225: Whether they run or not, they're beyond saving.

The two captains looked grim upon hearing this, but one still said, "There are two!"

"Injured by zombies?"

"...Yes!" Qi Bin said with great difficulty.

"Sigh... handle it yourselves then," Gu Xiheng said, shaking his head.

The faces of the three people in the team who had been injured by zombies turned pale. One of them, eyes filled with despair, muttered to himself, "No, no, I can't die. My mother is still waiting for me to go back. If I die, she won't survive either. No, no, I can't die..."

Suddenly, before anyone could react, the man's eyes became bloodshot, and with a distorted expression, he turned and bolted.

Gu Xiheng was the first to notice his movement. He instinctively pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the escaping man, ready to fire.

At that moment, a hand quickly reached out and stopped Gu Xiheng.

"Young General Gu, don't shoot!" Qi Bin said, his face full of conflict.

"He's going to turn into a zombie. He must be killed!"

"Don't!" Qi Bin hurriedly blocked him again.

"Don't kill him. He just doesn't want to die. Let him... live a little longer. One more zombie out of many won't make a difference anyway." Qi Bin was resolutely against Gu Xiheng executing his soldier.

Gu Xiheng had no choice but to put away his handgun. The escaping soldier had already run far away and soon vanished from sight.

The remaining two who were injured by zombies did not run; they didn't even move from their spots.

The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

They didn't run because they understood that they couldn't escape.

Whether they ran or not, they were beyond saving.

They simply set down their backpacks, distributing the food and water inside to the teammates beside them, and even removed their weapons.

"Captain Qi, go ahead!"

"Captain Cao!"

The two walked up to Gu Xiheng and the others, stretching out their necks and closing their eyes tightly. Their lips trembled, but they spoke firmly.

Qi Bin and Cao Leiyang gritted their teeth, unable to bring themselves to act.

Finally, they said, "You are still my soldiers right now. I cannot kill you. But the moment you truly turn into zombies, I will not hold back."

Upon hearing this, the courage they had mustered to face death dissipated. They slumped and silently retreated to the side, sitting on the ground without a word.

Qi Bin and the other captain didn't know what to say either; they could only pat the two on their shoulders in comfort.

For a moment, the atmosphere turned silent.

Everyone felt a sense of shared sorrow watching the two of them in their dejected state, simply waiting for death.

"Everyone is here now. Let's discuss entering the Tianou Safety Tower," Gong Qiuqiu said, breaking the silence.

The group finally began to talk to one another. Half an hour later, they decided to split into ten-person teams to look out for each other as they entered together.

"Alright, everyone is exhausted after this long day, and it's getting dark. Let's take some time to rest and set out tomorrow morning!" Gu Xiheng said in a deep voice.

Everyone began looking for places to rest.

Gong Qiuqiu pulled Ai Yue aside and whispered, "Ai Yue, I think that woman named Jing Xi isn't simple. She seems very calculating. You must be careful when we enter the white mist tomorrow!"

Ai Yue hadn't expected Gong Qiuqiu to be so observant. After only a day together, he could already see what kind of person Jing Xi was.

"Don't worry. She's not simple, but I'm no pushover either. I'll be on my guard against her," Ai Yue said softly.

Seeing that Ai Yue was prepared, Gong Qiuqiu didn't say anything more.

Ai Yue closed her eyes, quietly reflecting on Jing Xi's behavior throughout the day.

It seemed that when they first met, there had been a flash of surprise in her eyes. However, she had masked it so quickly that Ai Yue wasn't sure if she had misseen it.

Afterward, every word and action from Jing Xi gave her an illusion—as if the woman knew her very well, rather than it being their first meeting.

But in this life, they were clearly meeting for the first time. Jing Xi shouldn't know her, yet her demeanor wasn't that of a stranger; she always acted with a certain familiarity toward her.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue's heart skipped a beat as an absurd thought surfaced.

She quickly dismissed it as impossible. It was already strange enough that her whole family were Rebirth-takers; how could Jing Xi be one too?

But on second thought, if her whole family had been reborn, it wasn't impossible for Jing Xi to have been reborn as well.

Could it be... she was reborn too?

That would explain why she held such immense hostility toward her, and why she used Cheng Siyu and Gu Xitian to deal with her.

The more Ai Yue thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Jing Xi was a Rebirth-taker.

Her gaze turned cold. Fine, if that was the case, she could ask her directly why she had harmed her so much in the previous life, causing her to end up being devoured by others. How could she be so cruel?

If Jing Xi was a Rebirth-taker, Ai Yue could kill her without any burden on her conscience.

That night passed peacefully with nothing happening.

Hardly anyone slept through the night, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Consequently, when they woke up the next morning, everyone had dark circles under their eyes.

Everyone ate a simple meal. No one was in the mood for conversation. They finished eating in silence and were just about to put on their Protective Suits when two gunshots rang out—"Bang, bang!"

Everyone turned to look; it turned out those two had finally turned into zombies.

Qi Bin and Cao Leiyang had been guarding them the whole time. The moment they turned, the two captains still drew their guns and killed the companions they had spent day and night with.

Neither spoke. They placed the bodies into a pit they had dug in advance next to Chen Sheng's grave, letting them rest in peace.

With that done, everyone donned their Protective Suits and began walking step by step into the white mist.

Once inside, everyone's vision was filled with nothing but white. They couldn't even see the people right next to them. If they hadn't been holding hands, it would have been very easy to lose each other.

"Everyone hold hands and walk forward together. If anything happens, shout immediately," Gu Xiheng said.

Slowly, the group moved at a snail's pace. An hour passed without incident.

The white mist remained dense, and they still couldn't see the figures of those around them. If they weren't holding hands and talking, someone could have vanished without the others knowing.

Suddenly, a flash of red light flickered in front of Ai Yue. Instinctively, she launched an attack.

With a thud, something hit the ground. Ai Yue landed another attack on the same spot.

The white mist in that area began to churn as a low growl echoed, then vanished.

Everyone heard that growl. The familiar sound told them that there were definitely zombies around them, and in no small numbers.

Ai Yue's brow furrowed slightly. Her two strikes hadn't actually incapacitated the zombie; it had managed to escape.

This made her feel that the zombie just now was definitely not simple. It was very likely a Level 4 zombie, something they had never seen before.

Zombies below Level 3 couldn't withstand a single hit from Ai Yue without being paralyzed by electricity on the spot.

"Gong Qiuqiu, be careful. That zombie just now was likely Level 4! Don't let it get close."