Doomsday Awakening GL - Chapter 21

An Yimu felt a fear from the depths of her soul for the first time, a fear that seemed like it would completely devour a person.

Her eyes stared blankly at the vibrating coffin, not even bothering with the large number of maggots gradually approaching around her.

Bang—Bang—Bang—

Every sound seemed to knock on An Yimu’s heart, making her panic.

Bang—

The coffin lid flew off abruptly, smashing onto a cluster of maggots, instantly eliciting squeaking cries of agony.

An Yimu sat on the ground, her pearly teeth biting her lower lip, finding a slight sense of security only by desperately clutching the Spider Spear in her hand.

Suddenly, a black silhouette leaped out of the coffin.

The shadow landed on the ground, and only then could she clearly see a cold-faced woman. Soft golden hair was scattered over her round shoulders, her nose bridge was high, her thin lips were tightly pursed, she had brown eyes, delicate features, and a slender figure. The woman was wearing a tattered denim jacket on her upper body and khaki casual trousers on her lower body.

An Yimu was stunned.

It… wasn’t a zongzi (Chinese zombie/mummy)…?

These clothes were clearly worn by modern people…

Somehow, she remembered the rusty badge she had seen before, something about a base.

Squeak, squeak, squeak—

The sound of the maggots grew louder. Originally, they were only pouring out from one wall, but now they were surging from all directions.

The woman approached An Yimu with a serene expression, her steps light. Before An Yimu could react, the woman’s hand had reached into An Yimu’s clothes… kneading and pressing her chest area…

An Yimu’s face instantly flushed crimson with anger and embarrassment. Just as she was about to attack the woman, the woman withdrew her hand, and a jade pendant lay quietly in it. A wave of relief washed over An Yimu, so it was only to retrieve the jade pendant. An Yimu’s face was burning intensely. This area, which she seldom touched herself, had been touched by a complete stranger… An Yimu didn’t dare to look at the woman, and she stepped back, covering her chest with both hands.

The jade pendant in the woman’s hand gradually emitted a dazzling white light. A gentle aura radiated from it, blocking the maggots outside the white light. Their squeaking cries seemed to quiet down.

The jade pendant melted bit by bit into the woman’s palm. An Yimu watched clearly as a bl00d-red totem faintly appeared on the woman’s forehead—wasn’t this the same as the one on the jade pendant? Faint red threads emerged and gradually dissipated into the air.

It was difficult to describe the shape of this totem. The pattern was very complicated, with bl00d-red lines intersecting and intertwining, resembling some kind of animal, or perhaps a map. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a plant or something else. Generally, totems were mostly animal patterns, but this one was impossible to define. It was a very strange totem.

An Yimu stared at the woman in surprise. What was going on? Why did this pattern appear on her forehead, and where did the jade pendant go?

After the jade pendant completely disappeared, the white light gradually faded. The woman acted as if she hadn’t seen An Yimu, walking directly towards the exit across the way.

An Yimu quickly followed the woman. When the woman’s hand touched her just now, she felt body temperature, indicating she was a living person. From her appearance, she seemed to know how to get out.

The maggots slowly approached An Yimu but dared not get close to the woman, following closely behind the two and squeaking restlessly until the two reached the exit one after the other. Only then did the maggots stop and gradually retreat.

After leaving the cave, the ground began to slowly ascend, much like an elevator.

Both remained silent. An Yimu didn’t know what to say, and the woman, with her cold and unwavering gaze, simply hadn’t intended to speak.

An Yimu secretly sized up the woman, feeling a strange sensation. She kept feeling that she had forgotten something important.

When she came back to her senses, her entire being was enveloped in light, painfully stinging her eyes. She instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes. A warm sensation covered her whole body—it was the sun!

An Yimu squinted, her heart filled with joy. She hadn’t expected to get out so easily; she had thought she would die in there. She turned her head and saw that the woman was still standing beside her. She didn’t seem to find the light dazzling, just standing quietly, allowing tears to stream from her eyes.

An Yimu was stunned. Didn’t this woman know that looking at the sun like this would burn her eyes? She quickly pulled the woman aside, reached out to shield her from the sunlight, and only let go when the woman’s eyes had mostly adapted. The woman didn’t struggle, merely looking at her actions with curiosity.

“My name is An Yimu. Thank you for saving me. What is your name?” An Yimu asked the woman in a conventional manner.

The woman looked up slightly at the sun, the ball of heat flickering in her eyes. The woman pointed at the sun and asked, “What is that?”

Her voice was soft and devoid of any emotional color.

“…” An Yimu stared at the woman’s expressionless face, speechless for a long time. She didn’t know what the sun was?

Seeing An Yimu staring blankly at her, the woman turned to meet An Yimu’s gaze and said, “I don’t have a name.”

“…” An Yimu noticed a small tag hanging outside the pocket of the woman’s jacket.

The tag read: 13064 Lan Chang

“Lan Chang…” An Yimu murmured. Why was this woman buried a thousand meters underground? Why didn’t she know her own name? What was with that jade pendant? Why did it melt into the woman’s body…? Her mind was a complete mess.

“Is that my name, Lan Chang…” The woman slowly repeated, looking at An Yimu.

An Yimu offered a slight smile, “Let’s assume it is. Lan Chang, would you like to come with me?” She pondered, then reached out and took the small tag from Lan Chang’s chest, placing it in her own pocket. Lan Chang still didn’t react, as if the item didn’t belong to her, completely indifferent.

Lan Chang tilted her head and asked, “Why should I go with you?”

An Yimu hadn’t expected Lan Chang to ask such a question, and for a moment she was at a loss, “Then, where are you planning to go?”

“Where am I going? Where should I go?” Lan Chang thought, muttering, “Chong… Chongming. That’s right, I need to go to Chongming.”

An Yimu smiled, “Chongming City? Then we are going the same way. Come on, let’s go together.” This Lan Chang felt like a child, simple-minded, and even her memories seemed vague.

“Okay.” Lan Chang looked at An Yimu quietly and agreed.

An Yimu looked around. On the sides were bottomless abysses. They were surprisingly in the middle of a rift, the mechanism having delivered them to a huge platform in the middle of the rift. She felt that this area was somewhat strange, but An Yimu couldn’t pinpoint what was odd about it. She just felt that the abrupt end of the rift here seemed unnatural, more like it was artificially created. Artificially… An Yimu was startled by her own thought. How was that possible? Who would have such immense power to tear the ground apart…?

Or perhaps the mechanism was directly connected to the surface, and the earthquake caused the height difference between the two sides.

Who set up such a complex mechanism to bury Lan Chang a thousand meters underground?

Lan Chang looked around and remained silent. She seemed to be eternally quiet.

At this moment, faint sounds arose around them.

An ant crawled up from beneath the platform. That black ant was as big as a cat! Generally, increased size would affect speed, but this ant was different; its speed was very fast. This was clearly a mutated ant.

Then, one ant after another climbed up. They surged towards the two like a tide, but as they got closer, they seemed to have eyes, avoiding Lan Chang and specifically attacking An Yimu.

An Yimu watched, remembering how the maggots had acted similarly before. She immediately understood: Lan Chang must have something that these dark creatures feared or perhaps revered. If so, maybe even zombies would steer clear of Lan Chang.

An Yimu raised her hand and stabbed an ant with the Spider Spear, killing it, but there were still layers upon layers of ants surging behind.

An Yimu killed one after another, continuously wielding the Spider Spear, while the ants kept swarming forward. Each one carried a trace of energy; although very little, it could still be felt.

Soon, the platform was occupied by ants. The entire space available for movement was almost completely covered by these giant ants.

An Yimu simply couldn’t kill them all, so she shouted, “Lan Chang, quickly think of a way to get out of here!” She could only rely on Lan Chang, this mysterious woman.

At this moment, the platform beneath their feet began to tremble violently. An Yimu was shocked, reaching out to pull Lan Chang towards the edge. If they fell down again, who knew when they could get back up.

A massive white cocoon ripped open from the center of the platform and emerged from it.

The cocoon’s diameter exceeded six meters. It was completely white, wrapped in fine, dense silk threads. Ants crawled onto it, seemingly injecting something into it. An Yimu was terrified. She suddenly thought of the queen ant in an ant colony; worker ants often sacrifice themselves to provide nutrients for the queen. If there was a queen ant inside this cocoon… the consequences if it came out were unimaginable.

The perpetually silent Lan Chang looked at An Yimu with clear eyes, “Do we need to go up?”

An Yimu gave a wry smile, “Of course we do, but I’m afraid we can’t go up yet. We have to deal with this thing first.” She pointed at the cocoon.

Lan Chang nodded as if she understood but didn’t quite, saying, “You won’t be able to destroy this thing.” After speaking, she wrapped an arm around An Yimu’s waist, lightly tapped her foot, and leaped onto one side of the rift.

An Yimu watched the cocoon grow smaller and smaller, utterly disbelieving. Could Lan Chang perform qinggong (lightness skill)? How could a person leap and fly on a stone wall? What exactly was her origin?

In no time, the two reached the ground. An Yimu knelt on the ground, gagging, her stomach feeling terribly unwell…

Lan Chang, with her dewy eyes, suddenly said, “We took the wrong way.”

An Yimu clutched her chest and looked up. “…” Took the wrong way? She didn’t understand what Lan Chang meant.

She looked up and realized that they had climbed up the rift, true enough, but they had ended up on the opposite side of Chongming City. In other words, to reach Chongming City from their current location, they still had to cross this rift.

“Can you jump across?” An Yimu asked, her eyes sparkling.

Lan Chang looked at her earnestly and said, “No.”

“…”

So they still have to take a detour, is that it! An Yimu simply lay down on the ground, taking deep breaths. Regardless of everything else, she had finally seen the light of day again.