Chapter Eighty-Eight: Ivy Vine

As the old woman cried out, she received no reply. She knew all too well that the black cat was already dead.

“Heh-heh-heh.”

From behind her came a sinister laugh. A gaunt figure slowly stepped into view, so thin that his skin clung to bone. His hands were the worst of all: not a trace of flesh remained upon them, only bare, white, gleaming bones.

“Good that it died. Better if they all die. Saves me from hearing that yowling every day...” said the corpse king, grinning to reveal two rows of sharp teeth.

Hatred flashed in the old woman’s eyes. She turned half a cat face toward him and stared with a cold, venomous expression, but after a moment’s thought, she held herself back.

“Humans. There’s still a trace of their scent here.”

“Just food. They won’t amount to much. What we should be wary of is the corpse king across the river. He’s been expanding his territory like mad lately, riding high on momentum. Watch yourself, or trouble will come to our doorstep.”

The bone-skeleton corpse king said this.

The old woman cast him a sidelong glance.

“Hmph! You think I need you to tell me that? I’ve already taken precautions. They won’t get across.”

“Very well.”

The bone-skeleton corpse king had no desire to speak with her further. Clearly the two were not on good terms. He turned away and wandered off, humming a tune.

“We all learn to meow together, meow meow meow~~~~”

“.........” The old woman’s fearsome face contorted with clenched teeth; she could not shake the feeling that he was deliberately trying to provoke her.

.......

Meanwhile, after parting with Cheng Luoyi, Lin Dong had already returned home.

As usual, he took a hot bath, changed into clean clothes, swallowed two crystal cores, and poured himself a glass of a beverage.

By then night had fully fallen, and the world outside the window was pitch-black.

Every night, whether zombies or mutated beasts, all of them grew restless. Across the entire city of the apocalypse, howls echoed one after another, and slaughter continued without cease.

Even within Lin Dong’s territory, things were not always so peaceful.

Especially at the outer edges, around North Mountain, ivy from the woods had already spread into the city, coiling around ruined buildings and climbing over streetlamps.

Those vines had a deep crimson hue, like a network of blood vessels with blood flowing within them.

In the darkness, the ivy upon the streetlamp seemed suddenly to come alive. The vines, like long snakes, began to move slowly.

Beneath the streetlamp stood a zombie, its clothes in tatters, its face covered in blood, swaying from side to side.

It had no idea that the vines above were silently approaching it, drawing to within about a meter.

Then, all at once, the vines struck like a python pouncing on prey. With a whoosh, they wrapped tightly around the zombie’s neck.

“Ugh-ahhh—”

Attacked, the zombie let out a frenzy of howls and clawed wildly with both hands.

But the vines were extraordinarily tough. For a moment, it could not tear them apart. Instead, they yanked hard, hoisting the zombie bodily into the air.

The zombie hung there like a hanged man, legs kicking uselessly as it continued to howl.

But the next instant, several more vines crawled over from nearby and, with a wet thrust, pierced into the zombie’s body. Like straws, they began to suck up its flesh and blood with gurgling greed.

Dark blood streamed down the stems, deepening their blackened sheen.

This was not an isolated case. Nearby, several other zombies were also under attack by vines—some bound at the waist, others around the ankles.

The quiet night was shattered in an instant, and zombie howls filled the air.

“Roar——”

From the distance came a thunderous bellow as Tank’s massive figure appeared.

He stared with his small eyes, unable to make sense of what was happening.

“Were they attacked?”

He hurried forward, grabbed the vines wrapped around a zombie with both hands, and tore hard.

With a tearing sound, the vine snapped. Black blood, which had been being sucked through it, burst outward.

But the vines were not willing to give up. Several dozen more quietly crept over and wrapped toward Tank.

Some bound his ankles; others seized his wrists.

However.

Tank the zombie was stupid in body but mighty in strength. With his brute force, how could the vines compare? After a few violent tugs, he ripped them all apart, spraying black blood everywhere.

Seeing they could not prevail, the vines dragged the other zombies with them, swiftly retracting and hauling back toward North Mountain.

“Ugh-ahhh—”

Those ordinary zombies lay prone on the ground, desperately crawling forward, but they lacked the strength to break free. In the blink of an eye, they were dragged more than ten meters.

At that moment, however, a gust of wind streaked in.

Long, razor-sharp claws, like steel knives, flashed through the air and sliced the vines apart as they passed, rescuing the zombies.

Little Eight transformed into a mowing machine, his twin claws sweeping again and again.

Wherever he went, the vines shattered into pieces, and foul blood sprayed through the air.

Seeing that they were outmatched, the ivy withdrew like a receding tide into the forest. Little Eight and Tank pursued all the way to the forest’s edge.

But because there were simply too many vines, packed far too densely, several zombies were still dragged into the woods by them.

It was as if the zombies had been swallowed by darkness. Their howls grew fainter and fainter, until at last they vanished completely.

“Roar——”

Of course Tank was unwilling to accept it and was about to charge into the forest after them.

But he was quickly stopped by Little Eight.

“Hey, stop chasing.”

“Hm?”

Tank came to an abrupt halt, his face full of indignation.

“A mere weed dares run wild on our turf? I’m going in and ripping them all out by the roots!”

“The plants inside are too dense. Do you want the boss to have to bring zombies to rescue you again like last time?”

Little Eight said.

“Uh...”

At the mention of his embarrassing mishap from last time, Tank immediately calmed down somewhat. “Fine, then I’ll let them off this once. But... what are we supposed to do about this?”

“Isn’t that simple?”

Little Eight analyzed the situation calmly, thinking it through with care.

“Go find the boss!”

.......

That night, Lin Dong learned of the matter and was not especially surprised. He had long sensed that those ivies were not right, and that they were showing signs of expanding into his territory.

“So they really did come...”

Lin Dong thought silently.

To deal with external threats, one must first stabilize what lies within. Those ivies would sooner or later return in force. This matter needed to be settled once and for all.

Because he had spent some energy in the battle at the candy factory during the day, Lin Dong did not rush out immediately. Instead, he rested for the night and restored his body to peak condition.

The next morning, he arrived at the scene.

Tank and Little Eight followed respectfully behind him.

“Boss, it went like this first, then like that, and then my little brother got dragged into the woods.” Tank gestured as he described what had happened, trying to replay the crime scene in order to explain it as clearly as possible.

Lin Dong looked around. The ground was a wreck, littered everywhere with shattered roots and blackened bloodstains.

There were also traces left by zombies being dragged along—long streaks of blood, shocking to the eye, stretching all the way toward the forest.

Far off, amid the lush greenery, there were still clusters of ivy gathered together, clumps upon clumps. At that moment, the leaves swayed in the wind, looking just like ordinary plants, with nothing unusual at all.

Lin Dong had already seen through it: those vines did not possess independent consciousness. They were like tentacles, controlled by a central mind behind them.

The true mastermind was hidden somewhere deep in the dense forest...

.......