Shang Jianyao's nerves instantly tensed, his eyes fixed on the entrance to Black Rat Town.
The stones blocking that cave were quite massive, impossible to move by sheer manpower!
Of course, there was also the possibility that when Long Yuehong used his exoskeleton to move the stone, he didn't secure it properly, causing it to slowly, imperceptibly slide until, after a long period, it lost its balance and fell to the ground.
So Shang Jianyao didn't react immediately, waiting for further observation.
Bang!
With a slightly muffled sound, the giant stone crashed to the ground, making the entire forest seem to tremble.
The noise quickly subsided, and under the sparse stars, the night was as dark as before.
But unlike before, a gap had appeared in the pile of stones blocking the entrance to Black Rat Town, a gap leading to a silent, dark place.
Shang Jianyao watched carefully for several dozen seconds. Just as he was about to exhale the breath held in his chest, he suddenly noticed a dark figure slowly crawling out of the cave where the stone had fallen.
The night wind caressed, the clouds moved high above, revealing half a moon.
The bright moonlight shone down on the dark figure, allowing Shang Jianyao to see his general appearance:
He was short, naked, with thick, black hair all over his body. He was hunched over, his fingernails reflecting a sharp, cold light.
This was a resident of Black Rat Town!
Shang Jianyao's pupils dilated sharply, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wanted to get a better look at who it was.
He, Jiang Baimian, and Bai Chen had carefully searched every corner of Black Rat Town, but hadn't found a single survivor!
The moonlight seemed to brighten a little more, and Shang Jianyao barely made out the figure's face.
Half of his face had been blown away by a bullet, with dark red blood and milky white brain matter dotted around it.
According to Shang Jianyao's common sense, such a person couldn't be called alive.
At the same time, dark figures seemed to be surging in the gap in the pile of stones.
"Fuck!" Shang Jianyao cursed uncontrollably.
Almost instinctively, he released his right hand from the gun handle, raised it, and slapped his right cheek hard.
He suspected he was dreaming.
Slap!
Shang Jianyao's right cheek immediately swelled up, with the faint outline of five fingers visible.
Intense pain and a buzzing sound entered Shang Jianyao's mind simultaneously, causing golden spots to appear before his eyes.
However, he was still in the same place. Before him was still the Black Rat Town resident crawling out of the gap in the stone pile, and another dark figure following close behind.
Shang Jianyao didn't impulsively open fire, because he knew his knowledge and experience weren't enough to support him in making the right choice in this situation.
So, he needed to seek help from Jiang Baimian, to see if this "Old Task Force" leader knew anything about similar situations.
He also planned to wake up Bai Chen and Long Yuehong. That way, even if they couldn't deal with the Black Rat Town mutation, they would have time to drive off and escape.
Just as he turned halfway, before Shang Jianyao could shout, he saw Jiang Baimian's figure appear beside him.
Shang Jianyao was overjoyed and about to report the situation when his gaze suddenly froze and the words stuck in his throat.
Under the cold moonlight, thick, black hair grew out of Jiang Baimian's heroic and beautiful face like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil, visible to the naked eye.
Shang Jianyao's facial muscles twitched slightly, uncontrollably performing a reactive action.
He threw himself to the side and backwards, rolled twice, and came to the front of the jeep.
Then, crouching, he darted to the other side, squatting under the rearview mirror.
This way, he could use the front of the car as a "defensive fortification" and could also open the door and sit in the driver's seat at any time.
"Something's wrong!" he shouted, trying to wake up Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.
After shouting three times, Shang Jianyao took two steps forward, straightened his upper body, and prepared to open the car door.
But at this moment, he realized he didn't have the car keys.
When they handed over the night watch duty, Bai Chen had given the keys to Jiang Baimian, not him.
Before Shang Jianyao could think of a solution, Jiang Baimian's voice came from near to far:
"What's wrong?"
The next second, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen's voices rang out from the tent:
"What's wrong?"
Their voices had different pitches, but the tone was exactly the same as Jiang Baimian's.
Shang Jianyao's body suddenly trembled, and dense cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He forced himself to calm down a little and calculated the approximate distance between him and Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen.
Unknowingly, a smile appeared on his face, a smile he couldn't control.
Shang Jianyao then straightened his body, preparing to stand up and use his Awakened abilities.
Just then, he saw himself in the rearview mirror:
His right cheek was swollen and red, with an inappropriate smile on his face...
Shang Jianyao suddenly had an idea, bent down again, and took out the water-absorbing pen and a piece of white paper used for recording from his clothing pocket.
Then, he lowered his head, used his thigh as a pad, and after the pen cap fell freely to the ground, quickly wrote:
"If I can still see this later, it means it's not a dream."
As he wrote, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen's voices grew closer:
"What's wrong?"
Shang Jianyao wrote faster and faster, more and more hastily, but he still managed to write that sentence.
Then, he casually stuffed the paper back into his pocket, straightened his upper body again, and stared at himself in the rearview mirror, his eyes instantly becoming deep.
While listening to the approaching footsteps, he quickly organized his words and tried to say:
"Yesterday at this time was late at night, and today at this time is also late at night.
"Yesterday at this time, we were camping in the wild, and today at this time, we are also camping in the wild.
"Yesterday at this time, I was dreaming, so, today at this time..."
Shang Jianyao stopped talking to his reflection, his expression first confused, then gradually determined.
Just as Jiang Baimian walked to the other side of the jeep, Shang Jianyao suddenly realized:
"So, today at this time, I'm also dreaming!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless stars seemed to explode in his mind. The strong self-awareness allowed his consciousness to penetrate the illusory scenes.
"Huff!" Shang Jianyao sat up and exhaled the breath held in his chest.
He quickly looked around and found himself still in the tent, still in his sleeping bag.
Thoughts flashing through his mind, Shang Jianyao grabbed the sleeping bag with both hands, exerted force, and quickly, like a leopard, broke free from the sleeping bag and jumped to the other side of the tent.
That was where Jiang Baimian was sleeping.
In the dark environment with only a little light, Shang Jianyao could hardly see anything, but he could hear Jiang Baimian's breathing, which was rapid and chaotic, as if she had just finished a five-kilometer cross-country run.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Relying on the sound, he grabbed Jiang Baimian's body, shaking her as he shouted.
This commotion drew the attention of Bai Chen and Long Yuehong. One stayed on the periphery, guarding against accidents, and the other moved towards the tent, asking loudly:
"What's wrong?"
Shang Jianyao didn't answer, continuing to shake Jiang Baimian's body violently.
Finally, Jiang Baimian made a sound:
"Stop... stop! I'm dizzy!"
Shang Jianyao immediately breathed a sigh of relief and straightened his body.
At this moment, Bai Chen had opened the tent door.
Using the moonlight shining in, she saw Shang Jianyao squatting next to Jiang Baimian's sleeping bag, breathing heavily, while Jiang Baimian was sitting in the sleeping bag with a confused expression.
"Did you find anything unusual?" Bai Chen asked calmly.
Shang Jianyao blurted out:
"I had a nightmare..."
He paused involuntarily, feeling that what he said made him sound like a child, seeking comfort from an elder because he had a nightmare.
Seeing that Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen didn't laugh at him and didn't try to interrupt, Shang Jianyao calmed down and continued:
"A very realistic nightmare. I couldn't wake up even when I slapped myself in the dream. Even though I felt intense pain, I still couldn't wake up.
"It wasn't until I used the Awakened's ability to strengthen my judgment and perception of the dream that I completely woke up.
"In the dream, the residents of Black Rat Town became living corpses, and thick, black hair grew on your faces."
Living corpses are a concept from radio dramas.
Jiang Baimian was no longer confused, her expression gradually became serious, and she nodded slightly:
"I also had a nightmare.
"I dreamed that I was doing research in a laboratory, and you were all my assistants..."
Speaking of this, Jiang Baimian suddenly became speechless.
After only a breath, she continued:
"That dream was very realistic. Because of some details, I also suspected that I was dreaming, so I quickly pricked myself with a needle, and felt the same pain as usual.
"That dispelled my doubts. Then, an accident occurred in the next laboratory, and a highly toxic gas leaked and spread throughout the floor.
"I was leading you frantically towards the exit, trying to escape the company before the poisonous gas spread, when Shang Jianyao shook me awake."
As she spoke, she raised her left hand and brought it to the brightly lit area of the moonlight.
Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen, who had moved closer, both saw a needle-sized red dot on the tiger's mouth of that hand, slightly swollen.
Jiang Baimian then looked at Shang Jianyao's face, and unsurprisingly found the swollen red area imprinted with five fingerprints.
"I don't have any needles on me..." Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment, "This wasn't caused by sleepwalking."
Saying that, she stretched her left hand towards the five fingerprints on Shang Jianyao's right cheek and gestured in the air:
"I didn't hit this."
Bai Chen followed Jiang Baimian's hand and looked carefully:
"Can't completely deny it. The redness and swelling are too obvious now, the fingerprints are a bit distorted, the comparison has errors, and the difference in the length of your fingers isn't too big."
"If my left hand really hit it, would there still be any teeth left on this side of his face?" Silken strands of electricity appeared on the fingertips of Jiang Baimian's left hand.
Her left arm, including her left hand, is part of an electric eel-type bionic limb, one of the characteristics of which is great strength.
Bai Chen agreed with this, and Shang Jianyao was speechless.
Just as he was about to describe in detail the scene he saw in his dream, Jiang Baimian suddenly frowned:
"Have you guys thought of anything?"
ps: Asking for recommendation tickets~