' claws scraping against the stone. Yan Bubu, buffeted by the wind and unable to open his eyes, wished for wings to carry himself and Feng Chen directly to the mountaintop.

"Don't panic, I'm right below you!" Feng Chen saw Yan Bubu's feet slip on the cliffside several times and loudly reassured him.

Hearing his voice, Yan Bubu steadied himself and began using his mental powers to entangle the limbs of the zombies.

This tactic was effective against the zombies climbing the cliffside. With each burst of mental energy, a zombie, bound at the limbs, plummeted off the cliff. The only regret was that it couldn't be used continuously; otherwise, none of the zombies would have a chance to catch up.

Although Bi Nunu's three quantum beasts were intercepting, constantly flipping the leading zombies off the cliff, they could only manage those near the rope; the farther ones were beyond their reach.

Yan Bubu and his companion climbed as fast as they could, but they were still slower than the zombies, with the distance between them gradually narrowing. To their left and only about ten meters away on the cliffside, a zombie had reached their level and lunged towards them with a ferocious roar.

"Hold on tight!"

With a loud shout, Feng Chen pushed hard against the cliff with his feet, and the two on the rope swung into mid-air. The lunging zombie passed through their former position, plummeting down the cliff like a weight, hitting the ground with a muffled thud.

Looking down, Yan Bubu saw it rise from the ground again, straightening its bent leg with a twist, and starting to climb back up the cliff.

"Ah... it's coming back up," Yan Bubu exclaimed.

"Don't look down! Hold on!"

Yan Bubu swung high into the air again.

A zombie passed in front of him, momentarily face to face. Yan Bubu, dazzled by the light on its forehead, struggled to keep his eyes open, but could clearly see its gaping mouth, the black uvula hanging there, and the fine dark blue veins on its eyelids.

As the rope swung high and back, more zombies lunged towards them. The three quantum beasts, scurrying back and forth, still couldn't stop their relentless attacks.

Yan Bubu kicked one zombie while swinging back, but another's long nails nearly pierced his neck. Feng Chen grabbed its hand, twisted upwards, and with a snap, broke its wrist.

"Where's your mental image? Bring it out now," Feng Chen yelled as he kicked a zombie away.

Yan Bubu, on the verge of tears, replied, "I can't bring it up! You know it always pops up on its own."

Zombies continuously fell to the bottom of the cliff, but their modified bodies remained unharmed from the fall, getting up to continue their climb. Some, even with broken bones protruding through their skin, kept climbing, making the cliffside shimmer with light beams.

Feng Chen's mental barrier continuously enveloped them and the quantum beasts, constantly battered and making loud noises. He was incessantly repairing the barrier, while Yan Bubu tirelessly tidied it up for him.

Unnoticed, a zombie had climbed above Yan Bubu, turned off its headlamp, and quietly descended while they were busy with zombies on either side.

As Yan Bubu used his mental power to make another zombie fall off the cliff, he saw this spider-like zombie approaching, its hand less than half a foot from his head.

Startled, he screamed, and his grip loosened, causing him to plummet downwards.

Just as Feng Chen stabbed a zombie in the chest with a dagger, he quickly brought his feet together, hooked Yan Bubu under the armpits with his feet, and punched upwards, colliding with the descending zombie's fist.

Feng Chen's punch, capable of shattering solid rock, caused the modified body of the zombie to emit a series of bone-cracking sounds, its arm going limp like rubber.

Feng Chen then shifted Yan Bubu to the side, allowing the zombie to brush past them and fall off the cliff.

Suddenly, Yan Bubu's mental image finally lit up in his mind. Overwhelmed with emotion, he quickly began manipulating the screen.

He ducked to the left, evading a zombie's grasp, and pushed forward with both hands, sending another lunging zombie plummeting down.

At the same moment, Feng Chen bent his knees, pulling Yan Bubu back up.

Bang, bang, bang!

Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire from above. A bullet peeled back the scalp of a zombie to the left, scattering its skull fragments and exposing the transparent membrane beneath.

Yet, it continued climbing upwards, undeterred by its damaged skull.

"Climb faster!" Feng Chen pushed Yan Bubu above his head.

A stern voice from halfway up the mountain called out, "Climb faster, it's been years since I've used a gun. My hands are shaky, I might accidentally shoot your head off like theirs."

Although Yan Bubu hadn't heard this voice in years, the moment he did, it was like an invisible whip had struck him, propelling him several meters upwards instantly.

Gunshots continued to ring out. The zombies, unable to swiftly dodge on the uneven cliffside, suffered two more headshots, their heads shattered to pieces.

Seizing the opportunity, Yan Bubu and Feng Chen climbed rapidly upwards, nearing the electric fence. Safety was just above the fence, but the zombies, aware of this, lunged even more fiercely towards them.

As two zombies leaped at Feng Chen, Yan Bubu brought up his mental image. However, while Feng Chen dodged them, something unforeseen and not predicted by the mental image suddenly occurred.

The rope between Yan Bubu and Feng Chen snapped with a crisp sound.

Caught off guard, Yan Bubu's mind went blank for a moment. He reflexively reached out to grab Feng Chen but grasped at thin air.

But Feng Chen reacted swiftly, stabbing his dagger into the cliffside as he fell, the screeching noise slowing his descent.

Sasa Ka quickly moved along the adjacent cliffside and positioned himself under Feng Chen's feet.

Seeing this, the zombies abandoned Yan Bubu and all lunged at Feng Chen.

"Brother—"

"Don't be afraid!"

Both voices rang out simultaneously.

Bi Nunu and the condor positioned themselves beside Feng Chen, while Yan Bubu steadied his mind and swiftly manipulated the mental image screen. The sound of Feng Chen's mental barrier being hit mingled with the gunfire above.

Two more zombies were shot and fell, their heads shattered by bullets, spilling out like rotten, stinking watermelons, revealing their black insides.

Sasa Ka, supporting Feng Chen, climbed up the cliffside, quickly approaching beneath Yan Bubu's feet.

The zombies' attacks became even more ferocious. Just as the condor and Bi Nunu intercepted two, two more broke through their defense, charging directly at Feng Chen.

Guided by the image, Feng Chen stabbed his dagger into the right zombie's eye at a tricky angle, then ducked to avoid the bite from the left zombie. But as Yan Bubu continued to scroll through the image, the large screen dedicated to Feng Chen suddenly began to fade out.

All the small screens flickered out, plunging everything into darkness.

Yan Bubu felt as though he had fallen into an icy cavern, his heart coated in frost. He quickly turned to survey his surroundings and, looking to the upper left, saw a zombie crawling out of the darkness towards Feng Chen.

Yan Bubu could clearly see its form, recognizing it as the zombie whose skull had been shattered by Lin Fen's bullet. Underneath the semi-transparent cranial protective membrane, its brain tissue was exposed, resembling a rotten walnut. Its ability to attack stealthily in the dark was due to the loss of its upper skull and, consequently, its forehead light.

Like an animal, the zombie was rapidly climbing the cliffside, preparing to pounce on Feng Chen once close enough.

The three quantum beasts and Feng Chen were each engaged in their battles, oblivious to the zombie. Yan Bubu immediately prepared to leap towards it.

Despite being far from the zombie and knowing that even with all his might he might not reach it, or would only fall together with it, he didn't hesitate.

His only thought was that he must prevent it from biting Feng Chen at all costs.

Just as he was about to leap, a flicker on the zombie's head caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a crack in the protective membrane.

Yan Bubu was instantly energized.

The protective membrane on the zombie's head was broken, making it vulnerable to mental power attacks!

Though guides can't use mental power swords like sentinels to shatter skulls, they can control and incapacitate by making someone lose consciousness and combat ability.

Yan Bubu had seen Yu Yuan use mental power to control A Dai during a flood at an underground safe point. A Dai had been like a mindless fool, stripped of his combat strength.

Without hesitation, Yan Bubu summoned his mental power, targeting the zombie's brain. As he did this, the large mental image screen dedicated to Feng Chen suddenly lit up brightly.

His choice was correct!

However, the screen showing his own perspective suddenly went blank.

The image vanished, not into darkness, but into a meaningless flurry of snowflake-like dots.

Yet, Yan Bubu didn't hesitate; his psychic energy surged forward, piercing into the zombie's skull.

He felt a buzzing in his ears, experienced a brief lapse of consciousness, but quickly regained clarity and found himself in a dimly lit space.

This was the psychic realm of a sentinel, filled with numerous black psychic threads, twisted and entwined. These threads were covered with lumps and holes, hollowed out and oozing black fluid.

At the center of the psychic realm hung a shriveled psychic core, its wrinkled surface covered with black tumors. From afar, it resembled a rotten mass of flesh with festering sores, oozing putrid pus, an utterly chilling sight.

Feng Chen glanced around and yelled, "Hide behind the rocks!" while erecting a psychic barrier.

Three dull thuds in succession indicated the psychic forces hitting the barrier.

Previously, the barrier would have shattered at the first impact, but now it only showed a few cracks after three forceful strikes.

Feng Chen quickly repaired the barrier, readying it for several more psychic attacks, as it continued to crack and heal.

The three closest zombies were now lunging at Yan Bubu and Feng Chen, their mouths wide open.

"Hide behind me!" Feng Chen shouted just as a consciousness image flashed in his mind.

Yan Bubu, manipulating the screen with his psychic tendrils, replied, "Don't worry about me, just follow the image."

"Alright," Feng Chen responded succinctly.

In Yan Bubu's psychic domain, two large screens appeared, showing images of both him and Feng Chen. He operated two screens simultaneously for the first time, dividing his psychic tendrils to manipulate each.

His eyes moved between the screens, his mind functioning in two parts, each tracking separate developments. He then selected the most suitable consciousness image for Feng Chen's mind.

He had chosen correctly!

However, the screen designated for him suddenly went blank.

There was no image, nor darkness, but a meaningless flurry of static.

Yan Bubu exerted all his strength, turning his soft psychic tendrils into tough steel wires, tightly winding around the black psychic strands.

As he exerted more force, the lumps on the black psychic strands burst, oozing black liquid. He let the black fluid mix with pus over his psychic tendrils, tightly gripping each strand.

He felt a buzzing in his ears and his vision distorted with strange lines, filled with malevolence, madness, and chaos.

Yan Bubu divided himself into several parts.

Part of him continued to tighten the zombie's psychic strands, another part managed Feng Chen's screen, and yet another part selected consciousness images. H

He caught his breath, looking down at Feng Chen, who had just finished off the zombies around him, with Sasa Ka climbing upwards carrying him.

Glancing to the right, he saw a zombie still clinging to the rock face. Though dead, its long nails were embedded in the crevices, hanging desiccated on the cliff like a segment of dried-up tree.

"Sasa Ka, hurry up!" Yan Bubu yelled downwards.

Feng Chen, climbing up, also noticed the dried-up zombie, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. But there was no time for questions; he leapt, grabbed the end of the rope, and urged Yan Bubu, "Hurry up!"

Above them was an electric fence, part of which had been lifted, with a rope dangling from the gap. As Yan Bubu was about to climb up, he heard a deep voice from above: "Haven't eaten? How about resting here, and I'll bring you something to eat before you continue climbing?"

Yan Bubu looked up to see someone with a lantern sliding down the rope, landing steadily on the electric fence, and squatting down to peer through the gap.

The newcomer was tall, dressed in blue, wearing a wide-brimmed hat. The sharp eyes and stern expression visible under the brim allowed Yan Bubu to immediately recognize him as Lin Fen.

Yan Bubu felt a chill, his movements suddenly becoming more agile as he climbed rapidly up the rope.

"Hurry, I haven't electrified the fence. If zombies climb up from elsewhere, it'll be trouble," Lin Fen urged.

Yan Bubu protested while climbing, "I'm already going fast—"

"Watch out!" Lin Fen suddenly shouted, "Below you!"

Startled by the shout, Yan Bubu scrambled over the gap. Turning back, he saw Feng Chen still below, while the zombies were all at the lower part of the cliff, with none up here.

Yan Bubu's heart was still racing, disbelief in his eyes as he looked at Lin Fen.

Lin Fen smiled at him, fine lines appearing at the corners of his eyes, and said warmly, "Little Curly Hair, long time no see."

Feng Chen followed close behind, climbing through the gap and stopping next to Lin Fen. They locked eyes and fist-bumped powerfully in the air before gripping each other's hands tightly.