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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Fifty-Two: Peeping
The moonlight was heavy, and the county hospital was bustling with activity. A gentle breeze rustled through the foot of Power Station Mountain.
Two shadows moved slowly down the mountainside, their heavy footsteps cracking the dry branches and leaves beneath them.
A yellow dog, ears perked up, followed closely behind the fully armed Bai Yudong, occasionally sniffing the ground before lifting its head to look around in confusion.
Bai Yudong held a gleaming machete in his hand, its blade smooth and reflective. Thick droplets of blood trickled down the edge, falling onto the ground and staining the grass a bizarre crimson.
It took Bai Yudong a long time to descend from the mountaintop to the base. To avoid another group of people, he chose the opposite direction, planning to take a longer route. However, halfway down, he encountered a batch of zombies. This puzzled him; judging by their clothing, they were clearly from Power Station as well. Why had they inexplicably made their way halfway down the mountain?
Fortunately, there weren't too many of them. The mountainside was open and steep, and seven or eight zombies were easily dealt with. With a flash of his blade, several headless corpses lay on the ground.
After Bai Yudong finished his work, the yellow dog came over, its face serious as it sniffed every corner meticulously before barking incessantly in one direction.
Bai Yudong sat down to rest for a moment. Following the direction of the dog's barking, he shaded his eyes with his hand and looked over.
That way was towards the original campsite. Under the night sky, only dense forests were visible, everything appearing as dark masses.
"Did Little Pan and the others go towards the campsite?" Bai Yudong muttered to himself. Although the yellow dog wasn't a military dog, it had proven itself at Power Station, so Bai Yudong trusted it enough to believe it had discovered something.
He bit into a cigarette while scratching the dog's neck with one hand. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a sausage, tore it open, and offered it to the dog.
The yellow dog's tail wagged like a Dutch windmill as it wore an eager expression. With a snap of its jaws, it snatched the sausage and scampered off to enjoy its treat.
"There's no harm in taking a look back." Bai Yudong adjusted his glasses, wiped the blood off the obstruction knife with a handful of dry grass, and stood up to signal Yellow Dog to follow.
After more than ten minutes, the man and the dog arrived once again at the edge of the deep pool. Under the night sky, the pool appeared somewhat eerie, with the dim moonlight reflecting off the water, giving it a lifeless quality. This time, Bai Yudong did not need to swim; the water level had dropped significantly over the past two days, revealing the previously submerged dirt embankment.
Yellow Dog jumped into the pool and paddled swiftly, reaching the opposite bank first and leaping up. It shivered on the spot, splashing water everywhere.
Bai Yudong was not in a hurry. He stepped carefully onto the still somewhat slippery embankment and slowly made his way across, following the path they had taken before towards the campsite.
When they ascended the mountain, they had crossed here holding onto a floating log. Now that the water level had decreased dramatically, aside from some low-lying areas filled with muddy water, most of the ground was exposed.
Yellow Dog did not head towards the campsite but instead dashed into the woods with its ears perked up. Bai Yudong stood on higher ground, gazing at the ruins of the campsite in the distance. He Yong had told Bai Yudong before he died that they buried Xiaoyun in an open area outside the woods. Standing at the edge of the forest, Bai Yudong felt a pang of sorrow; he wanted to take a look but couldn't muster the courage to move his feet.
He stood there for quite a while until Yellow Dog returned, a bit impatient, tugging at his pant leg.
"Alright, let's go." Bai Yudong forced a bitter smile and followed Yellow Dog into the woods.
Most of the standing water in the forest had receded, leaving behind patches of mud where decayed leaves and branches had turned into muck. A careless step could easily trap one up to their knee. Yellow Dog, being light on its feet, bounded ahead and soon left Bai Yudong behind.
Old Bai looked around; it was pitch black, and aside from his own breathing, there seemed to be nothing else— even Yellow Dog's panting grew faint. This made him feel uneasy; following Yellow Dog didn't seem like a wise choice after all. However, since he was already this far along without changing direction, he might as well head straight onto the highway, he thought.
But this thought lasted less than five minutes because as he approached the edge of the woods, some subtle sounds caught his attention. In the darkness, Yellow Dog returned with its tail tucked between its legs and lay obediently at his feet. Bai Yudong hid behind a large tree, his expression serious as he looked towards the highway.
He had been here before; during those days when Jiang He's group arrived at the campsite, he had specifically brought people back to retrieve supplies left on Coach and that little girl's body. Old Bai was confident in his memory; there hadn't been any box trucks on that road at that time.
Bai Yudong instinctively reached for his lower back, only to remember that he no longer had the night vision binoculars. After a moment of thought, Old Bai patted Yellow Dog on the head, signaling it to stay hidden and not run off. He crouched low and stealthily made his way toward the side of the highway.
The toll station looked as it always did, weather-beaten and increasingly desolate.
Bai Yudong sheathed his obstacle-clearing knife and disengaged the safety on his HK416. He quietly slipped out from the edge of the forest, crawling on his stomach until he stopped just under ten meters from the highway guardrail.
Two figures leisurely circled around the large Coach, speaking softly to each other.
Though they were not far away, Bai Yudong's position was lower in elevation. To avoid exposing himself, he refrained from raising his head. Old Bai crawled a few steps up the gentle slope and, taking advantage of the moment when the figures turned away from the Coach, he flipped over the guardrail and crouched behind the concrete barrier of the toll station.
From this angle, he had a clear view of the front of the large Coach. It was evident that something obscured the glass, with faint light seeping through the gaps. This discovery further confirmed Bai Yudong's suspicions; it seemed these people were indeed lured here by someone from Jiang He's group.
Although he couldn't see anyone else, Bai Yudong had reason to believe that those inside the vehicle were part of the same group that attacked Power Station, as three conspicuous letters—RCA—were spray-painted on the back of the van.
Bai Yudong looked up at the sky; the starlight was dim, and the moon was hidden behind clouds. The highway was eerily silent, with strange light filtering through the gaps.
"The wheel of fortune turns; let's see how it feels to be ambushed," Bai Yudong suppressed his surging anger while carefully listening to his surroundings. He took out a magazine and began loading golden bullets one by one into the chamber, also chambering rounds in both handguns and unbuckling their holsters.
A black business vehicle was parked at the rear of the large Coach, making it impossible to see if anyone was inside from a distance. The two vans on either side remained still; those two earlier figures seemed to be patrolling as they walked around the cargo vehicles and headed toward the Coach, moving lightly. Judging by their gait, they likely had guns in hand.
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