Chapter 125
Chapter 125
Qingshui shut the van door.
She turned and exchanged glances with Wen Lianfeng and Chu Jingchu, who were sitting beside her. The three of them nodded discreetly.
They had told no one about the terrifying theory they had come up with a few nights ago: that the crimson-eyed man who had been following them might be a Madman who knew Wen Lianfeng.
Not even Wu Wujie or Song Yunqing.
Wen Lianfeng had made her reasoning clear. If the man really had followed her all the way here, he should have broken in long ago.
That meant he had either lost her trail or had never been following her specifically.
They could not act rashly or lose their composure. They would watch and wait for a few days first.
Qingshui and Chu Jingchu had silently agreed with her decision.
This was no time to alert the enemy, especially in this Psychiatric Hospital, which appeared peaceful on the surface while hidden currents churned beneath.
The van gave a slight shudder as the engine started. Qingshui slowly exhaled, her back pressed against the cold window as her wary gaze swept across the darkness outside.
The night was pitch-black. The moon and countless stars glittered coldly overhead, but their light was too distant. It barely illuminated the road ahead and only made the darkness seem deeper.
Eight people had set out on this mission.
Qingshui, Wen Lianfeng, and Chu Jingchu.
Li Chong and Xu Wenlie.
And three women whose names Qingshui did not know.
Two were from Meng Rui’s group. One had yellow hair, and both had cold looks in their eyes. They were currently riding in the other van.
The last was a slightly older, middle-aged woman. Her raised collar concealed half her face, and her eyes betrayed no emotion, but her hands were steady on the wheel.
They barely knew one another, yet the apocalypse had forced them all into the same boat.
Li Chong and the two women from Meng Rui’s group were in a black van that had already driven far ahead. It receded farther and farther into the night. Only when it was about to disappear from view did the driver of Qingshui’s van finally start the engine and follow.
Their target was the Fanrong County Grain Depot, located in the neighboring county about thirty kilometers away.
Li Chong’s team was responsible for scouting ahead and, if necessary, drawing away any dangers along the route to give Qingshui’s team a chance to slip through.
The van entered a winding mountain road. They did not even dare turn on the dim headlights, leaving them to rely on the faint moonlight to make out the rutted road ahead. The tires crunched over gravel and dead branches, producing soft yet grating sounds.
Every noise stretched their nerves a little tighter.
The surroundings were deathly silent. There were no insects chirping, no wind, and no signs of human habitation. It was as if the apocalypse had swallowed even the wind itself.
Several wisps of gray-black smoke drifted above the distant horizon, twisting as they rose into the night sky.
Qingshui narrowed her eyes. It was smoke. The columns were so dark and thick that they were only just visible against the night.
No one but the Madmen would do something like that.
They must be indulging in another bloody revel, burning… their own kind, corpses, houses, or living people.
Qingshui’s throat tightened. She looked away and continued watching the darkness nearby. Just then, something at the edge of her vision caught her attention.
Something moved.
It was in the dense grass to the right of the road. The grass had shifted ever so slightly, as though something hiding inside had finally lost its patience.
Qingshui’s entire body tensed.
“Something’s wrong.”
Her voice was quiet, but everyone heard her.
The instant she finished speaking, several deathly pale faces shot out of the grass!
They had been waiting there all along.
The faces were so close that Qingshui could see scraps of flesh hanging from the corners of their mouths. Their cheeks bulged, their mouths stuffed full as they continued to chew and swallow. Blood ran from their lips and dripped onto the ground.
Then they raised the objects in their hands.
They hoisted rust-covered iron buckets high and tipped them forward, sending a full bucket of scarlet liquid pouring out!
The liquid splashed violently across the van’s windows, coating the glass from edge to edge!
It was blood.
A whole bucket of blood.
Qingshui’s pupils contracted sharply. Through the layer of scarlet liquid, she saw the pale faces grinning. Their smiles grew wider and more delighted, until the stones and scraps of flesh in their mouths spilled out.
Then they lunged at the van!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Madmen clambered onto the doors and began slamming their heads violently against the windows!
Once! Twice! Three times!
Blood burst from their foreheads with every impact, mixing with the scarlet liquid coating the glass. The pain and the sight of the humans’ bloodless faces inside only made them laugh harder.
Each time they struck the windows, blood-soaked gravel spilled from their stuffed mouths and struck the glass.
“Speed up!!!”
Xu Wenlie’s roar came from the front of the van!
The driver slammed her foot on the accelerator!
The Madmen clinging to the windows were thrown off, followed by those hanging from the doors!
The van tore through the night at a frantic speed. No one knew how long they drove before the wild laughter behind them finally vanished into the wind.
Everyone stared silently at the blood trickling down the windows. The only sounds were their heavy, stifled breaths. Scarlet blood still coated the glass in layer after layer. Seen through that bloody veil, the outside world twisted and warped as though submerged in hell.
Just then, the radio at Xu Wenlie’s waist gave a faint crackle of static.
A woman spoke cautiously in a hushed voice. She was from Li Chong’s team.
“S?”
Safe?
A single letter. It was their agreed-upon code for asking whether they were safe.
Some of the tension left Xu Wenlie’s shoulders. She caught her breath and replied quietly,
“1.”
Safe.
The van did not stop. It continued racing along the dark mountain road.