Village Monsters

Three vehicles drove out of the city, racing toward Little Stone Village, which had lost contact.

Little Stone Village was located in a remote area, with only two narrow concrete roads leading into it. If not for the phone report, they would not have discovered the anomaly so quickly.

"Just the few of us? Shouldn't we call in more people?"

Now that they knew something was wrong, why not send in a large force directly? Bring along artillery and heavy machine guns—what monster could make waves against weapons like those?

"There are incidents to handle everywhere right now. The military has already recalled retired soldiers, but they're still short on manpower." Zhou Yaning explained it to him. Besides, if she was not confident, she would not take the risk.

She turned to look at him. "You're a martial artist. Xiao Ling, Chen Long, and I are Espers. As long as we act carefully, we should be able to handle it."

"You became Espers? How did that happen?"

Lu Chengchuan had not known they had become Espers. When had that happened?

"We awakened a few days ago. I don't know how it happened either. I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I'd become an Esper."

It sounded like a perfunctory explanation, but Zhou Yaning truly did not know what had happened.

An hour later, the three vehicles turned onto the small road leading to Little Stone Village.

Lush crops grew on both sides of the road, yet not a single villager was out tending them in broad daylight. After driving for ten minutes, they had not only failed to see anyone—they could not even find a dog.

It was quiet, quiet enough to feel eerie.

The vehicles stopped at the edge of Little Stone Village. Black mist had already covered the village's outskirts. They found several military trucks; their occupants had arrived yesterday.

Everyone went over to inspect them and found that all the people had vanished. The tires and equipment had been severely damaged.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Captain, there's blood here and signs of fighting. They may have been taken by monsters."

There were many traces around the vehicles. Several guns lay on the ground with their safeties off, their ammunition not yet spent. Zhou Yaning stepped forward to inspect them and confirmed that the people had been dragged into the village.

Black mist shrouded the entire village. Nothing could be seen from outside; they had to enter to find out what had happened.

"Captain Li, leave five men behind to guard the vehicles. Everyone else comes in with us."

Besides the six from the Investigation Bureau and Lu Chengchuan, twenty soldiers had come to assist them. Zhou Yaning had several people stay behind to guard the vehicles while the remaining soldiers entered the village with them.

The black mist blocked signals. Once they entered, they would lose contact with the outside world, so someone had to remain outside.

"The things inside may come out and grab people. Make sure they stay alert and don't get ambushed by monsters."

"Understood. I'll make the arrangements right away."

Li Wang raised a hand in salute, then went to assign the soldiers who would remain behind.

Their orders were to follow Zhou Yaning's command. Whatever she told them to do, they would do.

After choosing five men to guard the vehicles, the rest picked up their weapons, brought their ammunition, and followed the Investigation Bureau team into the mist.

Lu Chengchuan hung the Fine Steel Sword at his side, held a rifle in his hands, and entered the mist alongside Zhou Yaning.

The instant they entered the mist, darkness fell before Lu Chengchuan and the others' eyes. They were familiar with this—the same thing had happened when they entered the mist at the mall. After waiting a while, they could see again.

"This is... inside Little Stone Village?"

Upon entering, they found themselves standing on a concrete road. Ahead stood rows of houses of varying heights.

Lu Chengchuan turned around and saw only darkness, along with a white ring of light. This was the entrance and exit of the mist; they had entered another space.

Zhou Yaning checked her communicator and found that it had lost its signal.

"Advance carefully. If you spot monsters, shoot immediately." Zhou Yaning gave Li Wang the order, then turned to Lu Chengchuan and asked, "Do you know where the core is?"

"Why ask me? Do you think I'd know?"

Lu Chengchuan did know where the mist's core was. The moment he entered, he felt that summons again. It was ahead of them; judging by the distance, it should be in the center of the village.

But he absolutely could not admit it. In the Investigation Bureau's eyes, there were already plenty of strange things about him. He could not reveal anything more unusual.

"Then where do you think it is? Take a guess," Zhou Yaning asked instead of pressing him.

Lu Chengchuan thought for a moment and pointed ahead. "I'd guess it's inside the village, maybe around the center."

"Move out. Our target is the center of the village!"

After learning where the black mist's Energy Source was, Zhou Yaning immediately gave the order to move.

She trusted Lu Chengchuan's "guess." The black mist's Energy Source had to be in the center of the village.

"A-Xin, go ahead and scout the area. Come back once every ten minutes. If you find anything unusual, return and report immediately."

Zhou Yaning had her subordinate scout the path ahead.

The young man called A-Xin responded, then quickened his pace and walked forward.

After taking only a few steps, his figure suddenly vanished before everyone's eyes. Lu Chengchuan froze for a moment, then realized that this man's ability was invisibility.

With someone who could turn invisible scouting ahead, the group behind him was much more at ease.

The main group walked for more than twenty minutes without seeing a monster. A-Xin returned twice from scouting, but he had not found any traces of monsters ahead either.

The village was utterly lifeless, and the group's footsteps were the only sound there.

After winding through the village for more than ten minutes, they reached its center. At that moment, Zheng Xin, who had left only a few minutes earlier, suddenly appeared before them.

"Captain, there are more than a dozen monsters a hundred meters ahead. Judging by their clothes, they seem to be villagers from here."

Zheng Xin reported what he had seen.

There were monsters ahead, and they appeared to have been transformed from humans. Their bodies were covered in wounds, their eyes were vacant, and their minds scattered. They could only wander about mindlessly.

"You're saying something turned the villagers into monsters?"

Upon discovering the monsters, Zhou Yaning had the group stop.

"Monsters spotted on the left!"

"Monsters spotted on the right!"

Just as she was about to continue questioning him, the soldiers assigned to watch both sides discovered monsters approaching. They immediately raised the alarm and released their weapons' safeties, preparing to attack.

Lu Chengchuan looked to the right and saw dozens of humanoid monsters slowly approaching. Their clothes looked like those of modern people; they might have been villagers from this very village.

Zhou Yaning saw them as well, and she could tell that these things were definitely not normal humans.

"Fire!"

There was nothing more to say. When you encountered monsters, you shot them. If you did not shoot, the monsters would come over and kill people.

The soldiers had received rigorous training, and they had gained combat experience against monsters over this period. The instant the firing order was given, they pulled their triggers and unleashed bullets at the monsters.

Gunfire rang through the black mist. Hearing it, the monsters ahead began running toward them as well.

Lu Chengchuan raised his rifle, ready to meet the incoming monsters.

There were nearly a hundred monsters between the left and right sides, but they were weak. Under the storm of bullets, by the time the magazines had been emptied, not a single monster on either side remained standing.

There were not many monsters running in from ahead. Lu Chengchuan and the Investigation Bureau members easily killed them with their guns.

Before long, the monsters lay on the ground. Some were still howling, and the soldiers moved over in groups to finish them off.

After killing the suddenly appearing monsters, everyone prepared to continue forward when another dozen or so monsters suddenly appeared ahead.