"You..." Yu Qin was momentarily speechless.
This time, even Lin Zhuoran noticed Yu Qin's strangeness. Why had she been trying to get close to them all day?
"Sister Xu An, I was immature before. I apologize. I was genuinely scared silly that day. You are good friends with Sister Zhuoran, and I naturally didn't want any misunderstanding between us to affect your relationship with Sister Zhuoran."
"You're overthinking it. You can't affect our relationship."
Yu Qin: "......" You've said it all, how am I supposed to act now???
She glanced at her watch, digging her sharp nails hard into her palm, forcing a smile.
"We are all girls, and it's more convenient for me here." Yu Qin seemed to realize that the path of showing weakness and communicating with Xu An was not working.
She then turned her attention back to Lin Zhuoran, "Sister Zhuoran, I truly know I was wrong. It was my fault last time; I shouldn't have been so willful."
While Lin Zhuoran was in a difficult spot, Zhou Haimei had seen enough. This little girl was definitely here to stir up trouble. She nudged Xu An's elbow with her shoulder.
Taking advantage of the two of them still being entangled, she asked Xu An.
"This girl, is she up to no good? What should we do?"
"We'll deal with whatever comes our way." Xu An appeared calm and composed, which convinced Zhou Haimei a lot.
But only Xu An knew that her calmness was entirely because she didn't know what Yu Qin was planning.
Rather than worrying about Yu Qin causing trouble behind her back, it was better to keep her close so that any problems could be resolved promptly.
Finally, under Xu An's cold gaze, Yu Qin, with considerable厚脸皮 (thick skin), squeezed into the space between the three of them.
Sleepless night.
In the dead of night, the increasingly thick fog surged in all directions, making it impossible to discern the way. Xu An squinted, watching Zhang Bo, who was not far away, disappear into the dense fog.
The drowsiness vanished completely.
To her left slept Yu Qin. Although the other woman's breathing was steady and she appeared to be asleep, Xu An knew she was faking it.
After a while, Xu An heard movement beside her, a sound like someone getting up. Judging the direction, it was likely Yu Qin.
Zhou Haimei also noticed but remembered Xu An's instructions and remained still. She hooked Xu An's finger with her little finger, and Xu An responded, signaling her to be at ease.
After confirming Yu Qin had left, Xu An slightly opened her tightly shut eyes and saw Yu Qin's retreating figure disappearing into the thick fog.
Just as Zhou Haimei and Xu An were warily watching what Yu Qin would do, several indistinct rustling sounds, like leaves rubbing against each other, came from the nearby woods.
Xu An: "......"
Before she could even complain, several ragged, hunched-over zombies shambled towards where they were sleeping.
Xu An made a decisive move, forcefully waking the sleeping Lin Zhuoran, and then shouted loudly, waking Zhang Bo and the others, preparing to flee.
Lin Zhuoran rubbed her eyes and woke from her sleep, but the scene before her was truly terrifying.
Yu Qin had disappeared at some point, and only more and more zombies were gathering around them.
Xu An didn't know if the fog was too thick for others to hear her shouts, or if the others couldn't find their way, or perhaps they were already dead.
The worst-case scenario was that this was a death trap set for them.
In any case, in the fog, besides the three of them, there was only dead silence.
Lin Zhuoran was about to shout again but was interrupted by Xu An, "Stop shouting. The fog is so thick, even if they heard us, they can't see our tracks now, and also..."
Xu An listened to the increasingly close, shuffling footsteps.
"Let's worry about ourselves first. Everyone check if Yu Qin put anything on us. Something is following us!"
Almost the moment Xu An finished speaking, a zombie roared and charged towards Xu An's direction.
"Damn! If I ever catch that Yu Qin!" Zhou Haimei cursed, and the next second, the long saber hanging from her waist was immediately drawn, and with one strike, she severed the head of the zombie lunging at them.
It had to be said, Yu Qin had chosen an excellent time. If they had all fallen into a deep sleep, unprepared, in this fog where vision was obscured, zombies, with their sensitive sense of smell, would have had a distinct advantage.
As Xu An and the others were fighting off zombies, they heard several footsteps emerging from the left.
However, this time the footsteps were different from the previous weak and feeble ones. Xu An was sure that humans were approaching.
Xu An did not let down her guard. Here, no one was trustworthy.
What if it was Yu Qin, or an accomplice of the group from earlier? Then they would be facing an attack from both sides.
Compared to Xu An's caution, Lin Zhuoran's face showed more confusion.
She couldn't seem to believe that Yu Qin would actually betray her.
"An'an, did you find anything? Why are these zombies sticking to us?"
Even though their group was scattered, there were still people. But these zombies were like they had a tracking system, relentlessly pursuing them.
No one would believe that Yu Qin hadn't tampered with anything now.
"Sister Zhuoran, Sister Zhuoran, are you okay?" Liu Tian and Wang Zhao had a thin rope tied between their wrists, indicating they had prepared in advance.
"I'm here!"
As soon as he spoke, Wang Zhao rushed over and immediately spotted the traces of zombies upon arrival.
The two of them showed excellent reaction times. After a moment of stunned silence, they quickly adjusted and joined the fight.
Seeing Liu Tian and Wang Zhao join, Lin Zhuoran's heart felt a little more at ease.
Not everyone was an ungrateful wretch; sincerity could still be exchanged for sincerity.
However, Xu An, who was fighting zombies nearby, saw all of this. In her opinion, the arrival of these two men was suspicious and didn't seem so simple.
"Sister Zhuoran, why are these zombies chasing you relentlessly!"
Although Wang Zhao was brave, he couldn't withstand the sheer number of zombies. They wanted to get into the car and escape, but they also knew that with the fog so thick, they couldn't even find the direction of the vehicles.
"I don't know how the Doctor is doing. Those students over there are all weak and defenseless. I hope nothing happens to them."
Xu An did not agree with worrying about others' predicaments when facing danger oneself.
Just as everyone was about to be surrounded by zombies, a man in a white lab coat emerged from the vast fog. He held a bottle similar to insecticide and sprayed it towards the gathering zombies.
Miraculously, the zombies that were sprayed with the mist dared not approach anymore.
"Quickly take off your jackets and get in the car!"
As soon as Zhang Bo finished speaking, a faint red light flickered in the fog. Although weak, it was enough to illuminate the way.