Chapter 594 – The Startled Rabbit Quivers
....
In the dimly-lit cell phone store, a group of people were moving cautiously and slowly.
Each member of Ling Mo’s team was carrying a weapon, vigilantly scanning their surroundings while inching forward.
Ling Mo, walking in the middle, seemed tense as well, but there was a hint of distraction in his eyes.
The crowd was moving too closely together, which was not conducive to the unfolding of his plan!
However, this cautious att.i.tude could be used to their advantage…
When they pa.s.sed by the entrance of the elevator, everyone couldn’t help but glance down.
The pitch-black stairwell looked like a gaping square maw, and the dark bas.e.m.e.nt below seemed to be hiding many monsters.
Just standing above and looking down was enough to send s.h.i.+vers down one’s spine, let alone going down there.
Fortunately, they didn’t need to descend; the exit couldn’t possibly be there…
“Let’s hurry up,” Xu Shuhan said, her scalp tingling as she urged the others on.
However, just as they were about to completely bypa.s.s it, a faint noise suddenly came from somewhere inside the mall.
“Clang!”
Though the sound was soft, like someone accidentally b.u.mping into a shelf, it sounded like thunder to the group at that moment.
Their attention was immediately drawn away from the bas.e.m.e.nt, and everyone looked around the mall in panic.
Especially Xu Shuhan, who was clearly startled, her body suddenly trembling, her complexion turning pale in an instant.
Seeing Ling Mo look her way, Xu Shuhan coughed dryly and mustered up her spirit, puffing out her chest, “There’s… there’s a noise.”
“There is a noise…” Ling Mo’s gaze involuntarily drifted downward, lingering on Xu Shuhan’s chest for a moment.
The mature little rabbits, following their owner’s movements, had playfully started to quiver…
“Cough, cough.” Ling Mo abruptly snapped back to reality, awkwardly s.h.i.+fting his gaze away, focusing on the surroundings.
By now, Mu Chen had already stopped in his tracks, nervously turning his neck, scanning the shadowy areas around.
Staying in such a complex structure with insufficient lighting made every place look suspicious.
But since the sound came from a certain direction, Mu Chen focused his attention that way.
Suddenly, he seemed to notice something, gripping his machete tightly and slowly walking towards a piece of plastic tarp hanging in the distance.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Shuhan immediately asked with concern.
She wasn’t this scared when fighting zombies, and from her expression, it didn’t seem like an act.
Afraid of the dark? Or perhaps ghosts?
Ling Mo looked at her with interest but then felt a pinch at his waist.
“Tsk…” Ling Mo inhaled sharply and turned his head to look at Shana beside him.
“Hmph, you like this kind of delicate girl, huh…” Shana said with her head held high.
However, her attempt at disguising her feelings was far from skilled. Even though she tried to sound nonchalant, as a zombie… her annoyance was all too obvious on her face.
The inherent conflict between zombie instincts and human emotions could not have been more evident in her at that moment…
“No, it’s not that…” Ling Mo said while rubbing his waist, suddenly looking pensive. “It just reminded me of something Ye Lian is afraid of.”
“Really? What is Sister Ye Lian afraid of?” Shana’s interest was piqued, and she turned around to glance at Ye Lian, who was following behind them. Ye Lian seemed preoccupied, curiously fiddling with a cell phone in her hands, turning it over and over.
“Snap!”
Perhaps she pressed too hard, or maybe the phone was already decomposing, but as Shana opened her mouth to ask, the phone in Ye Lian’s hands suddenly crumbled into pieces.
The noise startled Ye Lian, who looked at her hands in confusion, then with a slight pout of grievance, she dropped the broken pieces onto the floor.
“Uh… Sister Ye Lian, that… it’s broken, it won’t turn on anymore…” Shana couldn’t help but say softly.
“Ah?” Ye Lian’s eyes widened as she nodded, somewhat understanding but still confused.
Meanwhile, Ling Mo reminisced, “She’s afraid of spiders. She’d jump every time she saw one, so there was a time when I purposely kept spiders…”
“Why?” Shana exclaimed in surprise.
“Cough cough… You wouldn’t understand the world of a young man…” Ling Mo said, slightly embarra.s.sed.
“I’m actually afraid of soft-bodied worms,” Shana suddenly admitted.
“That’s normal…” Ling Mo felt relieved, realizing that this tough girl had a girlish side after all.
“Now when I see them, I just want to crush them,” Shana said with a sigh, feeling somber. “Feels like there’s not much difference between me and humans now.”
Ling Mo s.h.i.+vered, “Can you not bring up humans at a time like this? We are not the same species, okay!”
“Hmph, says the guy with a big soft-bodied worm on him?” Shana glanced at Ling Mo and scoffed.
“It can transform, okay?” Ling Mo frowned in response.
As the two of them were whispering among themselves, Mu Chen had already cautiously approached the colorful tarp.
Holding his breath under Xu Shuhan’s anxious watch, he silently raised his machete.
“Swis.h.!.+”
The decayed tarp was sliced by the blade, splitting cleanly in two.
But there was nothing behind it…
Mu Chen looked astonished, then reached out to push aside the hanging strips of fabric to check again.
Seeing nothing, Xu Shuhan’s heart, which had been in her throat, finally calmed down.
She gave Mu Chen a glare and shook her head, “Geez, making a fuss over nothing…”
The rest of the group also turned away disappointed, leaving a baffled Mu Chen still standing there, looking embarra.s.sed.
“I was sure…” Mu Chen muttered weakly, but realized no one was listening.
“Hey, I… d.a.m.n it, this is like seeing a ghost.”
Frustrated, Mu Chen spun around on the spot and angrily tore down the remaining strips of fabric.
Just as he was about to rejoin the group, his expression froze and he stopped in his tracks.
For a split second, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something…
After pausing for two seconds, Mu Chen swiftly turned around.
This time he saw it clearly—an elusive shadow that flitted across a nearby pillar was firmly caught by his gaze.
“Ha! Trying to play games with me!” Mu Chen let out an excited, cold chuckle: “Just a zombie? And it dares to play tricks!”
Before chasing after it, Mu Chen did look back at the crowd.
But after opening his mouth, he decided not to call out.
“Forget it, what if I startle the zombie and end up catching nothing?”
Thinking of the disdainful looks from the others just moments before, Mu Chen couldn’t help but snort with frustration.
Since joining Ling Mo, his already dwindling presence had all but vanished.
Annoyed, Mu Chen turned away and moved toward the pillar, both nervous and excited…
Meanwhile, at the back of the group, Xia Zhi, who had been following at a distance, also noticed something.
As he pa.s.sed by a poster, he faintly heard a soft noise.
He stopped and turned to look at the poster.
The faded poster featured a beauty, whose deep cleavage made the cell phone she was holding look utterly insignificant…
At least Xia Zhi hadn’t noticed the phone at all; he was fixated on the cleavage.
Just now… did that cleavage move?
Xia Zhi blinked hard, and this time he saw clearly—it wasn’t the cleavage that moved, but the poster itself was quivering slightly.
It was as if someone was hiding behind the beauty, waving at him.
Xia Zhi silently lifted his face, covered in black ash, and emotionlessly locked eyes with the beauty on the poster.
“Shush, shush, shus.h.!.+”
The poster quivered again, and the beauty on it seemed to sway, her lips carrying a smile as she watched him.
This brief delay had widened the distance between Ling Mo’s group and him.
Xia Zhi glanced toward the crowd, then back at the poster.
Should he shout? He rarely spoke…
Walk over and signal them to come? By the time he went back and forth, whatever was hiding behind the poster would probably have run off.
The most crucial thing was, Xia Zhi was indeed a bit curious about this scene…
After hesitating for a few seconds, Xia Zhi finally couldn’t resist licking his lips and took a step forward. While trying to peer behind the poster, he drew a small knife and slowly approached…