Chapter 5

"Has it already come? But what is this, do newbies have to go through a zombie baptism first?"

Facing the dozens of evil spirits ahead, Old Hu’s face showed no fear, but the others behind him were not so calm.

"What the hell is that!"

Qiu Wei’s legs trembled, his hands covering his head, while Lang Shuai covered his mouth as if he was about to vomit. The expression on Qiu Hua’s face behind them was also not good.

The only one who remained unchanged was Si Ji. He felt no disgust at all at the sight of the zombies, nor did he feel any fear of the impending danger. He simply observed the zombies shuffling forward and tearing apart passersby, concluding that they were stronger than an average adult male.

"Type D, Wailiang. Evil spirits that can control human actions."

Old Hu said, looking at the enemies.

"What should we do?"

As Qiu Hua asked, the group of evil spirits was gradually getting closer.

"Of course, we charge forward. Follow me."

"Are you serious!"

"Wait!"

Without giving anyone a chance to object, Old Hu took the lead and charged at the evil spirits. The others had no choice but to follow, as they now relied on this veteran.

Perhaps sensing the presence of living beings, the evil spirits all started running towards Old Hu and the others.

"Perfect timing!"

Old Hu showed no intention of dodging as the evil spirits charged at him. He raised his right hand, and a circle of arc light emitted from his tightly clenched right fist.

"Ha!"

The first evil spirit to approach was sent flying like a rag doll. This was not the end; the flying evil spirit collided with the ones behind it, causing a chain reaction that knocked down a large number of them, none of which could stand up again.

Their path ahead suddenly became clear.

"Amazing, so amazing!"

Lang Shuai was shocked by Old Hu’s performance and couldn’t help but exclaim.

"What was that? Your hand glowed!"

Qiu Wei also asked.

"Didn’t I say before? In the relay world, you can get various enhancements. This is one of them. It’s the Spirit Light Wave Fist from 'Yu Yu Hakusho.'"

"Is it really the Spirit Light Wave Fist? Does that mean I can learn it too?"

After hearing Old Hu’s explanation, Lang Shuai suddenly became excited.

"Yeah, by eliminating enemies, you can earn reward points and then exchange them for various things. But now is not the time to talk about this. We need to charge forward quickly."

Saying this, Old Hu’s fists moved continuously, sending the evil spirits flying one by one.

Thus, they moved forward. These evil spirits, only slightly stronger than ordinary people, could not harm Old Hu at all. However, the more they advanced, the more evil spirits gathered ahead.

"Annoying!"

After sending another evil spirit flying, Old Hu couldn’t help but complain.

These Type D evil spirits couldn’t harm him, but the others were not so fortunate. If there were too many, he couldn’t protect everyone.

After observing the surroundings, Old Hu found a small path between buildings where no evil spirits were visible.

"We’ll take the small path and go around."

After telling the others, Old Hu raised his right hand in a gun shape, and a light gathered at the tip of his index finger.

"Spirit Ball!"

A Spirit Ball shot out, the dazzling light ball instantly clearing the path ahead, creating a way forward.

The group quickly ran along the cleared path, breaking through the surrounding evil spirits.

Thanks to the path cleared by Old Hu’s Spirit Ball, their progress was relatively smooth, but the condition was that they could keep up with him.

Si Ji felt his vision darken, his limbs trembling. Then he fell to his knees, his already pale face even paler. Continuous running had drained his energy. His body was worse than he had expected. The small path was still visible, but he had no strength left to move.

Earlier, while running, Qiu Hua, who had been supporting him, was separated from the group. If she had still been supporting him, Si Ji might have been able to keep up, but it was more likely that both would have fallen behind. In this case, it might be better this way, Si Ji thought.

"Get up quickly!"

At this moment, Si Ji heard a voice, and Qiu Hua’s figure appeared in his field of vision.

After noticing that Si Ji had fallen behind, Qiu Hua ran back to him.

Qiu Hua couldn’t have been unaware of the danger, as countless evil spirits were gathering around them, but she didn’t hesitate to do this.

Si Ji’s entire weight was on Qiu Hua as she pulled him up.

"Sorry, I should have held on to you tightly."

Qiu Hua said calmly, then ran towards the small alley.

Because his strength had not yet recovered, Si Ji couldn’t say anything. At this moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Survival is the first rule of life, as his knowledge told him. So, placing oneself in danger to help others was strange, wasn’t it?

(Sacrifice oneself... to help others...)

Si Ji suddenly remembered something. Although he couldn’t recall the specific event, he remembered receiving selfless help from someone in the past.

At this moment, he felt a warmth in his heart.

The small alley was almost in sight, but at this moment, an evil spirit suddenly appeared from the side.

Qiu Hua’s reaction was timely, and even with someone on her back, she dodged the evil spirit’s attack. However, the time wasted allowed more evil spirits to attack.

If this continued, they would die.

Neither Si Ji nor Qiu Hua could escape.

(I can’t let this happen.)

Si Ji focused on the surrounding evil spirits, with only one thought in his mind.

"Stop!"

Si Ji raised his hand as if to stop the evil spirits.

This was just a simple gesture, which should not have affected the powerful evil spirits, but at that moment, the evil spirits stopped.

It was as if a pause button had been pressed, and the evil spirits really stopped as Si Ji had said.

Qiu Hua looked around in surprise, then tried to break through the surrounding evil spirits. This static state lasted for more than a second, and the evil spirits resumed their movement just as they were about to break through the encirclement.

"Ha!"

A shining spirit light blew away the evil spirits in front, clearing the path for Si Ji and the others. Old Hu had also arrived when Si Ji stopped the evil spirits. He moved like the wind, quickly reaching the two and carrying them back, leaving the evil spirits far behind.

After turning a few corners in the alley, they finally shook off the evil spirits. Old Hu then threw Si Ji and Qiu Hua to the ground.

"Kid, what did you do just now?"

Si Ji looked up at Old Hu.

"Probably."

Si Ji wasn’t sure what had happened, but the thought had appeared in his mind, and it happened.

"Is that so? No wonder this mission is like this."

"What’s wrong with the mission?"

Seeing Old Hu’s understanding expression, Qiu Wei asked.

"Nothing. I initially thought this mission was a bit too high for newbies, even with me. But now I know the reason."

"Because of me."

Si Ji’s gaze was calm as he looked at Old Hu.

"Because I have special abilities, the mission difficulty has increased."

"Right."

Old Hu nodded.

"You shouldn’t have come on this mission. With your innate conditions, there would be a group of people who love to invest in newbies to help you. Kid, what abilities do you have?"

"Unclear."

Si Ji didn’t hide anything, as there was nothing to hide.

"Oh, I forgot you have amnesia. That’s troublesome."

Old Hu scratched his head, clearly frustrated by Si Ji’s inability to contribute.

"What do we do now? If the mission difficulty has increased, aren’t we in more danger!"

Concerned about his own safety, Qiu Wei was very agitated.

"Panicking won’t help!"

Old Hu slapped Qiu Wei.

"With me here, this mission is not impossible."

"Uh, right, right."

Qiu Wei nodded obediently, but Si Ji could sense the gloomy mood coming from him, especially the resentment towards himself.

"I’ll go check the situation nearby. Wait here."

Saying this, Old Hu leaped onto a nearby wall and then onto the rooftop after a few more jumps.

Si Ji’s gaze left Old Hu, who had disappeared, and turned to Qiu Hua.

"...Thank you."

After thinking for a long time, Si Ji only managed to say this.

"It’s okay, and in the end, you helped me too. Thank you."

Qiu Hua smiled in response.

"Why?"

Si Ji still asked this question.

"The situation was dangerous, and you might have died too."

"You might have both been saved."

Qiu Hua’s smile remained.

"Besides, saving people doesn’t need a reason, right?"

Si Ji looked into Qiu Hua’s eyes. He could feel that she was not lying. Si Ji stared intently at her eyes, trying to understand something, and then a scene appeared in his mind.

A car speeding towards a child in the middle of the road, and just before the collision, the child was pushed away, and the car hit someone else.

This was the scene in Qiu Hua’s memory at the moment of her death.

(Did Qiu Hua die saving someone?)

Si Ji didn’t know what to say.

"What happened just now?"

Qiu Hua rubbed her forehead, as if she had a headache.

Si Ji thought for a moment and decided not to mention that he had seen her memory. Peeking into someone’s memory was a distasteful act, according to his knowledge, and he didn’t want her to dislike him. At the same time, he was constantly thinking about his special ability, which allowed him to see others’ memories.

"Strange."

Without any leads, Qiu Hua didn’t continue thinking and returned to the original topic.

"If I have to give a reason, you reminded me of my daughter, so I couldn’t just leave you."

"Daughter?"

Si Ji touched his face.

"Do I look like your daughter?"

"Ha ha ha."

For some reason, Si Ji’s question made Qiu Hua laugh, and she laughed heartily.