Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 58

“Mm.” Tang Yu responded to Song Lengzhu’s self-introduction with a simple syllable, acting as if it were the first time she had heard the name.

It was all an act.

From their very first meeting, she knew the woman’s surname was Song. By their third encounter, she had learned her full name from Jin Ye. In the past, just thinking of that name made her teeth itch with anger; she even dreamed of sabotaging her a few times.

But after being forced to cooperate, Tang Yu discovered that this person wasn’t the simple villain she had imagined.

In Tang Yu’s impression, Song Lengzhu held life in very low regard. Perhaps from spending too long in the game, taking an enemy’s life had become second nature to Song Lengzhu. She would shoot Shen Xu from the shadows without hesitation and would also choose to take on missions that harmed others. When facing zombies, her attacks were even faster, more precise, and more ruthless.

Tang Yu was certain that Song Lengzhu didn’t care about the life or death of unrelated people.

Calling her cold was fitting; calling her cruel was also appropriate.

Like those players who chased fame and fortune, she constantly did missions to become stronger, making others wary of her power.

But that wasn’t the whole story. Through her interactions, Tang Yu subtly sensed that Song Lengzhu always maintained a somewhat unreal sense of detachment from the game.

This feeling seemed to come from her very core. Although she was always doing missions, her face never showed any fanaticism for them—at least, Tang Yu couldn’t sense it from her emotional changes. During every mission, she stood at the outermost layer of the players. Tang Yu had always thought she was controlling the overall situation, reaping the rewards like a fisherman catching the spoils of a fight. And she was indeed the one who benefited. But from another perspective, she seemed like an isolated outsider.

This detachment was also evident in her interactions with other players. When Song Lengzhu spoke to others, she was measured and appropriate, her tone rarely fluctuating. Even with her own teammates, Tang Yu hadn’t witnessed any particularly intimate exchanges between them along the way.

This was completely different from the atmosphere of “A Close and Loving Family.”

Moreover, Song Lengzhu’s attitude toward points was also puzzling. After killing the mother snake, her expression showed no fluctuation when she checked her panel, unlike Tang Yu, who had danced with joy over her stamina enhancement.

Tang Yu concluded that Song Lengzhu was a complex mix of contradictions. It was hard to judge her; she couldn’t be simply categorized as a good or bad person.

Such a person would make those around her subconsciously keep their distance, or even want to flee.

Tang Yu had the same thought. Their personalities were complete opposites; they weren’t the type to hit it off at first sight.

But now, this person had taken a step toward her and asked for her name.

Tang Yu was a bit baffled, not understanding what about her had caught this person’s attention.

Song Lengzhu straightened up under Tang Yu’s gaze. Tang Yu had thought they would have to exchange some pleasantries after sharing their names, but Song Lengzhu showed no intention of further conversation. She directly walked around Tang Yu’s bl00d on the ground to examine the surrounding rock walls.

The atmosphere dissipated in an instant, and the two quickly reverted to the unfamiliar dynamic of their temporary partnership.

Song Lengzhu’s gait was unsteady, and she clearly favored her left side. After all, a human’s perception of pain was more sensitive than a zombie’s. An irregular wound scraped by a blunt object like this was even more painful than a cut from a sharp knife.

Tang Yu observed for a moment, then turned her head and got down to business.

Once the surroundings were temporarily safe, Tang Yu finally began to seriously examine the cavern. Strangely, it was a regular rectangle, and the floor and rock walls were somewhat smoother than those of a natural cave.

Imitating Song Lengzhu, Tang Yu reached out and touched the stones on the side. They were cold to the touch. Some indentations, possibly caused by flowing water or other reasons, were very distinct under her fingers.

Other than that, there was nothing else special about these stones.

Finally, Tang Yu’s gaze fell upon the stone crevice they had fallen through. The most suspicious thing in the entire cavern was this fissure. It was in the very center of the cavern and was oval-shaped.

Song Lengzhu was standing below it, looking up.

“This stone crevice has signs of being artificially chiseled,” Song Lengzhu said.

Tang Yu hadn’t noticed before when she was smearing her bl00d. Now, looking at it with the bl00d applied, it was very obvious. There were many long, thin chisel marks next to the crevice. Although they were heavily eroded, they were arranged in a regular pattern, and the indented parts hadn’t been touched by the bl00d.

This vertical fissure was not naturally formed.

Having fallen through the crevice, they both knew its interior was not smooth or neat. It wasn’t like a carefully constructed passage, but rather like a half-finished product, casually chiseled out just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Who would come to a place hidden so deep beneath the rock?

Tang Yu couldn’t figure it out. Could it be that someone else had fallen to this underground place and then chiseled through the rock to climb out from here?

That was obviously unreasonable.

Song Lengzhu’s eyes lit up, and she said out of the blue, “It might be an escape route left by craftsmen.”

Tang Yu blinked, expressing her confusion. Craftsmen? What craftsmen? There were craftsmen dozens of meters below the ground in this rock layer? Miners?

She knew nothing about these things. If Jin Ye and Li Chengjian were here, she could have asked them a thing or two.

“A tomb,” Song Lengzhu tossed out the two words, then turned and walked toward the edge of the cavern wall to inspect the dark corners.

It was very likely that they had stumbled upon the great tomb by accident.

Xiao Qi had sent Song Lengzhu a message: the great tomb they were looking for was near the stream. Based on her and Tang Yu’s current location, they were directly or diagonally beneath the stream. In terms of direction and distance, the position was about right.

Song Lengzhu didn’t have much information about the great tomb either, as the person who triggered the mission hadn’t entered it yet. She only knew that this great tomb was an ancient one. To them, people from the stars, the history of ancient Earth was collectively known as the primordial era. This tomb was a remnant left by an even more primitive royal family, separated by eight hundred years even from the game’s current time setting.

The proper route was to find the location of the tombstone, then, based on calculations, drill a hole above the main tomb or a nearby passage to enter. But Song Lengzhu and Tang Yu had twisted and turned inside the mountain, and they had no idea which part of the great tomb they had reached.

Their mission hadn’t been triggered, which meant the cavern they were in was probably not a tomb chamber.

The rock layer here was low, and there were no murals or burial goods. It was more like a temporary place for craftsmen to rest. This place was separate from the main tomb and didn’t seem to be connected.

But there had to be a path connecting to the main tomb; otherwise, this escape route wouldn’t have been built here.

The word “tomb” made Tang Yu shudder. She had never had any intention of entering a tomb; she just wanted to find a way back to the surface.

Right now, climbing back into the crevice was unrealistic. Not to mention whether they could climb up without tools, there was also a pile of disgusting insects waiting for them up there. She couldn’t just keep bleeding, could she?

She could be a zombie, but not a dried-up corpse.

She could only hold her breath and look for another way out.

As Tang Yu wandered around, she suddenly saw chisel marks in the eastern corner similar to the ones on the crevice.

The marks were well-hidden. Tang Yu squatted in the corner and reached out to touch the rock there.

Upon closer inspection, there was a layer of something in the corner with a color similar to the rock and a texture like lime cement. It looked no different from the rock, but the feel was completely different.

Tang Yu took out Startling Dragon and chiseled at it twice. This substance was less hard than the rock. After she chiseled it open, the stone inside was revealed to be off-white.

Song Lengzhu saw Tang Yu squatting in the corner, chiseling at the stone with Startling Dragon again, and walked over.

Tang Yu made room for her, gesturing for Song Lengzhu to take a look.

Song Lengzhu, who had come for the great tomb, surely knew more than she did. One would have to do some homework before entering a tomb, right?

Song Lengzhu raised her hand and touched the wall a couple of times, saying, “Poured grout. It’s definitely a tomb.”

What was that? Tang Yu was completely clueless.

Coincidentally, Song Lengzhu was the type who rarely spoke unless asked. The number of words they had exchanged on their way through the cave could be counted on the fingers of both hands.

This wouldn’t do. She had to find a way to communicate with her.

Tang Yu coughed lightly twice. When Song Lengzhu looked at her, Tang Yu tilted her head, blinked, and widened her curious eyes.

Huh? Song Lengzhu was confused. After a moment, she also tilted her head hesitantly.

No! Tang Yu sighed and added a new gesture, tracing a question mark in the air next to her head.

Song Lengzhu understood this time. She stood up, acting as if nothing had happened, and continued her explanation from before. “It feels like some kind of mixed adhesive mortar. Someone probably used this grout material to block the passage to the tomb, and the outermost layer was painted with a pigment similar to the rock.”

Tang Yu continued to draw question marks.

“The grout? It’s used to seal tombs, a mixture of things like lime, coarse sand, and glutinous rice paste. It has excellent sealing properties. However, this tomb is inside a mountain, so it should be a stone-chamber tomb, not a grout-poured tomb. The grout was likely just used to fill in cracks.”

Song Lengzhu didn’t know which part Tang Yu was questioning, so she simply said everything she could think of.

Tang Yu mouthed a satisfied “Oh.” She was just testing to see if Song Lengzhu would pay her any mind. Who knew Song Lengzhu would actually be so patient with her?

Great! She had successfully found Jin Ye 2.0.

Tang Yu was a person with a strong thirst for knowledge. When she was with Jin Ye, she constantly asked about this and that. Jin Ye was good-tempered and always explained things to her in detail. She hadn’t expected Song Lengzhu to also be willing to explain a thing or two.

Tang Yu felt a little smug, wondering if she was just too charismatic.

Song Lengzhu’s next sentence poured a basin of cold water on her.

“I’ve answered all your questions. Now, let’s get to work. Dig out the grout.”

Tang Yu’s face darkened. From the looks of it, Song Lengzhu had no intention of doing it herself.

So it turned out that all gifts came with a price tag.

It was probably because Tang Yu had done such a good job digging out the rocks earlier, clearing them all by herself, that Song Lengzhu now tacitly assumed Tang Yu would take on this task as well.

Tang Yu hadn’t expected that she would be the miner.

It seemed that when you’re trying to get by in society, it’s better to hide your skills.

She didn’t know that Song Lengzhu was just worried about her dagger; otherwise, if she had handed Song Lengzhu a climbing pick, the other woman would have helped dig too.

Tang Yu took a deep breath and spent nearly an hour clearing out a half-meter-long crack in the grout.

This crack was level with the ground, very flat, and would be easy to crawl through.

As Tang Yu dug, she considered whether she should enter this tomb.

She hadn’t heard anything from Jin Ye, so she didn’t know what the situation was. But no news meant they still hadn’t found Xiao Li. Given how long they had been on the run, Chen Deming had probably already entered the great tomb.

They would most likely have to go into the tomb.

Actually, Tang Yu wasn’t sure if Chen Deming’s group had taken Xiao Li into the tomb. Dragging an unconscious person into a tomb seemed illogical no matter how you looked at it. It was possible he had left Xiao Li outside the tomb, but if so, they would have no way of finding her. They still had to find Chen Deming first to get a clear picture of the situation.

What kind of people were they? Vicious? Powerful? Tang Yu had no idea, but if they dared to harm Xiao Li, she and Jin Ye would take their lives.

With that thought, Tang Yu convinced herself to enter the tomb. If she had to go in, she would. It would also be a chance to rendezvous with Jin Ye.

If she really ran into a ghost, at worst, she’d just have to kowtow three times.