Chapter 82

Chapter 82: The Crawler

Just as Zhang Xiaobai finished speaking, Xiang Yi, standing at the edge, suddenly looked up at the top of the elevator door with a changed expression: “What the hell is that?!”

Everyone immediately turned to look at the elevator, but saw nothing. Then, the elevator doors closed completely before their eyes.

Zhang Xiaobai, startled by Xiang Yi’s shout, patted his chest and said, “Xiang Yi, what are you freaking out about? There’s nothing there!”

Gu Ning, however, asked Xiang Yi, “What did you see?”

“I don’t know,” Xiang Yi replied, still pale and shaken. “Something came out from above the elevator and disappeared in an instant.” He pointed to the ceiling in the direction of the hallway: “It went that way, and it was incredibly fast!”

Zhang Xiaobai scoffed, “How is that possible? None of us saw anything. Are you sure you’re not just seeing things?”

Ignoring Zhang Xiaobai, Gu Ning walked over to the elevator and looked up at the top of the door. There, she noticed a faint, transparent, watery trail leading in the direction Xiang Yi had pointed. This must be the trace left by whatever had emerged from the elevator. She had also heard something inside the elevator earlier, but only Xiang Yi had seen it, which spoke volumes about its speed.

She turned to the group and said gravely, “Everyone, be careful.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “There might be a mutated zombie.”

While Xiang Yi’s claims were met with skepticism, Gu Ning’s words were rarely doubted.

The group was instantly on edge. Those who had encountered mutated zombies before turned pale, and Huang Mengyao, who hadn’t been present during the last encounter, could tell from the others’ expressions just how terrifying these creatures were.

Jia Daozhang, recalling the last mutated zombie’s disgusting tentacle sucker that had slapped onto his chest, rubbed the spot where he’d been grabbed and said, “Please don’t tell me it’s as gross as that tentacle sucker thing from last time.” He looked around uneasily. “This place feels really eerie. Let’s not waste time; grab what we need and get out of here.”

Third Brother agreed, “Let’s move quickly. Don’t linger. I feel like something’s off too.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and hurried toward the pharmacy.

Xiang Xu, after sensing no abnormalities with his spiritual power, retracted it and cast a protective net over the group.

The hallway was littered with dismembered limbs and few intact bodies. The bite marks were horrifying, and the sight was mentally and visually overwhelming. Even Gu Ning avoided looking too closely, while Huang Mengyao turned pale but refrained from screaming, sticking close to Cheng Ming as they carefully avoided the corpses.

The pharmacy was large, and through the glass windows, they could see signs of a fierce struggle inside. The shelves were knocked over, and the door was wide open. A zombie lay at the entrance, its skull smashed in by some blunt object.

Without hesitation, Third Brother dragged the zombie’s body into the hallway and stopped the group from entering. “Gu Ning, Zhang Xiaobai, Cheng Ming, and I will go in. The rest of you stay outside. If something happens, you’ll be ready.”

Gu Ning nodded. “Third Brother’s right.” She then stepped over the bloodstains and entered first.

Inside, they found two female corpses in white coats under a table by the window, both in a crawling position toward the door. Various medicines had fallen from the shelves.

The shelves were over two meters high, and the pharmacy staff had used a small ladder to reach the top. The view was obstructed, making it hard to see further inside.

Zhang Xiaobai excitedly urged, “So many meds! Gu Ning, use your space ability to collect them all.”

Gu Ning nodded and, with a wave of her hand, stored the first row of shelves in her space. She moved to the second, third, and fourth rows… In less than a minute, she had collected all the medicines in the pharmacy, including those on the floor and in the back storeroom.

After looting the pharmacy, the four of them exited, and the group continued deeper into the hospital, opening every door along the way and storing anything useful in Gu Ning’s space. They entered an operating room, where they found a mutilated corpse on the operating table, its stomach ripped open. The scene was too horrifying, and Xiang Yi pulled Xiang Xu out.

Gu Ning silently stored the medical instruments in her space.

They all retreated to the hallway.

Third Brother glanced at the nearby staircase and asked, “Should we go upstairs?”

Gu Ning, feeling uneasy since entering the hospital and considering the items she’d stored, said, “Let’s skip the upstairs. Let’s head back.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, clearly still shaken by whatever Xiang Yi had seen emerge from the elevator. They just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Zhang Xiaobai walked at the back of the group.

Just then, a drop of liquid fell from the ceiling, landing right on Zhang Xiaobai’s head. He stopped, puzzled, and touched his head, feeling something wet and slimy. He instinctively looked up—

A cold, wet thing wrapped around his throat the moment he screamed, its sharp tip piercing his throat and silencing him! Zhang Xiaobai’s eyes widened in terror as he stared at the oblivious group walking ahead, unable to make a sound or even open his mouth. His stomach churned, and he wanted to vomit. He tried to use his special ability, but something stung his tongue, sending a jolt through his body, leaving him numb and paralyzed. Yet, his mind was crystal clear, feeling the cold, slimy, snake-like thing tightening around his neck. He was being dragged backward by this “tail” from the mutated zombie…

Turn around! Someone, please turn around!!! His eyes bulged with desperation as he stared at the group moving further away, screaming in his mind. But all he could do was watch as Gu Ning and the others grew more distant. The thing around his neck tightened, as if trying to strangle him. By the time half his body was dragged onto the stairs, Zhang Xiaobai was utterly despairing!

But then! Gu Ning, walking ahead, suddenly felt something was off. Zhang Xiaobai was always the most talkative; why had he been silent for so long? A sense of foreboding washed over her, and she abruptly stopped and turned around. That’s when she saw Zhang Xiaobai’s feet disappearing into the stairwell!

Gu Ning’s face turned pale, and she shouted, “Something’s wrong!”

Her shout sent a chill through the already tense atmosphere. Before anyone could react, Gu Ning turned and sprinted toward the stairs with her knife, shouting to Fang Fa, “Fang Fa! Go save Zhang Xiaobai!”

Fang Fa, whose special ability was speed, didn’t even check if Zhang Xiaobai was missing. He activated his ability and shot forward like an arrow!

The others reacted quickly too, realizing someone was missing. They all turned and ran back!

Gu Ning, though lacking speed abilities, was naturally fast. She took the stairs two at a time, leading the charge with Fang Fa.

The mutated zombie, dragging a long “tail,” had the end firmly wrapped around Zhang Xiaobai’s neck. Its hands and feet, covered in suction cups, clung to the ceiling like a gecko, moving swiftly. Its entire body, including its face, was coated in a transparent slime, leaving trails wherever it went—

Gu Ning and Fang Fa followed these trails. The mutated zombie was naturally fast, but dragging a person slowed it down. Yet, it refused to let go of its hard-earned prey. By the time it reached the third floor, Fang Fa had caught up. Seeing Zhang Xiaobai’s neck tightly constricted, his face turning red, and his eyes bulging, Fang Fa was shocked. He increased his speed, gripping his knife, and charged forward to rescue Zhang Xiaobai, not even bothering to look at the zombie’s horrifying appearance.

As a speed ability user, Fang Fa reached Zhang Xiaobai in an instant. Without hesitation, he swung his knife! The zombie, caught off guard by Fang Fa’s speed, couldn’t dodge in time. The knife struck its “tail,” and the zombie let out a pained hiss! However, Fang Fa’s strike only made a small cut; it didn’t sever the tail.

The zombie, in pain, went berserk. It swung its tail, flinging Zhang Xiaobai into a wall! Zhang Xiaobai, still wrapped in the tail, crashed into the wall and collapsed to the ground, clutching his neck and gasping for air.

Once free of Zhang Xiaobai, the tail lashed out at Fang Fa with incredible speed and precision! Fang Fa, realizing he couldn’t dodge in time, gritted his teeth and raised his knife to block.

Zhang Xiaobai, despite his pain, remembered being paralyzed by the zombie’s tail spike. Seeing Fang Fa fighting it, he wanted to warn him about the tail’s needle-like tip. But the more he panicked, the harder he coughed, his face turning red as he struggled to breathe.

The tail seemed to have a mind of its own, unfazed by Fang Fa’s knife. It wrapped around the blade, yanked it away, and flung it aside. Then, it whipped toward Fang Fa again! Fang Fa, noticing the tail’s unusually sharp tip, realized it might be dangerous. Without his knife and unwilling to grab it bare-handed, he could only retreat. Thankfully, his speed ability allowed him to dodge, moving back three to four meters in an instant. The tail slammed into the wall with a loud crack, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.

The zombie, missing its strike, quickly scurried along the ceiling and walls, closing in on Fang Fa with alarming speed. Fang Fa finally got a clear look at the zombie’s face—completely covered in slime, its left side rotting while the right remained intact. Its eyes were shut, making it both grotesque and terrifying. Fang Fa didn’t have time to think; he knew Gu Ning and the others were rushing over. His job was to buy time.

So, using his speed ability, he began darting frantically between the hall and the corridor.

But the unburdened zombie was just as fast! Worse, Fang Fa was limited to the ground, while the zombie could move along the ceiling and walls. When Fang Fa reached the end of the corridor with no way forward, the zombie dropped from the ceiling, blocking his retreat!

Sensing Fang Fa was trapped, the zombie slowed its movements, dragging its long tail like a gecko as it approached. Its tail arched like a scorpion’s, ready to strike at any moment.

Fang Fa, staring at the slime-covered face up close, felt suffocated. He glanced back; the window behind him was open. If he jumped from the third floor, would he survive? At the same time, he wondered why Gu Ning and the others were taking so long!

Little did he know, Gu Ning and the others were in even greater danger!

Xiang Yi and Xiang Xu were surrounded by Gu Ning, Third Brother, Jia Daozhang, and the rest. Xiang Yi gripped his knife tightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably: “What… what are these things?!” He stared in horror at the ceiling, where at least four or five slime-covered, grotesque mutated zombies with long tails were crawling toward them, clinging to the ceiling…