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墨書 Inktalez
As Xu Nuan had guessed, the few people remaining in the cave climbed up the tall Stalactite, while below them, chaos reigned.
The Zombies had only one expression: a wide, eerie smile that seemed to stretch their mouths as if they intended to tear them open. Their only movement was a desperate stretching of their hands as they climbed upward.
With such expressions, Gu Ze and the others looked down from their high perch, feeling a chill creeping up their spines, stimulating their brains.
"I wonder how Deng Yinyin and the others are doing?"
Xie Huai struggled to hold onto a Stalactite. "I should have gone out with them back then."
Gu Ze, who was closer to him and nearer to the cave entrance, maintained a relatively calm demeanor.
"She’s with Nuan; nothing will happen. I trust Nuan."
"It's because they're together that I'm worried," Xie Huai argued, still in the mood to debate. "You know they’ve never gotten along, and Xu Nuan is stronger than Deng Yinyin. Deng Yinyin will be at a disadvantage. Plus, Deng Yinyin can be a bit too straightforward, and Xu Nuan has a bad temper. I'm afraid Deng Yinyin might provoke her."
As soon as Xie Huai finished speaking, he noticed Gu Ze staring at him with an expressionless face. He suddenly recalled the time in Lonely Gorge when Xu Nuan had left the group. They had somewhat ostracized Xu Nuan, and when Deng Yinyin was reluctant to discuss what had happened on the snowy mountain, Gu Ze wore that same terrifying expression. It seemed that if anyone spoke ill of Xu Nuan or harmed her, he would ruthlessly snap that person's neck without hesitation.
Is Xu Nuan his Achilles' heel? Xie Huai wondered.
Those with vulnerabilities could face crises.
Under the powerful pressure emanating from Gu Ze, his expression softened slightly at Xu Hang's cough, but his tone became extremely serious.
"Nuan's temper isn't bad; she just knows exactly what she wants and doesn't care about other things. That's Rationality. Also, her skills are better than Deng Yinyin's, but that's due to her hard work and countless injuries—she earned that experience. She’s not someone who bullies the weak. Even if Deng Yinyin says something that annoys her, she would endure it for the sake of team harmony. She values this team; unlike Deng Yinyin, you know that very well. So don’t make the same mistake again."
This was no longer an explanation but a warning meant to intimidate.
Xie Huai nodded repeatedly in acknowledgment, not daring to speak further; what he thought inside remained unknown to the other two.
"Ze, let's not focus on that for now. After all, they are both women, and we need to find them as soon as possible. But these Zombies down there are really persistent."
Xu Hang glared at the Zombies below, unwilling to meet their grotesque eyes.
"Everything has its weaknesses," Gu Ze said, gathering his thoughts as he observed the Zombies below. "We just need to find their weak points. Even in this all-powerful game, the new creations must have some basis. For instance, these Zombies—could they be similar to those in movies? Or perhaps the Designers deliberately designed them with opposite weaknesses?"
"That makes sense," Xu Hang instinctively reached out to scratch his chin but lost his grip and suddenly slid down a bit, immediately getting grabbed by a Zombie that was reaching out.
"Hang, kick it away!"
Gu Ze shouted urgently, and Xie Huai looked over nervously.
There was no need for Gu Ze's reminder; Xu Hang instinctively kicked at the Zombies with force. The Zombies seemed oblivious to pain and continued to grasp at his legs. One Zombie climbed onto the shoulder of another, and from its elevated position, it opened its mouth to bite Xu Hang.
These Zombies had no idea how long they had been dead or what had given them the ability to move. But if that bite landed, it would surely be poisonous. Xu Hang suddenly recalled the green water ghost; its poison was contagious, and those bitten would turn into water ghosts. So what about these Zombies? Would those bitten also become Zombies?
The thought of that possibility made Xu Hang uneasy, and he kicked harder. Just then, he heard a crack and looked up to see a fissure forming where the stalactite connected to the cave ceiling. The crack widened as he moved more vigorously.
He could foresee two possible choices: either give up kicking the Zombies to hold onto the stalactite and risk being bitten or continue fighting off the Zombies while the stalactite completely broke apart, causing him to fall into a horde of Zombies.
Damn it, why did it seem like he could only choose the first option?
Feeling frustrated and helpless in this dire situation, Xu Hang noticed a large stalactite swinging toward him. Behind it was Gu Ze still gripping the rope.
"Hang on for a moment!"
Hearing Gu Ze's voice made him realize that Gu Ze had thrown a hook of the rope onto another stalactite still anchored to the ceiling and was now using that immense force to swing toward the Zombies that were tugging at his legs and trying to bite him.
The Zombie cannot feel pain, but that doesn't mean it won't be crushed by a rock. Gu Ze swung a Stalactite with precision, directly striking down the few Zombies that tried to pull him down, merely grazing his leg without causing harm.
Taking advantage of this moment, Xu Hang climbed up, grabbing hold of the crack. When he looked down, he saw the Zombies that had been crushed lying on the ground, mechanically flailing their arms. The other Zombies nearby showed no intention of helping them escape from the rocks. Observing them again, it was strange that these creatures, despite having human-like structures, couldn't climb trees, as if they were programmed not to.
Xu Hang felt puzzled and shared his thoughts with Gu Ze and Xie Huai, prompting both of them to ponder deeply.
While Gu Ze and Xie Huai were lost in thought, Xu Hang spoke up again.
"I just felt something. When I kicked a Zombie, it felt soft. But shouldn't a corpse be stiff?"
"If they had warmth, they'd be similar to living dead," Gu Ze joked lightly. Seeing Xu Hang's serious expression made him stop joking and continue observing the Zombies' movements below.
"We've already wasted a lot of time; we need to figure out how to leave quickly."
"How about you keep using ropes to hook onto the Stalactites and keep them pinned down? Then we can escape," Xie Huai suggested, believing he had come up with a good plan.
Gu Ze sighed helplessly before responding, "Look at how many Stalactites are in this cave and compare that to the number of Zombies. It's not that I don't want to; reality just doesn't allow it."
After hearing this, Xie Huai took a serious look around and noticed that aside from the few robust Stalactites they had chosen, most were rather thin and sparse in number. Some had even been shattered by the Zombies' erratic movements and were no longer usable. In contrast, the cave was roughly a twenty-meter square with three exits. Aside from the three of them and a few Stalactites, everything else was filled with Zombies.
It was practically a paradise for Zombies.
"In fact, if we stay up here, they won't harm us. But we still need to find Deng Yinyin; we can't leave them behind."
"So we have two things we need to do."
Gu Ze quickly took over the conversation, "Let's not waste time. We need to leave this place and find someone, and also figure out how to stop these Zombies from moving. Otherwise, even if we escape this cave, we'll still be stuck."
Xu Hang nodded in agreement.
"Actually, Ze, I have some doubts about the corpses suddenly moving being related to that hall. Before Xie Huai showed us the Luminous Pearl, I felt a tremor. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but now that I think about it, the tremor must have occurred when Xie Huai took the Luminous Pearl."
Gu Ze narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hmm, anything from the game shouldn't be touched carelessly. Let's boldly speculate that the tremor was caused by taking the Luminous Pearl. Could the Zombies' movements also be related to taking the Luminous Pearl?"
Gu Ze smirked slightly. "I've never seen a Luminous Pearl change color to such a terrifying red before. Why not boldly theorize? Perhaps we can guess the Designer's intentions."
Xu Hang nodded in agreement. "Then all we need to do is leave here and find Deng Yinyin and the others to return the Luminous Pearl to its original place."
"However, we're back to square one. How do we leave this place?" Gu Ze said with some frustration. But thinking about how Xu Nuan might also be surrounded by so many Zombies, he steeled himself. "What about the Zombies' weakness?"
"Well, I think," Xie Huai, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up weakly, "I think I've found the Zombies' weakness."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Huai felt two intense gazes on him, making his presence suddenly feel much stronger.
"What is the weakness?"
Gu Ze and Xu Hang asked in unison.
Xie Huai cautiously held a Stalactite in one hand while pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket with the other.
"I'll show you an experiment."
As he spoke, Xie Huai handed the handkerchief to the hand holding the Stalactite, which already gripped a lighter.
With a gentle press and a flick, the handkerchief caught fire. Then Xie Huai forcefully threw the Burning Handkerchief away from him, landing about four meters away.
Then something surprising happened. Centered around the Burning Handkerchief, a radius of six or seven meters saw the Zombies rushing toward it, mindlessly flailing at the handkerchief. The Flame quickly extinguished, but the group of Zombies remained fixated on it for quite some time before finally getting up.
As the Zombies lunged at the handkerchief, a large area around them was actually cleared out.
"What is this?"
Gu Ze and Xu Hang's eyes lit up as they simultaneously looked at Xie Huai.
Xie Huai felt a bit uneasy and explained, "I was just thinking, what if the Zombies are afraid of fire? I tried using a tissue to test it, and it turned out they reacted similarly to before. I think these Zombies might choose their targets based on temperature. The temperature of the flame is much higher than that of the human body, which is why they temporarily changed their attack direction."
After a pause, Xie Huai added, "If one ignited handkerchief attracted so many Zombies, then if we used a few pieces of clothing instead, we might be able to divert these Zombies and escape."
Once Xie Huai finished explaining, he noticed Gu Ze and Xu Hang looking at him with very enthusiastic expressions. He couldn't help but feel a bit shy and instinctively wanted to retreat, only to realize he was in mid-air. He clung tightly to the Stalactite and stammered, "You... what’s wrong with you?"
Gu Ze flashed a big smile and generously praised him, "Xie Huai, well done! We owe this to you!"
Xu Hang nodded in agreement, "Yes, Xie Huai, I really admire you. You did great this time!"
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