421: They all consider themselves indigenous

A moment later, Shen Bei saw the people there.

More precisely, it was "people."

There were three people in total. Although their clothes varied, they all wore helmets and gloves, knee pads and elbow pads. Their skin was covered by long sleeves and pants, and they carried large backpacks, presenting themselves as post-apocalyptic survivors.

They were advancing very cautiously, as if a gaping, bloody maw could burst from the shadows at any moment to bite and devour them all.

Shen Bei hid in a concealed corner, intending to observe their faces after they left the alley.

However...

The three people there noticed Shen Bei.

The leader made a gesture, and the other two stopped. Then, the leader shouted, "Who's there?"

It seemed they had genuinely noticed Shen Bei, rather than just bluffing.

The leader continued, "You're a living person, aren't you? We're all survivors; there's no need to hide. Please come out."

Since things had come to this, there was no need to continue hiding.

Shen Bei walked out.

Only then did both sides clearly see each other's faces.

To Shen Bei's surprise, the leader was none other than Sun Wu!

The scar across his face was too obvious!

As for the other person in the trio, Shen Bei had no impression of him.

But the last one was also a familiar face: Fu Jian!

It would be fine if Sun Wu and the other person didn't recognize him.

But looking at Fu Jian's expression, why did Shen Bei feel like he didn't recognize him either?

His expression and gaze were like an African person seeing a Chinese person—full of curiosity and observation.

Shen Bei tilted his head slightly, his heart filled with confusion: What's this Fu Jian guy playing at? Doesn't he recognize me?

A strange and unsettling thought then arose.

"Could they have been brainwashed?"

Shen Bei's heart tightened. After all, when Shen Bei woke up, there had indeed been a mental invasion attempting to stir his Divine Sense and mind.

It was just that Shen Bei's mental resistance was too high.

He had completely fended it off.

Who he was, what he came to do, his positioning and purpose were all very clear.

Looking at Sun Wu, Fu Jian, and the others, they seemed entirely like native inhabitants...

Things were becoming increasingly interesting.

At this moment, Sun Wu gazed at Shen Bei and then said, "A face I haven't seen before. Did you come from outside the town?"

Outside the town?

"That's right," Shen Bei replied without any hesitation.

Playing a role, are we?

Let's play together!

"We found some heavily mutilated Living Dead on another street earlier. Was that your doing?" he continued to ask.

Shen Bei hesitated slightly, then nodded at him, admitting directly, "It was me."

"With all due respect, for the sake of our safety here, I must ask one more question. I hope you don't lie; I have a way to detect lies."

Sun Wu's person asked solemnly, "Are you a member of the Apocalypse Sect?"

As soon as he said this, the two people beside him clearly became more vigilant, as if people in the real world had encountered a follower of the Apocalypse Cult.

Shen Bei didn't know why Sun Wu asked this. Was it related to the dream?

This reaction was quite unusual.

Yet, the three people before him seemed to categorize Apocalypse Sect members with the Living Dead, viewing them as threats to their survival.

Shen Bei vaguely realized that he might soon hear some information that would overturn his common sense.

"I am not a member of the Apocalypse Sect," Shen Bei answered without reservation.

He wasn't one to begin with, so he was being open and honest!

"I'm sorry, please say it again," Sun Wu said patiently.

"Can't you detect lies? Isn't saying it once enough?" Shen Bei retorted.

Sun Wu shook his head, "This concerns the Apocalypse Sect; we must confirm it repeatedly."

Shen Bei sighed. It seemed they really had been brainwashed.

Such immersive role-playing!

Shen Bei didn't think much of it and simply indulged him, repeating his previous words. After hearing them, Sun Wu finally relaxed: "I am truly sorry; I misunderstood you. I will compensate you well later, so please forgive me."

"I don't mind," Shen Bei said truthfully.

Because when it came to suspicion, Shen Bei felt the same way.

Shen Bei also harbored suspicions about them.

People like them, who were brainwashed, would inevitably believe they were natives of this world.

Subconsciously, they would think they had been living in this world for a long time.

People who survive for extended periods in a zombie apocalypse-like hellhole such as this are either already insane or on the verge of becoming so.

Fu Jian might be a bit better, but Sun Wu and the others were probably no longer psychologically sound individuals.

To put it bluntly, they were very likely all "people with mental issues."

Especially Sun Wu, whose personality already had flaws in the real world.

Now he looked like he wanted to bury the hatchet with Shen Bei, but he might turn around and attack with a ferocious expression.

One must never let down their guard.

However, Shen Bei curiously asked, "If I were a member of the Apocalypse Sect, would there be trouble?"

"Big trouble," one of the people opposite him spoke up. "Don't you know? Apocalypse Sect members are a group of evil heretics. They don't care if they die, but they are abnormally obsessed with harming fellow humans. Once those guys catch you, you'll become a living sacrifice for their blood rituals, to be burned to ashes in the ceremony."

"Ah?" Shen Bei was somewhat shocked.

Whether in the underground or on the earth's surface, he hadn't heard of the Apocalypse Church doing such things.

"Although it sounds unbelievable, this is the current state of the world, and there are all sorts of crazy people," the person continued. "Apocalypse Sect members are even worse among the insane; they act in groups. I heard they sacrifice captured people to the Evil God of the Abyss in exchange for power to strengthen their evil cultivation."

What?

What is all this?

Shen Bei's mouth twitched. What kind of story background was this?

According to Shen Bei's understanding, the Da Shouzi who constructed this dream could not have generated it out of thin air, or rather, just made things up as he pleased.

At the very least, it needed to be combined with brainwashing to establish a dream background.

The best way to obtain this background material was to adapt existing stories.

"Could it be... the Apocalypse Sect in the underground was once evil, and now they've been whitewashed?"

Shen Bei pondered, and only this answer seemed somewhat plausible.

"Alright, this is no place to linger," Sun Wu interjected at this point. "Let's go back to the shelter first."

There's a shelter?

Good heavens.

Truly brainwashed; they intend to live here indefinitely, don't they?

Shen Bei didn't hesitate and followed along directly.

Although Shen Bei hadn't been brainwashed and his thinking differed from Sun Wu and the others.

If things went wrong, they might very well see him as an anomaly.

But in this hellhole, no matter how terrifying the threat posed by humans, it was far less troublesome than the Living Dead.

If they had any schemes, Shen Bei would deal with them; it was better than wandering aimlessly outside.

At this moment, Sun Wu took out a map from his backpack, looked at it, and checked it.

Then he put away the map, entered a room, and lifted a stove pit.

Inside was an underground passage, and he was the first to crawl in.

Shen Bei couldn't help but click his tongue. So that's it; by using the underground passage, they wouldn't be attacked by the Living Dead, at least.

The map just now likely detailed the routes of the underground passages.

He just didn't know if these passages were dug by them or if they were pre-existing.

But he guessed they were pre-existing; otherwise, Sun Wu wouldn't have been comparing them to a map.

The others followed suit one by one.

The underground passages here were surprisingly "clean." They seemed to have been abandoned for a long time; although there was a lot of trash, there wasn't much unpleasant odor.

Sun Wu led the way, and they all had fire strikers and candles, so there was no need to fear insufficient light.

At the same time, Sun Wu turned his head and asked Shen Bei, "Let's exchange names first. I'm 'Grey Wing.'"

"This person also just arrived in town with you," Sun Wu said, pointing to Fu Jian, and continued, "He's Gua Zi."

Shen Bei: ???

What the hell!

Have you even forgotten your real names?