Chapter 322 - 163: Riverside

Chapter 322: Chapter 163: Riverside

The SUV slowly drove into town, the Triangular Spike placed within easy reach. Xu Mo’s gaze swept warily over his surroundings, not missing a single corner that might conceal danger.

From a distant building, the faint roars of zombies could be heard. The sound was low and hoarse, as if squeezed from the depths of their throats. There was more than one—judging by the layers of sound, there were at least five or six of them. They were inside that building, either wandering or resting.

But the zombies didn’t come out. The roaring continued, intermittent, yet not a single zombie charged out of the building. They seemed to have no interest in the SUV on the road.

Xu Mo kept driving. He passed several more buildings, and it was the same situation: roars came from within, but no zombies appeared on the street. They were all hiding inside the buildings, seeking refuge from the sun in the cool shade.

The corner of Xu Mo’s mouth twitched into a slight smile. ’These zombies really are afraid of the heat.’

He sped down the town’s main street and out the other side. The entire crossing took less than ten minutes, and he met no resistance. The process was so smooth that Xu Mo found it almost unbelievable.

In the rearview mirror, the town—Willow-something-or-other—grew more distant before finally disappearing into the heat haze.

Xu Mo tore his gaze from the rearview mirror and focused on the road ahead.

However, Xu Mo didn’t get far before he was forced to stop. A river lay ahead.

The river wasn’t wide, maybe twenty meters across by his estimation, but the water was so murky he couldn’t see what lay beneath. The banks were overgrown slopes dotted with a few crooked willows, their branches drooping into the water.

The biggest problem was the bridge—it was out.

A concrete bridge spanned the river, but a section in the middle had collapsed, leaving a massive gap. The opening was about six or seven meters wide; the SUV had no chance of making it across.

Xu Mo parked at the bridgehead and got out to investigate. The water flowed four or five meters below him. The current wasn’t fast, but he estimated the depth at three meters at least, perhaps even deeper.

Xu Mo crouched down and stared at the water’s surface for a moment.

He didn’t know why, but he had a strange feeling—something in the water was staring at him.

It wasn’t a guess, but a gut feeling. Xu Mo couldn’t see a thing—the water’s surface was as still as a mirror—but he just *knew* something was down there, and it bore him ill will.

Xu Mo slowly rose to his feet and backed away from the river’s edge.

The feeling of being watched diminished slightly but didn’t vanish entirely. Xu Mo stared at the water for a few more seconds before turning and walking back to the SUV.

The SUV couldn’t get across. That much was obvious. The river was twenty meters wide and three meters deep. Even if he dared to risk fording it, the engine would inevitably flood and stall. Having his vehicle submerged in the river would be a disaster.

Xu Mo started the engine and began driving downstream along the bank. He needed to find another bridge.

The map didn’t show how many bridges crossed this river, but typically, a river of this size had a bridge every few kilometers. If he just kept driving downstream, he was bound to find a crossing eventually.

He also didn’t dare drive too close to the bank. The feeling of being watched clung to him like a shadow. While it only gave him a faint sense of danger, he didn’t like it one bit.

Xu Mo steered away from the riverbank, proceeding slowly along the undulating road.

The minutes ticked by. The sun slowly crept westward, stretching the shadows long across the land. Xu Mo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes darting between the road ahead and the surface of the river.

Nothing. There was no bridge. Not a single one.

The sun was already nearing the horizon, and the sky was steadily growing dark, but Xu Mo still hadn’t found another bridge.

Xu Mo stopped the car and looked at his map for a moment.

According to the map, the river was at least a hundred kilometers long. If he couldn’t find a bridge, he’d have to keep driving indefinitely. And the downstream route led directly toward another large city, one marked with a "red skull": Li Yuan City.

Xu Mo put down the map and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He decided to head upstream instead.

Heading upstream was also a venture into unknown territory, but at least it didn’t lead toward that dangerous city. Xu Mo cranked the wheel, turning the SUV around and heading back the way he came.

The sun set, and the sky darkened rapidly. The dusky gray deepened until it was pitch-black.

Xu Mo switched on the headlights. Two dim yellow beams sliced through the darkness, illuminating a few dozen meters of road ahead. The engine’s roar seemed particularly loud in the quiet of the night, occasionally startling small animals in the roadside grass, sending them scurrying into the distance.

As he drove, Xu Mo turned on the radio. He slowly turned the dial, and static hissed from the speakers. He tuned it near the frequency from last night, making fine adjustments and listening intently.

HISS... HISS... Still just static. No music, no voices.

Unwilling to give up, Xu Mo kept turning the dial. AM, shortwave, FM—he tried every band. There was nothing but the hum of static.

’Maybe it isn’t time yet.’

’Maybe that frequency doesn’t even exist, and last night was just my imagination.’

’Maybe—’

Xu Mo’s fingers froze on the dial.

He felt a vibration. It wasn’t coming from the steering wheel or the engine, but from the ground itself. A faint tremor traveled up through the tires, through the frame of the SUV, and into his hands on the wheel. And it was growing stronger.

Xu Mo slammed on the brakes, killed the engine, and cut the headlights.

Darkness instantly swallowed everything. Xu Mo sat in the driver’s seat, concentrating on the vibration.