"What's not appropriate? I want to meet them, and we're almost going to be schoolmates anyway, so what's wrong with getting to know them?"
"That guy called Shen Qingsheng clearly isn't in a good state, and Su Ze is trying to counsel him, you silly," Zhi Xu patted his head. "Now, be good and sit here waiting for dinner. I'll go help out, okay?"
"I'm not a child, why do you always treat me like one?" Cang Yu complained, "I'm your boyfriend, you should be relying on me."
"Of course," Zhi Xu nodded, "I definitely rely on you. What would I do without you?"
"So, be good and stay seated, don't get hurt even a little bit. Your wife will be back soon." Zhi Xu pressed down on his shoulders to make him sit on the rock, then went to help with cooking.
Sparks flew.
Bang!
A flame rose up, and Su Ze's half-lit face was hidden in darkness. He leaned toward the fire to light the cigarette in his mouth.
Shen Qingsheng gazed at the dim surroundings, where thin clouds drifted across the sky.
"Brother Ze... do you think we'll die here?"
"Probably."
"I'm starting to regret coming here... Maybe someone with my abilities shouldn't have come at all."
Su Ze's pupils seemed to dance with flames, molten gold light burning bright like torches in his eyes. "Then why did you come?"
"I... I wanted to experience the path our predecessors walked... but... after entering this place, I feel... this is even more terrifying than fighting off the blood moon."
Shen Qingsheng looked down at the city ruins at the foot of the mountain, a scene of utter devastation. This was once human territory.
What met his eyes wasn't just devastation, but countless mutilated bodies strewn across the ruins. A decomposing creature as huge as a whale, with extraordinarily large eyes, lay on the pile of corpses, its indescribable huge eye staring at them.
Hidden in the darkness, its eyes emitted a faint light, with a grotesque smile at its mouth.
Shen Qingsheng had no doubt it had already spotted them.
Su Ze's face remained expressionless as he raised his middle finger at the monster. "Look at your mother!"
"Holy shit! Are you crazy?" Shen Qingsheng was shocked!
The monster immediately twisted its face into a grotesque expression of rage, angrily trying to move its rotting wings to pounce, spreading its massive wings with a roar.
At the same time, Su Ze suddenly stood up like an enraged beast, roaring back with the momentum of a rainbow piercing the sun!
The waves of sound collided with the monster's roar, and the space between them began to distort!
Su Ze's face twisted into a fierce beast-like expression as he locked eyes with the creature.
Inside the cave, Cang Yu suddenly drew his knife and stood up, ready to rush outside.
The other three girls did the same.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Meng Xingyao quickly called out to stop them. "Su Ze is intimidating these monsters, no need to go out."
Meng Xingyao had plenty of experience in the Land of the Living Dead.
She knew that if Su Ze dared to set up shelter here, it meant he was confident in fending off those monsters.
Everyone hesitated for a moment.
"Baby, sit down and just wait for dinner," Zhi Xu said to her boyfriend with a smile.
"I... feel something's not right," Cang Yu hesitated, "Are you sure we shouldn't help? What if something unexpected happens?"
Zhi Xu came to her boyfriend's side and cupped his face, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, if they need backup, they'll let us know."
Cang Yu nodded, but suddenly felt his eyes and face burning. He noticed chili particles on his girlfriend's wrist and asked in confusion, "Did... were you just cutting chilies?"
"..." Zhi Xu paused, looking at the chili particles on her hands, then at her boyfriend's tears streaming down his face:
"I'm not sure... I was cutting vegetables from the Land of the Living Dead, probably including something like chilies."
"How can you not be sure?!" Cang Yu wiped his tears, feeling grieved, "Don't you feel the spiciness?"
"Spicy?" Zhi Xu sucked her finger, "No, it's quite sweet actually. Want to try?"
She held her hand out to Cang Yu.
"Did your taste buds malfunction?" Cang Yu worried, sucking on Zhi Xu's pinky to taste it.
A burst of spiciness exploded on his taste buds instantly. Compared to normal chilies, the spiciness from the Land of the Living Dead was much more intense, which explained why it made Cang Yu cry.
Just then, Cang Yu saw his girlfriend suddenly stick out her tongue, breathing rapidly, and turn to run towards the spring-fed pond. Apparently, she had been hit by the spiciness too.
Cang Yu immediately understood, "You tricked me! You knew it was spicy!"
"If I didn't know, I wouldn't have let you taste it," seeing her prank succeed, Zhi Xu dropped the act and lay by the pond, drinking large gulps of water from the cup Su Ze had prepared earlier.
"You trickster!" Cang Yu felt his mouth and face burning all over and also ran to the water to drink.
"Hahaha..." Xu Ziyin saw this scene and laughed like a goose, "What a pair of silly lovebirds."
The intense standoff lasted nearly thirty minutes before the monster's face twitched, and after letting out a roar, it settled back on the ruins, no longer paying attention to Su Ze.
Between beasts, victory can often be decided by eye contact alone, taking anywhere from seconds to days.
"That was awesome!" Shen Qingsheng was dumbfounded. During Su Ze's visual standoff with the monster, he hadn't dared to breathe.
"This thing tore off one of my arms last time, so I dismembered it into thousands of pieces," Su Ze's fierce expression faded as he spat out his cigarette filter and lit another one.
"These monsters can't be killed here."
"But they can be hurt."
"In this place, being weak is a sin, so you must show strength and ferocity."
"Since we can't kill them, we'll make them wish they were dead!"
"Make these beasts fear and respect you."
"Let them know that this is still Huaxia's land, and they're the invaders!"
Su Ze patted Shen Qingsheng's shoulder, "Don't think we humans are the weaker side just because they can't be killed."
"Our predecessors walked a much more brutal path than this, and didn't they make it through?"
"There's nothing to fear. If you want to walk the path of our predecessors, you must be brave."
Su Ze turned and walked back into the cave.
Indeed... the path our predecessors walked was much harder than now.
Back then, they hadn't even figured out how to unlock genetic locks, and our predecessors fought natural disasters with mortal bodies... Every inch of Huaxia's soil was stained with countless drops of hot blood.
And I... as a transcendent being, why should I fear these monsters?
We all have one life, and if we can't kill them, we'll make them wish they were dead!
Shen Qingsheng gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at the monster perched on the ruins.
After Su Ze left, the monster raised its head again, its single eye looking at him with contemptuous amusement.
Shen Qingsheng raised his middle finger, "What are you looking at?"
Su Ze, who had just entered the cave, heard a sky-shaking roar behind him. Just as he was about to rush out, he saw Shen Qingsheng running back while repeatedly shouting "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!"