Chapter 797 – The Ambitions of the Mysterious Camp

“In that moment, her face suddenly came close to mine, her mouth wide open… I saw the inside of her mouth at a glance, behind the rows of sharp teeth, there was only half a tongue trembling… and in her throat, I vaguely saw a human face, looking like a man wearing a crown… he was asking me, who he was?!”

Xu Shuhan paused here, then took a breath in fear…

“Got it… so, it was Wang Lin asking the questions, right? She led Xu Shuhan to the Fifth Floor, then she herself went into the storage room where the dark circles were, and let the dark circles pull Xu Shuhan into the Illusion… but the little girl who appeared at the beginning only got a name, and couldn’t be sure if the ‘Ling Mo’ she mentioned was really me. So, they continued pushing, and changed the way they tried to get information out of Xu Shuhan…”

Ling Mo thought to himself, and then asked aloud, “What did you say in response?”

“She was so close to me at that time, and the sight inside her mouth was really terrifying… with their shouting, my heart almost jumped out of my chest…” Xu Shuhan said this, and unexpectedly showed a shy expression on her face, “I don’t know how, but I reached out and grabbed her hair, and pulled her over…”

“Uh… you mean, you attacked her?” Ling Mo asked in surprise.

Xu Shuhan nodded and said, “Yes… I dragged her into the basket, she was screaming and struggling, so I bit her tail… since she was half fish, I thought she might be edible…”

“In theory yes, but…”

Ling Mo couldn’t help but sigh and facepalm, such thoughts… probably only occur in a zombie’s mind…

Although the mermaid was just a phantom, Xu Shuhan had already perceived its existence as real. So, when she attacked, she naturally touched the physical body of the phantom and experienced the sensation of biting. This realistic experience would undoubtedly trigger her inherent frenzy and cruelty. The following events were predictable…

Sure enough, Xu Shuhan continued, “With the first bite, I think I drew some blood. Then, I thought I might as well fill my stomach with her fish tail first… but she struggled too much, and the basket overturned suddenly. We both fell into the swamp together…”

“Dark circles probably didn’t anticipate such a development… The mermaid was so terrifying because of the little girl’s failure. He surely didn’t believe Xu Shuhan couldn’t describe my appearance. Since she remained silent, it was clear the little girl wasn’t effective enough… Falling into the swamp was his tactical response. Most people would panic after falling into water, especially into a deadly swamp. When their psyche collapses, it’s easier to extract intelligence…” Ling Mo analyzed to himself.

It had to be said, his analysis was spot on…

However, dark circles underestimated the zombie’s frenzy. Even though Xu Shuhan was thrown into the water, the fear actually activated her potential. She dragged the mermaid phantom, continuously rolling in the swamp, and a fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued…

It was during this fight that Ling Mo sensed her…

“No wonder I sensed you moving rapidly, and the psychic fluctuations were extremely unstable. This explains everything…”

Ling Mo couldn’t help but find it somewhat humorous; this was completely different from what he’d imagined!

In this light, dark circles wasn’t entirely lying. He might have just been trying to scare Xu Shuhan, but this female zombie unintentionally forced him to expend a lot of psychic power…

Moreover, this Illusion trip unexpectedly stimulated Xu Shuhan’s psychic activity, helping her stabilize.

“And then?” Ling Mo asked again.

Xu Shuhan replied, “Then the swamp suddenly started boiling, and the mermaid disappeared… When the water level dropped, I quickly climbed ashore… But just then, the large trees in the forest began to fall one by one, scaring me into rushing forward… Then, I saw you…”

After speaking, she asked somewhat bewilderedly, “Was all that just a hallucination? It felt so real…”

“Yes, I’ll show you the person who creates the Illusions later,” Ling Mo said, pulling a rolled-up duckbill cap from his pocket.

He stared at Xu Shuhan for a moment, then reached out to brush her bangs aside.

Xu Shuhan initially flinched, her eyes appearing somewhat evasive, as if she wasn’t used to such intimate contact.

“Don’t move,” Ling Mo said softly.

Xu Shuhan looked up at him briefly, then gradually quieted down.

“Fortunately, Senior Sister trimmed your hair; otherwise, I’d have to do it myself now,” Ling Mo said as he adjusted her hair. Once he was satisfied, he placed the cap on her head and pulled the brim down. “Remember not to look up later; with the cap and your hair, and given the darkness, no one will notice anything. Once we’re back, be extra cautious not to let anyone see you. Tomorrow, I’ll think of a better plan.”

“Okay…” Xu Shuhan nodded.

She glanced at Ling Mo, seemingly wanting to say something, but eventually remained silent.

“Let’s go.”

As Ling Mo led her out of the ward, he received a message from Black Silk in his mind.

“Those two people are back!”

“Why so quickly?” Ling Mo frowned.

Black Silk explained, “They were too cautious. After luring them away several times, they decided not to follow anymore and hurried back instead… What should I do? Should I attack them?”

“We don’t know their connection with Wang Lin yet…”

Ling Mo pondered for a moment and ultimately rejected Black Silk’s suggestion. Instead, he asked, “How long until they arrive?”

“Hard to say… maybe about three minutes…” Black Silk replied.

“Three minutes, huh…”

While speaking, Ling Mo had already led Xu Shuhan close to the storage room.

Wang Lin had regained her mobility and was leaning against the door of the storage room.

Seeing Ling Mo holding onto Xu Shuhan’s arm, she immediately huffed in dissatisfaction.

“Let me introduce you, this is my friend, Xu Shuhan, she’s Xia Na’s younger female cousin…”

Before Ling Mo could finish, Wang Lin had already walked over, scrutinizing Xu Shuhan from head to toe. “I’m Wang Lin, nice to meet you.”

Suddenly being so close to another human, Xu Shuhan visibly trembled.

She lowered her head and replied softly, “N-nice to meet you…”

“What’s wrong? Are you scared of me? Haha, aren’t you Ling Mo’s friend? Why do you seem so guilty… Ouch!” Before Wang Lin could finish, Ling Mo gave her a playful knock on the forehead.

“Kids these days, so rude. Call her Xu-Jie,” Ling Mo said calmly.

Wang Lin pouted, looking aggrievedly at Ling Mo before reluctantly saying, “Xu-Jie…”

“Uh…”

Before Ling Mo could address dark circles, he introduced himself. “I’m Zheng Xiaozhi, you can call me Zhi-Ge if you want, just don’t call me Old Zheng.”

“Old Zheng…”

“Nice to meet you…”

Hearing their responses, Old Zheng looked a bit hurt.

What’s with the lack of respect! So inconsiderate! So hurtful!

However, Wang Lin came to his rescue at that moment. She glared at Old Zheng, irritated, and snapped, “You dare let Ling Mo call you Zhi-Ge? You must have a death wish…” She even waved a fist at him, looking entirely different from how she acted around Ling Mo…

Strangely, Old Zheng seemed genuinely afraid of her, immediately offering a sheepish smile. “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare…”

“Originally, I should’ve started asking questions from six months ago… But given the urgency, I’ll get straight to the point,” Ling Mo said, his tone suddenly serious. He looked at both Wang Lin and Old Zheng and asked, “What is your relationship with Niepan?”

“Niepan?”

“Relationship?”

Wang Lin hesitated for a moment, about to respond, but Old Zheng spoke first.

He cleared his throat and said, “Before answering your question, there’s something I need to discuss. Based on the information we have, you seem to have a significant connection with Yuwen Xuan from the Falcon Second Camp, right?”

“What, you guys know even that?” Ling Mo didn’t deny it; instead, he raised an eyebrow and retorted.

Old Zheng looked at Ling Mo in slight surprise, extinguished his cigarette, and said seriously, “Since you’re being straightforward, I’ll be direct as well. Actually, it’s not just Wang Lin looking for you; it’s also our camp.”

“Camp? So, you’re not from Niepan?” Ling Mo was quite surprised but also felt a sense of relief.

As long as Wang Lin wasn’t with Niepan, things would be easier to deal with…

“That’s correct. Our camp isn’t located here, and there are quite a few like Wang Lin and me who travel around to persuade other camps or organizations,” Old Zheng said. His eyes suddenly gleamed with a fervor, and his tone turned passionate, reminiscent of a rampaging nurse Phantom. “I think you might have guessed our intentions. We aim to unite the survivors from the neighboring provinces to collectively fight against the Zombies! To drive those monsters out of the cities!”

His fervent speech startled Xu Shuhan. The moment he mentioned “Zombies,” she appeared somewhat guilty…

Ling Mo tightened his grip slightly, signaling her that there’s no need to be afraid.

“So, you’ve already visited Yuwen Xuan, but what does that have to do with you coming to find me?” Ling Mo asked, directly pointing out the core of the issue.

Though his expression remained calm, he felt a mix of shock inside. First, he hadn’t expected Wang Lin to travel so far. Second, he was astounded by the ambitions of this camp… or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a dream…

Driving Zombies out of the cities was something everyone wanted.

However, everyone also knew that given the overwhelming number of Zombies and their immense strength compared to human survivors, achieving this was practically impossible…

Yet, even the smallest force, when united, could become a formidable torrent.

The world is vast, but survivors are few and scattered across various cities, making them hard to find and posing significant risks…

What kind of camp could truly have the capability to put such plans into action?