Chapter 28 Leaving the Province (Part Three)

The soldiers were loudly trying to calm the restless crowd, hoping to soothe their agitated hearts, if only a little.

“Let us out! Out of here!”

The soldiers, once the most respected among the people, had now become objects of hatred—even though they were only following orders, only trying to ensure the safety of citizens from other provinces. Under the crushing pressure of the apocalypse and the terror of the undead, the darkest corners of human nature were laid bare. In these desperate moments, the soldiers were seen as nothing but enemies standing in the way of survival.

Yet Mo Yu’s attention was fixed solely on the strange devices in the hands of several young soldiers.

Her brow, drawn tight with worry, gradually smoothed as memories surfaced. Casually, she cast a mental shield around Qing Xuan and then pressed forward with the crowd.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, the current detectors shouldn’t be able to sense Qing Xuan, protected as he was by her shield. As for herself, detection was simply impossible. After all, those with abilities were, in essence, ordinary people—their powers only made them a little more “unusual.”

She let the detectors sweep freely over herself and the boy in her arms.

Perfect—nothing happened.

Holding Qing Xuan close, Mo Yu briskly passed by the young officers guarding the provincial exit, but stopped just beyond the checkpoint.

She positioned herself near the edge of the bridge, careful not to block those desperate to escape. Narrowing her eyes, she stretched out her senses, searching for the threads of familiar minds—seeking Ling Zi and Li Jun among those who hadn’t yet emerged from the crowd.

Mo Yu swept her senses through once, then a second time just to be sure. Thankfully, both companions had made it out. It made sense—there hadn’t been nearly as many people at the exit yesterday. If not for her “cheating,” she would have been crushed; her thin arms and legs would never have made it through.

Relieved that her friends were safe, Mo Yu’s steps grew lighter as she hurried to the other end of the bridge.

Ten meters, twenty, forty…

Not far behind her, chaos erupted—machine-gun fire, shouts, and then…

The guttural roars of the undead!

Mo Yu ducked behind an abandoned car on the bridge, clutching Qing Xuan close as she peered through the rear window toward the exit.

The mutant zombie was none other than the heavily made-up woman who had been right behind Mo Yu earlier. Even beneath thick layers of makeup, her pallor and the sweat beading ceaselessly at her brow had been impossible to hide. Mo Yu had simply assumed the woman was terrified, never imagining this outcome. After all, those at the front of the crowd were always the ones quickest to react and escape. For someone like her to hold out so long, it should have meant a failed mutation.

Though zombies posed little real threat to Mo Yu, she was still overcome with fear and disgust. Only when cutting them down could she force herself to adopt a cold, inhuman detachment; at all other times, just the sight of them made her stomach twist.

It was clear now—this zombie virus could not be contained.

The thick, bulletproof iron gates, erected overnight, began to close. Welders dangled in midair, sealing every last gap, desperate to block any possible weakness.

Hopeful and desperate, people pressed against each other—some lucky enough to escape, some crushed to death between the closing gates, their bodies fused forever into the metal as a cruel warning.

This was both a baptism of blood and the opening of the apocalypse.

Mo Yu leaned back against the not-so-soft seat, sitting quietly in the car. Suddenly, she felt lost.

A deep sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

The world had ended; she had been reborn—so what now? Was she meant to seek out her family? Yet if she’d wanted to go with them, she could have. Was she to avenge her past life? That was inevitable, but once she found her enemies, revenge would be swift. Was she to stop the apocalypse and save the world? She knew she was not capable of such a thing, nor did she have the heart for it. Her powers, limited as they were, would be exhausted with overuse. In a few years, she’d likely be forced to take a back seat anyway.

Her only real motivation for fleeing the city had been to preserve her friendship with Ling Zi—to help her best friend survive.

Was she really meant to simply relive the end of the world, only to die alone, spent and powerless?

No! She wouldn’t resign herself to such a fate.

With her first goal set as finding her family, and her second as punishing those who had wronged her, Mo Yu quietly added a new, hidden objective: to find a reliable man and start a family in this shattered world.

Turning to glance out the window, she met Qing Xuan’s large, gentle eyes staring quietly up at her. She patted her forehead—how could she have forgotten him?

Well, another secret goal: to raise Qing Xuan well.

He was a gift from fate, after all.

Though at the moment, Mo Yu felt that fate was anything but kind.

The bridge stretched for a kilometer—one end bound to death, the other to new beginnings; one to despair, the other to hope.

Those who made it across had a chance to live; those who didn’t, only death awaited.

The ten-meter wide bridge was crammed with abandoned cars of every color and make—evidence of choices made in panic. In this new era, where constant movement was the only way to survive, cars were invaluable.

Mo Yu longed to drive—it would be far better than running—but one look at the blocked road made her abandon any such lazy thoughts.

Glancing at the few people who had escaped nearby, she saw some already turning—surely they had been bitten.

She never wanted to see such revolting creatures again, so she clutched Qing Xuan and hurried onward, hoping to reach the next province’s entry before it closed.

She’d meant to use her “teleportation” ability, but her mind only flashed a glaring message:

“Energy depleted! Beep!”

Damn it.

Clearly, she was weaker than she cared to admit.