I'm not sure if my expression wasn't serious enough, but Suo Tian glanced at me and suddenly burst out laughing.
I asked, puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing," he replied.
"If it's nothing, then what are you laughing at? Are you trying to change the subject?" I asked.
Suo Tian was about to respond when his expression suddenly changed.
He quickly composed himself, gripped his long blade tightly, and said, "Let's go."
Since he was holding something in his hand, he couldn't grab me, so he nudged me with his elbow instead.
I followed his gaze and immediately understood why he had changed his expression.
On the other side of the field, instead of the scattered walkers we had seen earlier, a massive horde of walkers was emerging from a distance.
They must have been in a lower-lying area, and the distance had muffled their sounds, making their appearance seem sudden.
I glanced in that direction and guessed that there must be a road nearby.
I realized that large hordes of walkers seemed to congregate and move along roads, attracting other walkers and growing larger as they went.
Suo Tian was moving quickly, and I was struggling to keep up.
As I mentioned earlier, the road was flanked by open fields, with occasional trees or haystacks blocking our view.
Now that we had passed the small woods, the fields were empty and offered no cover.
Walking on this road with Suo Tian made us visible to the massive horde of walkers.
"We...we don't need to run so fast. They won't catch up," I said, panting slightly as I tried to keep up with Suo Tian.
Suo Tian slowed down, glanced at me, and then surveyed the walkers, which had spotted us and were slowly moving in our direction.
"They don't need to rest," he said.
Suo Tian's reminder made me realize that the walkers' slow movements belied their advantage: they were tireless.
While we could run faster than them, we would eventually need to rest.
During that time, the walkers would continue to pursue us, gradually closing the gap.
Unless we could escape their line of sight, they would keep coming.
They were more persistent than glue!
Just as I was about to quicken my pace, Suo Tian suddenly stopped and scanned our surroundings.
He pointed to the field on our right and said, "Run that way."
This time, I didn't ask why.
When Suo Tian stopped and surveyed our surroundings, I realized that if we continued running forward, we would have to maintain a pace that kept us ahead of the walker horde.
Otherwise, even if we managed to evade them, we would still have to follow the same route as the walkers, since Yangyang and the others were waiting for us ahead.
Suo Tian's sudden change in direction must have been a plan to lead the walkers away from our original route, and then find a way to evade them.
After that, we could return to the road and continue on our way without worrying about the walkers.
The walkers weren't like us - they couldn't change direction or turn back.
They would stubbornly keep moving forward, chasing us relentlessly.
Sometimes, I thought that aside from their sheer numbers, the walkers weren't that difficult to deal with, as long as you could overcome your fear of them.
Following Suo Tian off the road and into the fields, I found that the snow had mostly melted, leaving behind mud that was sticky and difficult to walk through.
After just a few steps, I was struggling to move forward, my feet sinking into the mud.
My shoes were caked with mud, making every step a struggle.
The mud was not only disgusting but also incredibly heavy, and I couldn't seem to shake it off.
With each step, more mud would stick to my shoes, making me feel frustrated.
I looked up and saw that Suo Tian was already far ahead, his shoes only slightly muddy compared to mine.
I felt a bit annoyed, wondering if the mud was somehow discriminating against me.
I tried to shake off the mud, but it didn't work.
After a few more steps, I couldn't take it anymore and shouted to Suo Tian, "Can you slow down and wait for me?"
Suo Tian heard me and turned around, glancing back at the walkers in the distance before looking at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
I lifted my leg to show him the mud.
He sighed and walked towards me after taking a glance at my feet.
I noticed that Suo Tian was being careful where he stepped, unlike me.
He would look ahead and try to step on thicker snow patches.
He handed me the things he was carrying and then crouched down in front of me.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Get on my back. I'll carry you," he replied.
Looking at the mud caked on my shoes, I didn't hesitate and climbed onto Suo Tian's back with a grin.
Suo Tian's steps were steady, and even on the muddy field, he didn't stumble or lose his balance.
Of course, the ones who would stumble were usually the walkers.
As I looked at the scattered walkers shambling towards us, I was reminded of a time when I went shopping with friends and saw some young punks with brightly dyed hair.
They walked in a way that was just as unsteady and awkward as these walkers.
It was clear they hadn't been well-behaved.
Everyone has their own professional habits.
Writers always talk about novels, and computer people always discuss computers, regardless of whether others understand or not.
I'm a teacher, and I often relate what I see to education.
It's a habit that's hard to break, even in the apocalypse.
In reality, Suo Tian's decision to carry me was quite risky.
Aside from the horde of walkers behind us, the area ahead wasn't entirely safe either.
Small groups of walkers were also stumbling towards us.
I held Suo Tian's long blade, and he seemed confident about our safety, his expression calm and collected.
I didn't mention getting down, instead, I gripped the blade tightly.
"Suo Tian, you're the knight, and I'll take care of these walkers!" I said, gesturing with the blade towards the two walkers approaching us.
"The knight is you, and I'm the one being ridden," Suo Tian replied smoothly.
If it weren't for the walkers, I would have burst out laughing at his response.
But this wasn't the time to get distracted – our safety was my responsibility.
The two walkers in front were getting close, stretching out their decaying hands to grab us.
I swung the blade down, severing four arms in an instant.
The walkers didn't seem to feel pain; cutting off their arms was just like cutting off someone else's.
Without hesitation, I turned the blade around and struck at their heads, taking out two birds with one stone.
Watching their heads get chopped off, I felt a rush of satisfaction and thought to myself, "I'm so cool!"
Suo Tian's pace remained steady, and he even used a walker as a stepping stone to climb over.
I held up the blade, eager to show off my skills. "See that?"
"Yes, I saw it," Suo Tian replied, playing along.
I didn't say anything more, focusing on taking down the occasional walker that wandered too close.
The blade was a bit heavy, but it was well-balanced and long enough to deal with the walkers without getting too close.
As we walked, I took down nearly ten walkers that got too close.
We were almost at the end of the field, and since I was higher up on Suo Tian's back, I craned my neck to see what was ahead.
And that's when I got completely disoriented!
It was another village.
Given the trauma from the previous village, the sight of this one made me feel uneasy.
I patted Suo Tian's shoulder and gestured, "It looks like there's another village ahead. Do we need to go in?"
Suo Tian nodded in response.
"What if there are hordes of walkers inside?" I asked.
"Judging from the situation here, I don't think there will be too many walkers gathered inside," Suo Tian replied.
His assessments were always trustworthy.
I nodded and glanced back at the horde of walkers behind us.
They were moving slowly, and by now, they had only just reached the road we had been on, which was the dividing line between the two fields.
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