bdsm-fiction Chapter 65 A Miserable Howl in the Snowy Night
Chapter 65 A Miserable Howl in the Snowy Night
The wave of survivors migrating to Jiangcheng was not always smooth sailing. For those teams with sturdy vehicles and ample fuel, traversing this ruin covered in eternal night and snow, though fraught with unknown risks, at least provided a relatively safe mobile fortress and the possibility of a quick escape from danger.
But for those survivors who, for various reasons, had to rely on their own two feet to trek, this journey was nothing short of a cruel gamble with their lives.
These survivors not only have to contend with the ever-present encroaching darkness, the biting cold, and the scarcity of supplies, but also must be constantly vigilant against any threats that may lurk in the darkness—whether they are mutated beasts or roaming zombies. Moreover, the zombies that can move in the extreme cold are never ordinary zombies.
The watch showed afternoon, and Xu Mo was practicing his resilience on the first floor. After reaching the Bull Skin Realm, he needed stronger external stimulation to further hone the toughness of his skin. Xu Mo was shirtless, circulating his qi and blood, his skin glowing with a faint yellow light, repeatedly striking himself with a sturdy iron rod, producing dull "bang bang" sounds.
Just as Xu Mo was fully focused on his cultivation, a faint yet unusually sharp sound pierced through the relatively thick walls of the shelter and reached his ears.
It was a human voice, and a piercing scream.
Xu Mo's movements froze instantly, his qi and blood gathering. He listened intently; the sound was not continuous, but intermittent, growing closer as if something was chasing its owner and getting closer to him, filled with extreme fear and despair.
"Something's happened!" Xu Mo's eyes sharpened, and he didn't hesitate for a moment. He grabbed the clothes lying next to him and quickly put them on, while at the same time picking up the AK-47 leaning against the wall to check the magazine, pulling the bolt to chamber a round, all in one smooth motion.
With a powerful flashlight in hand, Xu Mo also inserted his spare pistol into the holster on his leg, the whole process was very quick.
The moment Xu Mo stepped out of the shelter and was hit by the icy air, the screams that had been getting closer and closer suddenly stopped, as if cut off by a sharp blade.
The world returned to deathly silence, with only the faint whistling of the cold wind sweeping across the snow.
Something's not right! Xu Mo's heart sank. He immediately lowered his body, using the shadows of the ruins and the snow piles as cover. His sharp eyes swept like those of a hawk towards the direction from which the sound had last come from—about a hundred meters away, near a fork in the road that used to lead to the main road.
Xu Mo quickly took the high-powered flashlight, pushed the switch with his thumb, and a blinding white light pierced the darkness like a sharp sword, shooting straight ahead.
The sight that reached the beam of light was chilling.
The pristine snow was now a scene of utter devastation, with splattered and dragged trails of dark red blood a horrifying sight. Several mutilated human corpses lay twisted in pools of blood, limbs severed and internal organs exposed, clearly the result of an extremely brutal attack and tearing within a very short time.
Broken backpacks, scattered old water bottles, and broken sticks lay scattered on the snow, silently telling of the haste and helplessness during the attack.
Even from a distance of over a hundred meters, the strong smell of blood could be faintly smelled over.
Xu Mo's heart clenched. This was definitely not the work of a wild beast. Wild beasts hunt primarily for food, not for such pure and efficient killing and destruction. This method was more like…
Just as a thought flashed through Xu Mo's mind, a black shadow, fast as a ghost, suddenly appeared in the shadows at the edge of the pillar of light.
The dark figure moved extremely fast. Under the bright light, it seemed to hesitate for a moment before disappearing behind the broken wall next to it.
But in that fleeting glimpse, Xu Mo, with his enhanced vision in the eternal night and the super-powerful dynamic vision brought by the cowhide mirror, clearly captured its features—withered and emaciated limbs that contained explosive power, pale skin with a bluish-gray tinge, and a gaping maw full of sharp teeth.
Agile zombie!
Xu Mo's pupils contracted slightly, his heart filled with astonishment. After months of observation, he had not seen any zombie activity in Qingsongling Town and the surrounding area, let alone such a troublesome and agile zombie. Where did this zombie come from?
"Could it be that these survivors who were migrating on foot somehow provoked it on their way to Jiangcheng, and were chased all the way until they were wiped out here?" Xu Mo quickly speculated on the possibilities in his mind.
This seems to be the most reasonable explanation: agile zombies are known for their speed and tracking ability. Once they have their eyes on you, it is difficult to get rid of them unless you have the ability to fight back or find an absolutely safe shelter.
Although the whole thing was a bit strange, it had already happened before his eyes, leaving Xu Mo no time to think about it anymore.
Because the agile zombie that had just disappeared behind the broken wall seemed to be attracted by the beam of the powerful flashlight and Xu Mo, this suddenly appearing "living creature," or rather, its killing desire had not yet been fully satisfied.
"Whoosh—!"
A dark shadow shot out from behind the broken wall like an arrow. It didn't run upright, but rather on all fours, charging wildly towards Xu Mo's location with an almost ground-hugging, savage posture! The speed was astonishing; covering a hundred meters would probably only take a few seconds.
The agile zombie's gray-white eyes, now only filled with bloodlust, were fixed on Xu Mo. A low growl came from its rotting throat, and its sharp fingernails scraped against the frozen ground and snow, making a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound.
Xu Mo frowned as he watched the agile zombie rush towards him like a maddened hound.
He held the powerful flashlight steadily in his left hand, its beam locked onto the rapidly moving zombie. The intense light seemed to interfere with its movement, causing a slight, almost imperceptible stiffness and deviation in the agile zombie's sprinting trajectory. At the same time, Xu Mo's right arm firmly gripped the butt of the AK-47, his sights firmly locked on the rapidly approaching dark figure.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Short, precise bursts of fire rang out, the muzzle flashes standing out starkly in the dim light.
The bullets, as if guided by eyes, struck the agile zombie precisely in the chest and shoulder, exploding into clusters of dark blood. The powerful kinetic energy caused its forward momentum to abruptly halt, emitting an angry rather than painful roar, and it staggered a few steps.
It's now!
A cold glint flashed in Xu Mo's eyes, and he suddenly threw the powerful flashlight with his left hand towards the open space not far in front of the zombie. The flashlight drew an arc in the air, and the beam rolled on the ground, further disrupting the zombie's senses.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xu Mo quickly gripped the gun with both hands, and almost at the same time the flashlight hit the ground, he had already completed the aiming correction.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out with exceptional clarity!
The bullet pierced directly into the eye socket of the agile zombie, which was slightly sluggish due to injury and the interference of the bright light.
The zombie's head exploded backward like a ripe watermelon, splattering red and white matter onto the snow behind it. Its forward-moving body staggered forward a couple more steps due to inertia before finally collapsing to the ground with a thud, its limbs twitching a few times before becoming completely still.
From the moment the zombies charge to the moment one is shot in the head and killed, the entire process takes only a few seconds.
Having confirmed that the agile zombie was dead, Xu Mo did not let his guard down. He slowly stepped forward with his gun, first observing the zombie's corpse from a distance to ensure there was no unusual movement, before turning his gaze to the few survivors who had perished.
Approaching the bloody slaughterhouse, Xu Mo endured his discomfort and began to examine the bodies. There were five men and one woman, six corpses in total, all dying in extremely gruesome ways. Almost all of them had been torn apart by immense force, their mutilated bodies showing almost no intact wounds. Their faces were contorted with extreme fear, and they wore tattered clothing that was insufficient to keep them warm. They carried very few supplies, clearly indicating that they were migrants struggling at the very bottom of the survival line.
Suddenly, Xu Mo's eyes narrowed. He saw that the fingers of one of the relatively intact male corpses seemed to twitch slightly; he was turning into a zombie!
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Mo raised the muzzle of his gun, aimed it at the head that was trembling slightly, as if it were about to lift its head at any moment, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
Another gunshot rang out, bringing this brief but brutal encounter to a complete end.
Xu Mo stood in the snow, which reeked of blood, looking around at the corpses and the desolate edge of the town, his brows furrowed.
The immediate threat was resolved, but the doubts in my mind hadn't dissipated. Was the appearance of this agile zombie a coincidence, or did it foreshadow some kind of change?