Mu Yu tried hard to recall what happened before she passed out.
She seemed to have seen Song Shi.
When searching for Song Shi, she had ventured into the area the girl had investigated on the first day, hoping to find some clue.
Then, she passed by a parking lot on the west side of Yuhu City.
The sound she had once heard from Chi Ying—a noise like the wind and the hum of a machine—echoed in her memory. But at the time, there had been no wind at all.
Yuhu City was a ghost town. How could there be a mechanical hum?
Suddenly, the memory of Chi Ying’s words struck her: “It’s like the wind… and a machine.”
Just as she was about to contact the others, she saw Song Shi across the street. She called out instinctively, but the moment the words left her mouth, the back of her neck was pricked by a sharp sting, and everything went black.
Mu Yu’s eyes narrowed.
That “Song Shi” had given her an unsettling feeling—one she only recognized as the stiff, sluggish movement typical of a zombie leader.
“I’ll go find her.” Lu Yunfei clenched his communicator tightly, his jaw set.
Gu Chi glanced at him, his gaze cold.
“If you want to end up like Mu Yu, be my guest. She met those things and didn’t even get a chance to contact us. They’re no joke.”
Gu Chi paused for a long moment. “You guys go back.”
“Captain!” Lu Yunfei’s voice turned sharp.
Gu Chi remained calm. “We need someone to inform headquarters. If even our team is wiped out, who else can solve the mystery of Yuhu City?”
Lu Yunfei was silent for a moment, his face grim.
“I’ll keep the communicator on,” Gu Chi added. “If anything happens to me, don’t make a sound.”
“If something happens to me… contact headquarters, tell them everything you know, and wait for the Alliance to come.”
“Chi Ying, you too.”
Chi Ying looked up.
“I can help.”
“You can,” Gu Chi said, his voice steady. “But not tonight.” He looked at her, his expression serious.
Chi Ying blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“We don’t have enough information about the enemies here. Your ability is strong, but it’s useless without knowing the enemy’s position.” He continued, “I’ll keep the communicator on. If something happens to me or something goes wrong, you should be able to hear it. Then, you can act.”
He fixed his gaze on her. “If it’s too dangerous, you must leave.”
Chi Ying met his gaze, her resolve clear. “I understand.”
__
From evening until late at night, Gu Chi moved through the streets of Yuhu City, his senses sharp. He had a feeling those things would take advantage of the opportunity to strike when he was alone.
Suddenly, he stopped. A flash of light caught his attention, and he aimed his flashlight to the left. There was only a single reflective window, with several mannequins inside—nothing out of the ordinary.
But then a green light blinked at the lower left of his vision.
“What’s going on…?” Gu Chi muttered under his breath.
His wristband’s glowing detection bracelet buzzed. He gritted his teeth.
This was strange. For the past few days, the area had shown no signs of any leader.
A voice crackled through his communicator. “Captain, what’s wrong?”
“My bracelet is activated,” Gu Chi replied, his voice tight.
The voice on the other end hesitated. “Does that mean… there’s a leader nearby?”
“Hush.” Gu Chi narrowed his eyes. He could hear some movement in the distance.
He waited, listening. The sounds vanished, and the silence felt heavier than before.
Gu Chi activated the virtual screen on his wristband and scanned the area. One leader appeared on the map, and it was very close—just a few hundred meters away.
He moved toward the location, his palm already holding a condensed ball of ice energy.
But when he got within 200 meters of the target, the light spots on his screen vanished.
“Captain…” The voice from the communicator crackled.
Gu Chi snapped his gaze toward the dark corner from where the voice had come. His brow furrowed. It sounded like someone he knew.
“Song Shi?”
Gu Chi’s instincts flared. He had just tracked the leader’s presence, but now it had disappeared… and in its place, Song Shi, who had been missing for two days, had reappeared.
He took a breath, then stepped into the darkness, moving cautiously toward the voice.
“Song Shi?”
Back at the camp, Lu Yunfei, who had been listening intently on the communicator, opened his mouth to speak. But Lin Xun stopped him, pressing a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet. There was something off about Gu Chi’s tone—it wasn’t the eager, excited tone of someone finding someone lost, but a careful, measured one.
A minute passed. Gu Chi’s voice came through again, quieter. “How did you get here?”
Silence stretched on.
“Song Shi?”
“Captain.” The voice that answered him was unmistakably Song Shi’s.
“…What’s on your head?” Gu Chi’s voice dropped as he looked closely at the black coil on top of her head.
“A blocker,” she said. “It… blocks your wristband.”
Lu Yunfei’s eyes snapped to Chi Ying and Lin Xun. They could feel the tension rising. They held their breath, hoping to avoid detection.
Gu Chi’s voice cooled. “Song Shi?”
How could this be happening? If Song Shi had been bitten by a zombie, the chance of her turning into a leader was minimal.
Yet, this “Song Shi” clearly carried the presence of a leader—someone who had inherited her memories.
Gu Chi took a step back, his ice powers crackling in his hand.
“Maybe I should call you ‘the leader,’” he gritted out.
“Song Shi” moved aside slightly, revealing the figure lurking in the shadows behind her.
Gu Chi froze, his disbelief evident. “Ye Wuhan?”
“Oh, long time no see,” Ye Wuhan said with a smile, stepping out from the darkness.
Chi Ying, still at the camp, felt the pendant around her neck tremble. She held it still, careful not to reveal her tension.
Gu Chi’s voice came again, firm with recognition. “Everything in Yuhu City… you did all of this?”
“I don’t have that much power,” Ye Wuhan replied, “But with my current abilities, taking you down won’t be a problem.”
Beep.
The communicator cut off.
Lin Xun looked at the dead communicator with a serious expression. “The captain hung up.”
Chi Ying snapped back to the present. “Why did he hang up?”
“He must have realized it was a trap,” Lin Xun said grimly. “He knew they couldn’t handle it. To avoid revealing the device, he turned it off himself.”
Lu Yunfei, his face pale, clenched his fists. “To avoid alerting them.”
He struggled to keep calm, but his thoughts were clouded by the image of Gu Chi facing Ye Wuhan. He could only guess what kind of danger awaited them.
“The captain just said… Ye Wuhan? How could he be here?”
“I don’t know,” Lu Yunfei said, his voice strained. “But he doesn’t sound like a friendly face right now.”
Chi Ying furrowed her brow. “But what does Ye Wuhan have against Gu Chi? Aren’t their abilities on the same level?”
“I don’t know,” Lu Yunfei said, shaking his head. “Lin Xun, contact headquarters immediately. Especially about Ye Wuhan.”
“Understood.” Lin Xun stood up and moved quickly.
Chi Ying closed her eyes, reaching out to the system in her mind. “Is there any mention of Yuhu City in the book? How is Ye Wuhan connected?”
[After searching, Yuhu City appears twice in the text, but it doesn’t seem relevant. ]
“What does it say?”
[Once in the middle: ‘Gu Chi went to Yuhu City for a mission some time ago.’]
Chi Ying’s frustration grew. That’s not helpful at all.
[Once more at the end: “The human alliance initiated the leader-clearing operation. Professor Yu of the Zombie Research Institute made Yuhu City the first stop. Ye Wuhan was the commander-in-chief of the operation…”]
Chi Ying paused. That’s all?
[Yes.]
Chi Ying rubbed her temples. No answers, just more confusion.
Suddenly, a realization struck her. “Is there a second part to the book?”
[The author mentioned there was supposed to be, but it was never written.]
Chi Ying: Of course…
Lu Yunfei inhaled deeply. “We have clues now. Ye Wuhan is involved… and the leader, but we still don’t know their exact location.”
He shook his head, trying to shake off his unease. “We need to find a way. We need to save them.”
“Yes!” Chi Ying’s eyes sharpened. “I heard it clearly this time.”
The “buzzing” sound of a machine echoed from the communicator.
Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1