Chapter 132: The Bizarre Scene

"Holy shit!"

The lead slightly overweight man wore glasses, one lens cracked with a seam; he exclaimed dramatically: "This is just too much—so we can't even leave the city anymore?"

Zhang Su shrugged: "There are bridges east and west—take another route. You guys figure it out, we're leaving first."

He had no intention of continuing the conversation; the sky was already growing late, and he needed to find a safe place to rest as soon as possible.

"Wait, hold on, brother—you're heading north too, right? Let us join you, just follow along, lend us some light. Your group's so badass, hey, please, please."

The man with glasses wore a warmly friendly smile.

Another tall man rummaged through his bag and pulled out several unopened packs of cigarettes, stepped forward, tiptoeing to hand them up to Zhang Su: "Bro, take these—just found them in the supermarket. Do us a favor, let us tag along. We won't cause trouble, we can even help!"

Seeing Zhang Su made no move to take the cigarettes, the tall man simply tossed them through the window—two packs landed inside, one bounced off the glass and flew back; he caught the rebounding pack and grinned awkwardly, then stopped pressing.

Zhang Su glanced at the three men; they were polite and made no unreasonable demands—so if they wanted to follow, let them follow.

"Then let's go. Turn back toward the city."

"Alright, alright, thanks so much!"

The group returned to their vehicles with great delight and began reversing.

"Boss Zhang, are they… okay?"

Zheng Xinyu wasn't usually suspicious, but after everything she'd endured these past days, now every stranger felt like a threat…

Zhang Su pressed the accelerator, carefully driving onto the provincial road, and shrugged: "These guys look like seasoned office veterans. As for good or bad—you can assume there's no purely good person now, only whether interests conflict… but I couldn't refuse their request."

Zhao Dezhu leaned out, glanced at the Tiguan trailing behind, then pulled back and closed the window: "The big brother's right—they're just following us. We can't kill them—that'd make us what?"

Click.

As several vehicles drove onto the provincial road toward the city, a flash of lightning split the sky, followed by thunder rumbling across the heavens; everyone felt the entire vehicle trembling slightly.

"Why's it thundering in this freezing weather… so abnormal."

Pang Dakun pressed against the window, staring at the sky—dark clouds loomed, and fat raindrops were about to crash down.

Pitter-patter, raindrops struck the windshield with crisp sounds.

"Oh my god, it's pouring!"

Zhao Dezhu's face lit up with excitement, as if witnessing something extraordinary.

Qincheng rarely saw rain; in some years, total rainy days added up to less than two months, mostly concentrated in summer—rainstorms in October were extremely rare.

"What's this world become? Autumn thunder and rain isn't strange anymore."

Yu Qing stood by the window, pressing her face against the glass; rain streaked down the surface, revealing a peculiar desolation.

Zhang Su turned on the wipers, glanced at the lightning-flashing sky, and muttered: "This rain's really heavy..."

Huge raindrops slammed into the windshield; the wipers moved at high speed, flinging water to either side, where wind carried it off through the drainage grooves.

"Heaven senses chaos on earth and rains to purify demons and evil spirits!" Zheng Xinyu clenched her fists, playing the role of a little witch.

Zhang Su shook his head with a smile: "I think heaven's just joking with us."

"Joking? Why?"

Zheng Xinyu asked, puzzled.

"We went through all that trouble filling two vehicles with water, and less than half a day later—it rains!" Zhang Su chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Zheng Xinyu tilted her head, thinking: "That's not a joke—rainwater's dirty. Groundwater's cleaner. And didn't we find plenty of food? This isn't a loss!"

"Boss Zhang, zombies!" Zhong Xiaoshanjian suddenly pointed to a roadside shop: "Look, the zombies are weird!"

As she spoke, Zhang Su slowed the car and turned his head toward the zombies standing in the torrential rain—they stood motionless, heads slightly tilted upward, mouths wide open like bowls, catching the falling rain.

As the car crept forward, more zombies emerged from ruined shops, all performing the same motion—like the rain had granted them some kind of awareness…

The sky grew dark; this eerie scene sent a chill through everyone in the car, a vague sense of dread stirring in their hearts.

"B-brother, could it be… the dead have returned to possess the zombies?"

Zhao Dezhu's voice trembled slightly—he never watched ghost horror films, a childhood trauma he'd spend his whole life healing.

Zhang Su turned on the heater to clear the fogged windshield and said: "I don't know the exact cause, but it's strange. The zombie virus has too many unknowns—we must always stay cautious!"

Beep-beep, beep-beep.

As he spoke, Zhang Su deliberately honked the horn to draw the zombies' attention—but the zombies in the rain ignored the sound completely, not even twitching, standing there like thirsty seedlings soaking in rain.

"Damn, these things are brain-dead, big brother—if we slashed them now, would they even react?"

Zhao Dezhu's face lit up with eagerness.

"We're not zombie hunters. Just know their behavior—it might come in handy later. No need to go out of our way to kill them."

Zhang Su said.

Zhong Xiaoshanjian frowned: "Boss Zhang, I think… I feel they're absorbing energy!"

"Huh?"

At Zhong Xiaoshanjian's words, everyone in the car froze.

"Miss Zhong's speculation opens up broader possibilities—I think it's very likely," Yu Wen nodded in deep agreement.

"Oh shit." Zhao Dezhu slapped his thigh: "I was secretly thinking—so many zombies, not all can find food. Maybe they'd just starve to death, and we'd win by doing nothing. But if they can absorb energy from rain, then this whole thing's pointless!"

"Right, but… Zhu, why were you thinking this secretly?" Zhang Su seized on the key word in Zhao Dezhu's remark.

Zhao Dezhu scratched his head, embarrassed: "This kind of weird idea would just get me laughed at, heh."

"Not weird at all. Any guess should be spoken out—collective wisdom. And I think Xiaoshan's guess fits perfectly. Zombies act purely on instinct; if they enjoy rain, then rain must benefit them!"

Zhang Su said, his tone heavy.

"Like plants' phototropism, hydrotropism…" Yu Qing added.

Whatever benefit rain gave zombies, it only made humanity's situation harder.

No further discussion. Zhang Su drove carefully, the image of zombies drinking rain deeply etched in his mind.

The downpour continued; soon, shallow streams formed along the roadside, and the sky showed no sign of letting up.

Zhang Su stared intently ahead—the sky was already dark, and rain blurred visibility further. Better than fog, but visibility had dropped to a dangerous level.

"We can't go any further!"

Zhang Su spotted a landmark building—he knew continuing forward meant entering the congested city center, where road conditions would grow complex, littered with wrecked vehicles; at this visibility, it'd be extremely dangerous.

He decisively turned on the right signal, slowed the car; without a radio, he could only communicate via headlights.

Under the rain curtain, the headlights were clear; five vehicles pulled over and stopped steadily.

"Good thing it's rain—if it were ten degrees colder, it'd be snowing. A snowstorm this big is unthinkable..."

Zhong Xiaoshanjian traced the rain streaks on the window with her finger.

"Snowstorm..."

The word made Zhang Su's heart drop. Zombies everywhere were already enough to headache; if snow sealed the city, survival difficulty would skyrocket—unless cold harmed zombies.

"We must find a secure place to settle quickly..."

Zhang Su thought silently—but plans never matched changes; accidents happened constantly, too many uncertainties slowed them down.

Rain kept falling; the streams along the road grew wider, then the entire road began to flood, with all sorts of floating debris appearing—occasionally, severed limbs drifted by, source unknown.

Even with the sturdy RV as shelter, everyone felt a creeping unease; Zhang Su led them in training, using physical exhaustion to drown out inner panic.

"My god, the water's rising so fast..."

An hour passed; the sky remained dark. Zhao Dezhu peered out the window—the rushing water was already over half a foot high; walking on the road, it'd reach ankles, and distant fields had turned into endless ponds!

Zhao Dezhu sat by the window, puffing on a cigarette, then suddenly said: "Damn, thank goodness the bridge broke—this much rain would've caused a flash flood. If we'd crossed the river, we'd be washed away right now!"

According to Zhang Su's plan, they'd have reached a resort at the foot of the mountain, less than ten kilometers from Qincheng, yesterday afternoon. If unoccupied, they'd clear it as a safe base.

Yu Wen shook his head: "Five years ago, Yuemajian had a minor flood. Since then, Qingxian government spent two years upgrading drainage systems across all scenic spots—your scenario's unlikely now."

Natural disasters are terrifying, but not entirely unavoidable.

"Hope the tourist spots are fine… this rain's volume rivals Qincheng's total rainfall over several months!"

Zhang Su cracked the window slightly and tossed out his cigarette butt—it was extinguished before hitting the ground, swept away by the rushing current.

After another half-hour of heavy rain, the downpour finally began to ease; meanwhile, the road's water level had reached over a foot—possibly nearing half a meter!

This water level posed no threat to the two RVs.

The rugged Mercedes G-Class and Prado had no trouble—their wading depth reached seventy centimeters, easily handling water under half a meter, let alone the G-Class with its snorkel.

But the trailing Tiguan was in trouble—half a meter was its limit. The three inside had turned green, feeling the water surge beneath their chassis like ants on a hot pan.

"Big brother, should we keep going?"

Zhao Dezhu asked, anxious.

Zhang Su glanced at the still-dark sky, hesitated long, torn—before nature's power, humans were too small; even a single rainstorm could become a stumbling block.

Seeing Zhang Su indecisive, Yu Wen said: "Mr. Zhang, scientific studies show that in crises, when unsure what to do, staying still is often the best choice."

Lots of updates coming, heh... nearly 8K =. = Thanks to all readers for your votes—but I never promised one vote equals one chapter. I'll keep writing as much as I can!

(End of Chapter)