In just these few moments, the zombies around them moved again.
Before everyone had time to prepare for battle, they discovered that the zombies were retreating instead.
Moreover, the speed of their retreat became faster and faster.
Before long, they had withdrawn completely, like a receding tide. The highway instantly became empty, just as it had been when Chu Tian and the others first arrived.
If not for the many zombie corpses and traces of battle remaining on the ground, there would have been no indication that they had ever been there.
It was already late, and as the zombies retreated, the moon also hid behind the dark clouds. The surroundings suddenly became dark.
No one made a sound, and the air abruptly became frighteningly quiet.
In the end, it was still Wen Tong’s groan that broke the silence.
The people startled by the sound instead breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Unbelievable!
The zombies had actually retreated on their own!
They had gotten their lives back.
To be honest, most of the people present had already mentally prepared themselves for death. They had never dared imagine that there could still be a reversal in a situation like this.
Looking at the empty street, Quan Xiaoyu asked Chu Tian in a low voice, “You reached an agreement with it?”
Chu Tian bitterly smiled and gently shook his head.
“Not at all. You’re giving it too much credit.”
“What do you mean?” Quan Xiaoyu asked in astonishment.
“It isn’t what you imagined. It doesn’t possess such high intelligence. After I came into contact with it, all it knew how to do was continuously transmit its emotions, along with some vague fragments of memories. Those fragments were dark and bloody, filled with hatred toward humans.”
Chu Tian spoke with a bitter expression.
He had inexplicably been forced to experience a dark life!
As he spoke, he shamelessly grabbed Quan Xiaoyu’s hand and pressed it against his own chest, saying pitifully, “Come and see the size of my psychological trauma.”
Quan Xiaoyu was speechless.
They were talking about serious business here, and somehow this guy had started acting like a pervert again?
However, Chu Tian’s words actually made Quan Xiaoyu feel somewhat relieved.
Zombies only gained intelligence after reaching Level Five, and even then, their intelligence was still incomparable to that of humans.
At first, when Quan Xiaoyu saw zombies with such high discipline and organization, he had been thoroughly frightened. He had also worried that intelligent zombies had appeared after only a little over two months of the apocalypse.
If that were the case, then this apocalypse would truly be far too terrifying.
But according to what Chu Tian was saying now, the thing he had been worried about had not happened.
“Stop fooling around. If you didn’t convince it, why did the zombies retreat?”
Quan Xiaoyu forcefully pulled his hand back.
He couldn’t keep indulging this guy all the time.
Chu Tian didn’t mind at all and continued, “It seems to have been attacked.”
He spread his hands with some regret.
“The person who attacked it wasn’t me. It was obviously a Level Three zombie, while I’ve only just broken through Level Three. I still can’t suppress it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been forced to let it stuff a bunch of memory fragments into my mind.”
At the mention of this, Chu Tian once again put on a bitter expression.
It was obvious that this communication had left him with an indelible psychological trauma.
Quan Xiaoyu could only tighten his grip on Chu Tian’s hand reassuringly, signaling for him to continue.
“I was entangled by it and couldn’t break free for a while. But because it was busy entangling me, it also had no time to command the zombies. We remained locked in that stalemate, and then—”
Chu Tian’s slender finger gently lifted upward.
Then, the fingertip lightly landed between Quan Xiaoyu’s brows.
“You got into a fight with those people.”
“I became distracted for a moment. Originally, there was a good chance I would be swallowed by its memories. But then it suddenly suffered a heavy blow and fled with a scream. I took advantage of the opportunity to escape back as well, and then the zombies retreated.”
Chu Tian was actually extremely unhappy inside.
That little bastard had actually dared to ambush him.
What was even more infuriating was that he had actually failed to defeat even a single zombie. He had been trapped inside the other party’s memory fragments and had even needed Quan Xiaoyu to protect him!
Unacceptable!
As he thought about this, his eyes had already drifted toward Jialun Xu’s group.
Although he had been trapped by the mental-type zombie’s memories, nothing that had happened here had escaped his awareness.
What kind of grand gift should he send back to them in return?
“Whatever it was, the important thing is that you’re fine, and the zombies have retreated.”
Although the sudden attack on the mental-type zombie had made the entire situation even stranger and more frightening, they were finally safe for the moment.
“But it still makes people uneasy. An unknown existence that seems to be very powerful.”
Chu Tian’s thoughts returned to Quan Xiaoyu. He smiled and said, “Were you scared out of your wits just now?”
He was referring to Wen Tong running over to ambush him.
“Yes.”
Quan Xiaoyu admitted it.
“I almost killed him just now.”
The old and new grudges had all surged up together.
Chu Tian happily pulled Quan Xiaoyu into his arms.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I’m fine now.”
This was hardly comforting him. He was merely taking the opportunity to take advantage of him.
Quan Xiaoyu was also annoyed.
This person had become increasingly difficult to understand lately. The things he did were becoming more and more unexpected, especially when it came to how he treated Quan Xiaoyu.
Quan Xiaoyu wanted to punch him away.
His hand reached out, but when it was aimed at Chu Tian’s completely defenseless head, he simply couldn’t bring himself to strike.
In the end, he could only silently endure it himself.
Chu Tian, who saw through everything, secretly grinned smugly.
However, he didn’t get to feel smug for long before he saw the small leader of the mercenaries walking over.
He cursed inwardly about the man’s complete lack of tact, but still stood up to greet him.
After all, this man had saved his life at a critical moment.
He owed him a life-saving favor, and he would have to find an opportunity to repay it.
The small leader had also struggled for quite some time before finally steeling himself to come over.
After the zombies had retreated, everyone had needed quite a while to recover.
But it was getting late. As for whether they should leave this place and return to the cathedral overnight, everyone present was hesitating.
The small leader now had a very poor opinion of Jialun Xu’s group, so he really disdained discussing anything with them.
But when he looked toward Chu Tian’s side, the two of them were sometimes whispering to each other and sometimes hugging.
The entire group of grown men was unbearably awkward.
Although there was also a couple in their own team, and they had no objection whatsoever to two men being together, seeing the two of them being so lovey-dovey under these circumstances was simply a little too much for the eyes.
So after struggling for a long while, the small leader was ultimately pushed forward by his companions to make contact with them.
After all, the strength of those two was right there in front of them, and their character wasn’t bad either. They were a good choice for an alliance.
But that speed-type kid had such a fiery temper that they didn’t dare provoke him casually, lest a disagreement immediately turn into a fight.
Thus, the unlucky small leader was pushed out by his teammates.
When Chu Tian saw him, he first thanked him and exchanged some polite pleasantries.
The other man was clearly also someone accustomed to dealing with all kinds of people, so he responded with the same polite small talk.
For convenience in addressing each other, the two exchanged names, and only then did they get down to business.
“The zombies have retreated, but we don’t know whether we should take this opportunity to head back. It’s already dark, and there are quite a lot of zombies along the road. But if we stay here, we’re afraid they’ll come back again. Brother Chu Tian, what do you think?”
The small leader’s name was Zuo Li.
“Wait until dawn.”
Chu Tian didn’t beat around the bush.
“It’s too dangerous outside at night. Those retreating zombies probably won’t come back for a while. Otherwise, there would have been no need for them to retreat in the first place. The few of us wouldn’t be their match.”
Remembering the densely packed number of zombies, Zuo Li’s scalp went numb again.
“Brother Chu is right. It’s just that they were clearly about to win, yet they inexplicably retreated. When I think about it this way, I still feel uneasy.”
Chu Tian nodded to show that he understood.
“Me too. I’m very uneasy. But what can we do? Whether we leave or stay, there’s a possibility we’ll encounter danger. We can only leave it to each person’s choice. I lean toward staying. Brother Zuo Li, you should think carefully.”
He sincerely advised him.
Yes, what else could they do?
There were dangers everywhere in the apocalypse. How small were humans, who had lived in comfort for thousands of years, at a moment like this!
Zuo Li nodded.
“I’ll go back and discuss it with my teammates. I also lean toward agreeing with your suggestion to stay.”
“Good.”
Chu Tian nodded as well and returned to Quan Xiaoyu’s side.
Zuo Li quickly walked back and began discussing things with his teammates.
Soon, it seemed that they had reached a unanimous decision.
Just as Zuo Li was about to come over again to say something to Chu Tian, Jialun Xu stopped him.
Zuo Li was also quite surprised.
He had thought the dislike he had shown toward them was already obvious enough.
He hadn’t expected Jialun Xu to still come over and seek him out.
The very first thing he said was to accuse Zuo Li of injuring one of his people.
There was indeed no denying that, so Zuo Li could only say a bunch of empty words about strengthening human unity and avoiding internal fighting.
He also pointed out that although he had injured Wen Tong, hadn’t he also saved Wen Tong’s life?
Jialun Xu did not dwell too much on this issue.
Instead, he immediately began discussing with Zuo Li the matter of forming an alliance and leaving together.
Although Zuo Li disliked them, he had neither the intention nor the need to completely fall out with them.
He could only respond politely, saying that he would not be leaving tonight and would wait until dawn before setting out.
Jialun Xu had no choice, so he then began discussing arrangements for leaving the next day with him.
Zuo Li could only brace himself and deal with him, stammering and hesitating for quite some time before finally getting rid of Jialun Xu.
Only then did he run over to Chu Tian and tell him about the decision on their side.
He also took the opportunity to complain.
“I finally understand now. Back at the cathedral, when our boss said those people were all weirdos, I didn’t believe him. Now I’m completely convinced.”
Chu Tian found it amusing.
He gave Zuo Li a few perfunctory words of comfort before beginning to discuss the arrangements for leaving the next day.
During the discussion, he didn’t forget to sweep a thoughtful glance toward Quan Xiaoyu.
Quan Xiaoyu felt so ashamed he wanted to die.
Those weirdos all had more or less something to do with him.
So, judging by the way Chu Tian was looking at him, was he laughing at him for being a weirdo too?