Chapter 16

Although everyone was puzzled as to why, after such a long time, there was still no sign of any rescue teams. Logically, with such a severe earthquake, the armed police or even the military should have been mobilized for rescue operations. However, now, apart from the dead bodies and collapsed buildings everywhere, not a single rescue team had been seen.

After passing through a field, a patch of overgrown grass appeared before the group. The grass was very tall, and it seemed that no one had ever cleared it, which was why it had grown so lush.

Tang Sanli stopped and gazed into the distance for a while before saying, "The direction should be correct. Let's go."

As the group entered the overgrown grass, their moods gradually relaxed.

Because all they could see around them were large fields, vegetable gardens, and wild mountains and fields, with no sign of residential areas, which meant no dead bodies and no monsters.

"It seems our luck is still pretty good..." Apart from Jin Xin, who had a broken nose and was constantly wiping away tears and breathing through his mouth, everyone else, including Chu Nan, seemed much more relaxed.

"However, this overgrown grass is really long." Yu Xiaotian frowned and said, "Look, it seems there's fog around us."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. I didn't expect it to be foggy in broad daylight," Yin Yiping added.

Jin Xin, breathing through his mouth, said irritably, "This damn weather, it's so gloomy, and now it's foggy. Is there anything more bizarre than this?"

Chu Nan remained silent, his brow slightly furrowed, and he put his hand on Tang Sanli's shoulder, observing the surroundings as they walked.

At some point, a light mist had enveloped this area of overgrown grass, but because it was so thin, no one had noticed it until now.

The mist gently swayed, making the surroundings look as if they were shrouded in a light veil, which was quite beautiful. Although everyone was marveling at it, no one said much more.

Ten minutes later, the group began to feel uneasy because the mist was gradually becoming thicker.

"Something's not right. It's foggy in broad daylight, and it's getting thicker. If this continues, we'll easily get lost here," Tang Sanli, supporting Chu Nan, was the first to stop.

Seeing this, the others also stopped. Yin Yiping said, "But we've been walking for so long. We can't just turn back, can we?"

"Turn back? If we delay, we might not reach the city before dark," Gan Yuanyue also frowned and said.

Tang Sanli didn't speak, but Yu Xiaotian looked ahead and said, "Look, the fog ahead is even thicker. We can't see anything. If there are any monsters in that fog..."

Everyone shivered and their faces changed.

Cui Zhi'an said, "I think we should turn back. Although this is the fastest way to the city, the fog ahead is too thick. No one knows what might happen, and it's too dangerous. I'd rather take a longer route."

"Alright, I agree with Cui Zhi'an," Yin Yiping raised his hand and said, "Continuing on, we can't even see the road clearly. It's too unsafe. Let's turn back and find another way."

Most of the others nodded in agreement, but Jin Xin, with his broken nose, cursed, "Damn, there are so many mosquitoes in this overgrown grass. I've been bitten again." As he spoke, he bent down to scratch his ankle.

His ankle was a mess of blood and flesh, having been bitten by a zombie monster before he met Chu Nan and the others, but it had already scabbed over.

He felt an intense itch and, upon closer inspection, noticed many small red bumps on his skin, which were likely mosquito bites. He scratched and cursed.

However, the more he scratched, the itchier it became, and he couldn't stop.

"Jin Xin, what are you doing? Hurry up and move, we're going back," Cui Zhi-an turned around and called out loudly, "If you don't move, you'll be left behind."

"Just a moment, it's too itchy, I can't stand it," Jin Xin didn't look up but responded loudly, now using both hands to scratch his ankle.

"What's wrong with you?" Cui Zhi-an walked over and looked down, only to see Jin Xin's fingers covered in blood, and his ankle, which had scabbed over, was now raw and bleeding from his scratching.

"Huh? What's this?" Jin Xin suddenly paused, pulling out a sharp, greenish object from his scratched wound. Soon, the small red bumps on his leg, which he had scratched open, began to sprout tiny heads, making the itch even worse.

He couldn't resist and scratched furiously. Soon, the areas he had scratched were filled with dense, sprouting objects that looked like young grass. Cui Zhi-an was horrified and instinctively stepped back.

Jin Xin looked up in confusion, and Cui Zhi-an noticed that his seven orifices were slightly oozing blood, and the wound on his broken nose had sprouted young grass, though Jin Xin seemed unaware.

The others, hearing the commotion, also came over.

"What's going on, you two?" Yu Xiaotian shouted, "If you don't move, we'll leave you behind..."

Suddenly, she fell silent, staring at Jin Xin in shock and fear.

On Jin Xin's face, legs, and wherever there were wounds, strange sprouting grass was growing. These grasses were sucking his blood, turning red, and continuously growing out of his body.

Jin Xin finally realized what was happening and screamed in terror, "Save me... save me... I... I'm so itchy..."

He felt an unbearable itch in his head, face, chest, and limbs, and he scratched frantically, lunging at the group for help.

Everyone was horrified and dodged.

"This place is cursed, everyone, get away—!" Tang Sanli shouted in terror, supporting Chu Nan, and was the first to run back.

Jin Xin's appearance was too terrifying, and the others were too frightened to let him get close, so they all turned and fled.

"Ah— save me—" Jin Xin screamed, and suddenly, he gouged out his own eyes with his hands. In his bloodied eye sockets, more blood-red grass sprouted.

Soon, he fell heavily to the ground, and the surrounding overgrown grass began to move strangely, as if drawn to his body. His body twitched, but the grass growing on him became more and more lush, and the surrounding grass gradually turned blood-red...

Tang Sanli, supporting Chu Nan, Yu Xiaotian, Gan Yuanyue, and Yin Yiping all ran back frantically. The scene with Jin Xin was so bizarre, it was beyond their comprehension, even more terrifying than being attacked by zombie monsters.

No one knew what had happened to him, but seeing the blood-red grass growing from his body was terrifying, especially since it was something unknown.

Even Chu Nan, who was still weak from the aftereffects of the adrenaline rush, ran as fast as he could, almost wishing to trigger another adrenaline rush to boost his body's functions.

"Breath... breath..."

Everyone was panting heavily, running back as if the fog around them was hiding the most terrifying demons, and if they slowed down, they would be dragged down and devoured.

The fog ahead gradually thinned, and finally, they burst out of the overgrown grass and into the fields, where they collapsed, panting heavily, almost exhausted.

Strangely, the fog only enveloped the area with overgrown grass, and there was no fog over the fields ahead.

When they entered the overgrown grass earlier, there was no fog, which clearly appeared after they entered, becoming thicker and thicker, leading to Jin Xin's bizarre incident.

None of them were fools, and seeing that the fog only covered the area with overgrown grass, they all understood that something was wrong with that area.

Yu Xiaotian, panting heavily, lay on the ground, her limbs weak, and said, "I... I can't run anymore... W... Why is there no fog here..."

Gan Yuanyue looked at the overgrown grass ahead, shrouded in mist, and murmured, "Could it be miasma? I've heard that miasma is toxic... Jin Xin might have been poisoned by it."

Chu Nan silently observed the vast area of overgrown grass shrouded in mist and said, "It's not miasma. Miasma is mainly formed from the decay of plants and animals in tropical rainforests, and this place doesn't have the conditions to form miasma... Moreover, miasma takes a long time to form and doesn't appear suddenly."

Yu Xiaotian said, "That's true. If the fog was toxic, we would all have been affected. Why was only Jin Xin poisoned, and we managed to escape?"

Gan Yuanyue was speechless.

Chu Nan looked at the edge of the area, where the misty overgrown grass was swaying irregularly in the breeze, and a strange idea came to him.

"Perhaps... this mist is released by the overgrown grass." Chu Nan suddenly said, and everyone was taken aback.

Tang Sanli looked at him and said, "Overgrown grass releasing mist? Is there such a thing?"

Chu Nan shook his head and said, "I don't know, but it's the only reasonable explanation."

Yu Xiaotian asked curiously, "But why would they suddenly release mist?"

Chu Nan said, "Maybe it's because we invaded their territory, or... they want to feed."

Upon hearing this, everyone shuddered. Yu Xiaotian exclaimed, "Feed? U... us? Y... you're treating them like animals, but they're just grass..."

Chu Nan didn't speak, but he silently observed the vast, mist-shrouded area of unknown grass, feeling a chill.

If his guess was correct, it would be truly terrifying.

Yin Yiping murmured, "But even if these grasses can release mist, the mist shouldn't have caused Jin Xin to transform like that. If it was the mist, we would all have been affected. Why only Jin Xin?"