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墨書 Inktalez
Xie Huai had rarely been praised by others. Throughout his life, he seldom succeeded at anything, which naturally led to criticism from his parents, teachers, friends, colleagues, and superiors.
Even in the game, he was essentially the weakest member of the team.
It was always him who was afraid, him who held them back, yet he still managed to survive in this Life-and-Death Game.
In that moment, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
He had finally contributed something to the team; he was needed, not someone who could be discarded at any moment.
All these thoughts played in his mind for barely a second before Xie Huai snapped back to reality and smiled faintly.
"This is what I should do."
Having found a way to escape, the men no longer hesitated or dawdled. They decided to burn three pieces of clothing, ideally wrapping heavy objects inside them to throw them far away, giving them enough time to leave.
Thus, they needed to consider where to throw the ignited clothes to attract more Zombies and create a path for themselves.
In the nearly four hundred square meter cave, there were only three exits. With their limited manpower and materials, they couldn't afford to be greedy; they just needed to choose one exit. Analyzing based on proximity and the number of people, the exit not far behind Gu Ze and Xie Huai seemed like the best option.
However, Xu Hang was relatively far from that exit—at least fifteen meters away—and between him and the exit were throngs of Zombies. Those creatures stretching out their hands and grinning were nothing short of a nightmare.
Gu Ze quickly calculated the distances between them and how many Zombies each burning piece of clothing could attract. Soon, he made a decision.
The first piece of clothing was thrown to their left near the wall, drawing away some of the Zombies surrounding them and guarding the entrance. The second piece was tossed behind Xu Hang, luring away another group of Zombies near him. The final piece was thrown in front of Xu Hang and Gu Ze at a midpoint, creating a passage for Xu Hang.
This plan quickly gained strong support from Xu Hang and Xie Huai.
However, while it sounded simple in theory, executing it would not be easy.
The three pieces of clothing needed to be thrown at the same time to attract a large number of Zombies, giving them a chance to escape. The twist lay in the word "simultaneously."
Indeed, the three of them threw their clothes at the same time. Xie Huai was responsible for the left side near the wall, Xu Hang took care of the rear, and Gu Ze handled the center. However, while Xie Huai and Xu Hang's clothes drew away a significant number of Zombies, Gu Ze's ignited piece attracted too many Zombies and extinguished too quickly.
As a result, when Gu Ze and Xie Huai had safely reached the agreed-upon exit, Xu Hang found himself trapped halfway.
Seeing that Xu Hang was about to be surrounded by a horde of Zombies, his desperate attempts to break free only drew more attention from them.
Glancing at his own jacket, Gu Ze thought for a moment before quickly igniting it and throwing it in a direction that would help Xu Hang escape.
The three of them shivered as they ran out with their backpacks.
Their current situation was that Xu Hang and Xie Huai were wearing jackets, while their cotton coats had already been burned away. Gu Ze was dressed in a thin quick-dry shirt with just a long sleeve over it.
Most importantly, cotton clothing took up too much space; their backpacks were meant for carrying food and medicine. Each person had only worn one cotton coat out. The cave was dark and damp; initially, they had barely managed to withstand the chill, but now it was becoming unbearable.
Gu Ze's lips were starting to turn purple as he rubbed his arms when he saw a jacket being handed to him. Turning around, he realized it was Xu Hang who had taken off his own clothing.
"I should have run faster back then; I wasted a piece of clothing for nothing."
Gu Ze waved his hand in refusal. "Don't forget your old injury. Just wear it; I'll manage with a quick run. Our main task now is to find warmth and deal with the Zombies. After that, we can rush through without any issues."
Xie Huai chimed in, noting that Gu Ze was only showing signs of cold with his purple lips and hadn't shivered much yet. Xu Hang, who had worn more layers earlier, was now shivering uncontrollably.
He had heard that Xu Hang had sustained an injury years ago while trying to save his girlfriend from danger; he had fallen into icy water during winter, leaving him with lingering effects. However, Xu Hang usually kept fit, so these aftereffects rarely flared up.
Shaking his head, Xie Huai quickly pushed those thoughts aside and followed Gu Ze and Xu Hang as they ran out while calling out for Deng Yinyin and Xu Nuan.
They discovered that along the way, they still encountered Zombies from time to time, but most were seen from a distance at intersections where they had ample time to escape. Just because they could flee quickly didn't mean that Xu Nuan and Deng Yinyin, who had gone out first, would be able to escape successfully.
As the Zombies became increasingly active, the group's anxiety grew heavier.
"We need to find them quickly!"
"Yeah, let's hurry!"
"Nuan, where are you?"
Their shouts echoed through the endless caves, but there was no response from Xu Nuan or Deng Yinyin. Time was slipping away, the Zombies were becoming more aggressive, and their search efforts were making little progress.
"Damn it, why isn't the location feature working right now?"
Xu Hang kept adjusting the Tail Ring on his right hand. The five light points were all dim. In the past, they had used this to locate their occasionally lost companions, but now, in this critical moment, it was of no use.
"No signal."
Gu Ze was also feeling frustrated. He had convinced Xu Nuan to carry Tang Jingshu's Tail Ring to prevent situations like this from happening. And yet, at this crucial moment, it had failed them.
Once he figured out who the Designers were, he would make sure to give each of them a piece of his mind.
"Deng Yinyin took the Luminous Pearl, which is already glowing and has a wide range. We just need to keep trying."
Now it was Xie Huai's turn to be the morale booster.
The group slightly reined in their negative emotions and continued calling out for their friends.
After some time had passed, they finally heard a faint voice calling back.
"Gu Ze!"
“Gu Ze, come save me!”
It was the voice of Deng Yinyin.
The group exchanged glances and hurried toward the sound. As they got closer, Deng Yinyin's cries became more distinct, and they noticed a glimmer of light.
However, Gu Ze's expression grew serious as he considered something. If Xu Nuan were nearby, she would never allow Deng Yinyin to be so vulnerable.
That left only one possibility.
The excitement of finding someone faded from Gu Ze as the heat generated by running began to dissipate, leaving his heart feeling cold.
Damn it, he had promised that he would never let her fall into danger again.
Damn it!
“Ze?”
Gu Ze, whose face bore a somewhat fierce expression, caught Xu Hang's attention. Xu Hang then patted him on the shoulder. Gu Ze turned to look at him, still unable to mask his troubled expression.
Xu Hang paused for a moment before offering a wry smile. “Everyone will be fine.”
The group rushed into a cave following the sound and light, but they were immediately startled by the throng of Zombies inside.
Gu Ze quickly scanned the cave. He spotted Deng Yinyin clinging to a Luminous Pearl high up on a ledge. The stone platform was elevated from the ground and appeared quite smooth. Below it was a mass of Zombies reaching out with desperate hands.
There was no sign of Xu Nuan.
Gu Ze's face darkened significantly, but he focused on Deng Yinyin. If he could rescue her, he would learn about Xu Nuan's situation.
"Why did we come here? Those Zombies are completely ignoring us?"
Xie Huai was puzzled and cautiously took a few steps forward, but the Zombies showed no intention of turning their heads.
Xu Hang speculated, "Could it be related to the Luminous Pearl in Deng Yinyin's hand? This would further prove that these Zombies started moving because the Luminous Pearl was taken away, right?"
"That's true. Then we should hurry and rescue Deng Yinyin. By the way, I haven't seen Xu Nuan."
Xie Huai turned to look at Gu Ze in agreement, only to be startled once again by Gu Ze's expression, shrinking back without saying a word.
Xu Hang sighed, took out a towel-like item from his backpack that could be ignited, and gestured for Xie Huai to do the same before addressing Gu Ze.
"First, we save her. After saving her, we continue looking for others."
The group carried a pile of flammable items into the cave. Upon seeing them, Deng Yinyin, who had been crying, immediately screamed.
"Gu Ze, help me! I'm so scared! Gu Ze!"
Xu Hang helplessly rubbed his forehead. Did Deng Yinyin really not see him and Xie Huai?
Sigh. His buddy hurt Deng Yinyin, and now Deng Yinyin was hurting Xie Huai; it was a vicious cycle.
Gu Ze had no intention of responding; instead, he silently set down what he was holding and began calculating how to create a path between them and Deng Yinyin.
Xu Hang let out a long sigh and shouted towards Deng Yinyin.
"Deng Yinyin, don't be afraid! We're coming to rescue you. When the Zombies leave, you jump down immediately, and we'll get out of here!"
Deng Yinyin nodded while wiping her tears and continued calling out for Gu Ze.
With the previous experience in mind, this time their execution went smoothly. The only hiccup was that Deng Yinyin was too afraid to jump down from the high platform and insisted that Gu Ze come over to catch her. Gu Ze merely looked at her with a calm expression, refusing to move.
As they watched the flames flicker, threatened by the approaching Zombies, Xie Huai rushed forward, pretending to be ready to catch Deng Yinyin.
Deng Yinyin was also terrified that the Zombies would swarm her, so she had no choice but to jump down, where Xie Huai caught her.
However, as the group safely exited the cave filled with Zombies, Deng Yinyin continued to complain about Gu Ze's lack of loyalty.
At that moment, trying to reason with the moody Gu Ze was futile.
"Where's Nuan? Wasn't she with you?"
Gu Ze's voice was somewhat cold and tinged with dissatisfaction. If Deng Yinyin had mentioned Xu Nuan’s whereabouts first, he might have been more understanding. But it seemed like she didn’t regard Xu Nuan as a companion at all.
Deng Yinyin pouted in grievance.
"I don't know! We rushed out together not long before we ran into the Zombies. They came from all directions, and we got separated. I just hid here waiting for you all to rescue me. I have no idea where she is!"
As she spoke, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
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