Chapter 306 - 157: Bloody Path

Chapter 306: Chapter 157: Bloody Path

Xu Mo pierced its skull with a single thrust and kicked it down the stairs. Its corpse tumbled down, crashing into the zombies behind and sending them sprawling.

The second, the third, the fourth...

The narrow stairwell became Xu Mo’s domain. The zombies’ speed advantage was useless here. They could only charge up one by one, and one by one, Xu Mo cut them down.

Black blood flowed down the stairs, forming a stream on the steps. Corpses piled up on the landing, and the zombies behind trampled the remains of their own kind to continue their ascent.

KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!

Xu Mo lost track of how long he’d been killing. He only knew that the more zombies he slew, the stronger his own vitality grew, and the more effortlessly he wielded the Triangular Spike.

Eventually, Xu Mo felt a strange exhilaration from the slaughter. His vitality surged so violently it felt as if it would burst from his body, compelling him to let out a long roar even as he continued to strike down the charging zombies.

As Xu Mo roared, for some unknown reason, the pursuing zombies halted their charge. They tilted their heads back, staring up at him.

When the roar subsided, Xu Mo came to his senses. He looked down at the zombies, who had stopped their assault. They just stood there, heads tilted back, staring at him with cloudy, frenzied eyes.

About ten seconds passed. Then, to Xu Mo’s surprise, the zombies that had been staring at him began to slowly retreat.

Then, Xu Mo heard a low, continuous chewing. Instead of continuing their pursuit, the zombies had begun to feed.

They lowered their heads and began to tear into the corpses of their fallen comrades. The sound echoed through the stairwell, a requiem from hell.

Xu Mo’s heart sank. The exhilaration from the recent slaughter vanished completely.

He’d seen this before. Now it was happening again, but on a much larger scale.

And this time, it was under the control of a hostile entity.

’Why is it making the zombies feed? To replenish their energy? To make them evolve? Or is it waiting for something?’ Xu Mo had no idea.

But Xu Mo knew this was not a good sign.

Xu Mo glanced back at Luo Li. She was leaning against the wall, her face deathly pale, her eyes half-closed. Tiantian squatted beside her, small hands clutching the hem of her clothes, her blood-red eyes filled with worry.

Xu Mo glanced out the window. Daylight had fully broken.

The battle had raged from dawn until noon.

Xu Mo looked down the stairs again. The zombies were still feeding. Chewing, tearing, and the crunch of bone—the sounds wove together into a grotesque symphony that filled the stairwell.

Xu Mo knew time was running out. He had to find the hidden enemy, and quickly. He had to end this before things got any worse.

Although he knew Luo Li must be exhausted, Xu Mo couldn’t let her rest any longer.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Mo walked over to Luo Li.

"Luo Li."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet stairwell.

Luo Li’s eyelids twitched, but she didn’t open them.

"Luo Li," Xu Mo called again. "Get up. I need you to sense for it again."

Luo Li’s eyes finally opened, filled with exhaustion.

But Xu Mo offered no explanation, simply stood there watching her.

Seeing Xu Mo just staring at her, Luo Li gritted her teeth and used the wall to slowly pull herself up. Tiantian immediately rose with her, small hand still clutching her clothes, her blood-red eyes still locked on Xu Mo.

Then the little one’s mouth suddenly opened—not in a normal way, but widening grotesquely to reveal two rows of fine, sharp teeth. ’I knew she wasn’t entirely human,’ Xu Mo thought, ’but seeing it is still something else.’

Her body leaned forward slightly, and she lunged at Xu Mo!

Xu Mo’s pupils contracted. With a quick shift of his feet, he slid half a step back and to the side, dodging Tiantian’s lunge. Tiantian’s attack hit nothing but air. Her small body staggered, and she spun around, blood-red eyes burning with fury, ready to lunge again.

"Tiantian!"

Luo Li’s voice was weak but stern.

Tiantian’s body froze.

She stopped in her tracks, frozen in a pouncing stance, and turned her head to look at Luo Li. The anger in her blood-red eyes slowly faded, replaced by a look of hurt and confusion. ’He’s bullying you. I was helping. Why did you yell at me?’

Luo Li knelt and gently hugged Tiantian.

"It’s okay," she said softly. "He’s helping me. He means no harm."

Tiantian struggled in her arms for a moment before slowly calming down. Her blood-red eyes returned to their usual vacant state, though she still threw an occasional, faintly wary glance at Xu Mo.

Xu Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. He waited until Luo Li had calmed Tiantian before asking, "Can you sense it?"

Luo Li nodded and closed her eyes.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

Luo Li opened her eyes and shook her head.

"I can’t sense it." Her voice was hoarse and weak. "It’s not in my range."

Xu Mo fell silent, recalling the details of the battle. The zombies’ attacks had been clearly organized, tactical even. While some charged head-on, others would circle around to outflank them. They had specifically targeted him and Luo Li with sneak attacks. They had even concentrated their forces to surround and kill the Scale Beast when it was isolated.