I overheard Xu Le scolding Xiao Zhou and chimed in, "Oh, right, there's something I haven't told you yet. The Huang family has escaped from our surveillance..."
"As expected, I told you long ago, your people can't keep an eye on them."
Xu Le showed no surprise at what I said: "We went out during the day to lure the Huang family away, but we didn't expect them to have a backup plan, which caused Xiao Zhou to fall into their trap."
I pressed on quickly, "All sixteen guards on our side who are responsible for watching over the Huang family have fallen into a deep sleep, just like Xiao Zhou's situation. Have they also been entangled by the rabbit spirit?"
"We live in the Dharma-ending Age. The probability of an animal cultivating into a spirit is one in ten thousand. That rabbit spirit has been alive for hundreds of years. Do you think the world is full of monsters? How could sixteen people be entangled with it?"
Xu Le paused for a moment: "The Huang family is most skilled in soul-shifting and soul-summoning magic. Your people have probably lost their souls. People who have lost their souls cannot be cured by any medicine, and medical experts cannot find any clues. They are like vegetative patients!"
However, you don't need to worry too much. The people participating in the Five Immortals' Succession Struggle are all entry-level disciples of the five great immortal families. Their soul-snatching techniques are not too powerful. At most, your friends will only lose a part of their soul.
The soul and spirit are connected. The three souls are like the sun, while the seven spirits are like stars orbiting the sun. As long as the souls are still there, the spirits won't be lost and will eventually find their way back. Your friends just need to sleep in a safe place for a few days, and they'll wake up! However, they'll experience drowsiness and forgetfulness for at least three months, and it will take about six months for them to fully recover.
"As long as everyone is alright, it's fine for them to sleep for a few days."
After hearing Xu Le's explanation, I finally felt relieved and started talking about their matter: "Didn't you tell me before that the places where the families released the zombies were prepared in advance? Since the Huang family also knew the location of the zombies, how could you lead them to other places?"
"Just like they did with Xiao Zhou, we left some special things for them along the way, and also faked some traces of zombies to mislead them. Although we couldn't lure them out of that area, even if we could make them deviate from their course, it would still be a success."
Xu Le paused for a moment: "It's hard for me to explain this to you in a short time. Our car is on the mountain road behind us. Let's talk as we drive."
I was a little surprised: "You've already been to the mountain range where the zombies are?"
"Of course, otherwise why do you think we would have been running around all day?"
Xu Le nodded: "It's a 200-kilometer drive from here, and it'll take quite a while to get there. We'll start tonight, so we can talk on the way."
Upon hearing Xu Le's words, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and followed her, saying, "We have another team here, currently tracking down the Huang family. Could we wait until they arrive and then set off together?"
“We are now going to search in the mountains north of the national forest park. We don’t know when we will find the zombie, so I don’t think it’s very meaningful to gather people together. If we form a convoy to go together, it will only waste time on the road.”
Xu Le shook his head: "Let them go directly to the national park, we'll meet there."
After listening to Xu Le's plan, I called Wei Shengnan and arranged to meet her in the forest park area.
Xu Le and his two Wrangler SUVs were parked on the mountain road on the other side of the hillside. We distributed the vehicles and quickly headed towards Arxan National Forest Park.
The Greater Khingan Mountains stretch from the banks of the Heilongjiang River in the north to the upper reaches of the Xilamulun River valley in the south, a vast expanse of forests and boundless blue waters.
Arxan National Forest Park is a shining pearl embedded in it.
This national park features volcanic lava landscapes. Due to volcanic eruptions blocking lava and water cutting, a series of truncated cone volcanoes with an embroidered appearance were formed, creating a unique landscape.
Although this is a tourist area, it is, after all, a border city, far from the inland areas, so the number of tourists is not very large.
Sister Hua drove to the vicinity of the forest park and then adjusted the location of a hotel near the scenic area on the navigation.
I saw the direction she was driving and asked from the passenger seat, "Did you book this hotel in advance, or did you stop here for a while today?"
Sister Hua didn't answer my question directly: "What's the difference?"
"I'm just worried that the Huang family will find out where we are."
I scoffed and said, "That's how our people found the Huang family's trail today. I'm worried you'll expose your identities."
"Don't worry, those rooms were all booked using fake identities. We don't need to contact the hotel staff after we get there; we can just check in directly."
While Sister Hua was chatting with me, her phone rang. She spoke for a few minutes, then her expression changed drastically. She pulled over and entered "Chanan Village" into the navigation system.
I noticed that Sister Hua's expression had become so serious, so I asked her, "Who called you? You seem a bit off."
"If it's not right, then it's right."
After inputting the navigation, Sister Hua stepped on the gas pedal: "Xu Le just called and said that something strange happened in Chanan Village. It's very likely that he walked on a dead body."
In the back seat, Song Laosan, who was munching on compressed biscuits, also became interested: "What strange thing happened over there?"
"Cha'nan Village is mainly engaged in animal husbandry. There are a total of five or six hundred sheep in the village, which are herded by three shepherds. Tonight, when they returned to the farm to take stock, they found that five sheep were missing. So they organized people to go into the mountains to search for them. They found the carcass of a sheep in a ravine. The sheep had severe fractures, and most importantly, the sheep had been drained of blood! The local villagers called the police, and our friends here learned of this and reported it to Xu Le."
"Holy crap, that was close! Luckily it was a sheep that got lost. If it had been a person, what would have happened?"
The monkey chimed in, "Didn't you say before that you would keep the zombies away from the city?"
"The competition rules are indeed like this. Shaonan Village is more than 50 kilometers away from the national park, and it is the village closest to the uninhabited forest area! Logically speaking, the zombies should not be too close to the village. I don't know if it was because the shepherds went too deep or if there was a mistake in the zombie-hunting team that allowed the thing to escape."
Sister Hua sped along a road devoid of cars, shouting, "This news will reach the Huang family's ears soon. We must race against time and find that zombie before they do!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com