Chapter 144: Reappearance of poisonous swamps
All senses on high alert, Long Zhanye, Huo Zaiyuan and You Nuandong tread forward slowly. At the entrance of the village, Long Zhanye opens the metal case Li Qing gave him.
Within are thirty steel b.a.l.l.s, which is tipped out unceremoniously onto the soil below. As they hit the ground, faint clicks and snaps can be heard before they whirl around in unison, then speed off in all directions. In a short while, not a single steel ball can be seen.
["I made the surveillance beads scatter first to map the entire village out. Keep your guards up. The building five meters in front of you doesn"t have any zombies, but that doesn"t mean it"s not dangerous."] Li Qing"s voice transmits from their earpieces.
When they ran into the commando squad in I City, it was Li Qing"s first time providing a.s.sistance from a mobile control centre. However, with a month of ‘special tutorage’ under General Long, his ability in this area has become rather remarkable. Hence, the trio scouting ahead are not afraid to entrust him with surveillance.
Also, this isn"t the trio"s first time walking into hostile territory so naturally, none of them will drop their guards easily.
At present, it is clearly only three in the afternoon with the sun still high in the sky, but it is already dim within this little fringe village. If one isn"t mindful or attentive, one would mistakenly think it is dusk, or that the overgrown vegetation is contributing to the poor lighting.
"The Yin energy here is very dense," Huo Zaiyuan murmurs, taking Liu Ying out of his s.p.a.ce again and slinging the sword onto his back.
"I don"t understand what Yin energy and all that is, but I feel very uneasy. The atmosphere here unconsciously makes one"s muscles tense," You Nuandong replies with a deep frown.
As a soldier with quite a bit of experience, he has become cautious in nature. Especially when venturing into highly dangerous places like this, every sense will automatically be strained to the max.
"Un." Long Zhanye nods curtly, then taps a finger on his earpiece. "Little Qing, do you see any traces of zombies anywhere?"
["That"s a negative for now…yi? Hang on, I found something on the east side of the village. Dammit! It"s a swamp like the one we came across before! The poisonous swamp!"] Li Qing curses lowly, a trace of nervousness in his voice.
How can he ever forget what happened that night in the ghost town? Huo Zaiyuan said then that this thing is even more dangerous compared to zombies, as it can bring more harm to the world than hordes of undead ever could inflict.
Not to mention, after sealing the swamp away, Huo Zaiyuan exhausted all his spiritual energy and lost consciousness for two days, recuperating from it with great difficulty.
"Poisonous swamp?" You Nuandong asks. Having traversed over jungles, rivers and oceans during his time in the Special Forces, swamps are something he has come across too. However, he has never heard of ‘poisonous swamps’ before. And judging from Li Qing"s tone, it is something really bad.
"With this thing here, our situation has become more troublesome." Huo Zaiyuan purses his lips, then addressed Li Qing. "We"ll head over now and leave the monitoring of the surroundings to you. How big is this poisonous swamp?"
["Give me a minute to calculate."] The faint sounds of keyboard keys being struck rises for a couple of seconds before Li Qing"s voice is back. ["It"s bigger than the one we encountered in that town. Two meters in diameter. And it"s not exactly similar since this is spouting some kind of purple gas…"]
"We need to move quickly. That thing must be sealed as soon as possible, or else everything will be more complicated." Upon hearing Li Qing mention ‘purple gas’, Huo Zaiyuan already knows what it is.
He has seen purple gas rising from poisonous swamps in his last life. Contrary to what most believe, it is not poison, but evil energy. These swamps rely on the energy spewed forth to infect any living beings that come too close. No wonder the zombies in this village are so strong!
["There"s another matter you need to be aware of. I controlled one of the surveillance beads and made it enter the swamp. Although I can"t see anything inside, the bead is picking up signs of life within."]
"Signs of life?" Long Zhanye pauses, obviously not expecting to hear something like this.
"Don"t tell me the signal that mercenary"s squad probe picked up came from the swamp? Did the zombies hide humans in it?" You Nuandong speaks up.
"Impossible. Humans cannot withstand the large amount of evil energy within the swamps. Anyone who falls in will die instantly and come out transformed!" Huo Zaiyuan shakes his head.
In his previous life, he has seen people falling into the swamps and when these victims crawl out, they were already zombies. Although his rebirth caused a b.u.t.terfly effect in this life that resulted in many changes, three things remained the same. Zombies, devil ants and poisonous swamps.
After his rebirth, Judgement Day came early. Nonetheless, he predicts that it will still take at least half a year for the swamps to spread and cover a large portion of the Earth. Hence, even if they are appearing in random locations now, it will definitely not expand so much in a short period of time.
When a poisonous swamp first emerge, they should start small before spreading outwards slowly, like this one here…
Following Li Qing"s directions, the three of them arrive quickly at the eastern side of the village where the swamp resides. Compared to the thin layer of dense Yin energy shrouding the rest of the place, the closer one approaches the swamp, the more potent this energy becomes. Besides the evil energy spouting forth from the poisonous swamp, it also emits a heavy, putrid stench, as though the swamp is ma.s.s grave filled with rotting corpses.
Thanks to the large sphere of inner spiritual energy within his body, besides his nose wrinkling from the foul smell, he isn"t affected by anything else. But Long Zhanye and You Nuandong are different. Although the protection talismans are still on their person and their const.i.tution is better than the average human, a heavy weight settle in the pits of their stomach and their throats construct, stifling their airways and making them choke. Heat rush through their veins and up their bodies before scarlet blood dribbles out the corner of their mouths.
As soon as he sees the blood, Huo Zaiyuan condenses some spiritual energy into the palms of his hands and places it in the middle of their backs. When the pure energy enters the bodies of the two men, it disperses the evil energy, driving away the awful sensation coursing through their veins.
Huo Zaiyuan cannot keep up a steady stream flow of spiritual power into his companions for a long period of time as it is both a waste and a risk. Should more concealed zombies appear, everyone will be vulnerable.
Hence, he cuts off the flow and waves his left hand, materialising the Holy Dragon Bone Brush. Gesturing with a few flicks of his fingers, the brush rotates, producing a mixture of silver and scarlet from the white bristles. Several strokes from the brush and two runes appear in mid-air before seeping slowly into Long Zhanye and You Nuandong"s body.
"With your bodies acting as the medium, I drew a rune using a mixture of spring water and ant crystal. For half an hour, you wouldn"t be affected by the evil energy."
Just when the last word falls from Huo Zaiyuan"s lips, the originally calm, poisonous swamp begins to boil, a low rumbling emitting from within its deadly depths. Small bubbles break out onto the surface, causing the purplish-black, sewage-like liquid to ripple.
Little by little, the head of a rotting female emerges. Loose messy hair scattered all over her face, both eyes opaque, milky white…this scene is straight out of a first-rate horror film.
Li Qing"s cry of alarm can be heard through the earpiece even as a grimace appears on Huo Zaiyuan, Long Zhanye and You Nuandong"s faces.
Following the appearance of the creepy rotting head now bobbing lightly on the surface, the swamp rumbles again, spitting out another four or five equally rotten human heads. Lumps of flesh hanging from yellowed bones, purplish-red muscles peeking out from behind peeling skin. On each of these unfortunate victims, one can make out the various expressions frozen on their faces before death.
One full of fright, another bewildered astonishment, yet another with mouth wide open in a silent eternal scream, the next one twisted in pain and suffering…
["Boss, the one missing a chunk from the top of his skull sporting a bewildered expression is someone I recognise. He’s a member of the mercenary squad who came here before."] Zuo Hanyang"s voice wafts out of the earpiece.
He had read through the files on the unfortunate mercenary team as soon as the higher-ups dumped them into his hands. With his photographic memory, he knows who the victim is at a glance.
"Looks like they were dragged into this swamp after being killed," You Nuandong observes.
"Not necessarily," Long Zhanye corrects, gaze not moving from the purplish-black liquid still spitting out head after head. "Each of them died still expressing their emotions, which means they were still alive after falling into the swamp. The question is what exactly happened to them down there to leave only their heads behind?"
"It"s definitely something we can"t begin to imagine," Huo Zaiyuan replies, sweeping his eyes across the swamp. Roughly a hundred heads dot the surface now.
It"s not difficult to guess what befell the residents of this fringe village, and why there are no corpses lying around.
The swamp continues to bubble, making the decapitated heads roll aimlessly around like so many fishb.a.l.l.s in a boiling pot.
"Something"s wrong!"
A yell suddenly rips out of Long Zhanye"s mouth. In a flash, he grabs Huo Zaiyuan and You Nuandong by the back of their collars and retreats several steps. Not a second too soon, a rotting and withered head emerges, this time followed by a thin neck and torso…what else can it be if not a zombie?
That undead has only risen halfway out of the waters when its clawed hands brace against the edge of the swamp. With the momentum of a fierce forward push, it springs towards the trio.
Huo Zaiyuan and You Nuandong react in unison, one lifting his rifle while the other takes out a talisman, but neither will make it in time.
With a soft ‘swish’, Liu Ying flies out of its scabbard and charges towards the zombie.