Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 65

The bearded man placed Xiao Li from his shoulder onto the ground. His movements were extremely casual, as if he weren’t setting down a person but unloading cargo. After Xiao Li was dropped to the ground, the bearded man nudged her shoulder with his foot, making her lie flat on the rock.

The flames on the ground had just been extinguished, and the rock was scorching hot, yet Xiao Li showed no sign of movement. One of her shoes was missing, and her fair ankle was clearly stained with bl00d.

Seeing her once-adorable teammate treated in such a manner, an irrepressible fury flashed in Tang Yu’s eyes, like an enraged beast. She clenched her teeth, gripped the chipped Startling Dragon, and approached Chen Deming step by step.

Kill him!

The thought flooded Tang Yu’s mind. Had she been more impulsive, she would have charged forward immediately to personally execute this scumbag who had harmed her teammate. Yet, despite her rage, Tang Yu appeared surprisingly calm and restrained.

Chen Deming was surrounded by a circle of his men; she couldn’t succeed in a single strike.

Chen Deming seemed to sense Tang Yu’s gaze and glanced in her direction. All he saw was a jumble of rocks. A hint of confusion crossed his face. He turned to look at the two giant snakes, which were on their backs and near death. Eight iron chains were pressed beneath their bodies, pinning them down firmly. Chen Deming looked away and ordered, “Go get the bronze pillars. While you’re at it, dig the bodies of those two out from under the snakes.”

Five men immediately split off from the group and headed toward the Snake King and Queen. The rest, well-trained, formed a tight circle around Chen Deming, assuming their roles as guards.

The bronze pillars Chen Deming mentioned had to be the objects in the giant snakes’ mouths. Their objective was clear; they had likely studied this altar before.

Chen Deming squatted beside Xiao Li. He didn’t examine her, but instead looked up at the octagonal stone slab above. He then took out a piece of white chalk and, corresponding to the position of the slab overhead, drew an octagonal pattern on the ground.

“Qian, three connected; Kun, six broken.” Chen Deming chanted, adding horizontal bars to the octagonal pattern, making it identical to the grooves on the stone slab. “Li, empty center; Kan, full center.” After finishing the drawing, Chen Deming reached out and pressed his hand on the flat rock.

Following his action, a sunken stone slab appeared out of thin air on the ground. Grooves were carved into it, and four holes appeared in the center.

Tang Yu’s brow twitched as a bad premonition washed over her. She looked down at her feet. The rock had previously been covered by a dense mass of small snakes, so they hadn’t noticed the snake-like script covering the ground, which converged like a network of meridians at the stone slab.

The bearded man took a leather flask from his waist and handed it to Chen Deming. Looking at the carvings on the ground, Chen Deming carefully poured the liquid from the flask into the grooves.

“Qian is the head, Kan is the ears, Li is the eyes, Dui is the mouth, Gen is the hands, Kun is the abdomen, Zhen is the feet…” Chen Deming continuously changed his position as he poured the liquid, his gaze shifting back and forth between the carvings on the ground. It was clear he was choosing the pouring order based on the script.

He could understand this snake-like script.

No wonder their objective was so clear.

Tang Yu’s gaze fell on the leather flask. It was a bag of bl00d—bright red and viscous.

Seeing how carefully Chen Deming was pouring, the bearded man chuckled. “Captain Chen, no need to be frugal. If we run out of bl00d, that girl has more.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu’s gaze froze. She took a step forward to get a better look at Xiao Li, who was surrounded. There were obvious knife cuts on the calf of Xiao Li’s cargo pants, and on her wrists as well.

They were taking Xiao Li’s bl00d!

The sight sent Tang Yu into a rage. She tightened her grip on her knife, her eyes fixed on Chen Deming’s neck like a predator, and activated her precognition ability.

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed. The two giant snakes in the corner suddenly rose from the rocks and opened their cavernous, bloody maws at the five men who were stabbing their bodies.

Everyone in the cave looked toward the giant snakes. Only then did they realize the snakes had been feigning death. The iron chains that had been restraining them had long since broken.

At the same moment the snakes attacked, Tang Yu shot forward like a gust of wind, knocking aside the two men guarding Chen Deming. The instant her form became visible, she raised her knife and brought it down on Chen Deming’s head.

The Startling Dragon descended like lightning toward Chen Deming’s head, but in the next moment, the blade struck empty air.

Two seconds later, Chen Deming appeared behind the bearded man, his hands clasped behind his back, looking at the suddenly-appeared Tang Yu with a hint of surprise.

Tang Yu had been prepared for Chen Deming’s evasion. The moment her blade missed, she retracted her momentum and went straight for the bearded man without so much as a blink.

It was just teleportation. Tang Yu had already witnessed it once at North Stream Camp.

Unlike Chen Deming’s composure, the bearded man was clearly enraged by Tang Yu’s sudden appearance. He reacted quickly, drawing a large scimitar from his waist and slashing horizontally at Tang Yu. The force was so great it stirred up a gust of wind within the cave.

Tang Yu dodged, and her figure vanished.

In that instant, the giant snakes had already swallowed two people. The red-eyed snake whipped its tail, its massive body sweeping toward Chen Deming, the bearded man, and the others. Immediately after, Song Lengzhu flashed out from behind the snake. A gunshot rang out, and three bullets flew straight for Chen Deming.

Chen Deming instantly moved to the other end of the cave, but his underlings and the bearded man weren’t so lucky. They were swept to the ground by the snake’s body, several of them sent flying into the rock wall.

Having missed her shot, Song Lengzhu immediately redirected her gun and aimed again at Chen Deming in the corner.

Only then did Chen Deming’s expression turn grave. He vanished from his spot like a phantom, his next location unknown.

The cave descended into chaos. The two giant snakes stared menacingly at the dozen or so men. Their necks bulged, the people they had swallowed still struggling and squirming inside.

At that moment, the invisible Tang Yu rushed toward the bearded man. He had just scrambled up from the ground, having fallen next to Xiao Li. Seeing the snake’s tail sweeping toward him again, he grabbed Xiao Li and held her in front of him as a shield.

Rage surged through Tang Yu. This man was actually trying to use Xiao Li as a shield. She leaped into the air, delivering a flying kick to the back of the bearded man’s knee. With a flash of her knife, she severed the arm he was using to hold Xiao Li, then caught the limp girl and dodged the impact of the snake’s tail.

Unable to dodge in time, the bearded man was sent flying once again.

Tang Yu ignored everything else and rushed to a corner to check on Xiao Li. Xiao Li’s eyes were shut tight and her body was limp, but thankfully, she was still warm; she wasn’t dead. Her hair was a mess, as if it had been violently pulled.

Tang Yu called Xiao Li’s name twice, but there was no response. She quickly contacted Jin Ye. “Jin Ye, I found Xiao Li.” Her voice was hoarse with anger. On the other end, Jin Ye anxiously asked about Xiao Li’s condition. Tang Yu opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. If Jin Ye knew what Xiao Li looked like, she would probably go insane.

Tang Yu gritted her teeth and cursed, “Chen Deming, that bastard.”

She carefully avoided Xiao Li’s wounds, lifted her, and placed her behind a piece of broken rock. Then, she grabbed her knife and charged toward the bearded man.

The bearded man had been struck twice by the snake’s tail and had an arm severed by Tang Yu. He was now on the ground, coughing up bl00d. Tang Yu stepped on his chest, her fingers clamping around his throat, her eyes blazing with fury.

“What did you do to my partner?”

The bearded man couldn’t understand her words at all, but from her actions in saving Xiao Li, he could tell that the little girl was this zombie’s companion.

The bearded man gave a dry laugh and coughed. “Why are you so angry? Is that little brat dead? No way. She can’t die.”

He showed no remorse or fear. Instead, he was provoking Tang Yu, his words and tone making it clear that they knew about Xiao Li’s ability because they had tested it.

If Tang Yu hadn’t activated her precognition, she would have been blinded by rage, her mind consumed with killing the bearded man. But she wasn’t.

She was calm, so calm that the moment a gust of wind flashed behind her, she had already sidestepped, even having the spare energy to grab the bearded man and shove him forward.

She knew that Chen Deming had teleported behind them, launching a sneak attack on her while dodging Song Lengzhu’s assault.

A thin, flexible sword pierced through the bearded man’s chest and was swiftly withdrawn. Chen Deming was slightly surprised by his mistake, but in the next instant, he vanished again.

Tang Yu’s temples throbbed. Her eyes were ferocious. Before the bearded man could draw his last breath, she dug her nails into his throat. The moment the notification for a successful assimilation sounded, she raised her hand and plunged the Startling Dragon into his spine. With a twist of her wrist, she flipped the hilt, like a beheading blade, and took the bearded man’s life.

In her rage, she had unleashed a chain of killing blows. If an interstellar hunter had been present, they would have recognized it as a common technique for killing interstellar monsters.

By the time Tang Yu stood up again, more than half of Chen Deming’s men were injured or disabled. The two freed giant snakes were far more powerful than anyone had imagined. They held their heads high, their gazes fixed on the people scurrying around the cave, filled with immense hostility toward the humans who had tried to harm them. Their coiled bodies occasionally slammed into Chen Deming’s men, yet they deliberately avoided Tang Yu and Song Lengzhu’s positions.

Tang Yu scanned the cave for Chen Deming. He kept changing his position, and Song Lengzhu’s three attacks had all missed.

Song Lengzhu didn’t have an ability to counter teleportation, but Tang Yu did.

When Chen Deming reappeared among the broken rocks, Tang Yu charged at him with her knife. The moment Chen Deming landed, he saw Tang Yu pursuing him like a Rakshasa and quickly vanished again.

But Tang Yu had feinted. She immediately changed direction and slashed toward Song Lengzhu.

Song Lengzhu was stunned for a moment, but she reacted quickly. Thanks to their time together over the past two days, their rapport reached its peak at that moment. A flash of insight struck Song Lengzhu. She didn’t move her feet, but raised her gun and fired three shots into the empty space around her.

Chen Deming had planned to sneak attack Song Lengzhu, but it was as if the two of them had predicted his move and were waiting for him where he appeared. The moment he stabilized his footing, he was struck by both the tip of the knife and the bullets. The wound on his back stretched from his shoulder blade to his waist.

Chen Deming let out a muffled grunt, but a strange smile appeared on his face as he once again vanished before their eyes.

Tang Yu abruptly looked up at the stone slab opening above and caught a glimpse of Chen Deming’s figure flashing past the entrance. That bastard had actually abandoned his teammates and fled.

A ten-meter vertical climb was no problem for Chen Deming with his teleportation ability, but for Tang Yu and Song Lengzhu, it would take a great deal of effort. By the time they climbed up, he would be long gone.

“Damn it! He got away!” Tang Yu was furious and couldn’t help but curse aloud. This man had framed them time and again, not to mention he had hurt Xiao Li. How could she bear to let him go?

Tang Yu grabbed a still-hot iron chain and was about to start climbing.

Suddenly, a figure plummeted from the opening above, crashing onto the stone slab with a thud, unable to get up for a long time.

Tang Yu looked closely. The person who had fallen was none other than Chen Deming, who was supposed to have escaped. He seemed to have been pushed, as he had fallen on his back and was now spitting up bl00d.

Tang Yu decisively let go of the chain, stepped on Chen Deming’s chest, and grabbed his injured arm.

Just then, two heads peeked out from the opening above. Zhou Zhou’s voice echoed from the entrance, “Tang Yu, are you down there?”

The other person was already sliding down a hot iron chain. Under the light, Jin Ye’s figure appeared in the cave. She first let out a sigh of relief seeing Tang Yu standing there unharmed, but then her heart leaped into her throat.

Seeing Jin Ye on the chain, Tang Yu’s eyes turned red. She pointed to a corner with a hoarse voice, “Xiao Li is over there.”

From Jin Ye’s perspective, she could only see a small figure leaning forlornly against the broken rocks. Beside her were two enormous pythons, their mouths still holding the mangled remains of a human body. On the ground lay a dozen heavily injured people. It was clear a fierce battle had taken place.

Jin Ye gasped and rushed to Xiao Li’s side, shielding her with her body and pointing her dagger at the pythons.

Tang Yu noticed Jin Ye’s unsteady running posture; she was clearly injured as well. She stopped Jin Ye’s attack, saying, “These two snakes didn’t harm us. The one who hurt Xiao Li is Chen Deming.”

Beneath her foot, Chen Deming’s face was grim, his thoughts unreadable.

Zhou Zhou and Li Chengjian also slid down the chains, followed by Song Lengzhu’s teammates.

The group, having been separated for some time, was now reunited in the cave.

Tang Yu held Chen Deming’s wrist and deactivated her precognition ability. The power was too draining and easily caused dizziness. She looked at Zhou Zhou and asked, “Did you push him down?”

Zhou Zhou nodded. “We saw this person as soon as we got here. An unfamiliar face, so we figured it must be Chen Deming. You just said in the camp group chat, ‘He got away,’ so I subconsciously blocked him.”

In reality, Zhou Zhou had thought it through more carefully. She and Jin Ye had reached the octagonal stone slab above the altar. The two small white dots on Jin Ye’s map had overlapped, so they had guessed Tang Yu must be nearby. This stranger, wounded and appearing in a hurry, looked suspicious, so Zhou Zhou gave him a push.

Her movements were already incredibly fast, and Chen Deming was injured. The push sent him tumbling straight down into the cave.

Tang Yu said, “Help me ask him what he did to Xiao Li. She’s unconscious, and I’m afraid he poisoned her.”

Hearing this, Zhou Zhou was taken aback, a rare expression of anger appearing on her face. She glanced over at Xiao Li, who was being held by Jin Ye, and questioned Chen Deming, “Did you poison her?”

Chen Deming remained silent for a moment, then revealed a faint smile. “Just excessive bl00d loss.”

His words successfully enraged Jin Ye. She looked at the knife marks on Xiao Li’s body, carefully avoiding them. When she looked up again, veins were bulging on her forehead, and a murderous aura surged around her, as if she had become a different person.

But at that moment, Chen Deming inexplicably uttered a few numbers. “Three, two, one, mechanism triggered, pop.” A strange smile appeared on his face, and he even had the presence of mind to make a sound effect.

As soon as he finished speaking, the floor began to shake. Directly in front of the stone slab where Chen Deming had poured bl00d, a human-shaped shallow pit suddenly appeared, right in front of Tang Yu.

Not only that, but a strange red liquid began to seep from within the surrounding rock walls, flowing down to the ground. The same liquid gradually started to pool in the human-shaped pit.

The eight hanging iron chains also fell from mid-air at that moment, dropping straight into the cave. Then, the octagonal stone slab at the entrance flipped over with a loud thud, sealing the cave shut.

Before anyone could react, a corpse lying near the wall was touched by the liquid. In an instant, its skin rotted and its flesh began to melt, its condition identical to the bl00d-covered person Tang Yu and Song Lengzhu had seen before.

Tang Yu was shocked and shouted to Jin Ye, “Quick, get away from the walls!”

That liquid was untouchable.

Everyone was terrified and immediately gathered in the center of the cave. The two giant snakes also moved away from the walls.

But the liquid from the walls seeped out faster and faster, and would soon cover the entire floor.

Chen Deming laughed loudly. “In this tomb, once the mechanism is activated, it cannot be stopped.” He had already poured the bl00d, awakening the mechanism. If the next step wasn’t taken, everyone would die here.

He stared intently at the human-shaped pit before him. To everyone’s astonishment, he suddenly twisted his shoulder, forcibly dislocating his own arm. Then he quickly rose and lunged at Tang Yu, who was holding him, intending to push her into the human-shaped pit.

Tang Yu hadn’t activated her ability. She hadn’t expected this dying man to still have tricks up his sleeve and was knocked off balance.

After his successful strike, Chen Deming’s figure flickered, intending to use his teleportation ability while Tang Yu was busy saving herself.

But he had underestimated Tang Yu’s reaction speed and mental fortitude. As her body pitched forward, her grip on Chen Deming didn’t loosen in the slightest. She pulled him down with her toward the shallow pit. Just before they landed, she twisted her body and pressed Chen Deming onto the liquid, back first.

The splashing liquid shot toward Tang Yu’s face. She instinctively shut her eyes to avoid it. A pair of hands promptly grabbed the back collar of her vest and, with a strong tug, pulled her out.

Chen Deming’s entire back made contact with the terrifying liquid. He let out a hoarse roar and was about to climb out of the pit when Jin Ye rushed up and kicked him back to the bottom, his entire body falling back into the human-shaped stone pit.

This man, even on the verge of death, was still thinking of harming others.

After Chen Deming was fully settled in the pit, dozens of steel bars suddenly shot out from its edge, forming a cage that completely sealed him inside, making escape impossible.

The liquid at the bottom of the pit stopped rising, but Chen Deming’s flesh had already begun to melt from his back. Yet he was still alive. A bl00d-curdling scream echoed through the bottom of the cave. He no longer maintained his smile, but continuously screamed for help.

Only when the fire is on you do you know the pain.

Tang Yu looked back with lingering fear at the person who had pulled her. It was Song Lengzhu.

After Tang Yu was safe, Song Lengzhu had withdrawn her hand and was standing silently in the back with her team. She calmly accepted Tang Yu’s gaze, only to notice that Tang Yu’s eyes were unfocused.

At that moment, Tang Yu’s mind was filled with terrifying speculations. Chen Deming had clearly known about this mechanism from the start. The person they had initially chosen for the sacrifice was the defenseless Xiao Li.

If they hadn’t run into Chen Deming here, or if they hadn’t rescued the Snake King and Queen after falling into the cave, Xiao Li would probably be gone.

She couldn’t imagine Xiao Li suffering such a cruel fate, nor could she imagine the pain she herself would have endured if Chen Deming had succeeded.

This lingering fear made Tang Yu’s eyes redden slightly.

Song Lengzhu was slightly taken aback, misinterpreting Tang Yu’s emotions. The little zombie looked so pitiful, staring blankly at her.

They had already saved each other so many times. There was no need to be this moved, was there?