One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Everyone burst into laughter, and even Zhang Lingyu, who was usually stoic, slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Lunch ended in a rare relaxed atmosphere. Everyone knew this was the last peaceful meal before the big battle, so they ate with extra care and appreciation.

The operation officially began at 1 p.m. sharp.

The clouds in the sky parted a little, and sunlight poured down through the gaps, casting a pale golden glow on the desolate town. But this light did not dispel the town's eeriness; instead, it made the empty streets, half-open doors, and scattered debris on the ground appear even more alarming.

Three groups of people set off simultaneously from the iron foundry, advancing towards their respective areas.

Nie Lingfeng led Chen Duo eastward along the main street of the eastern district of the town.

The eastern part of the town is the industrial zone of Qingshan Town. In addition to the iron foundry, there are several small processing plants, a timber warehouse, and an abandoned ore yard. The streets here are relatively wide and can accommodate trucks, but they are piled with all sorts of debris—rusty iron drums, broken conveyor belts, scattered ore and coal slag, and several long-abandoned forklifts and trucks, parked haphazardly on the roadside, their tires long since flat and their bodies covered with thick dust and bird droppings.

The rusty smell in the air was even stronger than inside the factory, mixed with the odor of machine oil and mold, creating a pungent smell that made one's throat tighten. Visibility was severely obstructed, with blind spots every few steps, making observation difficult but extremely advantageous for concealment.

"Be careful, the visibility here is poor," Nie Lingfeng warned in a low voice. His gaze swept over every shadow and corner, his right hand already on the hilt of the Snow Drinking Blade. "There might be a zombie hiding behind every corner, and there might be eyes watching us from every half-open door."

Chen Duo nodded without speaking. She took out a small ceramic jar from her bosom and opened the lid. Several black Gu worms extended their hair-thin tentacles from the jar, swaying slightly in the air as if sniffing for something. Then they crawled out of the jar, slid down Chen Duo's arm to the ground, and quickly disappeared into the surrounding shadows, silently, like drops of water merging into the ocean.

These Gu worms are "pathfinder Gu" specially bred by Chen Duo. They are extremely sensitive to the scent of living things and can sense anything alive or semi-alive within a radius of fifty meters. They crawl almost silently, and their body color changes with the environment, making them natural scouts.

Chen Duo closed her eyes, her consciousness connected with the scout gu. Through the gu worms' senses, she could construct a "map of aura" in her mind—where the aura of living beings was, where the reaction of corpse poison was, and where the safe, unmarked areas were. This was more reliable than visual observation, because zombies could hide behind walls, but they couldn't hide the aura of corpse poison on their bodies.

The two walked slowly along the street. The gravel and cinders under their feet made a rustling sound, which was particularly clear in the dead silence of the street. After walking about a hundred meters, Chen Duo suddenly stopped.

"That warehouse up ahead," she said, pointing to a drab building on the left side of the street, her voice barely a whisper, "thirty meters away, there are a lot inside. At least... a dozen."

The warehouse was a two-story brick-and-mortar building, with large sections of plaster peeling off the exterior walls, revealing the dark red bricks inside. The main door was a rusty roller shutter iron door, half-open, with a gap about half a meter above the ground at the bottom edge. It was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen. All the warehouse windows were sealed shut with wooden planks nailed haphazardly, making it completely airtight.

"Quite a quantity," Nie Lingfeng's gaze locked onto the warehouse. "Perfect, let's deal with it all at once."

He slowly drew his Snow Drinking Blade, the blade reflecting a cold glint in the sunlight. He crouched low, his steps light, like a cheetah approaching its prey, stealthily making his way towards the warehouse. Chen Duo followed closely behind, her steps even lighter, almost as if she were floating.

The two arrived at the warehouse door. Nie Lingfeng leaned against the wall, turned his head slightly, and looked inside through the half-meter-high crack in the door.

The sight inside the warehouse made his pupils shrink slightly.

The interior was large, easily two or three hundred square meters, and filled with various wooden crates and goods. Rows of burlap sacks, marked "Qingshan Iron Mine," were stacked against the walls, presumably containing ore awaiting transport. Various tools and miscellaneous items were scattered in the central open space, with obvious drag marks and dark brown bloodstains on the ground. Light streamed in through several ventilation windows high up, forming slanted beams of light in the dusty air, casting distorted shadows on the zombies.

The zombies were gathering in twos and threes among the piles of goods.

There were more of them than Chen Duo had sensed—Nie Lingfeng glanced at them roughly and counted at least seventeen or eighteen. Some were wandering aimlessly, their movements slow and mechanical, as if executing some long-lost program; some were squatting on the ground, forming a circle, tearing at something with their claws, making a teeth-grinding chewing sound; and some were curled up in a corner, their bodies trembling slightly, as if they were asleep, or as if they were enduring some kind of pain.

These red-eyed zombies looked more like living people than the green-eyed zombies outside, but this very resemblance made them appear even more eerie. Their skin was an unhealthy bluish-gray, like corpses that had been soaking in water for a long time, but in certain areas—especially the blood vessels on their necks and wrists—dark red lines could be seen, traces left by the struggle between the iron ore energy and the corpse poison within their bodies. Their eyes flickered with an eerie red light, glowing and dimly in the dark warehouse like candle flames that might be extinguished at any moment.

Nie Lingfeng noticed that three zombies were positioned differently—they weren't eating or wandering around, but rather guarding three corners of the warehouse, facing different directions, as if on sentry duty. This discovery sent a chill down his spine. These zombies had indeed evolved some kind of primitive social behavior; even when resting, they would set up guard posts.

"They're lying in wait," Nie Lingfeng whispered into his earpiece, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. "I'll go in first to distract them, then break through the main entrance and lure them all to the central open space. Chen Duo, you go around to the side; there's a side door there. Sneake in from there and use your Gu worms to block their escape route. Once I've gathered them all together, you can make your move."

"Understood." Chen Duo replied, and with a flash, she moved like a weightless shadow, silently circling around to the side of the warehouse.

Nie Lingfeng took a deep breath and channeled his true energy into his limbs and bones. He felt the flow of true energy within his body, like a warm river surging through his meridians, delivering power to every muscle and every bone. Then he stood up, no longer concealing his figure, and strode towards the half-open roller shutter door. He grabbed the edge of the door with one hand and suddenly flung it upwards!

wow-

The rolling shutter door made a piercingly loud noise that echoed through the quiet eastern part of the town, startling a flock of unidentified black birds in the distance.

All the red eyes in the warehouse—seventeen pairs of eyes flashing with a dark red light—turned towards the door at the same instant. The zombies that were gnawing on something stopped chewing, the wandering zombies suddenly turned their heads, and even the few huddled in the corner suddenly opened their eyes.

Time seemed to stand still for a second.

Then, they all let out a low growl.

The roar didn't come from the throat, but rather from deep within the chest, low, hoarse, and with a chilling resonance. Seventeen zombies roared simultaneously, their voices reverberating throughout the warehouse, creating an eerie harmony, like some ancient and sinister ritual.

Then, they moved.

Seventeen red-eyed zombies, seemingly drawn by an invisible thread, pounced on Nie Lingfeng from all directions towards the door! They were incredibly fast, nearly half again as fast as the green-eyed zombies outside. As they ran, their bodies leaned forward, their arms swinging backward—a bizarre posture, yet their explosive power was astonishing. The first three reached Nie Lingfeng in almost two breaths, their open mouths revealing dark yellow fangs, their ten fingers bearing long, black nails that reeked of decay, and they lunged straight for his throat and face!

"bring it on."

Nie Lingfeng made no attempt to dodge. He slightly parted his legs, lowered his center of gravity, and with a flick of his wrist, the Snow Drinking Blade drew a sharp arc in the dim light.

A flash of light appeared.

The zombie at the very front had both legs severed cleanly at the knees! The blade sliced ​​through its leg bones with a crisp "crack," like splitting a piece of dry firewood. The zombie's upper body continued to fly forward due to inertia, tumbling and crashing to the ground. No blood gushed from the severed legs; instead, a dark red, viscous liquid slowly seeped out, emitting a pungent, fishy stench.

The zombie, having lost both legs, did not stop its attack. It propped itself up on its two arms, dragging its remaining torso, and crawled toward Nie Lingfeng at an astonishing speed, letting out an even sharper roar. Its red eyes were fixed on him, filled with the purest, undisguised hunger.