Minh Ha clearly knew what sound that was.
After dying, the pseudo-ability users would also turn into zombies, even more dangerous than ordinary zombies.
Their bones would stretch out, growing taller than when they were alive, and their abilities would become stronger.
According to the book, these eight pseudo-ability users were killed by Xu Chi.
So after these corpses woke up, all of them became ability zombies. With their team now, it was basically impossible to fight back!
Minh Ha turned and ran, shouting loudly as she ran down the stairs, "Go! Hurry! There are so many zombies! Move!"
Huong Vu, having just treated Tu Thuy Lang's injuries, reacted instantly, "Is the car still drivable?"
"The windshield is broken, but it starts. I'll start the car." Tu Thuy Lang, true to his special forces training, leapt up and ran outside without hesitation.
The two remaining male team members looked anxiously at the stairs.
Huong Vu decisively drew the dagger at her side. "You two get to the car, don't waste time!"
"Understood." The two male team members also turned and ran.
Huong Vu did not run away. Instead, she went to the top of the stairs.
Once Minh Ha had descended, Huong Vu grabbed her hand and dashed out, "Are you okay?"
Minh Ha's eyes darkened as she looked at Huong Vu pulling her along. She wished she could raise the dagger, but her mouth softened as she replied, "I'm fine."
They rushed outside. Tu Thuy Lang had turned the car around and, upon hearing the door slam, pressed the accelerator without hesitation.
The sound of the car fading into the distance was accompanied only by the continued "crackling" sounds, nothing else.
The instinctive sense of danger had been dispelled.
Pho Noan Yi exhaled, relaxing her hold on the "rations" she was clutching.
She realized he hadn't moved at all. Huh?
The sugar figurine wasn't moving anymore; it could be eaten, right?
Pho Noan Yi leaned close to his chest.
So sweet, just smelling it made her mouth water.
She opened her mouth, ready to bite down.
A voice in her head screamed again: Do not eat humans!
Pho Noan Yi froze. If she didn't eat humans, then what else could she eat?
She was so hungry.
Sob…
Pho Noan Yi stiffened in the darkness, her mind in chaos. She was truly starving.
The sound of bones stretching had ceased, replaced by hoarse "grrrrr" cries.
Nearby, they echoed repeatedly, loud and numerous.
Pho Noan Yi sensed instinctively that this place was unsafe.
She couldn't understand what the sounds were saying, but she felt they were searching for her sugar figurine. They wanted to steal her rations!
She clutched Xu Chi tightly.
This is mine!
Heavy, slow footsteps approached, as if they had smelled it.
They shook the three-door wooden cabinet violently. They didn't know how to open it, only sensing that the cabinet emanated the scent of food.
Through the rattling, Xu Chi woke up.
In the darkness, his head kept bumping against the helmet, while someone else held him tightly.
Pain surged through his body, the pain of torn flesh, of broken bones.
Pain so intense he could barely react.
In the darkness, only his breathing could be heard, along with the faint "jingling" of the bell-shaped earring on his left ear.
Who was holding him?
The cabinet was being battered, and outside, zombies growled.
Xu Chi could understand that they were hungry.
The minds of these zombies were far simpler than humans, with only one thought: so hungry.
Xu Chi possessed a Shadow System ability, not only allowing him to hear the hunger cries of zombies but also the darkest thoughts in humans—utterly cruel and disgusting.
The ridiculous part was that when his ability infused into a dagger, it became a terrifying weapon against humans.
But fresh blood, full of his Shadow System energy, was a delicacy for zombies and could even stimulate them to enhance their abilities.
After Xu Chi awakened his ability, he was thrilled—until the sky filled with countless petty dark thoughts. Only then did he realize this power was not a blessing, but a curse.
He wore a small bell-shaped earring on his left ear just to block out these thoughts.
When overwhelmed by the dark thoughts, he could only shake his head continuously, forcing himself to focus on the jingling bell.
Why are they so noisy?
A soft, clear female voice sounded by his ear. Xu Chi froze. No, there was no breath beside him.
Who was speaking?
Another hoarse "grrr" came by his ear.
The distinctive zombie growl.
But unlike the other zombies, this growl wasn't "so hungry"—it said: Shut up!
A zombie, growling, and it said shut up?!
The growls outside were unaffected, continuing as before.
Xu Chi was stunned.
Wait, was he dreaming?
Pho Noan Yi had lost all patience.
She was still hungry and would never give up her rations.
She was stubborn!
She was determined to eat the sugar figurine, sharing with no one.
Pho Noan Yi leaned on the cabinet, wanting a quiet place to eat. These noises were too annoying.
She stood, grabbed Xu Chi's arm, lightly pulled him, hugged him, and lifted him onto her shoulder.
Xu Chi, upside down in the dark, began to question life itself.
What had just happened?
The world spun!
Damn it, I'll eat somewhere else, hmph!
The soft voice snorted playfully, with a cuteness that couldn't be described.
Finally, he realized what he was hearing was a voice from the heart.
He could hear the darkest human thoughts, and each heart spoke in its own voice. He could always tell who had the darkest inner self.
But this non-dark voice—how could he hear it?
Who?!
Xu Chi wanted to raise his head to see, to understand.
But his body was powerless; he couldn't lift his head.
Meanwhile, the person carrying him suddenly pushed the cabinet open and began to move.
His one intact foot brushed against something.
Soft, slightly bumpy.
Not entirely sure what it was.
Pho Noan Yi opened the cabinet, carrying her "rations," growling to protect her food:
Move aside!
The eight ability zombies weren't surrounding the cabinet yet.
Only two remained; the other six had disappeared.
They stood on either side like clumsy players in a game, one nudging, the other nudging.
The two teammates couldn't topple the cabinet.
Xu Chi saw the zombie's feet and reacted—it was one of the eight pseudo-ability users he had killed earlier.
Pho Noan Yi's growl surprised him.
Finally, he realized he was being carried by a zombie?
Zombies only knew to growl "so hungry," how could one speak?
How could he hear a voice from the heart?
The two zombies by the cabinet paid no attention to Pho Noan Yi's "foreign language." Right, they didn't understand it.
They lunged at Xu Chi hungrily.
Pho Noan Yi feared her rations would be stolen, impatiently struck the nearest zombie.
A gentle white light flashed from her fingertip; the zombie she touched cried miserably and retreated. It didn't die but froze in place.
Xu Chi, upside down, couldn't see this, only noticed the zombie being pushed aside.
The zombie on the other side lunged from behind Pho Noan Yi.
She turned, and Xu Chi on her shoulder swayed with her motion.
His head brushed the cabinet door, not strongly, but enough to make him dizzy.
Pho Noan Yi didn't know why she could emit white light, but it made the disgusting creatures retreat.
She was pleased.
Raising her hand again, gentle light flashed, and the other zombie cried miserably and retreated.
Pho Noan Yi looked imposing like a gang boss, proudly carrying her sweet "rations"—Xu Chi—walking like a sideways crab, staggering down the stairs.
Pho Noan Yi was short, petite, and had shrunk a little as a zombie.
She was about 1.6 meters tall, carrying Xu Chi, 1.86 meters, like a long ribbon draped over her shoulder, dragging it on the floor.
If Xu Chi didn't try to lift his head, he would have kissed the stairs all the way down.
Dizzy and overwhelmed, he managed to weakly say, "Put me down!"