"Where are we going next?" Su Wan finally spoke, her fingers unconsciously rubbing her lower abdomen.
Lu Shiyan looked ahead: "30 kilometers to the north, there is an abandoned research institute. The terrain is open and easy to defend but difficult to attack."
There was no fluctuation in his tone.
Xiao Han turned his head and his eyes fell on Su Wan: "Why, are you worried? Don't be afraid, with your man here, no one dares to touch you." He dragged out his tone, "After all, you are pregnant with the Lu family's seed."
Lu Shiyan's fingers gripping the steering wheel suddenly tightened. "Xiao Han!"
Xiao Han shrugged, whistled, and said no more.
The car passed through a sparse forest, and the view suddenly opened up. There were barren fields on both sides of the road ahead. They should have been farmland before the end of the world, but now they were overgrown with weeds and eerily quiet.
"No." Lu Shiyan suddenly said in a low voice, his voice tense.
Su Wan's heart suddenly lifted. She looked out of the car. At first, there was a quiet wilderness. Then, a tiny black dot suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.
The black dot moved extremely fast, leaving a blurry afterimage, as if it was sliding on the ground. It did not move in a straight line, but zigzag, sometimes sticking to the ground, sometimes jumping up, like an ominous black lightning.
"What is it?" Aunt Zhang's voice trembled.
Lu Shiyan didn't answer, he turned off the engine and pulled out the key. His movements were smooth and quick, without any hesitation. "Everyone, be quiet."
The shadow was getting closer and closer, moving in a strange way, sometimes skimming the grass, sometimes lying low. Su Wan finally saw clearly that it was a mutant zombie, completely different from what he had seen before.
It has a long and thin body, protruding joints, abnormally developed limbs, and sharp claws. Its skin is a sickly blue-gray color, tightly stretched over its bones, revealing a sense of dry strength. The most terrifying thing is its eyes, which are not the turbidity common to zombies, but flashing with a beast-like dark green light, full of terrible wisdom and hunger.
"Damn it, mutant hunter." Xiao Han cursed, fear in his voice, "This thing can sense life signs. It's coming for us."
Su Wan felt a chill creeping up his spine and all the way to his scalp. The creature stopped, about a hundred meters away from the car. It raised its head high, its nostrils flaring, as if it was sniffing the air.
Suddenly, it swerved towards their car, lowered its body, and made a terrifying sound somewhere between a scream and a roar, piercing the silence.
"It has discovered us." Lu Shiyan's voice was cold. He quickly drew out the saber from his waist. The blade reflected a cold light in the dim light inside the car. "Xiao Han, take her away. The rest of you, follow me to cover your retreat."
"No!" Su Wan blurted out, her voice tense, "You can't--"
Before he finished speaking, the mutant zombie rushed towards the car like an arrow, with an amazing speed, leaping several meters in one step, approaching in an instant. Lu Shiyan pushed open the car door violently, his body rolled outward, and landed steadily. Almost at the same time, there was a loud "bang!", and the mutant zombie hit the car body, the steel shell made a twisted groan, and the whole car shook violently, as if it would fall apart at any time.
Su Wan screamed and instinctively protected her abdomen. Xiao Han had already opened the other door and grabbed her arm: "Let's go! While it's being led away by Lu Shiyan!"
She was half dragged and half pulled out of the car, with her feet barely touching the ground. In her ears was Lu Shiyan's low roar and the monster's piercing scream, mixed with the noise of metal tearing. Looking back, the saber in Lu Shiyan's hand was burning with orange flames, like a flexible fire snake, fighting with the monster. His movements were as fast as lightning, and every swing of the saber brought a burning breath.
"Lu Shiyan!" She shouted desperately, her voice full of fear and worry.
At that moment, Lu Shiyan looked back at her, his eyes were complicated and deep, as if he was suppressing something. "Protect the child." He whispered, his voice barely audible in the wind. Then he turned around and faced the terrifying monster, flames dancing around him.
Xiao Han dragged Su Wan to the nearby woodland. The trees were sparse, but at least they could provide some cover. Zhang Ma staggered behind them, breathing rapidly. Behind them came the sounds of fierce fighting, the painful screams of mutant zombies, and the dull sounds of cars being hit and torn apart.
"Lu Shiyan will be fine, right?" Su Wan gasped, her heart beating wildly, each beat hitting her chest hard.
Xiao Han didn't even turn his head back, and kept walking: "Don't look back if you want to live."
At this moment, a deafening explosion sounded from behind. "Boom!" The ground seemed to tremble. A scorching wave of air swept over, carrying the pungent smell of burning gasoline. Su Wan staggered a few steps and almost fell down due to the shock wave. She turned around suddenly, and the car in the distance had turned into a blazing fireball, with flames rising several meters high and black smoke billowing into the sky.
"No——" She almost cried out, her legs weak and she couldn't stand steadily. Where is Lu Shiyan? Where are Agui, Afu and the others? Could it be...
Xiao Han grabbed her, his eyes cold: "Don't be silly, Lu Shiyan won't die so easily. That was his fire, he must have detonated the gas tank in the car."
"What?" Su Wan was at a loss. She suddenly realized what Xiao Han meant by "fire".
In the sea of fire in the distance, a figure slowly walked out, surrounded by blazing flames, as if returning from hell, but without any damage. It was Lu Shiyan. Behind him, several embarrassed figures also appeared. Although they were covered in dust, they all looked safe and sound - Ah Gui, Ah Fu and Xiao Han's men.
The mutant zombie fell in the middle of the sea of fire, its huge body twisted in the flames. It let out a final shrill wail, then fell completely silent and turned into charcoal.
When Lu Shiyan approached, the flames around him had all been retracted into his body, as if they had never appeared. His face was stained with ashes and sweat, but his eyes were still deep, with a trace of fire remaining, making him even more elusive.
Su Wan almost rushed over. Really, just a little bit. At the last moment, she stopped abruptly. Oh, the male lead's halo? Really... But he is alive, which is better than anything else. At least my life and the baby in my belly are protected. This man is really a monster.
Lu Shiyan's eyes fell on her face, and he seemed a little surprised at her expression of being about to cry. "Are you okay?" he asked.
He responded briefly and turned to Xiao Han: "The car is destroyed, walk to the institute."
Xiao Han nodded, his face solemn: "That thing is likely not alone. Mutated hunters usually hunt in groups."
Lu Shiyan's eyes suddenly turned cold: "I'll take care of it." He looked at Su Wan and said in a low voice, "Can we go?"
Su Wan's heart skipped a beat and she nodded, "Yes."
The night wind blew through his ash-stained hair, bringing with it a smell of burnt and blood. "Stronger, smarter, and more dangerous than ordinary zombies." He lowered his voice.
Stronger? Smarter? Su Wan's heart suddenly contracted. Does that mean... She licked her dry lips and spoke in a very soft and tentative voice. "Is there nothing in their brains?"
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