15. Psychic Powers
The days spent traveling with Xingchen seemed to paint Su Lin's gloomy and arduous journey north with a touch of warmth. Though Xingchen's body remained as frail as a willow branch in early spring, seemingly vulnerable to snapping at the slightest breeze, he was exceptionally sensible and diligent. After his injuries healed thanks to Su Lin's secret healing abilities, he rushed to take on all the menial tasks within his reach, such as gathering firewood, cleaning up the makeshift camp, and maintaining preliminary nighttime vigilance. He endeavored to lighten Su Lin's burden in his own way. His eyes, always following Su Lin, were filled with utter dependence and gratitude. The boy's occasional moments of curiosity and brief moments of relaxation around the campfire, a natural curiosity for the unknown, brought Su Lin a sense of comfort, like the warm winter sun, despite his heavy heart for his teammates.
However, the road to the end of the world is never smooth. When people relax their vigilance a little and crave for that moment of warmth, it will always reveal its most ferocious fangs and drag them back to the cold reality.
That afternoon, the scorching sun drifted slightly westward, its power undiminished, scorching the cracked earth. They followed the edge of a long-abandoned asphalt road, where a few clumps of withered yellow weeds stubbornly grew in the cracks, hoping to find the remains of an abandoned vehicle, perhaps even some forgotten fuel, unspoiled canned goods, or useful spare parts. On either side of the road lay dead trees, their branches twisted like desperate arms reaching toward the sky, and half-man-high weeds rustled mournfully in the dry, hot wind, creating a dangerous area with limited visibility and prone to ambush.
The air was filled with the smell of dust and decaying plants. The only sounds in the silence were the footsteps of the two people and the rustling of weeds in the wind.
Suddenly, from the deep weeds not far ahead came a noisy, unbridled roar of men's laughter and rude curses, breaking the dead silence.
Su Lin was instantly alert, like a hare sniffing danger, his muscles tensing instantly. He grabbed Xingchen, who was beside him, carefully examining an edible wild vegetable, and with a sharp glare, beckoned him to crouch and hide. The two of them moved swiftly and silently, like shadows blending into the environment. They crept closer, cautiously parting the withered, tough grass stalks and peering forward.
In a lightly cleared area, five or six people sat around a recently extinguished campfire, still emitting twisted wisps of blue smoke. Their clothing was tattered, stained with dark oil and blackened blood, and the torn fabric revealed bronzed or scarred skin beneath. But the weapons they carried—heavy machetes strapped to their waists, sharpened iron rods leaning against their sides, and even two relatively well-maintained, old rifles gleaming with a cold metallic sheen—clearly indicated that they were not ordinary refugees struggling to survive. Their faces bore the sternness and fierceness common among apocalyptic survivors, their eyes fierce and numb, revealing the cruelty and disregard for life bred by a long tread on the brink of violence and death. A few empty cans and bottles scattered across the clearing indicated that they had just taken a short rest.
When Xingchen saw those men, especially the man with a hideous scar running from his left brow to the corner of his mouth, his face instantly turned as pale as paper, bloodless and even uglier than the zombies they had encountered before. His body trembled violently and uncontrollably, like the most fragile leaf in the autumn wind, ready to shatter at any moment. He clutched Su Lin's sleeve tightly, his fingers white from the excessive force, his nails practically digging into Su Lin's flesh. His eyes were filled with deep fear and a suppressed anger and humiliation that was about to burst forth.
"It's...it's them..." Xingchen's voice was shaking so much that it was almost impossible to form a sentence. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, with a cold chill.
Su Lin immediately understood that these people were the search team that had unhesitatingly pushed Stardust out to block the zombies and then drove away in their own car in order to escape. It was truly a narrow road for enemies to meet again in this desolate place.
At that moment, the group also noticed Su Lin and Xingchen emerging from the bushes. Their eyes first swept over Su Lin with the usual wariness, as if they were examining prey. They were visibly stunned when they saw his striking appearance, clean temperament, and even though battered, still elegant figure. Then, several of their gazes revealed undisguised amazement, greed, and intense interest, like a flock of hungry vultures spotting a succulent piece of meat, flashing with an unpleasant glint. Then, they shifted their gaze to the trembling, ghostly-pale youth behind Su Lin.
"Huh? Isn't that that little loser?" The man with the hideous scar on his face was the first to recognize Xingchen. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of smoke-yellowed and crooked teeth, and laughed sarcastically. His voice was rough and unpleasant, like sandpaper rubbing against rusty iron. "You're pretty tough, kid! You didn't get eaten clean by zombies like that? You're still breathing? You're really fucking lucky!"
The others also stopped what they were doing, their eyes darting back and forth between Su Lin and Xingchen, letting out bursts of ill-intentioned, lewd laughter, as if they were looking at some interesting yet pitiful playthings. Their gazes were like evaluating the value of a commodity, tinged with naked possessiveness.
"What? Have you found a backer?" Another tall and thin man, his eyes like a rat lurking in the gutter, flashing with cunning and malice, looked up and down at Su Lin with ill intentions, focusing on his slender waist, long neck and handsome face, and his tone was frivolous and vulgar, "Boy, you are so damn good-looking! It's a pity that this face and figure are buried in this wasteland! What future do you have with such a burden? Why not come and have fun with us? Brothers guarantee that it is much better than you carrying this burden! We guarantee that you will have delicious food and drink comfortably!" The dirty words were not concealed at all, with disgusting intimacy and threats.
Xingchen was trembling with rage, his teeth chattering, his pale face flushed with a sickly red from the intense rage. His fear was slightly overwhelmed by the intense humiliation and anger. He jerked his head up, and though his voice still trembled uncontrollably, he shouted back with all his might, "Shut up! You're not allowed to talk about him like that! Brother Su Lin is a hundred times, a thousand times, better than you! You're not even worthy of carrying his shoes!"
"Huh? You little loser, you've even learned to talk back?" Scarface stood up. His tall, burly figure cast a shadow that almost completely enveloped Su Lin and Xingchen. He approached them, his steps heavy and his tone fierce, a threat tangible. "Looks like you've forgotten how you used to kneel on the ground, begging like a dog, begging us not to abandon you? So, you think you can handle a delicate, pretty boy? Believe it or not, I'll take him down right now, right in front of you, and show you how your backer cries."
The tall, thin man and the others also gathered around, laughing and joking, their faces full of playful cruelty, like a cat and mouse, forming an irregular semicircle with obvious ill intentions. Their eyes roamed over Su Lin and Xingchen, full of malice, as if they had already considered them as their prey.
Su Lin pulled the trembling Xingchen behind him, completely shielding him with his body, blocking out those sickening sights. He stared blankly at the men surrounding him, his eyes cold and expressionless. His clear pupils held no trace of fear, only a heart-wrenching calmness and deep disgust, like the frozen polar air of eternity. He gripped the hilt of the dagger that had slipped from his sleeve; the cold touch only made him calmer.
"Get out of here." Su Lin's voice was not loud, but it was like an ice-hardened steel needle, clearly piercing the dull air with an unquestionable coldness and majesty, which was completely different from the aura he should have.
Scarface froze for a moment, a flicker of surprise flashing across his bell-like eyes. He seemed surprised that this seemingly overly pretty, even somewhat delicate, boy could be so arrogant, daring to speak so rudely even when surrounded by him and his companions. He scoffed, his fleshy face becoming even more ferocious, as if he had heard something amusing. "Boy, you're quite arrogant, huh? Do you know our Blood Wolf Group? In this area, no one dares to tell us to get out! If you know what's good for you, just hand this little piece of shit over to us and have some fun with us brothers. If you serve us well, we might even let you live. Otherwise..." He stretched out his rough, dirty hand, its knuckles thick and covered with calluses, and made a move to grab Su Lin's slightly thin shoulders, his gesture carrying a completely insulting tone.
Su Lin didn't even wait for him to finish the dirty threat. The moment his hand reached out, his body slightly tilted like a flexible willow branch, easily avoiding the dirty hand at a clever angle. At the same time, his right foot kicked out as fast as lightning, accurately and fiercely hitting the vulnerable knee of Scarface's right leg that supported his body!
"Ah--!" Scarface was caught off guard and felt a piercing pain in his knee, accompanied by a slight "click" sound. He screamed, his right leg went limp, and one knee involuntarily fell to the ground with a "thump", stirring up a cloud of dust. His face instantly twisted with pain, and cold sweat dripped down.
This change happened so suddenly that the smiles on the other people's faces froze instantly, and then turned into cruelty and rage!
"Damn it! How dare you do that!"
"Destroy him!"
"Catch the little one!"
Amidst the curses, the remaining people immediately drew out the machetes and iron rods they carried with them, and even the tall and thin man raised his rifle. It seemed that a bloody conflict was about to escalate in an instant!
Su Lin fearlessly held Stardust tightly behind him. The dagger had already slid fully into his hand, the sharp blade reflecting the bleak light of the sky, illuminating his cold, determined eyes. His muscles were in optimal condition, like a cheetah poised for a fierce battle, ready to face the inevitable!
At this tense moment, on the verge of breaking out——
"roar--!!!"
In the distance, deep within the withered woods, a sudden, dense, and intense roar of zombies erupted, like the howling of a thousand ghosts at the gates of hell! The sound approached with incredible speed, like rolling thunder, clearly drawn in by the voices, the earlier bonfire, and the recent clash! And judging by the chaotic, overlapping, and overwhelming roar, the number of zombies was definitely far greater than any they had encountered before, likely dozens, perhaps even hundreds!
Scarface's group's expressions instantly changed. Their previous ferocity and brutality seemed to be extinguished by cold water, leaving only a horrified look. They no longer cared about settling accounts with Su Lin, and instead looked in panic in the direction of the sound. At the edge of the dead woods at the end of the road, a dark mass of zombies surged out, like a bursting black tide. They roared and jostled, their rotting arms waving, their gray eyes locked onto the scent of the living, as they madly rushed towards them! Their numbers were so dense that they practically blocked the entire section of the highway within sight!
"Damn it! How did we attract so many people?!"
"It's a zombie tide! Run! Get in the car!"
Their instinct for survival in the apocalypse made them choose to flee instantly, trying to rush towards the shabby pickup truck parked on the other side of the road. The truck looked roughly modified, with steel plates and rammed corners installed.
However, the speed at which the zombies appeared and their ferocity far exceeded these people's imagination! Moreover, they seemed to be stimulated by some invisible force, becoming extremely violent and agile, running much faster than ordinary zombies!
In a blink of an eye, the vanguard of the zombie tide was like a wave of death, instantly blocking their path to the pickup truck and forming a tight encirclement! The pickup truck, a symbol of escape, was only a few dozen meters away from them, but this short distance now seemed like an insurmountable chasm!
"No! No! Help!" Scarface and his gang were so frightened that the one kneeling on the ground, Scarface, didn't even have time to stand up before he was knocked to the ground by the two zombies rushing in front! Hasty rifle shots rang out, and bullets whizzed into the zombie swarm, knocking over a few zombies, but more zombies rushed up in an instant, drowning out the tall and thin man who was left at the back and the other two! Shrill screams that were not human voices, teeth-grinding biting sounds, and bone-breaking sounds immediately rang out. The rich smell of blood spread like a substance, making people shudder.
Su Lin's face was also extremely solemn, and his heart suddenly sank. He grabbed Xingchen, who was stunned and stiff as a stone statue, and quickly retreated, leaning against the rusted wreckage of an abandoned bus, which was only a shell left, trying to find some cover or a breakthrough.
But the zombies were too numerous! They seemed to ignore the rapidly devouring, dwindling team. More zombies, emitting a strong stench of decay, surged towards Su Lin and Xingchen like sharks scenting blood! Their gray eyeballs fixed on them, their blood-stained claws swung, their open mouths revealing black and yellow fangs. The stench was almost suffocating, and they were instantly forced into a desperate situation!
Stardust looked at the increasing number of terrifying faces in front of him, as if crawling out from the deepest part of hell, and the short and shrill wails of those who had betrayed and abandoned him and were now being torn apart and devoured by zombies. Boundless fear, like cold sea water, drowned him again, making his limbs cold, his body stiff and unable to move, his brain blank, leaving only the instinctive trembling of living things and the screams from the depths of his soul.
Su Lin, unhesitatingly shielding him behind him, his modest figure now akin to an impenetrable barrier, shielding him from all terror and death. The dagger in Su Lin's hand flashed with a chilling cold light, each swing precisely severing the life force of a zombie. The blade scraped against bone with a teeth-grinding sound. His breathing, however, became noticeably heavier and more rapid. Sweat from his forehead, mixed with splattered blood, trickled down his cheeks. His movements became increasingly slow and heavy, sapped of energy and intensified by the onslaught of wounds. He was like a lone guard guarding the last lighthouse in a storm. Facing the boundless, raging sea, he knew it was impossible to do anything, brandishing his weapon in a final, tragic, and heroic resistance.
At that moment, extreme fear, dread of death, and the strong desire to protect the person who gave him a second life and brought him the only warmth, were like two extreme forces colliding and squeezing violently in Xingchen's brain, and finally exploded!
Protect him!
We can't let these monsters hurt him!
Make them disappear!
Get away! Get away from him!
“Ahhhhhhhh——!!!” Stardust held his head and let out a scream that was not out of fear, but from some extreme mental shock, like a soul-tearing scream full of pain and determination!
Buzz——!!!
An invisible yet powerful spiritual force, carrying a strong sense of repulsion and absolute command, centered on Stardust, spread out like deadly ripples caused by a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, or like an invisible storm tsunami, sweeping across the entire battlefield in an instant!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The zombies lunging at Su Lin, the ones screaming frantically as they tried to climb the bus wreckage, even the zombies tearing at the corpse of Scarface's companion in the distance... all the zombies froze in an instant! The bloodthirsty, frantic red light in their gray eyes suddenly died, as if snuffed out by an invisible force. In its place was a blank, empty, vacant look, as if forcibly implanted with some higher will and in absolute obedience! They remained in their previous pose, like terrifying puppets with the pause button pressed.
The next moment, something happened that made Su Lin unbelievable and his pupils suddenly contract to the extreme!
All the zombies, like soldiers receiving a single, absolute order, suddenly changed direction and target! They no longer attacked Su Lin, who was so close and within reach, nor paid any attention to the shrieking Stardust in the corner. Instead, they let out an even more frantic, yet remarkably focused, roar, and madly pounced on Scarface and his last two accomplices, who had just managed to escape the zombies' jaws and were tumbling and crawling towards the pickup truck! It was as if Su Lin and Stardust had suddenly vanished from their perception completely!
"No! What's going on?!"
"Don't come over here! Get away! Ah——!"
"Help! They're crazy! Why are they only coming after us?!"
Scarface and the remaining two men were horrified to discover that the zombies completely ignored Su Lin and Xingchen, as if perfectly isolated by an invisible barrier. Instead, they surrounded them like a precisely guided tide! Slashing, gunfire... nothing could stop these mad monsters, seemingly endowed with a unified will! They were instantly engulfed by the black wave of death, more thorough and desperate than before! The screams abruptly ceased, leaving only the terrifying sounds of chewing, tearing, and crushing bones that made their scalps tingle and their stomachs churn. The rich smell of blood rose to the sky.
The area where Su Lin and Xingchen were located seemed to have an invisible, absolutely safe zone with a diameter of approximately five meters. All the zombies automatically avoided this area, and not even a single foot set foot within this range! It was as if they could not see or sense the two people at all, and they only rushed towards their last and only "prey", executing the sudden and strange killing order.
Su Lin gripped the blood-stained dagger, panting slightly, his chest heaving as he stared blankly at this bizarre and shocking scene beyond his comprehension. He watched as the zombies, like puppets controlled by invisible strings, precisely executed the single killing command, then stood there blankly as if the program had finished running, or wandered away slowly, aimlessly, and stiffly, as if the frenzied attack just now was just an illusion.
The last of the enemy's screams and chewing sounds gradually died away, and the battlefield fell into a deathly, spine-chilling silence. Only a few dozen zombies remained, like silent, forgotten guards, forming a chilling circle around them, yet they did not harm them at all. Only the whimpering of the wind through the weeds and the smell of blood proved that what had just happened was not an illusion.
Su Lin slowly turned around, lowered the blade, and looked at the limp figure in the corner.
Stardust's shrieking screams had ceased. As if his soul and strength had been drained away in an instant, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air like a fish out of water. His face was transparently pale, devoid of any color, his lips tinged purple. His forehead was covered in cold, sticky sweat, and a few strands of black hair stuck wetly to his temples. His body was still shaking slightly and uncontrollably, not gently, but with a sense of exhaustion and weakness. He seemed to have exhausted all his mental and vital energy. His eyes were vacant and empty, filled with a deep, instinctive fear. Not fear of the zombies, but fear of the incomprehensible, terrifying, and unfamiliar power that had just occurred within him.
"Stardust?" Su Lin put away his knife, walked quickly to his side and squatted down, carefully supporting his thin shoulders that were still shaking uncontrollably. His voice was filled with a hint of surprise and solemnity that he himself did not even notice, "How are you?" He could feel the coldness and weakness of the young man's body.
Xingchen shuddered violently, like a frightened young animal. He looked up at Su Lin, his eyes filled with helplessness, fear, and deep self-doubt. His voice broke, tears etched in his eyes. "Su… Su Lin… what… just now… was that? What… did I do?" He looked around at the motionless zombies in confusion, his body shaking even more violently, his voice thick with despair. "Why… why did they listen to me? Am I… have I become a monster? A monster like them?" He asked the last sentence with great difficulty, his voice thick with tears and deep-seated fear and self-loathing. In the common perception of the apocalypse, could anyone who could control zombies still be considered human? Wouldn't that make them even more terrifying and unacceptable than zombies?
Su Lin looked at his pale, terrified face full of self-doubt, and then looked at the zombies around him who were forcibly "frozen" like puppets. An astonishing guess emerged in his mind, like lightning in the darkness, gradually becoming clear and certain.
Psychic abilities?
And it was... an extremely rare, even unheard-of, psychic ability that could directly influence, or even forcibly control, the behavior of zombies?!
Under the dual stimulation of extreme fear and strong desire to protect, did he awaken unexpectedly?
Su Lin suppressed the shock in his heart and the many doubts and worries that followed, and tried to keep his voice calm and soothing, with a convincing and affirmative power: "It's okay, Xingchen. It's okay, it's all over." He gently patted Xingchen's cold and sweaty back, trying to convey some warmth, "It was you who saved us. It was you who controlled them, right?" He used the relatively neutral word "control" to try to give this incomprehensible and disturbing phenomenon an acceptable definition, and to guide the boy out of his fear.
"Control... control?" Stardust repeated the word blankly, his eyes still confused, his body twitching slightly from exhaustion and fear. "I don't know... I just... I just don't want them to hurt you... I'm just... so scared... so scared that you will be hurt by them..." The huge overdraft of his abilities and the severe mental shock made him almost collapse. He spoke incoherently and couldn't organize complete words.
Su Lin looked at him like this, his heart softening, a trace of pity welling up in his heart. He gently embraced him, feeling the uncontrollable trembling of the boy's thin body, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it's over. You are very brave, you protected me." He paused, his tone becoming more serious, looking directly into Xingchen's frightened eyes, "Listen, Xingchen, you are not a monster. If I'm not mistaken, you must have awakened your superpowers."
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