Within the edifice, the illumination was dim, with only a faint glow at the entrance. From the position where their vehicle crashed into the building, one could barely discern four large characters inscribed on the central wall of the lobby: "Runjin Tower." To the left, metal panels were engraved with the distribution of each floor, hinting at this being a mixed-use building.
The sleek marble floor of the lobby was stained with blood, and there were bloodstains on the walls as well, along with broken glass and spilled garbage from overturned trash cans strewn across the floor. Apart from that, there was nothing else to be seen.
"How is everyone?" Song Qinglan inquired from within the vehicle. "Is anyone injured?" The front of the car was severely deformed, causing the already crowded back seat to become even more immobile. Song Qinglan's voice, uttered from such close proximity, echoed solemnly in Ji Yushi's ears, much like the first time he heard that voice on the public channel.
"I'm fine," Ji Yushi replied. Except for Ji Yushi, no one in the vehicle knew what had happened earlier, and no one retained memories of the last death.
At the moment when the space vehicle attacked, the countdown to death began. Adrenaline surged rapidly, causing Ji Yushi's heart to race so fast that he no longer felt the pain in his head from hitting the front seat back when the brakes were applied.
"I'm fine too."
"Fine."
...
Duan Wen's voice from the passenger seat was anguished. "I—I seem to be stuck."
Li Chun cursed under his breath. "Quick, help! Wen-ge is stuck!"
"Heh heh..." A faint voice came through.
The building was empty, with dark corridors that seemed deep and mysterious, making it difficult to pinpoint the direction of the sound. But it was definitely not far from them. The commotion caused by the car crashing into the building was sure to have alerted nearby zombies. While the building appeared quiet, it was uncertain how many zombies might be lurking within.
Duan Wen's left leg was firmly trapped under the central console of the passenger seat. Any attempt by the team members to move the deformed part caused him unbearable pain.
"You guys go on, don't worry about me!"
The sound of zombies grew closer. Duan Wen gasped for breath, his forehead beaded with sweat. "Go!"
"How could we leave you behind?"
"Wen-ge, hold on!"
Song Qinglan inserted the pry bar into the gap formed by the central console, signaling Li Chun to protect Duan Wen's knee. Despite the situation, he remained calm and decisive, urging, "Stop the chatter, endure it. Even if your leg breaks, we'll leave together!"
The absolute trust formed over many missions made Duan Wen never resist the captain's orders. So he gritted his teeth and nodded. "...Okay."
"Hurry!" Zhou Mingxuan urged, while scanning with his gun.
The footsteps in the corridor grew louder and more urgent, accompanied by the hissing growls, which were now dangerously close.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Someone fired shots, splattering blood as several zombies fell to the ground, but like a path to hell, the corridor soon echoed with more intense hissing and footsteps, and even more crazed zombies appeared than before!
"Faster!" Li Chun shouted, his eyes red with urgency. "Song Team!"
The pitch-black pry bar became a lever in Song Qinglan's hands. With great effort, veins bulging on his forehead and muscles tensed in his arms, he levered the central console, emitting a grating sound.
"Ah—" Accompanied by an uncontrollable scream, Duan Wen's leg was finally freed, bloodied and with a deep wound visible to the bone!
Li Chun's hands trembled. "Wen-ge!"
Duan Wen, on the verge of fainting, turned pale. Li Chun hoisted him up, and Song Qinglan commanded, "Let's go!"
With five people and one injured member, they fought their way in and out of the limited entrance of the building, the entrance they came through shattered glass, and the corridor on the left with the exit was blocked. The zombies were pouring in, and the team was like headless prey thrown into a trap, just out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair!
Amidst the gunfire, wave after wave of zombies were killed, and the building became a maze with no way out.
"Bang!" The fire door was pushed open by someone.
Tang Le, who had been silent all along, shouted, "This way!"
The group retreated into the corridor, emergency lights illuminating it, but soon, there was a commotion from below the corridor. The faces of countless zombies were illuminated under the orange emergency lights, their visages pale as if soaked in blood, primal and sinister. They converged with another group of zombies from downstairs, blocking the corridor densely, leaving no escape!
The sound of gunfire intensified, and the walls were stained with blood, flesh, brain matter, and limbs.
Retreating to the second floor, Zhou Mingxuan opened the door, took a glance, and cursed loudly, "Damn it! This is a trading hall! What era is this? Still going out in person for business!"
The second floor was packed with people, all zombies unable to find an exit, and their numbers were incalculable!
Tang Le and Zhou Mingxuan quickly closed the fire door, ignoring the loud noise it made. Tang Le swiftly wrapped the chain on the door: "Upstairs!"
"Unable to go up!" Zhou Mingxuan, at a loss, fired down at the pursuing zombies and shouted, "Perhaps it's a dead end!"
"Going down is death too!" Tang Le roared. "Then what do you suggest?!"
Forced to retreat further and further, in the blink of an eye, they reached the fourth floor. Suddenly, Ji Yushi spoke up, "Let's go to the sixth floor!"
Carrying Duan Wen, Li Chun, almost in tears, incredulously exclaimed, "Up again?!"
Gritting his teeth, Song Qinglan fired away. As zombies crawled over the bodies piled up in the hallway, he shouted, "Up!"
"Bang!!" The fire door on the sixth floor was knocked open, and silence ensued.
In the light filtering through the emergency lights in the corridor, only one zombie could be seen, rushing from the darkness, but it was quickly dispatched by Zhou Mingxuan, who was leading the way.
"Close the door!"
"Don't go up if you're searching for something!"
In the darkness, flashlights illuminated, accompanied by some sounds.
With acute hearing, Song Qinglan whispered, "Quiet!"
Amidst the chaotic beams of flashlights, a female zombie sprinted from around the corner.
"Whoosh—" With a shot, a bullet pierced the zombie's forehead, and its pale eyes widened before collapsing.
Ji Yushi's dark eyes gleamed faintly as he held a snow-white diamond bird in his hand, equipped with a silencer at some point.
Outside the fire door behind the team, there were banging sounds mixed with the distinctive growls of zombies.
Their silent method of dealing with the situation prevented the zombies from detecting them. The zombies paused briefly outside the door, but the heavy, chaotic footsteps soon passed by, heading upward.
They were temporarily safe.
The bright lights were somewhat dazzling, as Tang Le found the power switch on the wall.
The place was extravagantly decorated, with crystal chandeliers, cotton candy-like sofas, and walls of marble and glass bricks, leaving a group of men uncertain about the nature of the place.
"A high-end beauty salon," Ji Yushi said, holstering his gun. "Usually not many people here."
Suddenly, Zhou Mingxuan raised his laser gun at him, aiming the red dot provocatively, causing Ji Yushi to squint. Then, with a "puff" sound, another zombie fell not far behind him.
Ji Yushi glanced back calmly. "Thank you."
Zhou Mingxuan nodded in acknowledgment.
Meanwhile, Song Qinglan and Li Chun had already placed Duan Wen on the sofa in the beauty salon. The sofa was quickly soaked with blood. Duan Wen had lost too much blood, his leg bent at an unnatural angle, and he was completely unconscious.
Li Chun was in charge of logistics, and he was also handling the simple medical tasks for the team. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help but feel his eyes welling up with tears.
Compared to Li Chun, Song Qinglan remained composed. He instructed the others, "Stop the bleeding first. Go find some clean towels! And see if there's a first aid kit!"
"Yes!"
Amidst the busy searching, Zhou Mingxuan asked, "Advisor Ji, how did you know this was a beauty salon?"
Ji Yushi replied, "There's a floor plan downstairs."
As if not used to considering whether others could understand his words, Ji Yushi added, "Right next to the building's logo."
Zhou Mingxuan recalled, "Runjin Tower" indeed had a floor plan next to the four characters, but under those circumstances, ordinary people would just glance over it, let alone remember the layout of each floor clearly.
On their way here, Zhou Mingxuan had developed a better impression of Ji Yushi. Now, hearing him say this, if it weren't for the heavy mood, Zhou Mingxuan almost wanted to sincerely praise him.
They quickly found the first aid kit, and Li Chun also brought towels from the sterilization cabinet.
In this situation, Li Chun couldn't even stitch up a wound. Apart from temporarily bandaging Duan Wen's left leg with bandages and towels, there was nothing else he could do.
After barely stopping Duan Wen's bleeding, Song Qinglan's hands were already stained with blood, and sweat beads formed on his forehead. He looked around and focused on Tang Le.
Tang Le sat silently in the corner, eyes empty, as if he had just momentarily come back to life earlier.
With a serious expression, Song Qinglan glanced at Tang Le for a few seconds, as if he had something to say, but in the end, he just turned his head and asked, "Where's Advisor Ji?"
Zhou Mingxuan was slightly surprised and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "He went that way."
At 7:40 in the morning.
The restroom of this upscale beauty salon was spacious and bright, with four princess-style washbasins arranged in a circle, carpeted, and adorned with scented candles. Upon entering, one could still catch a whiff of fragrance, albeit mingled with a faint hint of blood in the air. Several bloody tissues lay on the carpet.
The sound of rushing water filled the air. Song Qinglan circled halfway around the round washbasin and found Ji Yushi in the innermost position.
Ji Yushi was washing his face or rather, rinsing his hair with plain water. The viscous blood mixed with clear water turned pink as it flowed into the porcelain basin. His hair ends, along with his eyelashes, were dripping wet, and his soaked skin appeared paler than usual. The prominent bruise on his forehead, from the impact in the car, became even more conspicuous. In the mirror, Ji Yushi saw himself. "Captain Song."
After a fierce battle, everyone had practically rolled around in the pile of zombies. Unlike the ragtag group of guardians like them, Ji Yushi was exceptionally neat, a trait everyone noticed.
Strangely, even though they had seen that Ji Yushi was not useless and certainly not just a vase sent for A-level tasks, his appearance still made people think he was fragile.
Song Qinglan pointed to his own forehead in the mirror and asked, not very sincerely, "Are you alright?"
Ji Yushi replied, "I'm fine. How about Duan Wen?"
Song Qinglan said, "His left leg is broken, and he injured an artery. His leg may be useless."
Ji Yushi paused.
Song Qinglan continued, "Carry him. No matter what, we have to carry him back. It's better than not seeing anyone."
So much had happened along the way, too quickly.
They were caught off guard, pressed by circumstances step by step, first Tang Qi, then Duan Wen, and now the current situation.
But if...
Perhaps they were all thinking in the same direction. Both of them fell silent at the same time, but no one voiced out that uncertain possibility.
Song Qinglan didn't come to chat. Soon, he got straight to the point. "Advisor Ji, how did you know there's a back alley behind the warehouse?"
Ji Yushi put down the towel. "Then how did Captain Song know where the false wall was?"
"When that woman suddenly mutated right in front of me, it just came to mind."
"Coincidentally, me too."
From the current situation, it seemed that only the two of them remembered what had happened last time.
Song Qinglan crossed his arms, a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he said nonchalantly, "If I'm not mistaken, you should have escaped to the car."
Ji Yushi nodded. "Yes, but luck wasn't on our side. We barely made it to the car and hadn't gone far when we were hit by the space car we encountered just now."
It seemed that the previous death was not a pleasant memory for them.
The sacrifice they had made previously didn't seem to have any effect. Song Qinglan cursed softly, "Damn it, it seems we're not crazy."
Song Qinglan turned on the tap, washing away the bloodstains on his hands.
Those large hands, with distinct knuckles, had blood stains seeped into the nails, whether from Duan Wen or someone else.
Before leaving, Song Qinglan paused. He turned around, his deep black eyes profound, as if trying to see into Ji Yushi's heart.
"Oh, Advisor Ji, do you remember the mission mode?"
"I do. It's the Ouroboros."
Ji Yushi suddenly understood something. In Western mythology, the Ouroboros symbolized cyclicity.
How similar it was to their current situation!
Suddenly bringing up this topic, Song Qinglan saw Ji Yushi's reaction, but he gently let it go, reminding, "This matter isn't clear yet, and no one knows if our speculations are correct. If we're wrong, there's no turning back. I hope we can keep it confidential for now."
Song Qinglan's black combat suit was stained with dark red blood, as if he was impatient with Ji Yushi's hesitation. "Well then, gather in the hall as soon as possible and discuss what to do next."
Two minutes later, when Ji Yushi returned to the hall, Song Qinglan tossed something at him.
It was the lever that had just been used to pry the car, then used as a doorknob to hold the fire door shut—the famous weapon, Somnus.
The fire door had been blocked by Ji Yushi with the fire axe he had just found.
In front of everyone, Ji Yushi didn't act like a subordinate. His tone was serious. "Weapons should be used when needed, and it's best not to leave them behind."
The others remained silent.
Just moments ago, he had been bossing people around, and now he dared to point fingers and give orders. Advisor Ji was becoming increasingly audacious.
This remark sounded familiar to Song Qinglan, as if it was something he had said at the park management office last time.
This Ji Yushi, truly an eye for an eye.