Chapter 204: Death Cycle (II)
TL: Resonance
Shang Ke left the town and chose to travel through sparsely populated suburbs. Along the way, he picked up a few good weapons. Unfortunately, firearms such as guns were mostly out of bullets and only classic weapons such as long sabers could be used. He had wanted to get himself a car, but had to give up due to the lack of fuel.
In the evening, Shang Ke found a few production plants in the suburbs. There was a river near the factory and the river water was surprisingly clear. It was probably because it hasn’t been polluted by industrial waste or waste water for many years and relied on its own purification ability to gradually recover.
Shang Ke took a bath in the river and took out the things in his bag to wash. Wearing only his underwear, he hid himself in a factory. He hung the washed clothes on the window to dry. It is now summer and the clothes only need one night to dry.
He did a rough search around the factory and didn’t discover any zombies. They might have all gathered at the city or they might have hid themselves. To be safe, Shang Ke found a relatively hidden yet easy to escape room to be his place of rest.
The night quietly arrived and the sound of mosquitoes could be heard. However, they didn’t seem to dare to suck Shang Ke’s blood. Shang Ke leaned on the wall and couldn’t sleep. He looked at the mosquitoes dancing in the air in great numbers. It was strange. There was clearly no light in the room, but his sight didn’t seem to be affected. He could even see the cobweb at the corner clearly.
If Shang Ke looked at a mirror now, he would realise that his eyes were glowing a dark golden colour in the darkness, looking like a dormant cheetah.
Since Shang Ke couldn’t sleep, he decided to test his own power. He tested one by one, from his body coordination and flexibility, arm and leg strength to magic and cultivation techniques. Although a little rusty while doing it, he realised that he could easily execute the techniques of the martial arts he had learned before. However, magic and cultivation techniques weren’t feasible. They seemed to be limited by the spirituality of his physical strength. He could only use basic skills such as lighting a small flame or Qinggong etc.
Although it didn’t meet his expectations, it was sufficient for protecting himself as long as he was careful. Moreover, he also had an immortal body. But if possible, he really didn’t want to experience death again.
In the dark night, zombie cries sounding like crying ghosts and howling wolves could be heard and were very horrible. A few wandering low level zombies appeared outside the factory. They don’t have a conscious mind and their senses are dull. They wouldn’t be attracted as long as one doesn’t make too much of a ruckus.
Shang Ke did his physical training quietly within the darkness while listening to the cries of zombies.
Time passed little by little while he trained and the next day eventually arrived. When the first ray of light shone in from the window, it also quietened outside.
Shang Ke wore the now dried clothes and carried his travel backpack. He carefully watched the surrounding for any movements. After confirming that there wasn’t any danger, he walked out cautiously from the factory.
The air in the suburbs was fresher than the air in town. He would occasionally see some broken bones and rotten meat, but they were rarely seen in piles.
“Who’s there?”
While Shang Ke was on his way, he suddenly heard an alarmed soft shout coming from a nearby grove.
Shang Ke looked towards the direction the sound came from and saw 5 people coming out from there. There were 4 men and 1 woman, their age ranging from 25 to 40.
When the 5 people saw Shang Ke, they were first stunned before they relaxed slightly. However, they still maintained their basic vigilance.
“Lil’ bro, where did you come from? Why did you appear here alone?” The leader, who was a robust man looking around 30, sized up Shang Ke while asking.
“My partner and I got separated, so I could only return to the base first myself.” After answering, Shang Ke asked, “Where do you guys intend to go? Could you guys bring me along if it’s along the way?”
The robus man stared at Shang Ke for a while before saying, “We were also planning to return to the base. We can bring you along, but we need to check your body first to confirm that you weren’t bitten by a zombie.”
Shang Ke was silent for a moment. Then, he smiled at the only woman in their team, “Then I will trouble this sister?”
However, the woman didn’t reply. She looked towards the robust man who was leading them.
The man hooked the corner of his lips and folded his arm across the chest, “It’s not convenient for Xia Di, a woman, to check your body. It’s better if I do it.”
After saying so, he walked towards Shang Ke.
Shang Ke saw a trace of ill intention in his eyes. The other men also let out laughter of unknown meaning.
Just when Shang Ke was about to shout at him to stop, a shadow suddenly jumped out from the grove and pounced straight at the robust man.
The man leaped backwards agilely and dodged a fatal blow.
Shang Ke saw clearly what attacked the man while he was drawing out his long saber. His figure was small like an 8-9 year old child. His skin was dry and wrinkled, and the contour of his bone could be seen clearly. He has a pair of white eyes which stared at them without focus.
The most basic way to determine a zombie’s level is to look at the colour of their eye. Low level zombies have grey eyes, intermediate was white, high was red, general was purple or green and king was golden.
The zombie before them has white eyes and is of intermediate level.
“It’s a white eyes zombie. Be careful everyone!” The robust man and the rest took out their weapons one after another. Four of them were using guns and only one was using a long saber.
The zombie rushed at him again before he finished speaking. Along with his movement, a few more zombies ran out one after another from the grove.
The people started fighting the zombies. But strangely, no zombies attacked Shang Ke.
Shang Ke didn’t think that he had some special ‘free from attack’ buff. Or else, he wouldn’t have been torn up by the zombies previously.
Then, how did he explain the situation before him? Was it just a coincidence? These zombies had decided to kill those 5 first before coming to settle him?
The robust man seemed to have also noticed the oddity. While he fought, he went nearer to Shang Ke somewhat intentionally and unintentionally, trying to change the target from him to Shang Ke.
However, even when the two of them were only 5-6 meters apart, the zombies still attacked him only. It became more tragic as the zombies that were attacking the others also came and surrounded him. In the end, not only did he not lighten his own burden, the zombies attack became more concentrated and all of them focused on attacking him.
The robust man went wtf in his heart. He didn’t understand what was going on. Was there a zombie-attracting item hidden on him?
“Why are you guys just standing there? Quickly come here and help!” The man who was surrounded by the zombies roared in anger.
The rest of them immediately returned back to their senses and joined the fight.
Shang Ke took a step back and didn’t rush to attack. He watched the fight from the side for a moment and decided to leave ultimately. These men’s eyes were filled with ill intention when they looked at him earlier. Travelling with them was definitely not a wise idea.
When Shang Ke turned around, he suddenly felt pain on the back of his hand. He lowered his head to look. It turns out that he was accidentally scratched by a thorn on the tree branch.
Shang Ke didn’t mind it. He sped up and headed towards the outside of the grove which was away from the fight.
He didn’t notice that when he was scratched, the zombies that were attacking the 5 people stopped. They turned their heads and looked towards the branch that had Shang Ke’s blood stains and one of the zombies even bit off the branch. Next, it joined the other zombies and howled as they chased in the direction Shang Ke had disappeared to.
The zombies put the 5-member team at the back of their mind, because they discovered an even more “delicious” food!
Shang Ke barely ran a few hundred meters when he realised that something was wrong. He looked back and was astonished to realise that the zombies that were originally surrounding the 5 people were currently following closely behind him.
Wasn’t it that they wouldn’t attack him? Why did they chase after him the moment he ran? Are you guys dogs? You chase the moment you see someone run!
Shang Ke put more strength in his legs and ran like a strong wind in the empty field while a group of zombies chased closely behind him. Their howling came one after another and plenty of nearby zombies were also attracted, of which a few of them were red eyed zombies.
This time it was Shang Ke who went wtf. He would only attract more zombies if he continues running. Shang Ke had no choice but to stop. He chose a place that was easy to defend but hard to attack and prepared to have a big fight with this group of zombies.
Although he didn’t have any ability, his martial arts level wasn’t low and it was more than enough to deal with tens of low and intermediate level zombies.
Shang Ke stood on a high ground, drew out his long saber and started fighting with the zombies that were surrounding him.
A silver light slashed about horizontally and vertically. Shang Ke neatly harvested the zombie heads and didn’t give them a chance to come near him.
Half an hour later, Shang Ke cut off the last zombie’s head and temporarily ended the fight.
Many zombies could vaguely be seen approaching his area from afar. Shang Ke didn’t dare to delay. He leaped down and escaped towards the outside of the groves.
However, he barely took a few steps when a large hand appeared out of thin air. Without warning, the hand penetrated his body from behind.
Shang Ke looked downwards toward the large hand. The fingers were strong and the nails were sharp. They were stained with his blood and gave a sharp cold glint.
The large hand slowly withdrew and dug out his heart at the same time.
Shang Ke turned his head around with a stiff expression and saw a burly man. He had a pair of cold, golden eyes and bronze coloured skin. His black hair draped messily on his shoulders, and he looked like a normal human. However, his eyes and skin told Shang Ke clearly that this was a zombie, and it was the one and only king level zombie.
To be exact, he was one of the two targets Shang Ke was anxiously searching for—The zombie king, Di Kui.
A bloody hole was made on Shang Ke’s body, but his consciousness was still very clear.
Di Kui’s body had a presence Shang Ke was familiar with, but it was very weak. Shang Ke wasn’t able to completely ascertain his identity, and the right hand he used to pierce through his body didn’t have a mole on the palm.
Shang Ke watched as Di Kui crushed his heart and threw it on the ground readily. Then, he turned around and left without any hesitation and let the zombies that came after Shang Ke surround, tore and devoured him…
Shang Ke endured the pain of being torn apart as tears fell from his eyes. He didn’t know whether his tears were due to the pain of his body or that zombie’s cruelty.
He wasn’t his man… Shang Ke said to himself in his heart.
After going through so many worlds, there was no way he wouldn’t even able to recognise his man. After thinking about this, Shang Ke felt a little better. However, the pain of being torn apart and bitten continuously tormented his mind, yet he didn’t even have the right to faint. He was wide awake throughout the process as he watched his body being eaten by the zombies.
Tens of minutes later, the zombies left one after another, leaving behind only a beautiful human head and scattered pieces of broken bone and minced meat…