They rested until Hong Sheng was steady on his feet. Once they started moving, there was no more freedom to talk. They had to be as quiet and subtle as possible. Yu Qiu led the way, and they crept along the side of the mountain toward the east.

Just as Yu Qiu said, there weren't any zombies in the immediate area. The fog kept Hong Sheng from seeing further than a few meters, so all he could rely on was his hearing.

Yu Qiu checked the walls of the mountain every so often, pointing out where she had made marks to indicate her progress. She must have walked along the mountain at least two or three times, looping around without being able to find a way out.

The forest was eerie and quiet. There wasn't a single sound—no birds, no animals. Even the grass seemed still. Each landing of their footsteps and pounding of their hearts felt like a beacon to any zombies in the area, and with each meter of progress they made, Hong Sheng waited to hear the snarl of a zombie.

Up ahead, the mountainside became less even. Hong Sheng panted, his entire body strained as he levered himself up and down ledges. In his state and with all of the fog, it was difficult to navigate around the uneven footing and the trees growing out of the mountainside. After some time, Yu Qiu turned back to Hong Sheng and motioned that they were about halfway there.

No matter how far they went, there weren't any sounds of fighting. Hong Sheng had noted this carefully. If Lu Hao wasn't fighting, then he must be searching, or otherwise occupied. There was one thing pressing on Hong Sheng's mind: why hadn't Lu Hao found Hong Sheng and Yu Qiu yet?

Lu Hao could sense a heartbeat from kilometers away. If he went in search of Yu Qiu, just why was Lu Hao now nowhere to be seen, while Hong Sheng was actually the one who found her first?

Something must have happened. But there was not enough evidence to extrapolate what, exactly, that was. Therefore, all Hong Sheng could do was keep himself alive and keep moving forward.

Yu Qiu paused in front of him. With a worried look, she signaled two fingers—two zombies were in the area. Hong Sheng felt his breath constrict. He nodded to her. He would have to be very careful, and move slowly. Yu Qiu agilely climbed a rock, her lightness letting her easily cross. Hong Sheng followed after.

They were climbing over a ravine. Below Hong Sheng's feet, past the leaves of the saplings and bushes blocking his view, was a dark canyon with uneven stones that showed that this place used to be a river. It was now dried up and overgrown with plants. Hong Sheng used all of his focus to pull himself up on the rocks, trying to keep his grip as firm as possible. If he fell from here...

Hong Sheng was so careful, he didn't expect for Yu Qiu to be the one to suddenly stifle a scream as she slipped. Her foot slid across a patch of moss. Hong Sheng's eyes blew wide; he instinctively reached out to try and steady her. But his body wasn't strong enough, and the two of them fell.

Hong Sheng gasped and woke on the ground, his heart frantically beating out of his chest. His entire body felt like it had been smashed by hammers. He had blacked out when he hit the ground. His fingers twitched. He needed to move... needed to check what happened... Yet the pain was so strong that when he tried to get up, he felt like he was in a dream: his motions were a thousand times slower than in reality.

He was at the bottom of the ravine. There was blood on the ground—his hands, arms, and face had scraped the rock and bled. Hong Sheng looked around blearily. He was in the shadowy entrance of a cave hidden at the end of the ravine. The entrance was blocked by vines and leaves, making it difficult to know there was a cave here. Hong Sheng turned his head to look behind him, and blinked. Yu Qiu was sitting just a short distance away, her entire body shaking, her hands over her mouth as she looked with blank eyes at the foggy entrance of the cave.

What was she looking at...?

A horrifying, chilling scream erupted from very, very near.

"No, no, no—" The girl began crying.

"Yu Qiu." Hong Sheng could barely breathe, let alone speak. He urgently forced the words out of his mouth. "Need to run."

"They're too close! A-And, I can't—"

Yu Qiu had one of her legs drawn up, while the other just laid there in front of her. Hong Sheng saw that the ankle of that leg was at an off angle. She wouldn't be able to walk. Hong Sheng tightened his fists, fear hidden in his eyes. He insisted, "We still have to try."

With all of his force, he raised himself to his knees, and then to his feet. He pulled Yu Qiu up, and nearly toppled over. He corrected himself at the last minute, and dragged Yu Qiu forward, heading deeper inside the cave.

Yu Qiu's eyes were still crying, yet as Hong Sheng pulled her along, some of her fighting spirit returned. She used her one working leg to walk with him. "The zombies are right here..." She grit her teeth, a small flicker of life passing through her eyes. "I'll use my fire."

Hong Sheng heard the rapid shuffle of movement behind him, but didn't dare look. He just kept inching forward, bit by bit. Every few moments, Hong Sheng's hair rose as a nearly unbearable blast of heat burst from behind him.

Screams, wails, and the roar of rising fire... Hong Sheng kept stumbling forward, away from the nightmare behind him. After what felt like hours, Yu Qiu shakily said, "The two here... I—I killed them. But there are more..."

"We'll escape."

Hong Sheng knew there was no certainty. But he felt that he had to believe it. If not, shouldn't he just lay down right here to die?

As they went further into the darkness, Yu Qiu lit up a small flame as a torch. Who knew just how far the cave went. Yu Qiu and Hong Sheng both understood that, most likely, it would only end up a dead end. They wouldn't magically find the exit, and it wouldn't lead to some magical underground area where they could hide, either. But they still clung to their hope, and inched forward on their trembling legs.

And maybe... maybe miracles really did exist in the world.

Hong Sheng and Yu Qiu finally saw the end of the cave. Hong Sheng's dark eyes lit up. He could just barely see it. Reflecting the light of the fire, a rusty metal door embedded in the cave wall.
"Look." Hong Sheng's mouth pulled in a small smile. At his side, Yu Qiu began to cry. Hong Sheng moved forward, intending to hurry to the door, but Yu Qiu unexpectedly didn't move. Hong Sheng paused. "Yu Qiu?"

Yu Qiu sobbed. Her knees gave out, nearly dragging Hong Sheng down with her.

Hong Sheng didn't understand what she was doing. But the zombies were still chasing them, so he tried to bring her back to her feet and urged her forward. "Yu Qiu. We have to hurry."

Yu Qiu was like a lifeless rag doll, only just quietly crying. Hong Sheng ended up dragging her along as he went toward the door. Then Yu Qiu's power went out, and he was left blind.

"Yu Qiu, the fire. I need it to see."

Yu Qiu didn't respond for a moment. She reignited the fire. Hong Sheng saw briefly that her face was empty.

"We're almost there." He tried to comfort her; he thought she was exhausted.

"There's nothing here," she said, dimly. Her eyes were blank with despair.

Hong Sheng didn't understand her reaction. The metal door was clearly right in front of them. They were getting closer. "The door..." When Yu Qiu didn't show any recognition, Hong Sheng asked, "You don't see the door?"

"What door? Hong ge, there's nothing here...We're trapped. It's a dead end... And the zombies are nearly here." The sounds of the zombie shrieks had been approaching behind them this entire time; they were just one or two minutes away. Yu Qiu's eyes tracked silent tears.

She absolutely, truly, did not see the metal door two meters in front of her eyes.

Hong Sheng was silent for a moment.

"Trust me," he pleaded to her. "Just walk."

There wasn't anything left for her to do. Yu Qiu lifted her feet and walked, even though it was just to get closer to what she thought was the wall of the cave. Hong Sheng directed them to the door, and when they were right in front of it, he reached out.

He prayed that it was open. No, more than that, he prayed that it was real.

The zombies had reached the entrance of the cave, the sound of their shrieks piercing the air. Hong Sheng's hand grasped the rusted metal handle, and pulled. The door opened, and Hong Sheng rushed in, pulling along Yu Qiu whose face was blank with confusion.

When they were inside, Hong Sheng hurriedly pulled the door closed. The thick metal door snapped shut, and Hong Sheng could finally, finally, let out a breath.

"What..." Yu Qiu struggled to speak. Her eyes regained life, and she looked around the metal underground room she had just been pulled to. The room was well-lit by fluorescent lights, making it easy to see that this was an entry room. There was another metal door with an intercom at the other side. "What... what just happened?"

"You didn't see the door." Hong Sheng confirmed this one more time.

"I didn't... We were just at the end of a cave, weren't we? There was no door..." Yu Qiu pulled at Hong Sheng's sleeve, her eyes brightening with an idea. "Hong ge, do you have a teleportation ability?" That was the only logical explanation for how she could end up somewhere without knowing how.

Hong Sheng just shook his head and didn't say anything more. He pulled Yu Qiu to cross the room with him, and opened the other door.

This door was less heavy. It swung open easily, revealing what seemed to be a small lobby with sofas and seats, a coffee table, a desk where a receptionist would be...

...And sitting on one of the sofas, Ji Ling, who looked up with absolute shock on her face.
Lu Hao's most trusted assistant, the lieutenant who was supposed to be investigating in F-city, was instead here.

Perhaps it could be blamed on his inexpressive face, or his inability to understand social interactions, but when Hong Sheng looked at Ji Ling, no one could see any trace of emotion in his dark eyes—not even surprise.