When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 277: One Minute Left

Chapter 277: One Minute Left

"Zombies?" Jin Jiuchi mouthed the foreign word with an intrigued look. "What is that? Can they be eaten?"

Gu Luoxin’s jaws dropped in sheer astonishment, speechless by how oblivious Jin Jiuchi was. "You... how can you not know zombies? They’re really famous, you know. Especially after—"

BANG!

Shen Nianzu forcefully knocked the door down and snapped at them, "Stop talking and search the office first! I will look for the map. Xinxin, find the car key. Da Shen, be on the lookout!"

Gu Luoxin immediately forgot what he was about to say and rushed into the office alongside Shen Nianzu. Together, they turned the small space upside down and scoured every nook and cranny in search of anything useful. Jin Jiuchi stood in front of the door, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the distance. Why did it feel like... the speed at which that creature was coming at them had become faster? Was it because of the commotion they caused earlier?

"Gotcha!" Gu Luoxin triumphantly exclaimed as he snatched up the car key from one of the bottom drawers. His elation, however, was short-lived as he glanced at the time, panicking, "F–Four and a half minutes left!"

Meanwhile, Shen Nianzu scoured the last drawer and cursed under his breath. "No maps, only a travel brochure. But I guess this will have to suffice. We can examine it in the car as I drive. Let’s move!"

The two of them rushed out of the office. Shen Nianzu hollered at Jin Jiuchi who was staring at God-knows-what, looking as if he was daydreaming. "We’re heading to the car now! Keep up!"

Jin Jiuchi tore his gaze away from the direction of the disgusting smell and jogged toward the car, following Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin. "Nian’er, Nian’er, they’re closing in on us. Fast."

The three of them bounded into the car, with Shen Nianzu in the driver seat, Jin Jiuchi in the front passenger seat and Gu Luoxin seated in the back. The first thing Shen Nianzu did was to check the fuel gauge and a sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw it was still halfway full. With the engine purring to life, he turned his attention to Jin Jiuchi, realizing that he had missed something amidst the flurry. "What were you saying earlier?"

As it turned out, he did not need an answer because right after that, a figure entered their line of sight. It was no more than a dark silhouette at first, until they staggered into the range of the street lamp’s dim glow. It was then that they discerned it was a man, along with the gruesome details. He had blood splattered all over his body, his skin ashen gray with eerie blue veins snaking beneath, his eyes opaque and murky, and his mouth... his mouth was smeared with dried blood and dripping with thick yellow saliva. That was—

"AHHH IT’S A ZOMBIE!!!" Gu Luoxin screeched on top of his lungs.

Wrong move. Because as soon as his scream reverberated through the air, more and more silhouettes appeared from a far distance, staggering and jerking their stiff limbs towards them. Shen Nianzu cursed and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, expertly swerving the ordinary sedan into a sharp drift as he accelerated away from the approaching horror.

"Oh? So that’s a zombie?" Jin Jiuchi stuck his face to the window as he took in the man’s full appearance with a look full of wonder.

Shen Nianzu slapped him with the travel brochure without taking his gaze off the road, his hand gripping the wheel. "Read this and locate the train station for us!" Upon seeing the zombie getting close to them, Shen Nianzu gritted his teeth, floored the accelerator harder and bulldozed his way forward, hitting the creature and sending him flying in the air!

With the car on full speed, they finally got a wider view at the entire park and holy shit... there were zombies everywhere! And they were all chasing after their car now!

"Why didn’t you tell us there are so many of them, Da Shen?!" Gu Luoxin demanded in tears. In spite of that, he still did not forget to report the time, "T–Three minutes and fourteen seconds!"

"Can you count the number of fish in the whole market with your nose alone?!" Jin Jiuchi retorted with displeasure. He fumbled to open the brochure, his excellent eyesight coming to play amidst the dark. He had half a mind to notice how the paper appeared weathered with yellowed edges as if it was more than a decade old, when his attention was quickly diverted by the picture of a map that overtook the whole page. "Oh, the office is close to the exit of the park and Chrono Junction Express... is two blocks away from here!"

"Good!" Shen Nianzu mercilessly crashed the car into the zombies that stood in his way and forcibly opened a path ahead. "Keep leading me there!"

When there were only two minutes and twenty seconds left, their car finally exited the park. Yet it was still too early for them to rejoice because... zombies! There were zombies everywhere lounging in the dark and desolate streets! Upon hearing the sound of rumbling engines and tires skidding sharply across asphalt, they immediately snapped to attention and chased after the vehicle with a single-minded devotion!

Gu Luoxin shuddered violently when he turned back to look at the crowd of zombies who were hot on their trail, with their ferocious expression and snapping jaws. His small animal instinct was quivering in fear, on the verge of tears. "Oh my God, have we been stranded into the world of Train to Busan?!"

"Train to... where?!" Jin Jiuchi hollered in response, but he was promptly hit by Shen Nianzu, who was gritting his teeth in the mixture of anger, frustration and alarm.

"Focus! Where is the train station?!"

Jin Jiuchi could already see the glowing sign on a tall building written ’Chrono Junction Express’ from where he was sitting, so he quickly pointed Shen Nianzu to the destination. "We’re getting close, Nian’er! Just a little bit more!"

When their car pulled over sharply in front of the station, only one minute and two seconds was left. Shen Nianzu did not even turn off the engine as he burst out of the door and rushed toward the station, with Jin Jiuchi and Gu Luoxin by his side and a horde of growling zombies behind.

Just the mere sight of those mindless creatures was already enough to make the weak piss their pants out of fear. But Jin Jiuchi actually barked out a laugh as he sprinted forward with all of his strength, his powerful limbs flexing under the cover of the clothes. "Ahhh, this is so fun!!!"

"Fun, your ass!" Shen Nianzu cursed under his breath as he swung his transparent blade to cut off the zombie who had gotten too near. Behind him, Gu Luoxin also used his bandages prop to bind a handful of zombies before tossing them to a place far away. As Jin Jiuchi was the fastest among them, he gradually took the lead in approaching the gate, punching and kicking the zombies who were attempting to pounce on him, even baring his teeth alongside them.

Spotting the approaching entrance, Gu Luoxin finally felt a deep sense of relief welling up within his chest. There was still one minute left, they would definitely make it in time!

But at that moment...

A small item suddenly flew out from within the station to land near Gu Luoxin’s feet. It was round and gleaming back with the safety pin that had been pulled off beforehand. It was none other than a grenade, ready to detonate in the next second!

Gu Luoxin’s smile instantly froze on his face. What...?

In front, Shen Nianzu’s expression twisted into one of utter horror, "Xin—"

BOOM!

The grenade exploded and a crimson pillar of fire roared to the sky, blasting off the nearest horde of zombies along with Gu Luoxin into pieces of bloody meat and broken bones. The impact of the explosion was powerful enough to send Shen Nianzu flying. He reflexively shielded his vitals as his body flew in midair, only to be caught by Jin Jiuchi before he could crash to the ground.

Jin Jiuchi’s eyes pierced through the blazing fire and thick fumes to land on the center of the explosion. Just now, upon hearing Shen Nianzu’s horrified exclamation, he had turned just in time to watch Gu Luoxin’s body being blown into countless lumps of charred flesh that splattered across the road before the surrounding zombies hastily scrambled to grab them for themselves like a pack of ravenous wolves. It was only for a split second, but the horror in Gu Luoxin’s eyes seemed to have been carved into his mind for eternity.

A loud ringing noise filled his ears and his initial joy quickly faded to be replaced with utter confusion, his mind still struggling to process the shocking turn of events.

What... has just happened?

Xinxin died? Just like this? Am I dreaming right now?

However, he had watched every single detail of Gu Luoxin’s death with his own eyes, so he could not even fool himself that his brain was making things up. The person who had just been joking around with him, who had been talking and running with him just moments ago... had died without his corpse intact. Right before his very eyes.

"No... no!" Shen Nianzu was nearly hysterical, his eyes turning bloodshot and manic. He wouldn’t have been able to stand on his own feet were it not for Jin Jiuchi holding him up. "This can’t be happening... this is not possible!"

Jin Jiuchi could no longer tell if the tremor he felt was from Shen Nianzu’s body or his own. Everything had happened so suddenly that he was caught off guard, making him feel as if he was trapped in a surreal dream. He swallowed past his constricted throat and was about to say something – anything – to Shen Nianzu, when all of a sudden, the hair on the back of his neck stood on its end.

Danger! His instinct warned.

"Nian’er!" Without even thinking, he wrapped Shen Nianzu in his arms, desperately trying to cover the jade doll from head to toe. His lips pulled up into a ferocious snarl, his entire body tense in the preparation to fight. Alas, nothing could ever prepare him for what was coming next.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!!

The rapid sound of a machine gun reverberated through the air as the bullets took down zombies after zombies, sending them toppling to the ground in a twitching mess.

Witnessing this, Jin Jiuchi’s pupils shrunk and he scrambled to press Shen Nianzu to the ground, but he was half a beat too late for the bullets landed squarely on his back, three or four in quick succession, and the impact caused him to jerk forward. Numbness spread over his chest, and he could feel blood seeping out of the wounds at an alarming speed. Yet his whole attention was solely focused on Shen Nianzu, whose purple eyes were gazing at him with utter hollowness. "...Jin Jiuchi?"

Jin Jiuchi attempted to speak, only to be deterred by the liquid gurgling out of his throat. He turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"JIN JIUCHI!!!"

Run... Jin Jiuchi wanted to tell him. Run away from here, Nian’er!

However, before he could utter those words, a bullet pierced him right on the head, breaking his skull open like a burst watermelon, and then everything turned dark.