Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Following Lin Hao’s directions, An Xiaolin drove onward.
Beyond the stretch illuminated by the headlights, there was nothing but an empty road and the silent scars left by the disaster.
More and more wrecked vehicles appeared along the way. Some had even piled into one another, blocking nearly half the road and forcing An Xiaolin to slow down and carefully squeeze through the gaps or edge along the shoulder.
Bloodstains had practically become the new pavement.
Every so often, they spotted one or two relatively intact bodies lying by the roadside, their limbs twisted at unnatural angles. From a distance, however, it was impossible to tell whether they were victims or… madmen who had gone still for the moment.
Even more disturbing than the bodies were the pieces scattered amid the blood. Some were still recognizable as parts of the human body, while others had been reduced to indistinct masses of flesh, crushed beneath countless tires until they had become part of the road itself.
Ji Feifan remained half-leaning out, watching for movement to the side and behind them. He had an arrow resting against his bow, though the string was undrawn, ready to be pulled at any moment.
“It’s too quiet,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. “Those things… don’t seem to have followed us out.”
“Maybe they’re still enjoying their feast,” Qingshui replied, her wary gaze sweeping across the darkness around them. “Or maybe… they’re confined to the more densely populated areas for now. Don’t let your guard down.”
After driving for more than ten kilometers, the scattered silhouettes of low buildings appeared ahead.
They had reached the first town.
Calling it a town was generous. It was more like a residential community that had sprung up along the highway, with a single main street lined by shops, restaurants, auto repair garages, and homes. Now, not a trace of life remained.
The windows of several buildings had been shattered, and their doors lay broken on the ground.
A sedan had crashed into a roadside convenience store, toppling the shelves and scattering merchandise across the floor.
In the middle of the main street, an overturned pickup truck was still giving off wisps of black smoke. The air reeked of burning debris mingled with the stench of something rotting.
There were no lights, no people, and no sign of the madmen.
“Drive straight through. Don’t stop or slow down,” Qingshui said calmly.
An Xiaolin nodded and took a deep breath before pressing harder on the accelerator. The roar of the engine echoed through the deathly silent street, jarringly loud.
Just as their vehicle was about to pass through the center of town, several figures slowly emerged from the residential alleys on either side.
They ran out of the alleys, dragging fresh human bodies behind them.
“Faster!” Qingshui shouted.
An Xiaolin slammed the accelerator to the floor, and the off-road vehicle roared forward. The sudden surge of engine noise seemed to agitate the madmen. They staggered toward the middle of the road, throwing themselves in front of the vehicle in an attempt to stop it.
“Bang! Bang!”
The vehicle jolted violently twice, accompanied by the teeth-grating crunch of impact. Several madmen were sent flying without mercy.
In the rearview mirror, the remaining madmen could still be seen flailing their arms as they chased the taillights. They soon fell far behind, disappearing once more into the darkness of the town.
No one in the vehicle spoke.
“This is only the beginning.” Ji Feifan lowered his window slightly, allowing some of the cold air, tainted with the smells of blood and burning, to rush inside. “The next one might be worse.”
Qingshui’s expression remained unchanged.
After another ten kilometers or so, the outline of a second settlement came into view. It was somewhat larger than the first, with buildings packed more densely together.
Before they had even fully entered the neighborhood, they saw that something was different.
Several vehicles were scattered haphazardly across the main road into town. Some had crashed into each other, while others lay overturned, blocking the road completely and forming a crude barricade. Behind it, numerous shadowy figures seemed to be moving about.
More importantly, when their headlights swept over the scene, they saw flames.
Several houses were burning, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky. The firelight illuminated the excited scarlet figures cavorting nearby.
Shrill laughter and agonized screams drifted faintly toward them on the wind.
A much larger revelry was clearly underway here.
“We can’t get through.” An Xiaolin stepped on the brake, bringing the SUV to a stop a hundred meters from the barricade.
“Back up a little and turn off the engine,” Qingshui decided at once. “We can’t force our way through, but we can’t stay here for long either. See if there’s another route around the town.”
Lin Hao hurriedly searched his memory. “There is! I remember an old road that goes around the town. It’s in pretty bad shape, though. It’s an old dirt road, so it might not even show up on the GPS.”
“Take it,” Qingshui said.
Lin Hao strained to make out the terrain beyond the dark windows, then pointed to a turnoff on the right. “Over there? I think that’s it.”
An Xiaolin did not hesitate. She shifted into reverse, slowly backed up to the turnoff, and steered onto it.
The ride instantly became rough and jarring. The dirt-and-gravel road had clearly gone years without maintenance. Their headlights revealed a rutted surface and towering weeds ahead.
They had no choice but to slow down. If anything went wrong on this narrow, uneven road, the consequences would be disastrous.
The distant flames and commotion in town gradually faded behind the dense trees. Eventually, all they could hear was the engine and the increasingly distinct pounding of their own hearts.
The road was longer and harder to navigate than expected. They had been jolting along for nearly twenty minutes, and everyone was growing anxious when the view ahead finally opened up again. The dirt road rejoined the paved highway heading north.
Looking back, they saw that the burning street now lay far behind and off to one side.
“We made it!” Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief.
“Keep going.” Qingshui glanced in the rearview mirror to confirm that nothing had followed them.
Once they were back on the smooth highway, An Xiaolin picked up speed. After driving for another few minutes, they followed Lin Hao’s directions and turned onto another side road. It wound uphill between dense mountain forests.
“Cuihu Mountain Resort is at the end of this road,” Lin Hao explained, anticipation and tension creeping into his voice.
The mountain road twisted and turned, its streetlights still glowing. Unlike everywhere else, the pavement was not streaked with blood. Now, the quiet isolation gave them a sense of security.
At last, after rounding several bends, they emerged onto a broad stretch of level ground. Villas and estates were scattered sparsely in the distance.
They continued through the resort, passing one elegantly designed house after another before finally stopping in front of a villa halfway up the mountain.
The villa had nearly the entire mid-slope to itself. A vast lake lay around its perimeter, along with several meticulously cultivated gardens.
“This is it.” Lin Hao’s voice was dry.
An Xiaolin slowly brought the SUV to a stop outside the gate. Everyone looked at Qingshui.
“Ji Feifan, Li Wei’an, and Lin Hao, get out and check the place with me. An Xiaolin, keep the engine running and be ready to move at any time. Yuhui, Lin Hao, keep an eye on our surroundings and the road behind us.”
She opened the door, tightened her grip on her combat knife, and was the first to step through the gate.