Doomsday Awakening GL - Chapter 12

Nuan Qianyu stopped the car, got out to ask for directions, and inquired about the situation in the village.

This was a very remote village; they wouldn’t have come here if they weren’t taking a detour. The eight people standing outside the village were all elderly, with white hair.

An Yimu was surprised. This kind of village shouldn’t have many people. Considering the size and the mud houses, the casualties from the earthquake should have been minor. Even if zombies appeared, the survivors should have been the younger people. Why were they all elderly?

Nuan Qianyu came back happily and said, “Let’s rest here tonight. They said the zombies in the village have been cleared.”

Ling Qiuyu kept her eyes closed, resting.

Considering everyone was indeed tired, An Yimu did not refuse, despite some doubts.

They chose a relatively clean farmhouse, parked the cars in the small yard, tidied up simply, ate some food to regain strength, and then Ling Qiuyu and Nuan Qianyu went to rest.

An Yimu stayed in the yard. The palm of her right hand was slightly warm. The gear-shaped birthmark was tinged with a bl00d-red color under the moonlight, looking extremely bizarre.

The elements of this world had changed; now, it was only the survival of the fittest.

Just as she was zoning out, a commotion was heard outside the yard. An Yimu’s hearing was three times that of an ordinary person, and she clearly sensed a group of people approaching. She found a corner, climbed the wall, and observed discreetly.

A group of about 30 people was walking toward them. Strangely, they were all dressed in black robes, concealing their faces, chanting along the way: “O great Lord, thank you for your grace and blessing! Our body and soul will be devoted to you.”

At the front of the group were three young women wrapped in white sheets. It was obvious that these women were tied up, their mouths covered with black tape, and they could only be pushed forward by the people behind.

An Yimu couldn’t guess the purpose of this group, but the crowd had already passed the farmhouse where they were staying. It seemed they were not a threat to them. Curious, An Yimu followed them.

After about 10 minutes, the group reached a cave at the end of the village. An Yimu did not follow them inside but secretly peeked from outside the cave.

The group in black robes tied the three women to three stone pillars. The pillars were placed at the three vertices of a triangle. Then, the group danced in circles around the pillars, their hands flailing, occasionally making strange sounds. After an hour of this, just as An Yimu was about to give up and leave, the people returned to the village.

An Yimu collected herself, hesitating whether to save these three women. After all, these were three living human lives. Should she leave them here to die?

The actions of these people were strange, resembling a sacrificial ritual in some Western religions or superstitious practices from history. They believed in a god and offered living people for protection.

An Yimu cautiously entered the cave. Inside, illuminated by the torches burning on the wall, she saw piles of white bones behind the stone pillars. She gasped. The temperature inside the cave was very low, with cold air spreading everywhere, making even An Yimu feel chills.

Just as An Yimu was about to untie the women bound to the stone pillars, she suddenly heard movement at the cave entrance.

She quickly pressed against a wall, concealing herself.

A man sneaked in furtively. The man was short, with a crew cut, his face obscured by the darkness. His clothes were slashed in many places, revealing healthy wheat-colored skin, and only his loose sweatpants were relatively intact. The man was holding a wooden stick, looking around, then ran in, jumped onto the stone platform, and began untying the ropes on the women.

An Yimu was even more confused now. Could it be that the villagers tied the women here because of an illicit affair, and the man came at midnight to save them? Could it get any more melodramatic! Had this place become so feudal?

Hoo… Hoo…

An Yimu’s eyes flashed. She held her breath and looked vigilantly toward the cave entrance. She heard the heavy breathing of something.

Before long, a monster walked in. The fleshy pads on its feet made no sound as it entered. The man hadn’t noticed; he was still cutting the rope of the last woman with a dagger.

This monster was neither dog nor wolf. Its small eyes held intense killing intent. Two rows of fangs protruded, looking very sharp, gleaming white under the torchlight. Its body was large, at least two meters long, and entirely brown.

An Yimu clutched her chest and thought: This is bad.

One of the unbound women suddenly saw the monster walking toward them. Her pupils dilated, and she let out a scream.

The monster lowered its head, making a whining sound, its eyes fixed on the four people.

The man was startled by the woman’s sudden scream. He vigilantly turned around with the wooden stick, and his body trembled when he saw the monster.

The monster roared, kicked its hind legs, and pounced, biting off one woman’s head in a single snap. Bl00d instantly stained the ground where it stood, and the bl00d on its stark white fangs made it look even more terrifying.

An Yimu closed her eyes in despair. Humans had too great a disadvantage against this kind of mammal. They were much more flexible. She could already confirm that this monster had definitely mutated.

Two women immediately bolted out of the cave. The man held the wooden stick with trembling hands, staring at the monster, and slowly backed away.

Never turn your back on your enemy.

The monster looked at them disdainfully. It tore the woman’s body apart with a few swipes of its claws. An Yimu guessed that the pile of white bones behind the stone pillars must have been the work of this beast.

The monster’s speed was too fast. Four legs ran much faster than two. In just a few seconds, it caught up with one woman, bit her head off again, and bl00d sprayed from its mouth.

An Yimu had only brought a kitchen knife, which she found in the farmhouse. She couldn’t even find a piece of broken metal here. She nervously watched the beast, licking her lips. Today, either she died, or it died. Once these few people were dead, the monster would definitely find her. An animal’s sense of smell was many times better than a human’s.

Taking advantage of the monster attacking the man, An Yimu darted out from the darkness. Relying on her speed, which was three times that of a normal person, she managed to hack the kitchen knife into the monster’s spine.

The monster howled in pain, the sound making An Yimu’s eardrums ring.

The monster turned its head, its eyes dark and malicious, glaring at An Yimu. The man took the opportunity to turn and run.

An Yimu rolled to the side and picked up the wooden stick the man had dropped, confronting the monster.

The monster panted, also staring at An Yimu, scratching the ground with its claws. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and lunged at An Yimu’s leg. An Yimu jumped to dodge. Not expecting the monster to be aware, it violently swung its claw at her. The inch-long sharp claws startled An Yimu. She reacted quickly and threw the wooden stick at it. The stick was immediately split in half. An Yimu gritted her teeth, abandoning the idea of changing direction, and dropped vertically, using her body weight to pin the monster down. The monster twisted its head and lunged to bite.

An Yimu used her elbow to resist the monster’s lower jaw and punched the monster’s abdomen hard with her other fist.

The weakness of a mammal is its abdomen.

As expected, the monster howled, the sound sharp and piercing.

An Yimu quickly retreated, keeping a distance of several meters from the monster.

After struggling on the ground for a while, the monster whimpered a few times, jumped up, and shot out of the cave like an arrow.

An Yimu sighed in relief. Her legs felt weak. Afraid that the monster would return, An Yimu didn’t dare rest and quickly left the cave, heading toward the village.

Before she had even walked halfway, she saw the man and woman who had escaped earlier.

Both looked at her with disbelief. They hadn’t expected this seemingly frail woman to return alive from the hands of that monster.

The man was surprised when he saw her, then his face flushed. He took the initiative to approach and speak, “I’m so sorry about earlier…” He was referring to abandoning An Yimu and fleeing. Then he added, “My name is Qin Yongsheng. Miss, you should leave this village quickly. The people in this village are not normal!”

An Yimu’s ears pricked up. This person seemed to know some inside information. “You two come with me. I have companions in the village, and tell me what you know along the way.”

The two immediately agreed. Escaping from that monster showed that An Yimu’s strength was not to be underestimated. They would be safer together.

“We were just passing through this village to rest. There were more than twenty of us in total, and now there are only two left. The people in this village are very superstitious. After the zombies appeared, that monster in the cave killed all the zombies. They think this is a divine spirit protecting them, so they sacrifice three young people every day. I sneaked out to save them, but I unexpectedly ran into that monster. It’s all thanks to your sudden appearance, or we wouldn’t have survived.” Thinking of the monster, Qin Yongsheng’s expression changed slightly.

An Yimu was speechless… She felt somewhat unable to accept this truth.

The three returned to the farmhouse. An Yimu planned to leave here as soon as dawn broke the next morning.

Qin Yongsheng, however, suggested, “If they find us in the morning, we won’t be able to leave. Let’s sneak out tonight.”

The two of them couldn’t leave with twenty-something people initially. How could they leave with only a few people now? Furthermore, most of them were women.

An Yimu agreed. She woke up the sleeping Nuan Qianyu and Ling Qiuyu. It was about 4 AM now.

After hearing An Yimu’s narration of the villagers’ actions tonight, Nuan and Ling were greatly alarmed. They hadn’t expected people in the 21st century to be so superstitious, even resorting to live human sacrifices. No wonder only some elderly people remained in the village; they were truly too backward!

Afraid that the sound of the engine starting would alert the villagers, the five people only took their belongings and quietly left.

After leaving the village, the five people headed north. In the darkness, An Yimu still felt uneasy. She felt as though someone was watching her in the dark.