Chapter 1 The Rain

The rain grew heavier and heavier.

The moment the three of them stepped into the vegetable garden, the rain pouring down on them intensified suddenly. If the earlier rain was like beads falling off a broken string, now it was a real downpour.

Even thunder began to rumble again!

"Fuck!"

As lightning tore through the darkness, the three of them saw a scene almost identical to what they had seen from the second-floor window, and couldn't help but swear in unison.

Compared to the close-up view through the binoculars, what they saw now was the full picture.

The sight of human-shaped objects twisting and crawling on the ground, and severed limbs "swimming" in the muddy soil not far away, made their stomachs churn.

They couldn't help but gasp, clutching their daggers even tighter.

Unsure if the monsters in front of them would suddenly attack, the three of them cautiously walked towards the middle of the vegetable garden.

However, after nearly half a minute of vigilance, they realized that those things didn't seem to notice their presence at all.

They continued to crawl and roll around in the muddy, soft ground, basically ignoring the three of them. This slightly eased their tension.

"God, where did these… corpses come from?"

The further they went, the more shocking the sight became.

Wang Wenfei felt guilty even using the word "corpses." Aside from the few face-down, belly-up, relatively intact bodies, the rest of the struggling, broken limbs and remains in the garden barely deserved to be called scraps.

"Could this be… the former customers of this inn?"

A terrible thought surfaced in Leng Youyou's mind. As she spoke, she subconsciously turned her head, looking back towards where they had come from, and gasped.

Immediately after, they heard Leng Youyou imitate Madison's earlier outburst with a similar exclamation.

"Holy crap, this inn…"

When they had come to the inn that night in the rain, it had been too dark for them to take a good look at it.

But now, standing in the vegetable garden and looking back at the inn where they had been staying, Leng Youyou felt a chill run down her spine.

Occasional flashes of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing the full view of the inn.

The crumbling walls, the damaged roof, the mottled moss and withered vines covering the dilapidated building—this was the inn where they had been staying for the past few days?

Looking at the dilapidated windows on the walls, only one window in the middle still emitted a faint candlelight, and a figure stood at the window.

Yes, that was it.

This was the inn where they had been staying, and Julian's room window looked particularly conspicuous at that moment.

"This is…"

Wang Wenfei also turned her head and saw the terrifying scene. Just then, a thunderclap struck, and they saw Julian's window suddenly open. He stood at the window, his mouth opening and closing as if he were saying something.

Just as he opened his mouth, the thunder following the lightning drowned out the words he shouted.

Although they didn't hear exactly what Julian said, the way he frantically flashed the flashlight from the window signaled them.

"Run… quickly…"

Wang Wenfei instinctively read the meaning of Julian's flashing flashlight signal. At the same time, after the thunder, they finally heard his frantic shouts mixed in with the sound of the rain: "Danger! Run!"

"Careful!"

A flash of cold light caught the corner of Madison's eye. He immediately turned around and raised the dagger in his hand above Wang Wenfei, who was standing behind him.

The next second, a "clang" rang out, startling everyone. Madison had blocked an attack aimed at Wang Wenfei's head!

The dagger met the cold light, sparks flew, and everyone finally saw what was attacking them—a sharp, huge axe!

"Retreat!"

Madison pushed the two women away and stepped forward to fight the person wielding the axe.

But suddenly, he felt a pain in his ankle. Looking down, he saw a corpse, which had shown no reaction to them earlier, suddenly grabbing his foot!

"Madison!"

Seeing this, Wang Wenfei quickly bent down to help Madison escape. She took out her dagger and was about to cut off the rotten hand with exposed finger bones that was tightly gripping Madison's ankle.

Leng Youyou also immediately stepped in to help Madison block the axe that was swinging towards them. The impact sent Leng Youyou staggering backward, her dagger flying out of her hand, and her entire hand was numb.

"We're done for!"

Julian stood upstairs and watched the scene unfold, his eyes widening in horror.

The sudden attack and the direction of the attack had unknowingly disrupted their plan to retreat.

Another flash of lightning illuminated a figure wearing a raincoat and holding a large wood-splitting axe, but his face was obscured.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the person in the raincoat with the axe, the person kicked shut the small gate leading from the vegetable garden to the backyard, blocking their escape route.

"Not good! Follow me!"

Julian immediately dropped the binoculars, grabbed his flashlight and dagger, and jumped out of the second-floor window. The other three didn't even have time to react!

*

Meanwhile, as Mingmei confirmed that the small gate was closed, the corpses and body parts in the vegetable garden also moved with her, rushing towards the three of them, forcing them to move further and further away from the garden gate.

"Get out of here!"

Wang Wenfei had just helped Madison remove the corpse from his foot and hadn't had time to stand up straight when she suddenly felt a chill on her neck. A sticky, cold sensation appeared on her neck. The next second, the disgusting sensation disappeared, and a tearing pain on her scalp followed!

Then, Madison's roar came from above her.

The moment the pain disappeared, Wang Wenfei looked up and saw Madison holding an arm in his hand. Several strands of hair were hooked on the curved, decaying fingers. Wang Wenfei instantly realized that she had just been attacked!

Her hair!!

"Use the flashlight to help me."

Madison said this to Wang Wenfei, who had already freed herself. Wang Wenfei immediately understood and quickly swept the flashlight across the vegetable garden, soon focusing on Leng Youyou, who was dodging the axe and stepping on the soft, muddy soil not far away.

After confirming the direction, Madison and Wang Wenfei ran towards Leng Youyou.

If Leng Youyou hadn't helped them attract the enemy's fire and stall for time, they didn't know what the situation would be like now.

Madison, with his legs freed, immediately ran towards Leng Youyou, who was being chased by the person in the raincoat.

"Ah!"

While dodging desperately, Leng Youyou suddenly felt something trip her, and she stumbled, falling straight to the ground.

As she fell, she looked down and saw what had tripped her—a rotten human face. The front half of her foot had stepped into the person's open mouth!

Leng Youyou: Crap!