Chapter Thirty-Seven: Peril

At this moment, Qin Yu stood outside the small town, torn over whether she should enter. After much deliberation, she decided to retreat into her space and rest for a while; dusk was already approaching, and the evening glow cast an unusual beauty across the land. Qin Yu thought to herself that she’d been traveling all day and should get some proper rest first, gather her strength, and then face the battle ahead.

She entered her space, ate a little, and soon drifted into a deep sleep...

Meanwhile, within the space inside Qin Yu’s dagger, Little Black (the tiny poisonous mist) looked gravely at Little Flower and said, “Little Flower, I sense another of my kind here! And it’s stronger than me! I fear our master is in danger this time!”

Little Flower grew anxious at these words. “What should we do? Should we warn our master and tell her to leave?”

Little Black shot her a glance. “How would we warn her? We’re trapped in this damned place and can’t get out! I really wonder who set up this broken space—there’s nothing here! I’m bored out of my mind!”

Little Flower lowered her head guiltily. She’d rather not let Little Black know that she herself had created it… Back then, to avoid trouble and focus on cultivation, she’d left the space empty.

Who could have imagined things would turn out this way? All she’d done was take a nap, and now her cultivation had fallen so low that she couldn’t even leave the space. The poor baby! But at least she had Little Black… She thought this and couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

Little Black saw this and grew angry. “Little Flower! Why are you happy? Our master is in danger right now!”

Little Flower looked up, her eyes shimmering with tears. “What can we do… I… I’m worried about our master too… but…”

Little Black, seeing Little Flower’s tearful face and hesitance, felt a pang of sympathy. To be fair, Little Flower had accompanied their master for much longer.

“Ah! Let me think, let me think...” Little Black muttered, moving aside to ponder.

Little Flower, seeing Little Black so serious, sat down quietly to think as well. She vaguely remembered there was a way to break through this space… but what was it?

Resting her chin in her hands, she pondered deeply...

The atmosphere inside the dagger’s space grew especially grave.

After a long, restful sleep, Qin Yu began considering her options once more. She gazed absently around her space, realizing that nothing inside could help her.

Thinking it over, Qin Yu took up a submachine gun and an anti-smog mask (salvaged from a supermarket), and with a thought, exited the space.

The sun blazed overhead, scorching the earth.

Qin Yu squinted toward the town, donned her mask, steeled herself, and stepped inside.

The moment she entered, she felt her mind grow hazy, but immediately bit her tongue and snapped back to clarity.

A flash of understanding shone in her eyes. This was… an illusion! A high-level ability from the mutated psychic class!

It seemed the zombies in the town were anything but ordinary. Illusion… She had no intention of falling for it a second time!

She paused. Second time? Had she been entranced by illusions before? Qin Yu suppressed her doubts and proceeded cautiously.

After walking a while, she was surprised to find not a single zombie in the town. The zombies here must have a strong territorial instinct, refusing to tolerate any rivals.

Qin Yu grew even more careful. She sensed a faint, elusive psychic force probing her, but it was so ethereal she couldn’t pinpoint where the zombie might be.

At the center of the blue mist, the zombie stared curiously at the food that seemed immune to his lure, her wary stance earning its silent approval. After all, zombies revered strength as well.

Qin Yu looked up at the sky and saw the blue mist swirling around a single center. She narrowed her eyes—was that where the zombie lurked?

Left hand clutching her dagger, right gripping the submachine gun, she advanced step by step toward the center...

The third-tier zombie absorbed the blue mist even faster! When Qin Yu finally reached him, what she saw was a fully-formed human!

Or so it seemed—his fingernails were blue-black, his gaze hollow, fangs in his mouth continuously growing, drool dripping from their tips. The peeling flesh at his side revealed his former identity as a zombie.

Qin Yu was secretly alarmed. Third-tier zombies already looked so human! If they reached the fourth or fifth tier, wouldn’t they be able to blend in with people?

Knowing that striking first was crucial, Qin Yu unleashed a wild barrage at the zombie’s head with her submachine gun. After the smoke cleared, she saw that the zombie was completely unharmed, and every bullet had missed its mark!

Something was strange! While she wasn’t a shooting master, she’d befriended her instructor during university military training and learned excellent marksmanship—this situation was utterly abnormal!

Could it be… illusion? But weren’t illusions ineffective against her now? What was going on? Qin Yu gritted her teeth. This battle would not be easy.

The third-tier zombie saw his prey standing obediently, thinking he’d cowed her, and let out a raspy laugh, moving leisurely toward Qin Yu...

Watching the approaching zombie, Qin Yu tossed aside her gun, switched her dagger to her right hand, and launched a fierce attack.

The zombie, seeing his prey come to him, grinned even wider. But unexpectedly, Qin Yu stabbed him hard in the head—he dodged, but still took a wound to his shoulder.

Qin Yu saw the injured shoulder, noting how the previously intact skin transformed into rotten flesh. A wisp of blue mist drifted to it and seeped inside, instantly restoring the flesh to smooth skin.

Suppressing her shock, Qin Yu attacked the zombie with reckless abandon. Yet for every swift blow, the abundant blue mist would swiftly heal the wound.

After several exchanges, Qin Yu was panting, marked by zombie scratches. Stranger still, the blue mist seemed indiscriminate, rapidly healing Qin Yu’s own wounds as well.

She knew if it continued like this, she would eventually die—she had to end it quickly!

Just as Qin Yu prepared to attack again, her body seized up, and she collapsed.

She watched the zombie’s monstrous maw closing in, struggling desperately to rise and fight, but… she couldn’t move at all!

As despair filled her eyes, a crisp voice suddenly rang out: “Master! Here I come!”