Su Ling, too, lost her way and couldn't help but shout, "Geng Hao, Chen Yu, Old Jin? Where are you?"

Her only response was the thickening fog around her.

Su Ling opened the system and tried to reinforce, attempting to use the system's three-dimensional map to get a clear view of her own terrain. However, she was notified that there were no buildings in the vicinity, making it impossible to reinforce.

Since she couldn't reinforce, she couldn't see the map.

Su Ling was truly panicking this time.

Encountering zombies might not be as frightening as dealing with this unknown situation.

She took a few more steps but stopped.

She couldn't blindly walk around in this situation; it was the worst thing to do. Perhaps the fog would disperse after a while.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of clothes brushing behind her.

Su Ling's heart tightened, and she quickly turned around, kicking towards the fog.

She felt like she hit something and then saw the light dim before a tall dark figure approached her. Cold hands clutched her neck.

She recognized the gesture too well and immediately yelled, "Sheng Hongye, it's me."

"Su Ling?"

A deep voice echoed, it was indeed Sheng Hongye.

Su Ling couldn't help but feel relieved, but she felt her neck tighten, and Sheng Hongye was choking her.

"Tell me, where did we meet?"

Su Ling couldn't breathe and hurriedly replied, "At the gas station. You saved me from the gas station attendant. Later, your car overturned, and you and Gu Kai Xuan took my Passat."

Sheng Hongye released his grip. "Why are you here? Where are the others?"

Su Ling coughed twice and struggled to say, "The others are all in the house. Chen Yu, Geng Hao, and I came to find you. What happened? Where are the zombies?"

Suddenly, Sheng Hongye covered Su Ling's mouth and crouched down with her.

Then they heard footsteps nearby. The sound circled around them a few times before moving away.

"Let's talk outside."

Sheng Hongye whispered and picked up Su Ling.

Su Ling was startled and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I can walk by myself."

"Hush."

Sheng Hongye stood still for a moment before carrying Su Ling and quickly walking in a direction.

Su Ling didn't know what he had found, so she didn't dare to speak. After about ten minutes of walking, the fog suddenly cleared, and they arrived at the small creek they had been earlier.

Sheng Hongye glanced at Su Ling carefully before releasing his grip on her.

Su Ling couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Sheng Hongye looked towards the forest and said, "Those were not zombies, they were all humans."

"What?!" Su Ling's mouth widened in surprise. She hadn't seen so many people in quite some time.

"That's impossible. They were clearly attracted by the sound..."

"It was all an act, and the fog in this area is strange. It makes people see things they least want to see."

No wonder she mistook Chen Yu for a zombie.

Thinking about Chen Yu and Geng Hao, Su Ling immediately said, "Chen Yu and Geng Hao are still in the fog. What should we do?"

Sheng Hongye frowned. "How long have you been inside?"

Su Ling checked her watch. "It's been over an hour."

Sheng Hongye squinted his eyes and said in a solemn tone, "Don't look for them. They've both been captured. Let's go back and plan our next move."

"Why are you so sure?"

Sheng Hongye looked at her and said, "I obtained Liu Yu's ability."

Su Ling was surprised again. "Does that mean... your ability is devouring? Or rather, you can obtain the abilities of any deceased person when they were alive?"

Sheng Hongye smirked. "You're quite clever. You guessed it right."

Su Ling couldn't help but open her mouth wide. This was too incredible.

At this rate, Sheng Hongye might become an all-powerful ability user, right?

Watching Su Ling's slightly agape mouth, Sheng Hongye reached out and gently closed it with his hand.

"Don't worry; I won't kill indiscriminately because of this."

"I'm not thinking that way; I'm just surprised by how powerful your ability is."

"Maybe even more powerful ones will appear in the future. Let's go back to the village for now."

They waded across the small river and returned to the village.

However, they found the house empty, and they both broke out into a cold sweat.

"Kai Xuan, Professor Bai?"

Sheng Hongye searched through the houses several times but found no one, his face turning grim.

"It's a diversion, it seems like we have fallen into the trap."

"Then use your ability to sense where they were taken."

Sheng Hongye closed his eyes and took a while before saying, "I don't know where exactly, but they are all alive, and Han Qiang should be nearby."

"Han Qiang, Han Qiang."

Sheng Hongye walked to the door and shouted several times.

One minute later, there was a creaking sound from the side, and Han Qiang trembled as he walked out from inside.

"Brother Sheng, Sister Su Ling, they... they've all been taken away. I don't know why, but I couldn't use my ability at all. I'm sorry, Kai Xuan was also taken away by those zombies."

Thinking of everyone's deaths, Han Qiang couldn't help but crouch down and cry.

Sheng Hongye closed his eyes slightly, and after a while, he reached out and pulled Han Qiang up.

"Stop crying; they are fine. Moreover, those people weren't zombies."

"What?" Han Qiang raised his head in surprise.

Sheng Hongye repeated, "That's right, they were all humans disguised as zombies."

He paused and continued, "When I led the zombies away, I discovered the leader of the zombies. I wanted to deal with the zombie leader, but he led me into the misty forest. They attacked me several times before I realized they weren't zombies."

Learning that everyone was still alive, Han Qiang gained some spirit and stood up, asking, "If they weren't zombies, why did they pretend to attack us as zombies? Could it be because we occupied their houses?"

Sheng Hongye shook his head. "If that were the case, they don't have to leave."

Su Ling frowned and asked, "Then what is the reason? Are they simply trying to capture people?"

"I'm not sure about that for now."

Sheng Hongye checked his watch; it was already 3 a.m.

"They probably won't come again tonight. You two should rest; we'll discuss our strategy tomorrow."

Sheng Hongye went into the house first, but Su Ling couldn't sleep at all.

What was the meaning behind these people's actions? Why did they capture Professor Bai and the others? And why did they pretend to be zombies?

Her mind was racing, and she couldn't sleep until her head felt dizzy. When she finally closed her eyes for a while, she woke up to the smell of something burning.

Thinking something was on fire, she quickly got up.

To her surprise, she saw Sheng Hongye cooking porridge. "Sorry, it's burnt."

"It's fine; having something to eat is already good."

Su Ling took the bowl and absentmindedly took a sip. "When are we going to take action?"

Sheng Hongye replied confidently, "We'll wait for someone to return; he has a particularly good memory."