He turned to look at Lu Wanyin and Chu He and said,
"These aren't actual infected; they are all being controlled by a more powerful entity."
When Jiang Huai said this, Lu Wanyin's body shuddered slightly. Jiang Huai noticed that her face had gone a bit pale.
"Do you mean..."
Though he didn't want to tell Lu Wanyin, the truth was undeniable. Jiang Huai nodded, "This cinema has become the beast's nest."
Even with her mental preparation, Lu Wanyin's body began to tremble slightly. But clearly, someone else in the room was even more scared than her.
With a thud, Chu He sat straight down on the floor.
Jiang Huai glanced at him and saw that his gaze was vacant, obviously stunned.
"The beast's nest... damn it... why am I so unlucky!"
Lu Wanyin swallowed, her voice deep and indifferent as she said, "I'm fine."
She seemed to force herself back into her usual cold demeanor. But Jiang Huai could hear the fear in her tone.
"Lu Wanyin." Jiang Huai placed a hand on her shoulder and made her look at him.
"Yes, I'm here."
Lu Wanyin slowly raised her head, her eyes avoiding his gaze, as though she didn't want him to see her inner fear. But it was clear from her face.
"We're partners, right?"
"Yes..."
"So now I'm asking you for something."
Lu Wanyin tilted her head in confusion.
"I'm going to find Mo Yu and tell her about this. She should be able to deal with the beast. You need to take Chu He back to the storage room we were just in."
"No."
Lu Wanyin interrupted Jiang Huai.
"Don't think I don't know what you're planning," she said, raising her hand to grab Jiang Huai's collar. "I don't know how you killed that beast that night or how you saved me, but don't think you're pushing me aside."
At that moment, Jiang Huai realized.
Lu Wanyin wasn't really foolish; she understood everything and clearly remembered the fact that she had died that night.
But she had chosen to remain silent and trust, waiting for Jiang Huai and Yue Qinshan to explain.
Though guilty, Jiang Huai had made a promise to Yue Qinshan.
This matter couldn't be told to Lu Wanyin, at least not for now.
"Ah?! Big brother, you killed a beast!?"
Chu He grabbed the main point, and at that moment, his hopeless life was reignited by Jiang Huai.
"You must save me from here!"
"I don't have that ability."
Jiang Huai shook his head, while Lu Wanyin grabbed his sleeve.
"I've escaped countless times. I won't run now. Let me stay with you."
Looking into Lu Wanyin's determined eyes, Jiang Huai could only sigh silently.
"Fine." Then he looked at Chu He, "What about you? Do you want to stay with us or return to the storage room to wait for rescue?"
Chu He was caught in an internal battle, but after a long moment, he made up his mind and gritted his teeth, "Big brother! I'll stay with you! As long as you don't mind that I'm useless!"
His reaction surprised Jiang Huai, but maybe it was because, rather than hiding in the storage room alone, it would be safer to stick with people who could fight.
Having made his decision, the three of them walked in the direction Mo Yu had left.
Along the way, they encountered some infected and even saw two dead awakened ones, likely members of the Fearless Squad.
"How could this happen... they weren't rookies like me."
Chu He trembled with fear as he looked at his fallen comrades, now cold corpses.
"Too much experience can sometimes lead to rigid thinking."
Jiang Huai crouched beside the two awakened bodies and saw that their skulls had been suddenly attacked—most likely ambushed.
Perhaps they thought they'd cleanly dealt with the infected, but little did they know, those infected had been controlled by a beast from the start.
Next to the two bodies were piles of infected corpses, dismembered, their limbs and heads severed, the heads cut into multiple pieces.
Jiang Huai and the others knew this was the work of Mo Yu.
And perhaps, this was the only thing the captain could do for her squad members now.
"We need to find Mo Yu quickly. The beast's influence is spreading, and soon, simply sealing off the cinema or mall might not be enough."
Jiang Huai said.
Though he had severed his connection with the blue threads, he could still feel the beast's presence above, through the ceiling.
It was expanding its nest.
Just then, as Jiang Huai stood up, a massive fist shattered the wall where he had been standing.
The owner of that fist was a bloated, terrifying infected. As it shattered the wall, its fist swung straight toward Jiang Huai's head.
Things happened too fast.
Even Lu Wanyin couldn't stop it in time.
But to Jiang Huai, everything seemed in slow motion, and he had more than enough time to avoid the punch.
But he didn't.
He just slightly turned his head to look at the punch and remained still.
The next second...
The punch landed hard on Jiang Huai's face, sending him flying across the room.
Jiang Huai's body crashed through several walls before slamming into the ground.
"Jiang Huai!"
Lu Wanyin had already drawn her scythe. Though the infected was powerful, it was relying on surprise, and facing Lu Wanyin head-on, it stood no chance.
After slicing the bloated infected's body apart, it exploded, sending blood and mucus flying.
Chu He, disgusted, dropped to his knees, vomiting uncontrollably.
Lu Wanyin, however, wasted no time and immediately dashed through the walls Jiang Huai had been thrown through.
But after passing through the walls, she didn't find Jiang Huai's figure.
"...Jiang Huai."
Lu Wanyin stood frozen in place, her pupils trembling slightly.
At that moment, Jiang Huai had already flipped onto the ceiling.
The punch from the infected had been painful, but that was all.
In fact, it gave him the chance to act freely.
These puppet-like infected were evolving.
And their evolution was incredibly fast, from humanoid beings to completely monstrous forms. The beast continued to drain energy from humans, turning them into infected, and then injecting that power into the puppets, making them stronger and stronger.
For now, Lu Wanyin could handle the infected, but if they delayed too long, things would get worse.
So Jiang Huai decided to confront the beast himself.
The space above the ceiling was larger than he expected.
The cinema was on the top floor of the mall, but above it, there was another layer, its purpose unclear—now, it had completely become the beast's breeding ground.
Though the cinema wasn't large, it was the weekend's prime time.
Countless corpses were stacked in the layer, waiting to be transformed.
Looking at the corpses, all connected by blue threads, Jiang Huai twisted his neck.
At that moment, a long knife was suddenly pressed against the back of his neck.
"You really are not right."
Mo Yu's cold voice came from behind.