CH 18.2

Chapter 18: A mutant emerges (3)

When they walked past the elevator, the group stopped. Even the sound of their breathing was suppressed and someone whispered: “Do you guys hear anything?”

The sound of fingernails scratching against metal resonated in the distance. Chi Xin froze and suddenly realized she had made a fatal mistake.

In the movie, the reason the second male lead had been injured was not because of the numerous zombies but because of…

The scratching sound became louder and a monster climbed out of the empty elevator. It looked like some kind of zombie, with all of its muscles peeling off and they could almost see the exposed organs and bones.

But it lay on the ground, with black and sharp claws on its hands and feet, like a giant and crawling spider. Obviously, the scratching noise had come from this thing.

After the creature creeped out, it raised its head and looked at the group with green eyes as it exhaled a terrible stench.

“That… what…”

A monster beyond imagination had appeared in front of them and one of the soldiers muttered in horror. Chi Xin stepped back slightly and with the cover of her body, she handed a gun to Yu Xiang. He grabbed it in a slip second, as nervous and scared as the others of the monster’s appearance. 

However, once Chi Xin took a good look at it, the tremor in her heart gradually settled down.

“Stay steady.” In the movie, they had made it alive for only one reason, “It doesn’t dare to move for now. I will hold it for a while, you run towards the stairs, and remember to be fast.”

Although her voice was small, her whole aura was stable and the frightened soldiers calmed down when they saw her quiet profile.

“No!” Yu Xiang objected in a low voice, “We are all here, how can we leave you alone.”

“You are out of ammo, seriously injured, and haven’t eaten for two days. You’re serving yourself on a silver platter.” Chi Xin answered, “Go before it moves!”

The tallest of the soldiers suddenly raised his guns, and shouted with a hint of madness in his voice: “I don’t believe this monster can be more powerful than a gun!”

“Wait!”

Chi Xin was a step too late. She watched as the bullets shot out and as the incredibly agile monster used all four legs and disappeared from his spot. The next second, its hideous face was in front of the man who had just fired.

At that moment, Chi Xin wasn’t sure whether she had seen a sneer on its face. Amidst everyone’s shout, the creature stretched out a sharp claw and plunged it deep into the man’s arm.

“Ah!!!!”

Everyone started to shoot frantically at the monster; it dodged from left to right and let out roars when it was hit.

Chi Xin squeezed her army knife. Instead of attacking the monster with the others, she walked to the man who was howling on the ground. His arm, starting from the hole the claw had made, was quickly turning black and spreading to his entire arm. Where the darkness swept past, the muscles instantly atrophied. It had already reached his shoulder and Chi Xin was afraid that his whole body would become like his arm in seconds.

“To save you, I’m sorry.” Chi Xin forced herself to look at his eyes and stabbed his arm. Her army knife could pierce a zombie’s head as easily as a man’s arm.

She didn’t dare to look anymore at the agony on the man’s face and turned around abruptly before walking towards the monster. Although not many bullets had accurately hit it, the occasional true aims had angered the creature. It was currently still in the hall, in a stand-off with the men, in a hunting pose.

Suddenly, its body stiffened. It seemed to feel a strong threat coming from behind and stopped paying attention to the persons in front of it. It turned back in a roar and its two front paws aimed at the threat.

Clang.

Chi Xin held the army knife in both hands in front of her and steadily blocked the fierce blow. 

The monster was unable to strike and fell into a frenzy. It could feel the danger coming from the girl and ignored the other men to focus on her.

Faced with the unpredictable creature, whose speed was comparable to an agile-type high-level zombie but whose strength was many times stronger, Chi Xin’s heart sank. Fortunately, the system was on high alert and she not only avoided all of its attacks, but she also raised her knife and pierced its eyes.

Chi Xin took this very short break to yell with all she had at the men: “Go!”

A red-eyed young soldier raised his gun again but was stopped by Yu Xiang.

“Let’s carry Lu Tao, go!”

He could see the bullets didn’t cause much damage yet it was afraid of Chi Xin. If they stayed here, the girl would try to protect them and get distracted.

The two of them lifted the man with the missing arm and Yu Xiang glanced at Chi Xin again. She was holding the monster’s head and turning over in the air before she fell on its back. He saw her raise her knife to stab into the back of the monster’s neck and arouse his anger even more.

Yu Xiang turned his head, gritted his teeth, and rushed out of the flood with the others.

Seeing them leave, Chi Xin relaxed slightly. She looked at the monster struggling beneath her and pulled out her army knife before getting ready to hit one more time. But at this moment, the creature turned his head to look at her and Chi Xin’s hand froze in the air. In its eyes, Chi Xin could see hatred, fear, and deep resentment.

A terrifying thought came to her mind and Chi Xin felt as if she had been doused in cold water. Incredulously and in a soft voice, she asked: “Are you… still conscious?”

The monster stopped moving for a moment and it confirmed Chi Xin’s guess: “You can understand me, can’t you? How did you become like this? What…”

“Howl—!”

Before she could finish her sentence, the monster started to go crazy. It kept extending its claws to reach her as if her words had hit the most painful spot in its heart. Chi Xin was unstable and had to roll off its back, her army knife held at an oblique angle.

“I know you can understand.” Chi Xin’s throat strained, “Tell me, can you still talk?”

The monster stared at her with a deadly gaze. Chi Xin’s heart tightened and she backed her knife a little before tentatively saying: “If you don’t attack people. I can find someone to help you.”

The creature’s fierce eyes suddenly wavered but the next second, fear appeared in its pale pupils. The kind of fear far greater than it had felt facing Chi Xin. The monster began to shake and frequently looked out of the French window.

Chi Xin licked her dry lips and looked too. But before she could see anything clearly, the monster seemed to have received orders and its previous hesitation disappeared. It rushed to Chi Xin with all its might, with strong killing intent.

She rolled again and her eyes fell on the dazzling variety of skincare products on the counters, before getting up and ran towards it, while the monster chased after her.

Chi Xin’s main objective was to hide but she waved her knife along the way, smashing all the counters she could reach. All the bottles and jars flew out; some shattered on the ground, some piled up and they gradually gathered into a small mountain.

Chi Xin dodged yet another attack, not advancing nor retreating until she faced the monster up and grabbed one of its arms. She used the leverage to jump and immediately rolled in the distance after landing.

The monster was about to rush towards her again but a lighter quietly appeared in Chi Xin’s hand. Whether she could kill the monster or not only depended on this.

Her eyes darkened and when the creature reached the mountain of cosmetics, she ignited the lighter. With no hesitation, she aimed it in a beautiful curve, straight at the products on the ground.

Chi Xin turned around at once, rushed to the French window as fast as she could, and took another gun from her space.

Three, two, one.

Boom—

As a huge heatwave hit from behind, Chi Xin fired at the window, hugged her head, and slammed sideways against the glass.

Crack—

The sound of broken glass resonated and the men who had been waiting outside looked up. Chi Xin was caught in debris and flames and she volleyed outside. Everyone took a breath and rushed towards her.

This was the fifth floor! Even for Chi Xin, it was too high!

But she hadn’t planned on waiting for death. The next second, an automatic folding umbrella appeared in her hand. With a clatter, the umbrella slammed open and the resistance suddenly slowed down her momentum, just in time for her to grab the beam of the second floor.

“Chi Xin! Let go! We will catch you!”

The men rushed underneath and fear strained Yu Xiang’s voice. Just now, this high-altitude jump almost caused him to cardiac arrest.

Chi Xin glanced down. Her heart was beating widely but her lips were curved into a bright smile. She looked down at Yu Xiang, her eyes even brighter in the blazing flames of the fifth floor behind her.

“Yu Xiang, did I forget to tell you.”

She suddenly let go. The men screamed and wanted to catch her but her waist twisted, just like the instinctive action she had made when she had fallen from the wall the first day. She fell on the ground lightly, rolled, stood up steadily, and finished her sentence:

“Before the end of the world, bungee jumping was my favorite sport.”

She raised her head and smiled at the dumbfounded men.

She hadn’t been lying. Bungee jumping was indeed her favorite sport, she liked the feeling of flying to freedom; the unprotected high jump was just a first for her.

Yu Xiang followed Chi Xin and it took him a long time to sort out his thoughts.

“Sister Chi… Did you set the fifth floor on fire?” He asked in awe.

“Yeah.”

Her smile had disappeared after a few steps, and Chi Xin had returned to her calm and cold appearance, which made the men admire her even more.

“The monster, is it dead?”

“It won’t get in our way anymore.”

She wasn’t sure if it was dead or not but seeing that it hadn’t followed her out, it must at least be incapacitated for the time being.

There was a soft gasp from behind. Everyone knew how terrible the creature had been, Lu Tao even had lost his arm to it. Yet Chi Xin was unharmed after she had killed it by herself and jumped from the fifth floor.

“Sister Chi, you really are a god.” Someone said softly.

Chi Xin didn’t know how to answer these words and remained silent.

Lu Tao, whose arm had been cut off, also said in a muted voice: “Thank you… for saving my life.”

He had naturally felt he had been dying at that time and had not expected Chi Xin to be so decisive. She had snatched him back from the gates of hell.

“Hmm.” Chi Xin became more embarrassed as she listened and simply interrupted their chanting praises, “Let’s see how we can go back.”

Yu Xiang had been quietly looking at her back and smiled gently: “I haven’t asked you yet, but how did you come?”

Chi Xin stopped and so did the others. They followed her gaze and looked at the… shared little blue scooter in the grass. Smiles appeared on their faces and they coughed a few times to hide their laughter. 

“You, you… It really suits you.” Yu Xiang hadn’t expected such an answer and he shook his head in astonishment, “The car we drove is in front, let’s go.”

One of the less injured soldiers drove. He looked at Chi Xin sitting on the passenger’s seat and his entire face suddenly reddened.

“Eh eh.” Yu Xiang knocked on the back of the driver’s seat and said seriously: “No time to be love-struck. The zombies had scattered because of the monster, are you waiting for them to come back?”

The man didn’t dare to look at Chi Xin and his fare was almost buried on the steering wheel. Chi Xin didn’t know she was so scary and said: “Don’t be nervous, I don’t eat people.”

The man’s ears also turned red but he finally drove away.

Chi Xin looked at the building engulfed in the fire from the rearview mirror and the monster’s eyes kept popping in her head. It had been conscious, and she had seen hesitation in them, but in the end, something had controlled it to keep fighting against her. What did? Chi Xin frowned and carefully recalled the movie’s big boss.

The company that had once captured Jing Xiubai was undoubtedly the traditional zombie movie’s villain; they had tried to create biochemical warriors to control the world and had ended up releasing a zombie virus. And these zombies had continued to evolve until a zombie king had been born, posing a huge threat to humans. In the end, both the company and the zombie king had been eliminated by the protagonists and a new home for mankind had been built together.

Could it be that the zombie king who wasn’t supposed to appear just yet was the one controlling the dream? And what was the relationship between him and the dream she had? 

Chi Xin was lost in thoughts and didn’t realize the car had returned to the base. The man at the gate was the one who had let her leave earlier and when he saw her come back in an SUV when she had left alone, he suddenly gave out a small cry. 

Yu Xiang had escaped from the dead and the story of Chi Xin’s heroic rescue spread throughout the entire base the next day. Her trouble value had risen again and she slept the whole night, unaware of it.

***

When she woke up the next day, she felt refreshed and her bones were lighter. She believed that yet another layer of restrictions in her body had been unsealed. As she looked at her slender white-jade hand, she sensed that it would be less difficult if she were to face last night’s monster again.

Hungry. Chi Xin got up and got ready to go to the canteen to find something warm to eat after washing up. However, as soon as she opened the door, she found Jing Xiubai and Xiao Li standing in the doorway, talking. Hearing her, the two of them turned around. Surprise flashed across Xiao Li’s eyes and he pressed his lips tightly, and Jing Xiubai pushed his glasses.

“Awake?” He asked, “You worked hard last night, why don’t you sleep a little longer?”

He didn’t seem angry but Chi Xin felt a chill. 

“I…” Remembering that she had left those two behind to go find Yu Xiang and the others alone, she took a step back and said with a weak tone, “It wasn’t hard.”

“Didn’t we discuss going together?” Xiao Li muttered, his voice laced with fear, “Such a terrible monster… you almost didn’t come back.”

Chi Xin nodded when he said “such a terrible monster” but shook her head when she heard “almost didn’t come back”.

“You think too much.” she replied, “That thing isn’t as strong as a power-type zombie, I can handle it.”

Strength was her weakness, relatively speaking.

Listening to her answer, both men looked at each other and sighed helplessly.

“No one could have guaranteed what you would encounter.” Jing Xiubai added, “Don’t be so reckless.”

Chi Xin nodded but was she really trying to be “reckless”? Such a big plot had been under her nose and as the protagonist of that scene, how could she not appear on stage.

Noticing she wasn’t paying attention, Jing Xiubai didn’t keep pressing her. He looked at the two of them and made a decision.

“If you two don’t mind, come to my room.” He pushed his glasses again, “There are some things I need to discuss with you.”