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墨書 Inktalez
Song Jiu personally sent two Foreigners on their way to the underworld. Taking advantage of the chaos in the cave, he and Chu Guangxu, along with a few others, lifted the bodies and tossed them into a cramped corner at the entrance. The flickering flames inside the cave illuminated the scene, while the Bald Eunuch Party blocked the banquet hall, their voices rising in a noisy debate. To avoid exposing their position, Song Jiu and his companions refrained from rushing in, instead hiding outside at the Fork in the Road, waiting for the corpses to reanimate.
The threat posed by the two bodies was not significant; there was no regularity to when corpses would rise again, and under the current circumstances, the Zombies wouldn’t cause much trouble. If time allowed, Song Jiu could find a way to keep the Foreigners alive until night fell in the cave, then set off two timed explosives. The cave's complex layout was indeed a challenge, but the disadvantages of a confined space were evident; if they couldn't control the spread of Zombies early on, nightmares would descend at an alarming speed. Unfortunately, there were no "what ifs" in this situation; Song Jiu and his group were not yet out of danger. Hiding might provide temporary safety, but it was not a long-term solution. They had no idea what was happening outside or whether rescue teams would successfully find them.
Chu Guangxu did not fully understand Song Jiu's actions. In his view, since they had already escaped, they should focus on getting away. Although this time they suffered heavy losses, there was no need to engage in a fight with the forces in the cave—at least not right now. He hadn’t forgotten their main mission: to leave this place and gather coal before returning to Roundabout to proceed with their plans. That was what truly mattered; as for revenge or venting frustrations, it seemed like a waste of time and effort.
It wasn't just him; the other three shared similar sentiments but did not voice them. With Wu Wentao absent and Chu Guangxu lacking leadership skills, Song Jiu was clearly the only leader present, and he evidently knew things they did not. They had all witnessed how Song Jiu was taken into the cave by that Red Mother figure alone. Shortly after that, they were pulled from their moment of respite, only to see Song Jiu emerge from Dark River. What had transpired during that time remained a mystery.
The noise within the cave gradually diminished as if discussions had concluded. The Bald Eunuch Party surrounding the entrance split into two groups: one entered the cave while another retreated outside. No one noticed the bodies lying in the corner.
About twenty members of the Bald Eunuch Party left the cave, armed with Dog Sticks as they split off at a fork and ran into different tunnels. The remaining members stayed behind in an orderly manner as if coordinating something. Many torches along the rock walls had been extinguished, plunging the area into sudden darkness where only heads could be seen moving about—unclear about what schemes were being plotted.
“Let’s grab a tongue and retreat,” Chu Guangxu hesitated but felt it necessary to express his thoughts. He wasn’t one of Song Jiu’s people and had no obligation to assist him with unnecessary tasks.
Song Jiu fixed his intense gaze on the darkness. Hearing Chu Guangxu speak up, he turned his head slightly and frowned. “You all go first.”
“Ah,” Chu Guangxu was taken aback; he hadn’t expected Song Jiu to be so straightforward.
“You all go first,” Song Jiu ignored their puzzled looks and instructed: “No need for tongues; return to that cave and follow Dark River downstream for about twenty minutes on foot. There’s a drop of four or five meters where you’ll find some rock spikes and ropes left behind along with a shovel. Take that shovel and continue forward; at the end there’s a dog hole that might be half-buried now but is made of loose soil—put some effort into digging it out and you’ll be outside in the mountains. Find a way to get to the road.”
Chu Guangxu and his companions exchanged glances, mouths agape for a moment without speaking. Song Jiu’s words carried significant weight; it sounded like during his absence he had already found an exit from here—so why didn’t he go to the road instead of coming back?
“Stop saying useless things; let’s hurry up! Ziqian and Liu Yan are still missing. If you can reunite with the main group, just follow your old route back,” Song Jiu silenced their questions with a look, then furrowed his brow as he addressed his Direct Descendant Young Man: “If you see Dream Fan, don’t let her come.”
“ Brother Jiu, I’m going with you,” Young Man shook his weapon in hand and gritted his teeth. “It’s too dangerous for you alone.”
“It’s fine; I have my own plans,” Song Jiu directly ignored Young Man’s insistence. As he observed how dimly lit it was becoming inside the cave, he realized there must be another passageway within; waiting any longer would likely yield nothing beneficial. Thus he decided not to wait any further: “You all go ahead; stay safe.” With that said, he jumped out from his hiding spot and crouched low as he stealthily moved past the rock wall, glancing at the two Foreigners’ bodies which still showed no signs of reanimation.
“Strange,” Song Jiu muttered with some frustration; they didn’t change when they should have but chose to act out of turn otherwise.
At the end of the cave, a few torches were still burning, while the bonfire in the center had been extinguished. The wooden tables on either side had been moved by the Bald Eunuch Party to the fork leading to the Red Mother Cave, seemingly preparing to block the way. In the dim light, Big Peony and several women could be seen directing the Bald Gang at the cave entrance, while the rest had vanished.
Song Jiu leaned against the rocky wall at the entrance, his brow furrowed as he tried to find a way to break in. The few remaining members of Big Peony were armed, and although the cave was dimly lit, there were no hiding spots. It was clear that charging in unarmed would be futile. The tunnel behind must hold some secrets; Red Mother had already taken the women and armed eunuchs away. Suddenly, Song Jiu recalled something—Red Mother wouldn't retreat without reason. He remembered a woman speaking to her back at Dark River Cave, which must have prompted Red Mother to abandon her plans for torturing prisoners.
"They're already here," Song Jiu chuckled softly to himself, realizing how likely that was. Aside from external threats, there was no other reasonable explanation. With this thought, his previously anxious heart relaxed somewhat; it seemed those bald men who had just left must have lost their chance to block other entrances.
As he pondered this, a low, hoarse sound suddenly came from a corner nearby. Startled, Song Jiu quickly glanced toward Foreigner's body and saw that one of the Field Duty members had awakened. The shadow stumbled around, seemingly disoriented from its new life. It stood up and moved a couple of steps before catching Song Jiu's scent. Frowning at the situation inside the cave, Song Jiu noted that the bald men had blocked most of the tunnel entrance, with large wooden stakes acting as makeshift cover—an obvious sign of their presence.
Estimating the number of bald men present, he caught sight of a Walking Corpse approaching and gritted his teeth as he dashed into the empty Feasting Cave.
"Abba abba!" He sprinted forward with surprising speed while mimicking the strange sounds of the bald men, racing along the opposite wall in an attempt to conceal his figure in the shadows.
His sudden appearance caused quite a commotion; those behind the barricade were obstructed from seeing him darting along the wall and only heard his strange cries. They turned just in time to see a swaying figure emerge at the cave entrance.
"Who?" Big Peony asked nervously, taking a few steps back with her two companions responsible for cleanup. Although they held guns, these cold weapons offered little comfort.
The bald man lifting a wooden stake paused his work and quickly grabbed a torch from behind his seat. Six or seven others cautiously approached the cave entrance, their shadows flickering in the torchlight as they illuminated distorted orange shapes against the walls.
Hiss...
The leading bald man heard a raspy voice coming from deep within someone's throat and found it somewhat familiar. He moved the torch closer. A gust of cold wind swept through the tunnel, causing flames to flicker violently; darkness enveloped them momentarily before light returned. A pale Western face appeared alongside the brightness, accompanied by a roar. White teeth sank into an exposed throat nearby; skin and flesh tore apart instantly as blood sprayed forth, staining Foreigner's pale face crimson.
The Bald Gang behind erupted in panic; amidst their terror, they still managed to warn their companions further down the tunnel. Their chaotic shouts were abruptly cut off as another revived Zombie lunged forward for its first meal after resurrection. Meanwhile, Song Jiu—the first to rush into the cave—was forgotten by everyone else. The bald men finally recognized him amidst flickering firelight; without needing their mistress's command, they shouted and charged forward with Dog Sticks raised.
Song Jiu crouched beneath one of the main tables and silently thanked two Foreigner corpses nearby before flipping over a lighter table and rushing toward the semi-blocked tunnel. With a fierce shout, he hurled the table into the crowd of bald men guarding the entrance.
At this moment, only more than ten members of Bald Eunuch Party remained; seven or eight rushed like Zombies while others assisted their mistress with lighting tasks. Caught off guard by this sudden attack, one bald man was knocked over with a startled cry as he swung his torch wildly. Song Jiu ducked behind the table to avoid being hit and spun around like a turtle with its shell as he used the hardwood table's edge as a weapon—knocking one bald man down before swiftly flipping his hand to stab his dagger into another bald man's chest who was charging toward him.
Everything happened in an instant, a flash of light, overwhelming and dizzying.
The scattered light sources provided great convenience for Song Jiu. While the Bald Eunuch Party was busy killing two Zombies, Song Jiu took advantage of the chaos to climb up the logs blocking the tunnel entrance. A few bald men he had knocked down rushed forward, trying to pull him down, but Song Jiu completely ignored the bald heads coming at him from behind. He crouched low and squeezed through the gap between the logs.
The bark of the logs had not even been stripped away, and despite wearing clothes, his skin was scraped raw on his chest and back, leaving bloodstains. However, with the situation so tense, he couldn't afford to cry out in pain. The moment he fell into the tunnel, he rolled to the side to avoid three gunstocks that came crashing down on him. Indeed, the three members of Big Peony inside the tunnel did not fire their guns; instead, they swung their gunstocks in an attempt to subdue Song Jiu.
It is said that habit becomes second nature, and this was certainly true. Having been accustomed to wielding whips and clubs, they instinctively treated their firearms as Cold Weapons in a moment of panic, which was their misfortune.
Startled and drenched in cold sweat, Song Jiu quickly got up and grabbed the barrel of Big Peony's gun as it was aimed at his head. At the same time, Big Peony pulled the trigger. The muzzle flashed with fire; the massive recoil of the Rifle was something Big Peony could not withstand. It felt as if someone had struck her shoulder with a hammer. In that moment of pain, her aim shifted, and a horizontal burst of flames tore through the air, shattering another woman's skull at close range. Both Song Jiu and Big Peony fell to the ground. Song Jiu quickly mounted her and seized the Rifle, returning fire with her own weapon. The hard stock of the HK416 came crashing down heavily; Big Peony let out a muffled groan as her head tilted to one side and she fell still.
"I surrender! I surrender!" The last remaining woman saw Song Jiu approaching her with a face smeared with her companion's brain matter. Her expression turned pale as she dropped her handgun with a clatter and raised her hands in a hurry to plead for mercy.
Song Jiu stood up and took a breath. In his rush earlier, he hadn't paid much attention to his injuries; now, the scratches on his chest and back began to sting painfully. He glanced at the woman, finding her somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized she was the short girl who had splashed water on him earlier.
There was no time to deal with her now. Song Jiu shot her a warning look, lifted the Rifle to his shoulder, and poked its muzzle through a gap in the wooden barricade blocking the tunnel entrance. He aimed at the charging bald Eunuchs and pulled the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat
The bald Eunuchs scrambling up the logs were instantly knocked down by a barrage of bullets. The struggle between flesh and bullets left no room for doubt; in mere moments, blood splattered everywhere as bodies fell lifelessly to the ground. The barely alive bald men writhed in agony as dropped torches fell into pools of blood, sizzling and releasing a foul odor before slowly extinguishing.
Wiping away cold sweat from his brow, Song Jiu felt a dull ache in his shoulder; this gun's recoil was no joke—it made his right hand tingle slightly. Turning around, he saw Little Woman still standing behind him with her hands raised in surrender, eyes wide with terror and lips pale.
"Where's Red Mother?" Song Jiu rubbed his shoulder and bent down to pick up a small handgun. Checking its magazine revealed it was still fully loaded.
"Inside," Little Woman stammered nervously.
"There are other passages inside," Song Jiu said as he reached out for an unextinguished torch that had been brought in earlier. He nudged Little Woman's back with his handgun, signaling her to lead the way.
"Yes." Little Woman still held up her hands, glancing nervously at Song Jiu, stammering, "D-Don't kill me."
"Let's see how you perform." Song Jiu made a shushing gesture and slowly stopped. He remembered that they hadn't walked far when he was brought in; Red Mother's cave should be right ahead. Such a small place clearly couldn't accommodate so many people trying to escape. He listened carefully to the sounds in the tunnel; in the distance, the gunfire from earlier still echoed, but there were no other unusual noises.
"Where does this passage lead?" Song Jiu asked quietly.
"It leads to the military supply warehouse inside Red Mother's room," Little Woman replied, not daring to slack off. The news from outside had been serious, and with unexpected events happening inside as well, it was better to be cautious and align with the winning side for survival.
Song Jiu paused, frowning as he asked, "Military supply warehouse?"
"Yes, yes! That's where our supplies come from," Little Woman explained hurriedly when she noticed his skepticism. "I heard it from others; there's a warehouse used by a unit in the mountains."
The more Song Jiu listened, the more confused he became. Skipping over irrelevant details, he asked, "Are there weapons inside?"
"It seems there aren't any," Little Woman replied uncertainly, blinking nervously. "I've heard there are a lot of food reserves; we rely on that for our survival."
"Food reserves," Song Jiu frowned, suddenly recalling the map in Yang Chun Yue's backpack along with a pile of specialized equipment. His expression gradually relaxed into an odd smile as he gazed into the dark depths of the tunnel, a smirk playing on his lips.
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