357 Pilgrimage
◎We are pilgrims, aren't you too?◎
The taillights had a very short illumination range, as if marking out the only safe zone. Zhu Ning stood in the safe zone, not daring to take a single step forward.
The bushes were shaking not far away, and the light was limited, so I couldn't tell whether it was a person or a ghost.
There was obviously metal nearby that could increase the sense of security, but Zhu Ning felt even more terrified. She leaned against the car and kept glancing at the road she came from out of the corner of her eye.
Zhu Ning tightened his fingertips, and black mucus crawled out from the back of his neck.
Because of the darkness, she couldn't see clearly and had to rely on her hearing. Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound and the sound of wind. People in a static state and in a moving state are completely different. People who move will create a gust of wind.
Something was coming towards her!
The speed was astonishing, definitely not that of an ordinary human. Zhu Ning turned around and ran. The dense leaves brushed against her cheeks. She didn't notice a tree root under her feet and stumbled.
The rustling sound behind her was getting closer and closer. The light on her protective suit was not very effective. She hurried to get up. In the time it took her to fall and get up again, her sense of direction had a subtle error.
Zhu Ning was being chased by a creature in the dark. He just wanted to run away immediately and didn't care which direction to run.
She suddenly felt her back unsteady. She didn't know if it was a psychological effect or if a ghost hand really reached out from behind and pushed her hard.
Zhu Ning slipped. Maybe it had rained recently in the forest, and the soil was very loose, like a collapsed cake. She rolled down with her bag.
Her face was covered with leaves and stones, and before she could stand up, she immediately became stiff.
What she was pressing under her palm was a corpse, and the touch was extremely familiar, it was the surface of the protective suit outside the wall.
Zhu Ning's stiff neck slowly bent down, revealing a dead man. His protective helmet was gnawed away, revealing half of his rotten face. There were three more bodies stacked underneath this one, some of which had already turned into bones.
The area around Utopia was filled with the bodies of pilgrims, almost like a large burial ground.
There was a rustling sound above his head, and without giving Zhu Ning any time to breathe, he was caught up again.
With a click, Zhu Ning quickly turned off the only light source on the protective suit. That thing had been scrapped long ago, waiting for this moment.
There was a depression at the bottom of the pit, which should have been formed after a landslide. Zhu Ning's back was stuck in it. He smeared mud on his body casually, wishing he could sink completely into the mud.
But the depression is too shallow. To use an analogy that is disrespectful to the gods, it looks like a shrine carved into the wall.
Zhu Ning could only curl up his body as much as possible to reduce the exposed area.
After she turned out the lights, the rustling slowed down, as if an animal were tracking its prey and finally using its nose to locate it.
Is this thing really invisible?
Zhu Ning's back was pressed against the slope, her gun already loaded. She held the gun tightly, staring straight ahead, her breathing slowed, not even daring to blink.
Her hearing was amplified, and she could hear the monster moving downwards, the sand above shaking and falling, and a fist-sized stone hitting the corpse in front of her, making a clear thud in the darkness.
call--
In the darkness, the monster moved towards the source of the sound. It landed in the pit, lowered its head and sniffed around. Although Zhu Ning couldn't see, she knew it was smelling.
Zhu Ning felt that a cold thing was gradually approaching. The thing's body temperature was very low, probably only about ten degrees. Zhu Ning got goose bumps and the hairs on his arms stood up.
The thing was right in front of her, only ten centimeters away from her, and she knew there was someone hiding in this pit.
Should I shoot? I only have three bullets, and I'm not sure where the fatal point is. Shooting would probably be a waste of bullets.
The mud on Zhu Ning's body was very heavy and was sliding down her skin, making her look like an ignorant child wearing a mud armor for protection. It was obviously just a psychological effect, and now even her sense of security was gradually disappearing.
The monster walked back and forth in the pit of corpses, trying to find the enemy. With a click, the monster stepped on the light button on the protective suit of the corpse, and immediately illuminated a distance of one meter.
The monster was attracted by the light and turned its back to Zhu Ning, not noticing that there was a person in the mud one meter behind it.
Only then did Zhu Ning see the monster's appearance clearly. When she first saw the black fur, she thought it was some kind of cat. But after looking carefully, she thought it was the fur of plant roots.
The thing had a slender body, like a walking green plant. Where the crown should be, there was no leaf at all, only fruit-like fingers.
Countless fingers are hanging and gathered together to form its crown, which at first glance look like light bulbs closely placed together.
It bent its body and lowered its face. Zhu Ning took a moment to react. Was it absorbing light?
She could only use "photosynthesis" to explain the monster's behavior, so Zhu Ning encountered it at the position of the taillights of a speeding car because she mistakenly walked into someone's small dining table.
No wonder Zhu Ning was able to catch up when she was escaping. She had the light of her protective suit on for illumination.
The bamboo-like creature lay lazily. Just when Zhu Ning thought it was safe and harmless, the hairs on the branches suddenly grew, and each of them had barbs on its surface. The surface of the barbs was extremely hard, like steel needles. With a "whoosh", it penetrated the protective suit and pierced into the corpse below.
Plants are not just light sources, many plants are carrion eaters.
The creatures outside the wall not only eat people, but they are also independent of the plants themselves and can walk on the ground by touching the ground with their roots without the help of human legs.
And it seems unclear which part is the fatal point, those fingers? Can ordinary bullets penetrate its steel body?
As the monster sucked blood and flesh, its body grew larger and larger, from the thickness of an arm to the size of a tree. Its skin was stretched to be almost transparent, and when the light was shone on it from the back, one could clearly see the human tissue flowing inside.
The corpse that Zhu Ning had touched before, its ruptured eyeball fell into the plant, and in this way it met Zhu Ning again, as if staring at her.
Zhu Ning lowered his breathing, not daring to breathe out, as the light source was being sucked away until it became weaker and weaker.
Her eyelids were drooping and she could hardly open them. She had been fighting for eight days without a rest, and being buried in the ground actually made her feel safe.
Zhu Ning opened and closed her eyes, and was awakened by herself. How could she fall asleep in such a dangerous situation?
Everything in front of her was dark, and the monster seemed to have left. Zhu Ning should have waited until dawn for the safety, but she came out to find medicine to save people. What if Pei Shu and Lin Xiaofeng couldn't survive until dawn?
She carefully brushed off the dirt on her body. Her body was numb from squatting for so long, and the dirt had dried on her face.
Zhu Ning knocked on the stone tentatively, but no one responded. There was only the sound of ghosts howling in the wind. It seemed that the thing had really left.
Zhu Ning didn't dare to turn on any lights now. Before leaving, he fumbled for the backpack of the corpse. When he picked it up, he felt that the backpack was very light. There was a huge hole in the bag. It must have been attacked by something, and the bag was pierced through.
Zhu Ning was a little disappointed. He thought he would find some nutritional supplements, even canned food would be fine.
She climbed back up the slope, but couldn't find a foothold several times. After reaching the pit, she found that it was a bit difficult to return the same way, as she couldn't even find a reference point.
Where is this?
She had some memory in her mind, a bit like a blind cat catching a dead mouse. She should have been facing away from this direction at the time, so she should have come from this direction?
Zhu Ning closed his eyes, and a map leading to Utopia appeared in his mind. He was grateful to Liu Yu for the first time. The map became a positioning point, and he found Bai Cheng's location in an instant.
Bai Cheng's location is here, Zhu Ning marked it in his mind. It is closer to Utopia. Zhu Ning walked to the right and should go back to that road.
Zhu Ning decided on the direction and started walking. He didn't dare to walk too fast, so he walked very slowly. It was too dark, so dark that it made no difference whether he had his eyes open or closed.
In this situation, the most uncomfortable thing is actually the mental crisis, which makes people feel as if she is the only one left in the world, and it seems that there will never be an end to this.
People will fall into stress and extreme anxiety, always feeling that they will be attacked by unknown monsters.
As far as Zhu Ning knows, this forest contains pollutants that separate the body, plants that need to carry out photosynthesis, apple people in the lake, and perhaps even more.
How many species are there? Hundreds, thousands?
It is worthy of being called a utopia. It is similar to an ecosystem with complex pollutants. It is best to keep a low profile, otherwise you will fall into another crisis as soon as you defeat one.
The black mucus seemed to be able to sense Zhu Ning's mood. It covered him softly and licked the mud on Zhu Ning's eyelids with its tongue like a puppy.
At other times, Zhu Ning would have found it disgusting and kept it away from him, but now he just felt lucky to have a "living thing" to keep him company.
Zhu Ning ran too fast. She had only covered half the distance when her knees began to tremble, causing her to wonder if there was something wrong with her method.
This was not the same road she had taken when she came here. It was a new road based on the map in her brain.
After walking for a while, Zhu Ning kicked a hard object with her toes, and then she encountered a tree trunk lying across the ground. After walking for so long, Zhu Ning had gained experience and would not be tripped.
Zhu Ning stopped for a while and did not move forward immediately. Instead, he groped his way to the tree trunk and sat down. His mental state was precarious and he could be easily frightened.
She had to maintain her physical strength as well as her mental state.
Zhu Ning sat down and took a deep breath. Although everyone said that the air in the forest was good, Zhu Ning only felt heavy.
She rested for about three minutes, she only allowed herself to rest for three minutes. It seemed that the leisure time passed quickly. She stood up with her knees supported and prepared to hurry on her way. Lin Xiaofeng and the others were still waiting.
"You..." A woman's voice sounded without warning, and in the darkness she sounded like a gloomy female ghost. In this forest, any abnormality would be magnified. Zhu Ning immediately stood up, almost jumping up. The voice actually came from below.
Not only were people talking in the tree stump, but there was even the sound of human breathing.
Zhu Ning had just experienced light-absorbing plants, which may be another pollutant that imitates human speech hunting.
"Are you going to Utopia too?" the woman asked tentatively.
Zhu Ning frowned, thinking that he had heard wrongly. Anyone who arrived in this area could only be going to Utopia, and ordinary people would not be able to find it.
This sounds a lot like when you're traveling alone and meet a fellow traveler, and cautiously ask, "Are you going somewhere too? Let's go together."
Sure enough, the woman in the tree stump said again, "We are pilgrims, aren't you too?"
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2023-10-03 23:44:04 and 2023-10-04 20:36:31~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: Lin 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Chocolate Cake, Yu Yuzi, String Theory Kunnie, Liu Chuanyu, and Xin Jie's dog.
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Ling Qi (118 bottles); Celery Doesn't Like Celery (63 bottles); Fei (50 bottles); 61844625, Si Dengdeng, Yu Suo (40 bottles); ockheon, 20696540, Dududu (30 bottles); Rixing Yijiong, Kegou Kele, Qiu Wuming, Fu Huhu (20 bottles); Gu Xibai, A She, April, Neurasthenia (~o~), Yi Chenghai, Xin Jie's Dog, Meng Meng Da Xiao Chengzi, Yin Feng, Su Tian, Exploding Circle, 64363622, Ju Zhongzhou, Zhiyu (10 bottles); Lin, Let Me See (9 bottles); Wenlu, Happy Cat, Azhou, Endless, Matcha Roasted Pork, An Shu, Tangli (5 bottles); Yumei 4 bottles; What Can You Do If You Don't Get Enough Sleep? 3 bottles; Liu Chuanyu, Ren Zhi, and Zhu Jianli 2 bottles; Spacetime Stardust, Ta Mio, Jing Shu°, VVVViN, Jeannnn, Zhen Zhen, Azuki Chihiro, Gao Leng Su, Yang V, Qian He Chang Ming, Eden, Escape from Eden, Lu, Xin You Shi Fu, Shuang Jiang_, Mint, Li Bao, Fairy Godmother, Di! Check-in 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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