018 Haunting in Broad Daylight? The Special Mutant!

Xue Feng’s voice echoed through the sewer, causing An Xiaowei and You Haoyun to freeze in surprise. What classic adult film lines! Was Brother Xue really planning to take care of this woman right here and now? But as the saying goes, when your mind is dirty, everything you see is dirty. Xue Feng, however, harbored none of their thoughts. His only intention in saying those words was to persuade Nie Xiaoyue to join his team and help him build a shelter.

Nie Xiaoyue understood his meaning. After a long moment of consideration, she finally nodded hesitantly. “All right, but you must promise not to take advantage of me.”

“Of course,” Xue Feng agreed readily. He wasn’t some lust-driven maniac. Even though the woman had a fine figure, her filthy appearance did nothing to interest him. Wasn’t it far more satisfying to continue disciplining An Xiaowei and You Haoyun with a firm hand?

With the agreement reached, there was no need for them to linger in the squalid, chaotic sewer any longer. Xue Feng was the first to climb out, then he helped An Xiaowei and You Haoyun up one after the other. When it was Nie Xiaoyue’s turn, her long period without food had left her weak and malnourished. Failing to find her balance, she stumbled straight into Xue Feng’s arms. The pair of ample breasts tightly wrapped beneath her clothes were compressed out of shape in an instant.

“My word!” Feeling the sensation against his chest, Xue Feng’s eyes widened. He hadn’t noticed before, but this woman was truly well-endowed!

Nie Xiaoyue, realizing her own impropriety, quickly stood up and coughed. “There’s a convenience store nearby. It should still have some supplies left. I didn’t dare go alone before, but now we can check it out together.”

“Sure,” Xue Feng replied without hesitation. When it came to supplies, there could never be too much. The more, the better! Since Nie Xiaoyue said it wasn’t far, the three of them didn’t bother with the armored vehicle and set out on foot.

It wasn’t long before they encountered their first wave of zombies.

“Careful!” Nie Xiaoyue warned urgently. They were ordinary zombies, but she knew how dangerous even those could be—tenacious, and able to turn anyone they scratched into one of their own. In her view, without thorough preparation, one should never risk a direct confrontation.

But the next scene shattered her preconceptions.

Ignoring her warning, Xue Feng drew the long blade You Haoyun always kept by her side and strode directly toward the nearest zombies. Under everyone’s gaze, a flash of silver gleamed cold and sharp.

Xue Feng held the blade at an angle, a thin line of blood appearing along its length and dripping from the tip. Several grotesque zombie heads fell to the ground at his feet. In a single instant, the snarling zombies were dispatched, leaving the path clear.

An Xiaowei and You Haoyun applauded delightedly at the sight. Nie Xiaoyue, however, gazed at Xue Feng’s back in silence, lost in thought. To dispatch several zombies so easily… No wonder he’d managed to survive this apocalypse and even take in two women. The realization soothed her nerves somewhat, despite her lingering anxiety.

“At the very least, for now, I made the right choice joining them,” she thought. “Of course, that’s assuming he really keeps his word…”

Xue Feng paid no attention to Nie Xiaoyue’s shifting mood. All his focus was on the panel before his eyes.

[Current Host Attribute Panel:]
Strength: 19
Agility: 19
Spirit: 19
Endurance: 24
Luck: 19 (+100)
Abilities: Divine Thunder (Level 5), Stone Skin (Level 3)
…

Just now, after successfully luring Nie Xiaoyue out by using Nie Xiaoxing, the second piece of intelligence had been verified. All attributes had increased by 5, and ability levels by 1. Although he hadn’t unlocked any new powers, Xue Feng’s combat prowess had leaped forward tremendously. Hence the scene just now.

“With my current capabilities, dealing with that hidden mutant shouldn’t be an issue,” Xue Feng murmured to himself. “The main problem is finding it.” But as for tracking it down, he had no real solution. He’d just have to take things as they came.

With the immediate threat resolved, the group pressed on. More zombies appeared along the way, but Xue Feng dispatched them single-handedly.

It’s worth noting: when facing a particular horde, Xue Feng deliberately used his ability, Divine Thunder. Compared to Level 1, at Level 5, the skill had undergone a qualitative transformation—not only did the lightning gather far more quickly, but each strike caused a violent explosion upon hitting its target. In a single blast, three zombies were incinerated to charred husks.

“Even a mutant could probably only withstand three hits from Divine Thunder at most,” Xue Feng estimated, judging by the devastation before him.

Nie Xiaoyue, witnessing all this, was left speechless. To summon lightning… Was he even human?

She had wondered before—if the blood rain could transform living creatures into zombies, might it also trigger positive mutations? What she’d seen just now confirmed her suspicions, though the transformation seemed almost too drastic.

Watching Xue Feng steadily reveal his strength, Nie Xiaoyue’s anxiety returned. Such a powerful man… If he truly wished to do anything, would she even have a chance to resist?

“I’ll make my decision after I see my sister again…” she sighed, a trace of melancholy in her eyes.

As time passed, the group finally reached the convenience store Nie Xiaoyue had mentioned. Compared to the supermarket in Riverside Villas, this shop was much smaller, and the supplies even scarcer. They chose some uncontaminated food and took the last few bottles of water. Soon, the little store was picked nearly bare.

With nothing left to collect, Xue Feng led the three women back toward the armored vehicle. But just then, An Xiaowei sensed something amiss.

“Did any of you see a shadow pass by just now?” she asked, pointing to a spot nearby. The others looked, but saw nothing.

“Maybe I was mistaken,” An Xiaowei tried to reassure herself, though her unease only grew. Was it an illusion?

But in the next instant, a headless corpse—one that hadn’t turned—lying by the roadside suddenly vanished before her eyes.

An Xiaowei shrieked. “There’s really something out there!”

Before she could finish, heavy footsteps began to echo around them. They scanned their surroundings but could not find the source. The ominous sound continued, and all of them felt as if a pair of hidden eyes was watching from the gloom.

“Is this… is this a haunting?” You Haoyun was terrified. To hear the footsteps and sense the presence, yet see nothing—wasn’t this just like a ghost story? It was truly unnerving.

But as the footsteps resounded, Xue Feng’s lips curled into a cold smile.

“At last, you’ve shown yourself!”