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墨書 Inktalez
The dark dungeon was filled with an overwhelming stench of blood. Song Jiu curled up on the ground, his heavy breathing proving he was still alive. Xiaofei, disheveled and hollow-eyed, leaned against Song Jiu, trembling uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face, hot droplets falling onto Song Jiu's cheek, mixing with the blood and trickling into the corner of his mouth, salty and bitter.
The Blonde Woman and the Black and White Duo had already left. Song Jiu and Xiaofei were locked in the dungeon, a steel gate secured with a padlock, the key carelessly discarded by the Blonde Woman. They hadn’t escaped through the hidden door but had slipped into the warehouse instead. The dungeon was soundproof, and the commotion below hadn’t alerted the guards above; similarly, Song Jiu had no way of knowing what was happening in the warehouse at that moment.
Faced with the overwhelming pressure from three Zombies, Song Jiu could only choose to accept his fate. The Black man was one of the Zombies who had appeared in town that night; Song Jiu didn’t remember him, but he certainly remembered Song Jiu. Thus, Song Jiu's lies crumbled under scrutiny, and the dirt he had thrown at Cold Man splashed back onto his own face. The only silver lining was that the Zombie hadn’t realized that Song Jiu was currently the highest commander of their camp, so he merely inquired about the camp's general defensive capabilities before letting them go.
Of course, for the Zombie, sparing them meant showing leniency. However, Xiaofei suffered a great humiliation, and Song Jiu paid for it with a finger. The Black man did not keep his promise; after receiving mixed information from Song Jiu, he cut off his left pinky finger on the grounds that Song Jiu had been dishonest.
The intense feeling of defeat and the pain from his injury were almost unbearable for Song Jiu. He couldn’t even articulate what was going through his mind—whether he was worried about himself or concerned about the camp—it drove him mad because he felt powerless in either case. He couldn’t even get out of his cell, let alone do anything else.
It had been nearly half an hour since they entered the warehouse. Logically, the guards outside should have become alert by now; however, considering the tough-skinned Zombies, it was likely that even three Guard Boys would be in grave danger.
Xiaofei's sobs echoed in the dungeon; her strained cries made Song Jiu's heart ache even more because it was right under his nose that the Blonde Woman had tormented her while he could do nothing to help.
"Song Jiu, how are you?" Xiaofei wiped her tears and nudged a dead dog on the ground with her shoulder. Her hands were still cuffed behind her back. The Zombie seemed indifferent to them but left no room for future trouble.
"I won't die just yet," Song Jiu replied with difficulty, forcing himself to sit up. The fabric covering his severed finger was soaked through; there were no tools available to stop the bleeding here. At this rate, losing blood alone would be enough to kill him.
"Where are you hurt?" Xiaofei could smell blood but didn’t know where he was injured. It was hard for her to listen to him speak; she was terrified beyond measure. Even though they were trapped together, at least Song Jiu was still there with her. What would she do if he died?
"Ugh," Song Jiu leaned against the cold wall and gritted his teeth. "That Black bastard chopped off my finger; damn it, I'm going to be disabled."
Xiaofei turned pale at this news and hurried over to try to help him. Unfortunately, her range of movement was limited, and all she could see were dark shadows; she couldn’t make out anything clearly.
"What should we do now? Are you going to die? What should I do?"
"Don't rush, don't rush." Song Jiu raised a hand to stroke her long hair, soothing her. "You won't die in a moment. Calm down. Do you have anything to stop the bleeding, like a rubber band or a rope?"
"I... I don't know. You can look for it." Xiaofei's mind flashed with gruesome images of severed limbs and blood, causing her body to tremble involuntarily. She couldn't bear to imagine what kind of horrific scene Song Jiu was witnessing at that moment.
Song Jiu was also at a loss. He forced himself to take off his shirt and wrap it around the wound, using his other hand to search Xiaofei's body. In the pitch darkness, he inevitably touched some sensitive areas. After fumbling around without finding any pockets, he suddenly remembered that she was wearing a dress today.
"Forget it, let's just make do for now." Feeling a bit defeated, Song Jiu bit down on the T-shirt and tore it open to create a gap. With his other hand, he forcefully ripped off a strip of cloth and tied it around the base of her finger by instinct. Then he wrapped the blood-soaked fabric around her hand as best as he could.
The squad stood atop a dirt mound overgrown with wild grass, surrounded by towering white poplars. The dense canopy blocked out the sun, and the slanting rays filtered through the gaps, casting scattered light. Visibility was gradually diminishing.
Xin Mengfan followed Fat Man's pointing direction and looked over. Apart from the dense and chaotic foliage, there were no signs of any man-made structures.
"Behind that thicket is an open area; the trees aren't as dense over there. There's a pit on the ground, and the entrance is inside it," Fat Man said, his face covered in dust but his expression excited and proud. "I have a sharp mind; once I've seen something, I won't forget it."
"That place isn't a burial pit, is it? And didn't you say it wasn't far? It's been almost an hour with driving and walking," Xin Mengfan said somewhat disheartened. This location was indeed concealed, but it was quite a distance from the riverbank. Even the nearest two small streams required a three to five-minute walk. Moreover, the canopy blocked out sunlight, which wasn't conducive to farming.
"You don't understand; we took a big detour. If we had a raft made of sheepskin, we could have crossed the river and reached there in just over ten minutes," Fat Man pointed in a direction for everyone and asserted confidently, "You all got turned around; we're actually across from the camp. If we keep going forward from here, we'll reach the riverbank, and we can see the camp from across it."
"Really? Why do I feel like we've been heading south this whole time?" Xin Mengfan said in confusion, unable to form a clear mental image.
"It should be right; we came from behind the camp and took a detour," Liu Yan seemed somewhat uncertain. He jumped down from the dirt slope onto several moss-covered boulders, intending to check out what Fat Man had mentioned about the workshop first. His thoughts were similar to Xin Mengfan's; an air raid shelter couldn't possibly be built in such a place—it was either a burial site or a natural pitfall. It seemed that their strategic target for an alternate camp had become stranded.
However, when Liu Yan pushed aside some grass leaves, his calm eyes began to brew with shock.
Just as Fat Man had said, there was indeed a small clearing behind the thicket with scattered old trees. More than ten meters away lay a massive pit, nearby was a slightly wider long shallow trench that appeared to be a dried-up riverbed. The pit looked more like a collapse caused by water backflow, surrounded by thick layers of fallen leaves and branches.
None of this mattered; what truly left Liu Yan in disbelief was the sight of a car parked next to the clearing beside the Pit.
Liu Yan swallowed hard, turned back, and gestured for everyone to remain calm. He crawled through the grass to get a closer look, leaning against a large tree to observe carefully.
It was a heavy-duty Off-Road Vehicle, with a high chassis, and he could vaguely see the Shock Absorber. The doors were closed, and the windows were tinted, making it impossible to see if anyone was inside. The tire tracks were fresh, indicating it wasn't an abandoned vehicle, and there were clear footprints leading towards the Pit.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Yan disengaged the safety on his Shotgun and crouched low as he moved around the tree, quietly approaching the mysterious vehicle. He held his breath for a moment; there was no one inside. Liu Yan let out a sigh of relief and pulled on the door handle, which surprisingly opened.
A faint smell of smoke lingered inside. A jacket was tossed in the driver's seat. Liu Yan frowned, his eyes filled with an indescribable astonishment as he trembled while picking up the jacket and gently unfolding it. On the back of the navy blue garment, three grayish-white letters shattered Liu Yan's last shred of hope.
"God," the usually composed Liu Yan felt a twinge of panic. How could they be here? Was it possible?
Suddenly, Liu Yan turned and hurried towards the Pit, which was piled high with fallen leaves. The hole was deep; after descending for a short distance, it curved straight ahead into darkness where nothing could be seen.
Minutes later, a terrified Liu Yan returned to the mound.
"What happened? Did you find something?" Dream Fan immediately noticed his pale complexion and sensed something was off.
Liu Yan waved his hand dismissively, signaling that he was fine. He furrowed his brow and looked at Pockmarked Girl, asking, "Guli, you said you escaped during a transfer, right?"
"Ah yes, that's right," Pockmarked Girl stammered nervously at his question.
Xin Mengfan's expression tightened in shock. "No way."
Fat Man and Xiao Tian looked confused, unsure of what riddle they were trying to solve.
Pockmarked Girl was confused by the back-and-forth between the two, pausing for a moment before realizing what was happening.
"Don't you remember the terrain?" Liu Yan asked.
"I-I-I don't remember. They put hoods over our heads when they brought us here, and I had no idea of the exact direction in the middle of the night. It wasn't until morning that I returned to the east bank of the river," Pockmarked Girl exclaimed, her face showing surprise. "Could it be here?"
"What exactly have you discovered?" Dream Fan sensed something was off.
"There are vehicles at the cave entrance; it must be the Zombies returning," Liu Yan's face turned pale as she hurriedly stood up. "We need to go, quickly back to the camp. They're coming!"
Fat Man and a few others were frozen in place, still not understanding what was going on. Meanwhile, Dream Fan and Pockmarked Girl's expressions changed dramatically as they prepared to leave, but Dream Fan suddenly stopped.
"Let's go down and take a look; it might be someone else. Aren't we on the opposite bank of the river? Can a tunnel really run beneath it?" Dream Fan questioned, puzzled.
Liu Yan opened her mouth, unsure how to explain those three glaring letters to them. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Maybe there really is an ancient tomb down there. The river isn't very deep; crossing it isn't impossible."
"We have to check it out; otherwise, this trip would be pointless," Dream Fan frowned. "If it's truly a Zombie's secret passage, we could ambush them from behind. That would be faster than retracing our steps."
"Dream Fan is right," Pockmarked Girl finally understood and agreed.
Liu Yan furrowed her brow in thought and said, "Alright, Xiao Tian and I will go down to take a look. You all drive back; these Zombies are dangerous. I brought you two out, so I must ensure your safety."
"Oh come on, stop with the nonsense! If there are Zombies, the camp isn't safe either!" Xin Mengfan said impatiently, making it hard to persuade her. After speaking, she jumped down from the mound and ran over. Liu Yan had no choice but to send Xiao Tian and another Militia member along with the remaining group to follow her quickly.
At the main gate, Jiao Ziqian was talking with a Militia member when suddenly he felt a tickle in his nose and let out a loud sneeze, splattering the Militia member with mucus.
"Sorry, sorry, I have a bit of a cold." Jiao Ziqian felt quite embarrassed and quickly chuckled as he pulled out a tissue to wipe himself.
Militia looked speechless. He was just talking about the shift change at the Watchtower when Jiao Ziqian suddenly sneezed. Glancing at the sticky mess on his chest, Militia turned his head in disgust and directed his gaze toward the distant fiery clouds.
The mountains, forests, and rivers under the twilight were beautiful. The orange-red glow spread evenly across the sky, reflecting off the water's surface in shimmering waves. The lush trees swayed gently in the wind, creating ripples of vibrant green.
Militia was inspired by this beautiful scene and suddenly felt like reciting poetry. He furrowed his brow and racked his brain for a while before proudly reciting, "The autumn waters share the same color as the vast sky."
"What?" Jiao Ziqian tossed aside the crumpled tissue and stared at him as if he were an idiot.
Militia rolled his eyes in response and strode toward the Watchtower, waving his hand dramatically into the void like a giant: "The setting sun and lonely clouds..." Militia's poetic expression faltered as he squinted at the swaying trees.
"Illiterate." Jiao Ziqian chuckled and corrected him, "It's pronounced 'jiāo' as in 'eagle.'"
Militia seemed not to hear Jiao Ziqian's mockery. His squinted eyes suddenly widened as he dashed to the side of the Watchtower, pulled the brass alarm bell, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Enemy sighted!"
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