At this moment, no one had quite reacted.
"That...what was that thing? Did anyone see it clearly just now?"
"It looks like a mouse, but how can a mouse grow as big as a cat?"
Lu Qing: "These are rats that have mutated due to the poisonous fog. Everyone be careful, there will be more mutated beasts coming."
Now, everyone's relaxed state of mind vanished, and they all became extremely alert.
After walking for about half an hour, Gu Xicheng's voice came through the walkie-talkie:
"Qingqing, can you hear me?"
Lu Qing quickly replied, "I can hear you, what's wrong?"
Gu Xicheng: "Radar indicates that a large number of living creatures are rapidly approaching you. They are suspected to be mutated wild animals. Find a place to hide as soon as possible."
"Okay, I understand!"
Lu Qing put down the walkie-talkie and immediately told everyone to quicken their pace.
Not long after, the ground seemed to tremble. Lu Qing's ears twitched, and then his expression changed drastically:
"Oh no! Run!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Qing led everyone and ran away.
To prevent anyone from falling behind and leaving the Tree People's protected area, she specially found a rope and tied everyone together.
When everyone runs together, the speed is naturally much slower than when running individually.
Before long, they saw the true nature of those living creatures.
Like the shadowy figure from before, these were enormous rats, but not just one, but a whole group.
These rats had red eyes and looked at them with the same frenzy and bloodlust as hungry wolves seeing lamb.
As Lu Qing ran, he threw fire talismans behind him, and the Samadhi True Fire blocked the rat swarm, buying them time to escape.
But soon, some rats rushed into the fire, using their bodies to cover the flames and allow the other rats to pass through.
Upon seeing this, some people couldn't help but curse:
"Holy crap! These rats are insane! They're completely reckless!"
"They've all mutated, how can you expect them to be normal!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Let's run!"
After running for so long, everyone's energy was quickly depleted, but the rats continued their relentless pursuit.
"Captain, aren't you supposed to be amazing? Think of something! If we keep running like this, we'll either get bitten to death or die of exhaustion!"
Lu Qing frowned as he pondered, when suddenly he saw a huge iron gate appear behind the mist ahead.
"Quick! Run towards the iron gate!"
Everyone saw the iron gate and rushed toward it with all their might.
Upon entering, Lu Qing immediately threw out more than a dozen talismans to create a barrier, sealing the iron gate. He then used fire talismans to block the rats' vision with flames.
With no one in sight and flames and barriers blocking their path, the rat swarm quickly retreated.
Lu Qing breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow:
"It's alright! Everyone, take a rest for a bit!"
Everyone sat down on the spot, panting heavily.
Lu Qing then surveyed the surroundings. This was the entrance to the research institute, and the air was thick with yin energy, suggesting that there might be many vengeful ghosts and spirits inside.
However, the toxic fumes inside are very faint, and as long as you don't get close to the entrance, they will hardly cause any harm to people.
This way, everyone can be untied from their ropes and no longer need to move together.
The passage was long, and nothing could be seen at the moment. Lu Qing drank some water, then turned on the walkie-talkie to report the situation to Li Hui.
"We've entered the research institute. We'll rest for a while and then go in to investigate."
Li Hui's voice came through the walkie-talkie:
"I understand. Please be careful and report back immediately after you have figured out what the research institute is about."
"Okay!" Lu Qing responded.
Ten minutes later, Lu Qing led the group to continue their journey.
The passageways were long and interconnected, and every now and then a few skeletons and evil spirits would appear in the corners, but they were all easily dealt with.
Suddenly, one of the team members said urgently:
"Everyone, come quick! There's a room here!"
The group quickly walked over and looked up to see a sign that read "Changing Room".
The room door was almost the same color as the wall; you wouldn't even notice it was a door unless you looked closely.
The door was locked, but there were lockpicks in the group.
He took two needles and inserted them into the keyhole, and the lock opened in just a few seconds.
"Great job, Brother Liao! You opened the Japanese lock in just a few seconds!"
Brother Liao sneered disdainfully: "I opened this lock when I was five years old."
As he spoke, he yanked the door open.
The next second, an evil spirit pounced out from inside the door and possessed his body.
Lu Qing's hands moved faster than his brain; he threw out a talisman and stuck it between his eyebrows, instantly forcing the evil spirit out.
Another team member swiftly swung his knife, severing the evil spirit's head, and its soul vanished.
The man surnamed Liao's legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.
"Brother Liao, how are you? Are you alright?"
Liao Yan shook his head and thanked Lu Qing, "Thank you, Captain. It was my carelessness!"
Lu Qing helped him up: "It's good that you're alright. Everyone be careful, there are many evil spirits here, they could appear at any time."
Lu Qing slowly pushed the door open, and only went in after confirming that there were no evil spirits inside.
The changing room was dusty, the lockers were all locked, and only a few doors were open.
Having learned from Liao Yan's experience, everyone was very careful when opening the cabinet.
There were no evil spirits hiding in the closet, only some fragile clothes and personal belongings.
The group opened the cabinets and checked them one by one. Only one cabinet contained some documents with illegible writing.
"It's been too long, this place is very damp, the words on it are all blurred, and you can't read them at all!"
Lu Qing stuffed the documents into his bag:
"Never mind! This thing might be useful. Let's take it back and see if we can fix it."
After checking the cabinet, Lu Qing turned around and found another door, which was still locked.
"Brother Liao, unlock this lock!"
Liao Yan immediately stepped forward and unlocked the door in a short while.
"Everyone back off, I'm opening the door!" Lu Qing said.
Everyone immediately took a few steps back.
Lu Qing slowly opened the door. There was no evil spirit behind the door, but a pungent smell wafted out, making Lu Qing sneeze.
"This smells like... disinfectant!" one of the team members said, frowning.
Lu Qing covered her nose and walked in. Inside was a shower room with a large pool in the middle. The water in the pool was still there, but it had turned a murky dark green.
Moss grew on the edge of the pool, and several buckets were scattered around it; the smell of disinfectant was coming from the buckets.
"Where exactly is this place? You don't need to use so much disinfectant just to take a shower!"
"Everyone be careful, don't go near the pool, the water in there might be something wrong!" Lu Qing warned.
"yes!"
Everyone agreed, but the next second someone accidentally stepped on the moss, slipped, and fell directly into the pool.
"Help! Help!"
"Qian Kai! Come on! Grab me!"
Two teammates immediately lay down by the pool and pulled the person out.
The two grabbed Qian Kai's hand and finally managed to pull him up.
"Qian Kai, how are you?"
Qian Kai vomited a few mouthfuls of water and was about to say he was fine when his expression suddenly changed and he vomited a mouthful of blood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com