Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

Chapter 153 Nighttime Pursuit

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The night breeze was slightly cool.

Shen Xi crouched in the shadows, his left hand gripping the unconscious man in black, his right hand pressing against the back of his neck, his fingers slightly clenched. The golden light of his Eye of Truth flowed deep within his pupils as he scanned the surroundings, confirming that no one had noticed the commotion.

well.

Shen Xi withdrew her gaze and looked down at the unconscious man in black in her hand. The hood had slipped down, revealing a face of about thirty years old, with an ordinary appearance—the kind you would never recognize in a crowd.

Assassin? Scout? Intelligence agent?

He didn't care what it was.

Shen Xi raised her right hand and slapped him without hesitation.

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound was particularly jarring in the night wind. The man in black's head snapped to one side, five bright red finger marks instantly appearing on his face, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. His body twitched, then he abruptly opened his eyes.

Shen Xi's Eye of Truth has been activated...

Illusionary Eyes.

Golden light emanated from Shen Xi's pupils, like two miniature suns, magnified infinitely in the black-clad man's vision. The light wasn't dazzling; in fact, it was warm, possessing an irresistible allure. The black-clad man's gaze became dull, then empty, and finally completely unfocused.

His consciousness had already been pulled into the world constructed by Shen Xi's illusion.

In the illusion, Shen Xi he saw disappeared. In her place was a familiar face, his companion, the one who had just crawled out of the secret passage with him and was now lying unconscious in the grass three meters away.

"Ouch...it hurts..." The man in black subconsciously raised his hand to touch his swollen cheek, his brows furrowed. "What happened? Why does my face hurt so much?"

Shen Xi, disguised as his companion, squatted down opposite him and shrugged innocently: "You're asking me? I'd like to ask you the same thing. We were running just fine when you suddenly tripped and fell, hitting your face on a rock. It gave me quite a fright."

"You fell?" The man in black was stunned, trying to recall what had just happened, but his mind was blank. "I...I don't remember?"

"There are plenty of things you don't remember." Shen Xi stood up, brushing the dust off her knees. "Stop dawdling here, get up, the old man is waiting for our news."

The man in black's expression changed slightly. He struggled to his feet, rubbing his still-aching cheek. "You're right, we have to go back quickly. That Tai Chu is terrifying. I saw him from afar, and my legs went weak. If he finds us..."

"Then stop talking nonsense." Shen Xi turned and walked towards the west wall of Gu Family Village. "Let's go."

The man in black had no suspicion and staggered after him.

The two disappeared into the darkness, one after the other.

Shen Xi walked ahead, her pace neither hurried nor slow.

With the Eye of Truth's divine eye effect activated throughout, his gaze pierced through layers of ruins and bushes, taking in everything within thousands of meters ahead.

Nighttime is the domain of the rotting corpses, whose attributes are enhanced, their perception range expanded, and their aggression increased. For ordinary players, venturing out at night is practically suicide, but Shen Xi doesn't care. His actual combat strength far exceeds what one would expect for level 31; he can easily handle even a dozen elites attacking him. Moreover, he possesses the Eye of Truth, allowing him to avoid distant rotting corpses in advance.

The men in black behind them were not so relaxed.

His level wasn't high, probably below level 15, and his equipment was mediocre, mostly bronze-grade with a few silver pieces. After running for less than ten minutes, his breathing became rapid, and his steps began to falter. But he dared not stop, because the "companion" ahead was moving very fast, and if he slowed down even slightly, he would be left behind.

"You...you slow down..." the man in black gasped, his voice broken. "I...I can't keep up..."

Shen Xi kept walking without turning her head and said, "What are you slowing down for? Do you want to spend the night in the wild? Those rotting corpses will come looking for people at night."

The man in black turned pale, gritted his teeth, and quickened his pace.

The two headed north. Shen Xi had chosen an extremely cunning route, avoiding all areas where rotting corpses gathered, and they didn't encounter a single lone one. The man in black was panting heavily, but secretly rejoiced; he was really lucky today, not encountering a single rotting corpse along the way.

Unbeknownst to him, Shen Xi had scanned the entire route with his Eye of Truth before setting off, clearly marking where the rotting corpses were, how many there were, and what level they were. He led the man in black through at least seven or eight bends, avoiding a wave of rotting corpses at each bend.

More than half an hour later, the terrain ahead began to change.

The flat wasteland was gradually replaced by rolling hills, covered with dense shrubs and wild grasses that rustled in the night wind. Shen Xi stopped in her tracks.

The man in black was completely exhausted. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and his lungs felt like they were about to burst; each breath was accompanied by a burning pain.

Shen Xi stopped and turned to look at him.

"Are you sure?" Shen Xi's voice was calm, but to the man in black, it sounded like his "comrade" was concerned about him.

"I...I'm sure..." The man in black waved his hand and plopped down on a rock by the roadside. "You...you go back and report first, I...I'll rest for five minutes and then..."

He didn't finish speaking because Shen Xi had already walked up to him and was looking down at him.

A sudden unease welled up in the man in black. He looked up at the face of his "comrade" before him. The face was familiar, yet now it felt utterly foreign.

There was no warmth in those eyes, only a chilling indifference that sent a shiver down his spine.

"You..." The man in black's voice began to tremble, "You..."

Shen Xi squatted down to be at his eye level.

"Thank you for showing me the way."

"Go and reunite with your good brother on the road to the underworld," Shen Xi said softly.

The man in black's pupils contracted sharply. He finally understood: the person before him was not his companion at all. This person was…

But before he could utter the name, Shen Xi's right hand had already gripped his throat.

"Click."

A faint cracking sound. The man in black's head drooped at an eerie angle.

[Killed 1 level 15 human unit, +8 experience points!]

The system notification flashed by, but Shen Xi didn't even glance at it. She dragged the body into the roadside bushes and covered it with dry branches and weeds. Then she stood up, dusted off her hands, and looked up at the cave halfway up the mountain, hidden by vines.

"Gu Tianxin, you old bastard, you've been hiding it really well."

Shen Xi murmured, a cold killing intent flashing in her eyes.

The straight-line distance from Gujiazhai to here is at least thirty kilometers. The two of them ran for over half an hour, even with the Eye of Truth avoiding all the rotting corpses. For an ordinary person, walking this distance would take at least three or four hours, and they would encounter countless rotting corpses along the way.

No wonder the military couldn't find them.

Shen Xi took a deep breath and did not rush into the cave.

I've been using the Eye of Truth all this time, and it's taken a toll on my mental energy.

He leaned against a large tree, took out a bottle of energy recovery potion from his storage space, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

A pale blue light flowed through his body, and his depleted spiritual energy began to slowly recover. Although the recovery was slow, it was at least enough.

After resting for about ten minutes, Shen Xi opened his eyes and stretched his limbs. The wind rustled through the bushes, masking his footsteps. He crouched low and moved quickly along the shadows of the hill, making his way towards the cave.

As the cave entrance drew closer, the Eye of Truth could no longer see the deeper reflections, but the cave entrance itself became clearly visible.

There were at least a dozen men at the cave entrance, and they were all elites. If he rushed in himself, he could kill them all, but the noise would be too great and would definitely alert Gu Tianxin, who was deeper inside. That old bastard must have prepared more than one escape route in the cave; if he heard the commotion and ran away through the secret passage, it would be difficult to find him again.

The guards outside must be dealt with quietly.

With a slight thought, Shen Xi flipped her left hand, and the ghost child's rag doll appeared in her palm.

"The Ghost Child," he said softly, "it's been a long time. It's time to get out and have some fresh air."

A thought subtly stirred within me.

A dim light spread from the palm of his hand, and a small figure popped out from the light.

A pink dress, two small braids, a pale face, and pure black eyes. The Ghost Child, a level 31 leader. Her level increases with the user's level; Shen Xi is currently level 31, so she is also level 31.

"Uncle~" The ghost child looked up, his pure black eyes sparkling, "You asked me to come out and play again~"

Her voice was still as sweet as ever, and her pure black eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled innocently. But if anyone saw this scene, they would surely get goosebumps: a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old, wearing a blood-stained pink dress, stood in the moonlight of a desolate mountain wilderness, smiling like a blooming poppy.

That smile is deadly.

Shen Xi squatted down.

"Do you see that cave?" Shen Xi pointed to the cave entrance that was hidden by vines.

The ghost child tilted his head, looked at the cave, then at Shen Xi, and nodded.

Shen Xi's voice was calm: "Go inside and explore the interior."

The ghost child's eyes shone even brighter.

"Okay~" She hopped around and ran towards the cave.

Outside the cave entrance, two guards were yawning, leaning against a rock. They wore black combat uniforms with the character "顾" (Gu) embroidered in gold on their chests, held standard-issue long knives in their hands, and had pistols at their waists. They were well-equipped and highly trained.

Two guards were dozing against the rock face, the dim light of the emergency lights illuminating their tired expressions. The one on the left was older, in his early forties, with a full beard, and clutched a rusty rifle. The one on the right was younger, in his twenties, with a drool at the corner of his mouth, fast asleep.

They've been guarding this place for three days and three nights. They haven't slept a wink since the night the zombie horde descended. It's not that they don't want to sleep, it's that they dare not sleep. The old master has given a strict order: no one is allowed to leave their post without permission, or they will be killed without mercy.

"Damn it..." the older man muttered, rubbing his sleepy eyes, "This godforsaken place, there's not a soul in sight, what's the point of guarding it..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter.

The laughter was very soft, as soft as the wind tinkling bells, or the sound of a stream flowing in a distant mountain ravine. It carried an eerie, chilling rhythm.

"Did you...did you hear that?" The guard on the left's voice began to tremble.

"What did you hear?" The guard on the right frowned, straining his ears to listen. "There's no sound at all. Are you being too tense?"

The guard on the left swallowed hard, about to speak again...

The laughter grew closer.

It looks like a little girl laughing.

Crisp, sweet, with a chilling childlike innocence.

Hehe~

The guard on the left turned deathly pale. He abruptly turned his head towards the direction from which the laughter was coming…

He saw a pair of eyes.

They were pure black, like two bottomless black holes, glowing faintly in the darkness.

Those eyes were looking at him, curved into crescent moons, smiling innocently.

"Who...who are you..." The guard on the left couldn't utter a single word.