Chapter 42: Chapter 42

“The houses in Qingshan Town have all collapsed!”

“What?”

“Are the people from the Binhai Safe Zone okay?”

“Mu Ying, are you busy? Have you eaten yet?”

Mu Ying nodded. “I have. What’s this about Qingshan Town?”

“Well, we went out this morning to hunt zombies. When we got to the mountain at the entrance to the forest park, we noticed something was off. The mountain path had completely rotted away, and the concrete steps had turned to dust. Looking down the mountain, sure enough, all the houses in Qingshan Town had collapsed.

The square at the town entrance was packed with people. When we asked around, we found out that ever since it started raining, not only did all the pre-apocalypse food rot, but the houses and roads started decaying much faster too.

Last night, everything just gave out.

Luckily, the houses didn’t all collapse at once, so there weren’t too many casualties, but a lot of people were injured. Some zombies were drawn over, so we managed to pick off a few.

The scouts brought more news: there are still a lot of zombies coming from Binhai City, quite a crowd. We came back to get more people! Are you interested?”

“Yeah, I’ll go take a look.”

“Great! We’ll meet at the camp gate in half an hour.”

Mu Ying nodded in agreement, went back to her treehouse for a quick bite, and took her Piercing Spear out of her storage pouch.

“Gun Gun, you stay here and watch the house. If you get hungry, just take some money and eat at the canteen.”

Gun Gun patted its chest, signaling that it was no problem!

Before heading out, she cast Barkskin on herself.

Yes, she’d finally learned the spell. Although her casting speed was still a bit slow, she could now cover her whole body with it.

Mu Ying poked her palm with the Piercing Spear—her skin didn’t even break.

You had to know, the Piercing Spear had +10 penetration. Even a gentle poke could leave a dent in black bread.

Barkskin was a sustained spell. At her current level, one cast could last three hours—super convenient.

With Barkskin on, leather breastplate, and a rain cape over it, she felt more than secure.

By the time Mu Ying reached the camp gate, a large crowd had already gathered.

“Mu Ying!”

Seeing Nie Ying and the others waving at her, Mu Ying walked over.

“Sigh, what’s going to happen to those people down the mountain? I heard there’s still a big group hiding in the camp, too scared to face the zombies,” Zheng Jing lamented. “Sometimes I’m actually grateful for what we’ve been through. Otherwise, I don’t know if I’d have the guts to do what needs to be done.”

“Don’t overthink it. In times like these, if it’s not one crisis, it’ll be another. Maybe those people are still hoping the authorities will save them!” Nie Ying said, a little exasperated.

“Alright, looks like everyone’s here. Let’s move out!” Li Wei called out loudly. This time, their group was leading the operation.

Climbing the mountain at the entrance to the forest park, Mu Ying immediately noticed the changes.

The trees here had always been tall, with little sunlight reaching the forest floor. Only wild grass and shrubs used to grow.

Later, the outer mountains of Qingshan Forest were incorporated into the park, and cement steps and paths were built, especially on this outermost mountain.

The main entrance to the park was here, with an asphalt walkway leading up, scenic platforms along the way, and the wild grass replaced with uniform plantings of mondo grass.

But even before the apocalypse, the mondo grass hadn’t grown well, and bare soil was visible everywhere.

Now, though, lush green leaves crowded together, carpeting the forest floor, and flowers had bloomed.

Clusters of flower spikes stood tall among the leaves.

But the colors were off. Normally, the flowers should be pinkish-purple, but now—pink, mauve, powder blue, light purple, magenta, deep purple, sky blue, misty blue, navy blue…

All mixed together, strangely beautiful.

If she weren’t in a hurry to get down the mountain, Mu Ying would have stayed to see if these mondo grasses had undergone any new changes.

The original mountain paths and scenic platforms were completely gone, with only empty clearings marking where they’d been.

From a distance, Mu Ying could see the ruins at the foot of the mountain—it looked even more shattered than after an earthquake.

Before they even reached the bottom, the noise of the crowd could be heard.

It turned out that everyone from the safe zone below had moved up the mountain. Official soldiers were blocking the mountain pass, and beyond them were zombies drawn by the scent.

More zombies were still arriving.

Many of the soldiers in the front line were already injured. Although, as professionals, they no longer risked turning into zombies, the smell of blood kept attracting more.

With so many people here, the blood scent was especially strong, drawing in even more zombies. The newcomers from the camp were shocked by the sight.

There were more zombies than they’d expected. Although not too many had arrived yet, this was clearly just the beginning—many more would come.

“Aren’t there a bit too many zombies?”

“Are all the zombies in Binhai City heading this way?”

“With just our numbers, I don’t think we’ll last long!”

Seeing this, Mu Ying found a few team leaders. “Almost everyone from the camp is here. Since we can’t hold the bottom of the mountain, why not lure the zombies to the camp instead?”

“But there are still so many people here, and some probably can’t even afford the entrance fee,” someone worried.

“If they stay here, they’ll die anyway. Better to let them scatter and escape first. We’ll hold the zombies here for a while, give them time to get away, then lure the zombies to the camp. With the camp’s defenses, we’ll have a better chance.”

In Mu Ying’s view, those willing to fight and face danger were far more valuable than those hiding at the back. Every loss would be a real blow.

Especially since no one knew what dangers lay ahead.

Maybe by forcing the issue this time, those still clinging to false hope would finally face reality. Human potential was limitless.

“Mu Ying’s right. With such a huge zombie horde, we might survive the first wave, but not the second or third. We’ll need to rest at some point,” Li Wei agreed.

“I’m in!” Nie Ying added.

They weren’t the only ones frustrated with the people at the back. There weren’t really any elderly, sick, or disabled left—those had been weeded out when the apocalypse first hit.

And since the houses hadn’t collapsed all at once, there’d been enough time to escape. Most injuries were just scrapes from running, nothing like the wounds suffered by the fighters in front."

"“Captain, we can’t hold on much longer!”