25. Dark Currents Abyss

Lin Songsong and Shi Dong were both wary of the Dark Abyss, but Fu Yunong seemed to see countless crystal cores beckoning to her. The zombies, frozen and unable to move, were just waiting for her to reap their rewards!

What? No? She knows how to play hard to get!

Her eyes lit up dramatically, and she quickly asked Lin Songsong, "Which direction is the lake? How far is it from here?"

Lin Songsong recalled for a moment and slowly said, "At that time, we walked and stopped frequently, and our pace was very slow. It took us four or five days to get here. If we had deliberately rushed, we could have gotten here much faster."

Fu Yunong nodded, then turned to look out the window. The wind and snow were still howling, and she only hoped that the snow would stop soon. But fate had other plans; the wind and snow not only didn't stop, but instead blew even more fiercely. At noon the next day, a loud bang suddenly rang out, and the four of them rushed to the window, but they couldn't see anything outside.

Shi Dong rushed to the top floor and could barely see that a building on the outskirts of the community had been blown down by the strong winds. The snow and mist that rose when the building collapsed directly covered half the sky.

She went back inside and explained what had happened, and the atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.

Fu Yunong frowned, her heart skipping a beat, "Could it be that our building is also like this...?"

"We can't stay here any longer!" Shi Dong made a decisive decision. "Let's move to a lower floor right away!"

Fu Yunong immediately agreed, and Lin Songsong naturally had no objections. As for Xiao Linfang, she had always been quite intimidated by Shi Dong, feeling that she was unsmiling and would not object.

Next, Fu Yunong packed everything in the house—pots, pans, bedding, clothes, fresh water—into her spatial storage. Lin Songsong and Xiao Linfang stared in disbelief as the things vanished into thin air, their eyes wide with astonishment, unable to process what had happened for a long time.

Shi Dong was already used to it. He waved his hand in front of the two of them to bring them back to their senses.

After collecting the items, Fu Yunong specifically dragged Lin Songsong to the 8th floor, where they harvested a total of 9 level-one crystal cores. She didn't exchange them for points but directly stored them in her spatial storage. This was a new feature after the system upgrade; crystal cores could be stored directly, and the harvesting distance had increased from two meters to four meters.

After getting ready, the group encountered two stiff zombies on their way downstairs. These were the zombies that had escaped from room 802, and Fu Yunong took them down as well.

They moved from the 10th floor to the 3rd floor, nailing the windows and doors shut, making beds and starting a fire—the whole process was already quite familiar to them. At night, the four of them agreed to take turns keeping watch, waking the others at the slightest sound.

That day it was Fu Yunong's turn to keep watch. The charcoal in the brazier was burning brightly, and the hot tea on the shelf was bubbling away. She lit a candle and picked up a book to read by the dim light, while Hua Hua nestled in the cat bed at her feet, lazily dozing off, its tail occasionally swishing lightly.

As the night deepened, the howling wind and snow outside grew increasingly piercing. Fu Yunong occasionally poked at the charcoal in the brazier, feeling a chill run down her spine as she listened to the howling wind. Especially considering that they might be the only survivors within miles. Fortunately, the night passed without incident.

The group spent half a month in fear and trepidation until the snow finally subsided.

Xiao Linfang clearly felt that she had gained weight, and Hua Hua had also grown quite a bit. Fu Yunong noticed that Hua Hua's size had doubled compared to before, and at first glance, she looked like an adult cat; she couldn't tell her gender before, but now she knew that Hua Hua was a girl.

Two days later, the snow stopped completely. The group had been cooped up for ages, so they quickly found some warm clothes to wear, hugged Huahua in their arms, and went out together.

Unexpectedly, the snow outside had piled up almost to the first-floor windowsill, and it took the group some effort to get out. The snow was loose and soft; a single step could reach chest height, obstructing visibility and posing a potential hazard. After discussing for a moment, they decided to go to the rooftop to check the situation first.

When they reached the rooftop, Shi Dong took out his binoculars and looked around, but all he could see was a vast expanse of white, which made his eyes tired and his heart irritated.

Fu Yunong prayed in her heart that the snow would stop falling, and this time, it seemed that heaven had heard her wish. Although the cold wind was still biting like a knife, not a single snowflake fell for several days.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the group patiently waited for two days. Once they confirmed that the snow had frozen solid, they couldn't wait to pack their belongings.

Fu Yunong accompanied Xiao Linfang back to her home and helped her pack her clothes and other belongings. After packing, Xiao Linfang took one last look at the home she had lived in for nearly ten years and closed the door without hesitation.

Shi Dong and Lin Songsong were leaning against the wall waiting. When they saw them come down, they waved to them. Fu Yunong and Xiao Linfang quickened their pace and went to greet them with smiles.

Just when everyone thought they were about to set off, Fu Yunong said, "Wait!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a brand new, silver-gray SUV suddenly appeared out of thin air on the snow at the entrance.

Xiao Linfang's eyes widened in surprise, and Lin Songsong opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word for a long time; even the usually calm Shi Dong raised an eyebrow, his lips twitched, and he couldn't help but ask, "Where... did you get this?"

Fu Yunong chuckled and waved her hand, "Sisters, get in the car!"

She won this car in a lottery a while ago. She held back and didn't tell anyone, just wanting to see their reaction. Now, her wish has come true!

Shi Dong naturally drove the car; she had received professional training in this area and was capable of handling various terrains. Lin Songsong sat in the back passenger seat, staring at the ever-receding white snowscape, occasionally giving Shi Dong directions.

The car windows were soon covered with a layer of white fog. Shi Dong turned the car's air conditioning to the maximum and let the warm air blow for a while before the group felt their hands and feet slowly warm up.

Although it was freezing cold outside, the atmosphere inside the car was warm. Fu Yunong leaned back in her seat, watching the bare trees flash by outside the window, and suddenly couldn't help but hum "The vast horizon is my love," earning a mocking look from Shi Dong. Fu Yunong raised her chin and snorted, not bothering to argue with her.

According to Shi Dong's calculations, it would take at most one day to reach the Dark Current Abyss by car. Sure enough, around 3 p.m., after the car climbed a high slope, the view suddenly opened up.

A vast lake came into view, its ice surface gleaming coldly, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Lin Songsong instantly became excited, pointing at the lake and shouting, "This is it!"

Fu Yunong leaned close to the car window, her eyes shining brightly: Countless crystal cores, she's here!

Shi Dong didn't rush to get out of the car. Instead, he shifted gears again and drove the car slowly around the lake a few times. After confirming that there was nothing wrong, he finally stopped the car.

"Everyone, snap out of it and get off the bus in the agreed formation." Shi Dong's expression was serious. The group instinctively wanted to stand at attention and salute, almost blurting out, "Yes, sir!"

Shi Dong led the way, Lin Songsong held up the protective barrier to bring up the rear, and Fu Yunong and Xiao Linfang were in the middle. Even Hua Hua couldn't stay still in Lin Songsong's arms, wriggling around, struggling and jumping down, running on the ice as if it were cold.

Lin Songsong helplessly called out, "Slow down!" but Hua Hua just wagged its tail and continued to dash forward.

Fu Yunong quickly opened the system panel, only to see the screen densely covered with crystal core markers. It showed that within a radius of 200 meters, there were 2781 first-level crystal cores and 79 second-level crystal cores! She gasped, thinking to herself, "I'm rich!" And this was only what she could see in front of her; the entire lake area was enormous!

She suppressed her wildly beating heart, her fingers swiping rapidly across the screen as she focused on harvesting crystal cores.

The group moved forward slowly in formation, with Shi Dong at the front, a crackling lightning ball in her palm, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily. Lin Songsong followed at the back, her transparent protective shield always in place. Xiao Linfang kept close behind them, her pale blue eyes flashing frequently; though nervous, she didn't hold them back.

They made their way to the center of the lake without any incidents. Just as Shi Dong was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the wind on the lake picked up. Before she could react, she saw Hua Hua in the distance suddenly bristle and scramble towards them, making rapid "howling" noises.

At the same time, a cracking sound came from under their feet. Fu Yunong looked down and saw a thin crack suddenly appear on the ice in the distance. It spread rapidly in all directions and soon circled around to their feet!

"Don't panic! Back row to front row, retreat!" Shi Dong's shout drowned out the howling wind, and the group quickly did as he said. Although they were flustered, their movements were not chaotic.

They had only run a couple of steps when a sharp cracking sound came from behind them. A large hole appeared in the ice, and a grayish-blue zombie emerged, its hands covered in ice shards. But what followed was even more terrifying: holes in the ice sprouted up like mushrooms after rain, and one, two, three… countless zombies crawled out of the ice, staggering and chasing after them.

Xiao Linfang gasped in fright, but didn't stop. A faint blue light flickered in her eyes as she silently channeled some of her supernatural power into Lin Songsong to help stabilize her protective shield.

As she ran, Shi Dong seemed to hear other sounds mixed in with the wind, like the roar of some kind of creature. It sounded somewhat familiar, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. She threw two lightning balls backhand, hitting the two zombies in the front and temporarily blocking the pursuers.

Fu Yunong was out of breath from running. After running a distance, she quickly released the car. Before the car door had even fully opened, the group scrambled inside. Lin Songsong scooped up Huahua who was lunging at her, while Shi Dong was the last to get in, throwing a lightning bolt before closing the door.

"Hold on tight!" Shi Dong slammed on the gas, and the car shot toward the shore like an arrow. The sound of ice cracking followed closely behind, and through the rearview mirror, it could be seen that the entire ice surface was collapsing at a visible speed, spreading toward the car.

"Something's catching up!" Xiao Linfang suddenly screamed.

Fu Yunong turned around and her scalp tingled instantly. Three long, thin, twisted speedsters were gliding on all fours on the ice, almost as fast as the car. One of them had already leaped up and was almost jumping onto the roof of the car!

Fortunately, with a muffled thud, the Swift Walker crashed into the shield and was bounced back. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Fu Yunong opened the system, her finger quickly locking onto its crystal core. As the crystal core disappeared, the Swift Walker slammed heavily onto the ice surface and was instantly trampled into mincemeat by the zombies surging from behind.

The remaining two speedsters were quickly dealt with by the two of them working together. Shi Dong gripped the steering wheel tightly, and the car bounced on the ice until it finally came to a stop on the snowy shore.

Before they could even catch their breath, they turned around and froze on the spot.

On the once vast frozen lake, countless dark figures surged toward the shore like a tidal wave, the frigid air thick with the stench of corpses, making one's stomach churn...