Chapter 72: Ambush

Hum~

In the direction of the city gate, an orange-yellow headlight sliced through the darkness; Lin Xian sat in the passenger seat, constantly examining the assault rifle in his hands.

He had already scanned blueprints of everything he acquired; to him, building an assault rifle was no harder than constructing a crane—the only problem was ammunition.

His fear of insufficient firepower flared up again.

If he could solve the problem of gunpowder and explosives, he could mass-produce bullets and shells, even build vehicle-mounted turrets and machine gun nests to attack monsters while moving, eliminating the need for close-quarters combat on the vehicle roof.

Da Lou glanced at Lin Xian’s strange expression and whispered:

“Brother Xian, no matter what monster it is, I can chop it down.”

Lin Xian looked at him in surprise and chuckled: “Monsters you can chop are fine—if you can’t beat them, you can run. I’m more worried about ghosts.”

“Ghosts?” Da Lou pointed to the machine gun and the giant cleaver in the backseat. “Can’t you chop those?”

“I don’t know, but someone claimed to have seen one—it has supernatural abilities and can’t be killed…”

Da Lou: “...”

Lin Xian’s expression darkened slightly as he gazed at the city’s silhouette shrouded in darkness: “Rumors are mixed with truth; in this darkness, all kinds of bizarre things exist. Better to believe than to ignore—extra caution never hurts.”

Da Lou nodded silently.

Soon, the SUV entered the city’s main road and pulled up beside a street next to the pedestrian zone.

The engine noise and headlights attracted numerous crazed zombies; to avoid being surrounded by a horde, the two immediately got out of the vehicle.

“First, get upstairs—wait for my signal,” Lin Xian tossed Da Lou a walkie-talkie, then split up; Da Lou raised his machine gun and sprinted toward the observation deck on the second floor of the mall.

Meanwhile, Lin Xian dashed swiftly down the back alley toward the square.

In the darkness, Lin Xian’s eyes were deep and piercing, as if he could clearly detect every lurking zombie ahead; in his left hand, a wind gun; in his right, an electric blade—he moved like a shadow flitting through the night.

Ugh~

Before a few zombies could turn around, a flash of cold light severed their heads.

Woof! Woof!

The barking of zombie dogs erupted in the alley, chasing Lin Xian; he spun around and fired several wind blasts, instantly exploding several dog heads, then pulled out a small remote and pressed a button.

“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you…”

A loud, eerie melody suddenly blared from the center of the dark square, spreading across several streets and shattering the silence of Yuchi City’s night.

Clang! Immediately, several powerful lights flashed on, illuminating the circular square.

Lin Xian had simply been unable to find suitable materials—the loudspeaker’s music carried a heavy mechanical tone that sent chills down the spine.

He burst out of the alley and quickly climbed onto a concealed elevated platform, slipping into the shadows to observe the square’s activity alongside Da Lou, separated by half a street.

“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you…”

Click~

“Da Lou, any movement?” Lin Xian tested the walkie-talkie.

“No,” came Da Lou’s voice through the device.

He relaxed slightly, glanced at the time: 14:45—still an hour and a half until dawn; if he found nothing, they’d depart at sunrise.

Lin Xian sheathed his electric blade and pulled out his assault rifle, staying alert.

Minutes ticked by; the square’s booming music soon drew countless zombies from multiple streets, drawn by their extreme sensitivity to sound. They surged into the square with no target, clawing and snarling, circling the speaker, their rotting eyes scanning frantically for prey.

14:50……

More zombies kept pouring in.

At 15:05, the entire circular square was packed with all kinds of zombies, zombie dogs, and flesh-eating ghouls controlled by black insects; if any hidden survivors remained in the city, they’d surely have been startled by the deafening noise.

“Da Lou.”

“Nothing, Brother Xian—I don’t even know if killing those black insects does anything…”

“Probably not,” Lin Xian whispered.

Although those black insects were a kind of anomaly, he had already eliminated many of them in Beiwan and never seen any red beads, nor even any black qi—so they were likely not the target they sought.

“Wait a little longer.” 15:15…

The music on the square continued to play.

Hidden in the shadows, Lin Xian focused intently on the square’s movements when, for some reason—battery depletion or otherwise—the loudspeaker’s sound suddenly changed.

“Happy birthday… to you… Happy… you… birth… day… to… you…”

The little girl’s voice grew slow, thick, and unnatural, each syllable stretched into a chilling, elongated drone.

“Da Lou, be careful—I feel something’s wrong.”

Lin Xian sensed something amiss and immediately warned Da Lou.

But after waiting a moment, the walkie-talkie remained silent.

Lin Xian frowned and pressed the talk button again.

“Da Lou…”

！

Only then did he notice the walkie-talkie’s signal light glowed faintly red—it wasn’t connected at all.

That’s not right—it was working just a moment ago. Did something happen to Da Lou?

Lin Xian instantly realized the danger and froze.

He immediately decided to abandon his post and head straight for Da Lou’s location.

But as he rose from the shadows, he suddenly felt as if watched—immediately he looked up.

Nothing there.

Click~

Unconvinced, Lin Xian switched on his flashlight and shone it upward into the alley—there was truly nothing.

Was it an illusion?

Lin Xian’s gaze flickered; a surge of frantic heartbeats rose in his chest, sweat beading on his forehead—this feeling was eerily similar to when he had been watched by the white giant in the furniture mall back in Jiangshi.

Instantly, he turned and fired upward, unleashing multiple wind blasts at once!

Tap-tap-tap! Boom! Boom!

Gunfire flashed, illuminating the dark alley; in Lin Xian’s vision, three horrifying faces suddenly appeared.

Three monstrous skulls, clinging to the walls—moments earlier, his flashlight had revealed nothing, but the moment he fired, these terrifying entities materialized directly above him.

The creatures resembled three melted zombies fused together, bearing spider-like limbs and twisted, sinister grins—had they been watching him all along?

The monster hadn’t expected Lin Xian to suddenly spot it and open fire—the bullets struck its body instantly, blasting open several bloodied holes as black plasma spurted out, sizzling as it hit the ground.

“Can you even hit them?!”

When he’d seen them with the flashlight, he’d assumed they were incorporeal—but now, under the gunfire, bullets pierced their skin directly.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!”

The three-headed beast roared in unison, deafeningly loud; in its fury, one of its heads opened its mouth toward Lin Xian, revealing a gaping maw lined with terrifying fangs, spewing a stream of black blood straight at him.

“Damn it!”

Sensing the black blood carried a potent sense of danger, Lin Xian had no time to react—he instantly used: Backstep!

But not toward the three-headed beast—he dodged rapidly to the side.

Ssssh!

Black blood splattered onto the elevated platform where Lin Xian had just stood, instantly releasing a scorching, corrosive stench—thick white vapor billowed, reeking horribly.

New author seeking follows and monthly votes.

After going live on December 1st, I’ll post massive updates—don’t save this novel; always check to the last chapter when a new one drops.

(End of chapter)