Chapter 65: Northern Plateau
On the other side of the town, a man who had just changed teams today was awakened by a shrill scream that penetrated the rain. He had just joined the Malaysian team, and although he was accepted, the past two days had been the time when he was most alert and he didn't dare to sleep too deeply at night.
So he pushed his wife awake as soon as he heard the scream.
His wife, like him, slept in her clothes. When she woke up, she jumped up immediately and took the backpack and travel bag beside her without saying a word: "Did something really happen?"
"I'm not sure, it seems to be coming from the Yang Can team's neighborhood. But this cry is different from the previous ones, it doesn't seem to be from those sick people, it seems to be... the screams of pain from normal people!"
As the man spoke, he put on his shoes, carried his luggage and took his weapons, then turned around and grabbed his wife, "Let's go to Dama's residence to find him. I gave him half of the gold in advance, and he promised to let us get on the ship if anything goes wrong!"
"Now?" She looked at the dark rainy night outside. "Didn't they say that we can't go out of the town at night? There are... monsters outside..."
"Never mind, let's go first. This guy Dama is too cunning. I see he has been collecting gold. I guess he will run away sooner or later." After all, gold is completely useless in the town, but he has been telling the residents that there is really nothing they can exchange for food with gold.
Although he is not a bad person, he is not a good person either. How could such a person do good deeds for no reason? It must be because he had already planned to evacuate and travel west to other places where he could use gold to exchange for supplies.
"Okay, let's go now!" The wife made a quick decision and reminded her husband to call the other teammates who had joined them in Malaysia today. In an unfamiliar team, the more old teammates the better.
As soon as the two opened the door, the shrill screams outside became clearer and closer than the previous screams.
They no longer hesitated and quickly woke up their teammates in other rooms. Several of them opened the door of the small building and ran out of the yard. When they rushed to the street, they saw several people stumbling towards them on the east side of the street. They were afraid of hitting their bodies from time to time while running, as if they wanted to throw something down.
"What is that?" Some people still stopped and watched.
They were afraid of being in trouble by Zhou Feng, so they hid in the house on the Malaysian side all day. The house was far from the street, so they had no idea what happened in the town during the day, and no one came to tell them.
But some people felt uneasy and shouted, "Don't watch it! Haven't you seen horror movies? You'll be dead when you see it clearly! Run! Go find Dama, go to the boat!"
Several people started running, but some people were still left behind because of curiosity. He looked back frequently and finally saw that one of the people running behind him collapsed. In the dim night rain, it seemed that countless bouncing gray things pounced on the fallen person one by one.
None of the others looked back. While their fallen companion was attracting the strange little fish, they ran with all their strength again and soon ran to the person who looked back curiously.
"What is that?" He reached out and grabbed one of them.
The man was dragged away while trying to escape, his eyes were red with anger, he pushed the person who was holding him away fiercely, and kicked him again: "Get out of here!"
The curious man fell to the ground, and before he could finish cursing and get up, he saw countless small gray fish bouncing towards him in the rainy night.
"What is this - Ah! Don't bite! Ah -" The curious man found the answer he wanted to know, but also left his life where he was.
**
Late at night, in a valley far away from the town, in a dark and quiet room.
Shu Fu slept on the floor covered with a camping blanket, tossing and turning.
She had never expected that as a screenwriter, it would be so difficult to write a simple story about missing persons one day.
Ideal plot 1: On the way to escape from Hexi Town, she accidentally fell into the water due to the shaking of the inflatable boat due to strong winds and waves, and then disappeared under the water and never appeared again.
In fact, if she really fell into the water, Chen Fa and Chen Yuezhen would never sit on the inflatable boat and watch, one of them would definitely go into the water. Moreover, the waters on the north side of Hexi Town were flooded later, and they were not that deep. Where could she hide when she fell into the water?
Ideal scenario 2: When going down the mountain, she told them that she wanted to split up into two groups because she had unfinished business in the town. She asked them to go to the water to release the inflatable boat first. If she didn't show up in half an hour, they would leave first.
In fact, Chen Fa would most likely let Chen Yuezhen wait on the water, and he would accompany her into the town...
Ideal plot three: In the flooded woods at the foot of the mountain, she encountered a small group of strange fish jumping around. While using a nail gun to deal with the strange fish, she ran in another direction, shouting, "You go first, I'll lead them away," and then never returned.
First of all, the "extra" fish didn't just appear out of nowhere. Secondly, even if we don't mention Chen Fa, judging from the momentum of Chen Yuezhen swinging the fire axe at noon today, she felt that before she ran far, those fish might have been killed by her...
Shu Fu covered her head. This was simply the biggest bottleneck she had encountered since she started working as a screenwriter.
On the bed beside him, Chen Fa turned outward and said to Shu Fu who was lying on the floor not far away: "Why aren't you sleeping yet? Are you worried about tomorrow?"
"No..." Shu Fu said with difficulty, "I ate too much last night, and I feel a little full..."
Chen Fa: ...
However, soon, Shu Fu froze as he sensed something.
She immediately turned around, pulled up the thin blanket covering her body, hid her head under the blanket, slowly activated the bracelet and took out the notebook.
Sure enough, a new task appeared on the notebook.
[Complete the check-in task at Lucheng No. 3 Trading Station within five days to obtain a 15% progress bar for level 4 raft. (Current progress of level 4 raft: 45%)
Note: Failure to complete this task will deduct 20% of the progress bar. 】
Shu Fu: !!
Lucheng is outside the flood zone surrounding Hexi Town. The appearance of this mission means that she can now leave the town! ?
She had never felt that her "little cutie" was so considerate as he was now. He knew that she was facing a bottleneck and came to give her a map!
After a while, Chen Fa heard Shu Fu speak softly again after a moment of silence: "Fa Fa, um... where did you and grandma plan to go after lunch?"
Chen Fa: ...
Fafa is Chen Fa's nickname, but Chen Fa doesn't like her friends to call her by her nickname because it makes her sound too childish.
Whether during the four years in college or after graduation, Shu Fu and the others were used to calling her by her full name.
But occasionally there are special circumstances, such as when they accidentally do something "bad" or need something from her, they will deliberately use this intimate name.
Chen Fa: "Speak human language, speak nicely."
Shu Fu: ...
A few minutes later, Chen Fa rejected Shu Fu's proposal to go their separate ways after getting ashore. Even though Shu Fu did not explain clearly why she suddenly wanted to go to Lucheng Trading Station, he insisted on going into Lucheng with her.
"My grandmother and I have both been to Lucheng. At that time, the rudiments of a trading station had already been built, but it had just been established and was not yet open to the public. After that, the team borrowed boats from Dama twice to cross the flooded area to exchange for supplies. Although we did not go deep into the city, we still dealt with the team there. I am more familiar with the place than you are. Besides, you will eventually go to Pincheng, and in fact, the shortest route is to go directly through the middle of Lucheng."
“But Lucheng is in chaos right now.” The three of them are all women. Judging from their appearance alone, one is “old”, one is “disabled” and limps, and the other has a face and body shape that makes her look easy to bully. And she is carrying several travel bags of supplies, so it is hard for her not to be targeted.
What's more troublesome is that she doesn't know how much of her map is open. The current mission is in Lucheng. She can definitely go to Lucheng, but what about other places, such as other villages and towns in the surrounding area, and the more distant Pincheng? What if she encounters some trouble in the middle of the mission and has to flee? What if she suddenly encounters a bug while running?
Do you want to perform a ghost wall in public?
That picture is beautiful just thinking about it...
"Lucheng is in chaos, but aren't other places in chaos?" Chen Fa sensed that the other party wanted to say something else, and spoke again, "Shu Fu, did you listen to me last night when I told you to leave me alone and run away? You won't leave me alone to face danger, and neither will I, Chen Fa. Don't underestimate me, Shu Fu!"
The other party even called Shu Fu, so Shu Fu could only respond temporarily: "Okay, I got it, let's go together." As for what will happen after arriving in Lucheng, let's talk about it later and take it one step at a time.
Chen Yuezhen, who was sleeping on the floor nearby and never said anything to join the conversation, closed her eyes and smiled gently. These two were good kids. After she fell ill, she had always worried that she would become a burden to Chen Fa. But now, she has Shu Fu. If she really dies due to some accident in the future, she can rest assured that Shu Fu will be with her.
**
The next morning, after the three of them finished their breakfast, they quickly packed their travel bags and the supplies inside. According to the upper limit of the inflatable boat's weight given by Shu Fu, they counted and found that all the supplies brought out from the small building and the container house could be taken away.
Before leaving, Shu Fu changed the bandages for Chen Fa again. Although the wound was still ugly, it had almost recovered after one day and two nights.
After waking up early in the morning, Chen Fa got out of bed and walked around to get used to the pain, making sure that the pain would not affect her walking speed.
After Shu Fu helped her change the dressing, she wrapped a layer of plastic bag around her ankle to waterproof it. The effect might not be that good, but it was better than nothing. Finally, she asked her to wear the rain boots she had specially put in her travel bag.
Since Shu Fu was wearing waterproof boots, it made sense for her to bring an extra pair of rain boots in her travel bag. In this way, all three of them were wearing thick high boots, and when they walked in the mud or shallow water, they could also prevent being attacked by strange fish that might jump out.
The three men put on their raincoats and rain pants again. They carried the bags that could be carried in front of them or behind them, and held the ones that could not be carried in their hands just in case. All three of them took weapons.
Chen Yuezhen took the fire axe, Chen Fa put the less lethal baton into his sleeve, and also took a multi-functional folding shovel, which was equipped with saw teeth and a pointed pickaxe, which was very effective in dealing with strange fish.
Shu Fu still held her nail-shooting gun. Two melee weapons must be matched with a long-range one. Even though the maximum range of her nail-shooting gun was only ten meters, it was still better than a close-range weapon.
The three people were ready, opened the door of the container house, and plunged into the rain.
It was a bit stuffy outside and the temperature was a bit higher. The rain was heavier today than yesterday, but fortunately there was no wind. There was no one near the col. They all pulled their masks over their chins and walked down carefully along the original route they took to go up the mountain.
The air was filled with humid moisture from the heavy rain, and there seemed to be a faint fishy smell in it. They had all heard from Shu Fu that after the belly of a strange fish was broken, its internal organs would emit a very foul fishy smell, so they wondered if the strange fish from yesterday had come to the foot of the mountain again, and they looked around more carefully as they walked.
But the further they went down, the stronger the fishy smell in the air became, and when they were almost at the bottom of the mountain, the three of them had to put on their masks again.
Sure enough, not long after they walked out, they saw the bodies of strange fish. There was not just one, but several scattered around. Some were about the same size as the one Shu Fu saw yesterday, and some were several times larger. The ruptured bellies of those particularly large strange fish revealed a pile of orange fish eggs, like a string of ping-pong balls stuck together.
The further they went down, the more corpses of strange fish they saw around them. The three people vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but by then they had already walked to the foot of the mountain. If they turned a corner, they would reach the grove that Shu Fu had visited yesterday. Crossing the woods would lead them to the flood area.
But soon, the three of them slowed down their pace, and they heard another sound mixed in the heavy rain, "patta patta patta patta...", wet, slippery, bouncey and sticky.
Their faces changed quickly, not only because the voice was familiar, but also because the snapping sounds that sounded at the same time were too dense, as if many, many strange fish were jumping at the same time - the three people's thoughts stopped the moment they turned the corner of the mountain road.
Their footsteps also stopped at the same time. Not far ahead of them was the path leading to the town. There was a large meadow on one side of the path and a woods on the other side. It should have been green.
But now, the entire green has been replaced by a creeping gray.
It was a school of fish made up of countless strange fish, squatting on the grass, in the mud on the path, and among the woods, densely packed. Many of them were still bouncing up and down, and every jump or swing of their tail spines made a snapping sound.
These strange fish are basically only slightly larger than a fist, but the teeth in their grown mouths are already sharp.
Combined with the fish eggs we saw before, these should be newly born little monster fish.
There were several places with particularly dense schools of fish nearby. There seemed to be something on the ground, attracting them to keep swinging their tails and biting. Chen Fa saw a mess of blood, flesh and black hair between the gaps in the fish. It was a human!
They are eating people!
Shu Fu immediately understood: "Those big strange fish are female fish. They come ashore to lay eggs..."
The fish that attacked Chen Fa before were female fish. They were bigger and had thicker tail spines. They had been lurking in the ponds around the town after coming ashore to lay eggs. Although it was unclear why the fish came ashore to lay eggs, they were naturally protective of their young, so they did not run around in a big way after coming ashore.
They usually do not appear during the day, but occasionally appear at night, perhaps to forage for food or to find a nutrient hotbed for laying eggs...
The fish that were accidentally caught by people on a fishing boat yesterday should be a male monster fish. They don’t lay eggs so they don’t come ashore. After being disturbed, they began to fight back in self-defense.
There are so many small strange fish here now. It should be that the fish eggs on the shore have hatched last night. The small strange fish need nutrients after they are born, and what they regard as nutrients is - the three people thought of this layer, and looked towards the direction of the town at the same time. If this is the case, then the town has been attacked by a group of strange fish last night...
At this moment, the strange little fish not far away were so obsessed with the food in their mouths that they had not noticed the three people standing on the side of the mountain.
"Hold steady, don't panic, let's retreat first. They won't stay here forever. They will probably go back into the water later. Let's hide back first..." This was Chen Yuezhen's voice. She was originally walking at the end. She lowered her voice and gently reminded the two people in front, then slowly walked backwards.
Shu Fu and Chen Fa followed suit. The three of them retreated carefully with light steps. When they reached the corner, they slowly turned around and planned to speed up their pace and walk up the mountain.
But at this moment, a large female monster fish suddenly jumped out from the grass on the side of them. The sharp front teeth in its grown mouth were two centimeters long, and it was estimated that it could even bite through their raincoats and masks.
The female monster fish was closest to Chen Yuezhen. Shu Fu shouted "Be careful", but Chen Fa had already dropped his travel bag and swung the multi-functional shovel to hit it hard.
With a loud bang, Chen Fa only felt his palm slightly numb, and the strange fish was slapped to the ground. Chen Yuezhen had already turned around, and the axe in his hand quickly chopped towards the strange fish, with the pointed end facing downwards, and pierced the belly of the strange fish in the next second.
It was still trying to wake up while bouncing on the ground, and Shu Fu's straight nails followed, hitting the target with a series of "pu pu pu" shots, nailing it to death.
The three of them worked together to kill the strange fish that attacked them, but all three of them looked unhappy. The noise they made just now was too loud, and it was impossible for the strange fish group at the foot of the mountain not to have heard it.
Sure enough, the surroundings became quiet at some point, all the clicking sounds disappeared, and even the air seemed to be stagnant.
Chen Fa looked back in the heavy rain and found that the strange little fish that were originally fighting for food had stopped their movements. Each of them was supporting their big head with their "feet", with their dorsal fins erect and their upper bodies raised.
Their ugly heads all turned in the same direction, their bulging, cold fish eyes staring at the foot of the mountain.
A second or two passed, and at the same time when Chen Fa picked up the travel bag and said "Run", the group of small strange fish all jumped up and jumped towards where the three people were.
The three people were not far from the direction of the fish school. A small number of small strange fish that jumped particularly fast were getting closer and closer to them. When the first fish pounced on them, the three people had to stop and start fighting back.
The small monster fish is not big, and can be killed directly with a shovel. The axe is also very lethal. Moreover, the small monster fish are not like big fish, which know how to hide. They just rush forward with their mouths open.
But there were too many of them. No matter how many they killed, there were always more to come.
The teeth of the fish were not strong enough to penetrate their raincoats and boots, but their hands and face masks were weak points. The three fought and retreated, and were alert and defensive against each other. However, the mountain road was slippery and it was raining heavily, so it was not easy to walk, let alone to deal with a large group of fish.
Chen Fa's hand was soon bitten by the strange fish. She reluctantly slapped the fish away, and Shu Fu stepped forward to mend the stick - the nail gun in her hand had run out of nails, and the time for mending was too slow, so she directly switched to a lock picking stick.
Just after she had killed the strange fish, she felt Chen Fa pushing her. She was pushed back two steps and when she turned around, she found a male strange fish biting Chen Fa's right arm - that was where she had just stood.
The male fish is not as big as the female fish. Even if its teeth can penetrate the raincoat, it cannot tear off the flesh instantly. However, it can penetrate the clothes and make people feel pain, and it will also slow down her movements. Another strange fish jumped up. In order to avoid it, Chen Fa turned around, but his feet slipped and he fell down, and fell heavily on the mountain road.
The group of small monster fish nearby immediately stopped attacking Chen Yuezhen and Shu Fu, and rushed towards the fallen Chen Fa. They seemed to know that once this tall creature fell down, it would be their weakest and most suitable time to attack.
Shu Fu rushed over in a few steps, her portable protective shield already opened. She intended to cover Chen Fa as she got up, but when she rushed to her, she found that the small strange fish that had originally jumped towards Chen Fa like crazy suddenly retreated like crazy.
The air was filled with a rotten stench.
Shu Fu immediately took advantage of this opportunity to pull Chen Fa up. Chen Fa also noticed the strange fish. She reached out to unbutton her raincoat and took out a plastic bag from the zipper bag inside her clothes.
The plastic bag was torn, and when it was taken out, it was still dripping red smelly liquid. The several glass bottles inside were all crushed because of her throw just now. The broken glass pierced the plastic bag, and the liquid flowed out, and the smell instantly spread in the air.
Chen Fa thought about it, picked up the plastic bag and threw it at the strange fish on the ground beside him, throwing out a few drops of red liquid. The liquid was diluted a lot by the rain, but it still emitted a strong fishy smell.
Those small strange fish squatting on the side indeed retreated further, but there was still a big strange fish that was still attacking.
Chen Yuezhen killed another strange fish, came to Chen Fa and gestured. Chen Fa immediately understood. She tore the plastic bag wider and quickly poured the red liquid mixed with glass fragments on the raincoats and rain pants of Chen Yuezhen and Shu Fuhe.
The stench in the air suddenly became stronger, and because the source of the stench was on them, they couldn't hide from it. Even with masks on, the three of them were almost vomiting from the smell.
But obviously, those strange little fish didn't like the taste either. They all jumped back for a distance, but they didn't retreat completely. Their instinct for food and nutrients drove them to surround the three people, and finally formed an encirclement.
The encirclement would move with their footsteps. Occasionally, a big fish would jump out from the school of strange fish on the ground and pounce towards them with bared teeth. The red liquid had less effect on them than on the small strange fish, but many big strange fish also did not like the taste and retreated further than the small strange fish.
All the big strange fish that jumped up were killed by the three people standing back to back.
"What is that red thing?" Chen Yuezhen asked.
"I don't know either, but obviously these little strange fish don't like this smell. It's a pity that a lot of it was wasted because it was broken into pieces just now, and now it's all used up." Chen Fa said, suggesting not to return to the col. Now these little strange fish are afraid of the smell on their bodies, so they can take this opportunity to rush through the woods, go to the water's edge, open the boat bag and leave.
"The rain is so heavy, the smell on my body will soon be washed away—"
Before Chen Yuezhen finished speaking, Shu Fu reached into the backpack in front of him and took out three bottles of the same red liquid and held them between his fingers: "I also took a few bottles that day. It's enough for us to escape this town. Let's go to the water and replenish as we go!"
Chen Fa:……!!
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