Chapter 89: Fleeing

Bai Ge checked his watch. Fifteen minutes had passed, and Yi Chen still had not appeared.

Beyond the moat, the world lay in utter darkness, and under the bleak moonlight, the outlines of some buildings could faintly be made out. They stood there like grotesque monsters with teeth and claws bared.

“He must have run into trouble,” Bai Ge said with a frown.

“No way. What kind of trouble could Yi Chen run into?” Ling Zhe said in surprise. For someone that formidable, someone who could even cut down Crawlers, there were few opponents in all of South River City who could challenge him. What could possibly hold him back?

“I don’t know. If something really happened, there’s nothing we can do even if we go back to help,” Bai Ge said.

Silence fell over the group. Bai Ge was right. They had only just managed to slip from the outskirts into the inner city; turning back now was nearly impossible. Any abnormal movement would put the guards on high alert.

On the other hand, if it was an event even Yi Chen could not easily handle, then going there would not help in the slightest. It might even make matters worse.

“Don’t look back. Keep moving. He’ll catch up. We’ll go to the pharmaceutical company headquarters first and rescue Ling Lan,” Bai Ge called to them, motioning them into the car.

Liang Bing cast one last glance at the slowly closing electrified iron gate, a trace of worry hidden deep in her bright eyes.

Earlier, she had felt nothing unusual. But the stillness before a storm was always the most frightening.

The Yi Chen of now was on a completely different level from her. Perhaps he had sensed a danger she could not perceive.

“…How is Yi Chen supposed to get into the city later?” Zhu Youzheng asked.

“Don’t worry about that. He’ll find a way. If he really wants to, he could even wipe out the whole quarantine zone,” Ling Zhe said.

There was exaggeration in that, but it was not entirely impossible. Everyone let out a faint, uneasy laugh. Each carried his own thoughts, and no one spoke again.

...

A thunderous crash came from the street corner as Yi Chen was blasted from a two-story shop and slammed hard to the ground, cracking the concrete pavement beneath him.

Before he could get up, the monster pressed a claw to his head, pinning him in place.

His nose and mouth were blocked; his chest heaved violently as agony tore through him.

A sticky liquid trickled from his brow into the corner of his eye, and he could no longer tell whether it was blood or something else.

Cold wind whistled into the wound on his head, steadily numbing his consciousness.

Lying among the frozen rubble, his gaze slid past the monster’s body and up to the full moon in the night sky, where it had become blurred and crimson.

Was this the end?

No. He could not fall here.

Ling Lan was still imprisoned, not yet rescued.

Someone had targeted him, and the reason and mastermind were still unknown.

He had only just learned the truth about his family, and sent off a letter heavy with longing. What expression would his parents and younger sister wear when they read it?

And Mu Qing… he truly wanted to see her again.

He still had so many ties to this world. How could he stop here?

Even if it meant turning into a zombie again, so be it!

Yi Chen clenched his teeth. Driven by the fierce resolve that had ignited within him, he sensed the cells in his body gradually growing active, surging restlessly, seeking an outlet through which to release their power.

His best condition was coming. There was still hope.

The agitation in his body calmed his mind. He had to focus and keep himself under control, or else this terrifying power born of the zombie would spiral out of control and, in destroying the enemy, destroy him as well.

Last time, Mu Qing had been there to wake him. This time, he fought alone. He could rely on no one but himself.

Just then, the pressure on his head suddenly vanished. The monster had actually withdrawn its force and shot several meters away in an instant.

It had noticed that Yi Chen’s body temperature had suddenly soared, and heat was rising all around him. He was nothing like the half-dead, helpless state from moments before.

Yi Chen slowly sat up, one hand covering the wound on his head, and fixed the monster with his crimson left eye.

“Why run? Are you afraid?”

The monster said nothing.

“If you’ve got the guts, don’t play dirty. Let’s settle our old and new grudges all at once.” Yi Chen knew it could understand him.

The monster was equally unambiguous. It turned and vanished into the darkness.

Damn, not this again?

Yi Chen was at a loss for words. So his proposal had been no better than a fart?

Though he inwardly sneered, he knew he had to seize this chance to recover a little longer. He was covered in injuries, while the other side was unharmed. Without a weapon, the monster controlled the pace of the fight, and it would not be easy to deal with.

Time passed by the second. Yi Chen had been highly alert at first, waiting for the monster’s next attack at any moment, but nothing happened for a long while.

That vigilance soon turned into astonishment and doubt.

Yi Chen circled the nearby area once, but still found nothing.

Could it be… that monster had sensed danger and already fled?

“Do you take me for an idiot?! You just walk off halfway through the fight?” Yi Chen was furious, thoroughly irritated. He punched the wall of a nearby residential building, punching a large hole clean through it.

He hated that monster for wasting his time, and immediately broke into a run toward the moat.

There was no sign left of Ling Zhe and the others. The river and the opposite bank were littered with zombie remains. A group of people in municipal work uniforms were busy repairing and replacing the iron gates of the first defensive perimeter.

Yi Chen sensed the group of zombies he had been controlling. Not a single one remained. He felt a little hollow inside, after all they had been temporary troops he had spent effort summoning.

It looked like the battle to defend the city had ended some time ago. Ling Zhe and the others should already have infiltrated the city, then? Once inside, things would be much easier.

Yi Chen guessed as much and found a wall by the roadside to sit against. His head was a little dizzy, and the wounds from earlier had not yet fully healed.

In the fight with the monster, he had lost too much stamina and blood, and now he badly wanted something to eat.

Watching the busy figures across the way, he unconsciously clicked his tongue, and already an image had risen in his mind of biting down and ripping out their throats one by one.

No.

He suppressed that surge of excitement and felt he ought to rest and readjust himself properly. If he went over in this state, he did not know whether he would truly end up taking action against human beings.

A venomous gaze shadowed Yi Chen from afar. The monster had concealed its presence and had not gone far. It kept its distance, tailing him.

Zhang Lei, when he was alive, had been an expert at surveillance. He was exceptionally patient and adept at choosing the perfect moment to strike.

Now this monster, named the Stalker by Ouyang Hong, combined the strengths of Zhang Lei and the Crawler. Even someone as powerful as Yi Chen could not sense its presence under these circumstances.

The Stalker bore the double hatred of both the Crawler and Zhang Lei, and its foremost enemy was Yi Chen. But it had witnessed the power of his zombie transformation, and the memory was still vivid in its mind.

It valued its current life and did not want to take the risk of continuing a direct fight with him. Even though it had held an absolute advantage just now, there were too many variables. It did not believe it would be easy to eliminate Yi Chen.

Now, however, it had a better idea.

To ruin Yi Chen, it was not necessary to kill him outright. He had so many people he cared about, and each one was a weakness.

It would enter South River City and eat them one by one.